STF

Sickbay - CO Checking In

Posted Oct. 27, 2022, 10:56 p.m. by Captain Aaron Foley (Commanding Officer) (Steve Johnson)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Dr. Rahm Vesta (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay - CO Checking In

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Dr. Rahm Vesta (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay - CO Checking In

Posted by Captain Aaron Foley (Commanding Officer) in Sickbay - CO Checking In
Posted by… suppressed (13) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>

“We do pick up the inevitable scrapes and bruises on the path,” Dr. Rahm said. “Would you mind if I took some blood for testing? Oh, and you mentioned the middle of nowhere. Where were your previous assignments?” she asked, preparing her various kit for blood work.

-CMO Rahm

“Do what you need to do,” he said offering up his left arm. “I’ve sort of accepted that I’m in for whatever tests you have planned.

“Before getting called back to the Academy, I was stationed at Starbase Magellan, out past Romulan and Klingon space. Definitely a different kind of atmosphere when it takes months to travel back to Earth.”

Capt Foley - CO

Dr. Rahm quickly pulled two vials of blood from the Captain’s arm and dropped them onto a nearby tray. She pressed a piece of gauze into the puncture site and wrapped it in a sticky blue covering.

“Keep that one for about 2 hours,” she advised, giving the Captain use of his arm once more. “Ah, Magellan. Been there twice during the Dominion Wars, drank a lot of bloodwine,” she grimaced. “That is quite a few light-years away.”

She turned back to the samples. “Give us a day to process these and if there’s anything to update you on or not, I’ll be in touch. Buy as it stands now. Captain Foley, you’re in fine mettle. I’m clearing you for duty. Pending the results of your blood tests, of course. “

,-CMO Rahm Vesta

“I don’t think I remember seeing that in your file. But Magellan is probably not what you remember it to be. Starfleet has basically abandoned the station because it was so far out, so when we arrived it was part of getting the station back up and running again. When I left, they were finally getting a decent flow of the local trading traffic back through.

“And thanks Doctor,” Aaron said rolling down his sleeve and standing up from the biobed.

“So I guess that means it’s my turn. Is there anything that you need to make your job here on the Challenger any better or easier?”

Capt Foley - CO

“My apologies, Captain.” Dr. Rahm said, squinting thoughtfully. “It’s also equally likely I’m confusing names again. As for my time aboard the Challenger, give me a week or so to get my sea legs back. I came on board right when I’m also supposed to be finishing a chapter to a book on PTSD in a specific group of Bajoran miners I’d worked with, so I’m burning the candle at two ends right now.”

-CMO Rahm Vesta

“How is the rest of the writing for the book going? And I applaud you for keeping the work on it going. I haven’t had the time to review the research data I have collected recently, let alone have time to work on a paper to get published.

“And what take on PTSD are you taking with the book?” If it wasn’t obvious before, Aaron had definitely been in a research track as he was interested in talking shop when it came to publishing your research.

Capt Foley - CO

Dr. Rahm’s posture softened a little.

“It’s almost done. I’ve been working on it for months–collecting interviews and working with several miners’ therapeutic teams and comparing treatment protocol–but I do think it’s the most comprehensive reporting on treatment of the survivors of Bajor Mine E-19 yet.” She explained. “I eventually come to the recommendation that a combination of traditional talk therapy, occupational rehab, and guidance from the vedeks are the optimum treatment.”

-CMO Rahm Vesta

Aaron thought on that for a moment. “I can see how that would be very specific to a Bajoran, with how much religion is integrated into the culture. Did you get an opportunity to expand your research to see how this might work for a non-Bajoran?”

Capt Foley - CO

“I didn’t expand my research outside of the the survivors of Bajor Mine E-19,” Vesta explained. “There were a couple Cardassian political prisoners who worked in the mine as well, but my efforts to locate and interview just one of them have proven unsuccessful. I know they made it out of the mine, but who’s to say what happened to them once they returned to Cardassia? Maybe I can approach new research later, but I don’t know if the vedeks will do much for those who don’t have a strong affinity for Bajor, or those who have a weak pagh. Do you have a research background, Captain?”

-CMO Rahm Vesta

Aaron nodded. “That was why I was asking. Because even if the vedeks were willing to help, I’m not sure if the results would be repeatable for a non-Bajoran. But it would be an interesting experiment. If the teaching of Bajoran religion and philosophy could help a non-Bajoran to recover from PTSD…” Aaron said trailing off.

“Yes, exactly,” Vesta said. “I do hypothesize that any religion that has a foundation of predeterminism could likely recieve help the suffering through talking with a religious leader. Equally important are the traditional therapies like medication, of course.”

“Sorry. And yes I do. I spent my time out in deep space, and before being assigned to the Challenger I was filling in for one of my former Stellar Cartography professors that was on a sabbatical. It also allowed me to operate a senior level research lab for deep space stellar cartography. There is a new deep space sensor array that had just recently come online, and we were preparing to request time on the array to experiment with a new mapping algorithm that we had developed. Hopefully the cadets were able to get approval, I haven’t had a chance to check-in with them since this assignment started.”

Aaron laughed. “I guess that’s my long way of saying yes.”

Capt Foley - CO

“I hope you can learn about it soon, Captain,” Dr. Rahm said. “Working with young people can be so rewarding. That’s what guided me here. What led you toward the Academy ship? Why aren’t you captaining a research vessel like the USS Yosemite?”

-CMO Rahm Vesta

“Starfleet Brass,” Aaron said with a grin. “I had spent time out among the main fleet, getting a chance to spend time out in deep space doing research. I was actually out past Klingon and Romulan space on Starbase Magellan before coming back to Earth, to fill in for one of my former professors who was taking a sabbatical. So when the position opened up on the Challenger, I wasn’t given much choice but to head out here.

“And after spending time on a research vessel, I don’t think I’d want to be the Captain of one. Most of the time it isn’t the Captain who is getting to pick where the ship goes, because they are always playing host to visiting science team or another. It’s not just floating out among the stars going where you feel like that day. In my mind the Challenger is sort of a nice compromise in the end. If I’m not going to be able to keep working on my own research, at least I can still do some teaching of the next generation of Starfleet officers.”

Capt Foley - CO

“I understand that completely,” Vesta empathized. “For years, I have been traveling to and from Starbase to Starbase, all across the galaxy from one diplomatic conference to another. I’ve got to meet with and speak to a lot of different individuals about the Cardassian Occupation and what Bajor has to offer–but my passion has always been what I like to call “full body wellness,” both body and mind.”

-CMO Rahm Vesta

“I’m not sure if that is worse or not. Yes you were the one out front, and not just a glorified chauffeur, but you were also just out of reach of actually getting to further your own research.

“Well I’m hoping that the Challenger will give us a both a chance to further own research, while also getting to help this next generation of cadets. And hopefully I’ll get a chance to do my part, so what would be my first steps to full body wellness Doctor?”

Capt Foley - CO

Dr. Rahm nodded. “Helping the cadets is most important to our mission, yes, on top of our research. About your full-body wellness…”

Dr. Rahm paused. “With your role as captain come all kinds of new stressors and obligations,” she said carefully. “In the sordida, you must lean in to your senior staff for support. Many captains take on too much and neglect their wellness–their recreation, their social lives, their faith or their art.”

She put a hand on the Captain’s shoulder. “You’re still a young man. Don’t forget that you have the right to a full life, outside of your duties. Some men do.”

-CMO Rahm Vesta

Aaron chuckled, “Well I sure don’t feel so young these days Doc. But I’ll try to keep that in mind. But a life outside of duties is hard as a ships Captain. There are certain, restrictions, placed on what we can and can’t do while on the ship. Though I suppose one of the benefits of being on the Challenger is that we do make much more frequent stops back at Earth due to the Cadets then most other ships. We aren’t flying off on some sort of 5 year mission per say.

“But I shall try my best. Even though the paperwork might try it’s best to keep sucking me back in to the job,” he said with a grin.

Capt Foley - CO


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