Nathan Hawthorne’s Captain’s Log: My medical team is getting sorted out on the details of our new mission. I’ve tasked my new first officer Commander McCleod to oversee everything to ensure that nothing goes wrong on our first mission together. I hoping as a unit we can move from strength to strength together.

[USS Anaheim – Sickbay Conference Room One]

“Already? I thought you’d want to go against stereotype?” the Chief Medical Officer said sitting back in her chair around the conference table. It was only her and the Chief Councilor a Lieutenant Junior Grade half-Betazoid named Yuhiro Kolem. The German woman was quiet once the door swooshed open and they were joined by her new Head Nurse Senior Shipwoman Rachel Smirth and the ship’s First Officer a Doctor McCleod.

”Sir,” she said and he nodded in response.

He had a thick Scottish accent, “Don’t mind me, the Captain wants me to supervise but this is your show Commander. You’re the Anaheim’s Chief Medical Officer and not me, I don’t want to get in your way. Oh by the way I’ve talked to the Captain about calling doctors doctors, so hopefully he sticks to it.”

As a primarily medical ship most of the crew was in someway or another a medical professional whether they were doctors like Mueller and McCleod, registered nurses like Smith or simply worked in a support field like Kolem.

He continued, “Oh by the way our Chief Operations Officer is El-Aurian so expect some challenges on that one if she ever gets sick.”

Down to business Mueller was right back talking, though she was no longer gossiping with the young councilor. Leaning forward in her chair she said, “For now this is the medical senior staff. There’s a few roles I may fill out as we go. The Anaheim is unusual in that we’re almost parallel with the regular command structure since this is a medical ship. He’s the XO has always been a medical officer and the CMO is usually second officer in the chain.”

McCleod cleared his throat and said, “I would not expect that this time. The Captain seems frustrated by having so many Doctors around him. I’d expect him to opt for Security of Operations as a second officer this time”

Mueller nodded, not that she had been counting on the job but it was never good to hear that her commanding officer was not a fan of running the exact type of ship that he was running. 

“That captain is an accomplished man. Doctors’ education puts them in a unique place in Starfleet and the ship’s chain of command. A CMO can discharge a captain, nobody else can,” Kolem observed.

”Or you get your captain’s pip and you want to be Captain Riker,“ the nurse said.

Trying to bring things back on track Mueller cleared her throat, “As to our assignment on Artagus IV, it’s pretty basic. They’ve gone unprepared and require our help. The USS Bravefoot was there for basically the same reason fourteen months ago. We have the pro visions already so it’ll be a case of setting up three vaccination centers in their main cities.”

”Make sure Commander Th’kaotross is involved, we’ll want security to help organize the lines and protect the vaccines from theft,” Commander McCleod added.

”We’ll run shipboard sickbay at minimal staff and have the bulk of our teams deployed. I’ll have to select an Assistant Chief Medical Officer by then and have them oversee the shipboard care of the crew,” Doctor Mueller said. Turning to the Chief Councilor she asked, “Anything you want to add, this mission doesn’t really include your team.”

”We’ll have a councilor accompany you down at every site, but I don’t foresee us needing to do that much. Talk to some kids nervous about hyposprays, and the like,” Kolem said.

”Anything else to report?” Mueller asked.

”It’s only been a few days. The team is still meeting with all the crew and we’ll setup a regular rotation of visits depending on the needs of the crew,” Kolem explained.

”The Captain would like you on the bridge more. He likes umm…” the Commander paused.

”He likes having a Troi,” Kolem said.

”Yes,” McCleod said as if apologizing with his voice.

”Perfect, that’s validating for me as a person,” the half-Betazoid said rolling her eyes.

McCleod decided they’d taken enough shots for now, “Alright he’s still our Captain so we need to show him some respect. Obviously Troi was very useful for Admiral Picard and a good officer in her own right. I’m sure you will be to and entirely due to your own abilities. We do need to listen to him, the Captain not Admiral Picard, and he’s got lots of experience which we will all benefit from.”

The others nodded, realizing that they needed to toe the line a bit more.

”Sorry sir,” Nurse Smith said.

The First Officer shrugged, “Don’t worry about it. You’re all young, most of this ship is. Talking behind our backs is what you do. But you’re all senior officers now, you need to set an example. Now I’m going to the gym, so you can talk about me behind my back. Carry on.”

He rose and left the room nodding.

Doctor Mueller looked over the others, “Alright everyone, I’ll talk to our friendly neighborhood Andorian Security Chief you get your ends ready. We arrive in two days and I expect us to deploy within six hours of landing. I’ll liaise with the local authorities to secure the sites. Dismissed.”

The remaining crew rose and exited the room. They had things to do, and  while they had ample time to do it, everyone wanted to make a good impression early on in the mission.