[USS Vanguard] The Chair
- From: Kent Kavan <tonykavan@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: ncv80221@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2005 23:14:36 -0700 (PDT)
Chief Petty Officer Craig Kavan
USS Vanguard
After "All Roads Lead to Beta Lachesis"
SNIP:
Droin approached Santos with a hypospray and ever so gently pressed it to his
neck. Santos felt oblivion steal over him, and he welcomed it.
Falcon approached Santos and cradled his head in her arms.
"Craig," she said, "help me get Nick to a biobed."
END SNIP:
Craig simply nodded and helped the Doctor move Commodore Santos to the closest
bed then stepped back while Doctors Droin and Falcon began activating the
various consoles surrounding the sedated CO.
Craig's mouth was dry and his stomach was in a knot. He knew the loss of a
close loved one, but when his wife had died she'd been surrounded by her loved
ones... The Captain though, hadn't even known it was his daughter.
As if sensing his discomfort, Counselor E'thexx moved up beside Craig and
spoke. "Are you alright Chief?"
Craig nodded and wiped his face with a hand. "I was just thinking about what
he must be going through right now. That and I was remembering how much I hate
hospitals."
Jaav noticed that Craig didn't say sir. It was an indication of just how
unsettled the normally very disciplined Chief felt.
Dr. Droin turned away from the Captain's biobed and sighed. "Well, he's
resting comfortably for now." She turned to Craig. "We'll let him rest for
awhile and then we'll see if he'll talk to Jaav."
Nodding, Craig turned to leave as he said, "I have to get back to the bridge.
Commander Quetan needs to be notified immediately."
After the door slid shut behind the Chief Doctor Droin looked to her two
remaining companions. "Has anyone noticed how quickly he bolts out of sickbay?"
BRIDGE:
The turbolift doors swished open and Craig stepped out onto the ship's command
center. His thoughts were haunted by what had just happened and he knew that
he had to get out of sickbay.
Everyone on the ship knew about how his wife had died after a long fight with a
rare disease. Craig had spent every waking minute in the hospital watching her
deteriorate from the vibrant woman he had married to a hollow shell of what she
had been. Everyone on the ship also knew that Craig was terrified of hospitals
and limited his exposure to them as much as possible. It was an irrational
fear, and he knew it, but it was a fairly harmless phobia. And he was able to
overcome it when necessary, like just now. For the most part anyway.
The problem was seeing the Captain put onto the biobed and hearing and seeing
the damn things sensors come on line... The thought of seeing someone else he
cared about going through that...
Craig realized that Lieutenant Valentine and Lieutenant Lopez-Fitzgerald were
staring at him. He'd been standing stock still at the back of the bridge
thinking.
Letting out his breath and willing his hands to stop shaking he greeted the two
junior officers. Lieutenant Valentine began to stand up, yielding The Chair to
him and he waved her back into it.
"Sorry Ma'am," Craig said as he walked to the tactical console, "I still have
some things to take care of."
Valentine grinned and sat back down. "Alright Chief. I'll keep the chair warm
for you." She turned back to her conversation with Lopez-Firzgerald.
"Kids," Craig thought to himself as he called up the communcations menu. He
didn't remember ever seeing Valentine in The Chair before and she had seemed
excited when he asked her to take command while he went to sickbay. She could
have it. He'd found himself in command once before, in command of a doomed
starship. The Samuel B. Roberts' entire officer corps had been killed and he'd
ended up in The Chair. Just before the ship was shot out from under him. His
hands were sweating with anxiety now and he wiped them on his uniform.
Now the Captain was in sickbay and the XO was on an away mission. Craig was
suddenly closer to The Chair than he liked. If something horrible went wrong
right now... Craig knew he had the experience to handle any situation they
might face, but he was much more comfortable in the role of advisor. He didn't
mind commanding troops in the field, or boarding parties, or any other small
team, or even watching over the ship from The Chair for brief periods while the
Captain was busy. But he never wanted to find himself in command of a starship
if he could help it.
He knew of course, that there were still several officers in the chain of
command before he landed in The Chair, but he'd told himself that before. That
was why he was frantic to get Zena back on board ASAP.
But, as is seemingly so typical in this situation, the communications menu
simply reported:
NO CONTACT WITH AWAY TEAM.
Valentine and Lopez-Fitzgerald were suddenly started from their conversation by
a sudden outburst from behind them. They turned to see that the Chief, someone
who they'd all come to know as cool and calm under any situation, was red-faced
with anger and hitting the tactical console while shouting, "Does any fraking
thing work on this god-forsaken tub!?"
Craig closed his eyes and leaned on open palms on the console. He took a deep
breath as he became aware of the awkward silence on the bridge.
"Chief?" He heard Lieutenant Valentine speak from somewhere else on the
bridge. He opened his eyes and observed that everyone on the bridge was
looking at him.
Craig quickly recovered his composure, mostly. "Lieutenant, we seemed to be
unable to communicate with the away team."
END
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