Secrets Revealed

Posted on Wed Apr 24th, 2019 @ 6:35am by Lieutenant Commander Seleya & Lieutenant Kylian Linwood

Mission: S01E04 The Outpost Has Eyes
Location: Sickbay, USS Musashi
Timeline: Current, en route to destination

ON:

Lieutenant Junior Grade Kylian Linwood stood in front of the desk of his new CMO. It had been a harried couple of weeks. It wasn't everyday that a starship could get two new CMOs in such a short amount of time. As much as Kylian liked Egan Caliux, he was relieved that they had found an actual CMO. Although, the fact that she was a Vulcan was a little bit unnerving for Linwood. He had a hard time reading Vulcans, not that he found them cold, just that he found them closed. There was also much to admire about the species. They were tenacious and he envied their astounding amount of self-control.

This morning, since everything was new, he reported to her office first thing, to receive his assignment for the day. He was sort of excited and sort of terrified. Lieutenant Commander Selaya had made a lot of changes to sickbay in a very short amount of time. He admitted that none of them were bad changes, but it had been like night and day. He was hoping that she would provide him with things that were challenging.

Seleya finished reading yet another file. She still hadn't slept despite the pleadings of the nurse. She now wanted to take time to speak to her staff one on one. She had just been about to pick up another file when the door chime sounded. She'd looked up to see Linwood there. He had potential and a remarkable ability about him. An energy and bedside manner that screamed doctor. She gave a nod. "You are exactly thirty seconds early. Excellent." She motioned for the chair. "There is much to discuss. Do you require coffee?" It was a bit blunt but Seleya wasn't good at pleasantries.... she was quiet bad at them actually.

Kylian took the offered seat and crossed his legs in front of him to lean casually on his knees. He was trying really hard not to be amused by her bluntness. It had been awhile since he had worked with a Vulcan, but their forward manner never ceased to amuse him slightly. "No no. I've had breakfast and nice fruit smoothie, but thank you for the offer. I try and save the coffee for when I really need it. I have to admit that I'm rather excited to be thirty seconds early and I'm looking forward to everything that we need to discuss." He smiled warmly.

She studied him. "Sucking up is not necessary." She sat down. "This will be an opportunity for you to ask questions, express your thoughts. I will start by telling you what to expect. In my sickbay you will be challenged. You will have the opportunities to assist in surgery, as well as pioneer procedures that have never been done. I focus on a holistic approach that uses, science, medicine, and natural remedies. You will be a chemist, you will be a pathologist you will learn everything under the sun, as you humans are fond of saying. There will be dull shifts of course but there will be times where you will need to think quickly on your feet." She sat back. "Now, tell me about yourself, your background, your medical interests, and what you hope and would want to learn from me."

Kylian tipped his head to one side, his brows furrowing. He didn't think that he'd been "sucking up", as she had put it. It sort of bothered him that she might think that of him. He would have to be careful how he phrased things. He took a moment to think about what she had said before responding. "This is my first off planet assignment. I was rather excited to recieve it because they've been overlooking me for a whole year. I took a one year internship on a specialty track, Alien Biology and Physiology, at Kentfield Hospital in San Francisco out of medical school and have just been waiting. I'm a Starfleet brat. My father is a flyboy and my mother is a science officer. So I grew up on starships and in boarding schools." He shrugged. "Not much to tell." He took a deep breath, wondering if he should tell her about his grandmother. He decided not to. "Medically... I'm very interested in Alien Biology and Physiology, which is why I took the year internship. Honestly, I think the only reason I'm up here now is because I can speak Klingon. I also really love languages. I think it's important as a physician that I am able to speak as many as possible."

She gave a nod. "Also you are modest. I have reviewed your grades and notes from your professors. You are quite skilled. Languages are important and you, as you say, love languages that helps. I also note that you have an excellent bedside manner. I will count on you for that. I lack it, so I usually defer to those who do not."

Kylian chuckled, trying to hide his blush from her praise. "You're perfectly fine and I'm more than happy to keep people entertained while you poke and prod them... as the captain put it. I'm glad that you find my skills up to par. I was a little worried when I got here. There was just the head nurse in charge. I also wanted to mention to you that we have been translating a Klingon medical database of sorts."

She gave a nod. "Excellent." She studied him. "Now tell me. Are there any cases that I should know about any patients with illnesses that are ongoing?"

He thought for a moment. He seemed to really be considering carefully. "Not that I can come up with off the top of my head. If I look over the files, I might be able to tell you more. I have more of a visual memory. A majority of the people on this ship are human. There's an Andorian and the Caitian, I'm sure you've met... and now the half-Klingon baby. We're going to have to make sure that baby gets enough iron... Klingons apparently require a bit more of it earlier than humans do."

"Yes... I have had dealings with Klingons. We also have to get the Captain to name the child."

Kylian tipped his head to the side, his eyes widening in surprise. "You've actually worked on a Klingon? An actual Klingon? I've never even seen one in person... The baby is the closest I've gotten to one. The database is a lot more information then they gave me at school." He sighed. "I agree about the baby though. I wanted to offer her my assistance, but I'm not sure she's gonna want to give him a Klingon name."

She looked uncomfortable. "Back when I served on the Apollo there was a battle... the Klingon ship was about to be lost and we tried to pull survivors... only one made it... he did not make a full recovery, however, he was with us a short time, a few days. His injuries were too grave, but he was interesting to study. Now, as to the captain, anything you could do would be helpful. You have a certain charm."

Kylian made a face. He had really only seen results from battle from the arena of a planetside hospital. "I would have given anything to have been there with you. I know that sounds horrible, but the hands-on experience... and thank you." He grinned. "I want to try to help with that, but I don't get a lot of time around the captain, to be honest." He chuckled. "Should I just knock on her door and offer her my baby naming services?" He didn't act like he noticed, but he'd never really seen a Vulcan get as emotional as the new CMO had. It made him infinitely more curious about her.

She thought for a moment. "Yes... that would be acceptable. However the captain seems to be volatile in temperament, I would suggest an armoured suit of some kind."

Kylian's eyebrows shot up and he stared at her. For a moment, he wasn't sure what had happened exactly. Had... the Vulcan made a joke? He snorted in humor, unable to really stop it from happening. He grinned broadly. This would indeed be an interesting residency. "You aren't wrong..." he said, still giggling a little. "You're a very different sort of Vulcan." The phrase sounded more like he intended it as a compliment. "I have to admit that you've surprised me. I expected a much... stiffer upper lip." He chuckled again.

"I can assure you I am quite Vulcan. I was to a priestess before fate had other plans." Before the Vulcan priestesses had shattered her dreams. Before her dual heritage, one she didn't know about got in the way. She pulled out a data tape. "I have checked the appointments. We have two today, but most of the day will be in the lab." She stood, walking over to a small box. From it she pulled a walnut and took it to her desk. Elijah, ever mindful of food jumped up on her desk and snatched the walnut. He shifted over to Kylian and sat eating his treat. "We have some samples to review."

Kylian grinned at Elijah, watching him eat in fascination. It wasn't like he'd never seen a squirrel. He was from Earth, after all. They used to run all over the hospital grounds where he had been working. He'd just never been this close to one that wasn't yelling at him or throwing things at him from the trees. "Samples?" His gaze shifted from the squirrel to Seleya, his expression hopeful. "I love samples!"

She studied him a moment. She'd never seen someone as enthusiastic as he was. "Alright, follow me to the lab." She lead the way next door.

Kylian rose from his seat and followed her, excited for whatever she had in store for him. "So, you grew up on Vulcan?" he asked, as they left the office and headed for the lab.

"I did," she responded, a woman of few words.

Kylian had never been good at reading Vulcans. So he moved on to another topic since he didn't seem to get much out of her about that one. "What kinds of samples will we be looking at today?" he asked, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"We are looking at a new medication." She motioned for him to sit at a lab station. "These samples," she said, pointing to several colour coded samples. "These red ones are medications. I need you to review the contents of them. Once they are reviewed, they need to be scanned into the computer along with blood samples from all the species represented on the crew. We cross reference to see if any of the ingredients are not good for someone. For example, when we refine ryetalyn for Rigelian fever we need to add Bolian Forezite to make it safe for Bolians. We also need to add Alderzite to make it safe for Vulcans and Andorians and so forth. So, I need you to code all these, see what is bad and what needs to replace it. Once that's done, we'll be refining the samples and preparing vaccines and antidotes so that we have them on hand, need be." She looked at him. "Sound like a plan?"

Kylian grinned and listened carefully. "Sounds like a plan to me, Doctor. This might take me a little bit." He hoped that he wouldn't work too slowly for her liking. He did tend to be a perfectionist though. It took time to be like that.

She gave a nod. "I will work on another sample. One thing I must point out, do not fear to ask for help if it is needed."

Kylian blinked at her. "You're... going to help me?" He was surprised. Most doctors gave assignments and then left him alone to do them. He wasn't used to someone helping with the task he'd been assigned. Of course, he was currently serving aboard a starship, so things needed to get done. His assignments were probably not busy work, but rather things that really needed doing.

"Of course. There is a lot to get through. Working together we will finish in half the time it would take one person." She looked at him curiously. "Why would I not help?"

Kylian shrugged and grinned. "Most doctors have given me things to do and gone on to do the other million things that need to be done. I'm just not used to them working with me. It's nice. No complaints."

"Which is completely illogical. Why would they not work with their fellow doctors to complete tasks? I understand medical emergencies but..." She shrugged. "I do apologize that you have had that experience." She put the first slide on the scanner scope looking through the lens. "I run things differently," she said, as if it wasn't obvious that she was not your average bear.

Kylian also prepped his first slide and placed it into the microscope. "You don't have to apologize. Especially not for the entirety of my experiences." He chuckled. "I just welcome the change, that's all. It's kind of nice to have a CMO that does things differently."

She gave a nod. "Not many like change. It is rare to find someone who does."

"I love change. As long as it's for the better," Kylian said with a chuckle. "I mean who really likes change for the worse?" He marked the slide down and started on the second one. "I like to be challenged."

"That is good. I will give you challenging tasks." She sorted her own slides. "A life is meant to be filled with learning. No matter what station. It is... a lifelong pursuit." She stood. "I will go get some tea and then return. Do you care for something?"

"Some tea would be lovely," he responded with a grin. "Do you drink that Vulcan spiced tea? I quite like that one... but I prefer it with a little bit of cream." He slid his chair over to a second console and started to type.

"I do indeed, freshly brewed. I prefer it to replicated. I shall return."She headed out, feeling like she was off to a good start with at least one of her staff members. The Nurse... well that had yet to be seen.

"A Vulcan after my own heart!" he called after her. He much prefered brewed tea to replicated, any day. She's cute for a Vulcan... of course most people are cute. Something about her though. Not like any other Vulcan I've ever met and I've met a few. I mean medical field and all..." his interior monologue continued to prattle on to no one in particular.

She soon returned with the tea seemingly arguing with someone. "I said no." There was silence. "I wish to point out that the last time you had Vulcan spice tea you had gas. Vulcan spice tea is not for squirrels." As she entered the room Elijah, her little pet followed after her squawking. She placed the tea next to Kylian.

Kylian chuckled. "Thank you so much for the tea. Now that sounds more like the squirrels I'm used to. Angry. Crazy." He laughed again, looking down at the chittering animal. "I'm pretty sure your mom said no, buddy. Sorry about that." He picked up his cup of tea and blew across the surface of the hot liquid before taking a small sip. "Mmm... it's perfect."

Elijah gave a hiss and scurried up to a high shelf in the room laying down.

Seleya shook her head. "He can be a handful." She looked at one of her slides. "Doctor Linwood, come and see this slide. This is a new formation."

Kylian got up from his seat and went to hers, to stand behind her chair and look over her shoulder. He leaned even closer to get a look into the microscope. "Oh wow! What is that? That's totally not a normal protein sequence. Is it? But what is that?" He pulled back from the microscope and looked at her then leaned in to look again. For what it was worth she smelled good, clean, even by Vulcan standards, with a hint of something sweet and musky.

"It is a protein sequence, but do you see how it changes? It means that this particular medication is viable for almost eighty percent of the races with Starfleet. This is what we call a builder serum and from it we can adapt each and every medication so that it is tolerated by the vast majority." She stood off to the side to help him sit and review the slide. She was quite impressed with his eagerness to learn and his enthusiasm for something new.

He looked away from the microscope again, his eyes wide. "Wow! I've never seen anything like it. Where did this sample come from? This is the medication? How many viruses can it handle? Or is it just the one, but adaptable to the receiver? Couldn't that trait also make it dangerous?"

"It's... like a base. You would add about 1 CC to every 5 CCs of medication. It works as a stabilizer to adapt the dose to the host. It's fairly new and starting after we finish with our current mission our team, will be responsible for reviewing how good it can be. We'll be writing a paper." She had to hide her smile. "Starfleet has chosen several teams and we are one of them. The findings and recommendations of each team will be published and then the tests will continue at Starfleet medical."

Kylian raised his eyebrows, his eyes widening in surprise. "Published? A medical paper? Me? And you?" He stared at her, his mouth open for several moments. "That's... that's amazing! I can't believe it! I can't wait!" He was grinning from ear to ear and only barely resisted clapping his hands together like an excited child. "I'm totally excited and I promise to do my best work!"

She gave a nod. "Well, it will be me and you and Doctor Calix. This will be a team effort." Just as she was about to speak one of the nurses came in.

"Doctor, we need you."

She looked at Linwood. "Close up here and join me in the main bay." She hurried into the bay.

Kylian nodded and quickly and carefully put away everything they had been working on, before joining her in the main area of the medical bay. He was curious as to what was going on and sincerely hoped that someone just had a case of the sniffles.

By the time he joined her, Seleya was already working on a young Ensign. "Linwood! I need your assistance. He is bleeding internally. We need to operate. Prepare the instruments, you are assisting me."

Kylian rushed to her side and then rushed to prep the instruments she would require. He set up the tray quickly, used to triage. He had actually spent a lot of time in the emergency rooms of the hospital he'd worked before he's been assigned. He was back with the prepped tray quickly. In these moments it was almost like he went into autopilot. When he returned to the biobed, his eyes were on Seleya. He started to help her with the finishing prep on the patient. "Do you know what happened?"

"He fell in the cargo bay and crates fell on him." They were ready within minutes and already opening the patient up. This was not going to be easy. She held back a curse. "Damage, cardiac, four ribs broken, lung punctured." She adjusted the light so that she could see. Her hands worked quickly as she moved from one injury to another and it was when she got to his heart that she did swear. The assisting Nurse who'd joined them stared at Linwood. "The bleeding is not stopping. The gash is too big."

Seleya set the nurse to get a few more things. She asked Linwood to go and get a medication that would help synthesize the blood. When she was alone, she closed her eyes and focused. His heart was literally in her hands and as she focused she felt a tightening in her own chest. It was a slight burn and then a vise like grip. She held back a moan. When she opened her eyes the bleeding had slowed enough for her to close the gap in the main artery. Her own face was pale and hollow. She was thankful that everyone was gone... or were they?

Kylian stood in the doorway of the triage room staring at Seleya. He held the synthesizer and blood kit in his hands. He wasn't exactly sure what he had just witnessed and his mind was spinning in an attempt to catch him up. He couldn't even move. His brows slowly furrowed as his eyes began to move from Seleya to the medical display behind her and back to Seleya. He blinked slowly.

She couldn't shake the burning but the patient's bleeding had slowed. Her hands were a bit shaky. She looked over her shoulder. "Linwood, th... the bleeding has stopped. Hurry we have to close." She wasn't aware that he'd seen, as she'd managed to slow the bleeding. She picked up an automated device that would help her stitch up the artery.

By the time she started, the nurse returned. "Linwood!" Seleya said. "We must hurry."

Kylian shook his head, trying to shake off how startled he was and seemed to come to his senses again. He stepped forward quickly and helped her close up the patient's wound. He started to clean up the mess of tools the minute they were done, placing everything on a tray that he would sterilize later. The whole time that he was cleaning up he kept looking at her. Had she really done what he thought he had seen her do. It was a little hard to believe. He had heard of Vulcan's have extraordinary mental abilities, being a telepathic species, but he had never seen anything like that, and he had worked with a good many Vulcan's in his short medical career.

The nurse had taken the patient to recovery and his wife, who was also on ship, was allowed to see him. Still pale and shaky, she headed towards the office letting Linwood take the clean up. She felt bad about that, but she knew that the use of her abilities had cost her. She managed to walk well enough to her office, but once inside she collapsed to the floor clutching her chest. The pain would pass but the wound was serious enough that it would not pass quickly.

Kylian followed her with his eyes until she was out of his view, then he quickly cleaned up what was left to do and set aside what could wait. He jogged out of the surgery room and headed for her office. He gasped in the doorway, at finding her on the floor and grabbed the nearest tricoder. "Tell me what's going on..." he said as he ran the tricorder over her.

"I... I am fine... Perhaps tired..." She didn't see that he was scanning her. She was slowly feeling better as she always did when she used her abilities. She sighed. "It w... will pass."

Elijah scuttled in and settled by her the little squirrel butted his head against her check seeming to try and comfort her. She smiled a little, "Alright Eli. I'm okay." The squirrel did not look convinced. Slowly her breathing eased and the pain in her chest eased.

Kylian dropped his voice to a low whisper. "Don't bullshit me. I saw you. You did something to that patient... and then you paid for it." He held up the tricorder so she could see it. "I just watched you heal. Quickly. What is going on?" He offered her his arm as support to stand.

Still shaky, she allowed him to help her stand. She would try once more and see if that placated him. "I... well, I just saw an opportunity when the blood slowed." She had a feeling he wouldn't buy it.

Kylian stared at her, his face an unamused mask. "I'm sure you did see an opportunity," he replied with a hint of sarcasm. "Come now, Doctor. You know I'm not stupid."

She sighed and sat down across from him. "Alright, Alright. This does not leave the room."

Kylian nodded eagerly, his excitement showing a little. He put his hands up in supplication to her request. "I'm totally okay with it not leaving this room."

She made sure the door closed. "I just saw that the artery could not be closed. I wished the blood slowed and it did... then there was pain. It's happened before... since I was a child."

"Since you were a child?" Linwood looked surprised. "And no one ever told you anything about it or why it happened or how it happened?" He was frowning again.

"No. It is something I hid. The monastery I grew up in... they knew, at least some of them." That was why, one of many reasons, she was not allowed to be a priestess. That was why she had to leave. "As far as Starfleet, to my knowledge only my former CO Admiral Essex and his XO know. They thought it... best to keep this hidden. I do not use it often, nor can I control it at times." She resisted the urge to stand, knowing her legs would not support her. "I just.. knew I could not let our patient die. I..." She held up her hands. "It is why I wear gloves most of the time, why I do not touch people often." She looked tired and sad in that moment. "Vulcans are touch telepaths, for me... it is as if that is amplified." She was taking a risk telling him, but something told her he would keep her secret... or at least she hoped he would.

"Well..." Kylian said, after a few moments of silence. He rubbed his knees, trying to decide what he should do. It wasn't like she had hurt anyone, in fact, it was quite the opposite. If it hadn't been for her abilities then the man surely would have died. He was circling the drain when she stepped in. There was no way they would have been able to stop that bleeding in time and he knew it. "Well... I'm not going to say anything, but next time you have to promise to let me know before you do rash things that might make you pass out in the operating room. Okay?" He looked at her with concern.

"A wise and logical request." She gave a nod. "I shall do so." She sighed. "I will get something to eat and then head back to the lab. Since you are... better at speaking with people, then I will let you let his family know that he will be well. Ensure the patient is well in recovery."

Kylian smiled. At least her ability didn't seem to be dangerous and he felt like he could rest a little easy with that. He might have felt more pressure to tell someone else if it had had the potential to be dangerous, but it only seemed to be that way towards the wielder. He still felt he needed to keep an eye on her. Vulcans were notorious for trying to work themselves to death. "No problem. I'll have all that handled by the time you return from lunch. Make sure you eat something with protein..." He grinned. "Don't worry. I won't say anything."

She rewarded him with a rare sight for her, a smile. "Very well. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Doctor. I'd actually like to take a closer look at your abilities sometime if you don't mind. Maybe do a genome study? Have you ever considered? I'm sorry to get all nerdy on you, but I'm totally fascinated in alien, as if species not my own, not in the insult fashion, morphology and biology. I mean... that is if you didn't mind."

She sighed. "Actually some answers might be good. We'll make a plan for that study of yours."

Kylian's eyebrows shot up and he went from a grin to beaming. "I will... set up an itinerary of things that will need doing. In my free time, of course. I won't let it distract me from my studies, but... I mean I want to help, more than just keeping an eye on you and I think I can help."

:END