The Tale of the Queen Who Sought a Drink From a Certain Well

Posted on Wed Aug 14, 2013 @ 8:52pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson

1,444 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: A Whole New World: Part 1 - Precipice
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: 62506.1 Fri, 23 Nov 2384 13:22:30 GMT

Nicole stepped onto the bridge, black bag in hand and marched directly to the Captain's Ready Room, ringing the chime and standing in the doorway, patient as a statue.

Not looking up from the general news report she was reading, the Captain called out, "Enter!"

Nicole walked in and without preamble stepped right up to the Captain's desk and put her bag down, unsnapping the clasps. "Hello again, Captain," she said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small crystal decanter and two glasses, pouring a finger's-or-so-worth of the amber liquid into each. She then took out a small black orb and dropped it into each.

The Captain didn't speak, leaned back in her chair and simply observing the CMO's actions with one eyebrow raised questioningly.

"When I was in medical school on Rigel," she said, sitting down and pushing a glass over, "one of my professors was talking with me about reaching more 'resistant' patients." She gave the Captain a small smile. "He said, 'hinek, there are some things a person would rather tell their bartender, than their Doctor."

Not reaching for the glass, the Captain echoed curiously ,"hinek?"

"Oh, 'hinek' means 'skeleton' or 'bones' sort of. It's a silly nickname he had for me. It's from a Rigellian expression: Wuh' ik hinek tra t' shasol. It essentially means, 'one whose bones are of the land.'"

"Bones..." Kennit picked up the drink then and studied the amber fluid in the light. "I don't think you're quite cranky enough to be a 'bones'...though admittedly we've just met..." she added, sensing from the doctor's actions and earlier remark about 'resistant patients' that someone had forewarned the Victory's new Chief Medical Officer that the ship's Captain could be...stubborn. Instead she nodded towards the glass in her hand and said, "And this..?"

"This," Nicole said, holding up the glass, "is a prized cognac from Rigel V that is used for special occasions. You swallow it and the berry in one shot, and it'll give you the full effect of the flavor throughout your nose and mouth. It's kind of like peaches, honey and vanilla, to put it in Earth flavor terms." She raised her glass. "Rom-hakau," she said, tossing it back.

"Encouraging a senior officer to drink while on duty...for shame..." the Captain commented then brought the glass to her lips and downed it in a similar fashion, swallowing it down quickly.

"Nicole took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Delightful," she said, picking up the decanter and pouring herself another finger's worth, then offering to the Captain. "As for encouraging drinking, what some damned stuffed-shirt Admiral thinks about relaxing on the job has little bearing in the real world. Any one of them would be bellying up right now for a snort, and I'd tell them to piss off with their attitude about it."

"I almost think I'd enjoy just sitting back and watching that..." Kennit observed with a hint of a smile on her face.

Nicole poured her another shot as well and downed hers. "I once got to sit in on a discussion at Starfleet Medical with my former CO from a previous command. I listened as sixteen 'well-respected doctors,'" she made quotations fingers in the air, "expounded on why replicators shouldn't include certain molecular concoctions and how having private stocks were damaging to the health of the crew." She rolled her eyes and poured another shot, downing it. "Needless to say, after vociferously reminded most of them of how many times each of them had most likely totally blown their little 'boycott', including having a bottle of Zanjerberry wine open at that same damned meeting, I was asked to leave."

She smirked and licked her lips. "I took the bottle with me."

The Captain just laughed at that, "I'll bet that went over well."

"My CO said there was a twenty minute discussion on whether or not to ask for it back," Nicole said with satisfaction. She looked at the Captain. "The question I guess I have now is, how stuffed is your shirt?"

"Well now that depends on the situation..." Kennit replied. "I've heard that I have quite the reputation for being...opinionated at times. But it serves me well... they don't turn over command of a ship to anyone..."

"True," Nicole said. "It does take a special breed to sit in the center seat," she said. "Is it what you always dreamed of?"

"Did I dream of this?" Kennit echoed. "No.." she replied with a laugh. "I always thought I'd spend my career buried in some research lab. Starfleet had other ideas and...well...here I am."

Nicole nodded. "I know what you mean. At first I thought I'd never leave my home ship, then when I returned to Rigel V, I got to run a hospital and thought I was at the peak. But, here I am again." She shrugged. "So, out of curiosity, where are we headed first?"

"We're heading into the Khrelan Expanse and unfortunately our navigational data for that region of space is woefully incomplete. Our first objective is just to see what's there, with a focus towards identifying Class M planets.." the Captain told her. "For the most part, they're sending us out to make some star charts which aren't useless.."

"I meant, which of those objectives are at the tippy top of your list of priorities?" she said. "Pre-warp civilizations? Colony sites? Warp-capable ones? Threat assessment? Or do you want to find a nice asteroid belt to sit and count?" She sat back and crossed her legs. "This far from home, it's Captain's discretion after all."

"Any of the above?" was the Captain's response. "It's an unknown area...we're the first to get a real look at what's here. I'm curious to see what we'll find, whether or not there will be warp-capable civilizations, or just a bunch of empty barren rocks. I'm sure we'll encounter other races and I look forward to it. The galaxy is a big place, and I'm sure it still has quite a few surprises for us."

"And what about the known hazards?" Nicole said quietly. "Wormholes, and Hunters, and Borg, oh my."

"Well now that's why we're heading out with a ship like this one," the Captain answered. "There are those out there who might want to pick a fight. And if so, we're more than capable of handling it," she said with confidence.

Nicole smirked. "'Such confidence, at such a young age, is either born of arrogance, or innocence. Both are cured quickly,'" she recited. "But I'm glad you have faith in your ship and crew. That says a lot."

"It isn't arrogance or innocence." the Captain answered. "It's confidence born from experience with this ship, and with its crew. We've been through dark places, and still came through to the other side scarred at times, but intact and as one."

"My mother considers anyone under the age of a hundred or so to still be 'young and innocent'," Nicole said, shrugging. She put a stopper back in the decanter and collected the empty glasses. "Well Captain, I think that should do for now. I appreciate your time, and I can cross you off my to-do list of exams." She began putting everything back in her bag, snapping it shut.

Kennit just smiled. "I'm half El-Aurian. To my father I'm barely out of the teenage years."

"As I understand their aging process, it'd be more like you just stopped teething," Nicole said, standing. "Thank you for your time Captain. If my readings show anything unusual, I'll let you know. Stop by my office if you need anything."

"Readings?" the Captain said. "From what I can tell you didn't even do an exam...not that I"m complaining, mind."

Nicole smiled sweetly. "Well, as I said, methods for more resistant patients. That 'berry' you swallowed was actually a remote medical sensor probe. It's relaying readings to my tricorder as we speak." She hefted her bag and winked. "Stubborn farmers, starship captains, both enjoy a good drink."

The Captain scowled for an instant then shook her head, "Sneaky...very sneaky..."

Nicole held up a hand of protest. "Just a country doctor who knows how to get her way," she said, then gave a sneaky grin, then opened her bag back up, handing the Captain the half-filled decanter. "This, however, is the real thing. With my compliments." She nodded goodbye and turned to leave.

"Bribes help but it won't work again.." was the Captain's only comment.


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JP

Captain R. Katrijn Kennit
Commanding Officer
USS Victory

Doctor Nicole Anderson
CMO
USS Victory

 

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