Mission 9: Tears of Procopius

[USS Phoenix - Bridge]

Commanding Officer's log, stardate 47634.44.  We are en route to the uninhabited sector on the edge of NGC-434, the Horatius System.  Recent stellar phenomena have uncovered three planetoids that, until now, remained unknown.  Nicknamed Huey, Dewey, and Louie by some droll astronomer, it is now the purview of the Phoenix to study some very anomalous readings emanating from Enyo III...or "Louie".

There were many places that a person could find relaxation.  Some found it in the soothing sounds of a tropical rain forest, or the particle-infused air of a Bajoran salt cave.  Others found it with a lover on one arm and a drink in the other hand on Risa.  Still, Admiral Stark thought that, if Starfleet commanding officers were honest with themselves...they knew where solace could be found.  It was found in the soft, ambient hum of a starship.  In the small little blips and blerps of LCARS panels being worked.  The soft murmur of conversations, both professional and personal, that floated around the rotunda.

The bridge of a starship.

Corman Stark had come aboard the USS Phoenix for the purpose of scouting potential candidates for the vacant XO position.  He knew the short list that Command had for the title, but a little experiential exploration was never to be discounted.  Of course, it had all put Captain T'Koris in the exceedingly awkward position of being symbolically defrocked on her own ship, but...well, he was a flag officer.  And the commander of a ship was a 'captain', no matter their real rank.

"Helm, give me an ETA to that star.  Bridge to Engineering," Stark commanded, calling up the inter-ship communications.  "We will be approaching an area of recent stellar craziness.  I want the shielding and deflectors working at peak efficiency.  Bridge out."

Corman Stark wrote:

"Helm, give me an ETA to that star.  Bridge to Engineering," Stark commanded, calling up the inter-ship communications.  "We will be approaching an area of recent stellar craziness.  I want the shielding and deflectors working at peak efficiency.  Bridge out."

[Bridge]

Persephone sat, somewhat uneasily, at the helm station. It wasn't obvious from her general demeanour, but the repetitive twitching of her tail belied that. Jiseth being banned from taking the helm of any ship or shuttle for the time being had thrown the flight department in to a disarray. The young Caitian, having only just come on board at the time of the incident, was perhaps the most confused of all and unsure of herself.

Sitting up a little straighter, a glance at the console told her exactly what the Admiral in the centre seat wanted to know.

"We'rrrre five minutes frrrrom the most outlying planet of the system," she reported. "Twenty minutes to Enyo Thrrrrrree."

[Shuttlebay - upper gondola]

There he was, The Night Owl, perched upon the highest branch of the tallest tree. The majestic and all-seeing, all-knowing, gazed out into the vast starlight. Mother bird had left the nest. It was his time to soar. Smooth feathers, sharp talons and sharper wits. Slowly he unfurls his wings and-

"Nice very, huh?"

Sheerhan's head popped up slightly as he was jostled from his daydream. Quickly he looked over and his eyes slightly widened at the closeness Jiseth had achieved without being heard.

"Have you lost complete touch with your senses? You can't be here!"

"I'm not allowed on the hangar floor. This is well above that."

"Oh! Great! You've already found another loophole, another damn way to piss off command... For what? What did you gain out of this? What do you want from even being here except to-"

"Don't forget who's pack-"

"-Shut up! You are no longer leader of the Wolves! You let us down will that tripe on the Gannius and they took you away. You have no authority here anymore nor are you Alpha and they could still discharge you at any time. Imprison even! In fact, I'm pretty sure I outrank you now, so tell me what the hell it is you want before I have security escort you out!"

For a moment Jiseth eyed him in silence. There was a baleful stillness to her before she finally shifted and fully faced him.

"Absolution."

Quarters

Kaitlin sat on her bed in the Pheonix, she had recovered since the 'incident' and felt a lot better now. While she was absent on the Starbase, Jiseth had managed to get court martialed and ever since the whole of flight control had been in dissarray. Kaitlin didn't know who the CFCO was anymore and she didn't know when her shift was anymore either.

Kaitlin hadn't got to know Jiseth since she joined up so she thought it would be nice to get to know her. She slapped her combadge then begun to speak. =/\="Dexter to Jiseth, would you like to meet in the mess hall? I haven't got to know you since I joined and its be nice to get to know you."=/\=

With that Kaitlin set off for the mess hall, hoping that Jiseth would maybe reply.

[Jiseth]

Kaitlin Dexter wrote:

Quarters

Kaitlin hadn't got to know Jiseth since she joined up so she thought it would be nice to get to know her. She slapped her combadge then begun to speak. =/\="Dexter to Jiseth, would you like to meet in the mess hall? I haven't got to know you since I joined and its be nice to get to know you."=/\=

With that Kaitlin set off for the mess hall, hoping that Jiseth would maybe reply.

[Shuttlebay - upper gondola]

Sheerhan was considered for a long while, seeing if he was actually enthused enough by her leadership to offer a helping hand when she was down. He was about to speak when the voice came through the commbadge and all composure was gone. He turned away and grabbed the hand rail as his chest and shoulders convulsed with laughter much to the ire of Jiseth. This made it only funnier on top of the myriad of times she rapidly told him to have intercourse with himself before she briskly went toward the exit.


[Corridor]

With a deep breath, the Romulan cleared her throat and hoped Night Owl would still assist her after he was done cackling like a hyena.

=/\=Jiseth to Dexter... See you there shortly. =/\=

[Sickbay]

Lieutenant Junior Grade. The promotion had come out of nowhere, but Kintiss could only assume that this meant he was on the right path. He didn't spend much time celebrating, but instead getting to work on a few lingering medical appointments, catching up with physicals and doing other menial tasks.

Although, he was beginning to regret not celebrating more.

Most of the work he'd been doing had kept him up late, and occasionally missing his assigned lunch hour with the rest of the carnivores on the crew. Try as he might, a doctor couldn't live on Raktajinos alone.

Jiseth wrote:

[Shuttlebay - upper gondola]

Sheerhan was considered for a long while, seeing if he was actually enthused enough by her leadership to offer a helping hand when she was down. He was about to speak when the voice came through the commbadge and all composure was gone. He turned away and grabbed the hand rail as his chest and shoulders convulsed with laughter much to the ire of Jiseth. This made it only funnier on top of the myriad of times she rapidly told him to have intercourse with himself before she briskly went toward the exit.


[Corridor]

With a deep breath, the Romulan cleared her throat and hoped Night Owl would still assist her after he was done cackling like a hyena.

=/\=Jiseth to Dexter... See you there shortly. =/\=

Kaitlin's face lit up when she got the reply, instead from Ilana, she hasn't got any friends on the ship and Ilana is posted at Starbase Athena. She wanted to talk to someone and actually socialise with people.

Mess Hall

Kaitlin arrived at the mess hall excited but nervous too, she ordered a coffee from the bar then sat down at one of the tables and waite for Jiseth to arrive.

Persephone M'Rai wrote:

Persephone sat, somewhat uneasily, at the helm station.  It wasn't obvious from her general demeanour, but the repetitive twitching of her tail belied that.  Jiseth being banned from taking the helm of any ship or shuttle for the time being had thrown the flight department in to a disarray.  The young Caitian, having only just come on board at the time of the incident, was perhaps the most confused of all and unsure of herself.

Sitting up a little straighter, a glance at the console told her exactly what the Admiral in the centre seat wanted to know.

"We'rrrre five minutes frrrrom the most outlying planet of the system," she reported.  "Twenty minutes to Enyo Thrrrrrree."

[Bridge]

Nodding, Stark stood up from the center chair, trying not to feel like he had to hold his breath every time M'Rai rolled her words. "Sounds good, Miss M'Rai. Notify me when we're five minutes out of the third planet." He turned toward the side of the bridge, heading that way. "You have the bridge, T'Koris. Coordinate with Commander Rellek, see if you can get a full survey of the local space. I want to know what we're flying in to."

The Romulan girl had been almost sullenly quiet for a while, now. To her credit, though, T'Koris hadn't allowed her opinion of him (whatever it was) to affect her judgment or execution of her duty. And, really, that was all that mattered.

=^="Stark to Warden. Counselor, I need you to come to the ready room as soon as you can,=^= he said, entering said room. In the name of diplomacy, he'd called it 'the' ready room and not 'my' ready room, in front of Archangel. This next bit made him wish that he could foist it off on his XO...but a captain was responsible for every member of their crew.

Kintiss wrote:

[Sickbay]

Lieutenant Junior Grade. The promotion had come out of nowhere, but Kintiss could only assume that this meant he was on the right path. He didn't spend much time celebrating, but instead getting to work on a few lingering medical appointments, catching up with physicals and doing other menial tasks.

Although, he was beginning to regret not celebrating more.

Most of the work he'd been doing had kept him up late, and occasionally missing his assigned lunch hour with the rest of the carnivores on the crew. Try as he might, a doctor couldn't live on Raktajinos alone.

[Sickbay]

It was well known that doctors made the worst of patients, and Zero Alpha was no exception to that rule.  Despite the fact that she generally healed a little faster than most humans, it was still taking her a while to heal up from the number that the Romulans had done on her during the short time she had spent under their care.

Sitting up on the biobed, she swung her legs over the side and dropped onto her feet.  Her movements were stiff and awkward, testament to the reconstructive surgeries she had undergone.  She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep the shivers and trembling that had been her lot since her return.  Barefoot, she left the little room off the main sickbay, creeping into the main department and looking around for anyone.  It was surprising, how a little time with the Tal Shiar could make even the anti-social young officer want the company of any individual so as to ensure that she was still in reality and not in a dream.

"Kintiss?"

Zero Alpha wrote:

It was well known that doctors made the worst of patients, and Zero Alpha was no exception to that rule.  Despite the fact that she generally healed a little faster than most humans, it was still taking her a while to heal up from the number that the Romulans had done on her during the short time she had spent under their care.

Sitting up on the biobed, she swung her legs over the side and dropped onto her feet.  Her movements were stiff and awkward, testament to the reconstructive surgeries she had undergone.  She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep the shivers and trembling that had been her lot since her return.  Barefoot, she left the little room off the main sickbay, creeping into the main department and looking around for anyone.  It was surprising, how a little time with the Tal Shiar could make even the anti-social young officer want the company of any individual so as to ensure that she was still in reality and not in a dream.

"Kintiss?"

"Alpha," Kintiss replied as he sent another crewman on their way. He cast a quick glance over at the officer with whom he now shared equal rank with. There was no point in just calling her "Lieutenant" as he would have done when he was an Ensign. They'd spent a fair bit of time together, and he'd been working himself silly on her reconstructive surgeries with the rest of the medical staff. She'd been their priority patient. Whatever the Romulans had done to her, it was enough to send a lesser doctor round the twist.

Here she was now, up and walking. He was impressed at her rate of physical recovery. It almost seemed unnatural, but a quick glance over her medical files had assuaged his disbelief.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked. "Any worsssse?"

Kintiss wrote:

"Alpha," Kintiss replied as he sent another crewman on their way. He cast a quick glance over at the officer with whom he now shared equal rank with. There was no point in just calling her "Lieutenant" as he would have done when he was an Ensign. They'd spent a fair bit of time together, and he'd been working himself silly on her reconstructive surgeries with the rest of the medical staff. She'd been their priority patient. Whatever the Romulans had done to her, it was enough to send a lesser doctor round the twist.

Here she was now, up and walking. He was impressed at her rate of physical recovery. It almost seemed unnatural, but a quick glance over her medical files had assuaged his disbelief.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked. "Any worsssse?"

[Sickbay]

The Selay was a far more familiar sight to Zero now than he had been before, even though they had worked for a while in the same department. He had worked hard alongside the other medics to piece her back together and, despite it not really being in her nature, she was grateful to him for his efforts. Expressing that gratitude, on the other hand, could take some time.

"Some things are better, some worse," she replied, knowing that there was no point in lying to another medical professional in certain matters. It only lead to treatment being delayed or, in some of the worst cases, false.

Kaitlin Dexter wrote:

Kaitlin arrived at the mess hall excited but nervous too, she ordered a coffee from the bar then sat down at one of the tables and wait for Jiseth to arrive.

[Mess Hall]

The briefing on the Athena where Jiseth had first encountered Dexter was rather uncomfortable. She would have pulled her wings personally, but currently was in no power to do so. Here she was then, about to get to know her. Perhaps she would change her mind by the end of it. Maybe.

Moving straight for the replicator, she grabbed herself a large cup of green tea before sitting at the table.

"Crewman... I'm Jiseth."

Corman Stark wrote:

[Bridge]

=^="Stark to Warden.  Counselor, I need you to come to the ready room as soon as you can,=^= he said, entering said room.  In the name of diplomacy, he'd called it 'the' ready room and not 'my' ready room, in front of Archangel.  This next bit made him wish that he could foist it off on his XO...but a captain was responsible for every member of their crew.

The last few months had been a damnable cluster of different problems and issues for the Phoenix. George had simply had the misfortune of dealing with the aftermath. Somehow, it wasn't as easy as his academy courses had made it out to be, but he was already glad that this wasn't his first assignment and he knew a little bit of what to do.

Still, that didn't mean there weren't cases that still left him scratching his head and wondering what the devil he was supposed to do. Some people's heads were just too knotted to clean out in a day.

When the call came in to his combadge, he was entrenched in organizing the various notes he'd pulled from sessions. It was going to take a week to slog through I all. Still, the distraction was welcome. George pulled himself out of his chair and walked out of the office.

On the turbolift ride to the bridge, he wondered what the call up was nfor. Probably a patient matter.

The chime was pressed unceremoniously. Best not dwaddle.

Zero Alpha wrote:

The Selay was a far more familiar sight to Zero now than he had been before, even though they had worked for a while in the same department.  He had worked hard alongside the other medics to piece her back together and, despite it not really being in her nature, she was grateful to him for his efforts.  Expressing that gratitude, on the other hand, could take some time.

"Some things are better, some worse," she replied, knowing that there was no point in lying to another medical professional in certain matters.  It only lead to treatment being delayed or, in some of the worst cases, false.  

[Sickbay]

"I can imagine." Kintiss didn't think he would have survived what she'd been through. Selay didn't really react well to scalpels. At least she was healing, and that was all the encouragement he needed, professionally speaking.

He started to feel drowsy. An unfortunate consequence of staying up too late. More Raktajino was needed. As he picked up a newly-materialised cup from the replicator, he turned back to Zero. "Asss long asss you're getting enough sssleep, you'll be back up in no time."

Kintiss wrote:

"I can imagine." Kintiss didn't think he would have survived what she'd been through. Selay didn't really react well to scalpels. At least she was healing, and that was all the encouragement he needed, professionally speaking.

He started to feel drowsy. An unfortunate consequence of staying up too late. More Raktajino was needed. As he picked up a newly-materialised cup from the replicator, he turned back to Zero. "Asss long asss you're getting enough sssleep, you'll be back up in no time."

[Sickbay]

Clenching her trembling hands in the sleeves of her sickbay-issue gown, Zero looked away slightly from the Selay as she nodded. Some scars were easy to heal, especially with the Federation's medical technology, but there were others, unseen, that would take far longer to fade.

As long as she got enough sleep, she would be back to normal. It was a nice sentiment. It may even have been a true one, but the fact was that she barely slept. The nightmares kept her from sleeping more than an hour or two at a time. More often than not, she woke up screaming.

She noted out of the corner of her eye the Raktajino that Kintiss had opted for and raised a pale eyebrow, glad to be able to turn the attention away from her injuries and onto her fellow medic.

"Perhaps you should listen to your own advice, Kintiss," she pointed out. "Caffeine can only sustain one's body for a limited amount of time."

Jiseth wrote:

[Mess Hall]

The briefing on the Athena where Jiseth had first encountered Dexter was rather uncomfortable. She would have pulled her wings personally, but currently was in no power to do so. Here she was then, about to get to know her. Perhaps she would change her mind by the end of it. Maybe.

Moving straight for the replicator, she grabbed herself a large cup of green tea before sitting at the table.

"Crewman... I'm Jiseth."

"Kaitlin Dexter!" Kaitlin said, positive energy quickly building up inside her. she was having a good day today and was slowly getting used to ship life. She had her left hand attached to the coffee next to her and she took a sip from the cup.

"Look I need to clear things up now... i'm sorry about the 'incident' in the briefing room, I don't know what it was but it hasn't happened since which is a good sign i'm sure! Anyway... Tell me about yourself!" She said, smiling at Jiseth and taking a sip of the coffee.

Zero Alpha wrote:

Clenching her trembling hands in the sleeves of her sickbay-issue gown, Zero looked away slightly from the Selay as she nodded.  Some scars were easy to heal, especially with the Federation's medical technology, but there were others, unseen, that would take far longer to fade.

As long as she got enough sleep, she would be back to normal.  It was a nice sentiment.  It may even have been a true one, but the fact was that she barely slept.  The nightmares kept her from sleeping more than an hour or two at a time.  More often than not, she woke up screaming.  

She noted out of the corner of her eye the Raktajino that Kintiss had opted for and raised a pale eyebrow, glad to be able to turn the attention away from her injuries and onto her fellow medic.

"Perhaps you should listen to your own advice, Kintiss," she pointed out.  "Caffeine can only sustain one's body for a limited amount of time."

[Sickbay]

"You may be right on that count," Kintiss said between gulps of cold sweetened Klingon coffee. One of these days, he needed to start taking it decaf. "Sssstill, without it, I don't think I'd have been assss sssussstained asss I wasss during your sssurgeriesss." It was a poor excuse, but he didn't have much time off with which to catch up on sleep. This would have to do.

His mind still on the Raktajino, another question for her popped into his head. "Do you feel well enough to eat?" He meant proper food, of course. If she was walking, eating was the next step in her recovery.

Kintiss wrote:

"You may be right on that count," Kintiss said between gulps of cold sweetened Klingon coffee. One of these days, he needed to start taking it decaf. "Sssstill, without it, I don't think I'd have been assss sssussstained asss I wasss during your sssurgeriesss." It was a poor excuse, but he didn't have much time off with which to catch up on sleep. This would have to do.

His mind still on the Raktajino, another question for her popped into his head. "Do you feel well enough to eat?" He meant proper food, of course. If she was walking, eating was the next step in her recovery.

[Sickbay]

A light touch of pink coloured Zero's cheeks as the Selay pointed out that he wouldn't have made it through er surgeries if it hadn't been for caffeine. She was aware of the fact that she had been under the laser scalpel for many, many hours, but she obviously hadn't been awake for it. She wrapped her arms further around her thin frame, hoping to ward off a little of the chill in sickbay.

The mention of food got her attention and she quickly shook her head. Even before the Romulans, she hadn't particularly been interested in food, preferring to survive on carefully programmed nutritional supplements. But now? Even the thought of ingesting so much as a mouthful was turning her stomach.

"No, I am not ready to ingest any sustenance," she murmured.

Zero Alpha wrote:

A light touch of pink coloured Zero's cheeks as the Selay pointed out that he wouldn't have made it through er surgeries if it hadn't been for caffeine.  She was aware of the fact that she had been under the laser scalpel for many, many hours, but she obviously hadn't been awake for it.  She wrapped her arms further around her thin frame, hoping to ward off a little of the chill in sickbay.

The mention of food got her attention and she quickly shook her head.  Even before the Romulans, she hadn't particularly been interested in food, preferring to survive on carefully programmed nutritional supplements.  But now?  Even the thought of ingesting so much as a mouthful was turning her stomach.

"No, I am not ready to ingest any sustenance," she murmured.

[Sickbay]

It didn't sound like she was quite there yet. With surgeries this intense, it was best to take things slowly so that the patient had as much time to recover as they needed. A little tug at the back of Kintiss' head had him suspect that Alpha wouldn't take as long as others to get back to her original physical health.

Watching her hold herself, he realised that it was fairly cold in sickbay. Strange, considering he'd switched the environmental settings to a warmer temperature, one that complemented his own cold blood.

"Computer," he said aloud, "raissse ambient temperature in sssickbay. Pressset: Ssselay 1." He felt vigour flood his body as the temperature rose to a point where it was comfortable for both of them, more or less.

Kintiss wrote:

It didn't sound like she was quite there yet. With surgeries this intense, it was best to take things slowly so that the patient had as much time to recover as they needed. A little tug at the back of Kintiss' head had him suspect that Alpha wouldn't take as long as others to get back to her original physical health.

Watching her hold herself, he realised that it was fairly cold in sickbay. Strange, considering he'd switched the environmental settings to a warmer temperature, one that complemented his own cold blood.

"Computer," he said aloud, "raissse ambient temperature in sssickbay, pressset: Ssselay 1." He felt vigour flood his body as the temperature rose to a point where it was comfortable for both of them, more or less.

[Sickbay]

The raised temperature did help Zero to relax a little, feeling far warmer than before. The lower temperature wouldn't have bothered her had she been in uniform, but a sickbay gown was far less covering than a standard uniform and had a tendency to be a little... breezy. However, despite the warmer air, her hands still trembled, although they would likely to continue to do so for a while until she addressed the psychological impact of her experiences.

"Is there any work I may assist you in?" she asked, feeling the need to do something, anything rather than sit with her own thoughts any longer.

George Warden wrote:

The last few months had been a damnable cluster of different problems and issues for the Phoenix. George had simply had the misfortune of dealing with the aftermath. Somehow, it wasn't as easy as his academy courses had made it out to be, but he was already glad that this wasn't his first assignment and he knew a little bit of what to do.

Still, that didn't mean there weren't cases that still left him scratching his head and wondering what the devil he was supposed to do. Some people's heads were just too knotted to clean out in a day.

When the call came in to his combadge, he was entrenched in organizing the various notes he'd pulled from sessions. It was going to take a week to slog through I all. Still, the distraction was welcome. George pulled himself out of his chair and walked out of the office.

On the turbolift ride to the bridge, he wondered what the call up was nfor. Probably a patient matter.

The chime was pressed unceremoniously. Best not dwaddle.

[Ready Room]

"Come," Stark said, nodding as the counselor entered the ready room. He mentally gave the young man a few extra points for promptness. Knowing this ship, Stark was surprised that the counselor hadn't been knee-deep in the brains of someone. Thinking about the ship's problems made him think of Jiseth, and by extension the weird little medical officer the Romulan was seeing. And had kidnapped. It was utterly mind-blowing. There was also more to Zero Alpha's story...and it was past time for him to start rattling some cages to get to the bottom of it.

But that was here, and this was there. "Mr. Warden, have a seat," Stark said, motioning to the chair beside the desk. Corman liked to have two chairs - one beside the desk, for casual talks, and one across the desk, for when someone had stepped in shit. Fortunately, this conversation was the former. "If you'd like anything, there's a replicator."

He steepled his fingers, giving Warden a considering look. "Miss Dexter," he said, getting to the point at hand, "give me your opinion on her. Is she mentally prepared to serve as an effective member of this crew, counselor?"

Zero Alpha wrote:

The raised temperature did help Zero to relax a little, feeling far warmer than before.  The lower temperature wouldn't have bothered her had she been in uniform, but a sickbay gown was far less covering than a standard uniform and had a tendency to be a little... breezy.  However, despite the warmer air, her hands still trembled, although they would likely to continue to do so for a while until she addressed the psychological impact of her experiences.

"Is there any work I may assist you in?" she asked, feeling the need to do something, anything rather than sit with her own thoughts any longer.

[Sickbay]

Why did she have to ask him that? He was under strict orders to not let her undertake any physically strenuous activity, and most of what he had to do, or rather, what he'd been putting off, was easily considered physically strenuous. Although, he did have a few menial tasks that needed doing. They weren't particularly strenuous on the body, though Kintiss thought they turned his brain into mush.

"If you're up to it, you can help me sssort thessse recordsss of crew physssicalssss," he replied, handing her a PADD. "I'm a little behind on thisss, ssso I'd appreciate the help."

Kintiss wrote:

Why did she have to ask him that? He was under strict orders to not let her undertake any physically strenuous activity, and most of what he had to do, or rather, what he'd been putting off, was easily considered physically strenuous. Although, he did have a few menial tasks that needed doing. They weren't particularly strenuous on the body, though Kintiss thought they turned his brain into mush.

"If you're up to it, you can help me sssort thessse recordsss of crew physssicalssss," he replied, handing her a PADD. "I'm a little behind on thisss, ssso I'd appreciate the help."

[Sickbay]

Records of crew physicals were well known to be one of the least desirable job that could be given to any medical personnel, but Zero was happy to jump on the task. The dry, brain-numbing triage of information was exactly what she needed to keep her from continually going over what had happened over the last few weeks.

"Thank you," she said, taking the PADD. "I will have this task completed promptly!" PADD in hand, she took a seat on one of the unoccupied biobeds and started to go through the crew manifest, separating the individuals into three categories: those up to date with their physicals, those due or close to being due, and those who were overdue.

Zero Alpha wrote:

Records of crew physicals were well known to be one of the least desirable job that could be given to any medical personnel, but Zero was happy to jump on the task.  The dry, brain-numbing triage of information was exactly what she needed to keep her from continually going over what had happened over the last few weeks.

"Thank you," she said, taking the PADD.  "I will have this task completed promptly!"  PADD in hand, she took a seat on one of the unoccupied biobeds and started to go through the crew manifest, separating the individuals into three categories: those up to date with their physicals, those due or close to being due, and those who were overdue.

[Sickbay]

Never had Kintiss ever seen someone take so quickly and enthusiastically to what he considered busy-work. Either Alpha was really bored, or she was trying to take her mind off what the Tal Shiar put her through. Given what he knew about her, he assumed it was the latter.

Draining his cup of Raktajino, he set to work updating medical records of recently injured crewmen. Most of what he had to do was tedious, but, after recovering Alpha, he could use some tedium.

Kintiss wrote:

Never had Kintiss ever seen someone take so quickly and enthusiastically to what he considered busy-work. Either Alpha was really bored, or she was trying to take her mind off what the Tal Shiar put her through. Given what he knew about her, he assumed it was the latter.

Draining his cup of Raktajino, he set to work updating medical records of recently injured crewmen. Most of what he had to do was tedious, but, after recovering Alpha, he could use some tedium.

[Sickbay]

Although she was trying to immerse herself in the mindless busy work, Zero was finding it hard to lose herself in it. As soon as she heard the doors into sickbay swishing open, she would look up in fear, or if someone walked past her, she would flinch and hunch over as if expecting pain.

After fifteen minutes of trying and realising that she was getting nowhere, the PADD was slammed down onto the biobed next to her and she leaned forward, putting her head in her hands, making a valiant effort not to let herself cry in the middle of sickbay.