Sickbay was its usual hub of activity, only even more so, given the recent personnel transfers. An unusually large numer of patients were showing up for their physical, and supplies were being transferred over to the Cygnus and stored away in their proper locations.

Elodin stepped out of his office and walked over to the mainward, breaking his stride to avoid colliding into an antigrav sled someone had left too close to the doorway.

He pushed the sled out of the way, muttering a curse meant for whoever had left this thing as a safety hazard. He walked over to the main board, and looked over the case load. Light cases, mostly physicals, a sprained ankle, and a back injury probably from hauling supplies.

Kin’Fuji was in luck as she walked into sickbay, by spotting the Chief Medical Officer. She put a smile on her blue furred fox muzzle and walked over to him. “Good day sir.” She stated pulling out her orders.

Elodin looked at the newcomer and reached out to take the data PaDD she was offering. “Hello,” he said. He glanced at the information on the PaDD. “Doctor Kin’Fuji?”

“Yes sir.” Kin’Fuji said. “I would have been a bit earlier, but one of the Nurses needed an extra pair of hands to help her out.” She explained as her three tails danced behind her.

“Welcome aboard. Why don’t we go to my office and talk,” he said, extending a hand toward the corridor leading to the Chief Medical Officer’s office.

“Alright sir.”  Kin’Fuji said with her sweet smile.

Elodin led the way to his office. He spared a glance at the Shrine to the Prophets, located in a small nook on the wall to his left, and walked over to the replicator.

“Tea?” he offered.

“Yes please.”  Kin’Fuji said.

Elodin ordered an Earl Grey for Kin’Fuji, and a Baroran Black Forest arboreal tea for himself. He picked up the beverages from the replicator and brought them over to his desk, where he motioned for Kin’Fuji to make herself comfortable.

“Doctor Kin’Fuji,” said Elodin again, raising an eyebrow inquisitively, making sure he had the right pronunciation. “Tell me a bit about your medical background. What would you say is your medical specialty?”

“I grow up around the medical profession as my mother is a Admin Nurse.”  She stated.  “I studied general and pediatric medicine.”  She added.  “With the help of my mother I learned logistics and Administration and personnel management.”  Kin’Fuji explained.

Elodin nodded. “I’m sorry to say chances are you won’t get to do too much pediatric medicine on the Cygnus. We do have a few families on board, but not that many. Did you attend medical school on Cait?”

“There is still a few families, including my own, onboard.”  Kin’Fuji said.  “I attended Medical School on Earth, where I was born and raised.”  She stated.  “Besides my skills might be helpful if we call in to assist a colony or colony vessel.”  She added.

“Indeed,” replied Elodin. “I didn’t mean to imply that your skills were of no use to the ship, quite the contrary.” He took a sip of tea, cursing himself inwardly for his clumsy remarks. “Are you active in medical research?”

“I do read up on Medical Journals.”  Kin’Fuji said.  “I like to keep myself informed about new studies in children illness and general illnesses.”  She added.

Elodin nodded. The response was rather vague, and he interpreted it as a way for Kin’Fuji to guard her privacy. “Well, we have a rather impressive medical laboratory, don’t hesitate to pursue any research endeavor you see fit.”

He took a sip of his tea. “We’re heading out into unexplored space, no idea what we’ll encounter. Have you ever been in this kind of situation?”

“Sadly no.”  Kin’Fuji said.  “This is my first deep space mission, but I am looking forward to find a new uncharted world.  I just hope every is good there and we can have a little R&R there.”

Elodin smiled. “Well, I think these will be exciting times. Not so sure about finding R&R, but there will be fascinating discoveries, I’m sure.”

He took a sip of tea and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk as he snapped back into Chief mode. “There have been a number of papers published on readiness procedures for deep space exploration. I’d like you to carry out a literature review, and then check if there’s anything lacking in our own preparation. I’ve made a few notes myself, and we’ll compare your results with what I’ve written down.”

“Of coarse, sir.”  Kin’Fuji said with a smile.  “I’ll get started on that between patients.”  She added.  “I’ll, also, cross reference the current medical staff, to see which ones have the highest experience in deep space exploration.  So we can have the more experienced mentoring those without experience.”

Elodin nodded, pleased with Kin’Fuji’s initiative. “Very good, Doctor,” he said. “How soon do you think you can get it done?”

“I’ll get right on it, sir.”  Kin’Fuji said.

“Thank you Doctor, I look forward to your report,” replied Elodin, dismissing the Caitian.