No baktag

Posted on Thu Jul 13, 2017 @ 10:05am by Lieutenant Gilah & Ensign Holly Meadows

Mission: History
Location: Main sickbay, USS Triumphant

Holly stood outside the main double doors of sickbay and looked at the symbols emblazoned on each one.
They were exactly the same, a snake entwined around a staff.
Holly wasnt sure exactly who owned the staff and how a snake came to be on it. She vaguely recalled the name Asclepius and thought he was from Greece centuries ago but she wasnt bothered by the details today because she was finally going to meet the CMO.

She knew she looked smart and efficient in her uniform and stepped through the doors with a feeling of excitement and a slight touch of fright.
To this was soon added confusion because on the neat list of names attached to the wall near the entrance, there was no sign at all of Lt T'Lara whom she thought she was meeting. Instead next to 'C.M.O' was a name she didnt know....Lt Gilah.

A loud crunch turned most of the heads in Sickbay towards the window of the CMO's office. The faster of them were lucky enough to see the source of the noise - a shattered PADD which fell to the floor with a thud. Those who weren't yet looking in that direction soon were after a muttered utterance of Klingon swearing floated out of the open door, bringing a smile to the face of most who knew what it meant.

Holly had moved in that direction and stood at the open doorway. She peered inside but saw noone so tapped her knuckles tentatively on the door.

The athletic form of Doctor Gilah moved out from under the window where she had been retrieving what was left of the PADD. A perfectly manicured hand with a metallic pink nails chucked the sorry collection of parts across the room and into the replicator.

"Repair" she commanded the computer in a peeved tone.

"Unable to comply. Item is…"

"Then recycle and make me a new one!"

It was at the familiar sound of the replicator buzzing into compliance that Doctor Gilah finally turned in Holly's direction. She was surprisingly neat in appearance for a Klingon, standing A few inches taller and a few inches wider than the Ensign standing in her doorway. Her long brown wavy hair Had had some extra curl added to it and was tied back at the base of her neck and her eyes, which now rested on Holly Had a hint of mascara, the brows above nicely shaped instead of the usual wilderness of a daughter of Kahless. Most notable were her teeth, which unlike the norm were not brown, bloody or sharpened, but white, straight, clean and square, save for two very large canines at the edges of her upper jaw which sat on her bottom lip even as she gave Holly a smile - whether this was a gesture of welcome or a response to finding new prey was hard to pinpoint.

"What can I do for you?" she asked in a husky yet surprisingly well spoken voice, her slightly crazy eyes looking Holly up and down.

Trying hard not to stare Holly came to attention.
"Ensign Meadows reporting for duty....ma'am."
She looked straight ahead as she had been trained to do, wondering whether she should explain that she had been told to report to Lt T'Lara but thought better of it. If this was her new CMO and by all indication it was, Holly felt silence was the better option.

Gilah skirted around the desk and picked up a pile of PADDs, rifling through them as if they were a deck of playing cards and throwing the ones she didn't need against the far wall with a succession of bangs and clatters.
"Mmm... at ease Ensign. Meadows.... Meadows.... ah!" Another PADD was saved from the inevitable dents by virtue of holding the information Gilah needed.

"Doctor Holly Meadows. Transfer from Sol" she read out loud. "Sit!" she continued forcefully, gesturing at a seat opposite with the PADD as she placed herself in the large and comfortable looking office chair. "Tell me about yourself. And save me the boring parts I can read on your personnel file! What makes you tick? What makes you a good doctor?"

Holly sat, feeling for an instant rather like an obedient pet dog who hoped for a biscuit.
Her lower lip quivered and she folded her hands neatly on her lap. This wasnt the moment to allow flippant thoughts.

"Enthusiasm." she replied without hesitation. " ...and empathy. I work hard to get where I want to go and I dont give up easily."

"Good." Gilah replied with a sickly Klingon smile. "Where do you want to go? What is your path through Starfleet's Medical Corps?"

Holly looked less certain.

"I'm not sure yet." she replied thinking that honesty was the best policy. " I've had a taste of all departments ofcourse and some appeal more than others but I want to get a good foundation in general medicine before choosing to specialise. If I picked one now, say for example, peadiatrics, there might come a time when it would be a mistake because experience will point me on a different route. 'Im sorry but I cant be more definite."

"You don't have to be." It seemed the Klingon was starting to settle down somewhat, although her discomforting gaze was still unrelenting. At least she was listening.

"A good Starfleet Doctor needs to be able to handle a very wide variety of tasks at the highest level. One day we are curing a new disease, the next performing surgery, the next speaking at a conference, sitting in a command meeting and fifty other things besides. No officer in the fleet has as much responsibility at such a low rank or has so much expected of them. But this you already know. Or if you don't, you soon will."

She paused, letting the humming beeping and chattering from the ward outside fill the room for a few moments. When she spoke again her voice was softer but just as dangerous.

"What is your opinion of Klingons?"

Holly lifted her chin a fraction and holding the CMOs gaze she replied simply " Wary".

"Wary is something you are, not something you think." Gilah shot back. Holly had some guts, that much was obvious. She might not have expected it just from looking at the young human but she told herself that pre-judgement was something she herself received a lot of and to do the same to Holly would be unwise. To really know someone you need to look past what they are and see the who. She asked again, her teeth staying locked together in a scowl.

"What is your opinion of Klingons?"

Hollys fingers clenched together on her lap but her gaze remained as it was.

"I dont much like them" came a quiet voice.

"They are fearless ruthless and aggressive. They are to be admired for their upholding tradition and being proud of their heritage and although I can say I share some of those qualities, some are the polar opposite from what I was brought up to be or want to be."

Well that's probably that Holly thought still looking at the woman opposite her. Holly you can kiss your career goodbye. But the C.M.O. simply smiled at her, a more genuine smile than Holly had seen thus far.

"You have courage to sit there in front of me and say that. And strong beliefs. Some Klingon beliefs are the opposite of what I want to be. That is why I am here, rather than serving the Empire. Klingon doctors are used as tools for battle, to educate on how to kill more effectively. I... would not do that." She shook her head. "To me, all life must be protected, all patients treated. We are here to help, not to judge, even those who are fearless ruthless and aggressive."

Gilah leaned forward across the desk towards Holly, all the signs of Klingon theatre and bravado replaced with something entirely more genuine - most likely the real Gilah.

"Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

Although unaware of it, Holly shrank back in her chair by a couple of inches as Gilah leaned forward.

"I think so." she replied. " That you and I are more alike than we think?" she suggested.

Gilah snorted and sat back in her chair.

"Perhaps. We will see. I will have to keep an eye on you, Doctor Meadows." She swiped a PADD from her desk and made a few inputs on the screen.

"You will start in general medicine here in main sickbay for your first six months minimum." She continued in an official sounding tone. "I'm assigning you to Alpha shift, under my direct supervision. As a member of Alpha shift you will be on duty from zero eight hundred until sixteen hundred each day. Computer! What time is it?"

"The time is zero nine zero eight ship time" the computer replied mechanically, unaware of Gilah's mockery in the form of a 'nagging' hand gesture.

"One good thing about the Empire, the computers don't talk back at you" Gilah commented with a look of extreme distaste, looking up from her PADD.

Holly fractionally raised and lowered her head in a gesture of understanding, the very corners of her mouth twitched in a failed smile.
She watched her 'colleague' she imagined would be the word, bow her head to study the padd, taking in the shining soft curls and the polished nails.
It was almost like the moments at the tail end of a dream when reality is kicking in but strange details of the dream remain so that both become mixed. This whole meeting was nothing as she had imagined it would be.

"You will work from after this meeting is concluded until the normal end of your shift today and then be back here at zero eight hundred ship time tomorrow" Gilah continued, making a few more entries onto the PADD. "Some pointers for you – firstly it's Gilah with an I as in Pi not Geelah as in see. I will be addressed always as ma'am, Doctor or Doctor Gilah unless you wish to be addressed as Portia for the next week or until I forget. Second… and the point I was trying to make earlier... I don't care what your opinion is of Klingons or any other race or group, whoever or whatever walks through the door of sickbay as a patient they get treated exactly the same no matter what. The only caveats are when a patient is behaving in a way that is dangerous to themselves or others. Now do you understand?" she asked, firing a piercing look across the desk to Holly.

Holly was young and inexperienced full of enthusiasm and willing to learn but one thing she had never learned to master was accepting something that she wasnt guilty of with good grace and the wisdom of silence.

She met the piercing look steadily but her own gaze grew cold and hard.

"With respect Ma'am....you asked my opinions of Klingons and I gave it as I would of any other race you named. I never said I would not give them care or attention or any help they needed and neither would I. I am a Doctor and that is my job and whats more its my nature. Anyone under my care in Sickbay will receive the best that I can give and in that we are the same."

Her brave little speech was ruined when her eyes teared up but she still sat statue still on her chair with her hands clasped on her lap.

Gilah rolled her eyes and placed the PADD down on the desk.

"Don't cry, Doctor Meadows" she sighed, "I never said that you wouldn't. I hold all of my staff to the same standards. You should be pleased, if I didn't like you I would have placed you on Gamma shift already. As it is you will have opportunities for study, practice, shadowing and even away missions which -be warned- some of your colleagues will be jealous of. I don't give these opportunities to just anyone and I expect them to be used to their full potential."

She went on after a few moments in a quieter more personable tone.

"I suspect you are a very capable doctor. I have given you the opportunity to prove it."

Holly blinked back the tears, grateful that none had spilled over and ashamed that Gilah had noticed.

"I appreciate the trust...very much." Holly replied. "I'd expected to be working nights for a year at least." she ventured to say and tried a small smile still unsure of her CMOs reactions.

Gilah smiled back slightly in return, a gesture slightly diminished by her long sharp canines which became that much more prominent as a result.

"Take this opportunity and make it your own. Gamma shift will always be there if you prove yourself unworthy."

"Indeed." Holly murmured.
The pair observed each other in silence.
What Gilah was thinking about Holly had absolutely no idea but her own thoughts were asking her how a patient would react to such a stare and, for that matter, how they would react to such a smile.

"Where would you like me to begin today?" she asked when many seconds had passed.

"We will come to that shortly" Gilah said as she picked up the PADD again. "First the two most important things I expect from you other than hard work and excellent care. First, if you screw up, and you will, tell someone. Probably me. You screw up, you tell me, we fix it, we carry on. You screw up, you don't tell anyone or try to hide it, its gamma shift if you're lucky and the brig if you're not. Clear?"

"Perfectly." Holly replied.

"Good. Last. If you are unsure or need help, ASK. You will not be penalised for being unsure how to handle a tricky situation. You will be penalised for ploughing through regardless and screwing up! The senior doctors including me will always help you. If there is no one available, contact me. Even if I am asleep or in a meeting with the Commodore I will always help you. Being a doctor is not a competition to see who knows the most about medicine, it is about helping people. If the end result is that the patient goes away fit and well it doesn't matter how we got there."


Gilah let this last point sink in for a few moments before acquiring another PADD from her desk and passing it to Holly.

"There are a few officers on every ship who think it is somehow acceptable to constantly miss and reschedule their routine physicals. They are wrong. This is how accidents happen and people get killed. Under Starfleet Medical Protocol 121 as the Chief Medical Officer I have the power to remove any officer including the captain from active duty if in my professional judgement he she or it is medically unfit. You have shown me you are willing to stand up for yourself. Your first task will be to find the officers on this list in person and inform them that they have exactly one week from midnight tonight ship time to present themselves at sickbay for a routine physical. If they do not do so they will be removed from active duty. I have already sent a memo to all heads of department telling them that this will be happening. No excuses, no 'I'm too busy', no baktag."

From the way Gilah pronounced the last word it was clear this was a Klingon phrase, probably a swearword.

"Right." Holly said, leaning forward to accept the padd and turning it in her hand. Activating it a list of some 26 names in alphabetical order, appeared in front of her.
She frowned reading the positions these officers held, some of which she had never heard of or at least didnt recall.
"Fine." she said looking up at Gilah and thinking she would need the computer to guide her steps as she switched the padd off.

"Do you have any questions before you leave for battle?" Gilah asked her with a sickly grin.

"No...." Holly answered slowly but then with more assurance added "No I dont think so Ma'am."

"Until later then, Doctor Meadows. And remember…" she signalled towards a large poster on the wall opposite the door that stated in large yellow text 'It is never a good day to die.'

Holly, standing now, looked in the direction of the pointing finger, read the slogan and looking back at Gilah said
"Got it."