Doctors’ Dinner

Posted on Thu May 2nd, 2019 @ 10:44am by Lieutenant Jane Sinclair MD, DVM & Lieutenant JG Alec Toten

1,142 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 2 - Love ORION Mistaken
Location: Officer’s Mess

Alec kind of fell into the mess hall, not really tired, but rubbing his eyes anyway. Medical texts will do that to you, so he figured he'd pop in and grab himself a little snack in the officers mess. The doors swished open and Alec could hear activity in the galley, and a wonderful smell to boot. "Somethin certainly smells awesome" he said to no one in particular.

Jane Sinclair had been in the galley for the previous forty-five minutes. She had assumed that it was late enough that the kitchen staff would be off-duty. But instead someone who wasn’t even the Head Chef kept trying to interfere — or worse, help — her with what she was doing. And while the food was looking more and more delicious, she was getting more stressed.

Hearing the door open to the mess, she looked through the open galley access and called out. “Is that you, Alec?”

"It is indeed." he slightly chuckled. "Is that you, Jane?"

“Sure is!” Jane replied. “Just one moment!” She turned to the assistant chef. “If you insist on helping, stir this!”

She came out of the galley, her blue hair tied behind her in a tight ponytail. She wore an apron with a Starfleet delta on it. Not her favourite apron — that honour went to her old school ‘Kiss the Cook’ one that she didn’t think was appropriate tonight — but it kept the food off her uniform.

She smiled warmly at her ACMO. “Good evening, Alec. Thank you for joining me tonight. Dinner will be ready in just a minute.” She turned and walked back into the galley.

"No problem." Alec smiled.. "Thanks for inviting me."

Two minutes later, Jane came out with two plates of meat, rice, and a vegetable. She set them on the table and grabbed two glasses of wine from the galley counter. She gestured to the chairs and sat herself.

“The chef has prepared steak with pepper sauce, Vulcan rice, and pan fried broccoli,” she explained, using a mock over-serious presentation voice. “The cows are from my homeworld, Vega Colony. The muscle is made more tender by the genetic modifications we put into them to thrive on that world. The pepper for the sauce is from Proxima, and the broccoli was transplanted to hydroponic farms on Andoria. Little bits from all over the Federation. Only the spices I used for the broccoli are Terran. Bon appétit!”

"Looks delicious Jane!" Alec grinned. He scooted his chair just a little in to protect his uniform. "Smells great!"

Jane realized she hadn't taken her apron off, so she slid it over her head, and then picked up her knife and fork. As she cut into the meat, she said to Alec "So we've been working together a couple of weeks now. How do you think it's gone? And I want you to be honest because I want us to have the best and most effective working relationship possible."

"I think youre a great boss, Jane." he said, he took a bit of broccoli, making "yummy" noises. "Dranted my field is more psychiatric." he said. "But you recongnize me as a MD too. My last CMO just stuck me in a cubicle."

“Our ship is too big to just lock you in a cubicle and use you only for head cases,” Jane said. “A few weeks ago Cindy gave me a stern talking to because I stayed in sickbay close to twenty-four hours straight during the Romulan crisis. You showed me during the Romulan battle that I can rely on you so I take rests at appropriate times.” She cut up a piece of steak and made sure it was covered in sauce. “But I also need you to tell me when you think I’ve been on too long. We’ve not had another crisis, but I’ve instituted a new rule for the department. During a crisis, everyone needs to rest for six hours after twelve hours on duty. Staggered, of course. What do you think?”

"I like that idea." Alec said simply. "We serve as each others checks and balances. It is never good when the Doctor becomes the patient." Alec nodded, sampling the rice.

“Did you have any ideas for the department?” Jane asked. “You’re a very good listener, but I want to hear from you, too.” Having finished her bite of steak, she ate some broccoli.

"All I can think of is training the crew. I mean like in engineering for example. Something falls, explodes. What have you. Have some basic knowledge down in case a tem can't get there or were overwhelmed "

Jane nodded as she chewed her next bite. “I like it. Slightly more than basic first aid for people in other departments. I was thinking of asking Bec to let us train the security officers that would guard sickbay, so they can lend a helping hand during a battle.” She scooped up more food. “Let’s get to know each other a bit, too. I mentioned I’m from Vega. Colony girl and proud of it. I’m both a medical doctor and a veterinarian. I want to one day have a practice on some remote frontier world. And you?”

"Well, we moved around a lot when I was young." Alec said, right after devouring a bite of steak."My folks were diplomats. So it was going to world after World. Which I admit was pretty exciting. But I found out quick that it wasn't my thing. So in an act of "doing something else" I guess I went into Starfleet to be a doctor. Turned out I had a knack for it"

"You do, at that," Jane agreed, spearing the last bite of her steak. "What's your favourite planet that you've been to? Either from childhood or your Starfleet career?" She popped the last bit of meat in her mouth and closed her eyes a moment to savour it.

"Id have to say the caitian home planet." Alec said. It's just something about that jungle." He laughed. "Plus I like cats."

Jane grinned. “We have that in common! Next time we come to a Federation colony I’m going to try to adopt one. A cat, I mean, not a Caitian.”

"Yeah." He laughed. "Cats sound a lot more manageable." He grinned. "Most Caitians I met would be like.....Nah, don't think so."

“Plus, you know, the whole ‘ownership of a sentient being’ thing,” Jane jokingly reminded her colleague of. “I’m enjoying dinner with you, Alec. We should make this a semi regular thing. Maybe invite some others from the department sometime. I’ve become friends with Nurse-Practitioner T’Kal, for example.”

"I'd like that a lot, actually." Alec grinned.

Jane smiled at her coworker — no, her friend — as they continued to eat their meal.

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