Not The Only New Face

Posted on Sun Dec 15th, 2024 @ 11:47pm by Lieutenant JG Kasper Andersen M.D & Lieutenant JG Jezra Siv MD

2,301 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Shore Leave & Ship Repairs
Location: USS Astrea :: Sickbay
Timeline: MD1 -1530 ?

Deciding that getting settled into their new quarters would be a later problem, Jezra simply dropped off their things before heading to sickbay. The turbolift deposited them on Deck 12, and it didn't take long to identify the telltale double doors that led into the medical facilities. Running a hand through their short, chestnut-color hair, Jezra entered the room, pausing just inside to take it in.

Against one of the walls of the space were a row of biobeds, idle vitals monitors above each one, and in the middle of the room was the main bed, circular infrastructure in the ceiling hinting toward the ability to set up a bio-containment field. A workstation suited for at least two people was next to the door, and as she wandered, she could see another set of doors on the far end of the room. Ahead and to the left of the main doors were undoubtedly the main office, Jezra's office, and they slowly poked their head in. It was a fairly standard setup: the desk had a couple of chairs on one side and the CMO's chair on the other, and the walls were decorated with a couple of wall displays.

Even after catching his sister unaware and meeting her boyfriend, who happened to be his rival throughout medical school, Kasper didn't take that much of a chance to unwind between his posting assignments, instead taking one for the team and getting stuck straight into work. He'd been checking the inventory on the basic medical equipment and seeing what needed to be restocked before the Astrea departed again and was about to proceed with logging it all into the data padd in his hand when he heard the standard whoosh of the doors opening and closing.

Without even looking up from the padd, Kasper spoke to the person who'd entered and no one in particular at the same time, "I'm sorry, but if you're after medical assistance, please know that we're currently running a skeleton crew for the remainder of shoreleave until we depart. What can I-" The air around him suddenly felt important as he turned around to face the other person so he coughed to cover up the embarrassment, "Sorry, Lieutenant, what can I help you with?"

Removing their head from the office, Jezra looked back toward the main part of sickbay to see another officer in blue addressing them. "Oh, I was just familiarizing myself with the place," she responded. Giving the young man a smile, they added, "I'm Jezra Siv, the new medical chief."

Kasper's eyes widened as much as his grin did, "Great to meet you, Chief. I'm Kasper Andersen, one of the medical officers around here and I'm actually quite new myself, so I feel ya there."

"It's great to meet... well, someone on the team." Jezra's smile faltered a little as they looked around. If anything, her expression simply conveyed confusion. "I know it's shore leave, but I'm surprised at how few personnel are around." Turning back to Kasper, they added, "when did you arrive on board?"

"Well, as far as I'm aware, and having not heard anything different, the majority of the medical team including the ACMO have been on a different ship performing a surgery to save the life of someone important?" He shook his head and put the padd on one of the consoles while he spoke, "I've only been on board for the last couple of days myself, so I'm still in the process of learning who everyone is and what happens on this ship. What about you, what brings you to this side of the quadrant to this ship?"

Jezra remembered that conversation with the Captain when they first arrived. It was understandable -commendable, even- and yet, the majority of the team? The Trill had a mental note to ask the assistant chief whenever the group returned, because surely there was a reason. It was hardly important, however, since the ship was currently docked, and referrals to the starbase medical facilities were always an option. "I heard the ship needed a chief medical officer, and I'm getting myself back out there," they replied. "I arrived... well, not too long ago, actually."

"Well, on behalf of the" Kasper took a look around at the quiet area, "rest of the medical team, welcome aboard! I hope you enjoy your stay and time with us. I'm sorry I won't be much help myself for a while regarding the layout of the ship, I only know where here, the mess hall, my quarters, and the Chief of Security's quarters are located."

A smile and shake of her head was Jezra's reply. "That's alright. Maybe we can explore together, that is, once you're finished with your work?"

Kasper gave his new boss a beaming smile, "The only thing I have left to do is to tally up everything and put in a request for more supplies, and as long as I get that done by the end of tomorrow, I should be sweet. Plenty of time, so I'm all yours for as long as you want or need me." He clapped his hands together and set about putting the padd he'd been using in a location where he'd remember it was. "Okay, good to go. Where to first?"

"Well, I only know where sickbay is, and kind of where my quarters are, so let's start with the mess hall, and then we can go from there," Jezra suggested. They'd save a tour of sickbay for when they officially started their duties. "It might be useful to know where things like the security offices or engineering are, for starters."

"I'd say we start with Engineering and then work our way up?" Kasper suggested in reply as they began to make their way out of the medical area. "I'd say it would be something like deck 30-something for Engineering and then somewhere on the decks above us for Security? Eirly didn't tell me where her office actually was, come to think of it."

With a casual shrug hinting to no better ideas, Jezra followed alongside Kasper. "That sounds right. Engineering is usually in the bottom half of a ship." The internal comprehension of 'deck 30-something' made Jezra tilt their head slightly, "how many decks does the Astrea have if Engineering is around deck 30?"

Kasper replied with his own shrug, "My guess would be around 40. Like I said a little bit earlier, I'm only relatively new myself and I don't know anywhere either." They came to the lift and went straight down to the main Engineering decks, Kasper feeling a little more out of place than usual. "So. Tell me. What made you go into Medical?"

While the lift took the two to the lower decks, Jezra thought for a couple seconds. "I was curious about the field, and the more I studied it, the more I fell in love with it. There's always something to learn and more to understand. How about yourself?"

"I come from a family that is rich in a background of medicine." Kasper admitted as the lift stopped on the lower decks and they both stepped out. "For instance, my father is a civilian surgeon whereas my grandfather and his brother were both in Starfleet Medical, one being a Chief Medical Officer and the other being one of the Surgeons on a starbase somewhere. My father wanted my other siblings to go into medicine as well but my sister and youngest brother are both in Security and the other brother is an Engineer, so one out of four ain't bad, right?"

He realized he was rambling on too much and laughed, "Sorry, I tend to ramble a bit. Long story short, I followed family traditions and actually enjoy medicine."

"That's alright," Jezra said with a smile. "Your story sounds similar to Siv's first host. Rigon came from a line of medics as well."

A lightbulb went off in Kasper's head as if something just clicked into place, "I just realized you're a joined Trill. Sorry I didn't make that connection sooner. May I ask what it's like having the thoughts and memories of previous hosts? I've got like a million questions now about it." He was always interested in learning more about how hosting worked with Trill but had never gotten around to it.

A light chuckle came from Jezra. "It's alright, I don't really announce it. At first, it was like having five people trying to talk to you at the same time, but I learned how to keep their memories from overwhelming mine and how to... quiet their thoughts, I think is the best way to describe it? Most of the time now, they're like background noise."

"Hmmm, so if it were put into layman medical terms, it would almost be like Multiple Personality Disorder, in a way?" Kasper was finding this conversation really enlightening as they walked through the corridors, "Wait. That sounded really offensive. I'm sorry. Was it a tough decision to make the choice and become joined, or did it feel like the most natural thing in the world to do for yourself?"

"They aren't quite personalities, just memories, but the way they lived can influence how I see the world." Jezra then thought for a moment about his question. "It sounds weird to say that it was both difficult and easy. I've always been... nervous, I suppose, about being joined, because my dad got into a lot of trouble when I was younger, but I also wanted to prove, mostly to myself, that I wouldn't follow in his footsteps. I was also admittedly on the mend from a bad place when I was asked if I would accept Siv three years ago, so it was a weird time. I think for me, it wasn't an easy decision, but I don't regret it."

"That must be a lot to take in each time, but at least there's something positive to come out of it all, right?" Kasper said as he nodded in agreement, "Okay, so I have like a million more questions to ask, but I'm sure those can be covered at a way later stage. I don't want to take up all of your time with unnecessary questions when you could be doing other things."

Jezra smiled, clearly amused by Kasper's concern for her time, something she currently had an abundance of. "As far as I know, my schedule is quite open," they responded jokingly. "While it was strange adapting to the other memories, they have been very helpful. Two of Siv's former hosts were medics, which is what you will likely see the most of. One was a chef, another was a botanist... and the most recent one was... we'll say adventurous. They all have influenced me, become a part of me."

"Adventurous, you say? I'm always up for adventure," Clearly he wasn't picking up on how Jezra was saying it, and he was more than happy to take the fall for it too.

"More like reckless," Jezra clarified with a sigh. "Jedex was a daredevil, always doing extreme things, and it ended up killing him. I'm not like him, but I do find myself doing activities I normally wouldn't consider. Rock climbing, for example."

Kasper realized he'd put his foot in it and toned down his enthusiasm, "I'm sorry to hear that. Jedex sounded like a good guy, but I think rock climbing is a pretty good sport to get into, even if it's done on the holodecks where you can't hurt yourself too badly."

"It's grown on me," she admitted. Just ahead, the telltale double doors hinted at their destination. "As long as I'm tethered to something. Free climbing? Nope, nope, nope."

"Come on, not one free climbing session with every single safety feature on?" Kasper laughed.

Jezra visibly shuddered as the two entered Engineering, taking a look around. Ahead of them was the towering blue warp core, quietly humming away, and a couple of engineers were moving about, some working on stuff and others seemingly waiting for something to happen. "I assure you that I'll only make it up a couple of meters," she chuckled.

"Are you sure?" Kasper questioned as he looked at Jezra, "I promise I'd spot you and make sure nothing happened?" He'd never been in the Engineering section of a ship before, not even when Gunnar had showed him around the California. Engineers were built differently, and it made Kasper prefer medicine any day of the week.

A small chuckle came from Jezra. "Alright, fine, but only once," she conceded.

"Ha! I knew I'd win!" Kasper laughed out loud with a massive grin, "You won't regret it, I guarantee it. On a different note though, we're now in Engineering. It's definitely a bit different to being upstairs in Medical. I'm not even sure I'd know the first thing about what goes on down here." He admitted.

The Trill didn't know much about engineering, but they had yet to be turned away from a tour when they simply asked. It was as good of a time as any, since they were docked. "Well, why don't we ask for a tour, then?" Jezra suggested, giving him a smile.

"Sounds like a plan. We should go and find Commander Winters, he should be able to give us an in-depth tour," Kasper smiled back. He liked Jezra and figured they would become friends sooner rather than later. The two of them continued their own little tour and eventually found someone from Engineering to give them a bit of a better tour.


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Lieutenant JG Jezra Siv, M.D
Chief Medical Officer
USS Astrea

Lieutenant JG Kasper Andersen, M.D
Medical Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC - Eirly)

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