Every Time the Moon Shines

Posted on 17 Jun 2016 @ 12:30am by Lieutenant JG Rael Psy.D. & Cadet Senior Grade Aris Razur & Lieutenant Olsam Mott

1,701 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 11 - Divinum Mundi
Location: USS Galileo - Sickbay
Timeline: MD -23 - 1030

[ON]

[MD81 - USS GALILEO - RAEL'S QUARTERS]

The face of one Aris Razur lit up his comm system as he checked the steadily beeping terminal in his quarters. "Surprise!"

"Aris," Rael said, pleased. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Guess where I am, right now?"

"A Risian spa resort."

"Close--I am on the USS William right now."

"The William?"

"Well, everyone around here just calls it the Bob. It is a runabout. I have been assigned to the Galileo as an Operations officer!" Aris gave him a dopey grin. "For my cadet cruise."

"Your--your cadet cruise? Really?"

"I may or may not have specifically requested it."

"May or may not."

"You make a better Vulcan than parrot, friend."

"I've never been more outraged. I am mentally shaking my fists in your general direction."

"I think you will find that I make an amazing Operations officer, friend."

"I think you are in need of some serious therapy, friend." Rael didn't suppress the smile that threatened his features. On a more serious note, he asked: "When are you slated to come aboard?"

"We should be there in a few days. I am looking forward to seeing you, Rael. It has been boring without you to liven things up."

"I'll anticipate your arrival with bated breath."

"Bye, Rael!"

Aris gave him a cheesy smile and disconnected.

[MD85 - USS GALILEO - TRANSPORTER ROOM]

The way Aris looked as he materialized on the transporter pad was with an air that he expected some great fanfare. He was after all a cadet and thus not a very usual addition to the Galileo's small crew complement.

Yeah, no. Sorry, Aris.

Instead, there was a single enlisted crewman manning the controls and the crewman flicked him a Barely-Interested Eyebrow of Bare Interest."Welcome aboard the Galileo," he droned monotonously. "Your quarters assignments will be uploaded shortly and you should report-in to your DH ASAP. You'll need a medical evaluation also."

He was handed a PADD.

"Oh," Aris murmured with a smile. "Thanks! Where's the sickbay?"

"Turbolift is down the hall to the left. Sickbay's on Deck 3."

[MD85 - USS GALILEO - SICKBAY]

"Morning!" Aris called cheerfully as he entered the sickbay with his single lonely PADD in hand. He didn't really have anywhere to put it, so he was sort of carrying it awkwardly. His nose twitched, and solid black eyes peered around fancifully. "Anyone home?"

"No one lives here except that stupid hologram, and you can't have a home if you're only a hologram. So, no, no one is home," Olsam said as he rounded the corner into Sickbay from its office. The words might have been sour had anyone else said them; instead, he delivered them with his usually chipper demeanor and even grinned at the new patient.

"Well, it looks like someone is," Aris pointed out, returning the grin with one of his own.

"But I am at my duty station. I'm Dr. Olsam Mott. You can call me Olsam or Dr. Olsam, but please don't call me Dr. Mott, unless there's an admiral around or something. I have several brothers and sisters who are Drs. Mott, and it gets very confusing. How can I help you? Are you dying? You don't look like it, but one never really knows these days. Did you know, I once had a patient laugh and then drop dead, right there on the floor. Just about where you're standing. Scoot to the left."

He totally scooted a little bit.

"Yeah, right there. Just dropped dead."

"That is wonderfully morbid," Aris said lightly. Drawing himself up a bit, he introduced: "My name is Cadet Senior Aris Razur, I have just beamed aboard." He held out his hand for the Bolian to shake. It was accompanied by something outside himself, pressing lightly against Mott's consciousness as if to say hello! Like a mental smile.

"Don't make me disable your paracortex," Olsam said, taking up the cadet's hand for a friendly introductory shake. The smile and the gesture seemed to indicate he was kidding, but the flatness of his tone raised some doubt. "Are you here for some sort of medical tour? Did I forget? Sometimes I just skim paperwork before I sign off on it, but I don't remember anything about any medical students. I mean, right now. Obviously, I remember a great deal about other medical students in appropriate and varying venues and points in time."

"I am here to obtain my medical clearances, I was told I'd need to do so once I came aboard?"

"Oh! You're that sort of cadet. Right. Okay, well. We should probably get your medical clearance taken care of, hm?" Olsam asked, almost as if he hadn't even heard Aris a moment before. He made a broad gesture to the nearest biobed and headed for a medcart. "You know, they don't usually post cadets to flagships. Are you, like, important or something?"

Aris couldn't help it--he definitely fluffed a little at the comment as he seated himself. He was Betazoid, though, so he offered his honest opinion: "I expect it's due to the fact that I am taking Command tier courses this semester. The Academy would like to see how I fare under the pressure of a flagship assignment." He beamed, evidently pleased.

"You looked like you thought you were important, that's why I asked," Olsam said, almost cutting Aris off. "People seem to enjoy having their egos addressed, so I try to incorporate it into my bedside manner sometimes." He paused for a moment, frowned to himself. "But I guess it defeats the purpose if I say that, huh?"

Oh :c

Aris deflated a little. "Er--I suppose. You've--quite a way about you, Doctor," he tried to grant, but it was dry.

Olsam looked up, smiled, and produced the tricorder's sensor wand. "So, are you the only cadet taking Command tier courses this semester?"

He perked up. "Ah, no. There are about twenty-five others starting Tier 1."

"Oh! So, you're one out of twenty-five. Did they end up on flagships, too?"

More uncertainty. "I'm--honestly not sure."

"Admiral Saalm probably lost a bet with the personnel management director or something," Olsam said, shrugging it off as the only reasonable explanation for another cadet to be here aside from the admiral's niece and that charity case, Paragon. Suddenly, he smiled. And brightly, too, changing almost his entire demeanor into something much friendlier and personable. "Well, you're here now, so we'd better make sure you're not dying, right? Or harboring something that will kill the rest of us."

"I suppose we had better," the Betazoid joked with a smile; and once again it poked up at Olsam from outside of himself. A gentle laugh. Amused.

Olsam's face went slack at the touch. "Do you do that often?"

Aris's brows drew together. "I apologize if I've offended you."

"You haven't offended me," Olsam said, pausing in thought, "I just don't like it. It's very... Familiar. Not that I don't like to get to know my patients. I just don't like that sort of familiarity, you see?"

"Of course, Dr. Olsam. My sincere apologies. It's a natural tendency with my people," he said with a smile. "For you, I'll make an extra effort to keep it checked."

Olsam's eyes nearly vanished in crinkled folds of skin as he smiled, seeming quite pleased with that response. As he carried on with the examination, the jovial look turned to a more curious one. "What do you suppose you'll be doing? I mean, as a command cadet. I don't have any idea what command cadets do. As it happens, I'd never even heard of one until today. Just now, in fact."

He perked right back up--this time from enthusiasm. He genuinely loved it at the Academy and the fact that he was accepted to the Command program was a source of evident pride for him, that for once did not appear self-inflated. "I'm in Tier 1 right now--so I'll be primarily learning about administration, tactics, game theory and management styles. I'll also be taking the Kobiyashi Maru."

"That always sounded like a blue steak to me," Olsam said, as if that made the least bit of sense. "Right? Doesn't it? 'I'll have the kobiyashi maru, medium rare.'"

"It doesn't seem to sound like a Standard word," Aris admitted.

"No, no, it doesn't," Olsam mumbled, actually focusing on the tricorder in his hand for a moment.

For all his faults - his many, many faults - he was a serious physician when the time called for it. Running all the routine tests and examinations only took a few moments, feeling quite routine for someone who'd been practicing as long as he had. Afterward, with the sharp clap of a closing medical tricorder, the seriousness seemed to melt away entirely.

"I think you'll do just fine. I mean, you appear to be physically and mentally healthy. I'm sure you'll complete your tasks with distinction. Most likely, at least. I didn't test your aptitude. On second thought, I probably shouldn't have said that. You could be a completely incompetent person for all I know. Mental alertness and physical health aren't very accurate indicators for professional performance. Unless you're an athlete or something, right? There's no athleticism component to the command track, is there? God, I'd just die."

Aris laughed. "There actually is, to a degree. It's fairly rigorous, much to my eternal chagrin. Did I enter Command school to dead-climb a rope 25 meters? God, no!"

"That's almost the most stupid thing I've ever heard," Olsam declared. "Shouldn't you be learning about inter-species communication and problem solving and strategy? What's climbing a rope supposed to teach you? No wonder we almost lost the war."

[TRUNCATED]

--

LTJG Rael
Counselor
USS Galileo

LT Olsam Mott
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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