From: Bethany \ (mouse3of3_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Jun 02 2008 - 18:12:19 PDT
""
Cont. from "Three Questions"
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Location: USS PATRIOT
Stardate: 2.80602.1954
Scene: Corridor
Tam jerked her head up from the PADD she was reading when she heard someone shout her name. "Catherine?"
"In the flesh." The intelligence officer was grinning; glancing backward, Tam saw Clarkson shaking his head as he hoisted what looked like a very heavy pack higher on his back before heading off down a branch corridor. "What are you reading?" She nodded at the PADD.
"Oh-" Tam had almost forgotten that she was holding it. "Course work." At the curious look she received, she clarified, "I'm taking more medical courses, long-distance. I intend to qualify for CMO."
"Good, we need one." Even as she said that, though, Tam could almost see her mind wandering.
"Is something wrong?"
"Hm?"
"You seem... distracted." She thumbed off the PADD and waited as Catherine paused to consider the comment.
Finally, with a gentle sigh, the other woman pulled a slight smile back onto her face. "I don't like having to keep things from Daniel, is all. He's asking questions about what's going on, and I can't tell him, obviously."
"No, you can't." Tam pressed her lips together, contemplating the problem. Sometimes she was very glad that all of her relatives were non-Starfleet, where they only knew what was publicly available and what she told them. It made life easier in many, many ways. Thinking aloud, she added, "I wonder why the captain didn't tell him."
"I'm not sure." Catherine looked like she wanted to say more, but stopped. As if she were forcing herself to think of something else, she asked, "What did you spend your leave doing? Were you on the ship this whole time?"
Tam decided to go along with it. "No, I spend some time in San Francisco..." She kept talking, lightly, about visiting T'ial and the Academy to check on more of her coursework, watching the other woman as she slowly relaxed and started chatting about a few professors that they had both had contact with in the past. When they got to Tam's office, her preferred place for doing work and where she had been headed before being waylaid, Tam ushered her in and listened as she told a story about a particularly stubborn professor that she'd bashed heads with for a semester.
"... after that, I made sure that I never had him again. He was too much trouble!" Catherine refocused on Tam. "You wouldn't have had him, would you?"
"No, he didn't take any of the medical students. I suppose I should be glad for that."
"Yes! But you had your own, didn't you? I think I heard something about the guy who taught some of your basic courses."
"He was... frustrating, yes." Tam went over to her replicator. "Do you want anything?"
"No, thanks. I think you're treating me like I'm here for an official counselor visit, though." When Tam turned to look, she said, "When I've been here for an evaluation, you offered me something to drink. I think it's a counselor thing, every one I've been to does that. It's how you can tell someone's a counselor."
At that, she had to be amused. "People tend to relax more with something to do with their hands. If a patient is having a hard time talking, it's an easy way to help them open up."
"So you're still treating me like a patient."
Tam paused. "You're being anxious over this operation. I thought that it wouldn't hurt for you to tell me if it was bothering you, given the nature of it."
"It's not bothering me that much. It's risky, but not enough that I'm really worried. The only thing that's bothering me is not being able to tell Daniel." At the look that Tam gave her, Catherine smiled again, this time not forcing it. "I promise that I'll come if I really have problems, okay? Now should I leave you with your homework, or shall I stay and we can talk more about professors from hell?"
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NRPG: Not much, and suprisingly close to pulling teeth, but I wanted to get out a post before the mission started, and Naomi gave me a chance.
Bethany B.
Ensign Tam Niala
Counselor
USS PATRIOT
From HyperNews_at_youth.net
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Aug 27 2008 - 03:11:06 PDT