Ensign T'ali
Stardate 11901.17
USS Chiron
"Physical"
a joint log with Annie as Doctor Evans & Einar as Lt. Adalberto.
---
T’ali entered the examination room like a cat stepping out into the rain; slowly, reluctantly, and with a grim determination. She clasped her hands lightly behind her back and glanced methodically around, memorising the contents of the room; Biobed, full body scanner suspended above it, a collection of tumblers and flasks containing unidentified blue and red fluids, the doctor, a large screen set into the wall showing a set of readings and notes. All indicators were currently resting at zero.
Perhaps, she assumed, they would spring to life as she neared the bed.
She turned back towards the one other sentient thing in the room and nodded.
“Doctor Evans. Hello again.”
Penny looked up from the padd she was holding and offered T’ali a nervous smile. Her first introduction to T’ali had been interesting to say the least. And while it was a relief not being the most awkward person in the room, T’ali also didn’t seem to care if others found her off putting. She supposed that was probably par for the course with Vulcans, but it meant Penny wasn’t quite sure what to expect from her and that left her feeling skittish.
She waved a hand slightly toward the bed as she got right down to business, “Have a seat on the biobed please, Ensign.”
Casting her gaze back down to the medical file she was reading before T’ali arrived, she went on, “I’m surprised at how sparse your file is.” Her voice held a note of mild disbelief and she looked up at her with curiosity, “Is it complete?”
“I believe so,” T'ali responded, pulling her slight frame onto the bio bed. “The Zorya will have passed my files to you promptly. What are you missing? Perhaps I can elucidate.”
She shook her head, tugging a lock of hair from behind her ear. Subconsciously reaching up to tuck it back out of her face again as she explained, “It’s not that something appears to be missing, I just usually see some kind of treatment or allergies or something of that nature in a medical file. But,” here her eyes wandered down to the padd again, “all I see here are physicals,
with excellent results. So either I’m missing something and I need to get in touch with the Zorya, or you haven’t needed to visit any doctors for any kind of treatment as far back as our records show.”
“I am Vulcan,” T'ali offered, helpfully. “Illness is uncommon and injury unlikely. Additionally, I maintain my health by refraining from physically injurious activities, I eat only nutritionally balanced meals, exercise sufficiently, do not imbibe or inhale recreational substances, I meditate nightly, ensure I get adequate, sound sleep, maintain correct posture while on duty to limit repetitive strain injuries and monitor both fluid intake and output to ensure I remain suitably hydrated.”
Penny took this response in for a beat before she gave a resigned shrug of her shoulder and in an amused tone replied, “Then I suppose Starfleet Medical shouldn’t have wasted my time teaching me about Vulcan physiology and ailments.” She set the padd aside and moved to the head of the bed to initiate the scans. “How did you like serving on the Zorya?”
“I neither liked nor disliked it, Doctor. It was a Starfleet ship and within it was housed an adequate array of scientific instruments. The ship itself is irrelevant. I expect the same can be said of the Chiron.”
T’ali’s legs dangled off the edge of the biobed as she sat stoic and straight-backed, examining the doctor passively.
“Must not miss any friends there I take it,” Penny couldn’t keep a small smile from curling the corner of her mouth. She watched the information from the overhead scanner begin to populate on the screen.
“No.” her patient replied immediately, but a tiny, momentary blip in her synaptic readout told a different tale.
Penny's eyebrow lifted ever so slightly as she saw the small spike. “Well that’s interesting,” she wondered inwardly. It wasn’t generally like a Vulcan to lie, but if T’ali felt the need to lie about caring about someone then Penny didn’t see any reason to call her out. She tapped the screen, to log the scan results. “I suppose the ship itself could be irrelevant, but the crew is part of the ship. People seem pretty relevant to me. Maybe working with the Chiron crew will be a totally different experience to the Zorya.”
“Indeed. It already appears to be so,” T'ali responded. “The culture aboard the Chiron differs distinctly from that on the Zorya, or the Academy, or earth as I have experienced it,” she paused, her face taking on a mask of grim determination. “It will take much study and observation to define adequately.”
The young Vulcan set her attention on the doorway through which she had entered. “Nonetheless, perhaps I have observed certain crew members sufficiently already..”
The look on T’ali’s face was unmistakable, even for someone as oblivious as the doctor. The Chiron was not at all what she expected. Turning back to the screen and scrolling through the results, Penny tapped a slender finger on the frame of the console absentmindedly. The numbers looked picture perfect. As she looked them over she asked idly, “Already met someone that you don’t care for I take it?”
“Liking or disliking an individual is of little consequence, doctor, if they are suited to the task assigned them. For instance, it appears that you are a competent physician so an appealing personality is unnecessary.”
“Lucky for me,” Penny quipped quietly, more to herself than anything . “Yet you seemed to be uninterested in spending additional time with someone in particular. We generally refer to that as dislike.” She was finding their new Science Officer to be extremely difficult to converse with, seemingly determined to argue every point instead of actually discuss the topic at hand. It was tiring.
She turned the scanners back off, “Looks like I can add another satisfactory result to your medical file. Since it hasn’t been that long since your last physical, I’m going to forego the stress test. I don’t see any red flags in your results so we’ll do that in your regularly scheduled annual physical instead.”
“Very well, Doctor Evans,” T'ali replied, slipping her feet gently to the carpet. She straightened her uniform, nodded to Penny and began her exit. Then she paused. “Is there an alternative egress route?” she asked after a moment's consideration.
Penny looked up from the padd she had retrieved, a look of confusion on her face. “Is there something wrong with the way you came in?”
T'ali clasped her hands behind her back and firmed her shoulders. She remained silent for a moment, chewing on the question.
“No,” she responded finally. “No problem at all. Thank you for your time, doctor.”
She paused briefly, staring at T’ali as she considered her odd request. Then recovering herself she composed her expression and nodded with a tight lipped smile. “It was no trouble at all, welcome to the crew Ensign.”
“I believe it is customary to express gratitude for such a welcome,” the Vulcan replied, omitting to actually express anything at all as she departed
Watching T’ali leave, Penny gave a shake of her head. She felt a small sense of relief at the appointment being over. Not that she disliked T’ali, but she felt exceedingly nervous around her. Now that the Vulcan woman had left, she could start to feel more relaxed.
---
“That was quick” Tony said as he spotted the Vulcan woman step out of the examination room. “At least tell me you managed to warm up the sticks and pokers?”
T'ali paused as she crossed the small waiting room, turned her head a little and looked down her nose at Adalberto. “It is apparent from your advancing age, and sub optimum physical condition that you are not unfamiliar with sickbay procedures, Mr. Adalberto. Therefore, you will be doubtless aware that the use of sticks and pokers at any temperature are not standard kit.” She blinked, “and perhaps if your examination requires considerably more time than mine,” she added helpfully, “that is a signal to you to improve your physical condition.”
“Hey” he said, patting his stomach “I’m in peak condition there, Tallie. Could outrun you on the track”
“I have no doubt,” she replied, continuing her exit, “that you believe so.” The doors slid closed behind her.
He chuckled as his name was called out and he stood up. Yeah, he was gonna have fun with that one for sure.