Transfer Orders

Posted on Sat Oct 26th, 2024 @ 2:49am by Lieutenant Pharos Ventari

780 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: I-402
Location: Starbase 72, Janus VI System
Timeline: Current

Pharos had never had a problem with the infirmary before, but there was something else about it this time, and his antennae quivered; the scent of death? He lay back on the biobed, staring unblinkingly up at the ceiling as he waited. He felt weak, his strength fading as his life slipped away. Was this it? Was this the end? "Is this where I die?"

"Or dear god," the doctor muttered as she re-entered the exam room and rolled her eyes before rechecking the vitals on the screen. "You're not going to die, so please turn down the dramatics to like a 3, okay?" She shook her head. "You have Levodian Flu, not Terellian Plague! You're going to be fine."

Pharos just groaned, his four hands dangling dimply off the side of the biobed. "I don't feel fine. My head feels like it's going to explode."

"Of course you're fine, you have Levodian flu, weren't you paying attention? And I've checked your intra-cranial pressure and it's not unusual in the slightest, so I think we can rule out head explosions. Good news, is that it's completely treatable; bad news in this case, is that Ventari biology is resistant to the normal treatment, so we'll need to use an alternative. Still effective, but it'll require an injection a day over three or four days."

"Three or four days??"

She reached across to pat his shoulder reassuringly. "Relax. Three or four days for the full treatment, but we can take care of your symptoms right now." Retrieving a hypospray, the doctor loaded in a vial. "Anti-inflammatory and analgesic should take care of the headache and the muscle aches. Lift your arm please." He complied, and she had him reposition until she could easily inject him at the shoulder joint without having to go through exoskeleton. "There, you should start to feel relief right away. Just stay here and I'll replicate your first treatment."

The shot worked just as advertised, and it didn't seem like more than a few moments before the pounding in his head subsided, and Pharos could again think straight. He carefully sat up, rubbing the back of his neck as he gave his head a twist with a pop. "Oh, that's so much better..." There was a knock at the door, and the engineer looked over to see his supervisor Commander Grayden. "Sir. Sorry, didn't see you there."

The commander waved a hand dismissively. "At ease. How are you feeling?"

"Better," Pharos admitted. "Doc knows her stuff. I'll need some treatments over the next couple days, but should be fine after that."

"That's good to hear. We'll make sure to pass along her treatment instructions to your new CMO along with the rest of your medical records."

Although he'd certainly felt like he'd been at death's door, Pharos didn't think he'd been so far gone to miss out on news like the commander was suggesting. "New CMO? What's going on, sir?"

Grayden handed over a padd. "New ship, new CMO. You're being transferred."

"Transferred??" Suddenly fully alert, Pharos jumped off the biobed, and had to be assisted by the command until his equilibrium returned. "Why??"

"Just relax, okay?" Grayden chuckled as he leaned against the end of the bed. "It's not a punishment. There's a starship in port, the Missouri, currently in the middle of a mission, and she's lost her engineering chief; taken prisoner, I think. They need a replacement on short notice, so you're it; you've been a chief on a starship before, and you're rated on the quantum slipstream technology."

Pharos scrolled through the transfer orders on the padd. "Permanent?"

"Well, when is any transfer in starfleet permanent? I expect when they rescue their crewmate and he's fit to return to duty, they'll let you transfer wherever you want afterwards."

"Well, I suppose that's true." The Ventari nodded. "The next question is... how will you possibly get by without me?"

Grayden gave a snort. "Oh, you know what? I think we'll be able to muddle through without you." He tapped the padd as Pharos finished reading. "In all seriousness though, I suggest you pack and report onboard ASAP. No telling when they'll be heading out again, and it won't look good on the record if you miss your boat."

"Understood." After a moment's hesitation, Pharos offered his hand to the Commander. "Thank you sir. For everything."

"Just watch your back out there." With a nod, he let himself out of the examination room, leaving Pharos to await his first treatment, and run through his head everything that he figured he might need to pack.

A mission post by

Lieutenant Pharos Ventari
(Soon to be) Chief Engineering Officer

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