A Place to Discover Oneself
Posted on Tue Jun 27, 2023 @ 12:02am by Lieutenant Penelope Naroot
1,250 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
We Will Take Care of You
Location: USS Nazareth
“As our newest addition,” Lieutenant j.g. Amber Jones said, leading the way through Sickbay, “you may feel that there is a need to…prove your worth, let’s say. A need to show us that as a ‘raw cadet’ you’re worthy of serving with this crew and working alongside us. Allow me to assure you that that feeling is one hundred percent accurate.”
Penny tilted her head. “Did you mean to say inaccurate?”
“No, she didn’t,” another voice said, coming up behind them.
“Ah, Nicole,” Amber said, turning and smiling. “Penelope, may I introduce Ensign Nicole Anderson. She heads up Alpha Shift. You’ll be working alongside her unless I call you for an away mission. Nicole, this is Cadet Penelope Chintapalli, our new nurse.”
“Welcome aboard, kid,” Nicole said, holding out a hand.
Penny shook the doctor’s hand and smiled. “Thanks,” she said.
“Now,” Amber said, fixing Penny with a glare, “I have a question: Why are you here?”
Penny’s head tilted again. She looked to Doctor Anderson who was also giving her an expectant look. “Because…Admiral Markus granted my request for a field assignment?” Penny said, unsure what else the reason could be.
“Why would he do that?” Nicole said. “What’s so special about you?”
“She’s Esper-blind,” Amber said, folding her arms. “I can’t read anything from her.”
Penny opened her mouth to ask a question, but Nicole beat her to it. “You think that’s it?” Nicole said. “He brought her on board to counterbalance you?’
“You’re--” Penny began but got cut off.
“Possibly,” Amber said. “Then again someone I can’t read sounds more like a security threat than an asset.”
“How can--” Penny tried again.
“Well it could just be the Admiral’s recruitment preferences of ‘blonde and ballsy.’” Nicole smirked as if at an inside joke. “That, or he wants her to plan your birthday party without you spoiling it.”
“Hey!” Penny said, cutting through the conversation. The two doctors looked at her and she frowned. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”
“Blonde and ballsy. I win,” Nicole said, grinning.
Amber gave a harumph and walked to her office.
Nicole smirked. “Don’t mind her.” She sized up Penny quickly and spread her hands out in welcome. “So, welcome to Sickbay.”
“Thanks…I think,” Penny said. “Is everyone always this crazy?”
“Ah, trust me, you’ll love it here,” Nicole said, leading Penny towards the biobeds. “But yes, we’re all mad here. I’m mad; you’re mad…”
“How do you know I’m mad?” Penny said.
“You must be,” Nicole said, “or you wouldn’t be here.”
Penny tilted her head in thought. “Fair point.”
“Incoming wounded!” Ensign Chintapalli shouted as more crew members were carried into Sickbay. The ship was shaking almost constantly from a combination of evasive maneuvers, glancing and direct blows. The shields appeared to be holding, but casualties were piling up.
“Bone knitter,” Amber said, holding out a hand. Penny slapped the instrument in her hand then turned to the biobed behind her as Nicole called out, “derma sealer!”
She’d been bouncing between two biobeds for the better part of six hours as the casualties continued to come in. The shields were holding on by a thread, thanks to their newest engineer, but from the way the ship was beginning to rock, and the more severe injuries they were dealing with, shots were getting through.
“Finish up for me, Penny,” Amber said, heading towards her next table. “Need fresh gloves!” she shouted as she moved.
Penny grabbed the dermal regenerator and finished closing up the patient’s wounds along his arm, removing even a trace of a scar. “How’s that feel?”
The security officer flexed his newly repaired arm and nodded. “Good. Thanks.”
“Thank Doctor Jones,” Penny said. “How goes the battle?”
“The Jem’Hadar keep outflanking us. The Breen and the Klingons are hitting a stalemate, but the Romulans are in total disarray. At this rate, we’re not going to break through to Cardassia. Not without a miracle.”
Penny frowned. “Well, that’s kind of our job, isn’t it? Or at least that’s what Admiral Markus keeps saying whenever he talks about--”
“Beep, beep, Penny!” Nicole warned from the next biobed.
The security officer chuckled as he got off the biobed. “Yeah. That’s our job. I have to get back to damage control.”
As Penny watched him leave, the comm system came to life. “Sanders to Sickbay! Medical team needed in science lab four! Minor injuries but we need help!”
Amber looked around for a spare team, but everyone was engaged in triage already.
“I’ll go,” Penny said.
Amber nodded. “Report back once you have an assessment.”
“Yes, Doctor,” Penny said, grabbing a medkit and rushing out the door. She’d learned to appreciate moments like this. Not the death and destruction, per se, but the ability to have something important to focus on to take up most of her attention. It made her feel focused and less likely to let her brain default to ‘multitask mode’.
She stepped off the turbolift and rushed down the corridor towards the science labs. An Ambassador-class ship was somewhat large, and the turbolift had dropped her off near the edge of the saucer section. Most likely to avoid damage, she thought.
She broke into a run to make up time, but just as she gained speed, the shields momentarily failed. Or, at least, she assumed that’s what happened.
The blast that struck the ship punched a hole right through it. It was tight, focused and straight through, and in a patient that would mean a good chance of survival, but for the ship, it was still a massive hit.
Penny felt the impact, and her eyes went wide as she saw the horror in front of her. The black void of infinity was stretched out in front of her. She briefly wondered why she hadn’t been sucked into space, but a glance down made it clear.
A solid duranium rod from the ship’s support structure had impaled her through her ribs and had her pinned to the bulkhead like a push pin in a cork board. She hung there, limp, unable to move, and watched the hole in the ship in front of her. That moment seemed to slow down and stretch. She saw the battle raging around them, saw the debris flying away. She even, amusingly, watched her medkit spiral lazily out into space. She saw the emergency forcefields try to engage, and fail. She had time to briefly wonder why she hadn’t died from exposure to space yet, but assumed it’d take a moment for her blood to boil and her lungs to explode. She thought of her parents, wishing she could see them again, wishing she was home surfing, wishing she was anywhere else. The corridor went dark, and she assumed power was down and the lights were out, but as she looked into space, she realized it was getting dark as well. Here it is. I’m dying, she thought. As the blackness closed in, she heard, as if in the back of her mind, “Emergency shutdown initiated.”
Weird final thought, she thought to herself. Then again, so was that. And that…beep, beep Penny.
And the world went dark.
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