Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Sickbay - Cobb seeks out some curious company

Posted by Lieutenant Fey Kastil (Chief Medical Officer) in Sickbay - Cobb seeks out some curious company

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Sickbay - Cobb seeks out some curious company
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Cobb had been meaning to pay the Doctor a second visit for a while now. In part so that he could seek her professional opinion on Synthi-er’s injuries and in part so that he could follow up on the previously exhausted condition of the ship’s engineers. And perhaps also in the hope that she might furnish him with another selection of cookies, since the last shuttle had sadly departed for planet stomach yesterday evening. But overriding all of those motivations was the wish to acquaint himself better with Fey Kastil the woman, since such a mystery-swaddled enigma he had never before known!

But while Zachariah had taken several large steps towards ‘non-awkward socialisation’ through his regular breakfasts with Casela, still the art of initiating casual conversation remained so elusive as to be terrifying. And so it was with no less trepidation than his first time that he entered the Leviathan’s Alpha sickbay and began searching for the Medical Chief…

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

The doctor was in her office today, clearly distracted with something on her console. As the Captain got closer, there was a brief moment of fluid Spanish coming from the console before he got close enough for the volume of the communication to be loud enough to register on the universal translation matrix. “Do you have actual coordinates for where you are at?” The voice was sweet and firm, belonging to another woman for sure. “I tried asking about the Star Base but it must be a part of some secret project or something. The wouldn’t even give me a mailing address for you. They at least would tell me that you are active duty and posted, but not where. I know Starfleet is important to you, but I thought I’d still be able to reach you. I miss you.” The Doctor looked up from the Console at the Captain and smiled, pausing the message. “You look well Captain, how can I help you?” Unlike the sweet voice from a moment ago, the doctor’s crackling and hoarse voice filled the room now.

• Doctor Fey Kastil

He had caught the final tendrils of interrupted conversation and found his cheeks burning crimson beneath his beard. “Ah, forgive me. It was not my intention to intrude on a private conversation,” he blustered. “I should perhaps have comm’d ahead of my arrival.”

For a few moments he simply lingered in the doorway, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other. Then belatedly remembering that he was a man without a heart and so gave not one single damn for the opinions of others anyway, he cleared his throat and added more confidently, “I had some ship’s business to discuss and was in a mind to invite you for a drink while we cleared it. But we can schedule it for another time in my ready room if that is more to your liking?”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

The Doctor waves a dismissive hand and smiles at the Captain. “Worry not dear Captain, twas but a letter from my dear sister since we’re too far from Earth to do a live feed. She is healthy as always, still feels sad about not being able to accept something of her last girlfriend that tore their relationship apart, and desperately wants to know where to send the mountain of confectionaries that she completed from her stress baking.” The doctor gave the captain a sly grin and leaned forward on her desk. “You know, you could arrange a position for her on the ship. Captain’s personal Chef maybe? We’d only need to clear a couple of rooms to ensure she could have an adequate kitchen to meet her particular demands, and a medium cargo hold for fresh ingredient storage.” The Doctor grinned mischievously as she leaned back into her chair. “This isn’t what you came here for, what can I do for you Captain?”

• Doctor Fey Kastil

Well, there was an interesting notion and no mistake. All thoughts of propriety momentarily discarded, Cobb stepped fully into the Doctor’s office and headed immediately for the nearest vacant chair, resting his forearms on the headrest as one might do a supporting wall.
“You’d allow your sister to get involved in all of this?” he looked around him, as if ‘this’ was painted on every surrounding surface. “Would you not be worried for her safety amongst the things we have contained on the lower decks?”
There was no hint of accusation in the captain’s tone. Only pure, unmitigated curiosity.

“Still,” he shrugged as his stomach protested for confectionery over concern, “if she has a mind to bake away her troubles then perhaps it’s only right for us to offer assistance? What say we discuss the matter further? If you have the time, that is?”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

The Doctor nodded and poured a couple of cups of peppermint tea for the two of them. “Peppermint is a natural stimulant, you’ll get as much as you do from caffeine without so much crash after it wears off. I have plenty of time Captain, how might I be of assistance to you today?” The Doctor took a long sip from her tea and savored the flavor. Of course, sitting on the doctor’s desk was a plate of tea cakes to go along with it.

• Doctor Fey Kastil

Cobb was unable to hide his disappointment at the peppermint tea. When he’d suggested drinks he’d been imagining something a little stronger and more fulfilling. Still, the cake had not gone unnoticed so perhaps the occasion remained worth saving.

Settling into a chair on the opposite side of the desk, Zachariah reached for his cup and, after skimming a few sharp breaths across the steaming surface, he ventured in for a taste, every feature of his face painting his horrified reaction. “It tastes…” he wanted to identify it as days old chewing gum, but attempted to maintain a more gentlemanly demeanour, “…exactly as I expected, given the name.”
Still, it was having a somewhat settling effect on his stomach and before long, any anxiety Cobb had been feeling regarding this meeting had been dissipated by the warm swell of the tea, allowing him to recline comfortably in his chair. Really all he needed now was a good nap.

“So,” he continued to fill the silence with an attempt at amiable chatter. “Is your sister truly looking for a new outlet for her baking talents? I mean, she’d be subject to all manner of background checks before they’d allow her to step a foot on this vessel. As you yourself know only too well. But, perhaps it might be worth it to find an appreciative audience?”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

The Doctor came around the desk again to recline the Captain’s chair, placing his feet in a comfortable position on a low-end table next to the desk that would allow him to still reach the cakes on the desk. “To be the first Three-Star Chef on a Federation Vessel in deep space would be enough notoriety and attention to put her up for that fourth star. I believe she would revel in the challenge of being able to serve her level of skill to a full ship’s crew. I’m sure your belly will really appreciate it too. As for her background check, there would be only one negative mark on her record and it’s the same one that is on mine. A fight broke out at her first job and she tried to break it up, when she was punched, I responded with a table. It was my first bar brawl…and it was in a tea shop.” The Doctor pulled out the news article on a PaDD, something she kept because she was proud of it.

• Doctor Fey Kastil