Welcome Aboard - Meeting the Chief Medical Officer

Posted on Thu Jan 25th, 2024 @ 7:22pm by Lieutenant Commander Nicole Perkins MD & Captain Forest Patton

1,714 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: New Beginnings
Location: USS Oceanus; Deck 1 - Captains Ready Room
Timeline: MD 0 - 1030 Hrs
Tags: 2396, Character Introduction

[ON]

Nicole walked out of the turbolift onto the bridge of the Oceanus. She had just been bought aboard by shuttle, along with a few other new crew members, She looked around the bridge, taking in the brand new setup. The hand railings were still shining, having been fitted only yesterday. She walked around to the three centre chairs; One for the CO in the middle, XO to the right, and a spare seat for the 2XO should they not be a bridge officer. This was to be her seat when required on the bridge, being the Chief Medical Officer. She sat down, taking the position in, with the viewscreen in front of her, tactical station behind, and helm in front. She sighed quietly. It had been a lot of hard work to get here, but she'd made it.

Patting herself down, she stood up, making sure her small medical pouch was secure in the front pocket of her uniform trousers. Inside she kept a Laser Scalpel, Dermal Regenerator and some small 5x5 gauze pads. The gauze pads were not regular issue, but she'd had enough experience with bleeding wounds to know that in time critical situations that pressure was the number one important thing, and she could use those for that. She walked over to the Captains Ready Room door and pressed the bell.

"Enter!" invited the Commander.

When the Chief Medical Officer entered, she was greeted by the view of the Commanders desk facing her invitingly. The Commander sat behind it, reviewing some material on the slim desk console that was atop it. Two open chairs sat invitingly in front of the Captains Ready Room desk. To Nichole's right, against the wall, were memorabilia important to the Commander; professionally made models of the Nebula-class USS Sutherland, Ambassador-class USS Excalibur, Akira-class USS Thunderchild, Nova-class USS Nova, and Intrepid-class USS Oceanus starships. Each model had a little notation visible on a small plague display on its stands, stating which position the Commander served all leading up to "Captain" on the Oceanus which sat center. On either side of the series of five professionally made models were items important to the Commander; The left side was a pip display of the various ranks the Commander held and holds (Ensign, Lt. JG, full Lt., Lt. Cmndr, and Cmndr.) and the right side displayed various positions the Commander had on various starships (Tactical Officer, Operations Officer, Assist. Chief Ops Officer, Assist. Chief Tac. Officer, Executive Officer, and finally Captain/Commander). In the spaces that separated the five models and the outward displays were personal affections; the right side had images of the Commanders mother and father and family together in starfleet uniform smiling for the camera in front of Starfleet Academy and the left side had images of his wife and kids with him together smiling for the camera in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Behind the Commander was positioned two professionally made paintings joined side-by-side on equal level. The first painting on the left was of a Nova-class Starships, the USS Nova, flying majestically in front of some random nebula which provided a positive backdrop for the image. Below the image was a golden plague, symbolizing the importance of the image with the words: "Executive Officer - Lieutenant Commander - USS Nova - 2392 thru 2396; Where I found my footing". On the right was a painting of an Intrepid-class Starship, the USS Oceanus, sitting majestically in orbit above Mars without the confines of a dock. Below this image as well, attached to its frame, was a golden plague which symbolized the importance of the image with the words: "Captain - Commander - USS Oceanus - 2396 and Beyond; Where I found my purpose".

The rest of the Ready Room was filled with some other items of importance to the Commander. On a stand just to the left of Nichole at the entrance was a professionally made model of a United Earth Ganges-class Warp Delta starship, the UES Warp Delta. Further to the left along the series of cushioned seating along the Ready Room wall near its observation windows sat in the center of a circular coffee table a series of five books kept together by two book stands on either end, with three books appearing to be a series of books detailing United Earth and Pre-Starfleet starships and the latter two detailing early and modern Starfleet starships. The remainder of the Ready Room had a few planets in it placed strategically in corners, with a warm atmosphere in lighting. To the right of Nichole was a door to the Ready Room Head.

"Welcome!" the Commander greeted as he stood, approaching Nichole. "You must be Lieutenant Commander Perkins, my Chief MO and Second Officer, right? It's a pleasure to meet you! How was your trip?"

"Thank you Commander. That is correct, and a pleasure to meet you as well. My trip was ok, a little cramped, as are all shuttle rides, but it was survivable. How are you settling in sir?" She asked, extending her hand towards the Commander.

After the handshake, the Commander maintained a genuine smile.

"I've been settling in well," Forest said, looking around his Ready Room. "Got everything valuable unpacked and organized, both here and in my quarters. Those dockworkers have been amazing. Also our Chief Engineer has been hard at work and I've been mightily impressed. So, what do you think of the ship? Familiar to the Intrepid-class or new to it like me?"

"I've had some experience in the simulations, but this is the first time actually being onboard one. I have however heard some good things about it. She will serve us well, that's a definite." She said. "I believe sickbay is setup for the most part, they're just finishing with connecting up the last bio-bed to the system so everything transfers seamlessly. The last of my staff are just coming aboard, although I have yet to find an assistant chief." She said, giving a warm, genuine smile.

"Oh, very good!" Forest replied, nodding. "As for the Assistant Chief, Commodore Paladin has informed me that we'll likely be onboarding crew as we go. Most of who we have right now will fill in nicely, though I predict a lot of temporary assignments are in order until we find suitable personnel to permanently man them."

He chuckled briefly, looking to the side as he gestured for the couch on the wall near the viewports. "Let's take a seat, shall we?" he offered.

As he moved to seat, the Commander would wait for Nicole before he continued.

"I still have yet to find an Executive Officer," Forest continued. "You are onboarding, however, as my Second Officer. Do you feel capable of filling that executive role temporarily until I either find or am appointed one?"

Nicole had taken the seat opposite the commander, crossing her legs underneath her. "I would be more than happy to fill that role for you sir, the extra experience is always appreciated, and i'm more than happy to learn any chance I can get." She replied, playing slightly with the sleeves of her uniform jacket.

Forest nodded approvingly as he motioned towards the Ready Rooms replicator. "Would you like some coffee or something to drink?" he inquired, then as he waited for her reply he asked, "and what about the ships EMH? Do you have any issue working alongside them? They proved very capable on the Voyager and I believe having them on board would be very useful."

"Just some water would be lovely sir, thank you. And I have looked over the EMH. I was apprehensive of the Voyager report initially, but looking more into it I'd like to trial using the EMH as an acting Assistant Chief Medical Officer. I know this isn't normal procedure, but the extra hands can never hurt, and it can always be deactivated when not needed of course." She replied.

Forest nodded, replicating water - one for himself and one for Nichole. He walked back over and sat down, handing the water over.

"That's good to hear," he said as he took a sip of his own replicated water. "And that sounds like a unique request, but I approve. The Oceanus has built in holograpic emitters across all decks, much like the Voyager did at by the end of her journey. This will enable the EMH to be called and to respond to multiple emergencies across the ship. So, your suggestion of having it as a temporary Assistant Chief would actually be very appropriate. Though if we give it a status role, we'll need to be considerate if it grows a personality of its own."

Forest chuckled, though somewhere deep within that chuckle was a hint of nervousness.

"I mean it seemed to work for Voyager, what's the worst that could happen?" She asked, giving a smile.

"Right?" Forest agreed, then sighed a bit. "One more thing. As my Chief Medical Officer, you have the great authority of declaring me unfit for duty, as well as other officers. I've read and seen your history and I believe I can trust your judgement. Just know I expect you to alert me, as well as anyone else, before this decision is made so we can rectify our conditions and get back to working order."

A moment of silence as he took a sip of water, then he continued.

"Alright then. As CMO I know you have the priority of doing the onboarding medical screening. I'd like you to make that your number one priority while we're in dock. We can even schedule now, if that's acceptable to you, when you could do mine."

Nicole nodded again. "I've already requested medical records from Starfleet Medical for all onboarding crewmembers. I can do your medical tomorrow, just after lunch?" She suggested, switching to the calendar on her PADD.

"That sounds perfect," the Commander said. "After lunch it is. Better to get it done sooner than later!"

[OFF]

Commander Forest Patton
Commanding Officer
USS Oceanus

&

Lieutenant Commander Nicole Perkins MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Oceanus

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