[snip + pasted back in William’s reply - sorry]

Marthese looked around for Cross but of yet she was nowhere to be seen ‘’Jasper I did not anticipate or expect that there was going to be so many present’‘ she barley whispered ,the female doctor tried to stay calm but her shaking hands gave her away .

“you will be fine Doctor please be calm I am not a fan of crowds either. ” Jasper said as he looked for himself as well. She was right he did not see the CMO around either as he pulled out his communicator and opened it. =/\= “Doctor Cross this is Engineer Jasper We are here in the auditorium.” =/\= Jasper commented as he waited on dr cross to respond. =/\= ” Are we needed somewhere else doctor cross?” =/\=

=/\= I’m just waiting for everyone to settle at the assembly room 1b before I enter and commence=/\= Cross replied in a neutral tone.When the CMO closed her transmitter she heaved a sigh of relief....at least they both made it.

Nkosenye stood at the very back of the room. He watched as the Cadets trickled in and then saw Ericson and Marthese come in and nodded once at them. Crossing his arms, the ebony giant simply waited to see what Cross had in store for the class.

Marthese did not nod back for she never saw the CoS since she hung her head, eyes firmly fixed on the floor but Nkoosenye would see her long hair drenched wet and lo and behold she had no shoes on!.

Captain Glen joined Nkosenye at the back of the lecture theatre. John had disappeared after the end of Tinga’s lecture without saying where he was going. He had gone to check on the times of flights to and from Paris. If he was to make the inspection of Red Squad that Bradbury had asked for, and to also make it to Andromeda’s mother’s house on Rue Alcide Vellard, Bobigny, Paris, then he was on a very tight schedule. However, it was possible to do both and that relieved John Glen somewhat. Between the next two lectures he would book the flight and then call Andromeda to let him know of his plans. Once the cadets had all sat down, but before the lights were dimmed, Glen made his way to sit with the rest of his crew.

Cross entered from a side door which brought her directly in front of the Cadets and whom ever was present.For once her hair was pulled up in a nice bun and her uniform was impeccable ,introducing herself briefly the CMO did not lose time to start.Pressing a button from an electronic device which she held in one hand,a screen switched on ....there was one single word on it ‘SICKBAY’.

William managed to sneak into the room just before the good Doctor started her lecture. He gave her an apolagetic smile as he moved to stand next to the hulking Security Chief without saying a word.

There was a light at the back of the lecture theatre, followed by the sound of the door as it slammed shut. Glen looked around to see who was late. Those officer performance reviews were due again next month.

Cross continued in a clear voice ‘’As you all know Sickbay can be a very busy place some times its quite when all of a sudden its preparing for Triage ,some come in for trivial medical issues while others life hang in the balance.There are doctors who have enough experience to operate or a ship may have its own surgeons,others have specialized in cardiovascular,respiratory,endocrine systems the list goes on but all of you know this and this lecture is not about sickbay but another branch which in my opinion is sadly and regretfully missing’‘ the CMO paused long enough to take a sip of water from the glass in front of her while pressing the button which brought up more or less what happens in sickbay on the screen.

‘’As you all know when a crew member is assigned to a ship a medical evaluation is mandatory,whether its an Ensign on his/her first ship or a Captain with years of experience behind him’‘ Cross was not about to bore those present with what happens in sickbay ,so she went directly and without any deviation to the first step .
‘’I shall call a doctor who has been allocated to our ship the USS Merrimack some months ago and has agreed to participate in this lecture to which I’m truly grateful for’‘.

And from the front row a female doctor rose to her feet and took the few steps next to Cross....’‘Ma’am’‘ Marthese addressed Cross while fiddling with her fingers in a nervous way,her hair still wet and was barefoot .At that sight the CMO’s color drained from her face ,she was trying to guess if this was some kind of a joke or if she was hallucinating .
‘’Ensign where are your shoes?’‘ Cross asked trying her best to stay as composed as possible ‘’Ma’am there at the bottom of the ocean’‘.

The scowl never leaving his face, Nkosenye leaned sideways and down to Glen and said “Sir. This is going to be one hell of a lecture… one way or another.” The normally stoic and gruff Security Chief cast a sideways glance at Glen, and there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye, not noticeable to anyone other than those who had spent a good deal of time with the large Zulu officer.

William cocked his head to the side slightly as he looked at the shoeless doctor. “Well I’m in no way going to top that” He said absentmindedly.

CSO

There was a lot of nervous laughter from the cadets and even a little sniggering. Following Tinga’s successful lecturer, Glen had suggested that Cross should have an assistant to help her. He had enjoyed the comedic exchanges between Tinga and Nkosenye. What he hadn’t expected was to see slapstick humour.

-Glen, CO