Ciao!

Posted on 27 Aug 2012 @ 7:06pm by Commander Andreus Kohl

2,352 words; about a 12 minute read

Previously on Star Trek: Galileo...

Location: USS Galileo -- Deck Four, Sickbay
Timeline: Mission Day 07

A moment earlier, Kohl had been cycling his lungs with long, slow breaths. All at once, he sucked in a short, ragged breath, and his eyes took on a hunted quality. "No," he said foggily, "No, I think I might be lost." His voice trailed off as his head turned to look back the way he came. Before he considered running for the door, he flattened a hand across his forehead, over his eyes. With his eyes closed, he spoke in a deeper timbre, when he said, "I don't know why I said that."

Kohl dropped his hands to his sides, and regarded Pola straight on. "My name is Ensign Andreus Kohl," he said, "and I'm reporting to my duty station."

Seeing the change in the man in front of her, Pola quickly stepped forward and took his arm, concerned he might be about to collapse. The change in eyes had been mesmerising if not a little concerning. The sapphire colour had gone from a deep rich blue to an almost midnight sky colour. Whatever had caused it, it had given the Doctor reason for concern.

Ignoring his introduction for a moment, Pola gently squeezed her hand. "Are you ok Andreus?"

Kohl narrowed his eyes at the hand she was holding. He held up his other hand beside it and stretched his fingers experimentally. "No. No, I don't think I am okay," Kohl answered. The short sentence started with a sense of honest discovery, but became disturbed by his own lack of wellness. "I feel cold. It's like I flew over here without a shuttlecraft."


Location: USS Galileo -- Deck Four, Sickbay
Timeline: Mission Day 08

Hearing the force in Kohl's voice, Pola realised that she'd just about had enough. "Andreus...out with it...what is bothering you?" She figured the day was already crappy enough, she may as well expand on it if Kohl had some sort of issue with her as she'd seen his interactions with others and he seemed to be doing fine.

"You know what's bothering me. You've been there through it all," Kohl said, showing his hurt as he moved towards the corridor. He shook his head in confusion at Pola's stern demeanour. As soon as the doors slid shut behind them, Kohl listed off, "I went into shock when I came aboard the ship. And then I thought I was going to die tonight. I was absolutely certain I was going to die, and I thought my last act as a living being was going to be murdering Klingons. And then Lin--"

Leaning her back against the wall, Pola rubbed her thumb across her forehead. "Kohl...I can understand what you're feeling but you need to look beyond what's happening to what's important right now, the people you work with still and the patients you need to take care of.

"Numerous time during the conversation I've gotten feelings that your upset with me over something." Keeping her stance, Pola remained calm and her voice even as she wanted to get this sorted.

While Kohl restrained himself from shouting or speaking aggressively, he wasn't so successful at remaining calm. "This isn't about you. I'm having emotional reactions to a day overflowing with trauma. I apologise if you feel my venting is directed at you, but it's not affecting my patients, and it's not affecting my co-workers. Our team is made up of a Vulcan, a hologram, a Deltan who loves everyone as they are, and you and me. You're the only one calling me out for having a damn feeling. Maybe Human psychology better equips you to subsume all of your emotions for the greater good. I'm not built that way," Kohl said.


And now, the continuation...

Location: USS Galileo - Deck 5, Crew Quarters
Timeline: Mission Day 09


[ON]

Andreus Kohl's Personal Log, supplemental entry

Good morning, Computer. I found it. I think I've found a matter to obsess about, rather than my father or the Klingons. That damn conversation has been haunting me all day and all night. Every time I think I understand it, it keeps coming back to me, and my subconscious parses another phrase. I don't know what it means or what to do about it. Well, it's not an 'it'. It's a 'who'.

Doctor. Pola. Ni Dhuinn.

No. No, that's not true. It's not about her. Not exactly. It's about us. I can't figure out our working relationship. I don't understand what we're doing now, and I don't know how we're going to fit. I don't know how I want it to be, except I do know I don't want this.

She complimented my... skill. There was that. At least, I think it was my skill she complimented. I think she thinks I'm competent as a nurse practitioner. She congratulated me for doing my duty as if I were going above and beyond somehow. But there's something else about me, something about my personality that grates. She said she felt like I had been attacking her, or was upset with her, and I don't know why.

My first impression on her can't have helped. I had only just heard about my father's shuttle accident when I reported for duty. I was a rambling mess then and I continued to be a rambling mess through the Klingon attacks. That must be sticking with her. It's her first impression of me; her only impression, I suppose. Now, that means now, I can't tell if she trusts me. It's such a small team I'm on, in Sickbay. There's just the four of us. Just four, and there was another junior medical officer who came aboard at Starbase 152. Ensign Varek. He partnered with the EMH so smoothly, the other night, much better than with me. The EMH wanted me to remain focused on his surgeries more. And then Varek looks to be working well with Pola too. She trusts him. I can see it already. She confides in him, but I have no idea if she even trusts me.

I used to be good at first impressions. Affecting the right timbre, saying the charismatic things. It doesn't take long to tell what role a person likes to play in a conversation, and to change my role to be complimentary. Even just calling a person by the name they like to be called goes a long way. It came naturally, almost.

I only wish my final impressions, the last impressions I give on a person, were half as good. I never got to the part of my diplomatic training where I learned to say goodbye. Never learned that as a person either. I hope I won't have to practice again too soon.

Computer, end log.

[OFF]

Location: Starbase 152 - Sickbay
Timeline: Circa Mission Day 02

[ON]

The gentle hum of the bio-sensor cluster was pitched to instil a sense of comfort. It meant someone was interested, and someone cared. An engineer once described the sound to Andreus Kohl as a hug to the ears. Since Sickbay was his usual workplace, Kohl was more than a little familiar with the sound of bio-sensors. On this day --laid out on one of Starbase 152's biobeds-- the hum of the overhead sensor cluster sounded to Kohl like the most alien sound he could remember. There was no fanfare when Kohl regained consciousness. He opened his eyes, little more than that.

Oddly, his feet were bare despite the rest of him being being clad in his uniform. His right leg appeared to have a strange protrusion beneath his trousers. There was a distinctly osteoregenerator-shaped bulge. His black and charcoal jacket was smeared with dried vomit, and the vomit was nearly the same shade of teal as the medical-division highlights on his uniform.

When side-parted, his honey-brown hair would look to be in a neat and professional cut. After waking up in sickbay, his hair was disheveled into a wild mane -- probably several inches longer than regulation. Kohl's face betrayed every emotion that pulsated through him, and every one of those emotions appeared to be disconcerting. As realisation dawned upon him, he looked towards the foot of his biobed with big blue eyes.

"Did I assail anyone?" Kohl asked. His voice was hoarse, but it didn't crack. He stared at a medical officer straight on, and spoke like it was already a given that he had. Already a given that he would be administratively reprimanded and perhaps flogged.

Said medical officer, a Doctor Viraj, languidly shifted his gaze from the biobed's monitor to Kohl's face. With discomfited pique, Viraj said, "Ah, there was a bulkhead you struck. Reportedly, you said it had shifty eyes."

Kohl blinked heavily for a heartbeat. Dryly, he then said, "As do they all..."

Making a sound somewhere between a scoff and clearing his throat, Viraj went on. "There was also Crewman Szerda. She said you smelled remarkably well for a drunkard, but your poor technique drove her to reject your romantic advances in the mess hall."

"...Oh?" Kohl said, and now his voice cracked. His throat must have been parched, because he swallowed hard. "Uhm... who is Crewman Szerda again?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," said Viraj. There was the slightest hint of smug amusement in his tone, but his expression remained professional and impassive. "I'm only newly arrived on the starbase."

"Perhaps..." Kohl braced his palms against the biobed and he began to curl himself up into a seated position. "Still," Kohl said, "I'm sure I'm newer."

"Ah. Yes. But..." Viraj said, relishing every pause, "When you came aboard, the operations officer said you were speaking to your combadge. There was no sound coming from your combadge, but you were speaking to your combadge. You removed it from your chest and held it to your mouth. I'm told you remarked, 'who is this?' approximately three times and 'I recognize your voice' approximately fourteen times, before you remarked 'okay, okay, I'm coming'. Szerda says you approached her in the lounge and insisted that you knew her. She said you called her Grace or something."

Kohl breathed out a long-held breath, as his back thumped against the biobed's headboard. There was a flush of heat behind Kohl's cheeks, when he said, "Sir, I'm not going to dissemble. I drank a bottle of single-malt Argelian whiskey on the transport ship. I drank it on purpose. I knew it would impair my judgement, but I drank it anyway. I would do it again. My responsibilities at my last post had ended. I have not yet reported aboard USS Galilelo. No one needs me. For anything. Genuinely, I am a synthehol man while I'm on an assignment. I think it tastes better than--" He cut himself off abruptly, and he closed both eyes. A hand went up to massage his right temple. He muttered, "I'm drifting."

When Kohl opened his eyes, they were set upon his department chief. His tone regained some firmness. He stated, "My timing was inexcusable, sir. My judgement was sound." He cocked his head slightly, daring Viraj to disagree.

Viraj stared at Kohl, stared right at him. Kohl considered himself an expert at parsing body language; he had been trained to do so. Kohl watched Viraj watching him, and Kohl could not even guess at what Viarj was thinking or feeling about what Kohl had just said. His eyes were impenetrable. Viraj stared at Kohl for a time, until he said, "Every minute of your few hours aboard the starbase have been accounted for. I don't believe you were ever alone, or outside the electronic gaze of security sensors. Despite this, no one has been able to tell me how you broke your leg. What happened, Ensign?"


Location: Bactricia - Landing Pad Seven
Timeline: Days earlier

Andreus Kohl's legs wouldn't move. He looked up the entry ramp onto the transport shuttle, but that was all he did. He looked. There weren't enough energy reserves within his body to send Kohl onto the transport ship that would ferry him to his next assignment. Instead, he waited. It was an irrational thing, the waiting. Only his commanding officer knew Kohl had been reassigned. That was the way Kohl had needed it to be, and his commanding officer had respected Kohl's wishes. No one would think to come here, and yet, still, Kohl wai--

A firm hand found Kohl's shoulder. A voice found his ear: "Why didn't you say..."

Kohl recognised the grip before he recognized the voice.

Kohl turned to find Kellin Nertlinge waving a PADD in his face. Kohl's transfer orders to USS Galileo were written in bold letters on the device's display. Nertlinge's eyes were even easier for Kohl to read. There was abandonment there, as well as accusations of betrayal. Kohl couldn't deny any of it. "Were you even going to tell me?" Nertlinge asked. "You know why I transferred here. You know--"

Nertlinge swung the chunky PADD at the side of Kohl's chest. Kohl raised his right arm to deflect the PADD without striking Nertlinge, but the Trill took that as an opening to palm-punch Kohl's undefended right flank. Kohl stumbled to the left, but Nertlinge's leg was waiting for him. He kicked to sweep Kohl's legs out from under him, to keep him from running, but Kohl rolled over his right ankle, spraining his ankle bad enough to fracture the fibu--


Location: Starbase 152 - Sickbay
Timeline: Circa Mission Day 02

"I fell," Kohl said. His timbre was slow, and it was flat. "I fell hard. I was coming from Bactricia. My boots were muddy, and the ramp onto the transport shuttle, it was steep. The medical facilities on board were only basic first aid. I probably shouldn't have mixed the analgesic and the whiskey, but..." Kohl nodded at his own words, and he said again, "I fell."


[OFF]

Andreus Kohl
Nurse
USS Galileo

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