Gall Force Fan Fiction ❯ Another Journey, Another Story ❯ Chapter 17

Gall Force: Another Journey, Another Story

Part Seventeen

 

'I wonder how long it'll be before I stop getting lost?' Toki thought, the lanky, red haired ensign frowning as she walked back to a junction.

 

Compared to the underground shelter Toki and her fellow ensigns had spent the last few years in the Lady Grace was vast, and Toki hadn't quite gotten the hang of finding her way around. Guiltily she took her personal reader out and consulted the map she had stored there. Realizing where she had gotten turned around she retraced her steps, soon arriving at her new station.

 

The doors to Sickbay slid open smoothly as Toki entered, the typical sent of antiseptic solutions and medications washing over her. Like all good Sickbays the place was nearly spotlessly clean, the monitoring beds spaced out along the walls, the trays of equipment locked down in case the ship needed to perform any sudden movement.

 

From the office in the rear a tall, blonde Lieutenant-commander emerged, wearing the insignia of the medical division, a white lab coat over top. Her smile was gently welcoming as she approached, "Welcome Ensign Toki."

 

"Ma'am," Toki saluted reflexedly, her smile a little nervous.

 

Meris rubbed at her eyes, her expression tired. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you," she said, "we've been badly shorthanded." She took a small file reader from her pocket and called up the data, "You were a nursing assistant previously?"

 

"Yes, ma'am," Toki agreed before adding, "and I was the sole medical personnel that we had in the shelter, too."

 

"So you were doing whatever emergency work was required," Meris gave her a wry smile, "I know how that feels." She set the file down, "I'll run you through the equipment here, then we'll talk about how fast you may end up being promoted."

 

Toki felt herself smiling at the gentle woman's manner, "Right."

 

The next few hours were surprisingly enjoyable for her, Lieutenant-commander Meris clearly knowing what she was doing as she ran through the various pieces of equipment and supplies in the facility. Toki was more than pleasantly surprised by how well stocked the facility was, the variety of injuries, illnesses and situations that the place could handle.

 

"That reminds me," Meris collected a small bottle of pills from a shelf and then she passed it over to Toki.

 

Toki looked over the nutritional supplement in confusion then she looked over at Meris and tentatively asked, "Ma'am?"

 

"I'll be passing these out to everyone who was down in the shelter," Meris said to her in explanation, "you did a remarkable job keeping an eye on all them, but most of you were suffering from low-grade malnutrition."

 

"I thought so," Toki nodded glumly, "I guess it wasn't planned that a crew would live on emergency rations for so long."

 

"The rats," Meris used the common and disdainful nickname for standard emergency rations, "are pretty well balanced nutritionally, but the designers also figured that the crew would be able to forage for additional food." She shrugged slightly, "Under the circumstances you are all lucky you're as healthy as you are."

"Thank you ma'am," Toki nodded. She looked at the bottles, "Did you want me to help distribute the supplements to the rest of the ensigns?"

 

Meris hesitated, "How are you at getting around the ship?"

 

Toki felt herself blush faintly as she confessed, "Not that good, just yet."

 

Meris chuckled softly, but not in a mocking way. "Then I think we'll just pass them out as your fellows come in for their second appointments," she said cheerfully.

 

"Very good idea," Toki agreed.

 

Meris checked the time and then smiled at the young woman as she handed her the file papers, "You've got an hour or so left in your shift... I haven't entered all the data for the newcomers yet, could you do that while I attend to my paperwork?"

 

"I'll do my best," Toki bowed then settled down at one of the stations and went to work, efficiently entering information into the data banks.

 

Meris went into her office in the back of sickbay and activated her personal computer, updating her personal notes... she was maintaining medical and psychological files on the command staff, as well as monitoring several ongoing health issues. While so far the Grace's crew were healthy, the stress of their running fight with the Paranoid along with their limited supplies meant that they would need careful monitoring.

 

The files blurred in front of Meris' eyes and she cursed to herself softly, careful not to let her new assistant hear. She was having a hard time concentrating on her work, and she knew the exact reason why: Jame's date with Chief Karin. She had heard about it through the grapevine earlier that day, the dinner the two women had shared and had been surprised at how upset she had become.

 

'It's not like I had any claim on her,' Meris reminded herself firmly. In fact Jame had turned her down several times, the young lady uninterested in her romantic overtures. 'And being stubborn I just chased her harder,' Meris thought glumly.

 

Not that any of the rumors said that Jame and Karin's dinner had been all that romantic, exactly, but the few times that Meris had seen them together she had gotten a distinct vibe from Karin towards Jame... The woman was clearly interested in Jame, even though the younger woman was largely unaware of it.

 

Ra-rumb!

 

Meris blinked as the ship shuddered slightly, then she realized what it was. The Engineers were moving the Star Destroyer power core from the shuttle bay down to engineering, a difficult process considering they couldn't take the ship out of hyperspace. Instead they were having to carefully remove deck planting and conduits, move the Core through the section, then repair the damage behind them.

 

'It's a lot like surgery,' Meris noted tiredly as she tried to get back to work, 'cutting into the patient, repairing the damage, then cleaning up on the way out.'

 

Not long after the main door swished open and the sound of cursing followed, rather graphic too. "Please sit on a examination couch," Toki was crisply professional, "I'll get the doctor."

 

Meris was out of her office in a moment, blinking in surprise as she recognized Davies from engineering, the sandy haired woman's arm in a improvised sling. "Hi Doc," Davies sighed.

 

Meris moved to Davies side even as she nodded, "Good afternoon." Gently she eased the arm from the sling even as she asked, "What happened?"

 

Davies winced as Meris gently went over her arm, checking it gently until Davies' face showed the strain. "We were shifting a section of plating when a magnetic clamp gave way," she explained, "I took a bump to the shoulder when it hit me."

 

Taking a hand scanner Meris ran it over the arm even as she murmured, "Must of hurt."

 

"Oh yeah," Davies winced.

 

Meris checked the data, feeling a flash of relief. "No break," she reported, "I suspect you've torn muscles and bruised it pretty badly, though."

 

"Certainly feels that way," Davies flashed her a charming smile, "but I'm sure you can make me feel much better."

 

Meris chuckled, knowing Davies reputation as a flirt. "Save your charm," she advised, picking up a injector from a nearby table. She pressed it to the wrist even as she explained,. "This will promote faster healing of broken blood vessels and reduce the swelling."

 

"And the pain?" Davies winced as she slid her arm back into the sling.

 

"I thought big, tough engineers could take it," Meris teased.

 

Davies rolled her eyes, "An exaggeration, I assure you."

 

Meris took down a small pouch of pain-tabs and handed them to Davies. "This should help," she said then added seriously, "but I would recommend no heavy work for at least a day, please. You need to give your arm time to heal."

 

"Can I supervise the other engineers?" Davies asked with a sigh.

 

"As long as you don't try to help, yes," Meris said firmly.

 

"Yes ma'am," Davies saluted with her good hand as she turned to go.

 

"Is she always that much of a flirt?' Toki asked as she put the instruments away.

 

Meris chuckled, feeling oddly cheerful. "You have no idea," she agreed.

 

To be continued....