40 hours no sleep

Posted on Thu May 20, 2021 @ 8:56pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant JG Aergad Halvor & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

1,306 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Archangel
Location: Ten Forward
Timeline: En route to DQ8

Halvor secured his terminal. He went to Sickbay and got his shot. The nurse told him in no uncertain terms, "Food, Relax, Sleep." 40 hours of looking at transfer orders, requisitioned, and cargo movements. He was worn out, but wired. He ordered a double portion chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli, a Spinach salad, and a sweet tea from the replicator. He took his tray to a seat. His back to the wall l so he could see all the doors. He put his hands on his face and rubbed his eyes. He didn't talk much about personal things, short of looking at his personnel records, they wouldn't know he had an adult son or grandchildren. He pulled out his holodisk. He pushed buttons on it and it went through different holographic images and holovideos.

"And with the amount of crew we have, we could have plenty of teams," Penny said. "We could do a whole tournament with Engineering alone! Of course, we'll want a few tall ringers on our team to dominate the net." She nodded gently towards Halvor.

"I think before we stat worrying about a volleyball ringer, we should establish if anyone actually wants to play," Nicole said, dryly. As they approached the replicator, Nicole placed her order and took her food, walking to find a table. She paused and looked at the chronometer on the wall. "Mister Halvor," she said quietly as she approached, "I trust you've been to Sickbay already?"

Looking at pictures of holofootage of his grandson, Halvor was pulled from thought, "I got my shot, doc. I wrote my report on the abnormal requisition and routing records. I couldn't sleep, I was too wired. Your nurse said that the best thing was to get a good meal and relax."

"I would concur," Nicole said. "Generally works for me." She looked down at the holos. "Family pictures?"

Halvor answered, "My Son, his wife, and my grandson. My grandson is trying to learn to walk."

Nicole smiled; baby pictures always brought out the soft side in her. "I'm sure he'll be sprinting before they know it," she said. "My Goddaughter barely took time to crawl before she tried standing.

Having come into the mess hall a few minutes behind Nicole and Penny, Camille came around with her tray of food and saw the holo images, catching the last few seconds of the exchange. “Oh mon Dieu, that is adorable! You have a lovely family.”

Nicole looked up, surprised, but smiling. "And bonjour to you as well. Didn't know you were on break yet. I was telling Mister Halvor about Cole's need to stand on her two legs before her parents could cope with her crawling."

“Sounds right,” Camille said as she took a seat across from Nicole. “From what I’ve seen of her. I regret I missed monies early years for my little cousins, but I expect it won’t be long for Renée — my sister, who just got married,” she clarified for the benefit of Halvor and Penny, who had not met her family, “to start having des petits humains, and I’ve promised to be more involved.”

Halvor took a couple bites off his food, then changed the image, "My ex fiancee, her husband, my son, his wife, and the baby. He was born about a month after Crusher's cure failed on me. The Xhaldian military dismissed me from service and requested I not return home until I got a cure that worked. I tried to return after I was on treatment to reenlist, try and get to know my son, the Xhaldian military said I was a liability." He tried to think of a comparison, "Earth military history. I'm akin to an insulin dependant person with blood sugar issues, only my issues make me a monster that damages property just by walking. I'm also a reminder of the experiments done on us by Romulans."

Penny had often heard of people feeling the temperature lower based on mood. She still registered the same ambient temperature on board as always, but she could feel her smile fade as she saw Nicole and Camille's fade as well. "You can't visit them?" she said. "What about if they came to see you?"

Halvor answered, "I can visit now, but only in this form. I've seen my siblings and their kids. My son and his wife are stationed on another ship. Until I got hurt and medical needed his DNA, he was under the impression that I had been refusing the cure. He didn't know that Crusher's cure didn't work. I didn't get to see him grow up. He thought I chose being Hardcore Halvor over being a father." His son thought that if his father took the cure, he could come home and be a father, but he was refusing the cure. His son didn't know the cure didn't work on him. "He thought I chose being the Rockman over him." His son knows the truth now.

"Oh," Penny said, tilting her head in thought. "I suppose that would be one theory to go on. At least you've been able to correct the misconception."

Halvor looked at Nicole, "My understanding was it was a Doctor Anderson who explained it to them via holoconference after I got hurt that I wasn't refusing the original cure, that they couldn't Peirce my skin. I chose this assignment to thank Dr Anderson, but found out it was a different Anderson with a similar skillset and set of PHDs."

“You’re going to have to do something about that common name of yours, ma jolie dame,” Camille joked as she smirked at Nicole.

Nicole rolled her eyes a bit.

“We lucked out with Monsieur Halvor, but with so many Doctor Andersons about, we might get overwhelmed with thankful former patients.”

"Dead men tell no tales," Nicole quipped.

Halvor answered. "Not just thankful. The treatment requires constant monitoring and minute adjustments that require a specific skillset. Not many have the exact background to do it easily, many would have to work in tandem with the science departments and Starfleet Medical. Hence the comparison to the Earth ailment diabetes."

Penny rested her chin on her hand. "What about an automatic dispenser? Something attached that regulates it?"

“You could incorporate a sensor, which determines how much dose is needed on a minute-by-minute basis?” Camille added.

"Like an antique insulin pump," Nicole said thoughtfully. "Humans used to use them to control metabolic deficiencies." She looked him over. "Of course, the moment you bump into a wall it'll go south..." she stared at him a bit more, chewing thoughtfully, dissecting him slowly in her mind.

Halvor had fallen asleep.

Penny was already working out the mechanics in the back of her mind, along with a couple dozen other tasks, when she saw Halvor's face. "I think we're boring him," she said, seeing his eyelids droop.

He briefly started to snore.

"I think he's exhausted," Nicole said, looking him over. She looked at his eyes and felt his pulse. "Lieutenant, I don't know when you last slept, but I'm ordering you to bed, effective immediately."

When she said Lieutenant, Halvor woke up. "Sorry ma'am. I'm awake. I was reviewing data for forty plus hours." He finished his dinner. "I took a break about ten hours ago and did PT. I didn't count that in the forty." He started to get up and clean up his tray.

"Well if I find you jeopardizing your health again like that, I'll have you relieved of duty until I'm convinced you're taking better care," Nicole scolded from her seat. "To bed, Mister Halvor."

As he nodded assent and left, Nicole shook her head and took another bite of food. Another stubborn crewmember. Just what they needed.

 

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