Flyboy checkup

Posted on Tue Mar 21st, 2023 @ 9:23am by Lieutenant Kurt "Berlin" Vogel & Commander Sthilg

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Sickbay
1756 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Sthilg had a smile on his face as he finished cleaning the biobed. Even with the machine that could do it the old doctor would still regularly given them wipe down ready for the next emergency. Dropping the cloth into the bucket he deactivated his forcefield gloves before heading to the coffee machine his heavy stride making a slight thump as they did so.

Lieutenant Kurt Vogel walked with a brisk pace towards the Sickbay. His stride wasn't due to eagerness, as he generally disliked doctors in general. Rather, he felt it as a sense of duty. Regulations were quite clear that incoming personnel must be checked out by the ship's medical professionals within 72 hours of boarding.

So, Kurt had waited approximately 70 hours to take care of it. He was still arguably within regulations, timewise. Part of the reason he had kept avoiding sickbay was because of the Chief Medical Officer himself.

Kurt had had plenty of time to review personnel records for his new assignment. He had looked for anything of value; expectations of the Skipper and Exec, SOPs, pilot manifests, and the who's who amongst the senior staff.

That last rationale was what gave him pause. Kurt had no particular aversion to Gorn, it was just...

All those damned sharp teeth Kurt thought to himself.

He was also acutely aware that Gorn were stereotyped as abnormally aggressive. Intellectually, Vogel was aware that it was highly ignorant of him to make assumptions about a whole race based on generalities. The German was also mentally aware that the good Doctor must be a good one, otherwise he would never have made it past the medical review boards, not to mention the academy itself.

The German certainly did not want to come across as a bigot, and so he had made a mental note to be attentive, answer promptly, and treat the Doctor with the respect due his rank and profession. Kurt even went a step further, consulting the ship's library on the Gorn language, to perhaps make a good first impression. Most of the language was highly difficult for humans to pronounce, as the Gorn tongue was differently shaped, but there was one phrase that Kurt thought he COULD pronounce, and he gave it a go as the Sickbay doors parted to show the scaled doctor by his coffee maker.

Clearing his throat, the German stated in the Gorn tongue "I greet you, healer."

The gorn paused at the sound of his own people's tongue being said. Turning he gave the stranger the most polite smile he could manage. " Your gorn is very good for a beginner. Your Lieutenant Kurt Vogel I take it." he said stretching out his hand for a shake.

Vogel took the offered hand. The skin on top of the Doctor’s hand looked scaly and bumpy, like alligator flesh, but the skin on the palm of the hand was smooth, like snakeskin.

“Thank you sir, but it’s one of the few phrases I was sure I could pronounce. I did not want to unintentionally insult you or do your language injustice.”

The German thought briefly if he had engaged in a faux pas.

“Would you prefer to be addressed as ‘Doctor’, or ‘sir’”? The German asked.

" Either would do jussst fine. " Sthilg replied as he lead the way towards one of the biobeds. " Any illnessssesss or injury not on your profile sssince your lassst ssscan?" he inquired as he began typing on his wrist computer.

Kurt found the hissed 's' of the Doctor's speech a bit unnerving, but decided to keep that to himself. The German was sure that the Gorn was probably annoyed as equally by some human syllables and nuances of speech.

"None Doctor." Vogel answered. He decided to stick with calling the Gorn by his medical title. After all, many more students became officers out of the academy than doctors, and so Kurt presumed it would carry more prestige.

" Very good." the old lizard replied as he stopped at one of the biobeds which he started patting with one of his hands. It made a distinctive sound. A clear sign of it being an artificial limb.

Vogel hesitated. Was it more rude to mention the possible artificial limb or to NOT mention it?

"Doctor...forgive my possible rudeness, but your hand...did you...how did uh..." Kurt motioned to the limb in question, now unsure if he it was indeed rude to ask, his inertia taking him to the biobed patted previously.

" Thisss?" Sthilg said as he morphed his arm into it's surgical mode the flesh being replaced with cold steel and multiple appendages. "Artificial all the way up to the elbow. Curitosssy of the domion prison guardsss in the pit. Leg'sss fake asss well. " He said tapping one of his legs which had a metallic sound. " Lossst that, two of my tesssticlesss and a large part of my groin during the Egloicdusss sssytem war."

Kurt resisted the strong urge to clutch at himself over the mission of the Gorn's missing...parts.

"I'm sorry to hear that Doctor. Please forgive me for mentioning it. No insult was intended." Kurt said as he got up on the biobed.

" No was taken. I've lived over two hundred yearsss Kurt a few inquisitive questions isssn't going to offend me." The lizard replied with his grandfatherly tone.

Lieutenant Vogel badly wanted to ask the good Doctor why he wasnt like the stereotype of Gorn: warlike, aggressive, with a superiority complex a lightyear wide. However, that almost certainly sounded like an ignorant question. For better or worse, Kurt Vogel was very conscientious about how he came off to others and how he was thought of. He swallowed the thought.

"Yes healer." The German said instead. He used the Gorn language for his simple affirmation. He had to contort his tongue a bit to make the 'yes' part, a kind of hissed, back of the throat rumble, but he was mostly certain he had gotten the word right.

" Ssso how have you been finding the Elysssium?" The ship's doctor enquired.

“She is like most ships, Doctor. I’ve spent a few days trying to find my way around and learning the people.” Vogel answered.

" Well the Elysssium hasss been good to me and my family. " The gorn said as he tapped the computer. " I'm sssure ssshe'll be good to you."

“Yes Doctor.” Kurt chewed for a minute on his next question until curiousity overcame caution; “If you’ve lived 200 years, you must’ve been on Gorn during the…troubles.”

‘Troubles’ was the polite term for the initial hostility between the Gorn and the Federation. It resulted in several skirmishes and less than pleasant encounters.

"Oh I'm afraid I left gorn ssspace before they ssstarted." The lizard said after a think. " I wasss....." he added drumming his fingers as he did so. " Oh yesss i wassss the chief medic on a Gocred freighter. An ancient thing held together with tape, vinegar and hate. Captain was a crook. Never even paid me for the trip."

Further chewing at thoughts. "If I may say, Doctor, you strike me as a man of honor. Why take up with such a despicable man? Or did he only show his true colors after?"

" The latter. Promisssed big until you were his maximum warp four freighter than were elssse were you sssoposssed to go. Didn't even pay me and mossst of the ressst of the crew either." Sthilg responded.

"What a scaleless cloaca" Kurt said it in Gorn, hoping to maybe get a good laugh out of the Doctor after so dark a conversation.

The gorn chuckled at that. " May I asssk how you learned gorn?" He enquired glancing at the scanner slightly.

"My mother was an amateur linguist. She was always fascinated how some disparate cultures have similar sounding words and syntax, and also how cultures in contact with others 'borrow' from them with their grammar. I guess I have some of the same interest." The German clucked his tongue in his mouth in thought. "I try to know at least a little bit in as many languages as I can, Doctor. I figured it's the polite thing to do."

" Mussst have been sssome linguissst to learn gornisssh. " Sthilg replied sounding very impressed. " Even sssenior diplomatssss sssstrugle to get it right."

"Oh no Doctor. She never learned Gorn. I fear I can barely speak even the limited words you've heard, and only by rote memorization and practice. I don't have the talent my mother had with languages, though. She's completely fluent in Klingon, Romulon, Vulcan, and Andorian. She was also conversational in Bolian and Trill. But she knew a smattering of words in many others. If a new culture is discovered, she did her best to get her hands on copies of their language patterns to begin dissecting it."

" Ssshe sssoundsss like a very ssskiled linguissst. Isss ssshe in ssstarfleet?" The doctor enquired.

Kurt Shook his head. "No sir. She teaches secondary school history in New Berlin, on Luna. Father was, or is rather, a merchant."

" Sssorry to hear about your father. i lost my own family many moonsss ago." the old gorn said the tone showing how much it still hurt.

The German felt an odd kinship with the reptilian doctor. I guess pain if loss is universal, he mused.

“I’m sorry if I have reminded you of loss, sir.” Kurt said outwardly.

" Don't be. I remember them every day and they give me the ssstregth to go forward. That and my current family. " The reptile responded with a smile.

”Yes sir.” Vogel’s answer was simple and short, as he still felt embarrassed. He decided to try some other tact.

“Well…am I dying?”

Sthilg glanced at the scanner which had stoped. " No not for a very long time. Everythign look'sss well within acceptable peramitersss." The old doctor responded looking up from the results.

The pilot slide off the bio bed, his feet landing with a light thud. “In that case, Doctor, I must take my leave. If you will forgive me, but I try to avoid sickbay unless I’m bleeding profusely or need a limb reattached.”

" Off courssse. I'll sssee you around the ssship." The gorn said as he tossed him a data crystal with his copy of the results.

Vogel caught the Crystal after a brief juggle. He nodded his head in thanks, exited through the doors, and out into the hallway.

END