Boring Duty

Posted on Wed Jul 3rd, 2024 @ 10:52am by Chief Petty Officer Nish Karalo & Ensign Isaac 'Zac' Hughes

Mission: Remnant
Location: Shuttlepod One, docked at Station
Timeline: Middle of the night (Backpost)
2078 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

The pilot's chair in the primary shuttlepod was the best seat on the entire Atlantis. Not just metaphorically, it was so ergonomic and just the right mix of firm and soft that Nish actually didn't mind too much that she was just left sitting there by the rest of the away team. She had pulled out her paperback copy of an old Discworld book and was transported for some time to the fantastical tellings of an order of monks that controlled time. She felt like they could take some away from her current situation to speed things along so they could go back to the ship. But alas, she was sitting there, waiting. Legs up on the dash, half an eye on the comms unit that was relaying secure messages back and forth between the ship and the away team.

After some time in that position the chatter between the ship and the away team seemed to have died down, and her eyes were straining to keep reading the small print on her novel. She pulled her legs back and pushed in a sequence on the console. The comms system seeking a connection with the NX05, specifically the main sickbay. In the hopes that the person she was looking to connect with was on the graveyard shift there.

It possibly came as no surprise to anyone that the concept of shifts flew right out the door for Isaac when he was the only remaining doctor on board in the midst of a medical emergency. He had a masterful ability to apply responsibility to himself from multiple angles at the best of times, and it was difficult to argue in the current situation that there wasn't some justification for long hours. Collaborating via subspace was frustrating but there was a sense of urgency and that trumped the need for downtime, even if it had driven Lottie into intense mother-hen mode.

There was no escaping the need for sleep, however, and thus the doctor had arrived at a compromise that involved taking a nap on the surgical bed, since that was somewhat secluded and, with any luck, the least likely to be required. Half an hour here or there had kept him going, though it had also had a progressively dire impact on the state of his hair. The communication summons had set him bolt upright, and by the time he moved to accept the request, there was a decidedly bedraggled quality to the halo of lengthening strands that persisted in curling at the ends.

"Hughes here." He blinked at the screen and his expression both perked up and softened by some miraculous application of contradicting sentiment. "Hey you."

"Hi," It was clear Nish hadn't really thought this through beyond wanting to have someone to talk to in order to take her mind off of the wait. "How's things?" She leaned in and smiled at the dishevelled doctor on the other end of the video call. "Hope it's as boring over there as it is over here." Boring in sickbay, or so she'd been told on multiple occasions, was a good thing. It was kind of the opposite for helm control, where boring meant they were in a stable orbit somewhere. There was of course such a thing as too much excitement, she remembered back on their own version of the NX05 that they had been trying to get away from some local alien convoy from whom they had apparently stolen supplies. She imagined that had she been at the helm, it would've been more excitement than she'd care for.

"Uh..." Never one to be very good at fabrication, Isaac hesitated and then lifted his shoulders in hunch acceptance. "I'm back to running the place on my own again, so that's been...interesting. I have a whole team potentially exposed to alien pathogens but aside from background support, that hasn't really fallen under my jurisdiction yet." It didn't stop him from peering at the viewscreen intently. "Everything good on that front? No bonus tentacles?" In almost any other circumstance, he wouldn't have dreamed of making light of a potentially lethal situation but there was no benefit to be gained from dwelling on doomsday scenarios either. The last thing he needed was Nish going stubborn on him and refusing to admit to symptoms.

"They've kept me on this side of the airlock. Unless boredom is a symptom, I'm fine." Nish shifted a bit in her seat. She had kept her vitals closely monitored, since Avira had told her it would provide them with a baseline to compare the other members of the away team with. "here, take a look for yourself." She sent her medical readouts over the comms so the good doctor could see for himself exactly how she was doing. "Though I must say, I'm starting to get some discomfort in my lower back and neck. Must be the reading position. I'm sure a medically sanctioned massage would work wonders though."

The thoughtful squint from the other side of the screen took all of a few seconds to become a half-smirk of tired apology. If given his preference, Isaac would have found it hard to resist the urge to join the stricken team even if risking both trained doctors was a foolish idea. There was only so much he could do from this distance, and none of it felt remotely adequate. "Would a raincheck count as decent compensation?"

"I wasn't expecting you to scramble your molecules in an effort to give me a neck rub, Zac." Nish smiled a bit, she was doing her best to stay alert in case they had to leave in a hurry. "Is there any progress on finding this disease?" She wondered if her doctor slash fake husband had any insights that hadn't directly been shared with her.

"Finding it? Judging by the amount of causalities your new friends have, I'd say we've already found it. Identifying it? Figuring out where it comes from and how to treat it?" Having enjoyed a brief moment of pedantry without the threat of being punched in the arm for it, Isaac pulled both shoulders upwards into a tired shrug. "Honestly, there's no pathogen, at least not an obvious one. From all the data we've got, it's like these people just went to sleep and didn't wake up again. Severely malnutritioned and dehydrated, by the look, with all the onset symptoms you'd expect but there's no obvious point of origin. They're getting weaker and less able to process nutrients until their bodies just...give out."

"Sounds pretty serious. Any of ours infected already?" Nish hadn't been as privy to that information as a doctor would've been, it was one of those 'need to know' operating procedures. There was a moment where she looked over at the airlock separating her from the base, and hopefully separating her from the pathogen.

"We don't think so, though we're not sure what the early signs are or even how symptoms might present in humans. Or Andorians," Zac added as an afterthought. "Or Vulcans." The doctor huffed tiredly. "Of course we had to send our entire genetic spectrum over to poke the bear."

"Makes for a good sample size." Nish smirked a bit awkwardly at that. She was sure that part of it was that Zac had wanted to be there in stead of Avira. Perhaps it would've actually been the better choice seeing how Avira was primarily a trauma surgeon. "Sucks that there wasn't a mental issue plaguing the denizens of the base."

"You could argue that losing a good proportion of your population might count." As much as it was true that Isaac found the prospect of sitting to one side difficult in this situation, there wasn't much argument to have. This was no long his rodeo, Avira was in charge of Medical and was already being gracious enough in valuing Isaac's input. "It's more important to make sure there are no more casualties though." The gleam of a worried stare translated the unspoken implication that he was including present company in that goal. "No silly heroics, okay?"

"Who? Me? I'm the least heroic person you'll ever meet." Nish looked at him in earnest before she cracked a smile. "I promise. Though, you have to promise me something in return. If I do go out in a blaze of glory, find the small lockbox under my bunk and eject it from the airlock unopened."

This...

Isaac squinted suspiciously at the screen.

This was one of her usual tricks. Plant the seed, let it germinate, dump the occasional load of fertilizer on it, stir the soil.... None of these were very comforting analogies at the moment but they were fitting nonetheless because he was almost certain that there was nothing under her bunk except the scattered remains of his sanity as his curiosity got the better of him. "Even if you fizzle out in an unimpressive spark of mediocrity," Zac found himself promising, using an index finger to cross over his chest. It was one thing to suspect and another entirely to let Nish know it.

"So.." Nish wasn't really sure what else to talk about with him, "anything exciting happen in Sickbay? Anyone got knocked up while we were away?" She leaned back into her chair and sighed a bit, it was getting late even if on a spaceship there was very little indication of what was night and what was day.

It was an odd question, though perhaps only because it was so apt. Of course, one way or another, Isaac wasn't in a position to disclose confidential information, but he did pause for a moment to wonder at Nish's innate capacity for slamming her hammer right down on the point without even realising there was a target to begin with. "We don't allow those kind of shenanigans in Sickbay," was how he chose to answer it, glib and guaranteed to make her roll her eyes.

Nish smirked a bit at that before leaning in, "Maybe you should" then a wink. She had no intention of getting pregnant. She was taking every precaution known to man to avoid getting pregnant. But the practice required to conceive was a fun pastime. She studied the man's face and knew if he'd be able to be so stoic during poker she'd never stand a chance. He was a professional first and foremost. "I should probably let you get some rest. In case we come back, I'm sure some of our colleagues will need medical attention."

"I was getting some rest," Isaac pointed out, the faintest glint in his eyes demanding effort as always in seeking out the playfulness behind his dry wit. "But I'll stand better chance of getting a great deal more if you make a point of coming back in one piece, Crewman." Dropping her rank was intentional, though it did harken back to a very early interaction where he'd mistakenly demoted her in a fit of now-familiar distraction. "Stay safe," Zac steered the moment towards sobriety for a moment. "I miss you."

"You too. See you soon. Love you." Nish replied before closing the comms, after which she realised the words that just rolled out of her mouth. It didn't bother her, and she hoped it wouldn't be like those old time movies where blurting out that you love someone resulted in all sorts of weird behaviour from either side. Trying to deny it, or eagerly awaiting for someone to say it back.

For a least a minute after the screen went black, Isaac simply sat and stared as if still able to make out the faint outline of her features on the dark display. He doubted there would ever come a time where Nish lacked the capacity to completely bamboozle him and, if he was honest, Zac wasn't sure he'd ever want that aspect of their relationship to disappear. As always, she had found a way to leave him with something to over-analyse and it took a great deal of resolve for him to push out of his seat and head back to the makeshift bed that would continue to suffice until the away team were safely back home. Flopping onto it, the doctor rolled onto his back and wondered if staring at the ceiling for an hour would meet Lottie's requirements for adequate rest.

Love you.

"Well then."