=Galleria: 0620=
“I apologize for any misunderstanding sir, but do you have a destination in mind this morning?”
Looking down at the monitor she’d strapped around her left bicep, T’Vel continued walking at the brisk pace she’d set when the two had started off, and replied, “My destination this morning is an adequate level of cardiovascular exercise, Cadet. I have found since serving aboard a starship that certain types of exercise are eschewed or sacrificed, for the sake of both efficiency and vanity. I do not intend to let my overall fitness suffer in this way, and I am trying to instill this value in you as a new member of the Squadron. Additionally, I find the term ‘sir’ imprecise with a mixed crew. Doctor, my name, or ma’am will suffice.”
This was the most words Sovalek had heard come out of the doctor’s mouth since he’d met her several days ago.
“Understood, doctor.”
“A brisk walk will suffice to elevate our heart rates before we must return to the Sevastopol for further training. Did you look over the coursework I provided?”
Sovalek thought for a moment, and replied, “Apologies, Doctor, I was awake assisting Admiral Tondro with administrative duties until a late hour, and have not had proper time to review. I was intending to spend this morning reviewing my coursework.”
“Unimportant,” T’Vel said, flatly. “It will be largely remedial for you, given the coursework you’ve thus far completed at the Academy. It was intended to be a ‘refresher’ as the saying goes. If your regular duties kept you too occupied to review it, you should spend the morning with Lieutenant Gutierrez in Stellar Cartography instead.”
“I would still rather spend the morning with you in sickbay, Doctor. I have learned very little of the medical sciences in my time as a cadet, and I find myself curious, from a generalist perspective.”
Walking several moments without replying, T’Vel responded, “Very well.”
=Main Engineering: 0800=
Jon watched as the tall Klingon woman walked through the doors to the Sevastopol’s Main Engineering. Wordlessly, she handed him a tall mug of raktajino, and took a sip of her own. He hadn’t really understood the request for the Ganymede’s Chief Medical Officer to come aboard and chat with him about the finer mechanics of the warp core on a Rhode Island-class, but he figured there wasn’t really a reason to say no.
“Where would you like to start, doc?” Jon asked.
“Everywhere,” she gruffed. “But for the time being, I’d like to take a closer look at the schemata, as well as a glossary of terms frequently used by the engineering and operations teams as pertains to your duties.”
“Hmm. Sure, Doctor K’Aetan. I can do that for you without any issues at all. But I could have sent that over to you, or you could have found most of it in the standard database. So any reason for the uh…house call, so to speak?”
Smiling out of the side of her mouth, she responded, “Yes. As you may know, our Chief Engineer is a Horta. I am developing a subroutine within both our universal translator matrix as well as my own biobeds to have a more…robust understanding of what he is attempting to communicate to us. I have worked with some of the Federation’s best linguists in preparation for him coming aboard.”
Jon nodded, hunched over his console pulling up the data she’d requested.
“So this is a matter of you not wanting to fail a potential patient in the thick of it then?”
“Exactly,” K’Aetan responded. “Our current translation matrices are inadequate to express the wide range of thoughts and emotions that Lieutenant Hrzlthrp is capable of expressing. I am trying at bare minimum to reduce that from an operational and logistical angle. For the rest, I’ll work with our ship’s counselor or some other empathic member of the crew.”
Jon stood up and flashed a grin at the woman. “This is your personal project, isn’t it, Doc?”
“Yes.”
Nodding, Jon handed her a PADD. “Full engineering schemata of all four classes of ships in the squadron, a glossary of most frequently used terminology by engineering, operations, science, and command officers, common slang of seventeen different species as pertains to engineering or ops, and a good recipe for a teflon plating.”
K’Aetan blinked as she scrolled through the PADD. “This is exhaustive. Thank you, Commander Batchelder.”
“Jon,” he replied. “If we’re going to be working together, we should be on a first name basis. And no problem. If you run into any snags, you let me know. Happy to help with this, it’s a good cause.”
=Sickbay: 0900=
“Ensign, I will ask you several questions regarding your current emotional state and your empathic abilities. You may disclose or not, at your choice, how these relate to your Frontier Day traumatic experiences. You are not obligated to answer any question you do not wish to answer. Do you understand, and do I have your consent to continue?”
Ensign Raiera Onaa, the Sevastopol’s chief of security, exhaled softly with a smile and nodded. This was the standard question that T’Vel always asked before they began their general mental wellness checkup.
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Good. Then we will begin with your sleep patterns and potential issues with sleep hygiene. Do you currently use a white noise subroutine to aid in sleep, and if so, has it been helpful?”
“I do, and it has. It gives my mind and my abilities something to use as a shield to drown out the thoughts of the crew.”
“Excellent,” T’Vel responded as she typed something into her PADD. “Do you sleep with lights on, and do you keep your PADD or other device with you in bed while you are attempting to sleep?”
Onaa shook her head, and replied, “No ma’am, not since you told me how bad that was for overall sleep quality. I keep the lights dimmed in case I need to get up and use the head in the middle of the night unexpectedly, but other than that I keep it…T’Vel, you know all of this, we share a communal living space.”
T’Vel looked up from her PADD, and said, “You are a private woman, Raiera. You spend much time in your bedroom, reading or studying I presume. I do not keep you on overwatch every moment you are in our communal space, nor would I for the sake of your privacy. Next, duties as assigned. Do you find that your abilities hinder your current duties, assist you in them, or are they not a factor?”
“Not a factor, Doctor,” Raiera said with a grin.
“You and I engage in a restorative mind meld once per month. Is this cadence sufficient, or would you like to change the frequency?”
“Once a month is incredibly helpful, Doctor,” Raiera responded. “You’ve helped me so much in getting my mental shielding back up since I came aboard.”
“I am satisfied to hear it,” she responded, setting the PADD down. She turned to the chair behind her, and asked, “Cadet Sovalek, do you have any questions for Ensign Onaa before I dismiss her?”
Thinking for a moment, he replied, “None that would not be considered deeply unprofessional. Only questions to sate my own intellectual curiosity, which this is an inappropriate time for.”
“You are dismissed, Ensign,” T’Vel said. “I will be cooking an Earth recipe for hearty meat stew this evening, if you would care to join Cadet Sovalek and me. Your presence would be agreeable.”
Raiera smiled as she stood, and slung her kit back over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
