In The Valley

Posted on 11 Feb 2012 @ 8:13pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Robin Hilyer MD

1,625 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 00 - Pre-Deployment
Location: Savannah, Georgia
Timeline: MD 02 - 1120 hrs

[ON]

Lirha walked out of her office, still hungover from the previous night's adventures, and stared at her personnel PADD which contained all the information regarding her new crew assignments. One of them in particular stood out amongst the rest. A Doctor Robin Hilyer, M.D., who had recently been deployed on board the USS Baylor and had just been reassigned to her crew. She scanned the man's files for more notes and information yet there was little to be found, except for the vessel's history. The Baylor had been a Prometheus-class light cruiser, destroyed in a recent battle with the Tzenkethi in which many lives were lost, including Hilyer's Commanding Officer, Captain Royce. As Lirha read through the Doctor's service record, she couldn't help but feel his pain for the unfortunate circumstances in which he was involved. With a mental sigh, she clipped her PADD to her belt and walked to the nearby shuttlecraft hangar.

After checking in with the Chief Support Craft Controller, she made her way across the tarmac and found her designated shuttlecraft, a Type 9 named Jennifer. It was ironic, she thought to herself, considering the adventures her and her friend Jen had partaken in the previous night. She did a quick inspection of the outer hull then opened the main doors to the craft and stepped in, then began her pre-flight sequence. Lirha was ready to go after several minutes and brought the craft's main propulsion online as she contacted the control tower for clearance to depart.

Her journey wouldn't take long, only a short hop from California to Georgia to personally greet her new Chief Medical Officer. She estimated that she would be there and back within two hours, and hopefully, with her new crew member aboard. As she cleared the departure pad, Lirha put her shuttle into high-altitude cruise mode and made her way towards the former-American Deep South.

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Fifteen minutes had passed and she was already exiting Texas airspace with her destination only ten minutes away. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes as the autopilot guided her craft to its destination. Lirha did a mental rehearsal of the speech she was about to give her new officer and hoped that he would be a willing participant in his new assignment.

Her craft came to a slow hover at the designated coordinates and Lirha put the shuttle down in a multi-craft parking lot, several hundred meters away from his house. She grabbed several of her belongings and started walking. After ten minutes, she finally came to his residence and stopped at the front door to adjust her uniform and push her dark hair out of her face. She gave a firm knock on the door.

Robin was seated in a dark corner of his father's office pouring over the details of his travel from Earth to Mars. He was to visit a friend whom had moved there to be a Chief of Medicine at the Fleet Yards. Though it was only a day trip; the travel itinerary made the short journey seem to take days.

"Doctor Hilyer," Edyta called from the door. The stout domestic stood at the threshold holding her ever present dust rag in one hand and a cup of tea for his father in the other. "There is a green commander at the door. She is quite lovely and wishes to speak to you. Should I send her away?"

Robin looked up from the computer console and turned it off. "No, Edyta it's okay I will meet with her in the garden. Don't expect me for dinner."

"Yes Doctor." She stopped Robin as he approached the doorway. "Your father how is he?"

Robin took a long sigh, and looked up at the ceiling. In his mind's eye he could see his father laying in the king size four poster bed, coughing. His mother holding his hand. Dr. John Hilyer never failed to remind people to see him yearly, rarely ever took his own advice. And now the great "Doctor John", once at death's door was now surviving Pneumonia which is an easily curable disease in the late 24th century. "He'll be fine as long as he has you and mom, he'll be back on the links again in a week."

"I hope so Robin, I just got over your grandfather's death. I don't want to face it again."

Robin could see a tear start to form on the old maid's eye, "Don't worry Eddie, he'll be okay." He embraced her and left to the large glass doors that lead towards the front garden.

The front garden was a vast space of green grass, weeping willows and hyacinth bushes. A large marble stair case lead to a stone courtyard. In the center was a old fountain hadn't worked in centuries surrounded by stone benches. Robin glanced towards the fountain and found standing near a bench was a beautiful green woman in a Starfleet Uniform. "Lieutenant Commander Saalm," he said as he approached her. "Welcome to Gambol House."

Lirha had been busy staring at the luxurious and gorgeous green garden when she heard her name being called. With a turn of her head, she looked over to see a tall, blond-haired man approaching her. As he moved closer, she recognized his face from the personnel report she had been reading over in the shuttle. "Thank you," she replied with a genuine smile, "Doctor Hilyer, I presume?" she asked him as she extended her hand in greeting.

"Yes, sir and you must be Lieutenant Commander Saalm. It is a pleasure to see you. I would give you a tour of the house but my father has been ill and my mother isn't presentable to greet guests." The Doctor took a seat on one of the benches facing the fountain. "So what can I do for you?"

She took a seat next to him and placed her bag down on the ground as she admired the view, then turned her attention back towards the doctor. "I came to give you your transfer orders...and to pay you a personal visit. But I'm guessing that you might have been expecting me?" she said and arched her brow while giving him a small grin.

"Partly yes, I knew that you were on Earth and figured you're the type of person to make a personal visit to your crew." Robin smiled widely. "That and I saw your arrival from the visual security sensors.'

Lirha pushed some of her dark hair out of her face, slightly embarrassed that she had forgotten about household security systems. "And I suppose I'm not too hard to pick out from the crowd." she said jokingly, referring to her skin tone. She adjusted herself on the bench and turned to face her new Lieutenant. "Tell me a bit about yourself, Doctor. I'm always curious when I meet new people, especially those with whom I'll be working."

"There's not much to tell you Lieutenant Commander," Robin sat up straight. He kept his gaze at her eyes. "I've been a doctor for nine years. And until recently, I have been serving Starfleet all that time. I love being a doctor and an officer. Of course I am probably sound like I am in a interview." Robin turned red with embarassment. "I apologize."

"It's quite alright, this is informal and off the record so try and relax." she said in a light voice to put the man at ease. "What is your medical specialty? I know you're a fully qualified medical officer but I imagine you have an area of focus?" she asked.

"Yes, on paper I am an Emergent Care Physician." Robin shifted easily on the bench . "I would have been a surgeon like my father but I love the excitement of jumping into the fray when many would run. Also, I find the joy even in the tedium of small injuries."

The edge of Lirha's mouth curled up in a slight smile. "You find joy in injuries, Doctor? That's a bit...morbid, no?" she said trying to suppress a laugh. She had an quirky sense of humor and often found things to be funny which were not, but she couldn't help but be amused by her new Chief Medical Officer.

"Well not so much the injury than the work to fix them." Robin tapped his foot on a cobblestone. He stood up from the bench, "When is our launch date?"

"We depart in four days but we have a preliminary systems check the day after tomorrow. It would be best if you report to San Francisco soon. I've already arranged your quarters and if you'd like I can give you a lift when we leave? That is...if you're ready?" she asked. Lirha remembered the doctor mentioning that his father was ill, and was unsure if he wanted to spend more time at home with him.

"I have some things to clear up before I leave. If you can give me an hour or two I'll be ready. In the meantime feel free to wander the grounds. There is a large Koi pond in the West Field you might enjoy." Robin pointed toward a dirt path that wound it's way between a copse of elm trees.

"Absolutely, take your time, Doctor." she said and looked around at the spacious and lovely grounds of the former plantation. "I think I just might take you up on your offer." she said with a smile, and headed down the dirt trail with her hands clasped behind her back.

OFF:

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CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Robin Hilyer MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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