Ferri Emlott - Who controls your choices?

[Arys Trovek]

((Town of Carinth, Raijalla Valley, Bajor))

Emlott: What is it you do?

Foster: I’m the station’s chief of surgery. I’m a Xenosurgical specialist and a microsurgeon.

So he was working with Doctor Trovek. Or was he working for her? Ferri wasn't sure how Starfleet organized its medical department, so she settled on 'in the same department as Doctor Trovek'. Just that what he was doing sounded more important. 

Emlott: How long did you do that before you came to Starbase 118?

Foster: I had been serving on starships for about seven years until I was transferred here. Starfleet seems to think that having a high-level surgeon on a starship isn’t as valuable as having the same specialist on a StarBase.

Ferri nodded, happy with that answer. 

Emlott: I wonder which one is better... a Starship or a Starbase. 

More precisely, she wondered what she would like more. Not that she had an actual choice in the matter of where she was sent, but sometimes she liked to pretend. 

He shrugged and leaned forward, considering.

Foster: There’s something … I dunno – secure? In serving on a Starship? Maybe secure isn’t the right word, because starships get into a lot of trouble and danger. But you have a small crew and you know them all. You have a small sickbay and you can control all of it. There is a sort of security in the amount of control you have.

Control. Choice. 

Maybe that was what Ferri envied when speaking to the Narendra's Ensigns and watching Starfleet Officers choose their career paths and specialization. 

Emlott: And the Starbase is very big. You have less control.

Foster: Yeah, exactly. StarBase 118 is huge. I will never know all of the doctors in the medical department. I may never set foot in all the rooms designated as medical. There are seventeen sickbays and over forty clinics and other medical offices. You have to delegate… and that means you have to trust other people to do their job without too much supervision.

Emlott: ::nodding:: That is an adjustment. 

Foster: Well, after a while, you either adapt or you don’t. You either find that you like enough of the StarBase to stay there or… I mean if you hate where you live then you should live somewhere else, right?

Ferri nodded slowly, and fell silent. She had heard something similar before, coming down to 'if you don't like something, change it'. It seemed so easy for some people, and so much more difficult for someone like her. 

Maybe it again came down to the question of choice and control. She didn't feel like she had either. 

Emlott: I think, maybe that is not correct. ::she said carefully:: I think, often, the state - or the Starfleet - knows what is good for us, better than we do. 

Foster: response 

She chewed on her lower lip, trying to come up with an example. Or rather, with the right words to describe her example. 

Emlott: If your surgery skills are needed, you are put there. If go away, you do not best serve the... bigger picture? 

Foster: response 

Ferri frowned, once more considering that. On Cardassia, things were different. Making a contribution that benefitted the Cardassian Union as a whole was something they valued a lot. 

Then again, most Cardassians her age were relatively free in their choice of profession.

Emlott: I find differences interesting. I don't mind them at all. ::she smiled::

Foster: response 

A notification on the PADD let Ferri know that Geleth was stirring - either because she was coughing or because she had woken up - and the young Cardassian stood, inclining her head at the Andorian. 

Emlott: Thank you for the conversation. I enjoyed this. 

The only thing she did regret was not having asked for his name, but she figured they were too late in the conversation for her to do so. 

Foster: response 

Ferri nodded and turned around, making her way to the lift. He had given her a lot to think about, and luckily she would have all evening to do so. 

[End Scene for Ferri]

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Ferri Emlott
Ambassador Zorkal’s Aide
Starbase 118 Ops
J239809TA4