The Quick Tour
Posted on Sun Apr 28th, 2019 @ 6:39pm by Captain Luka Mahone & Lieutenant Commander Sofia Nikedoros & Lieutenant Gunnar Arnason
2,340 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Deep Freeze
Location: General Hospital
Timeline: MD 04 1027 Hrs
The hospital had been a bustle since the cold had set in on the colony, both with overcautious patients and even more overworked staff. Both civilian and Starfleet personnel alike were fielding every manner of cough, sneeze, and sore throat, or it seemed to be that way.
Among those present on staff was the Commander, clad in red unlike most of the blue-clad medical staff (at the insistence of his yeoman), medical tricorder strapped to his belt as he took a look at the influx of patients recorded on one of the nurse's PaDD's.
"... Engineering should be ready in case a true outbreak occurs," he spoke low to the nearby nurse, careful not to alarm any prying ears. "But please do not hesitate, if we end up with more inbound, to let me know. I would rather avoid overcrowding if it came to it."
After unloading the gifted supplies, Sofia had brought Gunnar by the chapel to meet the people there and let him dump his own gear her office (and added finding lodging for him to her mental list). She had intended to let him rest and find some food after his journey, but when she said had a meeting at the hospital, he had insisted on coming along (“That is why I’m here”). She wasn’t necessarily surprised. For someone who gave an impression of being laid back, he didn't do well being idle.
As they walked through the colony medical center, Gunnar looked around taking mental notes. It was larger than the medbay on a Sovereign class ship, but far smaller and more limited than most starbase facilities. The place was all relatively new construction, mostly prefab, but otherwise reminded him of one of the small hospitals serving rural communities back home. Probably sufficient for a colony intended to be largely agrarian, but it would still be a good idea to get an inventory of what could be salvaged from the Io.
“Commander Mahone,” Sofia called, spotting the CO and heading toward him. “Look what I found,” she announced happily, opening a hand toward the young man following in her wake, and realizing that he was still in the civilian clothes he’d arrived in, added, ”a medical officer.”
Gunnar ducked his head, hiding an amused smile at the sense of being presented to the CO like a mouse fresh caught by a proud cat. “LT Gunnar Arnason, sir. Pleased to meet you.”
Luka's gaze caught Sofia and her guest as they made their way over. His expression softened, looking between the two. "Lieutenant Arnason then?" he asked, curious how the other medical type would have wanted to be addressed. "Any help you have to give will be highly appreciated... Although, if you're on some form of leave, I have to insist you at least manage to catch some recreational time, once the cold lets up even a little bit."
"I'm an NP, sir. I don't have any objection to Nurse Arnason, but Gunnar is fine. While I am on leave at the moment, don't worry," he grinned, "I'm originally from Iceland - a little cold will not get in my way for recreation."
"Commander-... Sofia." Luka caught himself, cheeks turning pink. "Have you managed to show the Lieutenant around yet?"
"Not beyond dropping some things off at the Chapel," she replied. "He just arrived a few hours ago, so my first concern really is finding him a place to stay."
"I am fine crashing in one of the mediation rooms for now," Gunnar said, not wanting anyone to feel awkward because of what had, after all, been his decision to take faster ship that required arriving unannounced. "I'd sort of expected it, in fact, since my transport's operational security regs meant I couldn't give you a heads up for arrival."
"No." Luka frowned. He didn't give Gunnar to argue with him. "We can find you somewhere to stay. We have plenty of extra designated spaces to at least manage to find you a bed. And after we show you around. Sofia, there's something I think we need to discuss. Multiple items at that. Maybe it's best we do both?"
"Thank you, sir," Gunnar said simply, nodding assent to any rooming arrangement and to a working tour.
"Certainly," Sofia replied, adding a silent prayer that Gunnar was ready to jump in with both feet. "Lead on."
And lead on Luka did, turning from the lobby and deeper into the hospital, waiting for the others to follow behind before he started in. He seemed more focused on business than on the tour.
"I'm not certain we have any major illness starting to spread," Luka began, "But we have an influx of people who insist they're sick with the same thing. The symptoms seem to be mostly similar, except for a few key variations, but I don't believe we should focus upon that at the moment. I'm more concerned about the overcrowding that could occur. Engineering and Operations only have so many shuttles for triage purposes, and those we have set up are not able to sustain the power flow we'll need for such purposes..."
"Most of those recovering from injury have moved out, so I can make room in chapel if need be," Sofia offered. "Also, Gunnar arrived with a back-up generator along with some other supplies."
"A gift from friends on Dosad," Gunnar added, not wanting to take credit for their generosity.
"I'll have to take time to write a good thank you for thst." Luka stopped halfway down the hall, turning to the pair, suddenly aware of himself. "... And this, of course is the first floor, where most of the civilian staff have set up a majority of the hospital's facilities. The floors above this are slowly being opened up for more civilian intake and to adapt to the influx of Starfleet personnel, but that has obviously taken a backseat, save for the second floor."
"Understandable," Gunnar remarked. Having seen the facilities it was clear that while some work had gone into them already they were still a work in progress. "At present it's probably best to consolidate as much as possible. For that, sir, it would be useful to know about the illness being reported. If we have a sense of its progression we could set up wards based on the medical support required at various stages."
For a moment, Luka was taken aback by how much sense Gunnar had, as if the clouds parted and shone a bright light on the man in front of him. The awe vanished once he realized he was staring. He wasn't that rude. "That sounds like an excellent idea. I'll get you access to the current patient records and see if there isn't a way to easily consolidate them. Once... I find..." He looked around, frowning as he realized he didn't have a yeoman following him around. Davna had been mysteriously absent since his day began. "... My PaDD to write all this down with..."
"I'll send you a reminder," Sofia said, amused at how quickly Luka had become dependent on having a yeoman at his heels. She was also happy to see that Gunnar had made a good enough impression that at last one doctor would have no problem with his lack of MD.
"No matter." Luka waved a hand. "Mr. Arnason, is there anything specific you'd like to see before I kept blabbering on?"
Noting that Mahone was clearly somewhat flustered and overwhelmed - and who wouldn't be trying to wear so many hats? - Gunnar shook his head. "Not unless there's something else I need to be made aware of," he replied. "I'm sure the Reverend can direct me to a place for housing and food, and make any necessary introductions."
"I don't want to leave you ill-equipped myself. Please let me know if I can do anything." Once he found Davna, but the longer Luka thought on it, the more he found he was embarrassed by the lack of a yeoman. He would have to work on that. "Preparations are being made for a potential triage, which you'll receive all the necessary information about... oh, and it's probably a good idea to make nice with the civilian medical staff. As a matter of fact, most of the civilian staff. They're a bit nicer when they have a face and a name to put to Starfleet. If they aren't, I'm sure I'll hear the formal complaint about it."
"Thank you, sir, but you're the CO, not a resort manager," Gunnar replied. "Unless someone here truly objects to me, there shouldn't be a problem."
"And if there is a problem, you will send them to me," Sofia added firmly and assumed an almost frightening pleasant smile.
Gunnar suppressed a chuckle. The Reverend was very well versed in both individual psychology and social psychology, and despite a generally gentle caring nature he had seen her employ the reluctance of most beings to be rude or difficult to clergy with an almost Machiavellian finesse. "That shouldn't be necessary. I worked in a civilian hospital before joining Starfleet and I'm sure I can fit in again ...though if there's some friction with Starfleet, I may take the excuse of leave and wear civvie scrubs until they get to know me."
"Whatever makes you comfortable. I don't think anyone's going to enforce any rules unless the brass comes down to inspect the colony. I'm also told that once it isn't too cold to walk outside, there's a good place for snowy recreational activities." Luka continued, pressing on the subject of Gunnar's leave. "Maybe you'll have a chance to enjoy yourself throughout your stay here."
"It's not that cold out," Gunnar started, then mindful of Sofia's warning about how people here might react to that, he added. "We have a saying for where I'm from: there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing." He smiled, eyes lighting at the prospect of new slopes on natural terrain. "I brought my snowboarding gear, so if you know some challenging -'
"Gunnar, you promised T'Ango..." Sofia warned, visions of the disasters she'd promised to try to keep him out of running through her head.
"I'll be careful," he replied, and getting a less than reassured look, sighed. "Okay, no jibbing, no big air, and I'll check the slopes for avalanche potential." He held two fingers up in a gesture of oath-taking. "I promise."
Luka looked between Sofia and Gunnar, before taking a step toward the nurse, a sheepishly mischievous look on his features. "... I'm not too sure what an avalanche-potential slope looks like. Once this all clears up, I bet the science team could do with a hand... or we could survey before the science team, and give them one less thing to worry about maybe?"
Gunnar looked down at Luka. His reference to avalanches had been nearly an inside joke, and from his point of view a reference to people over reacting, but the response was promising. He smiled. "Do you snowboard, Commander?"
"Not yet," Luka admitted, "But I'm not known for my inactivity around here. I'm not sure how close surfing and snowboarding are to one another, but Hawaii was never good for snow and slopes, but I would rather find out how close they really are as opposed to sitting and stagnating. But I certainly defer to your expertise on the matter."
"I can't say I have any expertise, other than trying surfing at the Academy and finding that snowboarding didn't..." his mouth went a little sideways, "...translate as directly as I hoped. But once you adapt your balance and sense of how to shift to keep it at speed to a different feeling of motion, you'll probably pick it up quickly."
Luka had already given the differences a thought, if only due to the fact that snow and water were two different sides of the same elemental compound. But this confirmed his suspicions. "I hope so. It's certainly something I look forward to. Among other things." There was a pause as he gave thought to more whimsical matters than the potential crisis in front of him. A moment later, and he was back in Commander mode. "But I think I've kept you two long enough. We can save the excitement for another time."
"Of course," Gunnar acknowledged, returning to instantly to an attitude more in keeping with the issues at hand. "But I think I'll stop at the cafe first. It might help to start out with some of civilian staff on a more casual basis. And, honestly, I could use some coffee."
"I'm so sorry," Sofia said, realizing that the sense that something was different about him wasn't the beard but the lack of the coffee mug that had never been far from his reach at the Outpost. "I've been a terrible host. I'll can take you right over."
"No need. I remember where it is - vital information, you know," he winked, "And it's better if I wander in alone. You're both good people, but your management. It'll be much easier to chat with the other nurses without you around," he explained, and headed off.
Sofia suppressed a chuckle. For someone who gave the impression of being quiet, he was actually very good at that sort of thing. He might not even have to make the first move, since she'd lay odds the barista would try to flirt with a handsome young man who smiled at her like she was the source of all good things (which as his gateway to coffee, she would be in that moment). Even if there was no one else in cafe, he'd walk out knowing nearly every gripe and bit of gossip discussed within the barista's earshot and, once the caffeine kicked in, be making plans to address the gripes.
Turning to Luka, she smiled. "I wouldn't worry about getting formal complaints from the civilian staff. They aren't going to know what hit them."
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