Uncertain Ground

Posted on Tue Jun 17th, 2025 @ 6:23pm by Commander Cressida Vale MD & Captain Niun Standing Bear

1,742 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Prologue
Location: Sickbay, USS Guinevere
Timeline: 2388

Niun entered Sickbay slowly, reluctance etched into every step, his dark blue gaze taking in the surroundings, quartering the room out of long habit. He spotted a nurse and walked up to her, his footsteps quiet, measured, and nodded as she told him where he could find the ship's Chief Medical Officer. One of the more odious parts of Starfleet, to his mind, was regular 'checkups' and worse, treatments for injuries. "Commander Vale," he asked, in accented Federation Standard, as he approached. "I'm Captain Standing Bear. Newly reported aboard."

"I heard you were coming aboard, Captain," Cressida said from beside one of the farther biobeds as he approached. "Welcome. Let's get you in and out of here as quick as possible. Can I get you to sit?" She gestured at the biobed and then went to get a tricorder. She had read his file and understood the basics. As a unique member of his species aboard the ship, a good baseline reading was crucial should he ever be injured or sick, so she would do her best to finish her scans quickly, but not at the cost of scan quality.

Niun nodded as he swung up onto the biobed and sat at the end. He wore his blonde hair, long and loose, falling to mid-back and hooked on the right side behind a delicately pointed ear. His midnight blue gaze tracked her movements. "I have been through these tests before," he said quietly (though 'endured' would have been a more apt description). "Starfleet should have forwarded you my records."

"They have," Cressida assured him. "But the readings of a healthy person change over time. We update our scans upon transfer to guarantee an accurate baseline." Standing in front of him, she began passing her hand scanner over her patient. "And if you have become ill, even asymptomatically, since your last scan, it's a good opportunity to detect it early."

"I understand," Niun said and because he could not stop what had to happen, he shifted the conversation, using it as a chance to get to know one of the department heads. "How long have you been a Chief Medical Officer?"

“I came aboard two years ago, as Assistant Chief,” Cressida answered. “Earned the Chief position five months later.” Her tricorder beeps, having concluded its scans. “Body temperature and resting metabolism higher than most of the crew but well within normal range for what we’ve observed of your species.” She looked up from her tricorder. “Anything you think I should be aware of? Something not in your file, or that’s worth emphasizing?”

"All of this ..." Niun said as he gestured toward the equipment surrounding them, "is difficult for me. To be connected to machines."

“Then we’ll do our best to make this rare,” Cressida assured him.

"Thank you," Niun said. The doctor, the crew, were edun, an old Mri word for those within the tribe. On his world, she would have been considered 'amrazi' and as such, protected to the last breath. The Federation did not hold to such standards but Niun, in the privacy of his own thoughts, did. And that meant, his tone was gentle, guided by his innate understanding of how things were. "If it ever comes to that, sedate me quickly. I will fight it even when I am not conscious ... aware of my actions."

She bit her lower lip as she considered what he said. It was an unusual request (no, not request, instruction), but it made sense.

She gave him a quick nod. “If ever you have legitimate need for sickbay, be it illness or injury, full sedation will be first thing we do, barring instructions by you to the contrary. You have my word.”

"If it's an injury or illness that requires me to be tethered to your machines," Niun elaborated. "This is the part that I will fight." He nodded, slow and respectful, as he added, "Thank you. It is good that you would be safe should that happen."

Her lips curled upward in a smile. "I appreciate the nuance. I'll use good judgment, I promise."

"Good," Niun answered. "What does your equipment tell you about me?"

“Fit and healthy,” she answered. “Unique structure in the brain that I expect confers some kind of telepathic resistance, though no sign of the specific neurotransmitters typically observed in telepathic species. Vulcan-like cellular structures for conserving water and dissipating heat, but unlike Vulcans it wouldn’t surprise me if you dislike the cold.” She closed her tricorder and gave him a half-smile. “How am I doing so far?”

"I am Mri," Niun answered. "More than that, I am Azhadi. I was not given to know the great mysteries but still, I knew things I was not permitted to share." He smiled slightly. "It is hard to take from me what I do not want to give. For the rest, you are accurate as far as it goes."

She nodded to him. “I‘ll be educating myself further on the Mri, and the Azhadi specifically, with respect to Federation medical knowledge. All in the name of ensuring your health and well-being are preserved, as that remains my top priority. I vow not to delve deeply into matters that do not relate, if that is what you prefer. But if there is anything crucial I should be aware of, now is the time to disclose it. Certain biomedical cycles, perhaps, akin to the Vulcan pon farr or Betazoid Phase, for which I should be prepared.”

"There is almost nothing in Federation files about my people," Niun said. "All you will find is what other doctors have observed about me. That's it. I have an eidetic memory, complete recall of what I see and hear, and I can be ordered to forget what I know, a specific thing or the entirety of what I know. For that to happen, I would have to acknowledge the individual as being equal to the I'mai of my tribe. So far, I have ceded no one that power."

“Nor should you,” she told him. “The power to erase memory should be given to no one. Eidetic or not, your memory makes you you, and it should not be stripped, whether by authority or not.” She surprised herself with how firmly she was speaking to him about this. But it was important.

He looked at her, curiously, as she spoke. "I was Azhadi, you would say warrior caste, and we were called living weapons. It wasn't given to us to read or write, to know the mysteries, to retain knowledge of secret things. And so, the I'mai would order us to forget and we did. To do otherwise would be unthinkable."

“And now you’re Starfleet,” Cressida replied. “What you were is a core part of you, and that should not in any way be denied or dishonored, but no one in Command should demand that memory be stripped of you. Whether anyone was worthy of that authority on your homeworld, none are worthy of demanding such deep-rooted change of you now.” She took a deep breath. “Memory makes the individual. An ancient Trill politician once said that the core of what we are is the sum of our memories. You know as well as I do that Starfleet values the contributions of the individual. To erase the memory is to erase the individual. At least, that’s what I think.” She smiled. “Sir.”

He smiled back at her and nodded. "Starfleet, the Federation, does not require memories to be stripped. This is certain. And though it took me a long while to understand and accept, I have found that the opposite is true. There is a value placed on memories as well as experience. I have met more than one individual who wanted to spend vast amounts of time telling me their memories, one by one." His smiled widened as he chuckled. "And being who I am, I will remember those stories forever."

"But you are correct," Niun continued, "when you say that now I am Starfleet. Such is not required of me but you were asking what's different about me." He shrugged lightly. "For the rest, I don't know what is training and experience an what is Mri physiology. I am fast, I can run from sunrise to sunset without rest, longer if there's need, and I my hearing is better than most I've met. Does this help you at all?"

Cressida nodded. "Every little bit does." She set her tools down and stood with her hands behind her back. "Captain Standing Bear, I can certify you fit for duty from a medical standpoint. Conceding that you're more knowledgeable about your body than I, you are instructed nonetheless to come to sickbay for whatever ails you. My job is to keep the crew, yourself included, in top shape and I cannot do that if people hide injuries or illness from me under the guise of home remedies or it being 'minor'. You do not get to decide what injuries or illnesses are minor." She smiled at him again. "Apologies, but this is a conversation I often need to have with warrior-types. I'm just laying out my expectations now."

"I am," Niun said as he rose to his feet, his expression hard to read, "no longer Azhadi .. a warrior ... so was the I'mai's orders. Now, I am ... First Officer ... and we see more than the lethal options." He sighed quietly. "Though it has been harder to put down, that way of being, than I ever expected. Still, I listen and we have an understanding. Among my people, you would be Amrazi, a healer, and I am accustomed to seeking healing when its needed."

For once, a warrior culture that values its healers, Cressida mused in her head. "Thank you, Captain. We're all done here, unless you have more questions for me. It was good to meet you, sir. Welcome aboard."

"Thank you," Niun said as he double-tapped over his heart with his closed fist. "The pleasure was mine." With a parting smile, he turned and walked out of Sickbay, his attention moving on to the next thing he had to do on his list, moving with the silent glide that was true of every Azhadi.

———

Captain Niun Standing Bear
First Officer, USS Guinevere

Commander Cressida Vale, MD
Chief Medical Officer, USS Guinevere

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