Welcome to Star Trek Simulation Forum

Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to contribute to this site by submitting your own content or replying to existing content. You'll be able to customize your profile, receive reputation points as a reward for submitting content, while also communicating with other members via your own private inbox, plus much more! This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Rachel E Garrett

"Meeting of the Minds"

"Meeting of the Minds"

By

Dr. Nicolas LePage and Midshipman Rachel Garrett

It seemed an easy enough job for Rachel to trace the matter/anti-matter route from the reaction chamber to the EPS power taps, to the plasma injectors, and she had started with the starboard nacelle of the Yorktown. The ship had taken quite a hit with a lot of damage, but Rachel didn't really care how it happened, she was more concerned with what had happened and how she was going to fix it all. She was in her element. She was in sync, she was one with the core, working hard, crawling through the conduits, tracking down the problem, fixing the problem . . . or so she thought. In reality, she was dreaming. In sick bay.

 

The senior staff meeting had ended about ten minutes ago and Nick was still a little annoyed. He hated such meetings especially when he knew there was work to do in sickbay. But he also knew that it was his duty as the CMO to attend those meetings whether he liked it or not. Now he was looking forward to a cup of coffee and a few quiet minutes in his office before briefing his staff. When he entered sickbay he noticed a midshipman lying on a biobed. Keeping himself up to date on all patients was another of his duties as CMO so Nick decided to quickly check on the young woman.

 

A quick glance at the monitor over the biobed told him her vitals were ok. She didn't seem to have sustained any visible trauma either. So Nick picked up the PADD with her data and perused it for a few seconds. His frown deepened with every line he read.

 

Rachel had been diligent, concentrating on one route at a time, one junction, each individual tap, each connection, scooting herself slowly down the conduit. But she had the strangest feeling someone was there watching. She turned, the hair on the back of her neck bristling, but there was no one. Dismissing it as an aberration, she continued on.

Trace. Probe. Check. Replace. Scoot.

Trace. Probe. Check. Replace. Scoot.

 

Putting the PADD back in its place next to the biobed Nick looked at the young woman in front of him. He wasn't sure whether he should be concerned or just amused. The information on the PADD suggested that this young midshipman hadn't slept in quite a while. Actually, she had collapsed due to exhaustion. Nick knew that new crew members sometimes showed a little too much enthusiasm for their new job but this was a first. So Nick would wait until she'd wake up and have a talk about the necessity of sleep and recreational activities.

 

Rachel heard something clink next to her, and it broke her concentration. Again she turned, certain she had not imagined it. Someone was in the conduit with her, but who? To her knowledge she was the only one assigned. Engineering had been stretched thin, what with all the activity on the station and the Yorktown coming in hot, shot, and almost out of gas.

 

She sat very still and listened for a while. She heard movement. "Hello? Is anybody there?" Her call came out as talking in her sleep, and the sound of her own voice startled her, bringing her to semi-consciousness in sickbay.

 

Nick was a little startled as the young woman spoke. Then he noticed a change in her brain activity indicating that she was slowly waking up. "Midshipman Garrett, can you hear me," he asked softly.

 

A voice! She knew it! Someone was there with her! "Where are you? I can't see . . . ."

 

And with that she jerked awake, totally confused. Glancing around, she rubbed her eyes. "What the..." Then she sat bolt upright, in a panic.

 

As Rachel sat up Nick drew away a little. She wouldn't be the first patient waking up who'd hit him. Then he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "It's alright," he said slowly. "You're in sickbay."

 

It took her a second - actually quite a few seconds - to get her bearings. Sickbay? Why the heck was she in sickbay? There was nothing to do here; she was supposed to be on the Yorktown! Gees, what would Chief Metapresence say? She had to get back. "I gotta go," was all that she could say as she started to slide her legs over the side of the biobed.

 

"No, no, no..." Nick gently pushed her back down, determined not to let her go before he'd had a chance to talk to her. "Apparently you collapsed during work. I think we should have a little talk about the reason why that happened." Being used to patients contradicting him and trying to get out of sickbay as quickly as possible Nick was almost expecting her to argue.

 

The word collapsed hit her like a flying isolinear spanner. Had she tripped? Fallen? Something hit her in the head? In her exhaustion it took all her concentration just to wrap her brain around that one word: collapsed. She blinked a few times, thinking she might be dreaming, but when she didn't wake up, she finally looked at him, but all she could manage to say was, "Why?"

 

Before he answered Nick pulled up a chair. He didn't like looking down on patients so he sat down and smiled at Rachel before he started talking. "We've done a few scans and none of the results suggest head trauma or anything else that may have caused it. However, your acetylcholine and serotonin levels tell me that you haven't slept much lately. Is that right?"

 

Acetylcholine. Serotonin. What the heck was he talking about? She blinked again. "Huh?"

 

Nick could have slapped himself. Rachel was a patient not a physician. This reminded him that it had been way too long since he'd last treated patients. "I'm sorry, your neurotransmitter levels are a little low. That tells me that you haven't slept much lately. Lack of sleep causes problems focusing on tasks, your memory gets worse and finally you collapse because your body just shuts down. Don't worry, it's nothing dramatic but you definitely need to change your sleeping habits."

 

Ok. Brain overload. He said something about neurotransmitters, which she figured were kind of like isolinear chips. Then he said something about sleep and focus, but she'd always had a problem focusing, except for focusing on engineering stuff. Her memory is bad? What's that got to do with the price of beans - she's always had a bad memory . . . 'cept for engineering stuff. Body shutdown? Drama? Sleeping habits? Gees, she really needed to get more sleep 'cause she didn't have a clue what he was talking about. All she could do was stare, her mouth half open.

 

The blank stare on her face told Nick he wasn't really getting through to her. He tried to think of a new strategy. "Ok, let me put it this way. If you do not want me to make you come here after your shifts so I can personally make sure you get enough sleep you should start sleeping at least 6 hours every night." He hoped this, only half serious, threat would make her understand what he wanted.

 

Ok. Keyword: sleep. He's talking about sleep. "I need more sleep?"

 

Nick nodded. "Yes, much more sleep." Finally she seemed to understand. Now there was one more thing he needed to know. "I need to ask you a question and it is important that I know the answer. Do you have problems falling asleep, or do you wake up frequently during the night, or do you just not go to bed?" Nick knew there were many sleeping disorders and many reasons for them. But he had a suspicion that he was dealing with a bit of an unusual case.

 

Ok. Weird question. If she had problems falling asleep she wouldn't have fallen asleep in the conduit. If she woke up frequently during the night, that meant she had problems falling asleep, which meant that she shouldn't have fallen asleep in the conduit. Not go to bed? Did he mean, like, in a real bed, or did a conduit or a J-tube count? And who was this guy, anyway? "I sleep when I'm tired. And who are you?" She frowned.

 

Now it was Nick's turn to stare. Then it dawned on him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Doctor Lepage." He paused to give her a chance to process the information before he asked his next question. "Ok, so you sleep when you're tired. Do you sleep in your bed or on the sofa? And do you feel rested when you wake up?"

 

Lepage. Doctor. Wasn't he the Chief? Pips. Lt Commander??? Her eyes widened and she went pale. "Oh, gees...." She coughed to get her bearings. "I . . . uh . . . sleep wherever...." Her voice trailed off and she felt nauseated.

 

Nick's eyes strayed to the monitor over the biobed. Rachel's heart rate had gone up for some reason. He had no idea what he had said to upset her, though. "Are you ok?"

 

Ok? How could she be ok? She had fallen asleep in a conduit - passed out or collapsed or something like that. She was in sickbay. The Chief Medical Officer was taking care of her, and he was a Lt. Commander, which meant he would probably talk to her chief - Chief Metapresence - which meant she was in deep doodoo. Ok? Was she ok?

 

"Yeah, I guess," she managed finally.

 

"Alright, so here's what I suggest. I'll let you go if you promise you'll sleep more regularly and by that I mean every night, in a bed, for 6 hours or more. I want you to come back in 5 days and then I'll run a few scans to see whether you get enough sleep. Do you think we can agree on that?" Nick wasn't sure he had actually managed to impress on her just how important this was. He needed Rachel to work with him. It wouldn't help if he declared her fit for duty just so she could go back to her old habits.

 

Rachel struggled to focus. Every night. In a bed. That meant she'd have to remember where her quarters were. Five days?

 

"Can I ask a question?" Her voice came out all quiet and squeaky, so she cleared her throat a bit.

 

"Yes, of course." Nick nodded. Finally he was getting a response. It was quite encouraging.

 

"I'm in big trouble, huh?"

 

That question confused him. "Why would you be in trouble?"

 

"Well . . . ." She fiddled with the sheet, avoiding his eyes, even though he seemed nice enough and sounded like he might understand. "I fell asleep on duty, and yanno, that's bad. And now I have to sleep in my quarters, which is kinda hard 'cause there's so much stuff to be done. And you're gonna tell my chief, and I'm already on probation. I just . . . I don't wanna get thrown out 'cause I like engineering and I like being here, and . . . ." She didn't know what to say beyond that. "Know what I mean?"

 

So that was her problem. He picked up the PADD again and looked at it for a second. Then he smiled and shrugged. "Well, you collapsed on duty. There's nothing in your file that says you fell asleep. I can only guess as to the reasons. Stuff happens, you know. And don't worry about your chief. I'll talk to him. Trust me, there's nothing to worry about." Nick had never met the chief engineer but if the guy didn't understand that his staff needed their rest he'd make him understand somehow. He couldn't tolerate any of the chiefs endangering their people like that.

 

Rachel wasn't sure the doctor's plan would work, but she felt better - if just a bit - and she didn't know why. She did know she needed to sleep. He was right about that. She finally managed a weak, "Ok," and left it at that. She figured that whatever happened next would happen no matter how much she worried about it or not, so she chose - just for the moment - to not worry. Maybe it'd work itself out. Maybe she'd be ok. Anyway, she hoped so. And, gees, she was tired. She lay back down and closed her eyes. Within moments she had fallen asleep again.

 

Nick watched Rachel for a few seconds. Then he got up quietly and walked over to the replicator to get himself a cup of coffee.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0