Sickbay Scrabble

Posted on Mon Jan 30th, 2023 @ 2:38pm by Lieutenant Commander Axod Qo & Lieutenant Arlen Caldor

Mission: Episode 0.00: "These Are Our Voyages"
Location: Sickbay, USS Thejal

Caldor entered sickbay to find the room quiet, and for a moment, it caught him by surprise. By comparison, the other parts of the ship he had seen were rather busy. The Thejal was less than forty-eight hours from heading out on long term assignment. One might have expected there to be a little more activity, a little more rush to secure the supplies and finish up last-minute diagnostics, before their departure. And yet, there seemed to be none of that here. Instead, it was…peaceful.

He took a few steps forward, allowing the door to close behind him, and surveyed his surroundings. The compartment was laid out in a semi-circle arrangement with the ‘flat’ side directly opposite the main entrance. Six biobeds, three to his left and three to his right, were positioned with their ‘heads’ against the curved wall. Each was made up prim and proper, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

The Xanosian went further into the room, slowly approaching the empty nurse’s station. Odd, he thought to himself, maybe they’re in the back somewhere. He was just about to announce his presence when the sound of footsteps drew his attention.

Ax had spent the morning making last minute rounds of the medical section. Ensuring everything was in its place, and prepared for anything the ship might encounter. He had finished his rounds with a gathering of his staff, a Doosodarian gratitude circle. It was a way for him to show thanks to his comrades for all of their work in completing preparations. It also served as a break for them before they left to resume their regular duties.

As the Doctor and his staff enjoyed the company of one another, Ax was alerted to the doors of sickbay opening. He excused himself and made his way to the main ward. As he came into the large room, his eyes fell upon the visitor. "How can I assist?"

“I’m looking for someone who could help me with this,” Caldor replied, holding up a small datadisc he’d brought with him, “Just came aboard this morning and looking to get it all taken care of before we ship out.”

The Doctor took the disc and rounded the Nurses station to the computer access terminal. He inserted it into the port and perused the request. “Alright then, it looks to be in order. I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Lieutenant Caldor, chief communications officer.”

“It’s a joy to meet you.” Axod said with a bright smile. “I’m Doctor Qo, the chief medical officer. But they all call me Ax down here.”

"Ax..." Caldor said, repeating the name aloud. It was not the first time he had been invited to call a more senior officer by their given name. In those occasions, it hadn't usually happened at their first meeting. However, given that Qo...'Ax'...was the ship's chief medical officer (and, therefore, Caldor's primary physician), it made a little more sense. In fact, there was a part of Caldor that, under the right circumstances, could see the two of them becoming friends...or, at least, good colleagues.

The man certainly had a nice smile. His eyes were like dark blue pools looking out at the world and, in this case, Caldor. For a brief moment, the younger man even wondered whether perhaps Qo was seeing more. After all, he knew as well as anyone that, just because one looked human did not necessarily mean they were.

Ax scratch his beard and allowed his eyes to continue to scan the information on the screen before him. “why don’t you hop on a biobed and we’ll take some scans.” The Doosodarian stood upright and searched for a medical scanner. “Don’t worry it won’t hurt a bit.” His smile appeared again.

Caldor obliged, hopping up onto the nearest biobed as instructed.

With a standard issue Starfleet medical scanner in hand, Axod came up next to Arlen. “So, Communications eh? Must be a cunning linguist right?” The doctor ran the scanner and watched the readouts carefully.

“You could say that,” Caldor replied, doing his best to hold still as the scanner passed over him, “When you understand the different pieces and how they interact with one another, it can open up whole new opportunities...”

“Do you speak many languages?” Axod asked, his hand still passing over Caldor as he continued his scans.

"A few..." In truth, Caldor spoke several, but admitting to that often gave people the impression he was merely a walking, talking universal translator. It was not a reputation he appreciated, even if it did sometimes appear to be reality. "To be honest, the languages are just a medium for me," he continued, "kind of like a physicist or a chemist might use mathematics to describe the nature of the universe. A language can tell you a lot about a people, their story and their culture..."

Qo nodded. "I ask because because a few of us have a weekly Scrabble game," He set his scanner aside. "The woman you replaced was on my team, and I could use a new ringer."

“I suppose I could do that,” Caldor said, “yeah.”

“We play with all Federation languages.” Qo said with a grin. “It would be a fun way for you to meet some people too.”

The smile spread to Caldor's face as well. He hadn't expected much to come out of his visit to sickbay, beyond the usual routine check-in. And yet, less than a few hours after coming aboard, the Xanosian had already managed to meet one of his new colleagues and secure an invitation to group game night. All in all, not bad for the first day.

“I’ll take your smile as a resounding yes.” The Doosodarian said, looking over the results of his scans. “Well Mister Caldor, everything looks to be in perfect order. You are cleared for duty.” He sat on the edge of the opposite bed. “We meet Wednesdays in the Lounge on Deck 6 around 1900Hours.”

“Sounds good,” Caldor said, his voice trailing off a bit. Truth be told, he wasn’t quite sure what else there was to say at that point. “Well…I should probably get on to the next thing,” he continued after a moment, “Thank you, doctor.”

Axod nodded. "You are good to go." He smiled warmly. "Hope we see you Wednesday."