Posted by Lieutenant Commander Tolar Zarath (Chief Medical Officer) in Learning from the Doctor

Posted by Ensign Ashlyn Trenton (Security Officer) in Learning from the Doctor

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Tolar Zarath (Chief Medical Officer) in Learning from the Doctor
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Ashlyn hadn’t been avoiding the doctor, it just lucked out that the schedule she had been assigned kept her off the Doctor’s schedule for a few weeks. When the schedule changed to something more advantageous for both of them, Ashlyn was quick to seek out the Doctor. Trenton, in all her unpredictable wisdom, decided it would be best to catch him just as he’s leaving his quarters. Ambushing him with a thermos of fresh tea seemed to be the most prudent decision to at least get on his schedule if nothing else. Ashlyn went with a lemon and ginger tea unfortunately lacking in any real knowledge on the subject, she found the scent to be most satisfying for herself and guessed it may be sharper for the Andorian doctor.

While waiting, she was getting nervous and began to doubt her decision to ambush the doctor. The conference was in turmoil deciding if she should go get more, stay with what she had, or just leaving and trying again during the lunch hours. Maybe it would seem less aggressive if she approached him at lunch instead of first thing in the morning. Then again, maybe the aggressive desire to learn would appeal to the doctor and he would welcome the overly intrusive approach? Or perhaps he would be offended to know that this junior officer had been stalking his habits enough to know when he left his room in the morning. Trenton suddenly began feeling like this was a terrible idea and she should leave while she had the chance, which of course was no longer true as the doors opened to present Doctor Zarath.

As the door split apart and opened, the Andorian Doctor stepped into the corridor and took a moment to straighten his uniform tunic. He clearly saw Ashlyn, but politely waited for her to speak, switching his cane back to his right hand after making adjustments to his clothing.

There was a seven-second period of silence as Trenton desperately argued within herself to do something, anything to make this significantly less awkward. She held out the thermos and offered it to the Doctor. “Good morning Doctor Zarath, lemon ginger tea. I was hoping to discuss the lessons you had mentioned during my onboarding physical.”

• Ensign Ashlyn Trenton
  Security, USS Europa

“Good morning, Trenton.” Tolar accepted the thermos with his left hand and smiled, which was rare. “Flattery will get you nowhere, but bribery… might just do the trick.” He chuckled and began walking down the corridor toward the turbolift. “Walk with me and tell me what’s on your mind. Why so eager to join Starfleet Intelligence?” Tolar knew from experience that there were only three types of people that got involved with intelligence work. Especially wetwork.

-Zarath, CMO

Trenton breathed an internal sigh of relief, she hadn’t made as much a fool of herself as she had thought. Following alongside the doctor, Trenton put serious thought into her answer to his question. “Mobility, purpose, Intelligence officers don’t stay in one place very long because they are ever on the search for information. Enemy activity, political positioning, even policing our own in the Federation.” Ashlyn activates the call for the turbolift for the Doctor once they arrive. “I know it may sound either childish or like a conspiracy theory, but I want to do my part to help bring an end to the corruption that happens on the fringe worlds of the Federation. I want to help find the bad people that reside within the Federation, using its image to disguise what they do.”

• Ensign Ashlyn Trenton
  Security, USS Europa

Zarath listened to the answer to his question without expression, until the end when he paused in the corridor and turned to look at Ashlyn in the eye. He watched her expression sternly for a long moment.

“Firstly, there is no harm in being childish. You’re young and you’ve yet to gain the experiences that will shape how you view the reality that we live in…”. The Andorian shifted his weight off his prosthetic leg and leaned more heavily on his ebony cane as he considered how to continue.

“Secondly, the galaxy does not conform to how it is presented to the eyes of the young. For all its pomp and honorable intentions, the Federation is not, and cannot be what it claims to be as far as the values it claims to uphold. The simple truth is that because of what people are, Utopia is a thing that cannot exist intrinsically. We can have peace, prosperity, and endless diversity… We’ve shown that we can uphold those things. However, those things have a price, and that price must be paid by someone. That is what it means to serve in an intelligence roll. You are making a very serious sacrifice, and you’re choosing to do it without having all the relevant information needed to make such a grave decision… The price is not always to be paid with blood and treasure, Ms. Trenton. The real and ultimate price is always your own innocence. Is that a price you are willing to pay?”

His dark eyes bored into hers, seeking the answer to a question he’d not asked. Upon her answer, he’d known which of the three types of people she was now, but could she become the sort of person who could truly be of use in such a role?

-Zarath, CMO

Ashlyn gave Zarath a quizzical look, what experience is he pulling from that gives him such a jaded outlook? Thoughts for another time for sure. “I don’t know enough from this interaction to make an educated decision. What I understand is probably what you can get from a brochure or commercial, I understand sacrifices are to be made to make this dream of mine a reality and that what I envision myself doing probably isn’t what I’ll actually be doing. To the question “Am I willing to sacrifice my ‘innocence’?” I answer with a question, how do you define ‘innocence’?”

• Ensign Ashlyn Trenton
  Security, USS Europa