Shujinko

Shujinko Akia had seen many things in his life as a doctor aboard a starship. And he’d heard the stories of his father, grand father and great grand father, all of which were Starfleet Doctors. But the female who lay before him was possibly one of the most unusual patients he’d ever had. Her slender, pale body seemed outwardly human, but on the insides—she was anything but human. Thankfully, they’d had some contact with the Al-Ucardians, and for the last several hours, the Excalibur Morgue had been filling up with them, the survivors of the battle. Commander Corizon had personally ordered it. Akia wasn’t on duty when that particular order had been given, but it seemed the correct thing to do. The Al-Ucard had fought bravely, and they deserved respect, even in death and defeat. But at the moment, that was the least of his worries. Victria, as Corizon had identified her as, had escaped near death. Making a note on her chart, Akia took a sidelong glance at her figure. “The Patient must be fed a regimen of blood and plasma for nourishment,” the note started. “It is believed that replicated blood samples will suffice. At this time, the patent is sedated as she under goes a nano-treatment to repair several damaged arteries and synaptic connections. Upon completion of treatment, it is recommended that she be allowed to rest for some time before removing her from the sedative state. Upon such action, Commander Corizon is to be personally contacted and made awares.” Finishing the notes on her treatment, Akia moved onto the next patient. He couldn’t help but sigh; sometimes he wondered if people pulling the strings of these cosmic battles realized that people weren’t mere pieces to game.

Shujinko leaned back in his chair, his feet on the smallish desk in the med lab. Glorious seclusion. Since he’d moved to night shift shortly after being assigned to Challenger, he’d found it to be the only time he could simply sit back and relax, work on his martial arts and meditate. Sure there were the occasional disturbances—Crewman Aquil most recently. The young man must have been on the unluckiest humans he’d ever met. In a period of a few weeks, he’d managed to sprain his left shoulder, right ankle; break his nose; burn his tongue (cofee’s hot you know); and contract chicken pox. Why it always ended up being Akia’s shift for all this to happen eluded him. Sighing and shaking his head, Shujinko removed his feet from the table and stood up. The soft sound of Asian music in the background drifted through his ears. For a man who’d spent the better part of his childhood in a monastery reading ancient scrolls and meditating on the existence of life—Shujinko found the serenity of the sickbay comforting. The days he really hated were when he had to work day shift. They were noisy, chaotic and usually involved him having to deal with some stray engineer who hadn’t learned how to properly fix something with out hurting themselves. The addition of Doctor Marlin had allowed him to avoid such annoyances more often, and so now he spent most of his time tucked in Sickbay while most of the ship slumbered peacefully.

==== September 16, 2155 Doctor Shujinko Akia ==== Shujinko Akia glanced briefly at the patient he was treating. Burn wounds to 65% of his body, three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a shattered leg. He shook his head and gave the young officer an injection of pain medicine smiled slightly into his eyes, and moved on. Triage, perhaps, more than any other medical duty, tried the soul. Shujinko couldn’t comprehend how any Doctor could decide that one patient needed healing more than any other. Shouldn’t they all be equal? The elder man he moved onto was in worse shape. Third degree burns everywhere, cracked sternum, shattered jaw…amputated leg. A medtech vainly attempted to staunch the bleeding. Shujinko placed a firm hand on the medtechs shoulder and relieved him, sending him to care for another. The man’s eyes rolled back into his head, and he gave a soft sigh as slipped away. Shujinko bit his upper lip and looked towards the sky. Losing a patient could never be easy, even if there was no way to save the patient. He pulled the grey medical blanket over the man’s face, making sure to close the eyelids, and moved on. The next triage patient, a female officer, had only surface wounds. A few scratches, and a slight plasma burn on the top of her hand. Again, as much as Shujinko wanted to relieve her pain, others needed help first. He had a medtech move her to the hallway where less critical patients were being cared for, and moved onto an Engineer in the next bed. The Cycle continued like this. For ever one patient that he could treat immediately, two were either to hurt to treat or not hurt enough. Eventually though, they worked their way through the injured, finally tending to the wounded and injured. When they’d finished, Shujinko was mentally and physically exhausted. Morally, he’d faced such hard decisions. Who deserved his precious talent more? Who deserved to be relieved of pain and suffering, and who were to far gone to be worth effort. As a man who’d pledged an oath, something he took very seriously, such a dilemma truly confounded. No simple way existed to avoid the complicating matter. Confused, lost, torn, and utterly exhausted Shujinko returned to the Challenger. He would have to meditate long on the choices he had made, the decisions he’d faced, and whether or not he’d taken the right path in choosing Starfleet. And so, he returned to his quarters to meditate in as much seclusion as possible until absolution came to him.

PERSONELL FILES Name: Shujinko Akia Age: 26 Sex: Male POB: Earth, Beijing, China Ht: 5’10” Wt: 175 lbs Race: Human Rank: Ensign Father: Tonaka Akia, Doctor, London Metro Hospital Mother: Kai-lei Akia, Professor, University of Beijing Siblings: none Past History: Born in Japan as the son of a doctor and a professor, Shujinko Akia spent little time with his parents growing up. His father spent most of Shujinko’s childhood working as a surgeon in either London or Rome, and rarely visited his son in China. Like wise, his mother—an expert linguist—spent much time traveling through out the planet giving seminars, as well helping the United Earth Government with first contact missions. As a result, Shujinko lived a solitary life on the small Island of Tai’Lao just off the coast of main land China, where he lived for sometime with his aunt and uncle. His uncle, like his father, was a doctor and Shujinko was intensely curious about the art of healing. As a young boy he would often accompany his uncle on house calls around the neighborhood. At age 10, he began studying at the local shrine on Tai’Lao, under the tutelage of Hataro, Martial Arts master and Buddhist Monk. Under Hataro’s guidance, Shujinko studied many things including martial arts, swordsmanship, and Buddhism. He is proficient in many forms of the fine fighting arts, including Mantas, and the two healing arts of Taijiquan and Qigong. Most prevelent in his studies under Master Hataro was his study of traditional Chinese Medicine, including acupuncture. After ten years with Hataro, he left the shrine to attend the University of Beijing where his mother was now teaching full time. At Beijing he studied and subsequently earned a degree in ‘western’ medicine. Also while in Beijing he continued his studies of martial arts, becoming proficient in the Shaolin fist Shujinko speaks several Chinese languages including Mandarin and Cantonese. After graduation from medical school, Shujinko was recruited into the United Earth Starfleet, and placed as a staff doctor at Starfleet Academy. However, he only served at Academy for less than seven months before he was assigned to the Challenger. ----- Service Record: -Graduated University of Beijing Medical School (2153) -Recruited to Starfleet Medical (2154) -Assigned to Starfleet Academy (2154) -Transferred to Challenger (2155)