Oh, the Tales I Could Tell

Posted on Thu Oct 8th, 2015 @ 3:29am by Lieutenant Commander Robin Swift M.D., PhD & Petty Officer 1st Class Drusilla Dupree & Lieutenant Raj Amani

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Deck 366 - Chief Counselor's Office

* * * Deck 366 - Piper Medical Center * * *

Robin sighed as he sat as his desk. He had come in quite early just to get caught up on his patient’s reports for the time he was gone, but he desperately did not want to be here. He’d thoroughly enjoyed the time away and enjoyed his growing relationship with Niall even more. But, alas, everything has to end at some point and he was back to the daily grind. Well, ‘grind’ wasn’t exactly right. He enjoyed his job and always had, but compared to being free to do whatever, whenever, with someone you really enjoy being with…

Having read through the last of the case reports he stood and ordered some breakfast from the replicator. “Two eggs, over easy with a pinch of dill, two slices of crispy bacon, croissant with butter, a small cup of blueberry yogurt and wild orange Wulong Oolong tea, hot, with two sugar cubes.”

He set the dishes and teacup on his desk and smelled the tea. It had a beautiful, pungent aroma and he knew it would help kickstart his day. After a sip he started in on the eggs. “Hmph,” he grunted. “Not nearly as good as the real thing,” he muttered before taking a bite of the bacon. In the two weeks that he and Niall had been on Archadia they had mostly used fresh food, including a slightly varied version of chicken eggs and what passed as bacon. Despite the differences, the food had been excellent. This was just another reminder that he was back to work, but he was famished and ate it anyway.

“Oh! You’re already here!”

Robin smiled as he heard Drusilla’s voice. “I am,” he said. “Trying to get caught up before we get started again.” As she entered the office he pointed as his food with his butter knife. “Have you eaten?”

“I have not,” she said, relaxing on the small sofa. “I was going to get everything up and running, go grab something from the Promenade and head back. But since you’re here, do you mind if I just eat with you?”

“Of course not. We still have about thirty minutes.”

She ordered the same thing Robin was eating but substituted the yogurt for two pieces of sausage and the tea for orange juice.

“Did you miss me?” he asked.

“Of course! It’s not as fun just bouncing around from doctor to doctor. I like having you all to myself. More of a routine, you know?” After a bite of the sausage she had to ask, “Well? What happened on the trip??”

Whatever Robin might have said was cut off as the outer doors opened and Raj hurried in, coffee mug in hand. “Robin? Cela said you were back. How was it?”

Robin suddenly felt like one of those criminal informants in the old police movies. Sitting in a dark room at a table with a very bright light pointed at him.

“It was fun,” he said. He decided to keep them on pins and needles and not say anymore as he scooped his yogurt.

Raj laughed as he caught the emotions that emanated from Robin. “Looks like it was good for you.” He settled in a chair and sipped his coffee. “That said, the next time I tell you to take a vacation, kick me, will you?”

“Get a little overworked, did you?” Robin smirked from behind his cup.

“Oh, where do I start?” He considered a moment, then began with the attack on Six and Riley’s part in it and what they’d discovered as to his mental programming. Once he’d given all the details, he shook his head. “He was wasted when I got to him in the brig. I spent the next several days with him exclusively, which is another part to this long and tangled story. He’s doing better but there’s still a lot to do there.”

“See what you miss when you take vacations?” Dru interjected.

“I’m fine with missing a little action here and there,” Robin replied. “So, Raj, anything else happen I should know about?”

“Well, Ensign Madhava was drugged and smuggled onto a slave dealer’s ship. A member of the Orion syndicate appeared right after I got Riley home from the brig and in less than an hour we were on his ship in pursuit.” Raj smiled ear to ear. “I can now say that I’ve traveled at warp ten and lived.”

Robin almost choked on his tea and quickly checked his uniform to see if he’d dribbled any down the front. “I hope you contacted security or...well, anyone else to help and didn’t just take this on by yourselves?”

“Oh, there’s more,” Raj answered. “Security was aware. They set out as well to track them down. We all met up at the colony in the end to bring us all home. We did catch up with that ship first, however, and boarded.” He paused for another sip of coffee. “To make a long story short, we got the ensign back, along with another female who’d been a captive there for a long time. What we found was horrible and I’ll spare you the details. It’s all in the report. The slaver was killed by Lt. Sukotav to save Ensign Madhava. We departed for the colony, were met by the Hammond and the Takei, and then came home.”

“Wow,” was all Robin could think of to say. But something piqued his curiosity about his last bit of information. “What happened to the other woman you found? Are we helping her?”

“I am currently seeing Riley, and Reva. But yes, it’s Desta I wanted to discuss.” Raj sighed and rubbed his forehead. “You have to understand the life she’s led living under those conditions for a very long time. She was given to one of the crew and survived mainly because she learned to follow his capricious rules to the letter, including staying within two feet of him when he took her anywhere, even walking down a corridor. Everything you say, she reads as a command to be done without question. And because I saved her from him and that ship, she has a strong case of hero worship happening. She’s also transferred that subservience to me as well as a bit of a….a. crush.”

Dru let out a low whistle. “And as you are the upstanding gentleman I know that you are, you are doing your best to make her see the error of her ways?” It was more of a statement, not a question, but as she was speaking to a lieutenant she decided it best to be a bit softer with her query.

“I’m sure he is, Dru,” Robin replied. “Have you started her in counseling with anyone yet? And where is she staying? It may not be best to just leave her alone, but under the circumstances I’m sure you realize that she shouldn’t be staying with you either.”

“Oh goodness no. She’s staying with Ensign Madhava for a short time as we transition her to being back on her own,” Raj answered. “We’ve discussed why she and I won’t be having that sort of relationship, and she gets that, logically. It’s going to take her some time to get used to being out and on her own and realizing no one is running her life now. She is comfortable with Reva, given what they lived through, and had said that she would much rather work with me since she knows me. She is very wary of males, for obvious reasons.”

Robin thought about what he’d said a moment and stood to get a refill of the tea. “Okay,” he said finally. “You can take her as a patient, but let me know if you run into any issues with her attachment to you. I don’t mind stepping in. But be wary,” he added as he sat back at his desk, “that because of that attachment, it opens up all sorts of liability issues, so be very diligent, keep excellent notes and, if necessary, record the sessions or have someone sit with her.”

“I will have Cela sit in as needed,” Raj agreed. “There is something you should know, however, that must remain confidential. Consider it patient confidentiality, since the doctors know. This young woman is an allasomorph, a shape shifter.”

Dru’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. “Like those changelings? Is she safe? What if she starts--”

“Dru, take a breath,” Robin said, now leaning up on his desk, very interested in her species. “This does put a spin on things, Raj. And while it’s really nobody’s business what race someone is, when it comes to a shape shifter, that sort of throws a curveball in. What if she decided to use this ability for bad purposes--not to wreak havoc, but even just for some fun? It could be very detrimental to things around here.” He sighed heavily and fell back into his chair. “I may have to contact Lt. Benson on this, just to see if it must be reported.”

“She’s from Daled IV, Dru,” Raj informed her, “not a Changeling. The Federation and the Fleet have had a few dealings with them but the planet and the race both are very private. Her race is exactly why Fisher kidnapped her. He was a dealer in exotic species and that’s why he wanted Reva as well, since she’s Orion and Betazoid. The idea of a telepathic Orion was too good for him to pass up.”

“I’m sorry. I just remember hearing about all of the bad things the Changelings did,” she replied, now feeling a bit embarrassed to immediately assume she would do bad things with her abilities. “It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t even give her a chance. Sorry,” she repeated.

“No worries.” Raj gave her a reassuring smile. “Even that aspect was warped on Fisher’s ship. The man, a Kazon, who held her made her change her appearance to suit his own personal taste and then equipped her with a device that prevented her changing out of that form. To be blunt? It’s a deep rabbit hole there, and Reva’s showing symptoms of her own in the wake of this mess. She did what she had to to survive but now, she’s grown overly attached to a large sweater she hides in.”

“A security blanket, of sorts?” Robin offered.

“I think so and I’ve not told her or Riley this but it’s beginning to concern me.” Raj frowned now. “It seems to be a way of covering up to remove the temptation for anyone male. Her experience there, surprisingly, has not been an obstacle to her physical relationship with Riley.”

“It seems like we have our work cut out for us, then.” Robin took the time to down the rest of his tea and then glanced at the time. “And speaking of work, my first patient is due in seven minutes.”

“Oh!” Dru said with a yelp and stood, returning her plate to the replicator. “I guess I should go out and open up shop, eh?” She walked out into the waiting area and begin setting up everything she needed for the day.

“Anything else happen while I was gone?” Robin asked, hoping Raj was out of stories.

“A few odds and ends but you can read about those. Oh!” Raj sat up straighter. “Yes there was. Someone down on Archadia poisoned Will but the Prime Minister was here and got hold of the antidote recipe from an Archadian doc. He’ll be fine but she insisted on taking him back down with her.”

“Damn. Maybe I shouldn’t go on any more vacations.”

“And one of your cadets, Eli, was given a dose of felodesine in Kaleidoscope. They almost lost him until Six stepped in. They used some of her nanites to counteract the poison and heal the neural damage.” Finally, Raj was out of stories. “That’s all I have.”

“Isn’t that enough?” Robin asked, laughing. “It seems it all worked out okay, but...WOW. And here I thought I was all caught up just by reading my patient reports. Seems I have more to look into.” He looked at the time again. “Okay, out,” he said, flicking his hand at Raj. “Shoo. We have work to do.”

“Reva and Desta are down on Archadia for a couple of days and I just saw Riley yesterday. So unless there’s an emergency, I am skipping out of here today. I’ll be back tomorrow, of course.” Raj rose and gave Robin a casual salute. “Good to have you back. I can tell your vacation was just what you needed.”

“Mmmhmm,” Robin replied, knowing Raj was poking around in his head. “Keep me updated on those two and let me know if I need to help.”

“I do want Six to see you for a couple of sessions regarding the whole incident with Riley, but Cela and Dru can set that up.” He grinned at Robin. “Later Chief.”

Once Raj was gone Robin had to shake his head to make sense of it all. “Go to the Delta Quadrant, they said. It’ll be fun, they said,” he muttered mockingly. His desk monitor chimed. “Yes?”

=^= Your first appointment is here. =^=

“Okay, Dru, send her in.”

--------------------------------
Lt. Cmdr. Robin Swift
Missing All the Fun

PO2 Drusilla Dupree
Glad Robin’s Back

Lt. Raj Amani
The Teller Of Tales