Posted June 23, 2021, 11:45 a.m. by Ensign Kastarak (Doctor) (Richard A)
It had been a long day. Kastarak has set out early in the morning from the Star Fleet transportation ship which met up with the Chernov today. He had been travelling for three days from San Francisco, taking up duty as soon as he graduated. He had seen no need of taking time off before setting off. That would be illogical. Keeping himself busy made him more content and peaceful. Moreover, intrusive thoughts and memories of the destruction of Vulcan were kept more manageable this way – with the added aid of regular meditation and physical exercise.
Keeping fit was important for Kastarak. He was sure he’d get proper amount of time to engage in physical exercise and meditation once he saw how much (or “little”, as he thought) he’d actually be working on the Chernov. During the Academy, he kept himself completely busy with studies and extracurricular studies (in comparative physiology) and working some shifts in the Academy clinic. Recreation was for humans, Kastarak needed to keep himself busy.
The Chernov would be the site of his first-ever space duty. Of course, he had been in space during the Academy. In fact, his first real ride in space occurred during the destruction of Vulcan. He had been on an ambulance shuttle when it occurred. The shuttle was normally used for speedy transport across the vast range of rural land for which his hospital was the only one. It was also an important tourist region for its scenic beauty – mainly by non-Vulcans – and this was where Kastarak’s inter-species medicine specialization was appreciated. During one of the missions where he, and a nurse, were supposed to pick up some Andorian hikers having been injured in the wilderness and assess their injuries. In the end, he was unable to save them. Midway en route, Kastarak received the all-Vulcan order of immediate planetary evacuation. The nurse and he had a quick assessment if they would be able to pick any other people up before leaving the planet, but they were in the middle of nowhere. In the end, they decided they had to leave immediately. Their shuttle hadn’t been to space for years, but it was a gamble of odds. They thought it would carry, and they were right. It took them to space, and they saw the destruction of the many ships around Vulcan, and then, a few seconds later, they saw the implosion of the only planet they had known.
That had been Kastarak’s first space trip (save for one when he was 8, when his grandparents took him to a nearby moon). Now, Kastarak began his first mission. He had become aware that there would be a few other Vulcans on the Chernov. Perhaps, that’s why Star Fleet assigned him to it. There weren’t that many Vulcans left in the universe, even fewer in Star Fleet. It seemed logical that he would be given a crew where other Vulcans existed, so that they might understand one another and help one another with meditation and practicing their rituals and traditions. An added bonus was that his closest supervisor, the chief medical officer, was a Vulcan too. At the Academy, they had complained about Kastarak’s bedside manner, and though he had worked hard on making himself more approachable and warmer to non-Vulcans, it gave him a sense of trust in having his closest supervisor and mentor being a Vulcan too. No extra energy was needed to communicate with doctor Symar.
Kastarak entered Sickbay, looked around, and saw the only Vulcan he could find in there.
“Dr Symar, I presume? I am Ensign Kastarak, I have been assigned here as your assistant physician. I am told I need a health check from you, too. Would this time be suitable, or shall I come back later?”
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