“Cadets Log – [Exam Day] – Today has been hectic and the day is only half done! Two exams down, loads more to go – The history test was alright, a few simple questions that required very complex answers… did what I could… probably said too much about Mom and Dad, but they deserve the recognition. Xenobiology was a little more complicated, I never really got much of Mom’s medical side, but I picked up a few things and it seems to come a little more naturally than a lot of the others. Now I find myself in one of the many medbays on the station. It has the smell of an old doctor’s waiting room… I hate sickbays… not too keen on doctors either if I’m hone—”

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“Cadet Thomas Hunter, please make your way to examination room four” – The automated computer interrupts Thomas’s log entry, bringing his focus back into the room – next to him are Victor  Murphy and Sally Tang, and surrounding him are a few dozen people, all waiting for their medical reviews,

“Cadet Thomas Hunter, this is your second call to make your way to examination room four” – Thomas stands up and shuffles his way through the crowd to a corridor. A corridor, which leads to another corridor and finally to exam room four, where Thomas is invited to sit down on a bio-bed.

A few minutes later, a figure enters the room – a humanoid woman wearing a Starfleet medical uniform and a white lab coat. “Hello there” the nurse quickly looks at her PADD to double-check that she has the right patient, “Mr Hunter is it?” Thomas nods his head in confirmation. “Hi there, I’m Nurse Cobb, I’m here to conduct your medical evaluation. As I’m sure you can understand, we have lots of these to do, so we’re gonna jump right on into it,” The nurse takes out her medical tricorder and takes the hand sensor from the main device and begins to take Thomas’ biological readings.

Nurse Cobb looks at the readings. “The good news is you’re all clear of diseases and pathogens – I’m not finding any injuries and everything seems to be within the normal parameters for your species, so I guess my first question is… how are you feeling?”

Thomas takes a moment to gather his thoughts. “Apprehensive, excited… that feeling you get when you have an opportunity to prove yourself and your abilities to a group of well-respected and high-ranking people, who literally have the job of testing you and telling you whether you’re good enough or not.” – Thomas gives the nurse a curious look, spotting something in her eyes, as Nurse Cobb sees Thomas’ red eyes slightly glow.

“Oh… you’re Betazoid, aren’t you? – What are you picking up from me?” – Cobb looks closer into Thomas’ glowing eyes. “We can’t actually read your minds, you know? – we just get emotional vibes and you seem to be open and honest about how you feel… though I get the feeling you don’t wanna be here.” Thomas looks around the room. “Yeah, sorry, my mom’s a CMO on the Nightingale. I’ve spent a lot of time in sick bays and seen a lot of weird medical stuff happen, so it’s just really not for me, thanks.”

Nurse Cobb gives a knowing smile and nods in agreement. “I can imagine. Seen a few things here myself and I can’t imagine what that would do to a small child… That said, I’m happy to say that you are physically, mentally and emotionally fit for your transfer.” The Nurse steps back to allow Thomas to jump down from the bio-bed, shakes the nurse’s hand and thanks her for everything, before leaving the exam room and returning to the waiting area, where there are still a quite a lot of cadets waiting to be seen.

Thomas regroups with Victor and Sally and recommends they get some food, as they head to a turbolift, headed for Vandorin’s Bistro.

Thomas, Victor and Sally step out and are immediately greeted by the restaurant’s maître d, who takes a look at the three cadets and scoffs. “Sirs. Madame. This is an exclusive establishment, it might be a little outside the price range of some Starfleet cadets.”

A few minutes later, everyone’s drinks arrive. Jessica places each drink in front of each cadet and informs them that their food will be approximately ten minutes. The cadets that Jessica, and Thomas tips her a bar of gold-pressed latinum, “Put this in your pocket and don’t tell the Bolian, eh?” The waitress gives a small chuckle and thanks Thomas, placing the bar in a small pouch labelled ‘tips’ before concealing it again and returning to the kitchen to grab the next round of drinks.

In the next ten minutes, the cadets discuss their questions and answers, giving a deep-dive into their reasoning and explanation for what they’d written, until their food finally arrives. The cadets tuck in and have one of the best meals they’ve ever had, finishing it all in record time. Suddenly, the cadets’ comm badges beep, alerting them that its time to make their way to the shuttle bay 1 on deck 326, where they will eventually launch to the USS Exeter.

To Be Continued… In The Next Mission…

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