[USS Tempest] Moral Implications by Lindsey Craig & Nat Lynley
- From: TKilyle@xxxxxxx
- To: usstempest@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:33:45 EDT
Nat left the conference room shaking his head. He'd looked up the reference
Captain Swiftwind made to a 'Sun Dance' and found himself utterly shocked at
the very primal nature of the ceremony. He supposed he could understand why
the man felt so strongly about his beliefs after reading that. I hope
Lindsey will be able to settle this.
Coffee, Lindsey thought. Real, honest-to-goodness coffee. From a pot made
with real beans and with cream and proper sugar. She glared at the cup of
replicated in her hands. "I'd kill for some real stuff," she muttered.
As neat and composed as ever, Nat made the trip to Lindsey's office in short
order. he pressed the chime saying, "Lynley to see you, Captain. May I
come in?"
"Only if you've got a cup of real coffee hidden somewhere on your person,"
Lindsey said as she rolled to her feet and opened the door. Leaning against
the door frame, she stood so he could come in and smiled. "What can I do for
you today, Chief?"
"If I had my office back, I'd make you one," Nat said dryly. "So, no coffee
for you though I do have a report or two for you and a thorny little issue
that's sprung from them."
"Ya know, one of these days, you're just gonna come to my office for a
friendly chat," Lindsey laughed as she pulled herself onto her desk and folded
her
legs beneath her. "Take a seat and tell me your woes."
Nat sniffed softly in amusement as he sat down, relaxing into the chair. "I
haven't got any of those worth complaining about, Lindsey. I know the office
will be done within the next two days," he told her. "However...there is
the small matter of a brawl in the lounge that resulted in two injuries, one
Marine in the brig, and another being transferred out of his company."
"I read the reports, Lieutenant Calvok's very thorough. Ensign Van der
Pol's reprimand is being handled by her direct CO as are those for the
Marines."
Folding her arms under her breasts, she frowned and asked, "What's the
lingering issue here, Nat?"
"Captain Swiftwind came to see me. Odd enough bloke, very polite, more so
then I've ever seen from a Fleet Marine, actually. You'll have noted that he
was one of the injured listed in the reports but he refused to let Dr.
Tomilson treat him, on religious grounds," Nat began.
And so the migraine begins, she thought sourly. "Go on..."
"The good captain doesn't accept most forms of modern medicine and it's
clearly stated in his records. Apparently he made that known to the doctor
and
she said that she would as much as disregard his beliefs if he couldn't voice
them himself. I think he's rather angry about the matter," Nat explained.
Letting her breath out in one long sigh, Lindsey rubbed above her right
eyebrow with her fingers. "Now that is one hell of a moral predicament. And
it's not a new one by a long shot. Doctors have been wrestling with this
little
problem for centuries. There are precedents upon precedents, for both one
side and the other. Now," she said as she leaned back, using her hands behind
her back to prop herself up, "if he were a child, I'd side with PK, no
questions asked. But... oh hell, what would you do?"
"I can't begin to pretend that I understand the beliefs myself but they are
obviously deeply rooted in tradition he believes in. If you wouldn't force a
Klingon to accept an artificial heart that would save his life, for example,
then you could hardly force the man to accept medical attention he clearly
doesn't want," Nat said, shaking his head all the while. "I looked up a
reference to something he said. Some of the traditions he believes in go back
to
your continent's nineteenth century."
Lindsey drew one knee up under her chin and hugged it as she stared into
nothing. "There's not a whole lot I can do if it's a life and death situation
and the Doctor takes it upon herself to go against orders. The one thing I
can do is reassert those orders for her. Under no circumstance is she to give
this man medical attention." Then she snorted and turned soft brown eyes on
Nat. "Like that'll work."
"It had better. If that happened and either he or his family chose to voice
a complaint before the Fleet Medical Board, the good doctor could have her
license revoked," Nat said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "The man must
lived a frightfully charmed life to have made it this long in service and
have very little wear or tear to show for it. You ought to see the repair job
done on the cut to his arm."
"Do I even want to know?" Lindsey said, shuddering at barbaric old-fashioned
medical practices.
"A line of stitches so straight that my grandmother would be quite proud
of," Nat said with a slight smirk. "He allowed his sergeant to sew him up."
"Ouch! Wow, he's okay with that level of medical intervention but not
dermal regen? I wonder where he draws the line..." Lindsey pursed her lips.
"I
mean, there's got to be a fuzzy grey point that he's not quite sure if it's
okay or if it's not. Does he allow needles but not hyposprays? Where does he
draw the line when it comes to drugs? Will he take penicillin? I mean,
clearly the man must allow antiseptic of some sort otherwise he'd be in danger
of losing the arm. And what about that? Stitches are still technically
medical intervention, but he allowed that? Don't you find it all kinda
fascinating? You know," she mused, "I'm gonna have to have myself a chat with
this
Captain Swiftwind."
"Those stitches were definitely done by needle. You would have to ask him
or his sergeant what he allowed and why," Nat said with a slight shrug.
"He sounds like an interesting guy," Lindsey observed. "Not the normal
kinda thing you expect from a Marine."
"Not at all," Nat agreed. "I'm sure you've met the sort who, once they see
Fleet, they look at you like you're cold soup. This one was quite decent and
had manners to make my grandparents proud."
"Well damn, definitely gotta meet this guy," Lindsey said with a grin.
"Now, Nathaniel, is there anything else I can do you for?"
"Not a thing, thank you," he said with a grin as he stood up. "Roberta is
being an absolute dear and packing my things to take over to Rosemary's so
I've got to drop back over there for a few before I get back to work."
"Remember to get the poor girl some flowers from the arboretum on your way
over," Lindsey told him.
"Excellent idea, Lindsey," Nat said as he left.
Smiling at his back, Lindsey shook her head. No one said anything about
this kinda thing when they made me a captain, she observed. Then her eyes
fell
back onto her now cold cup of coffee. "Coffee arabica, coffee canephora, my
kingdom for coffea damn-near-anything, so long as it's real."
Other related posts:
- » [USS Tempest] Moral Implications by Lindsey Craig & Nat Lynley
