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Cassie Granger

"Body, Mind, Spirit"

"Body, Mind, Spirit"

A T’Aral-Granger Log

“Thank you crewman - that will be all.” A momentary lull in the ship’s readiness status had allowed Lieutenant T’Aral to process new crew members through their introductory physicals. A few notations and some record editing was needed, but nothing so far was out of the ordinary. Checking her list, she walked to a com panel and contacted Communications. “Please page Warrant Officer Cassidy Granger; she is to report to the Medical Bay for her physical.”

Cass was half way through her morning run - which put her on deck eight, aft, J-tube 8-E hauling ass up the ladder to the access port for deck seven - when her wrist band alerted her to incoming from comm control.

Prowling the ship’s guts might not be the easiest way, but it was the fastest way Cassie knew of getting to know its complete internal layout - and its quirks, of which this one had a few. She’d made mental note of unexpected dead-ends from ongoing repairs, loose gratings, missing rungs - anything that might trap or injure. But any ship that wasn’t quirky sure as shinLi hadn’t seen much action, and if anyone had seen action it was Border Patrol. Cassie wasn’t playing inspector; she wanted to know where to go and - especially - where not to go in an emergency. Where to stash weapons or plan an alternate escape route in case of... well, anything.

It’s a Marine thing.

“Granger here,” she replied into the first comm on deck seven.

The comm officer came back with and end-of-shift groggy, “Report to medical bay for entry physical.”

Left hand against the bulkhead, right hand on her hip, Cass watched her sweat bead on the deck for a second before acknowledging, then wondered if she should go as is or shower and change. Hell. They’ve seen their share of blood and guts. A little sweat’s not going to make much difference. And it’ll most likely be a corpsman at oh dark thirty.

Two minutes later, clad in combat boots, camo warmups, and tank top so sopped it looked like wet T-shirt night at the club, she entered the medical bay and presented herself to the duty corpsman...

...which just happened to be Dr. T’Aral, Chief Medical Officer. Biting back an oh ######, she came to attention.

At this particular hour, the duty officer of the Medical bay was also the CMO. T’Aral wasn’t getting much sleep of late - at least not much formal sleep. She rested her body during meditations to keep up her strength, but she knew this could not go indefinitely. Fortunately the month was almost up, which would mean the Captain’s disciplinary action would have run its course. That left the Vulcan elders, who would need evidence of her reform or of a dire need for her to rest before they would relent. Hopefully an emissary would be sent soon …

Her thoughts were shifted the moment someone stepped into the bay. T’Aral straightened as W.O. Granger entered. Recognizing her from her datafile, the lieutenant gestured for Cassidy to follow. Approaching a biobed, she activated a number of scanners while starting up her tricorder. “Please lie back on the bed and relax. Your continued co-operation will make your examination a brief one.”

Cassie gave a crisp, “Yes, ma’am,” doing as instructed. Future reference: department chiefs work around the clock on ‘Creek.

T’Aral began her examination, noting various scars and remnants of old injuries. “How shall I refer to you, Warrant Officer Granger?” She paused to detail a note on a datapad. “Humans have a curious inconsistency in their social standards. The Captain, for example, is most informal.”

“I imagine Cassie will do, ma’am. Call sign is Sundance, if you prefer. Or, Warrant Officer Granger if you’re of a formal leaning.”

T’Aral arched an eyebrow slightly, internally unsatisfied with her options. “Perhaps ‘Ms. Granger’ will suffice. Now: are there any specific conditions that I need to be aware of? Do you have any allergies, re-occurring conditions, or unhealed injuries?” She paused for a moment, then turned her gaze directly to her patient. “And … how do you feel?”

“Well, ma’am... that would be no, no, no, and no. And I feel fine.”

T’Aral set down her tricorder and datapad, leaning back slightly on the medical bay wall. “Indeed? I find that curious. You are a Marine with a history of field operations. You have been assigned as a ship’s navigator - an assignment which deviates considerably from your experience. You have … no apprehensions or misgivings about this assignment?”

Cassie met the doctor’s gaze with feigned innocence. “Apprehensions, Ma’am? Should I be apprehensive? Is there something I should know? Something they didn’t tell me when I received this assignment?” The doctor was either curious or playing mind games. Cassie placed her bet on mind games.

“The ship is a standard assignment - there are no unusual conditions that you need to be aware of. My interest is the examination of a Warrant Officer taking a position usually reserved for those with commissions. Typically the only non-commissioned bridge personnel are security officers. That is actually another consideration: with your experience I would’ve expected your transfer to be part of Security, rather than a bridge assignment.”

Cass bristled at the comment, but she kept it in check. Every stripe, every hook on the way up was sorely earned, and some at great cost to her unit, the Corps, and the Federation.

Slowly, deliberately, she sat up to meet the doctor’s gaze straight-on. “All due respect Ma’am... I’m damn good at what I do. Navigating in this area of space is dangerous at best, deadly at worst. I would think the last mission would have told you that.” She had kept her tone even and stopped there. Showing up in the brig right out of the gate wasn’t exactly in her plans.

T’Aral nodded while picking up her datapad and making a few notes. “You are correct, Ms. Granger … however - bridge officers are expected to maintain their composure under difficult situations. You seem to take offense quickly - has that been noted in your evaluations before?” She moved to an adjacent bio-bed; no longer standing above Cassidy, but now settling to match her level.

“Take offense, ma’am? Just stating it like it is. No offense meant. Just facts, plain and simple.” And believe me, you don’t want to see me when I’ve taken offense.

T’Aral raised a gentle eyebrow. The fact that Cassidy didn’t answer her question regarding previous evaluations wasn’t overlooked, but she let it go. Pursuing the inquiry would probably elicit a further emotional response, which wasn’t T’Aral’s intent. “Then, you are stating for the record that nothing I said disturbed you?” She gazed intently at her patient, her expression one of pure curiosity.

“Oh, no, ma’am. What you said disturbed me. I wouldn’t be human if it didn’t, and I for sure wouldn’t be truthful. But as for being disturbed and taking offense? Two different sides of the coin. Just setting the record straight.”

T’Aral straightened slightly and paused - there was no need to continue, but Cassidy’s particular ways had caught her curiosity. There was no question that she was fit for duty, but if T’Aral released her now she would never have another chance to understand Cassidy properly. “Elaborate, if you would: what would be the difference between being disturbed and taking offense?”

She rubbed a hand around the back of her neck and across her hair, now plastered dry against her forehead. “Elaborate.” She nodded with a purse of her lips. “Disturbed is just what you saw, Ma’am. Just a little bit riled, a bit angry maybe, but in control. Taking offense?” She gave a half-grin. “Your head’d be through the bulkhead before you knew what hit you.”

“So: it is not a matter of difference, but rather a question of degree.” Unlike many other species, T’Aral saw no logic in disputing the Warrant Officer’s claim, despite her own familiarity with the various techniques of Suus Mahnna and the number of times she had to demonstrate her abilities in front of the Captain. For the purposes of this conversation, it was irrelevant. “Ms Granger: I am here to help you. I am to provide care to the best of my ability, and to do so I require accurate information. To say ‘no offense taken’ would not be accurate, and would offer the wrong impression to those you are speaking to. While civil courtesy is a fine thing, it is a hindrance to social interaction if taken too far - resulting in buried resentments.”

Cassie listened attentively to the ‘new patient lecture,’ knowing that if she didn’t it would most likely cut into alpha shift and she’d be late for duty on her first day. In any case, if there were resentments, she for sure wouldn’t bury them. They’d be right out in the open. No sense in disturbing the doctor with it, letting her believe the new Marine had a hair trigger.

T’Aral continued. “While it is not uncommon for members of an emotionally guided species to take offense at statements made by others, this should be discouraged. Other beings can make any number of statements for any number of reasons. Unless it is clear that something is stated in a manner deliberately meant to hurt, it is always best to put it aside while choosing to consider any perceived slight as simply a matter of ignorance.” She wrote a final note on her datapad. “With that said you are cleared for duty, Officer Granger. Do you have any questions?”

“No, ma’am.”

The Vulcan closed her tricorder an de-activated the biobed. “In that case, may you find your assignment fulfilling. You are dismissed.” T’Aral nodded politely to Cassie before crossing the medical bay, entering her office. There were reports to file and notes to transfer. It was all routine, but that was the nature of her duties.

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