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Posted on 13 Nov 2012 @ 4:59am by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D.

2,268 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo: XO's Quarters
Timeline: MD05 0600 hours

[ON]

Rubbing her fingers against her temple, Pola tried to get rid of the dull throbbing behind her skull. She wasn't sure what time she had managed to finally get back at last night, all she remembered was that Cyrus had left her to her door and after a few more kisses, had finally dragged himself away to head back to his own quarters. The memory caused a soft smile to spread across her lips, she was seeing him later today for follow up treatment on his shoulder, professional but still, she'd get to see him again.

Right now though, she had to try tie down Jonathan before he left. With all the celebrations yesterday, she'd been unable to pin him down to discuss what Theron had brought up during his medical. Straightening her uniform jacket, she felt the weight of the new pip in her collar. Although now officially on shoreleave, she still had the uniform on for the work she'd to get done this morning.

Having returned to his quarters almost immediately after the celebrations following the promotion ceremony, John had wasted no time in getting his packing underway. Grabbing his standard issue duffel bag from under his bed, the XO began transferring various garments, toiletries and PADDs into it. As the door panel chimed behind him, Holliday called out with permission for whoever it was on the other side to enter, and turned back to collating half a dozen different PADDs that scattered his bed.

As the doors opened, Pola moved across the threshold, uncertain what she would find. That was actually a weird statement to make, even inside of her head. Frowning slightly, she was about to hail the out of sight XO before her foot caught something in the door way and sent her falling to the ground with a slight yell. Feeling a twinge in her already injured ankle, she closed her eyes as she wondered what else could go wrong.

Instead of the usual routine of doors parting and someone announcing themselves to John in the fashion to which he had become accustomed as XO, instead he was met by the sound of a loud bang before the doors could be heard sliding shut as normal. When no noises came from the main living area, John put down the collection of PADDs he held and went out to see what exactyly had happened.

Looking around her for what had caused her to trip, her eyes landed on a stuffed toy which had been kicked across the floor when her foot at hit it. "Ah...are you always in a habit of leaving your toys lying around Commander?"

Again it wasn't the usual routine that Holliday would find the Chief Medical Offier sprawled out on the floor in front of his door, but it seemed that it was becoming more and more normal for Pola and he to meet under unusual circumstances such as these.

"My apologies doctor....although I must say I didn't expect something as small as a stuffed toy to make itself into such a trip hazard....to what do I owe the please of a house call?"

Looking once again at the toy, Pola realised that it seemed to be a seal of some sort. Smiling as she moved herself back to her feet, she realised that nothing could easily knock this happy feeling. Dusting down her uniform, she picked up the toy and smiled at it for a moment before holding it out with a grin. "Never put you down as the cute and cuddly type Commander."

Taking the offering in his hand, John quickly tidied it away into a drawer in one of the storage units near the living area of his quarters, making sure that he closed the cabinet after him as quickly as possible before turning back.

"Good, I don't want rumours floating around the ship! I'm not cute and I'm certainly not cuddly, I'm the ship's XO not a children's entertainer. Now...what can I do for you Doc?"

Studying Jonathan for a moment, Pola heard the abruptness in her boss' words. The Doctor moved her body to sit on the arm of his couch. Just studying him realised that something seemed very off. "I'll get to that in a minute...are you ok? You seem a little on edge..."

"I'm just...getting ready for a trip." The XO thought, looking back over towards the sealed cabinet containing the small stuffed animal as he suddenly realised where it must have come from. Smirking, John chose not to reveal anything as he continued collecting items from around his quarters and taking them back to add to his packing list.

"I hate leaving things unfinished....you know what it's like on shore leave - there's always something you wish you'd done before you left, right?"

"No...Not really...I've got the joy of being stuck here." Watching John's movement from his clothes drawers to his case, she almost felt dizzy at the almost pacing motion it mirrored. "You sure everything is ok? You'd think with the new pip that you'd be floating on air...Congrats on the promotion by the way, fully fledged Commander person."

"I'm not the only one to change pips recently remember Doc? You didn't do too badly yourself!" John replied as he grabbed the last few bits and pieces that he might possibly need whilst he was off-ship and thrust them into his duffel bag befiore zipping it up, and moving it from the bedroom to the sofa, slinging it down with a thud as he finished his packing process.

"There...all done. You have my complete and undivided attention. What can I do for you?"

Convinced that there was something more that Jonathan wasn't saying. Turning her body so as she could properly face the XO, she decided to leave it lie for now. "I need to run something by you. A number of the crew have expressed a concern about the effects which sienna might have caused to the crew at large. There's been no obvious sight of symptoms which would indicate a problem, I think it's more so to do with peace of mind."

John took a moment to think on the matter, glad to be given something to focus on other than the unrelenting sequence of system repair updates and starship requisition orders that had kept him busy up until now. Joining her by sitting on the sofa itself, he replied.

"Interesting...how would you like to proceed? I could order the entire crew in for medical analysis but I have a feeling it might set a few people on edge that we could do without having to worry with?"

"I definitely wouldn't recommend that, I'd actually like opportunity to be able to enjoy my shore leave, as would my team." Pulling a leg under her body, Pola moved again so as her other foot now rested to the side so as she could face John properly. "I've had a number of people volunteer already. What we could do is run a quick scan of each of the volunteers, compare it to what we already have recorded for them, pre Sienna. My own worry is that nothing will show up. If something was wrong, we should be seeing side effects by now, it's been 5 days."

"I don't see any problem with that - if people are volunteering then it would be useful to have physical evidence that proves that there's nothing wrong with Sienna - get it done. Use whatever resource you need but make sure you do it with volunteers only - I don't want the crew thinking we've become a dictatorship whilst nobody was looking."

Pausing for a moment, Pola took a breath before asking her next question. "And if the tests should show up an unexplainable anomaly or people start to show unexplainable symptoms that something's not right?" Pola was aware that Jonathan would be away for a number of days. She wanted to avoid going to the Captain where possible, she needed to be recouperating.

Grabbing a PADD, John quickly downloaded a simplistic version of his flight plan along with details of where exactly he would be during his time away from the ship before handing it over to the doctor.

"Then this will tell you where I am and how to get a hold of me - don't be afraid to use it if there's a problem, understood?"

Taking the outstreched PADD, Pola only briefly glanced at it. She understood that Jonathan deserved some sort of privacy over his plans. Smiling softly she nodded her head. "Thank you...I'll keep this locked away. Is there any point in which you will be uncontactable?"

"For ship's business? No. If you need me I'm on the other end of a commbadge, simple."

John had always prided himself on being responsible as a member of whatever ship he was serving on at the time - just because he was away from the Galileo didn't mean he had duties that he could ignore.

"Although I'm not expecting anything to go wrong before I get back at the very least."

Raising an eyebrow, Pola allowed a grin to form as she moved her leg back out from under herself. "Ever hear the saying that suggests that something's are best left unsaid." Getting to her feet, she looked across at the dresser. "Make sure you get back to us in one piece I'd prefer not to go through all that acting XO and such again anytime soon."

"Not a problem - I doubt I'll be away for more than a couple of days anyway, and I doubt Galileo will be going anywhere before then..if not I'm sure the crew will deal with anything minor themselves, they're a good group."

Those words had an image of Cyrus enter her mind, causing the Doctor's cheeks to slightly flush red as he embedded himself back in her thoughts. "The new crew aren't that bad either. I'm sure everyone will be ok."

"Ahh yes, our willing new recuits." John replied with a laugh as he picked his bag up once again and slung it over his shoulder, moving it from the sofa to be placed just near to the door to his quarters in preparation for his departure in a few hours time.

"I must admit I haven't met many of them yet...I trust they all reported in for their physicals as ordered? No problems there?"

"Ah...no, no issues." Pola flushed brighter red as she tried to think. "Kohl took on our new chief of science and I'm waiting for him to file the report. He also helped me with our new diplomat who was...well contrary would be a good word. Our chief of security and his officer all look good, some minor issues with both I just need to keep an eye on."

"I'm sure I can trust you to keep an eye out for them all Doctor - again...you know where I am if anything goes wrong."

John picked up a PADD and absent mindedly tapped in a few last commands to issue various orders and documents across the ship, basic information such as duty rosters that would be needed in his absence.

"Well....I think Galileo can manage without me for a couple of days - barring any more Klingons showing up at least"

Raising an eyebrow, Pola smiled softly as she leaned her shoulder against the bulkhead, keeping her weight off if her leg. "I figure we can take care if the place Commander. We might miss your expertise in handling a dermal regenerator though."

"As long as it's my charming bedside manner and not my handling of a phaser that's missed, I think I'll sleep soundly."

John replied, laughing for a moment as he thought back to his crawling through the bowels of the crippled Galileo to get from the Bridge to Engineering via Sickbay and back again.

"Now Doc I don't mean to be rude, but I've got a shuttle to catch in the morning....I could do with just a drop of downtime?"

Pola looked pointedly at the Commander, shaking her head slight as she smiled. "I tried to escape ages ago, why otherwise am I standing by your door?" Laughing, she pushed herself back to a standing position. "Don't forget your teddy. Poor thing will be lonely without you otherwise."

"By all means, don't let me keep you. Goodnight Doctor" John replied, trying not to respond to the question about the stuffed animal left at his door.

With a grin, Pola turned on her good heel and left with as much speed as the slight limp would allow her. She had somemore work to finish up herself before her own shoreleave could properly start.

As the doors closed in front of him, John moved to the door panel and pressed the "lock" command, sealing up his quarters for the night as he prepared to sleep. As he turned away, the XO moved only a few paces towards his bedroom before stopping and looking over his shoulder at the small cabinet that he had sequestered the stuffed animal into.
With a smirk on his face, Holliday moved towards it and opened the small door, before retrieving the stuffed animal and depositing it into the top of his duffel bag before zipping it back up again.

"Cya around Dru...thanks for the travelling companion."

[OFF]

Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

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