Reflections in Silence

Posted on Fri Apr 25th, 2025 @ 4:48am by Lieutenant JG Sylorik MD & Captain Gary Taylor

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Executive Officer's Ready Room, USS Elysium
Timeline: 12 Days prior to Circinus (Six months ago)
1647 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

The doors hissed open with engineered precision.

Sylorik stepped into the Executive Officer's Ready Room and halted precisely three paces inside--spine straight, hands clasped behind his back. The subtle hum of the ship's systems pulsed beneath the silence. As expected, a curved desk in the form of a rough semicircle accounted for nearly half of the office space while the remainder formed a lounging area with a sofa and a small coffee table two steps higher.

This ready room was slightly smaller than the office Sylorik occupied on Vulcan at the Du'Radzhek Regional Medical Center but was clearly more refined with more creature comforts.

Gary looked up from his desk and the stack of PaDDS upon it. Placing the PaDD he had been reading to one side. His eyes silently going over Sylorik, assessing him. For a moment not saying anything before speaking, "Doctor Sylorik, please have a seat. Would you care for anything from then replicator before we get started?" He inquires politely, professionally.

Sylorik kept his eyes on the bulkhead behind the Executive Officer in an attempt to remain professional. "Thank you, sir." he replied softly, folding himself into the chair across from Gary Taylor. "But I've just consumed my fourth cup of coffee today with Doctor Sthilg."

Gary nodded. "Yes, I quite understand. Never been one for coffee. Love the smell of it not so much the taste. I prefer vanilla milkshakes. If you have never tried one you should. That is a treat to be sure."

Sylorik allowed the Captain's suggestion to breathe for a long moment before changing the subject. "I am formally reporting for duty," said Sylorik, reaching into his a tote bag and placing a data PADD on the desk before Taylor.

Gary took the offered PaDD and began to read over it. He was silent for several seconds as he took in the details on the PaDD. He placed the PaDD to one side, "I formally welcome you to the Elysium." He paused a beat before continuing. I see you were a surgeon but turned to pathology. An unusual career change." He commented flatly waiting for Sylorik to comment.

Sylorik inclined his head slightly as if to acknowledge the XO's observation.

"Unusual, perhaps, but not illogical. After decades in surgical practice, I found my effectiveness diminishing--not in skill, but in detachment. Pathology offered greater objectivity, fewer variables requiring emotional discretion."

He paused, fixing his gaze just left of Captain Taylor's eyes.

"There is precision in the dead that the living rarely afford."

Another brief pause, as though he was weighing whether to continue. He did not.

Gary was silent for a beat perhaps two before he replied. "While that is true. I have to wonder if your effectiveness diminishing wasn't due to some other outside influence... like nerves." His voice calm and non-accusatory.

Sylorik's brow arched slightly with a flicker of response. "Nerve is not a deficit I have historically suffered from, Commander." He paused and inclined his head. "That said, medicine is rarely immune to external influence. One can possess steady hands and still falter in other ways."

He folded his hands neatly in his lap. "My transition to pathology was not a retreat, sir. It was a... recalibration." Sylorik hoped the answer would suffice--it was the technically the truth but with extra steps.

"Hmm." Gary replied not convinced with Sylorik's answer. "Perhaps it was your eyesight. I have four pips on my collar; they signify that I am a captain. Just in case you couldn't make them out. Which if so, schedule yourself an eye exam immediately."

The Vulcan doctor's eyes dropped briefly to the collar in question before returning Captain Taylor's face. "Noted, Captain." His tone remained even but the precise enunciation of the rank betrayed the tiniest ripple of acknowledgment.

There was another awkward pause between the two men which felt pregnant.

"If you are suggesting a lapse in observation," added Sylorik neutrally. "I shall re-evaluate my visual acuity at once." His tone was perfectly even, as though reading a data-driven article in a medical journal. He hesitated--not from uncertainty, but calculation. The last thing Sylorik wanted to accomplish would be the creation of an enemy. Even worse would be having the Executive Officer of Elysium as that enemy.

"I trust, however, that Starfleet Medical does not routinely calibrate vision tests against command insignia."

Gary too was doing menta calculations. he had no desire to get off to bad start with Sylorik. He paused and took a breath before continuing. "You are correct in your statement that Starfleet Medical does not routinely calibrate vision tests against the command insignia or officer."

"Indeed. Starfleet protocol presumes its officers possess both adequate vision and discretion." He paused a moment before continuing. "I regret if my oversight implied otherwise."

Sylorik's eyes dropped to Gary's desk for a moment, as if searching for some meaning along the empty surface. "Captain," he said softly. "I am newly come to Starfleet, but I have practiced medicine for seventy-three years. In that time, I have observed physicians driven by ego--individuals who aspire to ascend rapidly within their field. My own motivations have remained consistent: to offer competence in service of others."

Gary nodded. "Nothing to regret. It was an honest oversight." Gary answered honestly and moved on. "You are to be commended for both your commitment and motivation Doctor. Your dedication to your patients is also commendable and I thank you for your dedication and long service to those patients. I am sure they also appreciate your service."

Sylorik gave the faintest of nods. It was neither submissive nor was it challenging, but precisely neutral. The Executive Officer's shift in tone was noted, and filed away. In another life on another world, such an exchange might have constituted a detente. Aboard an unfamiliar vessel with a different rhythm, it simply was progress. He permitted himself a slow, quiet breath, all too-aware that Captain Gary Taylor's gaze remained squarely on him.

The Vulcan doctor's attention shifted briefly toward the starboard wall, where a rapier hung in deliberate display. Its polished blade caught the ambient light but where some probably saw an ornament, Sylorik saw function. "If I may inquire," he said, tone even but curious. "The rapier on your wall--does it possess personal significance?" His eyes returned to Gary's and he added, "It appears to favour precision over force."

Gary's eyes flicked briefly to the rapier in question before turning to once again settle on Sylorik. "You may inquire. It belonged to my late wife Lia. She was a lover of the Japanese culture. This particular rapier, I got her as a Christmas gift. She was quite adept at using it and it does favor precision over force. There are more in our, I should say my quarters. Feel free to take a closer look if you like."

Sylorik did not immediately rise, but his gaze turned back to the blade with a silent consideration.

"A thoughtful gift," he said. "And a weapon that requires discipline and a clarity of intent to wield effectively. Qualities, I would imagine, your wife possessed in abundance." Sylorik's tone bore no trace of sentiment but the words were deliberate in acknowledgment of Captain Taylor's loss without prying into it. After a moment, he stood and approached the rapier, observing it as one would study a surgical instrument.

"I have always found it curious," he said quietly. "How a blade can be both elegant and deadly. In medicine, we sever only what is necessary. Perhaps the same is true in combat." He turned, just enough to show he had not forgotten the Executive Officer's presence. "Thank you for sharing its significance, Captain."

"You are quite correct in your statement. Lia did indeed possess in great abundance both the discipline and the clarity to use this rapier quite effectively. She was a master in its use and a most remarkable woman. I thank you for noticing it and your comments about it, its use and Lia. They are most appreciated." Gary replied sincerely the emotion in his voice evident.

Sylorik nodded his head in a gesture of quiet respect. "Such mastery is not easily attained. Nor is the loss of such a presence easily borne."

He didn't linger on the sentiment, nor did he want to intrude on Captain Taylor's grief. Instead, he returned to his seat with the same deliberate grace with which he approached the rapier. "Captain," he said in a neutral tone. "I do not wish to encroach further upon your schedule, but there remains the assignment of my quarters..."

Gary nodded quickly "Quite correct and well said." and quickly got back to business, silently thankful that Sylorik hadn't wished to follow up with any more questions about Lia. he reached for a nearby PaDD and handed it to Sylorik. "Your cabin assignment." (It shows Sylorik's cabin is on deck 15, 11-S-0).

Sylorik glanced at the PADD and then back to Elysium's Executive Officer. "Thank you, sir." Standing slowly and gracefully, he came to attention.

Gary stood up from behind his desk. "You are welcome, Doctor. Again, welcome to the Elysium. If there is anything you require do not hesitate to ask."

The Vulcan inclined his head toward the Executive Officer in acknowledgment, his posture perfect. He hesitated just a moment longer before turning crisply toward the doors. He stepped through in silence, leaving only the faintest whisper of his footfalls and an echo of restraint behind.

Gary watched Sylorik leave with typical Vulcan calm and precision. He wasn't sure what to make of Sylorik's decision to move from surgery to pathology it was in a word unusual, but it was Sylorik's decision, and he would respect it. Beyond that, he was glad for the doctor joining of the Elysium crew, he was sure he would be a good addition.