Wandering Eyes

Posted on Sun Sep 15th, 2019 @ 7:34pm by Lieutenant Jane Sinclair MD, DVM & Lieutenant Luke Osswell

1,608 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission 2 - Love ORION Mistaken
Location: Sickbay

Jane Sinclair was hard at work examining the data available on their Orion guest. Her office door was open, but her staff were giving her a wide berth. She wasn’t sure why, but it meant that she could look into the anomalous information about Vivyra. Why was she different than other Orions? She would need time, but time she was being given. Her open door, nevertheless, signalled her availability for patient care.

Luke walked through the open door. He was still at odds with himself for really having to come here. Ever since his chat with the captain he had felt disorientated, restless and out of sync with his usual self. Perhaps something was wrong with him... In any case, he felt it was affecting his duties and that simply wouldn't do. Perhaps a hypo filled with something soothing would help. And as long as he was here he would finally meet the doctor and personally see what all the fuzz was about concerning the effect this Orion chick was supposedly having on her.

Jane looked up from her work to see tall man in red at her door. She hadn’t met him yet, but recognized him from his personnel file. She gave him a friendly, welcoming smile. “Good afternoon Lieutenant...Osswell, right? I’m Jane Sinclair. What can I do for you today?”

"Right," Luke smiled back. "Nice to meet you, Doctor. Actually, I'm not really sure, Doc, this whole day I've been tense, not my usual self. I can't seem to calm my head down. Normally I would shrug it off and unwind after work, but I still have a few hours to go, and how can I do my job properly if I cannot concentrate?"

Jane nodded. “A lot of people have been feeling off the past few weeks. I’m still looking into what it all means.” She stood from her desk. “Come on then! Let’s go to a biobed and give you a scan!”

Luke happily complied, more than ready to get rid of whatever it was bothering him. That's when he realised the Doctor had mentioned weeks... "Hey Doc, I've only been on board for a few days, whereas I was fine before... Do you think it might be something on the ship?"

“It might be,” Jane said. “I’ve been tracking something strange. Not quite a disease, and nothing to worry about, but people have been sometimes losing concentration, or having strange bouts of déjà vu or people or things half-remembered.” She got out a tricorder and started scanning Luke. “Me, for example? I vaguely remember falling in love, but I’m not sure with whom, or why. Strange, right? Not that it matters now. New person in my life, there is!”

"So I've heard," Luke said as the doctor was moving the tricorder up and down his body. "When did Vivyra come on board? From what I've read in the reports I came on board not long after she did..." Luke thought about this briefly, thinking that the Doctor's feelings for this Orion woman had developed mightily fast, though he chose not to point that out. He was also contemplating how, whatever was affecting the ship, might be posing a risk to ship security.

“Just four days ago, actually,” Jane answered as she continued scanning. “We found her ship, fleeing some Orion interceptors. Then, when we beamed her up, the strangest thing happened. Her two pursuers fired upon each other. We still have no idea why they were hunting her, aside from recovering what they consider their property.”

"Perhaps she was a spy, or double agent, and her cover was blown..." Luke thought out loud, thinking of a movie he watched recently about someone called 007. He then shook his head. "Sorry, like I said, can't seem to concentrate.... Are your scans telling you anything?" he asked.

“No, but my ears are,” Jane said, giving him a scowl. “She’s not a spy, Mister Osswell. She’s a victim of cruel sentient trafficking. You start spreading ideas like she’s a spy and people start to doubt her. And I for one won’t have that.”

Luke frowned at the Doctors harsh words. "What are you going on about, Doc? I meant no offense." Suddenly the doc's instruments around Luke looked less friendly to him... "I don't even know why I said it, it's why I'm here, Doc, my mind keeps wandering..." Hey, Luke thought as he spotted the nurse T'Kal, that Vulcan looks kinda hot. His eyes and head followed her as she walked around Sickbay, momentarily having forgotten the Doctor.

Jane smiled as she noticed Luke's eyes follow Nurse T'Kal's admittedly stunning figure. Do I tell him she's married?Naaaah. Where's the fun in that? "No offense taken, then, Luke," she told him. "If your mind is wandering, then maybe something's wrong. I'm not detecting anything unusual as of yet. Do you drink a lot of caffeine, maybe? That can make it difficult for people to concentrate sometimes." She didn't think that was the cause, but every avenue was worth exploring.

Hearing the Doc's voice brought him back to reality. "Caffeïne?" Luke repeated, "nah, Doc, I drink hot chocolate milk. With a straw. Because I like it. Always have. Ever since I was a child. And I have a bear that I have on my bed and his name is Mr. Blueberry. Because its blue and its a bear. And.... oh my god why am I telling you this?" Luke exclaimed that last sentence. So embarrassing!

Jane’s brow furrowed. She didn’t see anything wrong from her scans, but the readings would need to be studied further. She thought about what might be causing it and then smiled a bit more widely. “Now, I’ll have a lab tech look over these readings to see if they find anything abnormal. But I do have one theory.” She walked to the other side of the biobed the security officer was sitting on, standing right behind him. The way they were both facing, they could see the short-skirted Nurse T’Kal, who chose the exact right moment to bend over to pick up a dropped PADD. “I think you’re getting a bit flustered from seeing a pretty girl or two since coming aboard,” she said softly, so only he could hear.

Luke gasped. "What?! No...." He said perhaps a little to loudly causing the Vulcan to turn to see what was wrong. Quickly averting his gaze, Luke continued: "I mean, I'm a professional. Keep work and pleasure strictly separated. I am very selective in these sort of matters, and a gentleman, I might add! I would never..." But he had to admit to himself, he was flustered...
"But, yeah, maybe... but that's not truly me though, I can handle these things pretty well..." He looked kind of awkward, like he didn't really quite know how to handle himself. "Perhaps this Orion girl was giving off pheromones, or something", Luke thought, except that he accidentally said it out loud, loud enough for Doctor Jane to hear him.

“I’m actually looking into that possibility,” Jane said. She knew it was unlikely, but she knew when a person was trying to save face, so wouldn’t attack him for it. Not directly anyway. “But please don’t talk about such things. It’s unbecoming to pass blame on others when there’s no one at fault. Now, aside from what you told me already, is there anything else I should know about? Symptoms you’ve been experiencing that you don’t think are relevant? You’ve told me about your inability to concentrate or focus. And your wandering eyes,” she teased.

The moment Luke had realised that had come out out loud, he held his breath. He'd heard rumours the Doc was super defensive of Vivyra and he had already skirted the edge with his earlier comment about her being a double agent... Even though he was well trained and thought himself more than a match for the tiny woman, he'd hate to get on her bad side. Especially now she was standing over him, holding dangerous medical instruments... On that note, he sat back up. "Yes, you are right, I shouldn't make assumptions before any proof is given," He smiled, showing that he meant that. "Haha, wandering eyes, yes indeed... And no, just the distraction coupled with the 'wandering eyes', I guess. I don't suppose you can give me anything against that? I mean, it really distracts me from my work, Doc".

Jane laughed. “I’m afraid not, Luke. Else I’d be taking some too. I’ll send your tests to the lab and I’ll call you with results in a day or so. I don’t see anything wrong though right now.” She stepped back from the biobed. “You’re free to go, Mister Osswell. Have a good rest of your day, yeah?”

Luke sighed a heavy sigh, resigning himself to his fate. "Alright, Doc, thanks. You too," he said with a smile. As he walked out of Sickbay he started thinking about other ways to deal with his predicament. That's when he had it. His shift was over. Usually he'd go to the bar, have a few drinks and a few laughs with his crew mates, but that'd be irresponsible of him in this state. He did have some genuine home-grown beers from Earth in his fridge though.... With a new purpose in his mind, he strode off to his quarters.

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