Just Ten Minutes of Your Time..

Posted on Sat Aug 22nd, 2015 @ 5:49am by Lieutenant Nicolette De La Croix
Edited on on Sat Aug 22nd, 2015 @ 5:50am

Misuu Caran found the woman that she was looking for sitting in the crew mess hall, looking prim and polished in a sea of prefab tables and plastic trays. Holding a tea cup carefully balanced in between her hands, the chief medical officer was staring out the into nothingness, lost in her own thoughts it seemed. Misuu approached her shyly, standing quietly at her side for a moment before clearing her throat to garner the older woman's attention.

"Excuse me," Caran asked as the doctor startled. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. this is just the first time that I've caught you out of sickbay and.. I had some questions." Thinking on what she'd just said, the young woman back peddled a bit verbally. "I mean, I wanted to talk to you and ask you some questions." She held up a personal PADD that was decidedly not fleet issue with its laser blue and black stripe shell. "I'm something of a hobby journalist on my off hours. Can I sit?"

"Please do," the doctor said as she straightened up a little in her seat. "I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name.."

"Caran. Ensign Misuu Caran." The young woman said with a nervous little laugh. "I'm sorry. I should have introduced myself before I told you that I was a hobby journalist. I'm just a little nervous as I haven't actually tried doing this before, so you're sort of my guinea pig."

"Misuu," the doctor echoed in a rich voice that reminded Misuu of velvet. "What exactly do you want to ask me about? Our journey isn't underway enough for me to really give you much of a story as of yet."

"Oh, I know that. I wanted to ask about you," Caran was quick to reply. "See, I was on my school newspaper long before Starfleet and they always told me to look for the odd figures for the character stories. Not that you're odd, but you don't.. quite.. look like you belong here, you know. So I thought I'd approach you first and talk to you some before we really got into it, so I have a character reference on file should we do further interviews. I mean, I promise that they won't be hurtful or damning or anything, just.. something that let's the rest of the crew- maybe some of the people back home if it's approved- know about what it's like to be people at war, not just factoids on a runner at the bottom of the screen. I really want to portray the people angle."

The doctor seemed a little taken aback by the request, but she shrugged her shoulders regardless. "Be sure to get the XO or the captain's okay for anything that might leave the ship," she said with a sigh. "Otherwise, I'll be your guinea pig. How do you want to do this?"

Just in case she changed her mind, Misuu propped the pad up on a little stand on the table facing De La Croix and fiddled with it a little until it was lined up correctly. "It's simple," she explained as she moved it a little left, then back a bit further. "I'll ask you a few questions and you just react naturally. Of course, you don't have to answer anything that I ask, I won't be rude or anything. Is my hair okay? Your hair is perfect. Ready? Okay."

With a little wriggle that doubled as Misuu tugging her uniform top into place, the tiny woman in ship works gold cleared her throat again and smiled brightly. "This is Misuu Caran reporting from the USS Manoora with chief medical officer Nicolette De La Croix for this very first episode of Trench Talk. Thank you for joining me today, doctor." In front of the camera, Misuu's nerves melted away, leaving behind a vibrant young woman who was decidedly sure of herself. "Doctor, you're a little bit of an odd woman out aboard the Manoora. We've got all flavors of super serious, straight laced career soldiers tromping around getting ready for our first big mission and you're decidedly.. different. The sickbay is unusually pretty for lack of a better description and you present yourself really polished up comparatively. How did you end up on the Manoora?"

Looking at the PADD first where her face was prominent on the screen now, De La Croix looked past it towards the wall a little bit uncomfortably. "The same way as everyone else did I gather. I received orders."

"No, I mean what brought you to Starfleet. You look like a really fancy kind of lady. If I met you on station, I'd think you were some dignitary or a high ranking officer's wife. Your disposition, your bearing, the time you put into your appearance.." Misuu waved her hands as she spoke. "There's a story in all of that."

Nicolette laughed a little at that, her discomfort draining away a little. "Everybody's got a story. Even if they look like everyone else with their heads down just doing their work. I'm no different. I just put a nice coat of paint on it to help distract the people that come to me in pain. Any extra ounce of comfort or extra step to divorce a patient's mind from from how and where they were hurt I try to accommodate. This is simply how I do my job regardless if it's considered standard or not."

"So you're not one for regulations?" Caran asked with a lopsided smile.

The doctor shot her a sly look in response. "I didn't say that. I'm just not one for this minimalist minutia bull that says a person is most productive in this environment. Or relaxed in that. Or that all nurses should fit this type of persona and all science officers should be just like that. One of the most amazing things about Starfleet is how many different cultures, races, religions and traditions came together to form this organization. You can step onto any ship and see it ran differently from one captain to another, yet all the same duties are required. All kinds of races walk through the halls in Starfleet uniforms. We're a melting pot that is no longer defined easily in a fixed set of expectations beyond the service rendered."

"Nice save.. nice.." Misuu laughed lightly. "So you're an unorthodox doctor, I'll put it that way. What about serving on a ship heading into what public news outlets are calling a burgeoning war? Do you think you'll ready for that kind of pressure?"

"Who's ever ready for war?" De La Croix answered with a puzzled expression on her face. "I know a few die hard marines that'll give you the whole spiel about being born with a bowie knife in both hands and a klingon or two that I'm sure would say yes they are, but the average person isn't made to weather war well. They survive. They adapt." She shrugged her shoulders as if arguing internally about a point for a moment. "War is typically senseless and ugly and rarely fought by the people who start it. The ones in the middle- we bleed for it. You just hope that the blood spilt was meaningful and not for the tantrums of one politician or another. I'll adapt just like every other person on board will."

Caran paused for a moment to collect her thoughts, then looked back at the PADD to see her own stunned expression. "It is.. really tense right now," she sputtered just to keep words passing between the two of them. "I'm glad that we've got you on board to keep us all patched up doc."

"With class.." the doctor added with a slick smile. "Don't forget that part."

"With class," Misuu agreed, trying her best not to giggle as she spoke. "Make sure to catch the next episode of Trench Talk where we'll attempt to keep it just as classy." She tapped a tiny orange icon at the bottom right of the screen and smiled brightly. "See? Painless! Can you think of anyone else that would want to talk to me for Trench Talk? I mean, yes, you said talk to the XO and all but I mean while being recorded?"

Nicolette reclaimed her tea mug with and took a sip. Between getting lost in her thought and the brief interview, it'd gone long cold. "I'd suggest talking to your department head. Maybe put a notice up on the ship hub that you're looking to do this segment *after* you speak with the proper authorities."

"Afterwards," Misuu agreed with a curt nod. "Yup. I will be sure to do that after I talk to the right people. Thanks a million. I'm going to get going now because my lunch break is totally over." She gave an excited little wave to the doctor, scooped up her PADD and weaved towards the door before any other warnings could be heaped onto her head.

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Lt. Nicolette De La Croix
Chief Medical Officer

and

Ens. Misuu Caran (NPC)
Operations Officially/Off the Clock Journalist