Medical Inspection: Culat - Reporting Back

[Isabeau Delevan 0]

Down on Cardassia only two days and she could see that a lot had happened in the station during that time as the final preparations for the move neared completion. Nowhere was this more obvious to her than in Sickbay; everything that could be taken apart and moved had been. Isabeau was off duty but other than packing a few personal belongings for the move to the Mercury, she had nothing else to do, so she decided to give Nick her report in person. Walking to his office, she saw his chair turned away from the door, and rather than scare him half to death as she was wont to do on other occasions, just gently rapped the door frame with her knuckles. "Hey, there, Chief."

 

Nick sighed. He recognized the voice and usually he enjoyed Isabeau's company but right now was not a good time. He had hoped to go and eat something soon. He smiled nonetheless and looked around with an expression of mock surprise on his face. "What's this, no Cardassian security guards?"

 

That earned him a dirty look. "Of course not, Nicolas. They turned me over to station security as soon as the shuttle docked and I managed to give our own guys the slip a couple of decks up." She folded her arms across her chest and just shook her head at him, unable to keep a smile from breaking out and spoiling her severe expression. "Honestly, you have the poorest opinion of my ability to keep on the straight and narrow."

 

"Quite to the contrary, Isabeau, I have the highest opinion of your ability to get yourself into impossible situations." With this Nick got up and walked toward the door. "I'm looking forward to your report but I'm also incredibly hungry. So either it'll have to wait or we talk while we get us some lunch. What do you say?"

 

Isabeau turned and followed him out of his office. "You know me, I can always eat and by the way, I don't think there's any such thing as an 'impossible' situation. A possibility always presents itself, except that sometimes it asks a higher price than we might like to pay." She thought of a couple of bills that had come due in the past, which had seemed very steep at the time. "Where do you want to eat?"

 

Nick walked out into sickbay, turned around and looked her up and down. She was wearing a pair of old, faded jeans and a DuFresne University sweatshirt with a few small holes in it. He shrugged. "Looks like it'll be the Replimat. But I don't care as long as they have food."

 

She caught the inference that she looked less than her best and mimed stabbing herself in the heart, accompanied by a dramatic gasp. “A palpable hit, Monsieur!” She followed him into Main sickbay. “Need I remind you that I’m off duty? And I'll tell you this, in spite of the air filtration and ventilation systems, this station is a lot dirtier since everything's been turned upside down." She continued following him, this time into the corridor. "You definitely need food. You get so crabby when you haven't eaten," she teased him. "You're lucky I'm not easily offended."

 

Nick grinned and tried to give Isabeau an innocent look. "I get crabby when I haven't slept and haven't eaten." As they arrived at the turbolift, Nick entered, waited for Isabeau to follow him and ordered it to the Replimat. "So, wanna tell me about Cardassia?"

 

She stepped into the turbolift. "Ok, I'll cut you some slack because being a department head during this busy time has to bite." Isabeau leaned back against the lift wall, a satisfied smile on her face. "Hmm...Cardassia. Where to start? I covered a lot if ground in two days."

 

"Hmmm...how about you start at the beginning? How was the situation in the hospitals?" Nick had been looking forward to hearing the reports. It was important for them to know whether Cardassia would still need some support and if so to what extent. Of course, he also needed the information for his report to Captain Quark and Starfleet Medical.

 

The lift doors opened and Isabeau walked out with Nick. "Well, to start with, I had a wonderful visit with my friend, Gilani Narak, you remember...the botanist? I'm so glad I got the opportunity, Nick." She gave him a sideways look as they walked to the bank of replicators in the self-serve diner. "I was left with the definite impression by her husband, that the opinion of the Detapa Council is that we can't be gone fast enough." She recalled a few of the comments dropped by Mr. Lakar as they'd traveled together. "Actually, I think that's probably the prevailing opinion."

 

Nick stood in front of one of the replicators and paused a moment to make up his mind about lunch. "A chicken sandwich...no, two chicken sandwiches and a glass of water." He turned to look at Isabeau who was standing beside him and gave her an apologetic look. "I skipped breakfast," he said with a shrug as he took the plate and the glass and stepped aside to let her place her order. "So the Cardassians are actually happy to see us go. What a surprise!"

 

Ignoring his sarcasm, she looked at his two chicken sandwiches and glass of water. "You really know how to live, Nick." Turning to the replicator she ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and tomato and a diet soda along with two chocolate chip cookies. She grabbed a tray and loaded her items and then turned, seeing him looking at it. "Don't worry, one of the cookies is for you."

 

Nick laughed as he made his way to a table. "Hey, I love chicken sandwiches but I'm glad you're letting me have one of your cookies. You know, I don't get to do as much workout anymore. I have to watch what I eat...and drink." After sitting down he contemplated his food for a moment then looked back to Isabeau. "So, how is the situation at the hospitals? Do all patients get the treatment they need?"

 

Setting her tray on the table, she took the seat across from him. "It's actually very good in the three districts I visited. Doctor Jurel is the administrator for Culat's main medical facility and she's been in place since before the fever broke out. She was very helpful and able to supply me with complete inoculation schedules for the surrounding areas. By the way, she was very voluble with her gratitude towards the Aegis Science and Medical team that formulated the antigen. “In fact,” Isabeau added dryly, “She was bitterly disappointed that I had nothing to do with it." She started eating her sandwich, mentally going over her notes to make sure she hit all the important points. She would send him her official report later on today.

 

Nick took a bite of his sandwich as he listened to her. "I'm glad to hear that the medication reaches the people who need it. Did anyone ever mention something about a shortness of supplies?"

 

Isabeau wiped her hands on a napkin and leaned back in her seat. "Dr. Jurel gets her serum supply routed directly from the production facility in Cardassia City and then handles the dispensing to the area surrounding Culat. She never experiences any problem with getting serum but she did mention that it could take a while to requisition new equipment. She's been waiting for a phoretic analyzer for quite some time. She goes through the government's health organization for supplies. I don't know what the delay is about but it sounds like a bureaucratic tie up and nothing to do with the Federation supply side of things." Isabeau shrugged a little ruefully. "I think red tape is the same anywhere you go. Oh, and I did a random sampling of the serum on hand and it was all viable—nothing past code."

 

Nick nodded as he turned his attention to the second sandwich. "So, to sum things up, we're doing our job and things on Cardassia are quite normal. I went over the statistics and it looks like over the last month only 56 people died of the Fever. That's good considering that during the first week after the breakout over five thousand Cardassians died. Talk about progress."

 

"Maybe at some point, the fever will be eradicated. It'll take generations though." Her sandwich finished, Isabeau contemplated the cookies.

 

"You're probably right but I'm glad we could do something to help. I'll make sure Leilani gets the report so she can see the result of her work. I don't know about her but I always find it somewhat satisfying." Nick finished his sandwich and leaned back in his chair. "Anything else I should know about?"

 

"I mentioned Lieutenant Feretti's name specifically to Dr. Jurel. I'd be amazed if she didn't receive some kind of citation from Cardassia itself." Isabeau picked up one cookie and resolutely set the remaining cookie on Nick's plate. She felt very noble and self-sacrificing about it. "I know this has nothing to do with the fever but it is a medical issue, if only indirectly since it deals with nutrition. My friend, Gilani, is working on a stronger strain of grain that would be grown on the planet itself but she told me that currently, almost all grain that Cardassia Prime imports comes through Federation suppliers. I don't know if Aegis' leaving affects dispersal or not. Cardassia Prime really doesn't have any natural resources left--everything comes from off planet."

 

At the mention of plants Nick raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure the Federation will make sure that Cardassia gets enough resources. Hang on...do you want me to suggest in my report that Gilani get some money for her research?"

 

"I wasn't worried that the Federation would cut off resources, but only wondered if Aegis was responsible for disseminating them." Isabeau leaned back, brushing cookie crumbs off the front of her sweatshirt. She glanced back to Nick and her smile was warm with appreciation. "No, I’m pretty sure that she has the complete support and all the resources she needs from the Cardassian government, but how nice of you to suggest it, mon cher."

 

Nick picked up the cookie. "Are you sure you don't want this yourself?"

 

"Of course, I’m sure. It's all yours," she lied smoothly, her smile patently fake. "When are Lilly and Mimi due back?"

 

With a big grin Nick took a bite of the cookie before answering. "Mimi will be visiting the lab just outside of Cardassia City. I expect she and Lilly will be back sometime later today. I can't believe I let you three get off that way while I stayed here to move crates."

 

“Too bad I left the violin in my quarters or else I could play accompaniment to that river you're crying me," Isabeau teased.

 

"Hey, that's not fair! I'm an old man. Seriously, I can't wait for the move to be over and the regular chaos to resume." Finishing the cookie, Nick got up. "I'll have to get back to sickbay. Unlike some, I am on duty."

 

"Old man? I'm a year older than you and you know it!" She stood, and taking his plate, stuck it on top of hers and carried the tray over to the recycler, throwing the whole pile in. She fell into step with him as he turned to the turbolift and gave him a gentle elbow in the side as they walked. "I'm looking forward to getting where we're going, too, you know."