The Sawbones
Posted on Mon Apr 27th, 2020 @ 2:08am by Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani & Commander Sthilg
Mission:
MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Sick Bay, Uss Elysium
Timeline: After 'Terra Incognita'
1420 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure
[ON]
Unpacked, check. Meet the ship, literally, check. Report in, check. Miraj went down to the next items on the list. Onboarding medical, hand over records, Pysch eval, phaser qualification.
She'd see the doctor first. It would probably be the least humiliating. Her phaser target skill was called dire by people being charitable. So sickbay it was. It was another trek through the huge ship, and after a bit of thoughtful meandering, she arrived at the ships medical bay.
Stepping inside, she looked around for a nurse or a medic, whoever was there to take her records. Being docked it was largely deserted. "Hello? Is there anyone there?"
The ship's chief MD had been having his lunch in his office which he quickly finished before he stepping out of his room. Putting on a polite smile the big gorn approached the new arrival. " Hello there i'm doctor Sssthilg can i help you?" He said as friendly as he could.
Miraj's jaw dropped a little as a large lizard came out of an office. She hadn't been expecting that. "Er," she stammered as she tried to cover her surprise. "I'm Ensign Derani. I've just been assigned here. I need to hand over my medical record and get sorted, and stuff?"
"Of courssse. If you'd like to follow me we can get this done." He replied as friendly as he could as he lead the way towards one of the bio beds.
She followed him over, "I didn't realise there were Gorn in Starfleet?"
" Oh, there are around nine of usss currently in the fleet. Not bad for a none federation member. Do you have your previousss medical data with you?" He asked politely.
She held out the isolinear rod. "All in here." There wasn't much on it. She had a couple of misadventures growing up, but the broken bones were long repaired. A couple of bad reactions to common medications. but other than that she was healthy as a horse.
"Thank you." he said as he took the rod and slipped it into one of the bio beds computers. " If you'll take a ssseat we'll sssee if there'sss any changess."
Miraj hopped up on the biobed, feet swinging. "Is here okay, or do you need me to lie down?"
"If you could lie down for...." the gorn began before he paused as he noticed the lump on the back of her head. " When did you hit your head?" he asked. His wrist computer coming up for a scan.
"Er, not to long ago," She swiveled so she could lie down. "Before I saw Commander Taylor, so maybe an hour? fifty minutes? It was kind of self inflicted. I...banged it on a bulkhead."
"Well let'sss take a look make sure it'sss nothing ssseriousss." The gorn said as he started up the bio beds computer. " I hope you don't mind if thisss takesss a little longer than normal. I have to make sssure I've not missed everything."
"No. Nothing to do today but unpack. Won't be doing much till we weigh anchor anyway. Not much for a helmsman to be doing whilst in port."
"Rather quite for usss asss well. Other than a upcoming pregancy it'sss a sssimple mater of resssupplying at the moment. "The gorn said as the data began to come through." Fascinating. I've never ssseen inssside a Boslic hybrid before."
"I'm not sure many people have." Miraj stared at the ceiling. "I've not heard of any others. And whilst there maybe some floating around other parts of the galaxy, when I checked all the Federation Census data, there wasn't any listed. Though I guess you never know what's hiding inside hybrid-other"
"Indeed. Everything look'sss okay with the lump though i'll give you sssome cream to help keep it down." the gorn said as the results began to come onto the screen.
"Thank you." She shifted on the biobed a little, getting more comfortable and trying to keep the angle of her head off the bruise. "So have you been on board long?"
"Oh, I've been here a while. The Elysium is truly a home for me now." The gorn said gently patting the computer slightly as if the ship could tell he was talking about her. "Ssshe'sss a good ssship and ssshe'll get us through anything."
"She's about to make history," Miraj enthused. "Once we fire up the Slipstream drive. Its going to be amazing. From what I've read, its going to a a blast. A little rough, but a blast."
"It ssshould be sssomething. I'll be the furthest from home any gorn has ever been." the doctor replied with a grin.
"If it works, we could be further than anyone has ever been from home before we really noticed. We could cross a hundred thousand light years in two weeks. At warp 8 it would take two centuries!"
"Two centuries I've alreadt had in this universe. I am nearly twenty two yearsss old, but I can sssee why the distance reduction would be appealing. " The gorn said suddenly feeling his two centuries in the galaxy on his shoulders.
"Wow." Miraj generally felt young, every time she was in a group even of her peers at the academy she had felt young. Now she felt positively infantile compared to the Methuselah at her side. "I though puberty was bad for a couple of years. Yours must have been a couple of decades. How did you cope?"
The gorn let out a slight chuckle. " Oh my ssspecies puberty was a few monthsss. Most gorn only live 45 years."
Her jaw dropped a little. "What? But you said? How?"
"Oh are lifessstyle mossstly. We are a warrior people who prefer hand to hand combat. Combined with are native worlds being hell holesss were even the plantsss can eat you most of us have a very ssshort life. There are a few of us like me who live into the centuriesss. Or maybe the all mother hasss a purpose for keeping me on this mortal plane." The gorn explained.
"Wow, that sounds like a brutal life." And then she realised probably everyone he knew was dead. brothers sisters, children, or grand children, or the same in nieces and nephews. That sounded horrible. "Are you glad you left it behind?"
The gorn pushed before he replied as he thought back to the windy wasteland he'd been born on. The smell of burning metal and ship slag that constantly filled the air. "I missss the people I left behind. The colony I grew up on was a wasteland in the middle of gorn ssspace usssed as breakersss yard for old ssshipsss. Unremarkable other than that she sssuffered a plague with a 90% fatality rate. We don't know were it came from, but it ssstruck after a federation ssstarship crassshed on are world. I was an apprentice to the colony's healer, but if it wasn't for the fact that the federationsss ssship doctor T'sung had sssurvived none of us would have made it. Between the two of usss we manged to create a cure." He said as he fumbled in his pocket before he produced the battered book he kept over his heart in his lab coat. The federation medical almanac which had been with him since he left the planet he had called home. The last gift from a good friend.
"Wow." Miraj said. "That sounds awful. I'm so sorry."
"It'sss okay. Fate rarely callsss on usss at a moment of are choosing. My life hasss been a long line of up'sss and downsss...." The gorn began before he paused and looked off to the side. There ssshe was again. He pulled the sssmall notepad from his coat and noted the details down. " Sssorry about that. "Sssorry about that. A psychological issssue i'm dealing with."
"Uh, thats okay." Miraj hadn't noticed anything, just thought him thinking. "Am I good to go? Do I pass for service?"
The gorn quickly looked through the fresh data. It was more than within acceptable parameters. " A clean bill of health. If the ssswelling on that lump doesssn't go down make sssure to let us know."
"Yes, sir," Miraj promised sitting up and sliding down onto her feet again. "I'm sure it will go. Its not the first time I've cracked my head in a jeffries tube. Doubt it will be the last."
"Take care." The gorn said with a polite smile.
Ensign Miraj Derani
Asst. Chief Flight Control
USS Elysium
Lieutenant Commander Sthilg
Chief Medical Officer
USS Elysium.
