Sd 241412.14 CMO duty log

Posted on Sun Dec 14th, 2014 @ 9:44pm by Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi

794 words; about a 4 minute read

Isabella couldn't help but be amazed at the medical facilities onboard the Endeavour. Sitting in her office just off from the main sickbay room, she skimmed through the initial report on the facilities that what was now her department had available. Short of a planet or station based hospital the Endeavour could match the capabilities of any medical facility in the Federation easily enough. What were equally impressive were the people that Starfleet had staffed the Endeavour's medical department. The majority of Isabella's staff was junior officers and enlisted crewmen as well as a number of civilians, all of whom had impressive medical test scores and came highly recommended.

Isabella reached the end of the report and leaned back in her chair. It was hard to believe that she had gone from serving as a medical officer in charge of the trauma team on a medical frigate to being chief medical officer on an Intrepid class starship. Part of her wanted to think that the assignment was a dream, but she knew it was real. What Isabella was truly curious about was the reason why she had been selected for the assignment, when there were other officers who could probably out qualify her for the position.

"How did I get so lucky?" Isabella asked out loud.

"Ma'am?"

Isabella jumped at the unexpected voice and turned to see a tall, slim, dark skinned woman standing in the doorway to her office. She recognized the woman as Calista Escarcega, the ships civilian counselor, perhaps one of the most over qualified people in the Endeavour's medical department. While part of her civilian record had been sealed under a signed court order issued by a judge following an apparently nasty divorce, Calista had a perfect civilian service record with Starfleet, including some experience in excessive trauma and extended combat operations counseling as well as some limited experience in first contact situations.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Calista said.

"It’s ok," Isabella said. Smiling, she waved her hand in an inviting gesture. "Please have a seat."

"Thanks," Calista said as she walked into the office and sat down. "I know it can be a little awkward having a civilian on board in some departments, so I wanted to come talk to you after you had some time to settle in."

"I appreciate that," Isabella said. "I have to be honest and say that I've never had to deal with having a civilian in the position of counselor before. It's generally reserved for someone who is a senior ranking officer."

"I'm sure it's made more complicated since our authority is in fact equal to your own in certain situations," Calista said.

Isabella frowned thoughtfully for a moment before she realized what the civilian meant, and she nodded slowly. "I can see where that might be a problem," Isabella said. "However, I hope we can compromise those kinds of situations."

"Naturally, so do I," Calista said with a smile. "Naturally, you have the authority during military related situations, but in most other cases I'm to coordinate my authority with you."

"That seems as if it might get confusing," Isabella said.

"It sometimes does," Calista admitted. "And the people who wrote the regulations for starships which have civilian counselors on board were clearly politicians who were quite drunk when they wrote them."

Isabella smiled. Having come from a family of doctors and having to occasionally fight one political change or another, she understood the humor in what Calista had said better than most would. "Well, I'm sure we can come up with our own system when the one in place fails," she said.

"I hope that won't happen, but thank you," Calista said. "I mostly take care of the regular duties of the ships counselor and act as support to the chief medical officer. In most cases, we won't even have to discuss anything duty related."

"That's a relief," Isabella said with a smile. Glancing at the time, she hid a yawn before she turned back to the counselor. "I was just about to wrap things up for the day and go visit the gym. Would you care to join me for dinner later?"

"I would but I'm going to have to take a rain check," Calista replied as she stood and offered her hand. "I need to finish unpacking and getting settled in. But definitely another time."

"Definitely," Isabella said with a smile as she stood and shook Calista's hand. After the counselor had left, it took her less than five minutes to wrap everything up and check in with the duty officer before she left sickbay and headed to the gym.

Lieutenant Isabella dei`Silvisi
Chief Medical Officer

Guest Appearance by
Calista Escarcega
Civilian Counselor NPC

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