The Challenges of Being Always On

Posted on 08 Mar 2018 @ 4:31pm by Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D.

1,823 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: USS Hathaway - Sickbay
Timeline: MD 92 - 1330 hours

[ON]

Over in that awkward corner of Sickbay, where the bulkheads don't look like they should have joined the way they do, Lake ir-Llantrisant was hunched over a freestanding console. The height of the console was uncomfortably low for his frame, but he was feeling self-conscious about ducking away into one of the laboratories on day one. This was a new crew for him and he didn't want to appear as anything but a team player. To that end, he spoke up when Lieutenant Voutilainen rolled through the area where he was working. Lake appeared otherwise engrossed by auditing the medical charts the cadets had prepared earlier, but he had been keeping an eye out for Tuula through his peripheral vision.

Spitting the words out faster than he could enunciate them, Lake asked, "Lieutenant, how did you do that thing you did?" Clearly, Lake was not accustomed to admitting he didn't know something. Clearly.

"Which thing?" asked Tuula, rolling herself backwards and craning her neck to look back at Lake.

Lake waved his hand over his companel, as if he were operating a medical tool on a prone body. "When you modulated the dermal regenerator to stop the bleeding on that engineer's splayed-open hand," Lake answered. He jiggled his hand to emphasize the technique Tuula had displayed. "With a wound like that, I always need a surgical-grade vascular regenerator to stop the bleeding with one hand before I can begin repairing tissue with the other hand. Anytime I've tried to stop a bleed with only a dermal regenerator, I end up regenerating tissue unevenly, or I abrade the wound even worse."

"Ah yes," replied Tuula, having spun herself around to face Lake before brushing aside her teal hair. "Just plenty of practice. It's all in the wrist; as long as the wound isn't too big, smooth, precise movements with the dermal regenerator can replicate the same effects of a vascular regenerator."

As Tuula spoke, Lake tapped blue and green contacts on his LCARS interface to save the spot where he had been reading and then to dismiss the reports off the display. This allowed him to turn his full attentions onto the conversation. Leaning closer to Tuula until his forearms were braced against the freestanding console between them, Lake asked, "I'm curious about where you learned such a skillful flick of the wrist?"

"Surgery was the focus of my studies," admitted Tuula, recalling her time at the academy and all the trials and tribulations she had gone through back then. "Something about cutting people open and fixing them up really spoke to my younger self."

"To your younger self?" Lake asked, striving to confirm either his hearing or his understanding. Straightening up his posture, he asked, "How much energy do you have for surgery these days?"

"Oh, I still enjoy a good surgery," replied Tuula in a cheerful tone. "Though I would prefer if it didn't take my crewmates getting gravely injured for me to get a chance to do one."

"Is that a recent revelation?" Lake asked, rubbing his chin as he spoke. There was an edge of judgment in his tone, but also a smirk, to communicate it was all in good humour. He asked, "Where did you think the patients came from when you were younger?"

Tuula opened her mouth to answer, before closing it again. "You're always on, aren't you?"

Lake opened his mouth wide to respond to what Tuula said, but it didn't take long for him to recognize that he didn't have the words for the mass of conflicting thoughts and emotions rushing through his stream-of-consciousness. He only managed to close his mouth with an expression like he smelled something truly foul. Wincing at Tuula, Lake said, "Any kind of interpersonal interaction with me is problematic." --He shrugged helplessly-- "I don't know how else to interact with the peoples of the Federation. I really don't."

"Relax, doctor," replied Tuula, before offering Lake a sympathetic smile. "May I... er... grab you a coffee from the replicator? I think it's about time for an afternoon pick-me-up."

"A jestral tea, please," Lake replied. He nodded enthusiastically, adding an, "Extra sweet." Moving towards the replicator too, Lake followed a few paces behind Tuula. "How did you end up on a temporary posting like the Hathway?" he asked.

"Oh, funny story, my last assignment was blown up by Klingons," she replied, glossing over the hell that was Kreanus and the fact that she had been brutally tortured. "It's been a lot of shore leave for the past several weeks, but I guess after that, Starfleet had figured that we had been loafing around too long and sent some of us here," she added. "Computer, one latte, with a non-fat whipped topping and chocolate shavings. Served in a skull-shaped mug, pattern Voutilainen Charlie Two. Oh, and a jestrel tea."

"Blown up by the Klingons?" Lake asked softly. Clearly, he was more taken aback by Tuula's last posting, rather than her skull-shaped mug. "Is that--" he started to ask, but halted, and he winced, and he said, "Was that Galileo?"

"Yeah..." Tuula broke eye contact to stare down into her coffee mug for a few seconds before looking back up at Lake. "You... heard of it?"

"I know it was lost in action," Lake replied, as he accepted his mug of simple shape and style. He raised it to his lips and he blew at the hot tea. "I suppose I'm more familiar with members of it's previous crew, rather than the late ship itself," Lake admitted. "I dated one-- oh, and I met the illustrious Lirha Saalm on shore leave." --He snorted-- "She shot me and left me for dead, naked."

"Yeah, that sounds like something she might do," replied Tuula nonchalantly. "So, you were on Rigel for shore leave, then, I presume? Are you a fan of the local culture and cuisine?"

Lake shook his head at that. Mostly, his subconscious felt a need to express disbelief at how easily Tuula took it in her metaphorical stride that a Starfleet Admiral had stunned him in a pique of rage. But also, he had to correct her. "I've never been to Rigel," Lake affirmed. "I met Saalm in San Francisco, at her sister's flat. ...What's Rigellian food even like?"

"I haven't been yet either, but I hear their wing slugs are to die for," said Tuula. "I would imagine they would go quite nicely with a Bajoran style hot sauce, though as a medical professional, it would be irresponsible of me to suggest that combination to those with a soft stomach."

Laughing out with a boisterous, single, "Ha!", Lake had to shake his head at that too. Smirking, he told Tuula, "My stomach is basically made from duranium. I don't think you could feed me much that would be too risque for my digestive system."

"Challenge accepted," replied Tuula. "During my residency, someone once decided it would be a good idea to do a celebration of Bolian cutlure. I've never seen so much gastrointenstinal distress in my life."

Cocking his head back, Lake had to offer a dramatic frown in response. "That not-- that doesn't sound like a good idea," Lake affirmed. "I'm all for adventurous eating, but that sounds more like masochism to me." --He tilted his head to one side, looking at Tuula more closely. "What style of cuisine are you addicted to these days?" he asked.

"I like Bajoran," explained Tuula. She had shared many meals in sickbay with Dr. Mott, her previous supervisor. He, like many other Bolians, tended to appreciate Bajoran food. The hot spices tickled even the Bolian palate, and the ample seafood was a Bolian favourite. "That, and some of the cuisine from my home country. Nothing like some mustamakkara -- blood sausage -- for breakfast."

"I must say," Lake affirmed, his voice deepening at the delight of nourishment, "I enjoy a good blood sausage." Pursing his lips, Lake nodded his approval of the breakfast meat. His nodding turned into an indication towards Tuula herself. "Where do you suppose you'll get your fix," he asked, "once this cadet-cruise is over?"

"Depends where life takes me," mused Tuula. "I'm hoping for a nice long assignment; a place where I can really settle in. Maybe even something out on the frontier, with all sorts of new discoveries and whatnot..."

A half-hearted chuckle escaped Lake's throat. "I think I'm destined for the opposite of that," Lake remarked. "I've been on leave from Starbase Seventy-Four and my time's nearly up. There's nothing new to be found as far as the eye can see." --He looked left and right at the windowless surroundings of Sickbay-- "How do you end up seeing those new discoveries from this deep in a ship?"

"I'm sure there will be medical samples and strange new flora and fauna to check out," replied Tuula in an excited tone. "Perhaps a new disease to discover..."

He had to raise his mug to that in the celebratory gesture of cheers. Lake sipped at his tea, and then he asked, "What's been your most inspiring discovery to date?"

"Tribble birth control," replied Tuula in a certain tone, without skipping a beat.

Lake didn't miss a beat either. He leaned in. "Using Tribbles as birth control," he asked excitedly, "or developing effective birth control for Tribbles?"

"For tribbles, of course," replied Tuula. "I'm sure technology has sufficiently advanced on the former front, and I'm not sure what Tribbles bring that could add to it..." Trailing off for a moment, she took a quick glance aside before turning back towards Lake. "We had a little issue with a tribble infestation on board. And like most medical discoveries, it happened by accident. Apparently there was a chemical in a hair regrowth hormone that had the side effect of reducing their birth rate. We managed to synthesize it, and just in time, I would say."

"I'd be intrigued to read the details," Lake remarked. He sipped from his mug and he quickly added, "Very impressive. Where have you published your findings?"

"It's currently our for review at the Federation Journal of Veterinary Medicine," replied Tuula. "That's one journal I never thought I would be published in. Though I was thinking of becoming a veterinarian before I went into surgery. When I was a little girl, I did so many surgeries on my sister's stuffed animals."

"Oh, bless," Lake said, and that was all he said. With his brow furrowed, he tilted his mug up and downed the rest of his tea. It was growing cold, beyond the slim margin of warmth he enjoyed from it. "Your sister must have kept a very sickly menagerie indeed."


[OFF]

Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Lake ir-Llantrisant
Chief Counselor
USS Hathaway

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Hathaway

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