Post Evaluation

Posted on Wed Apr 13, 2016 @ 10:47am by Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson

1,371 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Fall
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: After "Combat Drill"

Nicole stepped out of her office to see the majority of her medical staff assembled in front of her. Her former CO had described being in front of her staff as surveying troops before battle, and as they stared back at her, she briefly felt that way and squared her shoulders a bit more.

"Good afternoon," shes said crisply. A number of her staff replied cordially and she caught Cassandra smiling at her. Even though Counseling was a department in and of itself of sorts, Nicole went by the old assignments where it folded under Medical, and therefore her jurisdiction. It allowed her to keep tabs on all aspects of crew health and keep reports more streamlined to the Captain. And, if she were to be totally honest, she also enjoyed having Cassandra call her "Ma'am" in front of her staff.

"I'd like to begin by thanking all of you for your performance during the combat drill. You were professionals and most of you kept your cool expertly. That said, fifteen minutes is in no way a respectable amount of time. The next time the Borg invade, I want us surviving at least twice that long. On the bright side, our little ruse worked right up until the end. If we can refine our tactics, we can go longer without detection."

She glanced at her padd again. "For the record, our department held out second longest, losing by mere seconds to Engineering between their last crewman "assimilated" and ours. That being said, congratulations to Nurse Kelly Mirina for winning the betting pool." She paused as there was a slight round of applause, and a few high-fives sent Kelly's way. "Yes, congratulations Kelly, your reward will be working a double shift on Tuesday."

Nurse Mirina's smile immediately dropped. "What? How is working a double shift a reward?"

"It is when you bet against your own department," Nicole quipped. "Now, I want Sickbay put back together and keep your eyes peeled for the full analysis of the battle drill. If we get another one I want everyone performing better. No getting pinned down in turbolift vestibules, no rushing out of Sickbay right into a drone, and no punching security officers." She looked pointedly at Maggie who blushed immediately.

"Dismissed," she said, turning her back as the crowd began to disperse.

Cassandra was glad she was sitting somewhat towards the back and to the side; it minimized how many of the Sickbay staff might see her trying to smother a grin. Nicole had never been short on brass, but Cassandra was happy to see her asserting herself in a less violent way.

As the group dispersed, she patted Kelly on the shoulder. "I'll see about adjusting your schedule," she whispered, and followed Nicole into the CMO's office.

As Nicole sat down behind her desk, Cass sat down across from her. "You're not really going to make her work a double shift, are you?" she said.

Nicole smiled slightly. "Maybe," she said. "I did enjoy watching her crest fall. That should teach her."

Cassandra shook her head. "You're a wicked woman sometimes, Nicole."

Nicole grinned, evilly. "Thank you," she said. "I do my best to inspire team loyalty."

"'The beatings will continue, until morale improves', hm?"

"Taking a page out of your playbook," Nicole said, sticking her tongue out.

"How are you feeling?" Cass said.

Nicole's smile faltered. "I'm okay," she said.

"How much supply do you have?" Cass said, concerned.

"A few months," Nicole said. "I've started a rationing program until I can synthesize more."

"And what's the prospects on that?" Cassandra said.

"Without access to the ingredients?" Nicole shrugged. "I'm going to try synthesizing them here, but I've never had the success Amber did. I'm not sure I'll be able to create something as potent."

"It's worth a try," Cassandra said. "We've got a few days left before we arrive at the station. You've got the time."

Nicole nodded and took a deep breath. "I suppose. I've got most of it here, I'll just have to improvise the rest."

"Or..." Cass said, slowly.

"Or?" Nicole said.

"Or you could talk to your father," Cass said.

Nicole's eyes blazed. "Or not," she said.

Cassandra sighed in disappointment. "Honestly, Nicole, to hold onto this hate for a man you met only once--"

"Cassandra," Nicole said, her voice as dark and hard as a Vulcan obsidian diamond, "I didn't need to meet him to hate him. He is responsible for turning me into a monster."

Cassandra rubbed her eyes. "I swear to God, Nicole, if you say 'monster' one more time I will have you relieved of duty, and don't think I won't." Her violet eyes met Nicole's icy blue glare. "You're going to have to acknowledge that what he did was unintentional, and that he was trying to fulfill his wishes and your mother's. You could start with some communication."

"Which would be lovely, if we weren't on the other side of the galaxy," Nicole said.

"Thankfully I went to a great deal of trouble to record his holo-message," Cassandra said. "And didn't he give you boxes of letters and tapes and such telling you how he felt?"

"I left them on Rigel," Nicole said flatly.

"And Tiffany had them delivered," Cassandra said. "What do you think she meant by "personal effects"? You took everything when you left the Castel to go home."

Cass could tell from the look on Nicole's face that Nicole wanted to slap her palm to her forehead for being so stupid, but she didn't want to give Cass the satisfaction. "What if he had adopted?" Cass said, suddenly.

"Adopted what?" Nicole said, then mentally kicked herself for such a stupid question.

"If he had resigned himself to the idea that he and Mina could never conceive, and they adopted a daughter, would he still be an evil man?"

"Of course not," Nicole growled.

"So, it would be fair to say it's not the man, so much as the action he took," Cass said.

"And the Borg would be great neighbors if they'd just stop assimilating people all the time," Nicole countered. "If a good man commits an evil act, he is no longer a good man."

"So if he hadn't created you, he'd still be a good man?" Cassandra said.

"Perhaps," Nicole offered.

"All right. Then he'd be a good man, hopefully a good adoptive father, and the entire population of Distalla III would be dead," Cassandra said flatly.

"So because I stopped a plague, he's less evil? You can't use my accomplishments to justify what he did," Nicole said.

"No but I can use them to point out that not all of the repercussions of his acts were bad," Cass countered. "And I think it's unfair for you to call him evil. Desperate? Yes. Misguided? Absolutely. I will never tell you what he did wasn't wrong, nor will I say that even the best of intentions justified it. But the bottom line is, all he wanted was a child to love, and he does love you. I'm not asking you to love him, or even like him, I'm just asking you to acknowledge the idea that maybe he isn't evil."

"He unleashed a m--" she caught herself as Cass held up a finger in warning, "--utation that could have had dangerous repercussions. He got lucky, and I've made the best of it. He doesn't get praise for that."

"Granted. But you can't condemn him either. He missed his goal, but he didn't miss by much, and he gave to the galaxy a gift that has saved millions of lives."

"And taken some," Nicole reminded her.

"When necessary," Cassandra said. "What separates you from the monsters is that you have a soul. If you have one, it might be possible that he has one too." She stood up and came around the desk, pulling Nicole to her feet and pulling her into a hug. "Use what gives you strength, and face what brings you fear," she said.

Nicole returned the hug and sighed. "I'll think about it."

"All I ask," Cass said, turning and heading back to her office.

JP

Cassandra Sanders
Counselor

Nicole Anderson
CMO

 

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