Beginnings
The Starfleet medical delegation is arriving today, and Solin's team is finishing up preparations. They've been assigned to escort and guard the humans as they dock, an assignment some have grumbled about, finding it too menial for their taste
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Not that he doesn't find it interesting. It's been a long time since he had any dealings with humans, and the last ones he'd met, he remembers being very amusing. They'd been drunk, of course. He'd been on shore leave at a space station, doing some anthropological observation in a bar.
Most of the Starfleet doctors look rather anxious, or at least he thinks that's how humans display anxiety. One woman, though, is smiling for reasons he finds mystifying. He catches a whisper from two of the junior officers behind him, wondering what the human's so happy about, but he turns and silences them with a look.
He strides forward and gives the head of the delegation a crisp, courteous salute. "Dr. Booth. I am Major Solin, the head of Security Team 4. These officers and I have been assigned to escort you." There are only three other officers with him, his daughter included, but it's not like anything's going to happen to the humans on the way to sickbay. "These are Sublieutenants Sopek and Konath, and Yeoman T'Pani." They've borrowed that rank from Starfleet, not knowing quite what else to call her yet. "Is there anything you or your delegation need?"
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The comment about this security office being a Major has Elizabeth amused. Well, who knew they needed a well-armed welcoming party. She didn't think this job was going to be too difficult, but again, she knows nothing.
"Nothing, but a tour to the sick bay and our quarters and probably the mess hall. The rest we'll be happy to find ourselves," Dr. Booth answers him, "Thank you for having us aboard."
Elizabeth looks wary at that. She is absolutely going to get lost on this ship. It's very large and she is completely unfamiliar with the designs of Vulcan vessels. She can barely makes sense of Starfleets ships. She has a horrible sense of direction and she imagines there will be a lot of roaming and being lost in the first few days to come.
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The human who'd been smiling isn't smiling anymore, and Solin doesn't know what that's about, either. Humans are capricious. In any case, if they want to be directed to the aforementioned places, then that's what he and his officers will do. He nods at Booth and gives his sublieutenants a few brief commands in Vulcan, and off they go.
Konath somewhat grudgingly acts as tour guide on their way to the sickbay, curtly explaining a few features of the ship as they pass by. T'Pani is trying hard to look like a mature, responsible officer. Solin falls into step beside the woman who'd seemed so happy as she'd come aboard, because...why not? She seems intriguing. He gives her a polite nod, with a hint of a smile of his own.
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As they are guided through the ship, Elizabeth does her best to be on good behavior, observant and attentive though she continually lets her mind wander to what could be behind each door and who all these people are. Mostly she assumes it is the same as any other ship but she can't be sure. And the man who has steppe into line beside her is intimidating. He's a good six to eight inches taller than her, clearly well built as he probably should be in this line of work. He is handsome with that offish hue to his skin like all Vulcans have. She isn't sure she will ever get used to seeing the slight flush of green tinted skin instead of pink.
She can't help but glance up at him a few time, curious about how old he is, however of his family is still alive and how he is coping. Or rather suppressing since they prefer to do that.
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He's never set foot on a Starfleet ship before. Vulcan warships, the many he's served on over the decades, are his home. The comfortably low lighting, familiar muted colors, simple signage in the swirling vertical script of his native language--he's never had any occasion to consider what it would look like to an outsider before, but the humans' reactions make him wonder how they'll adjust. Their uniforms are so brightly-colored, and some of them are squinting, as if having difficulty seeing. Humans supposedly can't see two feet in front of their faces without ridiculously bright light, but he'd always thought that was an exaggeration. Maybe he'll have to issue them flashlights so they can find their way around.
The woman beside him keeps glancing at him. He can't blame her for curiosity; he's interested too, wanting to find out what else about humans that he hadn't believed before might really be true. He wonders what her specialty is, who she's supposed to be working with. It's not likely that he'll need her services; he's not prone to illness, and there are only so many ways a person can be injured on a ship that's in orbit over a friendly planet. Nonetheless, it's not a terribly large ship, and the humans will probably come to seem ubiquitous.
"I don't believe I was told your name," he says, quietly enough that he doesn't interrupt Konath's halfhearted tour. That seems to have ended for the moment, anyway, as they transition from the mess hall toward the sickbay. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches one tall young human doctor speaking to T'Pani, and he keeps his senses on alert there just to monitor that conversation while he carries on his own.
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When the man beside her asked her name she looked up at him again as smiles, though slightly tempered, "Dr. Elizabeth Dehner," she says, trying to remember not to try and shake his hand. She doesn't know everything about their culture-very little actually-but she is going to try to not offend anyone. "Major Solin you said?"
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He nods, when she clarifies that she has his name right. "Yes, that's correct." They walk quietly for a little longer, as T'Pani decides to take over for Konath in explaining other features of the ship, sounding much less sullen about it. She's come to know the ship very well, even though she hasn't been here long. She's even developed a side interest in engineering, though not enough of one to want to pursue it professionally.
"Over here," she explains with a gesture, "are the research laboratories." She goes on to detail a few of the experiments currently taking place there, and Solin raises an eyebrow, wondering how she knows all that. She must really have been studying in her spare time.
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She does find herself interested in the woman who has taken over and Elizabeth tries not to smile too much. She had seen some of them uneasy about her typical use of facial expressions, but maybe they will find a middle ground for this.
Elizabeth, in her unending curiosity leans slightly towards the Major and whispers, "She seems young to working on a starship."
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"She is...something of an apprentice," he explains, in the same quiet tone. "Yeoman T'Pani is serving aboard the T'Zaled in a trial capacity, learning through performance of her duties, in the hopes that when she reaches the appropriate age, she can be officially promoted to sublieutenant and continue serving. In the absence of a Vulcan military academy, we must find ways to improvise."
There are whispers of nepotism, of course, but Solin doesn't care. It's an experimental model, and it's working as well as any other. And every bit of help counts.
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It hasn't occured to her before just now that they are lacking their military academy, which does make it difficult to teach their future officers. It's definitely a rare situation and Elizabeth sees that this is where logic is a lucky thing to have. Instead of panic, they can start a new tradition or trial and error means of teaching the younger of their species. This Yeoman T'Pani is lucky to have superiors that trust her even as a younger person. She won't ask how old she is, as Elizabeth has heard that age can be sensitive information and isn't willingly shared. She'll have to wait and see, though admittedly, she does have access to medical records and age will be listed in the base files she can get to. Not everything is open to her.
"That's resourceful," she says, seeing the benefit to learning on the job, "Will you be rebuilding the military academy?" Elizabeth is still speaking quietly, which she knows that she should be paying closer attention. She's definitely going to get lost.
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"Eventually, I would hope so. There are a great many things that the government has chosen to prioritize over the restoration of the military academy. We need hospitals, schools for children, sufficient shelter, a working economy...defense is one thing, and this crew and I are proud to serve that purpose for our people, but setting up an academy for training new military officers on a large scale is something we cannot yet afford to do."
And that, he supposes, is where Starfleet has to come in. Given the absolute shambles the Vulcan army is now in, with the T'Zaled being one of the only warships left at all, Solin dreads the day when the Vulcan military is subsumed by Starfleet entirely. More than likely, it's only a matter of time, but he'll serve the Vulcan army with everything he has in him until that day comes, and so will his daughter.
"What is it that you do?" he asks her, shifting the subject. "I don't believe I know the specialties of anyone in this group."
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His explanation receives a not, quiet and watching the other doctors. They may need their own sessions with her if they continue to look as nervous as they do. It is a bit warm in here and she can see where getting used to the environment will cause stress. What she isn't expecting is the returned question. She hasn't met many Vulcans that cared to interact with her and she realizes then that it's because they know her profession.
"I'm a psychiatrist, specializing previously in human behavior and research. The powers that be decided that even though a human's understanding of Vulcan psychiatry will be difficult to grasp, it's worth it if it means a few extra hands. And as of late, I am the most qualified when it comes to research," she explains, very proud of herself for that. "Dr. Booth is in charge of the team, acting as Chief Medical to our small division. We have a neurologist, cardiologist as well as a OB/GYN and general practitioner. Dr. Booth specializes in xenobiology and pathology."
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"Well, our doctors and researchers are very competent, and I hope you'll enjoy working with them," he says, as they arrive at the sickbay. This is as far as he's supposed to go with them, and he's pretty sure the sublieutenants can take it from here.
"I have other duties I need to attend to, but I'm pleased to have met you all," he says to the delegates. He gives Dr. Dehner in particular a nod of farewell. "I'm sure we'll encounter one another again. Live long and prosper."
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The Major's time with them ended at the sick bay and as he bid them farewell, she gave him a smille smile back and an equal nod. She already found herself to be fond of him. He was curteous and kind, willing to answer questions and didn't seem terribly irritated by her presence there, unlike many of the Vulcans she's come across lately. They mostly seem irritated that the humans are involved at all, but this man didn't give that same impression, though there is a chance he was better at hiding it than others. Maybe he's more mature than many. She has a hard time guessing ages. He leaves them and she glances over her shoulder to watch him walk away. At least she knows one person she is on good terms with in case she needs assistance. Hopefully that won't happen any time soon.
Except it totally does. Elizabeth is shown to the sick bay and then to her quarters. She takes a few minutes to get used to the room, setting the thermostat at a lower temperature and turning up the lights as high as they will go. She knows that evolution had originally had Vulcans as cave-dwelling and nocturnal. This accounts for the dim lights despite their planet being blindingly bright during the day. At least it was. She doesn't let herself dwell on those thoughts for too long and decides she'd like to go get at least acquainted with the places she'll be going most of the time. Elizabeth got herself to sick bay again, trying to look inconspicuous, but once she decided to try and get to the mess hall? That's when the trouble started.
She took a wrong turn somewhere and she spent some time wandering, trying to look like she wasn't lost, just trying to get the mess hall as it was now dinner and she was starting to get hungry. Maybe if she tried turning left at the next juncture. Elizabeth's horrible sense of direction was making it worse.
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His rest period has just begun, and he's on his way to find a sparring partner to practice with for a while. He passes through a restricted area of the ship, one open only to security officers and those with the proper clearance. It is not, needless to say, a place where he would expect to run into one of the human doctors, but there is Dr. Dehner, the only one of them he really remembers.
He approaches, raising an eyebrow. She'd seemed awfully curious when they'd spoken, but not dangerous, and if she were trying to gather forbidden information or anything of the sort, this would be a clumsy way to do it even for a human. He doubts that's the case.
"Dr. Dehner," he says, with a spread-fingered salute. "Do you need some assistance?"
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"Major..." she clears her throat, trying to seem more professional than she feels at this very second, "I don't suppose having a poor sense of direction is a common among Vulcans. I... wandered a little outside my known path." That is the understatement of the century. A girl who can get lost in a starship is a pathetic girl. Let's hope no one ever lets her wander around the surface on her own.
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