A Cup of Joe
Posted on Wed Nov 18th, 2009 @ 6:36pm by Commander Curtiss Drake
952 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Balowlli System
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: 0817HRS
Cailean Fox sat in the corner of the Archimedes mess hall, a half empty plate of eggs and bacon resting on the table in front of him as he nursed a cup of coffee in his right hand. To his left, out the viewport window, he watched the coming and goings of the ships beyond to points unknown. His mind was wandering where it may, his eyes resting on each ship for a moment wondering if they were coming home to visit family or to do business. Was Earth their homeworld, or were they some species that came from far away. It was the kind of mindless musing that allowed him to stay relaxed and focused when the time came.
It had been a pleasant return to ship duty here on the Archimedes. He had found a generally pleasant crew and had even found himself a friendly face or two to share his days with. It reminded him so much of his days aboard the Imperator and he was so deeply satisfied that he had been able to find another home so very much like it.
Shoreleave was a generally uneventful time for any member of the crew, particularly one who had just arrived. Since the ship had not gone anywhere and was not admitting too many more new crewmembers at the moment, there wasn’t too much for a Doctor and Chief Medical Officer to tie down. Aside from the joining of the Captain, the only exciting thing to happen Medically speaking was the Wilkinson’s beagle eating the Lieutenant’s commbadge. Cailean had been able to extract the object after a brief surgery, but waking up at three am to tend to a beagle wasn’t exactly on the Starfleet Medical Academies recruitment brochure.
He chuckled to himself as he took another sip of his coffee, the warm yet foul tasting liquid winding its way down his throat and giving his body that kick of caffeine that he needed in the morning. One that started for him at o-three-hundred.
He knew that he wouldn’t be able to fall back to sleep so, like always, he took over the Gamma shift and gave the resident Doctor an early break. He had stuck around in the Sick Bay, cleaning up after the surgery, until the Alpha shift started and then left his Head Nurse in charge of things while he came down for a little breakfast. As Chief Medical Officer he wasn’t really required to be in the Sick Bay at all times, but Cailean preferred to be about his office during the day just in case anyone needed anything.
To Cailean, being a Chief Medical Officer was a lot like being a ship’s Captain. With a competent staff of Doctor’s and Nurses in your Department, there’s really not too many reasons for the Chief to be in the Sick Bay. He really need only be there when there is a matter of urgency that requires his skilled hand, or experienced opinion. Still, there was something to be said for a Doctor that was always available. It may have been mundane to deal with the minor cuts and bruises that most crewmen incurred, but he enjoyed the face time.
The only part of his tenure thus far aboard the Archi that couldn’t be neatly filed away in a box was his relationship with Amy. Nothing about it was the way Cailean normally did things. He wasn’t the kind of man who rotated steadily through girlfriends or any women for that matter. As a matter of fact, Amy was the first woman he’d been with since his wife passed away. He simply hadn’t had the interest to pursue anyone. There was just something about Amy that twisted the norms for him, and he found himself going out of his way to be with her. He spent most of his off-duty hours with her, and had spent only a random few hours in his own quarters, which he had now offered up to Kate. He just wished he could ‘define’ what was going on here.
It had only been a short amount of time, but already his relationship with Amy had moved swiftly past the awkward dating phase and firmly into the established relationship phase. It was a bit perplexing to say the least, how is it possible they could have moved so swiftly into that portion of their relationship with no hiccups whatsoever? Was it simply a factor of two mature adults looking past the immature issues that often plague a new couple? Or was it something that was going to come back and be an issue in the future? Whatever was going on, as enjoyable as it was, it left a lot to be wondered.
So he did.
Turning back to the viewport, Cailean continued his internal musings and watched the ships and the people within the mess hall come and go for a time. He share a few friendly hello’s with crewmen he’d met in Sick Bay, and a few that he’d not yet met at all. In general, he was a bit surprised at the youth of the crew at large. Perhaps the older crew were all in Command’s of their own, or had retired, or maybe Starfleet was just becoming a place for the young. You could just be too old for this, he thought to himself. He chuckled inwardly but shook his head. He wasn’t too old, he was just getting started.
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