Meeting the CO

Posted on Wed Sep 24th, 2025 @ 9:34pm by Lieutenant T'Razz & Captain Piraa sh'Zamhlass

988 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: History
Location: Readyroom

T'Razz stepped onto the bridge. It was a quiet moment, and the new CMO made his way over to the readyroom door. This was going to be a new experience. In the past, he'd always checked in with the CMO, but this time he was the CMO, and as such would be checking in with both the CO and XO.

'Deep breath,' he thought to himself. 'You can do this.'

T'Razz pressed the door chime and waited for the summons from the captain to enter.

Piraa, still getting used to the Captain's pips on her black turtleneck collar, still struggled with the copious amounts of paddwork that passed through her hands. Requisitions to validate, reports to sign off on, fitness reports to review, and all of this in her first week. Just when she thought she'd seen it all, there was an update on the quality of the waste extraction system. Evidently, the Benzite in charge had very thorough opinions about how it operated and had a thirty-nine point plan to make improvements to the system.

The Andorian captain therefore wasn't sure if the reason for the door chime would be a welcome distraction, or just add to the pile in front of her. Perhaps it was the hope that tainted her cry for the visitor to "Come in!" that she welcomed as she looked up from her desk.

T'Razz heard the bid to enter and, taking another deep breath, strode into the readyroom. "Good day, Captain," he said. "I am Doctor T'Razz, the new chief medical officer. I just arrived on board."

Piraa smiled warmly, thankful for the welcome distraction. "Come on in, Doctor," she greeted, waving the Caitian inside and towards one of the chairs in front of the desk. "I trust your transfer and transit to here went well."

"Yes, they were uneventful, thought it looks like the rest of you have seen better days," T'Razz said, looking around as he took the indicated chair. "The situation does prompt me to inquire as to whether there is anything or anyone that would require my immediate medical attention."

"There's a few bumps and bruises all around," the Captain explained. "I believe there are a few crewmembers with plasma burns and smoke inhalation, but EDEN has seen to those. Still, it'd be good for a qualified practitioner to review each case to make sure proper care was administered."

"I will get to those," T'Razz said. "While it may be a bit early to ask this, what kind of staff do I have in the medical department at the moment? I couldn't really get any sort of idea with the few people I talked to on the way over here."

Piraa offered a strained grimace before she answered, "Minimal. To be fair, all departments are at minimized staff all across the ship. As you know, Frontier Day decimated ranks quite a bit. That's part of the reason why we are testing the construct. EDEN is meant to supplement ships with lower staff numbers and fill gaps."

T'Razz nodded. "Is there anything else you wished to speak with me about while I'm here? I was planning on checking in with Commander T'Zara before heading to sickbay."

The Captain took a moment to review her thoughts, but then shook her head. "The only pressing matter is making sure what you're walking into. I'm sure you're familiar with at least the concept of an EMH?"

T"Razz nodded. "Oh yes, very familiar. Being a part of the staff at Jupiter Station means having at least a rudimentary familiarity with the overall idea, even if you weren't working with the R&D team that was working on the latest developments. Considering this ship's work with Project Eden, is there anything I should be aware of as far as medical goes, either in general or in specific areas like the EMH program?"

Piraa smirked and folded her hands together on her desk. "This will be a bit of an unusual assignment," she started to explain. "EDEN is a lot like an EMH, except that it's more than that. In addition to medical, the construct is designed to act as a supplement for engineering, operations, security..." The Andorian paused for a second, before adding, "Even command. It is not meant to replace us, but in order to use it properly in the field, we will need to ascertain its effectiveness and accuracy. So, let it help with patients, but don't let it dominate. And, if it makes a poor judgment or bad call, it needs to be noted. There's no room for mistakes here."

"Definitely," T'Razz said. "As with any experimental system, there can be benefits, and there can be drawbacks. Even when it's us lifeforms doing the work, we understand the importance of double-checking our work, getting a 'second opinion,' as the humans put it. Too many mistakes have been made by well-intentioned individuals who weren't quite as cautious as they should have been."

The Andorian caption reached over and picked up a padd. She took a moment to verify that it contained the appropriate contents before handing it over the desk to T'Razz. "This contains all of the particulars for EDEN, as well as our mission profile. I definitely encourage you to keep honest and accurate notes. I know after the recent reversals of the synth ban, and even Frontier Day, there can be moments where objectivity will be difficult. All I ask is that even in your honestly to keep that in mind.

T'Razz took the padd. "I'll be sure to be meticulous in my note-keeping, Captain. Is there anything else?"

"Just this." Shaking her head, the Captain rose from her desk and extended a hand, exercising a human custom. "Welcome aboard, Doctor. I hope you enjoy it here."

"Thank you, Captain," T'Razz said, raising and taking the offered hand. "Looking forward to working with everyone."

 

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