Welcome Back Kona

Posted on Mon Oct 8th, 2012 @ 7:06am by Lieutenant Commander William Harding M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Terrell Kona

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Piper Memorial Medical Center

Harding settled into his office with a cup of Vulcan spice tea and let out a soft groan. He'd been running thirty-six hours now, between the transplant of the Bren symbiont, then the murder of the Archadian Queen. He'd had to be more than a little forceful to get in to do his examination of her body, and once he had, he was less than thrilled. Any first year medical student could have figured out that she'd lost way too much blood for the 900 crew to have killed her. There was no way the times matched up, but no one seemed to want to hear it. This issue wasn't closed as far as he was concerned, and he made a note to see Kh'ali at the first opportunity. His mental inventory was interrupted by a call from Kiere, informing him that the new ACMO had arrived.

"Send him back, thank you Kiere." He rose to refill his tea as he waited.

Terrell strode into the office and took a look at his new commanding officer. He was slightly surprised by the CMO's appearance as he was not quite what Terrell had expected him to be. You always form a mental picture of someone when you communicate with them in any form and almost always, they are quite a bit different than the picture you have formed. In the case of CMO Harding, the first term that came to Terrell's mind when he looked upon the CMO was 'Mad Scientist'. Harding had pale, somewhat pasty skin with dark hair that was graying at the temples and worn in a slicked back way. His most prominent feature though was his eyes and they were what could only be described as wild eyes. Harding seemed fit and in shape though, but not overly muscular. The picture that Terrell had formed from their electronic communication was of an intelligent and formidable commander. Now Terrell had to try to merge the truth with the mental image and form a working relationship with this 'Mad Scientist.' On a side note, one thing that could usually be said for mad scientists though is that they were usually very intelligent, so Terrell had something in common between the two images to build on.

None of this internal consideration was evident from Terrell's facial expression. He extended his hand as he stated, "CMO Harding. Lieutenant Commander Terrell Kona, reporting for duty." He finished with a smile and added, "I figured we would get the formalities out of the way early."

Harding rose and shook Terrell's hand. "Welcome home, commander. I'm sure I speak for all of 900 when I say we're glad to have you back. Please, have a seat. Something to drink perhaps?" Will settled back into his chair, moving a stack of waiting padds aside.

"Thank you Sir. I have to say that we are very glad to be back as well." Terrell glanced around the office, taking in the style and character of his new commanding officer. It is amazing how much you can learn about a person from what they display in their office. That was another thing that memories of nine life times had taught Terrell. That fact was also one of the reasons that Terrell never had anything personal in his office. It wasn't that he was trying to hide things from those he worked with, but he preferred that people get to know him and not base too much on what happened to be lying around.

Interestingly enough, CMO Harding's office was quite sparse, something that Terrell had to admire. The only notable item worth mentioning was a flower of some kind. Levya, yet another of the former hosts of the Kona symbiont, had memories that identified that the flower was some kind of orchid, but nothing more. Levya had been a research scientist, but botany had not been her specialty, unfortunately. Terrell thought with a smile, it seems that even after nine life times, the Kona symbiont still has a lot to learn.

Getting back to the present, Terrell answered the CMO as he took a seat in chair offered, "As to the drink, thank you but I am fine."

"Very well. I trust you've settled in already? If so, you can dive right in, meet the current staff. Some have changed, but I believe that Ophelia was here during your time and she still is. Invaluable she is. We have Dr. Mi who is new and Dr. O'Neil, our latest addition to the counseling department." Will paused to sip his tea. "Before we get down to the business of recent events, any questions I can answer for you?"

Terrell nodded to the settling in comment. He tended to travel light as everything he couldn't live without was stored internally. Thinking back, he left the starbase the last time in such a rush that he left some personal items here. He would have to see about tracking those down.

"Thank you Sir," began Terrell. "I am very anxious to get started and back into the swing of things. I took the liberty of having the computer tell me the medical staff roster while settling in and I was very glad to hear that Ophelia is still serving on the station. She was my right hand when I was here last time and invaluable as you said. I look forward to meeting all the other staff, but by their records you seem to have a very good group." Terrell took a moment to compose his thoughts and think things through. "As to questions, I don't think I have anything at the moment other than what duties do you want me to be responsible for as your assistant? Each CMO does things differently so I wanted to ensure that I am doing what you need me to be doing by asking up front what you had in mind for my job responsibilities."

"This base has enough to keep four of us hopping, Terrell. Piper itself is enough to keep a CMO running at light speed. Then we have all the other medical centers scattered all over this base. I'd like for you to oversee all the satellite centers and coordinate them with me and the main center here. In the meantime, there's some events on the planet that have blown up that you need to be aware of." He passed a padd over to Terrell. "That has all the details of the murder of Queen Astoria down on Archadia III, including the attempted framing of our team down there. After some serious bullying and throwing my weight around, I got in to examine her body and disproved the idea that our team could have done it. That will get you caught up, but things are still not fully settled."

Terrell picks up the padd. "Thanks. I will get caught up on this right away. Is there anything in particular you need me to organize with the satellite centers? Also, would it be possible for me to borrow Ms. Payne to help get those satellite centers organized?"

Harding nodded. "By all means. Dr. Mi was covering the reports and overseeing whatever the satellite centers needed, she can get with you to give you the lay of the land as it is now. The previous CMO was away for a while and we are still catching up. Aside from that, once the investigation proceeds down on the planet, you'll assist with that as well. Dr. McKinney left some notes on an outreach clinic down in the pit, so that is something we should begin planning for it."

"Speaking of Dr. McKinney, what happened there, if I may ask? He was a very competent surgeon and I was surprised to see that he had left the station."

Harding hesitated for a moment before answering. When he did speak, his tone was grave. "He took some time off to deal with some personal issues. He was attacked down in the Cherry Pit. It appeared to me a mugging but a blow to the head aggravated an old injury from a shuttle crash. He did not survive it. "

Terrell tone softened. "I am sorry to hear that. He was an exceptional surgeon and will be missed. The computer didn't mention that in the crew manifest I asked for. Another typical situation where you have to know what to ask for." Terrell sighed and continued. "I am not familiar with the Cherry Pit. Is that a restaurant on the base?"

Harding smiled now. "It is, to put it bluntly, the dark underbelly of the station. decks 530 through 532. Transient quarters, some shops, a few places to eat, and it's main entertainment spot is Saturnalia on 532. Just about anything or anyone you could want you'll find down there, if you get my drift. If you do venture down, watch your back. I'd take care with your other body parts too."

"Understood," replied Terrell. "It seems that the station has changed since my last time here as I don't remember any place like what you describe on the station from that time. No matter how good the place, the seedy element will still infiltrate it somehow, it seems."

"It will. There are other things that infiltrated this station too." Harding frowned now. That padd includes details of the recent events surrounding Ensign Ian Bren and the transplant of the Bren symbiont from our former Chief Surgeon into him. It's a rather unusual situation, and relates to the body of our cartographer, Jonas Levin, that just came in. Cause of death is apparent, with plenty of witnesses, but we still need to do a final exam per regulations. You can handle that, then we'll prepare him for shipping. HQ has requested he be returned to San Francisco. With his apparent ties to Section 31, I suspect they want to make sure he's dead. We are going to be busy for some time to come."

"Understood as well. I will get right on his post mortem so we can get the report to them as soon as possible. Is there anything else that you need me to take care of as well for the immediate future?"

"That should do for now." Harding took his empty cup and rose to refill it. "Glad to have you back."

"Glad to be back Sir and thanks again for the oppourtunity!"

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Dr. William Harding
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Terrell Kona
Assistant Chief Medical Officer