[USS Denver— Cargo Bay 3]

Part of being in security was often having to do what amounted to grunt work. The uninteresting physical labor of the starship that had to be taken care of. Though it typically fell to Operations, an officer in the lower decks of Security was seen as a useful multi-purpose tool. Often ending up moving supplies around. In orbit above a major Federation colony restocking the ship had been, if not a priority then an opportunity. T’Val was carrying boxes of batteries from where they were being transported to where they’d be stored until they were needed-in phasers, pulse rifles, tricorders, and all manner of other small portable electronic devices.

”Are you sure you can handle that?” a fellow Ensign asked.

”Yes,” was the simple answer as she hoisted the crate and set it on her shoulder for stability. Moving it off the transporter pad that was used for cargo (as opposed to the PADDs used for personnel in another part of the ship), she carried it over to a growing pile of stock that the ship was saving. It was more than they usually stocked but few knew what the future held and in combat the batteries were depleted quicker. It was logical to assume they may not get to restock for awhile.

”Is this pile not getting too high?” she asked studying it.

An Operations officer who was in charge shook his head. “It’s fine.”

T’Val was unconvinced. One did not argue with a senior officer even if they were just a Junior Grade Lieutenant. On her third trip back however, the pile of crated shifted and a box placed on the upper column of the stack tipped and fell. The Vulcan raised her hands and arms to protect her head and then saw black.

[USS Denver-Sickbay] 

=^=Acknowledged. On our way.=^= Tavana tapped her comm badge to end the connection. 

She pulled the Tricorder off her desk and zipped into what she called “Sickbay Proper.” Scanning the room, she spotted the biobed she needed. “Nurse Joffrey, Crewman Huracán, please accompany me to Cargo Bay 3.” She called simply. All needed in tow, Tavana led the way.

[USS Denver— Cargo Bay 3]

With long strides that cut the distance once the doors slid open, Tavana had her Tricorder out and extended to scan before the nurse and crewman were even a third of the way to the patient.

Tavana squatted next to the patient, eyes bouncing between the instrument and the woman. She gave a decisive nod and put the Tricorder back on her belt. She let out a small relieved smile and settled back into her squat. Looking up, she locked her gaze on the Ops officer with an expression that was anything but affable.

“Why weren’t you using anti-grav equipment to lift those crates, Lieutenant?” She held up her right hand just as the nurse put a hypo spray in it, eyes not leaving his.

“Uh…uh…uh, sorry Doctor,” he stammered, “I didn’t think-”

“Exactly!” She bit back as she finished administering the pain reliever. “You…didn’t…THINK!” The words were punctuated by a finger suddenly tapping hard into the man’s chest from a now standing Denobulan doctor. “Luckily for you, Lieutenant,” the sneer could be heard for kilos. “She only sustained minor injuries, but she’ll have a killer headache to take away from your supervision.”  Tavana made air quotes on that one word. Spinning away, the doctor handed the nurse the hypo and nodded to Huracán to approach with the bed.

Once the young Vulcan was safely aboard, she motioned for her people to precede her with their charge. Tavana walked behind a few steps then stopped, turning to face the officer and his unfortunate crew. “Now, if you Ever find yourself in charge again, I hope whatever deity you pray to gives you brains to remember SAFETY!” 

Before an answer could be given, she disappeared behind the swishing doors.

[USS Denver – Medical Bay]

The Vulcan opened her eyes. Looking up from the medical bed she recognized the form of Medical Bay and realized that she must have been brought in. The last thing she recalled was a crate looming down on her. As a test she wiggled her toes in her Starfleet issue uniform boots. They wiggled. As did her other limbs, no obvious nerve damage.

Headache. She sat up and felt dizzy, and so laid back down. 

“Well, hello there,” whispered Tavana. She waved the Tricorder slowly over the young lieutenant’s head, a regular humanoid smile on her face. “Yes Ensign T ’Val, getting up would be a very bad idea. I suggest you stay with us for now.” She retracted the instrument and put it on her belt. “I’m Dr. Tavana Malax.”

Waving fingers appeared between the doctor and her patient, causing the doctor to raise an almost Vulcan-like eyebrow and turn her head. “Yeeeeaaaassss, Nurse Brady?” The doctor drew out, smile widening fondly.

A blond capped head slid in beside the fingers, along with the rest of a blue and black uniformed body. “Uh, hi Dr. Malax. Dr. Lorsa said she needs a consult on her Andorian foot case.” Nurse Brady swung her arms behind her back and rocked back and forth on her heels as she spoke.

Tavana chuckled softly and nodded. “Ah yes, Andorians. Incredible beings those.” Once more, Tavana smiled at T’Val. “ You should be ready to go in say-” she looked up and called for the time from the Ship’s computer. Upon finding out it was almost 1600, she turned back and continued. “Half an hour, maybe?” She then nodded twice and left the young Vulcan with Nurse Brady.

The Vulcan laid back and did not resist. Some enforced relaxation, even if it was in the ship’s medical bay, was a logical result of an accident that had caused her to black out. Clearly she had suffered some cranial trauma, and while she was not trained in medicine she knew enough that not even Vulcans were really tricked skin enough to shake off head trauma easily. Medicine progressed and treatment along with diagnosis was quite a bit more robust than it had once been. Still one did not simply shake off a head injury.

 “I am Assistant Chief Security Officer Ensign T’Val,” she introduced herself since this was her first time formally greeting any of the medical staff. As the Assistant Chief she did not attend senior staff meetings, thus had not properly met any of the senior crew beyond her own Security Chief. She added, “I believe I am suffering from cranial trauma, and feel dizzy and sharp pain. I can manage the pain but I can not perform further duties with vertigo.” 

Nurse Brady yelled for Tavana when T’Val explained her symptoms. The Denobulan ran to the Vulcan’s bed, grabbing the tricorder out of her pocket. A quick scan and toss of the instrument to the Brady, the doctor called out “Get me hypos of Meloxicam and Melorazine. 10cc’s each!” The hypos were handed off to her open side and she pressed them into the woman’s neck. “Don’t manage anything, Ensign. I’ve got you.” 

Tavana nodded when she was handed the neurocortical monitor. Looking over at the biofunction monitor, she frowned a moment then relaxed. She looked at the slightly groggy Vulcan and remarked. “You have a concussion, my dear. You’re going to be fine.” She smiled. “I want to give you a test of number repetition in about 10 minutes. We need to make sure it’s nothing serious.” 

It was logical then, with the diagnosis of a concussion, to wait the allotted time advices by the doctor. Though Vulcans could withstand more than a human, T’Val knew that her operating at prime efficiency was important, not just for regular duties but if they did actually come across the Dominion either on Vulcan or somewhere else. So without any further argument she submitted to the doctor’s orders and did not try to (as humans may have put it) ‘be a hero’. 

“Doctor, may I ask a personal question? I know we just met but I do not wish to discuss a situation in my own department and I do not really know anyone else onboard as of yet” T’Val asked, “Did your family approve of you joining Starfleet, it would seem to run contrary to your role of a doctor at least at a time of war.”

The doctor’s head snapped up at the question. “Well, personal has many layers to it, Ensign,” she advised. “But in this case, I see that you do not need to peel so many back!” She chuckled. As she set up a PADD, she answered somewhat thoughtfully. “Well…my family wasn’t actually surprised at my desire to enter Starfleet. Considering I was one to do things my own way irregardless of what others thought I should do, it was as you Vulcans say ‘only logical’ I do so.”

The doctor turned back to T’Val and helped her sit on the bed. Handing her the PADD, Tavana continued. “As for being a doctor in war, that isn’t as easy. My family worries for me, but has known that is one of the possibilities of being in Starfleet. We must do what is needed at any point in time.”

The Denobulan cleared her throat and pointed to what the Vulcan held. “A series of numbers will show on the screen for 5 seconds. Once they are gone, you are to repeat them back to me. We will do this 5 times. After this, I will determine your status to return to work.” Tavana gave a wry smile. “Of course, you will not be reporting to who had been. That one needs to relearn safety protocols, so he will be at a duty station for a while.” With a snort of distaste, she shook her head. “We’ll get that sorted out after we do this.” She pointed to the PADD. “Begin, Ensign.”

The Vulcan nodded, a mental test seemed logical. Normally she should not have any issue with this, but perhaps the head trauma was worse than she had realized. Briefly she wondered if anyone ever replied with something other than numbers, such as claiming the number ’4’ was in fact ‘cake’. For now she seat such frivolity from her head and watched the numbers for the allotted five times before recalling them to the doctor.

”Six, two, four, nine, seventeen, twenty-six, and four again,” she said, feeling that this was correct.

Tavana nodded her approval and took the PADD from her hands. “Yes, that’s better, Ensign.” The doctor suddenly remembered the Vulcan desire for logic and added. “This is to check for any disparities in your cognitive functions. It confirms there are no further impairments from your concussion.” 

Tavana walked away for a moment, taking the PADD with her. Returning, she asked “Ensign, would you like to be released to your duties? I can see no need for you to linger here.” Suddenly, her demeanor changed to one of displeasure. “Actually Ensign, let me check on something first. Stay here.” Once more, Tavana left her patient. Hitting her comm badge, she called out. “Doctor Malax to Ops. I need to speak to the Chief Officer.”

Jeter was making his rounds through the lower decks of the Denver when his combadge chimed, tapping it without hesitation he answered, “Jeters, what do you need?”

The doctor grimaced slightly then spoke calmly. “My apologies for the interruption of your duties Chief, but I have a concern about one of your officers. It seems he wasn’t very…observant about those under his…’command’ so to speak. I have an Ensign T’Val here who was the beneficiary of his inattention. Fortunately, she isn’t too worse for wear. It is my Medical opinion you look into reassigning both these officers.” She glanced at T’Val and nodded. “I would like to suggest a commendation and/or rise in rank specifically, as she’s more capable than the one she was assigned to.” Tavana let a sigh slide from her nose. “I will forward you my report, as well as the ensign’s of the situation.” The doctor held the PADD out to the Vulcan with a curt nod.

The Vulcan security officer was quiet. She was not sure if it was needed to assign all the blame to the Operations officer, but for the moment she did not argue. While it was statistically more likely that an incident would occur using the methodology that had been employed, there was nothing without risk and she had seemingly come through it without much incident in the end.

The calling of her section chief Jeters was a surprise. She did not say anything for the moment, trying to think of how to proceed since she had been the one to get boxes dropped on her head. For now it seemed that the best idea was to remain silent.

“Really? That is not the news I want to hear.” Jeter said over the comm, “Well, the concerns anyway. Always happy to hear about someone being capable. I will review the reports as soon as you send them over as well as the commendations. Thanks for bringing this to my attention Doctor. If anything else comes up please let me know. Jeter out.”

The doctor looked at the Vulcan and nodded when the Chief cut the connection. “Show me your report when you’re finished, Ensign.” She gave the young woman a pointed look. “Leave nothing out.” Without waiting for an answer, Tavana turned away and walked briskly to her office. She waved off medical staff as she went, a look of determination on her face.

T’Val nodded, and with the elapsed waiting time finishing she rose, “Thank you Doctor.”

She would make sure that the Doctor saw a copy of her report, though she was not usually on the list of officers who recieved a copy. She was not sure this all warranted the attention it was getting, but she would defer to more senior officers in this case.

When she got the report from Ensign T’Val, Tavana nodded with a smile. She was thorough, the doctor would give her that. She set the PADD down and drummed her fingers on the desk. She hoped she helped the girl.  Shaking her head, she got up and went to check on other patients.