Wake Up Time

Posted on Fri Jul 6th, 2018 @ 6:34am by

1,761 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: S1:3: Myriad Problems
Location: Stasis Pods
Timeline: Day 1, 10:35h

When Rena was told to wake up a pilot and get them caught up on recent events, she wasn’t expecting the woman she was currently looking at in the pod. A brief scan through her medical file turned into extensive reading that lasted a couple hours, and that was only scratching the surface. She had access to Jolani’s complete medical file, including the leave and the efforts made by counselors and medical staff alike to try and help her through what seemed to her like severe depression. The telepathic doppelganger also raised concerns for her, but concerns aside, she was more or less given an order to revive her. As Rena started entering in the revival sequence, she knew that she wanted to follow up with the woman, a psychological evaluation in addition to the normal post-stasis medical one that she had all patients from stasis do. Perhaps it would ease her thoughts about the woman, but for now, she put her opinions on the back burner and focused on the revival process.

Jolani remembered being put to sleep. Part of her hoped that when she went to sleep, that perhaps the ship or the stasis unit would do what she failed to do, never allow her to wake. StarFleet was a wonderful organization. However, its doctors prided themselves on the Hippocratic Oath. Jolani was forced to survive. Fell was gone, yet she remained. Counselors fretted over her. They told her that she lost control over her psychoprojective telepathy, which was nearly as embarrassing as the fact that she could not manage to kill herself. Maeve, she was told, was the name of her projection. She appeared and acted real, but like all projections of the holographic variety, she was not.

And now, Maeve, she was gone too. So all that was left was Jolani…. All alone…. Nobody but her and her duty. Why, of all Halanans, was she the one to bear this pain? Why was she meant to survive. She did not have the answers. They were not in the Milky Way. Perhaps they were elsewhere. Perhaps Traveller would take her far enough away that she might find the reasons to continue. If not, who would mourn her this far away? Nobody. And perhaps Fell would be there beyond.

Her eyes started to flutter. Still alive? She sighed as she noticed that she was thawing. She tried to take in the sounds and rhythms of the ship. Who would she wake to? What would she see? What was there now in the universe that qualified as her life?

Rena checked the screen on the pod’s side before opening the hatch, warm air flowing into the pod where the woman lie. “Welcome back,” she said, putting on a smile that showed her sincerity while trying to hide her nerves. “Try to take it nice and easy, it’s common to get dizzy or nauseous.” There was a blanket nearby, as well as a warm beverage in a thermos and some nutrient-rich snacks. Opening her tricorder, the doctor began the usual body scan to make sure everything was working properly. It was extremely rare for something to be off, but it was enough to be mentioned in the manual.

Opening her eyes, she saw the Trill woman before her. Considering Trill were a symbiotic creatures, to say that she was female would be nearly as correct as saying that a mated Halanan couple were two people. It was true and yet, not.

Death was one thing but dizziness and nausea were not desirable in the least, so Jolani decided to take the advice of the Trill doctor and took a tentative step out of the stasis unit. She weighed her balance on her legs and found that they held, even if her body felt like it would fold under her, weakness having set in over time. Observing that the doctor was taking medical readings, she saw no reason to disturb the Trill doctor. Jolani also did not reach for the blanket or beverages.

Once the medical exam was complete, asked, “Where and when are we? By your nonchalance, I should assume that my ship is alright.” The last five words contained slight hints at emotional care, whereas the rest of her speech was rather flat and distant.

Rena found nothing wrong with the woman through the tricorder, and put it back in its holster on her side. “We arrived at Messier 4, and it’s about... 7 months after our departure,” she responded, entering in the tricorder findings into a padd that had been sitting nearby. “I brought a blanket to help your body warm back up, as well as a warm drink and something light to eat.” Finally looking up at the woman, she scanned her features with her eyes to see what she could pick up from the other woman. “The ship survived the jump, and took a couple hits but is still in working order.”

Courtesy. The desire to assist. Jolani sighed. It did not matter that she was chilled from stasis. It would go away or it would kill her. Either would be acceptable. However, for the sake of the doctor and less questions, she reluctantly took the blanket and placed it around her.

However, before she took what was likely to be a required nibble and drink, Jolani’s eyes narrowed. “Did you say we took a couple of hits?” Her tone lowered into a near growl, “From what?”

The change in tone, however subtle, fed Rena’s previous thoughts. She had read that being active helped her, especially in the form of ship duties, and coupled with the change, the Trill could guess that she was protective of what helps keep her active. In this case, the ship.

“You will get all of the details in your briefing,” she responded, “... but shortly after we completed the jump, we encountered a massive ship. It appeared ancient, but some kind of being was still there, as well as some kind of matter consuming material. But before we explored the ship, a good chunk of deck 5 was damaged, but repair teams have fixed it up.”

A deadly calm settled into Jolani’s eyes and voice. “So, if I understand you correctly, we encountered hostiles and the Captain left his Chief Flight Officer in stasis?” The question was phrased more as a conclusion than as an inquiry. “I see.”

Without waiting to get dressed and without pausing for a further response, Jolani started heading to the door. The blanket barely hung onto her shoulders. From her gait, it was apparent that she was not going to pause to get dressed and was on a mission of her own.

Rena stared in shock as the woman started to leave before running after her and cutting her off. "I'm sure the Captain had his reasons, but I can't have you leave yet," she said firmly. "At least put clothes on. I can't explain why the Captain didn't wake you sooner, but maybe the briefing will." She ended up walking backwards as the woman kept going, and once they approached the door, she finally stood her ground, not caring if she was run over. "Lieutenant, did you listen to a word I said?"

As if electrodes had suddenly been pulled from a cybernetic machine, Jolani came to a halt. She looked at herself, a slight sigh escaping her breath, I have let myself go. Fell would not have been pleased with me. Her face deepened into a frown as she thought about her lost half. Before she sank into another depression, she quickly turned her mind to duty, her face becoming as neutral as a Vulcan's. "My clothes...." The statement was absentminded and distant. "I suppose I should not be the cause of discussion amongst the crew. Best to remember myself, right?" She tilted her head to the side, as if expecting Rena to have something more to say.

She continued, "I have heard you, Lieutenant Kal. That is your name, is it not? Would you kindly get me my uniform? I would then be out of your hair. I am quite certain that you have better things to do than to concern yourself with an officer who has been awoken from stasis."

"On the contrary, it's part of my job," Rena responded, nodding to the assisting nurse to fulfill the request for clothes. "You're lucky that you are in perfect health, otherwise I would have transported you directly to sickbay faster than you could object. Coming out of stasis can be dangerous, which is why patients aren't permitted to just get up and leave until the physician in charge-- which, in this case, is me-- says so!"

Perhaps she let herself get carried away, because she could feel her emotions rising and took a breath to try and ease them. After the mishap with Daani and a thorough lecture that she was sure fell onto deaf ears, Rena's caution when it came to taking people out of stasis had justification. When the nurse came back with clothes, the Trill took another look at the padd before sighing. "Like I said, you are in perfect health,, which means I have no reason to keep you," she added, her tone not as sharp but still holding hesitance. She gestured to the clothes, "once you get dressed, you're free to go, but if you experience any nausea, dizziness, or localized pain, come to sickbay immediately."

"Lucky to be in perfect health...." Jolani wondered what the doctor meant by perfect health. Nothing would be perfect for Jolani again. She shrugged as she put on her clothing. "If you say so, Doctor." She finished putting on the clothing and once again started heading to the door. "Should I ever need your services, I will be back." Of course, that would be never. "If you will excuse me, I will change into uniform and meet with the Captain."

With lingering reluctance, Rena stepped out of the way and went back to the pod to make sure it shut down properly, giving the woman the privacy of a turned back. It wasn't her place to question her Captain's decision, not unless she thought his judgement was impaired. In this case, it wasn't, but she didn't have to like the choice. Once she heard the bay doors shut behind her, she released the breath she didn't realize she had been holding before putting the pod into its sleep mode and heading back to sickbay.

 

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