GS-2: Sickbay ("Discussion")

From: V. Rahul Chandra (vrccan_at_gmail.com)
Date: Sun May 27 2007 - 04:10:50 PDT


 

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"Discussion"

Con't from Jerome's "The End Times"

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Location: GS-2

Stardate: 2422 [2.7] 0527.0642

Scene: Sickbay

 

Jeff was seated at the desk in his office, drumming his fingers thoughtfully
on the table as he thought about the autopsy he'd just run.  Something about
the autopsy was bugging him and he wasn't entirely sure exactly what it was.
He wasn't even really sure that his fears were founded on anything as at the
moment to him they just seemed like instinct.  He'd been a doctor long
enough to know that sometimes instincts needed to be trusted and that's why
he was at his desk in thought right now.

 

"You wanted to see me Doctor?" Jeff's attention was distracted by the voice
at his door and he nodded up at his assistant.

 

"Yes Mr. Roke, please have a seat," Jeff said, causing the other man to take
the seat offered and look across at his boss questioningly.  Jeff was silent
for a few moments, figuring out exactly what it was he wanted to say in his
mind and Roke shifted uncomfortably a few times whilst staring at the Chief
Medical Officer in confusion.

 

Finally, Jeff just shook his head and slid a PADD across his desk to Roke,
who snatched it up quickly and started reading.

 

"It's the autopsy report on the man that was murdered and partially
skinned," Jeff said as Alec kept on reading.  "I wanted someone else to take
a look at it for a fresh perspective."

 

Alec nodded, but his eyes were still focused on the PADD in front of him.
Finally, he whistled slightly to himself and placed the report back on the
table.  "That's some slick work," he commented.

 

Jeff nodded, leaning back in his chair and adding the PADD back to his stack
of active reports.  "Slick is exactly the word I was thinking to myself when
I did the autopsy," he commented.  "Most of the crimes we see around here
are not really that slick.  They're either crimes of passion or they're
deaths in the line of duty."

 

He frowned slightly, that feeling still nagging at his subconscious.
"There's something different about this one," he said.

 

"What are your thoughts on the matter sir?" Alec asked, prodding his
superior for more information.

 

Jeff shook his head slightly.  "It's been my experience that criminals tend
to mess things up most of the time," he said.  "There are usually some
glaring mistakes at a crime scene, but there don't appear to be that many
here; at least not yet.  But it's not just the circumstances surrounding the
crime, but the crime itself that has me slightly disturbed."

 

"How so sir?"

 

Jeff shook his head again.  "I'm not sure.  It's just.a feeling." He took
the PADD off his stack and scrolled to a particular section, before scanning
it and then passing it across to his assistant.  "Read that part again and
see if anything strikes you as standing out or peculiar in any way."

 

Alec did as instructed, before turning and looking back up at his assistant.
"Nothing sir," he said.  "Unless you're talking about how precise some of
the cuts were."

 

"Not some of the cuts," Jeff answered.  "All of the cuts.  The best ones
could have been done by an award winning surgeon and even the others were
still bordering on surgical precision."

 

Alec didn't really understand where his boss was going, so he chose to
remain silent as Jeff continued.  "To me, that suggests a number of things
potentially.  It might suggest a person who has committed a crime like this
before, or it might suggest a person that has some sort of medical training
in their background.  But it also might suggest the use of an instrument
that was very precise."

 

"A very sharp hand knife could make some of these cuts," Alec observed.
"Especially if it were in the hands of someone who had medical training
before."

 

"It could," Jeff conceded that point.  "In my view though, it's also equally
likely that they were using a very precise instrument.  Something like a
scalpel."

 

"Does it make a difference?" Alec asked.

 

"I guess not," Jeff answered reluctantly.  "Scalpels are harder to purchase
than knives though; if it was indeed a scalpel, we might be able to track it
through the medical distributors and the independent practices on this
station."

 

"Well, we can certainly do that," Alec said.  "I can get someone on
inventory here to make sure that all of our instruments are still accounted
for."

 

"Do that," Jeff advised.  "In the meantime, I'll contact the independent
practices in the area and see if everything's good with them."

 

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NRPG: Just adding to Jeff's investigation a bit.

 

==============

Rahul Chandra <vrccan_at_gmail.com>

Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Gorman, MD

Chief Medical Officer

GS-2 

 




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