A Brief Check-up

Posted on Sat Oct 23rd, 2010 @ 6:13am by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Michael Evans M.D.

Mission: Episode 1.3 - "The Time of Trial"
Location: Main Sickbay, USS Pandora
Timeline: Mission Day 03, 0834

ON: [[USS Pandora, Main Sickbay, MD03, 0834 hours]]

Doctor Anthony Haelen (PNPC) sighed fussily as he flipped off the input panel. He'd had an increase in workload since the CMO's surreptitious departure, and it was digging into his personal time. He couldn't remember when he'd last spent time at his cabin by the lake on the holodeck. Though he was a hologram, he was one with the full rights and responsibilities of any other member of the crew, and that meant he had some leave time stored up. Maybe he'd just take some of it when Dr. Evans returned. He smiled faintly at the thought of where a hologram might vacation.

The door to sickbay slid open and Jake (PNPC) entered the room. He'd already checked in with the acting commanding officer and he figured it would be easier to get his physical out of the way sooner rather than later. After that, he'd be able to spend the rest of his day familiarizing himself with the ship. "Hello," Jake called out tentatively to the empty room, "Is anybody here?"

The faint smile faded from Tony's lips. He had a lot of work to do. Still, a distraction would be welcome right now. He stood and strode into the primary ward. "Hello, I'm Doctor Haelen," he greeted professionally. "What can I do for you?"

"Lieutenant Jacob Warrington," Jake replied, "I've just been assigned as the Pandora's interim chief engineer and I figured I'd get the physical taken care of since I had time now."

"Ah, a responsible crewman," Haelen said, his eyes brightening. He accompanied the lieutenant to the nearest biobed. "It's always nice when I don't have to sedate someone and have them dragged in for their physical."

Jake gave a half smile at the statement. He could see how the situation would be frustrating for the ship's physician. There were many times when it seemed like a piece of hardware didn't want to cooperate, but he'd never had an EPS conduit or a Bio-neural gel-pack try to run away on him. "Would you prefer that I sit or lay down," Jake asked, hopping up onto the biobed.

"...And politely cooperative to boot. You're really making my day, Lieutenant. You may sit," Haelen said, now smiling slightly again. He was now performing a routine scan with the medical tricorder. After a brief pause in the conversation he began the rote medical interview: "Are you feeling well and healthy today? Any medical concerns while you're here; new or unusual symptoms?"

"As well as can be expected, I suppose," Jake replied, a little surprised that the doctor had not yet made any remarks as to his unusual condition. Because of his youthful appearance, it was usually the first thing most people noticed. He supposed that it was possible the physician was attempting to be sensitive about the matter, but it was difficult to believe that the doctor wasn't at least a little curious.

"Good," Haelen said, still scanning. "Are you planning any physiological changes, interspecies relationships, or rituals designed to alter your current 'normal' state of awareness or being?"

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Jake replied, quirking an eyebrow.

"Good," Haelen said, a slight frown returning to his face. "Lieutenant, have you encountered any temporal anomalies that you know of, or has anything unusual happened in the last few days?" A quantum scan was now standard as part of the required physical and the tricorder was getting some unusual readings.

For a brief moment, Jake thought about making some sort of witty or sarcastic remark, but he bit his tongue and decided against it. It was possible that the physician had not yet had a chance to review his medical file or that he was attempting to be as thorough as possible. Still, it was not a tale that he enjoyed recounting every time he had a new physical.

“Nothing unusual in the last few days,” Jake replied slowly, trying to figure out how best to phrase his response, “As for encountering temporal anomalies…it’s a long story.”

"Ah," said Haelen. "I take from your tone that it's been told several times." He looked at Jake. "I am sorry, but I haven't had a chance to review the medical files for the new crewmen since our CMO has been away. Maybe just a quick overview... some things I should be aware of?"

Jake could not help but be slightly taken aback by the physician's words. "You mean you aren't the chief medical officer," he asked, slightly confused. First Rear Admiral Iluvar, then the executive officer, and now the ship's chief medical officer. Had someone at Command decided to order a Chinese fire drill aboard the Pandora?

Haelen sighed faintly. "No, I am the Assistant CMO, and quite capable of fulfilling my duties, even when it means taking the place of Dr. Evans, however permanent or temporary that may be." Tony wondered if he would ever be taken at face value.

"I'm sorry, doctor," Jake said apologetically, "It's just that...well, it seems like things have been pretty shaken up around here. I didn't mean to offend you."

Tony paused a moment before saying, "It's all right, Lieutenant. Perhaps I should apologize; I didn't mean to sound so harsh. I've just been a little overworked lately is all." Continuing in a more professional tone, he said, "Would you lie back, please, for your neurological scan?"

Slowly, Jake eased himself back until he was lying on the biobed as directed by the physician. He waited patiently and stared at the ceiling above as the scan progressed. It was a routine familiar to him from his visits to Starfleet Medical.

Dr. Haelen completed the scan in a few short moments. "You may sit up now," he said. "Now, about that temporal issue..." He left the sentence hanging with implication. "Anything you'd like to mention?"

"The doctors at Starfleet Medical have decided that my condition is permanent, though they say they will continue to study it for some time," Jake replied neutrally, "Basically, what I get out of it is that I'm going to look like a first year cadet for pretty much the rest of my life." When he had first gotten the final assessment from Starfleet Medical, Jake had been less than thrilled at the prospect. It had only been through an intervention by his friend, Lieutenant John Forest, and the Frontier's commanding officer, Ambassador Mordred Ocal, that he had come to his senses. This was something he was going to have to live with regardless of how he felt about it.

"Well, if you won't call me 'baldie' I'll refrain from calling you 'babyface.' Deal?" Haelen said with is usual semi-dry delivery.

"I think I can manage that," Jake said, rising to a sitting position again. He offered the doctor a smile. It wasn't everyday that one encountered an emergency medical hologram with as much confidence as Doctor Anthony Haelen and Jake was willing to bet that it had something to do with the fact that Rear Admiral Iluvar was the commanding officer of the Pandora.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question, doc," Jake inquired, hoping that the good doctor would not take offense at what he was about to ask.

Tony's eyebrows raised at the prospect. "Go ahead," he said.

"Do you feel...comfortable with the Pandora's crew," Jake asked, "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but it seems as if they treat you with a good deal of respect. Assuming responsibility of sickbay, for example..." He paused to glance at the doctor, wondering if maybe he had crossed some line. Already, he could feel a hint of warmth as his face began to flush a little with awkward embarrassment. "I'm sorry," he added quickly, "These aren't the kind of questions I should be asking you."

Tony gestured slightly with his tricorder, pleased but trying to not appear too pleased, as he said, "Well, I appreciate your observation about the crew respecting me, but..." he was a little more hesitant here, "I don't know about my being comfortable with the crew." He fidgetted thoughtfully, clicking the scanner in and out of the tricorder absentmindedly. "Haven't really thought about being comfortable with them... There are a few with whom I lunch on occasion, but I don't really spend much time with the crew at large I suppose. Comfortable..." he muttered.

Tony looked at Jake. "No, Lieutenant, I don't suppose I do feel... comfortable with them," he mused, looking somewhat uncomfortable with that revelation himself.

"Why not," Jake asked before he could stop himself.

Tony considered. "I suppose it's partly my fault," he said, then explained, "As a physician I must keep a certain professional distance from my patients. On a starship everyone is my patient. As an Emergency Medical Hologram I was originally designed only as a supplement to the ship's medical compliment; as such I suppose Dr. Zimmerman (my creator) didn't see a need to include the subtleties of walking that professional line and still cultivating friendships with my crewmates. So I suppose the discomfort would come from pushing that line," he reasoned.

Tony looked at Jake and hedged quickly, "Not that I'm passing blame to Dr. Zimmerman mind you..."

"No," Jake said quickly, "no...I understand." He sat on the edge of the biobed for a moment and thought about what the doctor had said about not feeling entirely comfortable with the other members of the crew. It was something he had experienced on occasion because of his condition, but never to the degree that an Emergency Medical Hologram might. At the same time, he got the impression that Doctor Haelen considered himself lucky to be aboard the Pandora, even if all things weren't as well as he hoped they would be.

"Well Doc," Jake said, shifting topics, "What's the word?"

"I'm afraid the word, Mr. Warrington, is 'dismissed'," Tony smiled, speaking less quietly. "I'm afraid I still have a lot of work to do... though I've enjoyed your company."

"Thanks, Doc," Jake said, hopping off the biobed. It was comforting to know that nothing had changed since his last physical and that everything was as it should be, at least relatively speaking. He paused and looked at the doctor for a moment before adding, "I look forward to working with you, doctor." A moment later and he was out the door, on his way to main engineering. It was time to see what was in store.

OFF

A JP by:

Lieutenant Jacob "Jake" Warrington (PNPC)
Interim Chief Engineer
USS Pandora
Played by: Capt Iluvar

and

Doctor Anthony Haelen (PNPC)
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: LtCmdr Evans