#122 Meeting the CMO

Posted on Fri Jan 6th, 2023 @ 11:18pm by Captain Sean Silk & Lieutenant Commander Kristian Long

Mission: BUGS OH NO!!
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: current

ON:

Captain Silk entered Sickbay, his daughter alongside him, her head on a swivel as she was taking in everything. The scents, the sites, and her ears and whisker-browse waving around as usual for extra sensory input. Leading his daughter over to a biobed Sean instructed her to climb up and have a seat. She hopped up ontot he bed in typical Puazi fashion, at first standing and looking around to get a better view from higher ground. As a species that had derived from a feline ancestry in their evolution, it made sense. Once that was accomplisghed she then sat down with her legs dangling over the side.

Nurse-Lieutenant Taylor Jones had seen the pair come in, seeing a smaller version of Nira, and at first actually thought it was her. But, thet could not be since Nira had already been in earlier for a quick check up physical, since Puazi physiology and niology was now on record in the archives. But, liking Doctor Silk as a friend Taylor decided to walk over, smiling as she approached as her eyes mainly focused on the child. "Doctor Silk, good to see you back. And, who might this be?"

Sean looked at the black woman, someone who had become a good friend while working together, and gave a prideful smile. "Good to see you too, Nurse Jones," he was being facetious with his response since she had called him by accolade, not his name. "This, Miss taylor, is my daughter Sera. I'm sure you can guess who her mom is."

"Maybe," teased Jones. "The ears might give it away." Both of them chuckled before Jones turned her attention to the young one. "Hello Sera, I'm Taylor Jones, a nurse here in Sickbay. Welcome aboard."


"Dahnku (thank you)," Sera responded, extending her hand to be shaken, which it was. "I like your skin, Very pretty."

Jones kept smiling and grinning, clamping her mouth to not retort in some mirthful way to the absolute bluntness of the statement. "Well, thank you. Yours is pretty, as well. You look like your mother, a woman I admire and enjoy talking to."

"I admire her, too." Said Sera. "And my dad. Are we friends now? Mom has lots of friends and I want lots of friends too."

Jones could not help but laugh this time. "You bet we are. I would be proud to call you a friend, like my friendship with your father."

"Whew," exclaimed Sera, doing a melodramatic swiping of her brow with the back of her hand as if wiping away sweat. "That's a relief. I thought I might have to bribe you with a banana."

"A banana?" Taylor looked at Silk with a bemused, mirthful expression.

Silk playfully rolled his eyes and had a knowing grin on his face as he looked at the nurse. "Don't get her started. It's a thing."

"Enough said," said Jones, seeing that breaching that topic could cost her a great amount of time with the child.

"Is Doctor Long here?" Asked Silk. "Little Miss Sera needs the once over for shipboard residency, and doing it myself may be seen as cheating."

While they spoke Sera hopped down and went to the replicator, creating a bushel of six bananas and then returned to remount the bed and sit down, the bananas protectively set against her right thigh for safe keeping. Silk thumbed at her as he looked at Taylor. "See what I mean? She had banana ice cream, the first item she ate on board, and fell madly in loove with the flavor. Now, it's a staple of her diet," he chuckled. "Ask Kris to come out, would you?"

"Will do," Jones replied, also chuckling at the banana thing. She went to the office and informed Doctor Long that Doctor Silk, and a guest, were waiting for her. Once done, she turned and gave a silly wave to Sera and then went back to work. Sera returned the wave and then pulled a banana free and began to open the peel, taking the first bite and chewing while waiting.

"If you eat too many of those you might turn into a banana," said Silk in a low tone to his child, smiling.

With mouth full of banana mush Sera responded. "Noh I ron't, Sirry (silly)." Then she laughed with her mouth closed and breathing through her nose, her own mush mouth response adding to her giddiness. Which, of course, caused Silk himself to laugh with/at her.

Kristian getting the message that Sean was in sick bay with his daughter, opened her desk drawer and pocketed a sucker and walked out into sick bay and over to where Silk was, "Hi Sean, and you must be Sera? I'm Doctor Long and my friends call me Kris."

Sera gave a hefty swallow to her mouthful of banana mush, then, as with everyone else, her hand shot out for a handshake. "Hi, Doctor Long. You are daddy's friend, so you can be mine, Kris." The Puazi child used her first name at the end since the Doctor had just said that her FRIENDS called her Kris.

Silk gave Long an askance, mirthful expression, and his hands came up in a shrug-like posture. "It's her way. She wants lots of friends, like mom and dad, even if she has only been aboard less than 24 hours. As you can see, she has studied Federation Standard quite well. Mom's doing."

Kristian took the little girl's hand "Yes your daddy and I are friends and that makes us friends too. You've learned the Federation language very well for one so young. I see you like bananas. I have a little surprise for you too," Kristian reached into the pocket of her lab coat and handed her a large sucker. "I give one of these to every good girl and boy when they come in for a checkup."

Taking the offered gift Sera held it before her eyes as the Doctor began to scan her, turning the sucker this way and that as she examined it. Removing the wrapper she then stuck it into her mouth, her eyes lighting up once her saliva began to cause the flavor to come out. She pulled it out. "It's yummy. Not banana flavor, but still sweet and good."

Silk giggled. "Sera, dear, there are many flavors out there just as good as banana. In time, you'll discover them. No need to rush."

The sucker had been returned to her mouth so instead of being rude and talking again with her mouth full, she simply nodded and "mmm hmm" came out.

Sean's face was starting to hurt from all the grinning and smiling he had been doing since Sera had appeared in his life. "Anything unusual, Kris? Nira would have come but she's still recalibrating the weapons in the caches around the ship."

"She's healthy and perfectly normal," Kristian said closing her tri-corder and pocketing it again as she pulled out a small flashlight with a soft light as not to harm Sera's eyes or frighten her as she flicked it quickly in each eye and then both ears again done so quickly the child hardly noticed. "She check out fine. She's a cutie that's for sure."

Sera popped the sucker from her mouth as Kris looked in her eyes with the light. "My eyes glow already. Are putting in more?"

It was so hard for Sean to keep a straight face, and he crossed his arms over his chest and used one hand to try and hide the grin there, and to help keep his mouth closed as he wanted to laugh. Deciding to let Kris answer he stayed clammed up.

"Oh I thought I'd add some sparkle to your pretty eyes, think it worked?" Kristian asked picking up a mirror and handing it to her. "Think I made them sparkle more?" she asked winking at Sean.

Taking the mirror Sera scrutinized her eyes in it, moving the mirror angle this way and that. "I canna tell. Dad? Is there more sparkle?" She looked at him and opened her eyes really wide which caused Silk to lose it and give a hearty laugh. Recovering enough to speak, the rest of Sickbay all smiling at the entertainment and laughter, Sean gave Sera a hug. "It did, little one." He laughed again and gave her another hug before stepping back.

Sera smiled, happy to have more sparkle, whatever that was, and happy to have made her dad laugh. "Dahnku, Kris. I will have to show mother my new sparkle." She kept looking in the mirror which gave the adults a moment to speak.

"You're awesome, Kris. Thanks for that. It seems to have made her day, and it certainly made mine." He was still chuckling at all of it.

"I'm glad, she's a good kid, very smart for her age. She's eager to learn and that's a good thing. In fact I have something to show her, I brought a few more back from Amzock. I'll be right back," Kristian went to her office and returned carrying a small living glass plant and set it on the bio bed next to her, Tapping a couple of leaves the plant made soft tinkling sounds. "This Sera is a wind chime plant and native only to my home planet, gently touch the leaves."

Looking at the plant Sera reached out and tapped a frond, hearing the tinkle sound of crystals touching one another. Her ears turned this way and that at the sound so she did it again, liking the gentle sound coming from the strange plant. "It is pretty."

Silk liked seeing the plant, too. Even with his disposition towards soldiering Sean did appreciate the natural wonders of the galaxy and their beauty. "According to Nira, she will grow at an accelerated rate. How accelerated, she didn't say. So, I can only surmise that her brain works the same way since she does have genetic memory, according to her mother. What Nira knows-knew, so does Sera. Probably the reason for her grasp of our language and the ability to use slang so easily compared to others." Silk wanted to make sure Long had as much information as he could provide. "It will just take time for the meat of her mind to come forth as she matures."

Kristian nodded "Good to know and with you and Nira teaching her she'll learn faster too. Sera would you like to do me a favor? would you like to take care of this plant for me? Just give it a little water once a week." Looking at Sean "Even the slightest movement of air makes them tinkle and the bigger they get the more sounds they make and it will one day produce colorful flowers."

Sera's eyes went wide with surprise when Kris offered that. "Really? I like the harmonics, they are pleasing to my ears. Are you sure it be okay? I don't want you to miss it and be sad."

"A natural wind chime," said Silk, nodding his appreciation of it.

"Well if I should miss it I know where to come to visit it," Kristian said gently poking her nose. "So will you take care of it for me?"

"Yes!" Came the excited response, which led to Sera hopping down with her bananas in hand, taking them to the refuse chute and dropping them inside. Returning, and preferring to stand with the adults, she got in next to the bed and continued to make the fronds give forth their audio delight.

"Well, you've made a friend, Doc." Silk was proud of his daughter for being unafraid, which seemed a trait she held close to the chest. She did not seem to fear anything. That could be a blessing and a curse. "Thanks for the gift. Now, we see if she can be disciplined enough to remember it and take care of it."

"They're pretty hardy so don't worry," Kristian said "And your welcome, between the three of us we brought back over 20 all together. The Palace gardens are full of them and several are hanging in the Palace too. We love them."

"Kris?" Sera looked back and up at her new friend. "Can we plant some in the arboretum? I am Puazi and like outside things. People will like them."

Silk was impressed at the thought. "I like the idea. It will give her a project to keep her busy."

"I think that can be arranged, like I said the three of us brought back over 20," Kristian replied "Not to mention the ones we already have."

"Dad, I'm going to take this home and show momma." Without waiting for an answer Sera took up her new glass plant and headed for the exit.

Silk did not stop her. After all, it was a starship and not like she could get lost on some lonely street. Plus, she knew better than to wander into dangerous areas. "Like mother, like daughter. She gets an idea in her head and she just goes with it." As his daughter disappeared out the door Sean switched topics. "Also, just so you know, there is a complete medical report from the USS Euphrates to you. We ran into a species known as the Tuuran, who were suffering from an unknown illness. When we arrived and tried to help my research uncovered that it was genetic. A process of evolution. Since they did not have warp technology, but knew of it, then we were justified in trying to help. But, the hardest thing I have ever done was to lie to them and tell them I had found no cure. Another species on their planet, the Kuudae, were evolving to become the dominant species on the planet. If I had cured the Tuuran then that evolution would not happen. I had no choice. Ethically, I could not alter destiny." His eyes showed how much it had bothered him to do so but, as always, he recovered quickly. "It is all in the report, Kris."

"I saw it come in but haven't had time to read it. But it sounds like you made the right call," Kristian said "My mentor told me once that there are some things you just cannot cure and that you can't save everyone. I don't like it as I took the same oath you did to save lives but this does happen from time to time."

"It can suck, at times." Having got that off his chest, and glad she had known about the report at least, Silk gave her a nod and his grin returned. "Anyway, I better go find my lavender princess before she decides to plant THAT one in the arboretum." He chuckled. "I'll see you later, Doctor. Have a good evening." He shook her hand before he turned and followed his daughter's path out the door.

OFF: