A Necessary Evil

Posted on Mon Nov 7, 2016 @ 7:00pm by Lieutenant Commander Arrda & Lieutenant Phen Caticasse

Mission: An Orion to Die For
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD 1 || 1800 Hours

On:

Finn had been working on getting the crew files up to date. To help with that, he had sent out a message to the Senior Staff, asking that they come by the medbay when they could. Until then, he had been going over patients with the medical staff as they came in. Five thousand crew was just going to take a long time. He had taken a small break, sitting at the nurses station nursing a small cup of warm beverage and working on some notes for upcoming appointments. He looked up when a small alarm sounded at the station. It was just a timer, nothing to worry about, but it made the doctor stop in his work for a moment.

He was over time, working past his shift. He hated having to, but it was always like this the first few days on a new assignment. There was all the learning about new crew and the structuring of departments, etc. It kept him running for the first few days. This time was no different. It also didn't help that this ship was a very different breed in some ways than other Starfleet ships; it added a learning curve to his list of to-do's that normally did not exist. Fortunately for everyone, Douglas Mallory was a quick study.

He was just about to close it up for the day and head to quarters when his terminal chimed, indicating a new message. Briefly, he considered ignoring it and feigning not having heard it when anyone asked. But his training was better than that, so he touched the holographic screen to open the message.

"Med evals..." he muttered. Unlike so many officers who avoided them like the plague, Douglas did not. He had learned long ago that an officer who hid medical conditions often hid other things. He had also learned that those officers tended to not be able to perform at their optimal. He had never had any desire to be one of those officers, so he had always gone when the Scientist First -- Chief Medical Officer, he corrected himself mentally -- summoned him to. Now was no different.

Rising, he set his mug in the cleaner for it and left his office. Making his way to hte Medical Bay, he glanced around quickly, noting who was where. He did not see the EMH whom he had met during the Briefing, but he did see a man at the Nurses' Station, so he approached and waited for the man to acknowledge his presence. When he did, Douglas smiled. "I'm Lieutenant Mallory... here to see the Chief as requested." he informed.

Finn had looked up for a moment, and hadn't said anything until the introduction. There was an odd look on his face. "Lieutenant Mallory," the doctor said quickly. "Chief Security Officer, right?" He didn't wait for a response before pushing his chair back and standing up. "Take a seat at a free biobed if you would." He gave a smile, "I'll try to make this as quick as I can." He paused for a moment and then grabbed a tricorder from behind the divider. "Oh, Lieutenant Phen Caticasse, but you can call me Finn. If you have to be official, I'd ask for Doctor over Lieutenant." He said simply, he gave a quick grin and flipped open the tricorder and began his scans rather swiftly. "Alright, first, I'm not familiar with your species. So this might take a bit longer than some people." He cleared his throat a bit, "Thanks for making the time to come down here. Any worries or concerns I should know about before we get into it?"

Douglas smiled a bit at the man as he moved to one of the biobeds and lay down on it as asked. "All right, Finn." he acknowledged the man's request for informality in address. He didn't mind anyway, since this was not a situation that demanded formality. "It takes as long as it takes," he said with a shrug, "and not a problem. I have no reason to avoid you."

Thinking about the question, he shook his head. "No, I think I'm generally pretty healthy for my species." he answered after a moment.

"Yeah?" Finn said with a slight up tone in his voice, a rhetorical question to be sure. He gave a grin, "I have to admit, I'm still working on the basics of your species. Not a whole lot in common with my own." He scanned lightly as he spoke. "Don't let that worry you, I studied Xeno-biology on New Xindus. Dhei for medical. Thetis was a way point for traders coming into Dhei." He paused for a moment, "Anyway, I'm pretty used to figuring out new species." He had realized he was rambling, and looked at the scans. "All the basic vitals look good." He sat the tricorder to the side. "I'll go over the information in depth when you leave, but honestly, this is mostly to get my first scans and get everyone's medical records how I like them."

The doctor dusted his hands on his scrubs and then took a breath. "I do have to ask. What about mental health? Any issues?" He smirked just a bit, "Anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc?" He paused, "I know I'm not the counselor, but general practice - good idea to keep information on both physical and mental. If you'd prefer to only talk to counselors on the subject, feel free to say so."

The man did talk a lot, Douglas reflected as he listened. He really didn't mind it though. It was better, he thought, than those doctors who merely took readings and never said word one to their patients. Vorla, the Scientist First on Marai, was somewhere in the middle; he remembered, even after Aidan's accident, the man had been compassionate but neither wordless or overly wordy.

Douglas' eyes came to meet Finn's, and his eyebrows raised. "Interesting." he murmured more o himself than to the doctor. "Most in your field just tell us to talk to the counselor." He chuckled lightly and sat up, shrugging. "I don't have any immediate complaints." He had been paying attenttion and had noted where the man had said that he had studied. That was interesting. And the reference to the doctor's species made Douglas take a closer look at him.

"You mentioned that Marai, my species, hasn't much in common with yours. May I ask what yours is?" He did not immediately recognize it; but that was not entirely unexpected. There were far too many species both in and allied with the Federation for any one man to remember all of them in detail, especially if a species was not seen commonly enough to make them readily recognizable.

"Lorillian." Finn answered quickly. "Our homeworld is near Rigel, Xindus - in the old Delphic Expanse." That was usually enough for people to understand the basic region. "Most people don't recognize us, which is odd. We've been allies of Vulcan since before Humans. Joined the Federation early, actually. I mean, not founders, obviously." He sighed, "We're spacers. Less than half our overall species lived on Lorillia - once we figured out spaceflight, we were out here. I was born and raised on a freighter. Like most of us. So, the lack of colonies and sort of nomadic nature kind of keeps us off the radar." He took a breath, "Also probably helps that most species can't breath methyl oxide. So, its rare people visit our holdings. And we have to wean ourselves onto oxygen. So I suppose it goes both ways." He paused for a moment, "Still hurts to breathe some times."

He shook his head, "Sorry, here I am rambling about my own species. Tell me more about yours? You're the first I've met of yours, the Morai." He realized he mispronounced it, "Sorry, Marai. I had only read it until just then."

Douglas chuckled just a bit at the mispronunciation. It didn't bother him really; it made sense given that the man had only heard it the once, as he had just admitted. "Quite all right." he assured. "And I didn't mind the small cultural introduction." True, Douglas was no Seeker -- they would have talked with Finn for hours about the Lorillians -- but he was enough of an explorer type to appreciate the quick dip in the pool, so to speak.

"As to my people... where do I begin?" He frowned in thought for a moment. "What would you like to know?" Maybe if Finn asked him something, it would spark something in his head.

Finn gave a few nods, "Well," he finally admitted, "I have a ton of questions. I could take up your entire day, for sure." He said with a shrug, "I mean, where to start..." He shrugged. "I've seen your medical history, and the notes that the previous medical teams have put down - including psych and all that. So, there are so many things that have piqued my interest." He could have asked so many question, "Especially given the differences between our species," He motioned between the two. "I mean, Spacer versus Two G. But," He finally quit rambling a bit and got around to a question.

"I know you're long lived - I can see how your cells restitch and regenerate, and all the medical stuff." He leaned back against a nearby biobed and twisted his head, "But I have to admit, the effects on your culture and family units is fascinating. We don't live nearly as long," He emphasized the word nearly with a nod of his head, "So, I have to ask about your culture." He said lightly, "Holidays, festivals, arts, etc - anything you are willing to give up. Surely, you sort of see how we do things, but how different is that from your own homeworld? I guess if I were to put a specific question, what is it you celebrate?" He gave with a little nod. It was an odd question, but truthfully, it spoke a lot to what a species was when one knew that one simple question. At least, it helped Finn to better understand.

What did Marai celebrate? Douglas thought about that a moment. There were the 'customary' answers to it: the holidays that were planet-wide, the spiritual ceremonies, etc. But he suspected that Finn's question was more abstract than that. "I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you aren't referring simply to our holidays." he began. "And as you pointed out, we do live a lot longer. Thus, we stop celebrating birthdays after a certain point. Beyond a certain point, it becomes gratuitous, after all." He chuckled a bit.

"We do celebrate anniversaries, though, as many species do. Family is extremely important to us. Yes, because we live so long, we end up with a lot more family than shorter-lived species. And yes, it becomes difficult to remember all of the names." he admitted with a self-effacing smile. "But we do find ways to celebrate our families. We celebrate new births, matings, the typical things most species find worth celebrating, I suppose." He paused to think a bit more.

"We aren't an overly religious people; meaning that we don't have an organized church to speak of. We do believe, like our Kestra allies, in the Mother Creator Shaesa. Our ways of celebrating her influences upon us as a culture, though, are celebrated more in the fashion of festivals and the like, rather than some rigid, rules-dominated, Church-building-based religion." he clarified. Well, hopefully that made it clearer. "I hope that made sense to you."

Phen have a few nods as the conversation carried on. He noted the similarities and differences as he spoke, and when the explanation ended, he gave a warm smile. "It does. I suppose Lorillians are relatively similar in a lot of ways. We have larger families than most other species. I'm sure not as large, but I understand the challenge of remembering names. Celebrate matings, births, etc." He paused for a moment, "A couple different major philosophical and religious paths across the Fleets and homeworlds. We have a tendency to adopt other aspects into our own as we travel. Really, we looked to the stars and started searching long ago - and just keep going."

He paused for a moment, "I have to ask, since you mentioned matings," He thought about that for a second - his eyes narrowed and head tilted lightly. "That sounded odd to me for some reason. Anyway. Lorillians aren't a culture that have long term bondings like a lot of cultures. We don't do marriage, frankly. So I have to ask on that dynamic. If there is one."

Douglas frowned. It was not that he had not heard of species that did not engage in marriage; it was simply that he had never been asked to explain it. "What is it exactly that you don't understand?" he asked, hoping to clarify a place to start.

"We bond differently. Men, generally, switch ships rather often. Children must stay with mothers because of our biology." Finn gave a shrug, "I understand a lot of species strive towards monogamy. Which, is a fine goal, but..." He shook his head and moved back to topic. "Partners tell a lot about a person or a people. So, I am asking how your partnerships work, I suppose. Are you long term partners? Life time? Single partners? Multiple? Romantic, or more primal relationships? Equal partners, or unequal?" He paused a moment, "Sorry, its an odd question isn't it?"

Douglas frowned in thought. "No, it isn't an odd question. In my travels, I have learned that different species have different beliefs regarding the matter." he answered. "Take, for example, our allies the Kestra. They have multiple partners, a household consisting of anywhere from two to ten adults. The Native Americans on Earth's North American continent had a saying; 'It takes a tribe to raise a child.', and this seems to be a variant on that concept."

He gave more thought to the actual question. "As to my people, the Marai, we can range from monogamous like my mother to multiplicitous like the Kestra. Up until now, I have been fairly monogamous." he informed. In monogamous matings, the bondings generally are romantic. In the larger family units, I think there is some of that coupled with a more basic drive to form clan-like units." he informed, pausing for thought again. "You might have to ask a Kestra, though, if you are fortunate enough to meet one in the future." he added with a smile.

Another smile, this one more loving, crossed his lips. "Currently, I do have a mate, a lovely lady named Danielle." he said, proud to give this piece of information. Any excuse to talk about her was a good one in his book. He paused though in realization. "I hope that I answered your question clearly enough?"

"Perfectly," Finn said a bit more simply, giving a quick nod. "We're a large family sort of people. The more in the crew, the better." He tapped the bed next to him. "I'm sorry, I'm taking up a bunch of your time with this sort of talk." He gave a quick nod, and waved a off the bed, "If you're open to it, I'd love to have a meal or something and compare notes on culture, but I shouldn't keep you here for that." He made a motion towards the medical scanners, "I have the information I need, and you seem to be healthy." He gave a smirk, "So, any other questions or anything before you head back out?"

Douglas noted the sudden shift in the man. Odd, he thought, but he let it go. He did not really have enough knowledge of the man's species to know whether it was an odd behavior for them or not, after all. "I would welcome the cultural exchange." he responded as he got off the biobed. "After all, Enforcers are as much diplomats, sociologists, etc. as we are protectors and warriors and arbiters." he informed. Granted, much of the initial research was always done by Seekers, but Enforcers did their share as well.

"As to questions, though, none that are duty-related." he answered. "Perhaps you could join my wife and I for dinner or drinks some night in the near future though, and we could continue the cultural exchange. But for now, you are correct; we should likely both return to our duties. It was a pleasure meeting you, though, Finn." He said, giving a wave before heading back to his duties.

Finn noted the term Enforcers, and had to wonder how direct of a translation that was. He needed to do more research - but on a ship this big, he didn't really have the luxury of time needed to go over the real interesting facets of even the Senior Staff. It was something he hated about this big of a ship, but, he would get to it eventually. Either way, Finn gave a smile and a sort of mix of a nod and bow. "I would like that," He said about the meal, sort of calling after the security officer, "Until then." He said quickly, moving to drop off his readings, but barely having time to do that before a nurse waved him over and he was on to another patient.

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