From: Ranjani Sabarinathan (rantrek_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Mon May 12 2008 - 02:10:44 PDT
“Anaqueen Lectures Grace”
(contd from Taylor’s ‘124’)
Location: GS-2
SD: 2.80511.2305
Scene: Sickbay-> CMO’s office
Grace Poe inquired approaching her latest patient. “Captain, what can I do for you?” The Orion noticed Anaqueen was gently rubbing her temples and deduced the Trill was having headaches. The doctor guessed the headaches were caused by tension and made sure to advise Spankryz to not overwork.
Ana replied, sighing. “Need something for these headaches.” She sat down on a biobed watching Grace pick up a hypospray from the tray and applied it on the other woman’s neck. Soon after the liquid was injected, the Trill became relieved. “Thank you, doctor,” she stated.
Grace nodded in acknowledgement before cautioning. “Captain, I would advice you to ease off on your workload and that would help you avoid these headaches.”
“Dr. Tran, my CMO says the same thing,” Spankryz quipped. “In fact I’ve been told this by nearly every CMO I’ve served with.” The Trill got off the biobed.
**Yet you don’t listen, then again no one does, ** Poe thought ruefully. As she placed the instrument back on the tray, the Orion stiffened at the sounds of sniggering a short distance away.
Male voices were spouting out phrases such as ‘getting high on pheremones’, ‘belong in a brothel’ and ‘Orion slaves like her have no place here’.
Grace lowered her head in shame, which did not sit well with Anaqueen. The Trill turned around to find the culprits behind the remarks and spotted two young human men wearing civilian clothes standing by the door sharing a laugh as well as pointing at the aCMO. Ana folded her arms and glared at them, forcing them to high tail out of the room. Sadly Grace slinked away to her office, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Ana followed her.
“Need something else, Captain?” Poe inquired, spotting the Trill behind her. The two women were standing outside the CMO’s office.
“Yes.” Spankryz nodded. “I need a quick word with you.”
The doctor was eager to get inside her office and did not feel up to speaking with anyone. The taunts brought back terrible memories of her past. Memories she wanted buried forever. Grace clasped her hands to stop them from shaking. It was not the first time she had been verbally and physically abused over her heritage. But it didn’t matter whether it was one or a million times, the pain still burned inside her. Right now, she wanted to be alone, isolated from the rest of the station. She wanted to cry at that very moment but did not want to make a fool of herself in front of the Captain.
“Understood, ma’am,” she replied politely in a slightly shaky voice. “Please come inside.” The aCMO invited her superior inside and hoped the meeting would be brief. Motioning her arm towards one of the visitor’s chairs, Poe offered. “Please, have a seat.”
“Actually I will just stand as this shouldn’t take long,” Spankryz informed, folding her arms and stood a few feet from the green skinned woman’s desk. Noting the nervousness shown through the doctor’s body language, Ana suggested gently. “You can sit down, Doctor.”
“Yes ma’am,” Grace murmured, slowly sitting down. Her head was lowered, eyes fixed down on the surface of the desk and fingers clasped.
Stepping forward, the Trill chastised, a stern look in her blue eyes. “Lieutenant Poe, you will look at me when I am speaking, not at your desk.”
Grace was taken aback by the chastisement and blinked. Slowly and reluctantly, the Orion raised her head and struggled to meet Spankryz’s gaze. She was confused wondering if she had done anything wrong. She watched Ana pace about the room, gulping in anxiety.
“Learn to stand up for yourself, doctor,” Ana began forcefully confusing the other officer even further. “Your current demeanor as that of a victim who feels sorry for herself only makes you a prey for others to ridicule.” She moved closer and stood only an inch from the desk. Grace nearly flinched at the fixed stare Spankryz was giving her but managed to compose herself.
“I don’t understand,” Grace said in a low voice.
Anaqueen continued firmly. “Lieutenant, you’re a Starfleet officer and it’s time you start looking past whatever that makes you feel unworthy.” The Trill recalled glancing at Poe’s files and concluded the woman, although a brilliant physician, to be uncomfortable around other people for fear of abuse. She also figured that Grace was indeed ashamed of her past as an Orion slave girl, thereby dampening her self-esteem, which in turn prevented her from defending herself from others’ derision.
Grace had begun to slowly understand what Ana was conveying to her, despite the harsh words. No matter how accomplished she was as a doctor, the stigma regarding Orion women had always haunted her. She listened patiently to what the Trill said next and the words had burnt in her mind forever. She marveled at Anaqueen’s confidence, strength and pride, attributes the Orion wished she possessed.
“Your identity is what *you* make of it not where you’re born or which species you belong to,” Ana stated vigorously. “You need to look past your heritage and realize you’re a very accomplished officer whose contributions to the field of medicine have benefited all of us.”
Grace was stunned at Anaqueen’s message and currently at a loss for words. In more than a decade of her Starfleet career, it was rare anyone had ever given the Orion the tough talk like Anaqueen did at that time. Most of her superiors and colleagues were content to just leave her alone.
“The next time you look in the mirror, you should see a proud and capable Starfleet officer.” Ana advised and then queried. “Do you understand, Lieutenant?”
Poe nodded, gulping. “Yes Captain.”
“That’s good.” The Trill concluded, softening her tone a bit. “Then we’re done here.” Anaqueen turned around and headed towards the door, leaving a very confused acting CMO. The door slid open and Ana nearly bumped into a tall, auburn haired woman whose eyes changed colour from blue to purple.
Kate apologized, looking sheepish as she juggled a few PADDs in her hands. “Sorry Captain.”
“Apology accepted, Commander.” Spankryz nodded as she slid past the taller woman and left.
************************************************************************
Ranjani Sabarinathan
Speaking for...
[/\]o..
Lieutenant Commander Kathryn MacNeil, MD
Chief Operations Officer/2nd Officer
GATEWAY STATION- 2
and
[/\]....
Captain Anaqueen Spankryz
Commanding Officer
USS COMMENDATION, NCC-10021 (Non RP ship)
---------------------------------
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