Come with me Doctor, if you want to leaf

Posted on Fri Feb 7th, 2025 @ 10:07pm by Lieutenant Avira zh'Kenarh M.D. & Ensign Mercy Mourne

Mission: Remnant
Location: Medbay
1129 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Mercy practically burst into the medbay. On her back was a pack full of the equipment needed to gather samples. In her hand she had her favourite portable scanner. It technically belonged to the department but it had a specific ding in it where she had dropped it once so now she thought of it as hers.

“Doctor Avira! Come on, we can’t keep the Captain waiting!” She was beaming and out of breath, clearly just having rushed from wherever she came from.

Whenever someone rushed into sickbay the way Mercy had done Avira's first reflex was to jump up and grab the nearest medical kit, so she was already halfway through the medbay when it registered that this was about the Captain. "The Captain? What's wrong? Did something happen?" She cut herself short asking if something had gone wrong with the pregnancy, not completely up to date with the status of sharing that particular bit of information with the rest of the crew.

Mercy looked Avira with confusion. “Wrong? Why would anything be wrong?” She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “No nothing is wrong but you are coming with me down to the planet. We are going to look for phytotherapeutic plants! And since you are patient A’s doctor I thought you should come with me.” Patient A was what Mercy had taken to calling the subject from the data she had been helping Avira with. “So grab whatever you need for a field trip and let’s go. The Captain is holding the shuttles until we get there.” Mercy bustled Avira’s like she was a whirlwind, helping grab the portable medical scanner and any other equipment Avira might need.

"At the risk of sounding Vulcan, if you come rushing into a sickbay calling for a doctor, the first response is not usually 'we're going on a field trip'." Avira watched how Mercy was grabbing several devices in an effort to help her pack, as it were. "I hope you don't plan on needing that." She said when Mercy picked up the auto-suture.

Mercy flushed. “Ah right! I see why that might not be the best way to burst into sickbay, sorry for worrying you.” She then looked at the device in her hand. “I uhh… what is it?” She turned it one way and then the other.

"Auto-suture." Avira went back to her desk and took a bit more time to actually gather useful equipment for a trip down to the planet. "What did you tell the Captain my presence was required for?"

“Oh, I don’t think we will need that.” Mercy placed it carefully back in the table. “Not much. Just that I would like to find some medicinal plants and take samples. And that it might help with the ongoing supplies if we can grow some of our own. I did say you had asked me for help with some data and the plants might assist in looking for a solution but nothing more than that. Afterall…” Mercy gave Avira a pointed look. “I don’t know anything more than that right?”

Avira didn't like how some of Mercy's questions forced her to sound like a Vulcan, "I don't know what you know, Ensign." She finished packing and motioned for the door, "I have to stop by the Armoury, my rifle is in a locker there."

Mercy smiled softly and gestured for Avira to lead the way, as she did she wondered how she was going to crack the somewhat prickly Andorian. Avira seemed hell bent on keeping her walls up, and Mercy was torn between wanting to respect the Doctors privacy and wanting to reach out to her and let her know she wasn't alone. But she had to remind herself that Avira wasn't human, that she might not have the same sensibilities and needs that Mercy would have if she stood in the Andorian's shoes. "Sure, I need a pistol too, so that works."

There was a moment of hesitation. Somehow the thought of Mercy with access to firearms was disconcerting to Avira. "Do you have a personal sidearm or are you checking out a standard issue?" She shouldered the medical pack and walked towards the sickbay exit.

Mercy briefly glanced at the doctor and then away. She was used to people doubting her when it came to physical ability, which was one of the reasons she never did target practice with others. Plus people got competitive when they saw what she could actually do. “Standard issue one should be fine. It’s what I’m used to from the academy.”

Avira couldn't really comprehend why humans insisted on sharing guns and rifles. The maintenance alone would be a reason not to, besides that, there were so many small adjustments she had made to her rifle, she couldn't imagine having to use a standard issue. "All your certification is up to spec?" It still didn't sit well that a scientist, especially this particular scientist, had free access to the firearms locker.

“I wouldn’t be able to access the armoury if it wasn’t.” Mercy tried her best to keep her tone calm and light, but there was part of her that chaffed at the suggestion she would put her fellow crew in danger by letting such a thing lapse. She also knew that no one expected anything great of her when it came to anything that required a modicum of hand eye coordination. But this was partly why Gerhard was the only person she shared her certification scores with. She had enough people accuse her of cheating somehow or getting needlessly competitive to beat the nerd at the academy, she hadn’t wanted that to carry over to her serving on the Atlantis. “I’m well within required competencies to ensure I will be able to carry my own weight Doc, please don’t worry.”

"You're an officer on a starship, one would hope you can carry your own weight, Ensign." They got to the Armoury and Avira quickly unlocked the locker assigned to her, grabbing the Andorian Imperial Guard rifle from it's hanger. She quickly checked the weapon with cold efficiency before grabbing three spare plasma batteries. It was better to be prepared, they had run into all sorts of weird things on their journey so far.

Mercy tried not to internally wince at Avira’s tone, and instead just hummed in agreement. While the andorian collected her weapon she checked out a firearm, and ran through similar checks with a familiarity which spoke to easy muscle memory. She then clipped the side arm to her belt, and picked up her scanner and turned back to the door, gesturing for Avira to lead the way.

 

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