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Day 20 [1500 hrs.] Live Long and Prosper

[ Maya | Corridors| Deck 21 | Vector 03 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Auctor Lucan
  
The doors to Holodeck Six opened and out glided the short and slender form of Lieutenant (junior grade) Maya, physician, neurologist, and Vulcan.  The fact that she was Vulcan had been her top priority for the last two weeks.  A Terran would say that the fact had been hammered into her, while a Vulcan would say that fact had been made an unforgettable priority.  For the last fourteen days she had experienced a near continuous holodeck simulation of life in a Vulcan monastery in an attempt to bring her up to date and heal the effects of an archaic and somewhat abusive past.  Counselor Hathlev had visited her for therapy sessions but aside of that her only company had been the simulated ascetics and teachers.  Even now she wasn’t wearing a uniform, she was wearing an earth toned open robe over a fuchsia kimono style garment that was civilian garb on her planet, rather than a Starfleet uniform or anything that marked her as part of the interstellar community.     

”Deck Ten, Portside,” she said as she entered the turbolift nearest to the corridor that lead to the holodecks.  As the car moved through the decks of the Theurgy, Maya contemplated what she had learned during her therapy.  She had in fact been made aware of several things.  First was that two weeks of intensive therapy was not enough to make up for a past she could not erase.  

The second revelation was precisely how alone she really was.  The simulated monks and teachers on the holodeck had no psychic echo, no underlying presence, had none of the mental essence that flesh and blood sapient and sentient beings possessed, despite giving Maya significantly more attention than her shipmates aboard the Theurgy had.  How many people were more than associates?  To the rest of the ship, Maya must have seemed like a ghost, no more substantial than the holograms she had spent the last two weeks with.  Outside of her medical duties, had she made a single friend the entire time she had been here who had survived long enough to make it to Aldea? 

[ Maya | Junior Officer’s Quarters| Deck 10 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ]
  
When she returned to her quarters on Deck Ten Maya contemplated changing into her uniform but decided against it.  Until she was cleared for active duty, she was better off reasserting her Vulcan-ness by wearing what was in fashion back on her birth world.  

”Thea, do I have any messages?” the little Vulcan asked the empty room.

[ You have four messages, ] a female disembodied voice replied.  [ Captain Ives has scheduled a meeting with you at  1530 hours.  Counselor Hathev has scheduled you for a follow up examination tomorrow at 1400 hours, followed by a meeting with Doctor Kobol  to discuss the viability of returning you to duty.  Nurse Jovela sent you a ‘get well soon’ personal message that is not time sensitive. ]

Maya blinked but that was the only indication of surprise.  It was unusual for Captain Ives to take time to speak with her.  Perhaps the Chameloid’s previous experience as her counselor nine years ago made had made the captain wish to double check the progress of her therapy.

Needless to say, by 1530 Maya was on Deck One in the yeoman’s office informing the yeoman on duty that she was ready for her meeting with Captain Ives.
 

Re: Day 20 [1500 hrs.] Live Long and Prosper

Reply #1 –
[ Captain Ives | Captain's Ready Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] @Doc M. 
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"Enter," said Jien, having been reading about the development with the Savi and the augmentations of Thea's systems. Evidently, Blue Tiran and her delegation of engineers had been pleased enough with the specifications of the new features of the ship, and the upgrades were already well underway. Furthermore, there had been development with the Nicander-situation, but he had yet to read up on what progress the Science Department had made on the many fronts of their research. Jien had just been about to pick that PADD up when the chime had sounded - announcing the expected visitor. He looked up to see the Vulcan, and Jien rose to his feet.

"Doctor Maya, welcome," he said with a faint smile, and walked around the desk. Jien then stepped towards the replicator. "Can I get you anything?"

The personnel file of Doctor Maya was one of many annotations with varying degrees of security clearance. The woman had been born in a previous century and been brought to the current time aboard the Galaxy, re-entering service in Starfleet after some additional schooling. She'd served diligently aboard the Theurgy, until recent events had come to compromise her mind. Evidently, it hadn't been T'Rena of the Harbinger that had compelled her to attack Doctor Nicander during the battle at Starbase 84, but Doctor Nicander himself - effectively covering up how he'd made the Vulcan free Sonja Acreth.

It had only been after Maya had been set to this task that the Radiant - Heather MacMillan - had found Nicander and not just treated his injury, but inadvertently pushed the darkness from the Câroon's mind and restored his sanity. The potency and wavelength of this bioluminescence was still being researched by Commander Martin's science department, but Jien had heard it directly from Semathal aboard the Versant... that what Nicander claimed about MacMillan was true. By all indications so far, Doctor Nicander seemed to be telling the truth about the nature of their enemy. Whether or not he was giving them the whole truth was debatable, since it seemed that he didn't trust Ives crew - thinking they might make him a lab rat and cut him open.

After Nicander's sway over Doctor Maya had been revealed, the Vulcan's name had been cleared, and now, there might be an assignment available for her that could let her truly make a difference.

"After I came back from captivity," he said quietly as he made some black coffee for himself at the replicator, "I learned about your actions in the Brig, where you defended Doctor Nicander from those three security officers. Those who got the idea that Nicander was giving the Theurgy's shield harmonics to the Klingons. Today, I have added a commendation for your actions to your file... for there was no way you could have known Nicander's Farsight compromised his mind, and made him kill the three officers in your defence after one of them struck you down. Your actions allowed Nicander to deliver the information the bridge needed to save the ship and crew, and that on its own is a feat that shouldn't be overlooked. If it wasn't for you, they may have opened fire on the Doctor, and the crew would have perished at High Chancellor Martok's hands."

Stepping back to Maya with whatever she might have requested, his faint smile remained. "My gratitude, Junior Lieutenant. That couldn't have been an easy decision, given what Nicander did to you whilst under the parasite's influence."

Re: Day 20 [1500 hrs.] Live Long and Prosper

Reply #2 –
[ Maya | Captain's Ready Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] @Auctor Lucan 

Doctor Maya entered the captain’s office to see the Chameloid in his male form.  "Doctor Maya, welcome.  Can I get you anything?" he asked as he left his desk and walked to the replicator.

”Tea, please,” the greenblooded physician replied with her usual quiet calm.

Captain Ives’ voice was equally calm, so quiet that one could easily hear the replicator create first one beverage and then the other.  "After I came back from captivity I learned about your actions in the Brig, where you defended Doctor Nicander from those three security officers. Those who got the idea that Nicander was giving the Theurgy's shield harmonics to the Klingons. Today, I have added a commendation for your actions to your file... for there was no way you could have known Nicander's Farsight compromised his mind, and made him kill the three officers in your defence after one of them struck you down. Your actions allowed Nicander to deliver the information the bridge needed to save the ship and crew, and that on its own is a feat that shouldn't be overlooked. If it wasn't for you, they may have opened fire on the Doctor, and the crew would have perished at High Chancellor Martok's hands."

As Jien left the replicator to bring Maya her tea she regarded him with her customary wide eyed catlike stare.

"My gratitude, Junior Lieutenant,” he continued as he handed Maya her tea.  "That couldn't have been an easy decision, given what Nicander did to you whilst under the parasite's influence."

The wide eyed blank stare that Maya exhibited to her shipmates when conversing with them gave the visual impression that she was perpetually surprised, but in reality, the little Vulcan believed that she was letting them know they were receiving her undivided attention.  In this case her surprise was genuine.   Nothing had been said to her about the incident.  Considering that at the time she had been rewarded by being knocked unconscious by a phaser rifle butt (very rude considering that the weapon had a stun setting) she had assumed that Ives believed that Doctor Nicander had overridden her will again, a reasonable conclusion in light of the evidence.  In the weeks that followed, once freed from Lucan cin Nicander’s dominant personality, Maya had come to consider her actions that day an act of hubris.  To say that Captain Ives’ gratitude was unexpected would be an understatement. 

Maya blinked several times as she recalled the incident.  ”Actually, at the time my decision seemed quite straightforward,” she admitted.  ”So many of us have been affected by mental domination that at the time it seemed reasonable to presume that our chief medical officer was in there trying to reach us.  Looking back I must admit that it was an act of hubris to assume that I could determine whether it was truly our chief medical officer or not.”

Re: Day 20 [1500 hrs.] Live Long and Prosper

Reply #3 –
[ Captain Ives | Captain's Ready Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] @Doc M. 
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Jien nodded, noting how humble the Vulcan was about her achievements, which was quite an endearing quality in someone like her, who'd suffered a great deal at the hands of her former superior officer.

"You made the right call, regardless what you think your motivations might have been," he said, sipping his coffee while returning to his chair behind the desk. "I do think that if there was anyone aboard at the time that could determine the truth from all the falsehoods shrouding that Câroon, it would be you. For better or worse, the two of you worked closely together in Sickbay for years before this current crisis even began."

Thoughtfully, Ives wrapped his hands around the cup sitting on the desktop between them. He looked at the murky liquid as it emitted wispy vapour before his face. "Whether it was instinct, calculating the odds or hubris... you defended another Starfleet officer despite what his infected persona did to you by the time Sarresh Morali was made human, and later during the battle at Starbase 84. Few would leap to the defence of someone who took advantage of them in such a fashion, overcoming one's personal grievances and seeing how the Doctor wasn't quite himself at the time."

Smiling faintly, Jien leaned back, and changed... to her female form. Her tone remained the same, only more feminine in voice. "Personally, I doubt hubris brought you to defend Nicander, much less inoculate him before then, which allowed him to talk. This, against the explicit orders of Doctor Rez. You gambled defying your superior officer at that time, and while that might be noted in record, it will also state that if you hadn't done so, the Sword might not have made it out of that battle with the Klingons. I think I speak for all those who survived that day when I say thank you, Junior Lieutenant, for your service."

This, of course, led to the matter at hand. "Given your aptitude for discerning what you did, and your research into Nicander's condition..." Jien took a breath, starting over. "High Chancellor Martok has asked me if I had any officers that might volunteer to aid the Klingon Empire in the mission at hand, which will soon take us back to Federation space and the battles to come. The details are yet to be drawn up, but I wanted to ask you personally how you would feel about a transfer to the IKS Vor'nak - the cruiser which the High Chancellor will arrive here with in a few days. This is completely optional, of course. Sickbay still has great need of your skills, and so do I, given your experience."

In fact, Ives was hoping the Vulcan would turn this opportunity down.

Re: Day 20 [1500 hrs.] Live Long and Prosper

Reply #4 –
[ Maya | Captain's Ready Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ]

”This is indeed an honor,” the little Vulcan replied serenely.  “”I must concur that I am the logical choice.  Out of the physicians who served with Doctor Nicander from the beginning, I am the most alive.  I have no living family to tie me to the Federation and could serve as an exchange officer within the Klingon Empire for an indefinite period.  And despite the gruff, often hostile demeanor of the stereotypical Klingon, they would not… hurt my feelings.  I would be honored to accept.”

The timing of the Klingon’s offer was fortuitous.  Despite her Vulcan nature, the impression of isolation and alienation could not be entirely eliminated from Maya’s psyche.   In addition, being removed from duty by Counselor Hathlev had made Maya useless, a burden to the Theurgy and little more than a passenger.  By taking a position in the Klingon fleet Maya would be accepting a new challenge instead of surrendering to a weakness.  It would take years of therapy to turn Maya into a well-balanced Vulcan and the odds of success weren’t absolute even in a perfect environment, let alone the unstable and hectic environment of a renegade starship on the run from its own fleet.

The Klingons, on the other hand, could be considered as dangerously unstable when filtered through the viewpoint of a disciplined and emotionless Vulcan.  The Klingon fleet would find no reason to remove Maya from duty for being too emotional; on the contrary, a Klingon physician would be tempted to have her relieved of duty for suffering ‘disassociation’ for acting too calm.  The passionate, overly emotional nature of the Klingons could be very stimulating, and their paranoid violent natures had already proven to be a prophylactic against infiltration by the Infested.  Those who started acting different in the Klingon Empire were watched carefully and killed, either in a duel or by murder, and that practice had started countless decades before the threat of the sentient parasites had manifested itself.
 

Re: Day 20 [1500 hrs.] Live Long and Prosper

Reply #5 –
[ Captain Ives | Captain's Ready Room | Deck 01 | USS Theurgy ] @Doc M. 
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Not knowing whether or not she should be surprised with an officer wishing to be reassigned in general, Jien was quite certain that in Doctor Maya's case, she'd endured quite enough as it was. The voyage on the Theurgy hadn't been kind on her, since not only had she been abused by the Wing Commander of the Harbinger, Commander T'Rena's influence hadn't been kind on her either. For even if Maya had been instrumental in bringing the majority of T'Rena's victims back to sanity, it had come with a cost on the Vulcan as well. Evidently, however, that cost hadn't been as steep as they'd assumed, since it was Nicander that had used her for the purposes that pleased the nameless darkness' chaotic nature.

No, there was no surprise in Maya wishing to leave the Theurgy and serve on the IKS Vor'nak instead.

"I will send word to Martok that I have a candidate for the assignment," she said with a faint smile. "I will also inform Doctor Kobol  about the transfer so that you won't have to tell him yourself that he will have to find a new Chief Surgeon."

For a moment, Jien debated whether or not she ought to say something further about the decision of Maya's, and how it might be for her to serve with the Klingons. Instead, Jien found herself gravitating towards something a bit more personal for Maya.

"Martok will be here in a week. Is there something you wish to finish before then? A project, or someone that you wish to see? If you have any ongoing research, I hope the time is sufficient to find someone else to continue it, should you so wish."

Having said this, Jien got back on her feet, for she had a feeling that with Doctor Maya being so welcoming to the transfer, she would have no desire to linger either. Nonetheless, Jien did not want to dismiss her just yet. The Vulcan had endured quite a lot in her service to the Theurgy, and it was - indeed - a shame to loose her. Though she understood her reasons, of course, personal and not.

"Thank you," she said at last, "for your service to the mission and crew. I only wish it had been a better experience for you."

- FIN
 
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