An Awkwardly-Sized Appointment

Posted on Sun Jul 24th, 2022 @ 5:55pm by Captain Luka Mahone & Lieutenant Jai

1,511 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: What Lies Ahead, Between, and Behind
Location: Kocoa Caverns, Triage Tents
Timeline: MD After Kids are Found

"Sir, are you sure you should be-"

Luka waved off the gold-uniformed officer, likely to be from one of the various security teams. He couldn't fault anyone for being overly cautious, but the Captain could not sit idly by any longer. Upon hearing the a worried mother about a son she had yet to be reconnected with, Luka promised the woman he would go find out for himself what was going on.

Excuse in hand, the Captain entered one of the various tents set up for triage. Gunnar had done a fantastic job making sure everyone was accommodated; each of the five children currently in the tent had plenty of space for themselves, a nurse or medical officer of some kind, and their families filtering in and out. Most of the beds contained children who were moving enough for Luka to feel reassured that they were on the right track. But there was a bed in the back, containing one sleeping child that Luka had an odd feeling about.

As he approached, the Tellarite officer standing next to the bed stopped him, holding out a hand and looking down at the PaDD. "Sir, this patient is not to be disturbed until his parents arrive."

Oh boy. Luka looked over the officer's shoulder. "Have the boy's parents been notified?"

"No."

Luka frowned. "And why not?"

The officer huffed. "Because the paperwork for the patient has not been signed off on."

The Captain's frown twitched. "... I-what?"

"I need someone who has supervising authority to sign off on this medical paperwork." The Tellarite waved the PaDD in his hand. "If not, then it will be incorrectly filed."

"Perhaps I could be of assistance," a small voice offered from behind the two men.

Standing there was a young boy, almost Deltan in appearance, with an elaborate tattoo that decorated the crown and forehead in Tibetan script and mandala artwork. Hands clasped behind him, the child-like alien noted, "Federation Medical Protocol Two-Eight-Seven, subparagraph nine: In the event of a minor admitted to non-emergency medical care, the attending physician shall authenticate the file prior to notification of the legal guardian, if known."

Pausing, the boy looked at the Tellarite first, then over at the other man as he noted, "I'm afraid the devil is in the bureaucracy in this case, Captain," the youth prefaced in a matter-of-fact tone. Then gave a slight bow toward the man as he offered, "My name is Jai. You must be Captain Mahone."

With that, the boy brought his hands out from behind him, holding out a padd that contained -- along with some notes he'd taken since his arrival -- a copy of his transfer orders from Bajor. "I apologize for not reporting in upon arrival, but I thought my attention might be required here."

"I'm afraid I don't recognize your authority, Lieutenant," the Tellarite barked, bristling as the sticky officer added, "I'll need to ask you to leave."

"I don't imagine you do," Jai responded in the same even tone of voice, inclining his head toward the Captain as he nonchalantly added, "But you do recognize that Captain Mahone has the authority to accept my transfer, at which time I'll have authority over both you and that patient."

Luka's gaze went from Jai to the orders now in his hands, over to the Tellarite, and then back at Jai. "I..." The youthful-looking Lieutenant must have been a mirage. Or a trick. His eyes snapped down to the orders. No, no trick. The transfer paperwork looked in order. Jai's apparent youth did not phase him for more than half a second; between the pair of Onlies on the Vesta and everything else Luka had experienced, another Only seemed less of an issue and more of a happy quirk. One he would admittedly have to get used to, but he'd rather have a presiding medical chief than not have one at all.

"... I don't see the ... need to apologize," Luka began, slowly at first, but his paced picked up as he gave the paperwork a better skim. "I don't think you'd have found me anywhere else but in one of these tents. The patients are top priority, as far as I'm concerned." He made the necessary button presses, handing the PaDD back to Jai. "Lieutenant, consider yourself fully transferred. I'll do the rest of the formal shuffle later."

Accepting the padd, the boy turned and passed it up to the Tellarite. "Please file this and annotate in the medical logs that at this time I am assuming responsibility for the Starfleet medical mission to Haumea Colony," the young lieutenant noted simply.

The Tellarite looked up at the Captain before begrudgingly accepting the padd.

"You'll find a copy of my medical license and certification with the Starfleet Board of Medical Examiners with the orders," the boy noted, addressing the Tellarites skepticism before he announced, "Chart, please."

The Tellarite glanced down at the padd in his hand for a moment, then handed a second padd over to the boy. Taking the patient's chart in hand, the tattooed youth proceeded on past the Tellarite toward the bed holding the sleeping child.

"It appears parts of the mines contained a crystalline dust that was disturbed by the children," Jai noted, glancing up from the padd to look over at the Captain. Gesturing toward the boy on the bed, the youth continued, "He appears to have inhaled some fine crystalline fragments, which have become lodged in the brachial tracts of the lungs."

Pausing, the boy certified the medical file and then walked back a step to hand it to the Tellarite. Returning, the boy dipped a hand into the lab coat he wore, producing a medical tricorder. There was a moment of silence as he ran the brief scan, before he glanced up and explained, "It's not life-threatening for the moment, but his breathing is shallow and the pain can be severe. From the notes, he was placed in an induced coma to alleviate the stress."

Folding the tricorder shut, the boy returned it to the pocket of his coat as he continued, "Once the parents are notified, we can begin the surgical process of removing the crystal pieces. There's a non-invasive option, using transporter technology, but I'd prefer the more invasive approach in order to examine any bleeding or tissue damage that may require repair," the youth noted, walking around the bed toward Captain Mahone. "I've performed the procedure a dozen times. It can be done safely and removes the chance of complications if internal bleeding creates scarring from the transporter alternative."

"Dust?" Luka frowned. There was something he had yet to hear problems about. But then again, he had yet to hear a whole lot past 'the children were alright.' It was something he would look into, in case there were residual effects. Tachyon particles were something he would want to make sure no one carried along with them, and 'crystal dust' sounded like just the thing that would carry that along.

Maybe he would look into it sooner rather than later. Surely someone had scanned each and every one of these children, right? "I trust your judgment on that." Considering how intense the security was lately with their new security chief hard at work, Luka found it hard to find the situation more strange than it was awkward. And a Tellarite officer would have, by now, called out if they suspected anything going awry with the paperwork. But it all seemed so convenient. "Would you like to do the honors of talking to his parents, or shall I, Lieutenant?"

The boy gave a slight bow of his head toward the man. He appreciated that the captain would ask for his preference, but it seemed a task for Jai. "I will take care of this for you, Captain," the boy offered formally. Of course, the parents might not appreciate that. On that note, the boy noted, "Given the unique nature of my species, there's no good time to introduce me to the colony. Recovery from this crisis is as good an opportunity for jumping in as we'll get."

Jai would trust Captain Mahone to handle any complaints about the kid doctor that may be about to come his way. For his part, Jai would focus on the health of the colony -- so that they would be better able to complain.

Luka held in his breath; he had forgotten in their discussion that other people - namely, at the present, parents - would have had words they may have expressed when it came to Jai's outward appearance. Even after the exchange they had moments before. "Of course," he nodded his head slowly. "Please don't hesitate to send them my way if they impede on your work."

Before Luka turned to leave, he gave Jai a smile. "I had hoped you'd be transferred while the colony was under slightly different circumstances, but if you do need anything else either now or in the future, I'm just a call away."

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