Star Trek: Theurgy

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sarah_Bj%C3%B8rge) | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

The heavy tritanium doors of the turbolift opened with a controlled hiss of compressed air as it leveled on deck 11. Sickbay was a proper hub in and of itself nowadays, the battles never seeming to come to an end. But Sarah supposed that with both literal and proverbial world against them, there was scarcely any other way to live- a new range of normal for them all. A beleaguered sigh sounded off as slender hands moved downwards to flatten the skirt of her uniform against the front fronts of her thighs as she stepped out of the lift, a prim cough falling into her fist to clear her voice, and a quick few fingers to smooth the wavy flyaways that escaped from her long, blonde plait. She was nervous. From the way her voice sounded, to her appearance, to her very Academy transcripts and the transfer documentation from the USS Oneida, all the ways this could go awry flurried through her at Mach speed, crisping the edges of her nerves and far-long exhausting her into a tepid puddle before she had even stepped through the threshold of Sickbay or had even worked a full shift aboard the USS Theurgy.

You are here to help, not look good for the staff- Stop fussing about this! As long as you do your job they will not care! Her internal thoughts quipped ferociously at her, keening for her to stop nervously petting her braid and fiddling with the fabric of her uniform skirt. She was a highly-skilled nurse, she had many saved lives under her belt- that is all Theurgy wanted and something she could provide. She would get her interview, her work orders, and that would be that she assured herself with a soft swallow and one finally inhale-exhale for calm.

With that final deep breath out of the way and another hand slipping through the wavy lengths of hair that framed either side of her heart-shaped face, she finally stepped through the doors of sickbay and into the waiting room. The boot heels of her uniform clicked softly against the flooring as she approached one of the many flurries of other medical personnel, finally grabbing the attention of one with a polite wave of her hand and a smile that split the pink of her lips to expose the whites of her teeth.

"Hello, I am sorry for the trouble-” She started, her svelte hands coming to rest in front of herself primly against her lower stomach, her head slightly tilted forward. “-But I am looking for Head Nurse Vinata Vojona to report to duty??”


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[ Ens. Vinata Vojona  | Main Sickbay | Recovery Ward | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @SarahBerry
[Show/Hide]That morning, Vinata had felt the responsibility to go to sickbay early, before alpha shift began, so that he might have two hours to catch up on what gamma shift had done through the night.

Going through the journals at the Head Nurse duty station, Vinata was wearing the dress variant of his uniform, even though he'd debated going with the trousers option since he'd never quite got the boots to work properly with his feet. With digitgrade legs, feet placement whilst walking didn't make heels ideal, but he'd got the hang of of it in the Academy. He could still remember the confusion among his and Hylota's peers when they chose to dress in accordance to their bodily requirements rather than the gender-orientated wardrobe selections. Hylota had used the male sizes and bust for her pick, while Vinata had - embarrassingly enough - been unable to fit his chest inside the male size selections. The female ones had been right on point, of course, but both his sister and he had realised - with a knowing glance - that it would just be the first of many confusing things about Ovri. It would take quite some time for the peers and teachers of other Federation species to learn about their biology and culture.

Not for the first time, when he had finished reading, Vinata considered if he would take up V-Nine's offer to restore his body to what it used to be after all. For more than a month, he'd kept debating it with himself, and taken the opportunity to savour the existence of having a fully female biology in the traditional sense - this almost caricature copy of what the other species considered 'female'. Having been brought up differently, and perhaps due to a biological consciousness rooted in his genome... he did feel that he wasn't complete. Still, even though he would always consider himself a 'he' - since anything else would be absurd for an Ovri - it was as if he was finally fitting into a life led among other species. Then again.... that might just be his own projection of what he ought to be, rather than what he actually was.

And when V-Nine had arrived to sickbay non-functioning the day before, Vinata had realised - when seeing the poor android - that if he'd ever had a chance to be restored from the Correction of the Savi, there were no guarantees that he'd actually get that chance unless he made up his mind about it.

"Nurse Vinata?" asked a brown-skinned Human next to him, and he blinked twice with his large eyes before looking her way.

"Yes?" he chirped with a smile, and his black eyes settled on Letitia Jones, one of the Nurses reporting to him after Jovela had died.

"We have a new officer from the Oneida here. She came in through the waiting room. It's..." said Jones, but trailed off, looking at the blonde Human behind her. It seemed the new Nurse hadn't offered a name to Jones.

"Welcome to the Theurgy," Vinata trilled in stride, however, and stepped out from the duty station so that he might face the newly arrived enigma fully. He held out his four-fingered hand to greet the Human in the Federation way, by clasping her hands. "Ensign Vinata Vojona, Head Nurse since a couple of days, but I have been on the Theurgy for quite some time now."

He fell silent then, allowing the Human to introduce herself while he studied her with a smile - his black eyes wandering over her features while she spoke. By human standards, she is quite lovely! he thought, even though barring just a few - among them a Klingon and Rihen Neyah - his main experiences with interspecies partners had been of the male kind. Hardly surprising, since they generally looked rather female to him.

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sarah_Bj%C3%B8rge) | Main Sickbay | Recovery Ward | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

The dark-skinned nurse she'd waved down was polite enough to smile at her, seemingly understanding her nervous tittering as she rallied back and forth on the high heels of her boots as she waited for a response. The other nurse gave a simple wave of her hand to follow as she guided her over to where the head nurse allegedly was within the recovery ward.

She called out to a large, digitigrade-type alien colored in rich golds and blues, a species Sarah had never personally seen before, but there was always going to be some new and interesting species to learn about. Starfleet of course prepared their cadets for almost everything, and her duty time aboard the Oneida had definitely afforded her a great deal of experience, but even so, she had yet to encounter such an interestingly large gold and blue alien.

Thanking the nurse who guided her over with a smile and nod of her head, Sarah's eyes were then immediately drawn to the large, onyx ovals of the head nurses' eyes, her bright green ones wide and mesmerized by Vinata's appearance, her head nearly craning to gaze in utter enchantment. She was beautiful- so physiologically unique to anything she'd ever seen before. Sarah would be hard pressed not to stare at the poor Ovri, and more assuredly, questions would be coming in from left to right.. Well. When she got to know her better perhaps. It might be in bad taste to ask so many personal questions of her immediate supervisor.

"Sarah Bjørge. Ah, Ensign Bjørge." She breathed out in a stumbled reply, the lilt of her accent garnishing the edges of her words as she spoke. She more-than-happily slipped her small, warm hands into the Ovri's offered palms with a smile of delight- though it just as easily could have been a grin of greeting. Either way, Sarah was visibly delighted as she gave Vinata's fingers a soft squeeze in return, not quite ready to pull away as she began to speak.

"Thank you for the warm welcome, It is good to meet you!~ I hope to become a useful addition to you, ma'am." Of course, there was no way that Sarah could know the complexity of Ovri gender or appearance- as well as the fact that Vinata was the first Ovri she'd ever seen! It stood to logic and reason that an alien that presented breasts was likely female, but she stood blissfully unaware of her faux pas and genuinely charmed by the unique features of the head nurse.

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[ Ens. Vinata Vojona  | Main Sickbay | Recovery Ward | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @SarahBerry
[Show/Hide]It was years since Vinata had lost count on the number of times he was mistaken for a female, the only difference now being that, biologically, he was female because of the Savi, so correcting the newest addition to the crew seemed almost... dishonest of him. Still, unless he kept doing it, he would only sow further confusion, and as confused as the Savi had made himself, he had to keep it simple for those around him.

"It's actually 'sir', but please, just call me Nurse Vojona, that's quite all right," he trilled with a croaking little chuckle, "and I am sure you will do fine. Thank you, actually, for requesting for a transfer, since we really do need the extra hands."

Considering how the Theurgy was infamous, and the crew of the Oneida had likely heard all the reports and false articles about what they'd done, Vinata was surprised that the Oneida had joined forces with them in the first place. On a more personal level, to make the decision to transfer aboard? Vinata let go of Sarah's hand and folded her own behind her back, tilting his head a bit as he studied her with a smile.

"I bet it must have been a difficult decision, considering what you may have heard about us - and Thea - during these past six months," he offered, giving voice to his thoughts. "Troubling times. Regardless, we are grateful that we're no longer fighting this enemy alone. Please, this way. Thank you, Jones!"

And thus, Vinata left Letitia behind and began the tour for Sarah, heading towards the PCU first.

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sarah_Bj%C3%B8rge) | Main Sickbay | Deck 11 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

Sarah nodded obediently at the change of address, though there was a quick, subtle flick of her eyes downwards to the Head Nurses' chest and back up again to make sure she hadn't just been seeing things. But far be it from her to ask such digging questions on anyone's gender, she happily accepted it and moved on, allowing Nurse Vojona to release his hands from her own.

"Yes sir. Ah, thank you, really. I imagine I will get a lot more experience on the Theurgy than I might have on the Oneida.  Ongoing education being what it is, I would have liked to have gone into a combat medic specialization..and I have a feeling that if I, perhaps, do very good work and bat my eyelashes, I might get the chance." She responded softly, her good-natured smile never quite leaving her lips until an awkward grimace marred her features as she realized her misstep. "That is a joke, Sir. I do not actually think batting lashes will give me better opportunities."

Gods alive, please blow a cool breeze in her face- she was five minutes into her meeting with her boss and she'd already genuinely flustered herself. It was best to cotton-stuff the bitter taste in her mouth by zipping to the next subject of conversation that the Head Nurse was so polite to supply.

"But it was no difficulty on my part. When people need help, you help." She said quite matter of factly. "And while yes, I have heard a lot of, ah, unsavory things, we all have. But I believe everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt. A chance to explain and prove themselves before any judgment can be made. But I have friends on this crew, I have seen what the people here are like. I believe you.."

The soft smile she seemed to normally wear began to slip back onto her features, though the blonde of her brows still furrowed a bit as the head nurse huddled her along down the hallway, Sarah following behind him eagerly.

"It would be very wrong of me anyway, as a medical professional, to ignore people in need no matter what rumors say, no?"


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[ Ens. Vinata Vojona  | Main Sickbay | Primary Care Unit | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @SarahBerry
[Show/Hide]With the last question posed by the new nurse being almost a rhetorical one, Vinata smiled and inclined his head. "Indeed, and we thank you for it."

Earlier, she had spoken about her career path and what she had wanted to do, so before they reached the PCU, Vinata readily commented on that as well. "Oh, I hardly think you'd have to go to that extent in order to take on additional courses in triage care, and I think the Security Department might have someone you could talk to. An Andorian, I believe. Zark? I forget. In any case, we have a combat medic that you could approach about the combat-side of things, but if that is the training you lack, any one of the Security officers may know who you should speak with for additional training."

That was when they arrived at the PCU, wherein the biobeds lined the bulkheads and a couple of medical officers moved between the patients that still lingered from the day before. Some of them would likely be moved to the Recovery Ward in the next couple of hours. "This is the Primary Care Unit, and as you can see, the majority of our patients are there, but gradually, the Recovery Ward will be housing most of the patients later today or tomorrow. In possible, we will likely be sending the patients who are in the best conditions to recovery in their quarters instead. Come. Next door, we have the intensive care unit."

The ICU held six patients at that current time, and the biobeds had bio-contamination forcefields raised around them, creating transparent personal wards. Two medical officers were there, going over journals, and they looked up to give Vinata and Sarah a nod before returning to their discussion. The present patients were in worse conditions than the patients they had seen in the PCU, but their condition was stable enough. A couple of them were awaiting surgery, no doubt.

"Besides Main Sickbay," Vinata told the most recent addition to the nursing staff, "the other two Vectors have smaller medical bays as well. They are called Battle Sickbays, since they mostly come into use when the ship is separated in Multi-Vector Assault Mode. Those medical bays are of the size of the Primary Care Unit, give or take, and we have an EMH each in those. We used to have third hologram when I came aboard, the LMH, but her program was corrupted and she has been deactivated for good, as far as I know. Come, we have more to see..."

[Ensign Sarah Bjørge (https://uss-theurgy.com/w/index.php?title=Sarah_Bj%C3%B8rge) | Main Sickbay | Primary Care Unit | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

At Nurse Vinata's praise, however slight, Sarah felt the warming sensation of self-esteem in the dead center of her chest. Ego was not why she had joined Theurgy on their journey, but the nurse made an awfully pleasurable verbal salve for any would-be second thoughts. She'd switched conversation swiftly enough, moving on to Sarah's intended end-goal as far as her career, the light that continuously shone in her eyes getting ever brighter at the notion of training with Security.

"I would love that very much! But I understand Theurgy is under a lot of pressure at the moment so- if it is not viable to take the time to train me, my feelings will not be ruined."

She gave the nurse a quick smile to show she wasn't being facetious as they swept down the hallway towards PCU. It was enormous of course, the main patient care unit was triage and immediate care for the grand majority of the ship, right?  It would need to be one of the larger parts of sickbay. Sarah looked on in a bit of wide-eyed wonder, as Oneida was quite a margin smaller, and thus, their sickbay was not as expansive.

Sarah was wordless for the most part as Nurse Vinata explained the rooms and similar locations, a bit overwhelmed to say much back as they looped through and back towards the back where allegedly there was even more. Oneida seemed paltrily understaffed and inefficient in comparison!

"Yes sir!" Sarah called out as she scuttled behind the taller nurse, still a bit starry-eyed.

"Nurse Vojona, How did the LMH become corrupted? I had been under the impression that emergency medical programs were threaded tightly into core programming? Or is it only skin deep? Those programs, I mean."

[ Ens. Vinata Vojona  | Main Sickbay | Primary Care Unit | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @SarahBerry
[Show/Hide]When asked about the LMH, Vinata gave it some thought while they headed to the corridor that ran alongside the ICU.

"I am afraid that I am a nurse, not a computer scientist," he started, giving the Ensign an embarrassed smile and blinking with his large eyes, "but I do know that it was the Savi that managed to corrupt her active runtime when they abducted members of the crew, and when attempting access, her program isn't initiating. As far as I know, the LMH is stored here in Main Sickbay, and isn't integral to the ship systems beyond that."

With a glance, Vinata continued. "Oh, I see from your expression you have not been briefed about the Savi just yet. They are actually a sensitive matter involving a non-disclosure edict for their protection, since they are now our allies. I am sure you will get all the relevant information you need about the Savi soon enough. You may even spot one or two of them aboard if you venture to the lower decks of the ship, since we have a delegation of them working in Main Engineering. They... stand out, to say the least. "

Walking down the corridor, Vinata returned to the brief tour of main sickbay. "The first door there is one of our two storages, where we keep medical supplies. Then we have three doors on the right side of this corridor, the first being the Morgue and the other two being our medical labs. The door on the left side is to cryogenic stasis, where we are keeping a number of crewmen who's injuries are too demanding to allow for immediate surgery. As I understand it, a few of them are scheduled to be thawed for surgery now that the there is no immediate threat to the ship."

While talking and walking down the corridor, Vinata stopped at each door so that the sliding doors parted, allowing for Sarah to look inside before they moved on. "Have you been assigned quarters yet? If you haven't, you need to see the Quartermaster about lodging. I will be assigning you to alpha shift, and if you can, we could need your help right away."

When reaching the end of the corridor, Vinata paused and faced Sarah with a light smile, finding himself envying the hair that the human had on her head - the colour looking like it caught all the light from the overhead lighting.

[ Ens. Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Primary Care Unit | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan


"Ah I am sorry, I did not mean to make you feel any sort of way, I had only been curious." She replied, her tone soft and apologetic as one could sound. She hadn't wanted to offend her new boss twenty minutes into their show-around and subsequent shift. She'd only just met him and here she was tripping over her words for what, the second or third time now?

Great track record thus far. She must look like some blonde, bumbling halfwit. Though the mention of the Savi did perk up her interest some. She wasn't familiar with that term and as Nurse Vinata went on to explain in-depth, there was likely good reason she hadn't heard of them, and the idea of sneaking down into the inner belly of the proverbial beast to catch a glimpse was a tempting offer.

"I may have to just do that, I have not seen one before. Do we have medical files on them?" She asked, her voice tinted with curiosity as her sea-green gaze peered to Nurse Vinata's beautifully onyx ones as they walked alongside one another. Though the eye contact was broken just as soon as it had begun, The Head Nurse politely showed Sarah room after room of all the places she would need to intimately know, especially the medical supplies. With as many injured as a ship as large as Theurgy seemed to keep in rotation, she couldn't imagine how often they needed to restock.

"Not yet, sir. I will go see them ah, well, after a shift in this case! I was going to ask when I start!" She replied with a jovial tone and a smile, please that things were already decided ahead of time. She didn't exactly favor guesswork.

"Thank you for showing me around, sir. I have also enjoyed the talk. But if it is alright, is there a particular section you need me to work?" She asked, peering back up at the taller nurse with an inquisitive look and a hopefulness about her that betrayed any nerves that otherwise might have been leftover from the initial meeting.

[ Ens. Vinata Vojona  | Main Sickbay | Primary Care Unit | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @SarahBerry
[Show/Hide]When asked about medical files on the Savi, it almost made Vinata chuckle, but he only shook his head. "We know very little, as they keep with their own doctors... Still, as I was abducted by them, and others among the abductees had to fight them, we did get our tricorder readings."

Walking back towards the recovery ward, Vinata continued to tell the new Nurse what he knew about the Savi. "Due to the high ratio of methemoglobin in their blue and paste-like blood, their skin has a grey-bluish tint. To circulate their thick blood, they had two hearts, one on each side of their chest. Over seven feet tall on average, bipedal, mammalian, two lungs, and they had the same kind of bodily strength as that of you Humans. The large eyes were dark and without pupils, like mine, but iridescent when cast into light - the reflective tapetum lucidum of their orbs improving night vision. Have to be the case since the interior of their ships are rather dark. The Savi aboard have replaced their lungs with artificial ones, since they cannot share oxygen environment with races like us - the air being toxic to them. The levels of nitrogen our air would react with their methemoglobin blood, causing central nervous system depression within seconds, then coma, and after a few minutes, death. On their ships, they breathe neonox, which was breathable for us as well. Large heads, big brains, and immaculate hearing, since their entire heads are used to sense air-vibrations. Thus, we learned that they are predisposed to misophonia, being highly sensitive to loud noise. Oh, to top it of, they tried to further their species by micing their DNA with that of another kind of alien, creating a ruling caste. A mistake, since they turned out like the Augments of your people, and they are right now in the throes of a civil war."

When asked where she might start working, Vinata gave it a moment of thought before smiling and gesturing towards the recovery ward.

"Be there for those who wake up after surgery, and while you wait, and see to the needs of our patients when they need us, you can use the console in there to read up on reports about the mission. I will come by later on to see how you are faring, but you won't be alone in there. The other nurses will be there to show you where things are at, and thank you again for requesting a transfer. With a ship this big and a mission like ours, we need all the medical officers we can get. Good luck, Nurse Bjørge."

With that dismissal, Vinata looked forward to speak with her again, when they weren't in the direct aftermath of yesterday's battles.

[ Ens. Sarah Bjørge | Main Sickbay | Primary Care Unit | Vector 2 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan

That had genuinely been so much information to take in all at once. Sarah however had done her star best to nod in rapt acknowledgment, mentally tacking down everything she could- it might come in handy later should anything go pear-shaped. Well- she wasn't sure how much use she'd be even so if they kept to their own doctors. Eh. Thoughts for another time as she shifted gently, tugging down the sleeves of her freshly replicated lab coat once she was guided in front of the room she would be working out of for the day.

"It has been my honor, Nurse Vojona. I have appreciated both our talk and the tour. If you need anything else from me, I happily await." She smiled, somewhat sad that the conversation and tour was over so quickly, but there was work to be done and other nurses to introduce herself to. So as the tall, blue male walked away, Sarah gave an idle wave goodbye, only standing around a few more moments before turning and stepping into the surgery recovery room, walking over to the nurses' station with a wave and a smile to her new coworkers.

[Finished]