Shanghaied

Posted on Thu Feb 21st, 2019 @ 1:56pm by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Commander K'Niras Sh'howul & Lieutenant Kylian Linwood

Mission: S01E04 The Outpost Has Eyes
Location: USS Musashi | Transporter Room

Egan Calix was still reeling from a nasty hangover. Whilst he was celebrating his completion of Medical School on Risa, and waiting to begin his Internship on Sherman's Planet, the civilian transport he was on was cut off by a Federation starship. Though the whole thing was exciting, considering Egan had barely left his home world of Risa, and this was by far the furthest he had ever been in deep space, what happened after that was a foggy blur in his mind. Gods and Goddesses did he wish he could remember it more clearly.

When Egan woke up, he woke up in his guest quarters on the transport. He remembered the transport being stopped by a Federation starship. Then he remembered meeting an older woman. She had a somewhat higher pitched yet raspy voice and a large baby bump. She offered to buy him some drinks and he accepted. He couldn't really repay the favor seeing as how she was with child. However, he did order her a virgin cocktail or two. She must have gotten me drunk... spiked my drink maybe? he thought when he woke up and things started to become clearer. Soon bits and pieces started coming back to him. She had given him a data tablet and he... Oh yes, he thought. He remembered signing it.

She had taken the tablet back immediately afterwards. Now, Egan was scheduled to depart via the transport's transporter room. "Coordinates in?" asked Egan who was given a silent and hesitant nod, affirming the coordinates were locked. "Alright, then," he said, not realizing that he was peculiarly dressed. He hadn't dressed himself. "Energize," he added, expecting to be beamed down to the surface of Sherman's Planet.

The tingling sensation came over him and in that moment he had stood frozen. The sensation faded as he did, but he would soon rematerialize... but not where he expected to. He saw two individuals standing before him, one looked like a gigantic feline and the other looked like a human. "Where in blue blazes..." he began and started to look around. He was in the transporter room of another ship. A Federation starship? he pondered. The uniforms on the men definitely confirmed that much... and the uniform on Me? he thought realizing he was dressed in a Starfleet uniform.

K'Niras raised his eyebrows and watched the new Doctor step off the transporter pad. He was considerably younger than what the Caitian had expected. "Welcome to the USS Musashi, Doctor. I have your transfer papers and a list of your staff." He held out the data PADD. "Your name is Egan Calix? Doctor Egan Calix?"

Kylian stood quietly next to the Caitian. He was here to take the new doctor to sickbay and was also surprised when the young man appeared on the transporter pad. He wasn't sure that the new doctor was any older than he was and also had that look of someone who was fresh out of medical school. Kylian was also carrying a PADD, but his contained a list of patients that they already had in medical and their conditions and treatments.

Egan cautiously stepped forward, down from the transporter platform as the illumination on the circles of the pad decreased, fading as the light was snuffed entirely. "Egan Calix, yes" he said confirming his identity. "Doctor... technically, yeah," he said studying the creature whom he did not know. Clearly a Starfleet Officer and feline in nature... sentient. He had never seen a Caitian in person before, but he suspected this individual was one of such creature. "I was on my way to Sherman's planet for my Internship, then I'm slated to finish it off with a few years of residency," he explained.

"ORDERS?!" he said the word hit him suddenly. "What do you mean orders? I'm not... I'm a civilian who just finished Medical School on Risa. I don't have orders."

K'Niras laughed, it was probably hard to tell if it was actually amusing or if he was laughing sarcastically. "Well, you have orders now, seeing as how you are now the CMO aboard the USS Musashi. That stands for Chief Medical Officer... in case you were confused."

"You bet your fur covered ass I am confused," he replied somewhat sharper than he was used to. He did not usually get upset or agitated to this extent, but none of this was making sense to him until he started to think and focus on the woman. "This is a misunderstanding. It has to be. I'm no Chief of anything. Medical or otherwise. I haven't even begin my internship yet and you expect me to waltz into your medical facilities and tend to injured and wounded crew?"

"It's not a misunderstanding..." K'Niras replied calmly. He was starting to get a little annoyed that the young man just beamed aboard their ship and he didn't even seem to know what he was there for or why. "We desperately needed a doctor. Our Captain made her choice of available candidates. You were it. So, now... here you are." He hoped that perhaps that would do it and the young man would understand.

Kylian chuckled. "Late night, eh?" he interjected. "So you met the Captain... she was the pregnant one."

Egan did not like this Caitian very much. He was not visually appealing, but that was not really saying anything. Caitians in medical texts were nothing compared to seeing a large furball of an individual squeezed into a uniform. There also seemed to be no reasoning with the man. However, the other man looked nicer and sounded more pleasant for the most part. Egan focused his attention on the latter. "Yes, her. She took me to a bar and asked me questions... she offered to buy me a drink or two... or several. I cannot remember. She flirted with me and I don't remember much after that. She showed me a tablet of data and asked me to sign it? I think. It's all a bit fuzzy, she must have slipped something into my drinks. That woman is a..."

Before he could finish his sentence the woman in question had made her way into the transporter room. "Nasty woman, Federation bitch, demon whore... trust me I have been called many names. They almost always are accurate," said Captain Figueroa. "Thank you for coming to meet our new Doctor, Number One," she said to K'Niras. "I take it he's been less than cooperative," added Fig.

K'Niras chuckled and crossed his arms. "The boy doesn't even seem to know why he's here, Captain," he informed her.

Egan interjected, "What am I doing here and why am I in this uniform?" he asked, looking at the captain for answers.

Captain Donatella Figueroa had a data tablet in hand as she moved closer to Egan and showed him the tablet. "That there, is your signature, Doctor Calix. This lovely contract and all the details state that you are now property of Starfleet, and more importantly property of me and my crew. You are a Starfleet Officer now, and I need a Chief Physician aboard. That's going to be you," she said firmly.

"You can either go with Doctor Linwood and get settled into Sickbay, or you can be escorted to the Brig where you will remain until we are back at a Federation station where you will likely face court martial for desertion," she offered.

Kylian raised his eyebrows. He'd heard the captain be forthright and forward before, but he'd never really heard her threaten anyone. "I'd suggest you come with me..." he offered.

Egan gulped and swallowed hard. His people had contact with the Federation for a long while, though they had only recently been admitted as a member. I never knew Starfleet could be like this, he thought. "I th-Yeah, I think you might be right... I'll take my chances in Sickbay. Captain, what you did is highly unethical and you took advantage of me. I will be making a formal protest."

K'Niras grinned, just showing the front of his teeth and not the large canines behind them. "Protest away. We'll make sure your program knows that you protested your first assignment as well."

Kylian motioned to Egan. "Come on, Doctor. Let's go have a look at your office."

The newly appointed Chief Medical Officer did so albeit with much protest, leaving Fig and K'Niras in the transporter room.

Of course, Captain Figueroa waited for the doors to close shut and for a few more moments for the two men to be far enough away that she could speak to her First Officer. "He's right you know," she said bringing her hand to her head. It was clear this whole thing was weighing heavily on her. "The Musashi was not his intended destination. It wasn't where his medical program was sending him. He was going to Sherman's planet, and I got involved. I changed that man's fate, Number One."

K'Niras remained in a passive stance, his arms still crossed. "You did not change his fate. You merely changed his destination. Fate is fate, Captain. No one can change that. Who's to say that you did not help the man? No one can determine how this is all going to go. We were left with few options. He's going to have to just deal."

"I did more than change his destination, Number One. I took advantage of a innocent young civilian, spiked his drinks until he was mauliable like clay and I coerced him into signing over his life to the service of Starfleet," she said almost in disbelief of herself. "The worse thing is that I know if he protests enough and Starfleet Command looks into it, I'll be the one possibly facing court martial... and I don't like myself for doing what I did to him, but I try to justify it in my head by saying 'Regulation 3, paragraph 12' and that at least gives me some sense of justification."

The Caitian's eyes widened for a moment and his ears lay back against his head. "You actually spiked his drinks?" he queried. "I'm not sure that Starfleet Medical would agree with you on that particular interpretation of that regulation..." He was silent for only a moment before adding, "Regulation 13982... would be more to your liking. It allows a Starfleet captain to conscript almost any person into service during a time of war."

Fig snorted with the quoting of that regulation. "The Federation has been quick to not label these 'incursions,' 'mishaps,' and 'border skirmishes' as being actual war. I don't think they would be too keen on a 13982 defense. Reg 3, Paragraph 12 at least can be construed as taking extreme measures for the safety and well being of the ship and crew," she said somewhat more confidently. "I'm still waiting to see how all of this goes down in Federation History... as a war or will it be glossed over and downgraded?"

"Probably," K'Niras replied, his tone matter-of-fact. "Much like what happens to all of history. Eventually, we will be a fable to teach children with. If knowledge of us survives at all. If we're lucky we might get our names on a plaque." He chuckled. "For future Captains of this vessel... a list of names of people you don't know," he said in an announcer type voice. "But in all seriousness... you shouldn't have drugged that boy. Let's not speak of it again and not make a habit of roofying potential crew members."

She nodded agreeing to not spiking drinks and shanghaiing any more potential crew. "I know, I am a nasty woman," she said shaking her head. "We won't discuss it any further, but in all seriousness, what you said about becoming fables and forgotten is damn sharp pessimism, and I find that awfully disturbing, Number One."

K'Niras snorted and shrugged. "It is what it is, Captain."

"We'll just have to see, Number One" she replied simply. He's different than Christopher, but I think this dynamic has potential. The crew will be able to handle this more than someone new coming in she thought to herslef as they disembarked from the transporter room.