Preparations for the Inevitable
Posted on Wed Apr 15th, 2009 @ 11:18am by Captain Elsie Halliwell
1,537 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Backpost: Before Gel Tests
As the Trill snaked through the corridors of the Nova class vessel, the familiarity of its layout suddenly dawned on him. He stood at an intersection on Deck Four and looked both left and right before spying a wall console further down the left fork.
As he approached the reflective black display, Lane caught sight of the command-maroon collar as it flashed from underneath his grey, padded shoulders. The teal of Science suited him best, he thought, but he was getting used to red after all these years. And as he looked upon his face, the thought of it changing, amalgamating into the other's scared him slightly. He knew that the joining wouldn't change him physically per se, but the eyes behind him would.
As the doors to the medical bay hissed open, he locked eyes on a medtech and marched straight for him. "Is Doctor Mabren about, crewman?"
A warm smile flew across the medtech's face. "In his office, Captain," he said, "shall I get him for you?"
The Trill merely breathed a smile in reply, and shook his head. "No, thank you crewman, I can make it, I think."
He stalked over and lightly tapped on the frame of his door, "Doc, do you have a minute?
Mabren was sitting in his chair, staring at his computer. There was things he could be doing, but at the moment, he didn't want to do them. Hearing a tapping noise from the door, he looked up to see the CO standing there, again. "Hello Captain," he greeted, standing out of his chair. "Always for the CO, please." He finished gesturing at one of the chairs opposite his desk.
He cleared his throat and took a seat. "It's concerning the prospect of joining, Doctor," he said with a pained look on his face. "It appears as if the schedule has, I am afraid to say, moved up a gear. And I may need you to prepare the sickbay here to conduct the procedure. Not everything has gone according to plan, you see. Both here and on Trill."
"Of course, Captain," Mabren said, "But isn't that the way life goes? No matter how laid out the plans, something invariably happens to change them?"
"Exactly," he said, solemnly nodding. "So, it wouldn't be too much to ask for you to prepare a medical suite and brush up on your Trill physiology, would it?" He smiled slightly and then his face caved in on itself, betraying his delicate sense of loss. "If my predecessor does die while en route, it will be a tight schedule to complete the procedure. I hate to allow my own business to interfere with the Archimedes, but, this is a promise I have held for many years."
"No," Mabren answered, "Of course not. Since our last conversation, I've actually had some minor preparations done. And I have brushed up on the process. But not enough to feel comfortable, so I'll try to get set aside some time to review everything until I'm comfortable to oversee it. I understand that the last host is dying, but is it true that if the symbiont was to be removed prematurely would spell the death of host?
"Yes, Doctor," he whispered. "Once joined, to separate the host and the symbiont would kill the host. And… Altir is a dear friend of mine. And his condition is worsening. They… don’t give him much longer. In fact, he's to leave for the Citadel sectors in the next few days from Trill, just to air on the side of caution." He rubbed his chin with his fingers and sighed heavily. "The Trill doctors will take care of Altir on the journey as best they can. Just to make him more… comfortable." He paused a little, and then fixed his eyes on the Doctor. "Thank you for assisting me with this, Lieutenant. I… appreciate it."
Mabren perked up when the Captain mentioned that the previous host was worsening. "Is it wise to transport the previous host.... currently? Are there facilities on Trill that could hold the symbiont until we could arrive at the planet?"
"There are," Lane said, looking at the Doctor. "It could be taken to the Caves of Mak'ala, where it would be cared for and tended to by the Guardians until I head on back to Trill. However, it's Altir's wish to have it transferred and joined as soon it's… appropriate. And I have to respect his wishes." He played with a piece of thread that seemed to hang loosely from his cuff. "He's an old friend, and I suppose he wants to see me before the end."
Mabren watched the Captain as he answered the question, there might be something a little more to the back story, but he wasn't going to press. "I can understand that, old friends and all that. But yes, I'll be ready to oversee the procedure. Is there anything that you can tell me about his procedure? Any complications that might result in the... transfer?"
"Not to my knowledge, Doctor," he said, with a slight wink in his eye. "But, then again, that won’t be my problem." He chuckled a little and decided to change tact a little. "So, Doctor, tell me about yourself. I feel as though I come in here, bark my orders and then leave. I don’t really know all that much about you…"
"I thought that was the job of the CO? Go around and bark orders. Then the XO goes around and ensures that it all gets taken care of," Mabren joked, with a smile. "But it all depends on what you want to know. Eventually my father left me, and my adoptive mother was a doctor at the hospital at the New France colony. I helped out with the wounded and that when I really found out that I wanted to be in the medical field. That's the real meat of things a bit." Looking at the Captain, Mabren then asked, "Is there anything in a particular you were curious about?"
"No, Doctor," he said, "not at all. I just meant more about your likes and dislikes, you know. I can read your history on your service record, but it doesn’t really give anyone a sense of who you are." He looked at the Doctor and smiled. "Only if you're comfortable. Not everyone is and I understand that. And, when you have a First Officer like ours, someone has to play the nice guy," he joked.
"I like blue," Mabren said with all seriousness before he broke into a smile and laughed. "Sorry, horrible joke." Thinking about what was said, Mabren tried again, "Besides a taste in bad jokes, I love studying history. It's completely fascinating to me. And I have some hobbies that I do on the holodeck." After he finished talking, Mabren personally felt that he had blathered a bit much and went quiet.
"Blue, huh?" he said with a smile. "Not keen myself. What do you do on the holodeck, Doctor? I tend not to use them as much these days. Always stuck behind a desk."
Mabren thought for a second, wondering if he should answer. Deciding, he said, "Well, there's a few old Broadway plays that I practice. My favorite happens to be The Producers. It's so camp."
"That's… interesting, Doctor. Have you ever thought about performing something for the crew, if you are so gifted in drama?" he asked, with a smile. "I think it would somehow detract from the political tensions around us, and that famous sentiment, boost morale!"
Mabren's eyes went wide at that request. "No, no, no, no," he said, waving his hands back and forth, "It's not like I'm any good at it. It's just something to do."
"As you wish, Doctor," he said, a slight mischievous glint in his eye. He stood from his chair and nodded to the Doctor. "So, getting back to it, you can be ready if the time should come, Lieutenant?"
Mabren was concerned now, just a bit, but he dismissed it for the time being. But he could guess that eventually, this conversation would probably come back to haunt him. Standing, Mabren answered, "Of course Captain. Sickbay and I will be ready to oversee the procedure."
"Good, Doctor. And thank you." Cocking his head to one side he sniggered slightly. "I'll run the suggestion of a possible performance past Commander Arkham. See if we can arrange something. I'll be in touch with any further developments on… either front, Mabren."
"Ah," Mabren said, "Well, Doctor's orders are that I can't do performances. I'm allergic to the crowd you see."
"Captain's orders, Lieutenant. I'll be in touch."
He turned on his heel and left the office, passing the medtech on his way out of sickbay. "Better get some practice in, Crewman," he said with a smile.
Sitting down after the Captain left, Mabren only said, "Crap." Deciding to get his mind off the upcoming 'fun,' Mabren finally began to do the work he wasn't doing before the Captain showed up.
Commander Coltan Lane
Commanding Officer
AND
Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Doctor Gustav Mabren
Chief Medical Officer
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