STF

[Pre-sim] Sickbay: Carnegie’s Physical Evaluation

Posted Sept. 7, 2022, 11:24 a.m. by Major Eleanor "Iron Lady" Carnegie (Pilot, Blue Squadron Leader) (Joana Ribeiro)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Siegfried Abel (Chief Medical Officer) in [Pre-sim] Sickbay: Carnegie’s Physical Evaluation

Posted by Major Eleanor “Iron Lady” Carnegie (Pilot, Blue Squadron Leader) in [Pre-sim] Sickbay: Carnegie’s Physical Evaluation

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Siegfried Abel (Chief Medical Officer) in [Pre-sim] Sickbay: Carnegie’s Physical Evaluation
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻
=/\= Attention. I am Lieutenant Commander Siegfried Abel, the new Chief Medical Officer. While I would like to take the next few days meeting and talking with each of you, I find that we are pressed for time. To that end, all Command and Marine leadership are hereby requested to come to Upper Sickbay for their regular physicals within the next twelve hours. I know this is not standard for such matters, but again.. pressed for time to get all of this caught up. I thank you and look forward to meeting all of you. =/\=

The message came at the most inopportune time, during one of their training exercises, right when the crew of the Sentinel 1 was trying use an obscure pocket by the Olinski’s port side stern to remain hidden from Sentinels 3 and 4, who tasked to find them. The maneuver was a delicate one, given their proximity to their mothership and the lack of maneuverability of the vessel they were on.

Focused on her controls, Eleanor automatically palmed her console to silence the incoming message, accidentally triggering her IFF in the process.

=/\= Sentinel 3 to Sentinel 1. We can see you at bearing 340 mark 35, just beside the Olinski. Sentinel 3 out. =/\= Smoke’s voice came through in a cheerful tone.

Eleanor sighed.

“You triggered our IFF, didn’t you Lady?” Sloan asked in an amused tone. “Ah… Smoke we’ll never let us hear the end of it.” He chuckled.

“On a brighter note, you’ll get to your physical earlier.” Badger added.

“Sloan, I think Badger is hanging out with you too much. He’s starting to pick up your bad habits.” There was a smile on Eleanor’s face, but disappointment in her voice. Not at her crew, but rather at herself. “I liked you more when you complained, kid!” Carnegie said with a chuckle. Tapping her console she spoke to Smoke and his crew.

=/\= Sentinel 1 to Sentinel 3. Acknowledged, we see you. Carnegie out. =/\=

And finally, she contacted the next Recon Ranger in line.

=/\= Sentinel 1 to Sentinel 2. Charlie, we’re heading back to dock. Smoke and his crew got us and I was just called in for my physical. You’re in charge. Do another round and head back when you’re done. I’ll come and find you when I’m back from Medical so that you can tell me how the rest of the exercises went. =/\=

=/\= Understood. Charlie out. =/\=

“You know he said ‘in the next 12 hours’ right?” Sloan said.

Carnegie shook her head. “If I don’t do it now I’ll forget about it, and I don’t want to change my schedule.”

“What you’re saying is that you don’t want to cut short your plans with Dawkins.” The Scotsman grinned.

“You know Sloan, I thought you’d appreciate being out early… since the Bomber crews have finished for today.” She turned around and smirked at her Flight Engineer. “But I can leave you with Smoke, if you want. You’ll have to sit on their cockpit’s floor though.”

In very uncharacteristic manner, Sloan didn’t have a remark to follow. Instead the man blushed brightly. However, already focused on their approach to the Olinski’s hangar, Eleanor didn’t notice and the conversation was dropped.


Forty minutes after the new CMO’s message had come through, Carnegie walked through the Sickbay’s doors. The place was already bustling with activity.

Proudly wearing her flightsuit, Eleanor made sure that anyone else on the crew knew that she was not one of them. The old Earth tortoise shell frames sitting on her face furthering the distinction.

Glancing around, she looked through the still not very familiar faces of the Olinski’s crew and of the medical staff. Finally flagging down a nurse she asked:

“I’m Major Carnegie, Commanding Officer for the Blue Squadron… Commander Abel requested all members of Marine leadership to come to Sickbay for their physicals. Who should I talk to to get mine done?”

Maj. Carnegie, Blue Squadron Commander

“That would be me, Major.” came a pleasant voice from off to one side. The speaker was a very attractive man with deep, dark red hair and bright green eyes. He smiled as he walked over . “I am Lieutenant Commander Abel. Thank you so much for coming in so quickly. Please, right this way and I will try and get you out of here as quickly as I can.” and he gestured to the back of the medical suite and began walking. One thing was already slightly different. The activity wasn’t outside of the norm… but the privacy fields were being used all over.

Eleanor turned to face the direction of the voice. A smile lit up her face and her eyes lingered on the Chief Medical Officer for just a beat longer than one would consider usual. The man was incredibly handsome, and Carnegie’s cheeks turned a slight shade of pink as he addressed her.

Get yourself together, Carnegie! You’re not fifteen anymore! She kicked herself mentally as she followed Abel silently through the myriad of privacy fields. Even though unusual, Eleanor didn’t seem to notice them.

“I hope I haven’t pulled you away from anything too important, Major… but again, my thanks for coming so quickly.” He ushered her to a biobed on the very back and activated the privacy field around it. He looked at Carnegie and smiled slightly. “I know many Medical sections on ships don’t use the screens, but I feel patient privacy is important. Now please, have a seat won’t you? And tell me, has there been any changes to your overall health since you were last seen?” and Abel sat down on a stool next to the bed and just looked at her and listened.

Abel, CMO

“Ah… no. We were doing some practice drills, but we were practically finished anyway.” Carnegie dismissed the doctor’s words with a hand motion. Her cheeks still red. “In any case, my crew knows how to function without me, so it’s not a problem at all.”

“Good. Its reassuring to know our Marine Aviators are upholding their reputation as elite professionals.” Abel said with a friendly smile.

Nodding slightly at the comment on the privacy screen, she sat down on the biobed. It was unusual. In the Marine Corps especially so, but somehow she was grateful. At least if she was going to make a fool of herself, at least it Abel would be the only one to see it. Not to mention, the last thing she needed now was for Malcolm to walk by, since she knew he’d be on his way for his physical too. If he could get a glimpse at how red her face was, he would never let her hear the end of it.

“Not that I know of.” Seriously, Carnegie? That’s your answer? What changes in your health could there possibly be that you wouldn’t know about!? Nervously pushing her glasses against the bridge of her nose, Eleanor smiled and cleared her throat. “No. Nothing has changed.” That’s better.

“Very good. Now if you will give me just a moment…” and he looked at the PaDD in his lap.

If Abel was to look at her medical records he’d see a thirteen year old fencing injury and a seven year old eye injury. The latter had a flag to Starfleet Command about unauthorized use of visual aids while flying a Templar-class fighter. He’d also be able to see that Eleanor had been diagnosed with Deuteranomaly, most commonly known as red-green colorblindness, and had yet to be treated for the condition.

Maj. Carnegie, Blue Squadron Commander

A slight scowl crossed his features and he said “Major, can you tell me a bit more about this eye injury? I see it flagged, but I also know you are flying, so I’d like to make sure you are a hundred percent and, if you aren’t, make a plan to get you there so the flag can be removed.”

Abel, CMO

“Ah…” Not only did whatever redness remained in Carnegie’s cheeks quickly disappear as it seemed to take part of her blood with it, as color drained slightly from her face. “… I’m afraid that flag is never going to go away, Commander.” She smiled, becoming slightly more herself again. “I’m fine. My eyesight is fine, well…” She chuckled softly, seemingly very interested on her feet for a moment. “… as fine as it’s ever going to be.” Looking back at Abel, Carnegie’s smile returned to her face. “I’m colorblind, you see?” She adjusted the glasses on her face and pointed at them for emphasis. “And I know what you’re thinking… You’re a pilot, how can you fly being colorblind?” She grinned almost with pride. “I get that a lot.”

“Fortunately, things are a lot different now than they were a few centuries ago. Visual aids are actual visual aids… Starfleet issues them and as long as I wear mine, I am fine to fly. Unless you’re a fighter pilot, in which case, due to the nature of the job, Starfleet won’t allow visual aids to be worn during combat operations.” Eleanor paused before continuing. “Which is why… I decided that that’s what I wanted to be!” She smiled and sighed. “I qualified as a Templar pilot and was told that I could either fly a different craft or file a waiver to be picked at any CO’s discretion… which I did… multiple times… and no one ever picked me up.”

“Meanwhile, my brother Thomas, who is also colorblind, delved into the world of visual aids and decided to create his own company, making visual aids for colorblind people. He made these!” Carnegie pointed at her glass frames again, pride back in her expression. “His company also created the very first contact lenses for those suffering from colorblindness, and sent me one of the first pairs.” Her smile turned somber and for the first time she looked embarrassed of something she had done. “The rest went exactly as you’d expect it to go. Even though I was advised against it by my own brother, I put on the contacts and took out a Tempie, wanting to prove that it was possible to fly them with visual aids… let’s just say that it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. And well… Starfleet doesn’t want me near their fighters in any official capacity whatsoever… without a damn permission slip.” She scoffed. “In hindsight, I was lucky that I didn’t damage my eyesight or got stripped of my Tempie wings for good.”

Maj. Carnegie, Blue Squadron Commander

Abel listened and paid close attention. When she finished, he made a few notes and then said “Alright. While I am quite sure you have had this exact same conversation in the past, please indulge me one time. Now… you do have options. And all ofthem are voluntary. First, we have ocular transplants with cloned eyes. There is cybernetic replacement, of course. We can replace your aqueous humour… the fluid in your eyeball… with a synthetic corrected fluid. And lastly, there are new synthetic lenses that we can replace your natural lenses with. Far less intrusive than transplant or cybernetics, and far more reliable than changing out the aqueous humour. All of these would correct your color blindness permanently. Do any of these strike you as an option?” Abel’s tone was non-judgemental, and his face was one of curiosity and not critique.

Abel, CMO

Eleanor’s blood seemed to drain slightly from her face yet again at the mention of the different procedures that could restore her vision to regular parameters. For a moment, she hesitated, before looking down at her feet again and sighing softly.

“I know most people would pick one…” Carnegie finally replied, looking back up to face the Olinski’s Chief Medical Officer. “I mean, if it meant being able to fly a Tempie as my full time job, why would I refuse it, right?” She smiled, slightly apologetically. “As you correctly guessed, this is not the first time I’ve had this conversation with a doctor, although, I must say, you’re by far the person that has given me the most different options.” Eleanor chuckled. “And I always consider them… I still do from time to time, but I never manage to bring myself to go through with them.”

“Recon wanted me for my colorblindness.” She continued. “I was told that I can recognize patterns where people with normal vision have a harder time finding them.” Carnegie shrugged. “The truth is, I can think of a few times where my ‘defective vision’…” She added air quotes. “… really clutched our mission. I don’t think I want to lose that.” Eleanor smiled again. “Right now it gives me the best of both worlds. Plus I like the glasses! It’s always a good conversation starter! But rest assured that if that ever changes, I’ll think about one of the options you gave me. Not having to have my eyes cloned to have a normal vision is quite the relief! I really don’t like that idea.”

Carnegie, Blue Squadron Commander

Abel made a note in the file ‘Patient appraised of various procedures to correct vision. Patient declined.’ and he looked up at her. “I completely understand that. But please keep this in mind. You say that your colorblindness saved your missions a few times. Keep in mind how many times it made them harder, as well.” and he gave her a look to emphasize the statement before taking a breath. “But… now onto more pleasant topics.” and he smiled and turned to the biobed monitor and activated the scanner. “Let’s get a look-see, shall we? Make sure we don’t have any reason to start talking about cloning a liver or something.” and he gave her a sideways glance with a smile and a wink.

Abel, CMO

Carnegie’s grin quickly disappeared at the look the Olinski’s CMO gave her. The man had a point, even though at present time for her, the pros outweighed the cons. The Recon aviator nodded, making a mental note to be more observant of any hardships her colorblindness might give her during missions.

Eleanor chuckled nervously as Abel mentioned liver cloning. She knew it had been nothing but a good natured joke to change the subject, but the fact was that Carnegie enjoyed her drinking and kept it generally not restricted to the syntethol available in the lounges.

The medical scanner wouldn’t detect anything out of the ordinary for a thirty-one year old human female, other than a slight elevation in her heart beat, which had been caused by her apprehension in disclosing her drinking habits. For the time being, her liver was working just fine, but Eleanor wouldn’t know until the doctor disclosed it. After all, medical science was not her field. Patiently, and with a plastic smile on her lips, Carnegie waited for the Abel’s assessment of the scanner’s readings, wondering if a full bottle of real vodka could buy the CMO’s silence.

Maj. Carnegie, Blue Squadron Leader

Abel’s fingers danced across the PaDD with surprising speed. Soon he set the PaDD to the side and said “Ok. Are there any medical concerns you have that I can help address before we go over your test results?” Abel’s voice was calm and pleasant, and he smiled a friendly smile at the Major.

Abel, CMO

“Uh… no. Not that I can think of…” Test results? Did he say test results? What test results!? The fact that the doctor likely meant the medical scanner results lost on her. Carnegie adjusted her glasses in her face as she many times did out of nervousness. It was one of those tells that one didn’t really know one did until someone pointed it out. “Me and my crew just arrived on the Olinski last week and it’s been incredibly busy… I was originally set to be in charge of my regular four craft flight and instead was placed as commander of the whole squadron, which means eight more birds than what I was expecting, for a total of twelve. I am not complaining, it gave me a shiny new rank after all…” Carnegie chuckled nervously. “But I must admit that it may have led to a few excesses on my part… so uh… how much can a person drink before they need a new liver?” Her drinking habits were not a one off, but it was easier to portray it that way.

Maj. Carnegie, Blue Squadron Commander


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