Doctor Lorsa Efe sat out of the way on an empty biobed, a PADD with the latest medical journal propped up on her lap. The rest of sickbay was quiet. The last patients from the Battle of Betazed had gone home. Now it was just a matter of holding down the medical ward in case of accidents.

“Ooh! I read that issue! The one on better streamlining of triage is fascinating!” Tavana gushed from behind. “I highly recommend the abstract on alternative uses of White.”

Tavana stepped away from the woman and set her bag down on an adjoining biobed. Grinning brightly, she held her hand out. “Excuse me, I’m Tavana Malax. Apparently, I’m the new Chief Medical Officer.”

Lorsa set the PADD down and stood, accepting the handshake with a raised eyebrow as neither were human, “Lorsa Efe, orthopedics. Nice to meet the new boss. You’ve got your hands full.”

Tavana laughed. “I’m sure I do. I don’t mind though. This is sure to be more stimulating than dealing with Vulcans all the time.” She waved a hand in an arc with an eye roll. “They are such stiff beings. While I like my solitude – and yes I’m unlike my species, the Vulcan distance is disconcerting, to say the least.” Reading Efe’s body language, she added, “I picked up some Human traits despite being on Vulcan, I’m afraid.” She chuckled softly. “We Denobulans are social, so I found the idea of handshakes to be a good way to ‘break the ice,’ as they would say.”

Tavana then stepped back a step and clapped her hands together, rubbing her palms back and forth. She took in the format of the room for a moment, then turned back to Efe. “Where can I find the Chief Medical Officer’s office, or do you wish to keep it for yourself instead? I’m not picky that way. I can keep an office space in my quarters if that suits you best. I understand you’ve done quite a good job keeping things in hand here.”

“My office is elsewhere. Yours is over there,” Efe pointed across the sickbay.

“Thank you!” The Denobulan woman picked up her things and headed where the Bajoran indicated.

Carefully but quickly, Tavana put everything she had away. With a satisfied smile, she nodded her approval. Once back in Sickbay proper, she noted where everything was. Each starship was different, no matter what the class.

Doctor Lorsa watched her new CMO retreat into her office. “Well, our holiday is over. Time to get to work,” Efe said to a nearby nurse.

“She seems nice,” the nurse observed.

“Yeah,” Efe said with a mischievous grin. “They always sound nice at first… but I think in this case you would be correct.” She looked down and gathered her belongings. “There’s a number of new crew and existing crew in need of physicals. Let’s get that list compiled for Doctor…”

“Tavana,” the nurse added helpfully.

“Yes, of course. Let’s get that list for the doctor. How is the inventory going?”

“Uh… I think Virginia and T’yoil are almost done.”

“Good,” Efe said. “Let’s get that to her before she asks if we can.”

“Of course, doctor.”