The Quiet Americans

Posted on Wed Feb 16, 2022 @ 11:35pm by Lieutenant Commander Zachary Addams & Lieutenant JG Sydney Friedman Jr
Edited on on Wed Feb 23, 2022 @ 9:00pm

1,390 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: We Will Take Care of You
Location: CMO's Office
Timeline: T-Minus 90 Minutes

Sydney heard the alarm to go off and sighed, silencing it quickly. She'd relished the privilege of sleeping in a bit the last week or so. She'd booked her docket rather heavily when they first arrived back at DQ8, helping those who thought they wanted transfers, or were having homesickness, or who had simply decided they weren't happy in their position in life.

The reward for such hard work was eight days of a light docket and the ability to catch up on some much needed rest. Shore leave was double-edged sword for counselors. On the one hand, it gave crew members a chance to get off ship, blow off steam, and shake loose the mental cobwebs, doing some mental spring cleaning. On the other hand, that could sometimes shake loose issues that had been buried under the stresses of work, adventure and imminent death. Those things would then bubble to the surface and feel far stronger than they originally were.

The result of her "feasting then fasting" method of work was the feeling that she truly had some "downtime" of her own the last several days for her own self repair. She'd gotten used to being busy in the background, helping the crew quietly so they could go about their lives uninterrupted. If no one knew when she was doing her job, she was doing it right.

However, with a change in the senior staff, introductions were needed, wrinkles smoothed and new chains forged. She hadn't been able to connect terribly well with the previous CMO, but that was then, this was now, and she hoped the new CMO would be a bit less resentful of her presence.

She showered, ate, put on her uniform and checked herself in the mirror before stepping out into the day. She walked into the spacious main sickbay, bypassing her office and instead heading to the CMO's office.

"Knock, knock," Sydney said, tapping the door frame.

Zach looked up from a padd and broke out in a smile. "Good morning," he said. "What can I do for you....Doctor Friedman, is it? You're our Ship's Counselor, I believe?"

"That is correct," she said, smiling back and extending a hand.

Zach stood up and smoothed his uniform and took her hand, shaking it. "Doctor Zachary Addams. Call me Zach, if you like. It's a pleasure to meet you. Do you prefer Doctor Friedman or Sydney?" he gestured to the chair across from him.

Sydney sat down and crossed her legs. "Well, some friends call me Sydney, some call me Syd, some call me SJ; say whatever you're comfortable with. My father just calls me 'Junior'."

"Yes, I was going to ask about that," Zach said. "You don't often see the suffix 'junior' for a daughter."

"Well that's my father's doing," she said, her rehearsed tone giving away the frequency with which she'd told the story. "You see, when my mother was pregnant, my father was convinced it was going to be a boy. Told everyone about 'his son' and how he was lookig forward to having a young man to carry on 'those Friedman genes,' and so forth. He didn't let the obstetrician tell them otherwise and when I was born, imagine his surprise." She held up her hands in an 'oh well!' gesture." "He decided he didn't care what kind of curveball fate threw him, he was going to have a child named after him, come hell or high water. And so I am Sydney Samuel Friedman Junior, the pride of my father's name."

"Fantastic. Fate really does have a sense of humor," Zach said, chuckling.

"Twice, in fact," Sydney said." I have a little sister."

Zach laughed. "So do I, as a matter of fact. My sympathies."

"Oh, she's not all bad," Sydney said, laughing.

Zach tilted his head. "Some of your vowels....Pennsylvania Dutch?"

"Ya! Sehr gut!" Sydney said, over-emphasizing the accent, and laughing. "I was raised just outside Intercourse, Pennsylvania, surrounded by Amish farms."

"That sounds.....pastoral," Zach said, trying to find a polite word.

"I think you mean dull as all," Sydney said. "My parents aren't fans of technology. They tend to avoid it as much as possible given they run a local restaurant. We saw old fashioned doctors, Sara and I simple toys. Contemporary schooling though, which is where I heard of Starfleet. I couldn't wait to get out and see something more than barns and livestock. They hated the idea, but I told them they could see me off to the academy, or I could sneak out, steal a horse and get there on my own."

Zach laughed. "I like your style." He lit up as he realized. "Your sister's name is Sarah? So's mine! H or no H?"

"No h," Sydney said.

"One difference then," Zach said. "I was raised in typical suburbia. My parents were thrilled when I applied to medical school."

"Are they doctors as well?" Sydney asked.

"No, not at all," Zach said, theatrically. "My family is descended from the bards of yore. We wander the galaxy, telling stories, singing songs, and bringing joy and good will to all we meet. We just have some jobs on the side."

Sydney laughed. "Such as?"

"My father works in marketing, helping cultural institutions on various worlds tell the histories of their culture. My mother runs a shipping company that specializes in transporting delicate and valuable artifacts from ancient cultures for museums to display, so those cultures' stories can be studied by people today. My brother went to school for theater and storytelling, but discovered chemistry and is now a master mixologist who can literally create drinks to take you to a place and time like a book. My sister...well my sister went to study creative writing and now writes holodeck adventures, so she's pretty vanilla." He shrugged.

"And what about you?" Sydney said.

"I wanted to be a magician," Zach said. He reached up into the air and plucked a large, silver coin out of the nothing. "Studied closeup magic for years. I loved how you could use it in the service of spinning a tale." He waved his hand and the coin disappeared. "Plus, I was a rather accomplished pickpocket." He gave a wry smile. "But, after getting into a bit of trouble here and there, I was given a choice: put my superior manual dexterity and focus to better use, or face some consequences. I opted for medical school."

"Quite a shift in priorities," Sydney said.

"Well I'm pretty different from when I was a teenager," Zach said. "But, now here I am, sitting on a starship, all respectable looking." He pulled the coin out of the air again. "Still, old dogs and tricks..." he grinned and sat back, crossing his legs. "So, how is our crew holding up? I understand I missed all the fun before I arrived."

"That's one way of putting it," Sydney said. "We actually wound up in the void between galactic arms a couple of times. We found not one, but two space stations out there, one ours one not. It really makes you realize there's so much happening behind the curtain that we just aren't aware of."

Zach nodded. "Fun, indeed. Hopefully we'll stick to our side of the playground for a while. I, personally, have no intention of rushing headlong into danger for the fun of it."

"Well, I don't think the Captain does it for fun, I think it's more of a cosmic, magnetic attraction," Sydney said with a wry grin.

"Ah, yeah. I've heard about those types," he said. "I tend to avoid things like that. I prefer to keep myself to myself."

Sydney nodded. "I understand that. My upbringing taught me to be a pretty mild-mannered person as well. I'm too polite, hate being late or make waves."

"Well, in that case, you should get going," he said, standing and smoothing his uniform jacket. "We're launching soon. Probably best if you're on the bridge, making a good show of it."

"Good idea," Sydney said, standing up as well. "Care to walk with?"

"Love to," Zach said, smiling, "but unfortunately I have to supervise things here. But by all means, make Medical look good up there." He nodded as Sydney left Sickbay and returned to his work.

 

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