Shake, Rattle and Roll. PT2

Posted on Sun Feb 12th, 2023 @ 11:29am by Lieutenant JG Deezell Vox & Lieutenant Savin

1,658 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 115 - Planting for the Future
Location: USS Cushing - Docking Port 26
Timeline: MD1 10:15hrs

Holding a padd in her right hand, Dee was strolling through the corridor on Deck 3, heading for Sickbay. She had been notified that the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Savin, a Vulcan, was coming aboard to check on the progress of the Sickbay related updates.

Dee turned a corner and entered the sickbay complex. It appeared that she had arrived before the CMO. She looked at her padd and scrolled to the Sickbay section of the updates, glancing as the ones marked as completed with a green background and those marked with a light grey background that were still outstanding.

Savin approached the Chief Engineer from behind, at 191 cm he towered over the petite Trill.

"Good morning, Lieutenant," Savin stated announcing his presence. "I am here to receive your report on the upgrades to the medical facilities. Have you had ample time to make satisfactory progress?" His voice was soothing, despite the typical flat affect of Vulcan diction.

Dee turned and looked up at the Vulcan who had just entered Sickbay

" We have indeed Dr. We have a few left to do, but these should be completed within the next couple of hours. The EMH will be operational shortly. " She handed him her padd. "This gives you the full details of all the updates and upgrades that are complete and those which are outstanding. " She added.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Your prioritization of the upgrades was logical, all necessary systems appear to be up to standards. I'm confident that if we were to be dispatched in short order that the upgrades to Sickbay are satisfactory." Savin nodded approvingly at the lieutenant.

"The EMH, however," Savin raised a disapproving eyebrow. "I do not understand why Starfleet insists on having them installed on every vessel. My team will not be utilizing it, unless there is an extreme emergency and we are all incapacitated."

"I do understand your logic as to the EMH but unfortunately I am bound to follow Starfleet Engineering Protocols and at present, all Federation Starships capable of supporting the EMH program are to have the current Mk5 installed. In any case, as the name implies, the program should only be used in extreme emergencies. In fact, you can set the EMH to activate if current medical personnel on Sickbay are incapacitated. "

"Of course. You have a job to do, and it's only logical that you complete it in accordance with Starfleet's operating procedures. I would expect nothing less," Savin replied. "May I run diagnostics on the equipment that has been upgraded, or would I disrupt your current work?" Savin asked.

"By all means. Go ahead. If there is any disruption, I will advise you at the earliest opportunity. " Dee replied.

Dr. Savin was intrigued to see how the new imaging and scanning equipment worked on the upgraded biobeds. He would not use the term eager - that would be a human emotion. But by the way that Vox watched him fire up the medical equipment and get to work it's a word that she might have chosen - excited even.

Vox went back to work on the more minor upgrades, while Dr. Savin experimented with the new equipment. It was just the two of them in Sickbay, so when he required a subject to run a final diagnostic, she was the obvious choice.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant. I realize that this is not in your job description, so this is by no means an order, but I was would like to ask you if you'd consider volunteering for a medical scan in order for me to run this final diagnostic. I would simply scan myself, but I cannot read the images properly when I am on the examination table."

The Doctor's request was delivered flatly, a simple request. And Vox recognized it as a request. She by no means felt pressured to volunteer.

"Always happy to help Doctor. Where do you want me, on a biobed?" Dee asked

"Yes, as you can see, I have brought one of the new Synaptic Receptor Diagnostic scanners over to this biobed in the corner. The equipment is significantly more sophisticated than what we had available even just a few short years ago. I am grateful you are willing to cooperate -- for science," Savin stated, bowing his head in gratitude as Vox sat on the biobed.

"To be candid, you are an ideal subject for this test. Because you are joined, the scanner will have to read signals from two locations, as you have two cerebrums. Before now, a medical examiner would run two separate scans to check the health of the symbiote as well as the host. This new equipment should not only scan synaptic signals from both, but should also indicate how well they are functioning together as a unit," Savin explained.

"If you still wish to proceed, we shall see how well it performs together," Savin stated. Consent was an important facet before performing most medical procedures, and now that Vox understood what the scan was for, he provided her another opportunity to change her mind if she wished.

"I am intrigued to put it mildly, Doctor. As my joining was not a planned affair due to the circumstances I found myself in. You see, I happen to be on the USS Rotorua that rescued the late Raekwon Vox from his stricken vessel, moments before it exploded. Sadly Raekwon didn't survive due to the severity of his injuries and so we had to change course and take the Vox symbiont back to Trill. On route, the symbiont's health took a dramatic turn for the worse and as the only Trill onboard, I stepped up to protect the life of the symbiont and thus became joined. I never had any of the training as an initiate would have, and I have experienced some issues recently so it will be interesting to see what the SRD scanner will tell us."

Vox replied, laying back onto the biobed.

"Yes, the emergency nature of your joining is part of your medical file, though I did not familiarize myself with the rescue mission itself," Savin acknowledged as he turned on the equipment.

"Your results are fascinating," Dr. Savin said, his tone was difficult for Vox to read.

"Really? There isn't much to read on the rescue mission except I got way more than I bargained for when I boarded the Rotorua to head for Starbase 400. " she replied with a smirk.

"The equipment has only been tested on a small number of joined Trills, and those had all been through the initiate process. I can definitely see a distinction in your results. The synaptic pathways show that the host and symbiote are working together, but not as synchronous as what would be ideal," Savin explained.

"Have you been to Trill for a medical evaluation recently? I did not note that in your file if so." Savin asked.

"I haven't, no. However, I did have issues recently, which sickbay here on the station are keeping an eye on and so I am still wearing the monitoring device on my neck." she replied, moving her hair out of the way to reveal a small round device attached behind her right ear, no bigger than an inch in diameter with green flashing lights on.

Savin recognized the device. "Indeed," he noted. "I am certain I am not the first physician to recommend that you schedule an appointment with the Symbiosis Commission, post haste. Unfortunately, they are somewhat secretive about their medical procedures, or I'm certain that Dr. T'para would have been able to do more for you than the monitoring device," Savin suggested.

"She was able to stabilise things between host and symbiont but decided that the monitoring device was needed to keep and eye on the balance. I don't mind wearing it but, obviously I would rather not have to. I will see if I can arrange a trip to the Symbiosis Commission, it's been difficult with things being so busy around here. I might send them some of the data from this scan and from my monitoring device as they may find it useful. " Dee commented.

Dr. Savin understood the logic behind the lieutenant's dedication to her work. Savin also had a tendency to become immersed in his own profession, to the detriment of self-care at times. The Vulcan Medical Academy was just as secretive as Trill's symbiosis commission. The secretive practices were one of many reasons Savin left Vulcan to join Starfleet. It simply was not logical to withhold medical knowledge.

"Indeed, they might. And with your permission, perhaps I could do some research into your issues as well. My latest research project is wrapping up, this could be an interesting paper - and a logical endeavour given your current situation."

Dee chuckled. "I'd like to see the look on the Board of Director's faces when a VULCAN outsmarts them in their own field."

"I make no promises, other than I will utilize all resources available to me, and put forth my best effort into your treatment. The patient comes first, the research is ancillary."

Dee hopped off the table as the two prepared to go back to work.

"I do appreciate anything you can do for me Doctor. It is much appreciated. If you need any help with Sickbay systems, in regards to the recent updates and upgrades, please don't hesitate to call me." she replied. She nodded to him and left sickbay.

Savin had convinced himself that he was going to acquire the knowledge that he needed from the Symbiosis Commission. It was the logical next step toward helping the young Deezell Vox. Deezell was almost the same age as Savin's daughter. Emotions definitely did not play into Savin's decision. He was a physician and a medical researcher, and there was a patient in need of medical care. The only logical step was for him to acquire the knowledge he needed to treat her.

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