Poor First Impressions

Posted on Fri Jul 17th, 2015 @ 8:29am by Lieutenant JG Karina Sha’ha’zen & Lieutenant Commander Ethan Chaparral MD

Mission: The New Sydney Fiasco
Location: Sickbay

[ON]

Lieutenant (JG) Karina Sha'ha'zen walked the corridors on her way to sickbay with an unusual hop to her step. The Norway-class USS Valkyrie was a patrol boat compared to the much larger and versatile USS Hera, and she hadn't realized just how big it was until she reached deck eleven. After all, the Hera was as big as a city, with thirty decks and more than a thousand men and women serving aboard her.

Karina wondered aimlessly, curious as to how long it would take her to fully explore the entire ship. And then as she rounded a corner, she felt that 'hop' come to a resounding halt as something in her way had stopped her and prevented her from going any further. Raising her hands in defense, she closed her eyes and her freckles flushed brightly. Whatever she'd hit wasn't a bulkhead. It was soft... like a uniform.

Opening her eyes, she had to look up to see exactly who it was that she'd run into. "Excuse me," Karina apologized, although there was a drip of annoyance in the tone of her voice, as though she'd be perfectly willing to assign blame to someone else if at all possible.

Ethan had just put his PAaD in his pocket, when he rounded the corner. It had been hectic day and he just wanted to get back to his cabin, his and Dylan's cabin, and he just wanted to crash. Eat and go straight to bed.

When the woman coming the other way at a rather furious clip ran into him, it was all he could do to remain upright.

Shrugging his shoulders he said, "It's okay, but you might want to pay closer attention next time."

There was something about being accused that made Karina want to lash back, regardless of whether or not she was in the wrong. After all, who was this guy to tell her what to do? "Says the walking wall in front of me," she replied before her brain caught up with her sense of discretion... or lack thereof. Karina pointed at where they were in the corridor. "You're walking on the wrong side, anyways."

"The wrong side?" he asked not bothering in hide his incredulousness, "I didn't know there was a wrong side.Besides what does it matter what side I was walking on, you're the one that ran into me, not the other way around."

"Haven't you ever watched traffic on the street?" Karina asked skeptically. She pointed to one end of the corridor, "You stick to the right of the direction you're heading; not the left. And I only ran into you because I couldn't see you around the corner."

"Look, you just bumped into me, it wasn't like it was a hover car accident, no one was hurt, no one was to blame. Why don't we start over. I'm Dr. Chaparral, what's your name?" Ethan said favoring her with a smile.

Karina was about to blow a huff of frustration, and her purple freckles were glowing rather vibrantly as was, but in the last moment she decided not to start causing any hull breaches just yet... particularly with the man she was just on her way to see. Her freckles faded rapidly. "Karina Sha'ha'zen, Chief of Operations..." she said, counting the fact that he could see the pips on her uniform so pointing out rank was unnecessary.

"Well, welcome aboard the ship," he replied oblivious to the fact she was still somewhat frustrated, "can I help you with something?"

The Hiigaran shrugged. "I was going to check in and get my physical, she said, generally avoiding eye contact where she could. She'd look at his shoulder, the bulkhead past him, even at the ceiling or the floor. Eye contact made her feel like she was staring.

"Well, you're almost to sickbay now, but it is up to you. If you want to wait, that's fine too." He wondered why she was failing to look at him and almost added, "I don't bite," but at the last minute restrained himself. "What would you like to do?"

"Better to get it over with now, I guess." Karina said, finally looking up.

"Well, let's go then, and you can relax. It's just a physical. I've done hundreds of them, there's nothing to be afraid of and there's nothing to be afraid of from me either. I'm harmless."

Karina started to follow him down the corridor towards sickbay. "Said every doctor ever," she pointed out, letting a wry grin corner one side of her lip. As they walked, she peered over in his direction. At least he'd forget about most of the poor first impression provided she kept her distance for a few days. More than manageable.

True to his word, sickbay was just a short walk away. The stepped up to the doors and the swished open, "Once inside he pointed to the nearest biobed. Just have a seat up there an we'll get started." he told her.

Karina did as she was told. Sitting alone on a bio-bed was never a joyous experience; it made her feel like an animal at the zoo. "Sounds like a plan," she added, keeping an eye on him while absently looking around the room. Sickbay was clean, the doctor's instruments tidy and arranged in a way she presumed to be efficient. "So how long have you been the Chief Doc?" She asked.

"About a week," he replied as he picked up tricorder and approached her, "but I was the Assistant Chief before that. where were you stationed before coming to the Hera?"

"The Valkyrie," Karina answered. A Norway class, it hardly held up to standards of even an older Nebula-class design; the Hera, even when considering just a small area like its sickbay, was a hell of a lot more spacious than on the Valkyrie. "And I guess a congratulations is in order," Karina said next, referring to his apparent promotion.

"Thanks, " he replied, "but I'm actually more excited about my impending marriage than the promotion. Not that I am not thrilled by the promotion you understand."

"Of course," Karina said with a rather lopsided grin. Marriage on board a Starship wasn't something that happened often; frequently, Starfleet Officers went through entire careers before learning to settle down before it was too late to. "So who's the lucky girl?" She asked.

Ethan grinned, "Dylan Santiago, but I think he might object to your calling him a woman. And trust me he doesn't have any of those parts."

The Hiigaran flushed, and not just by her freckles. "Oh, sorry." She added sheepishly. It was probably the first time she'd demonstrated even a lick of humility around Ethan. "I guess that's what I get for assuming."

"It's okay," he told her, "Most people that didn't know us would probably assume the same thing."

"I appreciate it," Karina admitted. She let Ethan run his scanners over her a few times, and wondered just how much of what they were discussing she wanted to add to one of her 'public logs'. Typically, she kept her logs extremely detailed as a way to compensate for the memory-altering effects of her pheromones. But there was usually a time or two that she decided to omit certain things.

Periodically, while Ethan continued to run his scans, it would occur to Karina to say something -- anything to get a conversation going. But nothing sounded right, and given how... direct... she'd been when they'd first bumped into each other, she wasn't sure if she should.

"You're starting to make me think there's something wrong with me," she finally mumbled after a moment, feeling as though he'd been scanning her for much longer than it had actually been. Looking up to the silvery device with blinking lights in his hands, the Hiigaran found it hard to concentrate on the pattern in which they blinked. It was too random... and bright.

Ethan sat the tricorder down and gazed at the woman, "You're fine, " he reassured her. Just fine. Everything checks out. Why, do you feel bad?"

Karina shook her head, glad that the blinking had stopped. But she was now dealing with the ghost that often accompanied looking directly in a light. Knowing that they too would pass, she looked to the doctor and smiled. "I feel just fine, thank you."

His left brow rose slightly, "If you say so," he said, not quite sure if he really believed her. "at any rate you check out and I will approve you for duty."

Sliding off the bio-bed, Karina straightened out her uniform. "Terrific," she said. Tilting her head to the side, she studied the doctor more closely. She felt her cheeks and the freckles contained within flushing doses of the pheromone responsible for sealing memories of her within a chemically dependent timetable. "Anything else?"

"No, you are free to go," the doctor said.


A joint post by


Lieutenant Karina Sha'ha'zen
COO
USS Hera
&
Lt. Commander Ethan Chaparral
CMO
USS Hera