Lt.(jg) Dr. Toz: What was lost has now been found
Patty Boyle
((USS Octavia E Butler - CMO’s office - Sickbay deck 5))
Toz: Computer, begin personal log
Computer: Recording
So far, all my medical duties have been taken care of. Nurse Miash -that wonderful head nurse- is handling the inventory, giving out assignments and helping to bring all the records up to date. She has mentioned that she’s taking classes to become a doctor but I don’t know how she finds the time. And I don’t recall any Ferengi doctors being mentioned anywhere in Starfleet. While it’s Her that should be proud, I am, also. I guess I’m just proud that she’s stayed on my staff and I’m going to hate to lose her. Maybe she’ll stay on the Butler while she does her internship. I can only hope. Computer, pause.
Computer: Recording paused.
Dr. Toz was skirting around the real issue and she knew it. How to steal… uh, cumshaw a shuttle. They were now at New Bajor and the slave mine planet -that awful place- was about two days away in a fast shuttle. She needed one that could travel there and back in less than five days. Shore leave was going to be over with in just a couple of weeks or maybe one week. She would need a day to find it. She’d been so busy that she hadn’t had time to plan.
Now she would simply take the time. Sneaking was not something she did -ever. But this was a most important mission. Her mission and she couldn’t ask someone to aid and abet. Toz hung her head. The CMO in the brig was a devastating thought! She couldn’t ask anyone to join her. Sneaking into the mines should be easy. She hoped.
Doing some fast calculating, Toz pulled up a few records from Jack Kessler’s and Lhandon Nilsen’s files. They’d done similar things and just maybe that would give her some ideas. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be blamed when the shuttle went missing. But she could ask forgiveness and clear everything up when she returned with her Bat’leth.
Gathering supplies she thought she might need: Medical kit, type IV phaser, two gel packs (because one just never knows). Toz stopped herself from grabbing another phaser. There was a replicator on every shuttle. She’d replicate whatever she needed. Fear gripped her stomach but she gallantly fought the feelings. She was somewhat successful.
Slinging her little duffle bag of supplies over her shoulder, Toz slipped out of the CMO’s office and into a back corridor. She was careful to look both ways. The only crew known to traverse these corridors were the lower deckers. Wearing her uniform, the blue of medical, she shouldn't be questioned even if someone were to come upon her.
Now, she asked herself, how do I get to the shuttle bays from the rear?
No one on the deck, no noises, no… A familiar shape presented itself, small, just her size. Staring, afraid it would suddenly fade and disappear, Toz took small steps to sneak up on it. It didn’t vanish but lay there silently: her beloved bat’leth that her father had spent so much time fashioning for her small, 10 year old hands. Now she did look around.
Her heart was racing, her face flushed with excitement and dread, Toz carefully picked up the weapon and held it against her chest.
Dropping everything else in a heap on the deck, Toz searched for her father’s mark. If this was hers and not a replicated thing, she’d know instantly. Then there it was: Her name carved on the edge tip in small letters.
Not daring to look around, Dr. Toz grabbed her duffle bag and made her way back to her office. There, her human side kicked in; she sat down and started crying with relief and comfort. Her mother would be proud; her father would be horrified but understanding.
Lt.(jg) Doctor Toz
Acting Chief Medical Officer
USS Octavia E Butler
T239801T14