Starting at the beginning

Posted on 31 Dec 2023 @ 6:36pm by Captain Jasmine Somers FCapt & Lieutenant Commander Samantha Smithson SB51 & 2nd Lieutenant Melody Hawthorne

2,344 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: General Sim Postings
Location: SB51/Various
Timeline: A Week before the Tomcats return

[ON]

Melody didn't so much walk but seemed to glide like a dancer through the corridor. She left behind a shuttle of happy smiling people. Her cargo was being sent to the barracks and she'd catch up with it after reporting in. Today was a good day. Then again to Melody, there was nothing yet that had qualified as a bad day. Her general outlook made bad days practically impossible. Sure there were hard days, stressful days, and long days. But any day that you could survive was in her opinion a good day. So far she was still alive and breathing, so the day was good. She had to fight the urge to whistle or sing as she made her way through Starbase 51 to meet Lt. Commander Smithson. She had to fight another urge as she walked along, the urge to stop and look around and explore. Her eyes kept darting excitedly from one thing to another drinking in the route. Trying to soak it in as she passed by. There would be time enough later. Right now duty called and duty came first.

Lieutenant Commander Smithson was just about to go on break when she saw a Second Lieutenant enter her office, she looked at her to-do list and there was currently no one slated for a security briefing, this officer looked happy and Sam realized she must be new to these part "Oh to be innocent!" she said quietly to herself and smiled as she signalled the Lieutenant to enter.

"So Lieutenant, to what do I owe this honour?" she began.

"I'm checking in. I am assigned to the Tomcat." Melody stated with no lack of pride in her tone. "I didn't see her at the docking bay. Do you know when she's slated to arrive?". She asked curiously.

"Please be seated Lieutenant" Sam said indicating the chair in front of her desk as she sat "The Tomcat is due to return in about a week, but the ship's Commanding Officers is on this base I believe she is no longer in Medical," Sam said and tapped her Commbadge =/\= Smithson to Captain Somers, can you please come to my Office I have a new Rifle Officer for you to meet? =/\= Sam asked.

Jasmine was freshening up in her Quarters when her Commbadge sounded, she walked over with her walking stick to it and activated it =/\= Understood Commander will be there shortly, Somers out =/\= she replied, Jasmine did not need the cane all the time, the fact that she was still using it so much said more to her mindset than it did for the need to use it.

Hawthorne waited patiently having taken the offered seat she fought the urge to explore the room and ask the millions of questions that came with hearing the CO had been in medical. There could be countless reasons and none of them were her business until it was made to be so. Still, it was difficult not to whistle or hum as they waited. She had a feeling that might make her appear to be something less than professional.

Some time later with her cane the Captain entered the Security Office and walked straight into the Chief's office "Hi Sam, what is it?" She asked sitting down in the chair next to the unfamiliar officer and looking at Smithson expectantly.

"This is Second Lieutenant Melody Hawthorne posted to the Tomcat as the ship's Marine Medic, with Lilliana Hawksley due to give birth, she will be stuck on the ship for six weeks and will be unable to go on away missions, so Fleet Captain Jasmine Somers meed Lieutenant Melody Hawthorne" Smithson said by way of introduction.

Jasmine looked at the officer and held out her hand "Hello lieutenant and welcome to the Mira Sector" Somers said.

"Honor to meet you, Captain Somers. I'm looking forward to my time in service to the ninety-fifth and the Tomcat." Melody stated trying to keep her excitement reigned in as she took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake.

Jasmine looked at her "You will for the moment be acting Deputy Chief Medical Officer, I do not care you are a Rifle Officer, on the Tomcat I go by qualifications and abilities, not departments, I know it is a lot to adjust when you are new, but there you have it, you will have time to catch up on patient files after the Tomcat has returned as the ship is going to be retrofitted and upgraded, the next mission you will be doing will be on a newly assigned ship that should be arriving soon, so any questions?" Somers asked.

Samantha was surprised by the sudden appointment to ADCMO for a new officer, she could only wonder how the young officer was taking this news.

Melody was caught off guard for a moment. She'd never anticipated such an honour. She thought she'd have to serve on a few duty stations first. It took a great deal of effort not to squeal in girlish delight at the news. Then there was the added news about the Tomcat. Any questions? She had a million questions about the retrofit and especially about the upgrades. But those did not pertain to the job at hand. So she'd simply look into it later should time allow. She was here to serve medical not in engineering. So far everything seemed pretty straightforward. However, one question did itch in her mind a little. However, it seemed intrusive and unprofessional to ask. That was why was she being promoted so unexpectedly. It didn't matter why, just that it was necessary. "No ma'am, I believe you have been clear with everything. I thank you for this opportunity and plan to serve you to the best of my abilities until I die or you find someone better for the job." Still, it was hard to stay in her seat. She was giddy with excitement and could hardly wait to call up her friends and professors and tell them about the promotion. Even if it was temporary it was a sign of good faith.

Jasmine shared a look and smile with Smithson both could tell the young officer was excited "Lieutenant Hawthorne, you have my permission to jump up and down like a giddy school girl, get it out of your system, computer darken the Security Chief's windows, okay Lieutenant have at it" Jasmine said as she stood up and walked over to the replicator as the windows darkened she shared another smile with the Security Chief.

Melody wasn't sure if they were serious but decided to take them up on the offer. She bounced up and practically crushed Somers in a hug with a series of enthusiastic 'Thank yous' singing the two words as she bounced around and grabbed up Smithson next to hug and all but dance around with before finally reining it all back in. She wished she had her guitar this was truly a celebratory moment. Worthy of song, dance, and drink. "I can't wait to call the school! They are going to be so happy. So proud. Thank you for this opportunity. Truly thank you so much."

"You are welcome, now with your new position you will need to take on some of the CMO duties, Commander Cahill has not been herself of late, so there is a Lilliana Hawksley who is expecting a child, you will need to speak to her and give her a checkup, also I hear Lieutenant Arderne the ships Counsellor is 6 weeks pregnant, so you will need to keep an eye on her, I am sure there is much, much more for that you will have to find out yourself, now I know most new arrivals do not like asking questions, but I ask you to ask questions as knowledge is needed on the Tomcat," the Captain said when the girl had calmed down.

Melody put her game face back on. Taking mental notes about the pregnancies. I'm trying not to worry too much about what might happen with the CMO. Burn out maybe? Had there been a lot of recent deaths or something? There was little that shook medical professionals. Still, she had no problem with absorbing the extra workload. It was a great experience for the future. "Oh believe me I will have questions and I'll be doing a full workup on the crew to bring everything up to date. I'll start going over medical records as soon as I get access and start setting up appointments."

*Smiling* "For now all the Medical Records for the Tomcat will be made available to you, they may be a tad out of date as the ship has not connected with the Starbase of late due to its mission profile, but when it returns and has docked the ship will update any files on the Starbase, okay I will ask one final time are there any questions?" Somers asked looking at the young woman intently.

Melody thought about everything they had gone over. She knew that there should be questions that needed to be asked. So far though everything has been covered more than adequately. She was excited to start going over records and getting things organized. A question came to mind mind then. "Aside from the pregnancies is there anything thing else I should be making a priority? Any illnesses or recovering crew on the station currently?" Best to start with the ones she has access to.

"Well, you will find that my record will have the term PTSD on it, for the past few months I have been converlesing You see my file will say I was suffering from torture and physical abuse, I was questioned and beaten to such an extent that the guy that oversaw my interrogation became a prisoner and on the ship back to the Tomcat I was saw traumatised that I broke his neck and killed him outright, I got punished by High Command, I was slated for Admiralty but if I make Commodore that will be as high as I will ever go and that is in a nutshell.

Melody nodded, she took a moment to absorb the information. She was not a violent person herself. She had had to dance around the oath as a doctor to not harm. Mainly due to specialist training in interrogation methods. A private class was given to her upon her arrival on the USS-2615. A small ship that wasn't even listed on her records. She would have liked to say that she enjoyed her time there. Truthfully she had made the best of the situation. Always an optimist she did what she could to try and brighten that dark place up. It's why she could understand what led to why the Captain had broken the man's neck. Understand the nature of the PTSD she was suffering from. As though the PTSD wasn't punishment enough they had taken her future rank away. Sure some discipline was called for. Yet part of her felt that those suffering from such trauma should be given leniency. The urge to want to protect one's self or one's crew coupled with the conditioning from the torture of fear and anger. The man was lucky to get a swift death by a broken neck and not something worse. "You seeing a counsellor yes?" Melody asked. "Or are you utilizing coping skills? Have you been displaying any signs of depression?" She began. Then waved the question away. "Forgive me I shouldn't ask you anything like that until we are alone. It's private. No offense to you Lieutenant Commander Smithson."

*Smiling* "It is okay, I have had my last session with a Counsellor and have been given methods to cope should my PTSD flare up, as for depression, nope a hunky but shy Rifleman accompanied Lieutenant Falk when she came to visit, let's just say for a big buff guy he was very shy around me, if I had been on top form at the time he would have been putty in my hands," Jasmine said.

Smithson waved a dismissive hand "I have known the Somers family for some time, so what is said in this office stays here, but we do have to cut this short" Smithson said as an alert popped up on her screen "well would you look at that the Tomcat has started its docking and reports of a badly damaged Roosevelt are saying they are a light-year away, but I wanted you both to meet, now I must ask you both to depart" Smithson said/

Jasmine nodded and stood, "you will have plenty of time to get to know your new crew, Lieutenant, there will be an awards ceremony held in the station auditorium and a week or so, all must attend" Somers said with a smile and left the Office.

Looking at the departing Captain Samantha sighed and looked at Melody "Well El-tee you are effectively on shore leave until called, I suggest you secure a Starbase quarters for yourself, any questions, ask them now as it is about to get busy for?" Smithson asked.

"Once I get my quarters sorted I would like permission to begin looking over the records and getting a head start on things. I believe in being prepared. It will help when things get busy." Melody said. "She got up and saluted Somers respectfully. "It's an honor and privilege to serve with you. I swear I'll do my best for you and your crew "

With a final smile and nod, Samantha watched the Rifle Officer leave her office, now she had no more excuses she had to get back to work.

[OFF]

 

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