'A Change Gonna Come.'

Posted on Mon Feb 10th, 2025 @ 5:08pm by Commodore Finchley Kerr & Lieutenant Commander Kevin Kilbane & Lieutenant Commander Shoniara T'ghann-Dex. Doctor

2,624 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Voices of the past
Location: Captain's Ready Room, late evening.
Timeline: Current.

Shon looked through the results from Isabelle’s scans once again. Something wasn’t sitting right and Shon had an itch in her brain, one that she was not going to be able to scratch. The Captain needed to know the possible outcomes if he was to be able to plan the mission. Everyone had to be at one hundred percent and the sound of the word ‘augment’s had gone through the crew like a dose of salts. She sighed picking up her medical PaDD, Shon was so tired, dog tired not having had any sleep for what seemed like a long time. She considered letting the Captain know in the morning but she knew it was her responsibility to him and also Isabelle to disseminate the results.

Walking along the corridor there was hardly anyone about. The Delta shift just having begun and the lights had been lowered to approximate night time. Hoping he was still up she decided to go see him rather that use the communicator in the hope the walk would encourage her to sleep. Reaching the bridge she nodded to the Lieutenant in the chair and walked over to his ready room, pressing the chime she waited.

Inside, Finchley was contemplating finally calling it a day. He'd had some camomile tea and was now ready to set off for his quarters, but the chime on his door stopped him. He wasn't expecting anyone, so he was somewhat puzzled that it had sounded.

"Come in" he said, curious at to who it would be.

Shon entered, “Captain, I’m sorry to bother you, I know it’s late,” she hesitated, “I could return tomorrow, I can see you were about to relax?”

"Shon?" Finchley said, somewhat surprised to see it was her who had come to see him. He stood up and walked around his desk, "No, well, I was, but it must be fairly serious if you're coming to see me at this late hour, Please, have a seat, what can I do for you?" he asked.

She sat thankfully knowing she did not look her best, her hair had begun to escape from its clip and her uniform was crumpled, but it was always good to see him she thought. “ I have some information I thought you needed to know about Lieutenant Commander Savette. Now I know medical Information comes under personal privacy but not when it might impact the ship and Isabelle herself.” She pulled the PaDD up. “The Lieutenant Commander came to see me yesterday regarding some redness, itching and skin loss around her implants. I performed a complete scan which appeared to show that the nanites that impacted the entry of the implants were dying. Other than the local symptoms she denied any others. Now these implants run into her spinal cord and up into her brain.” Shon sighed. “The nanites appear to be dying around her foramen magnum, in essence her brain stem.” She waited to see if he had any questions for her.

Finchley took in the information that Shon had just given him regarding his Chief Counsellor. Now, in itself, he understood the situation for Isabelle to go and see Shon, after all, Shon was the CMO and that was as it should be. However, for Shon to now come and speak to him about it, that took the situation into a new sphere of complications. For the very person who should be the one Counselling people who had problems, that person themself was having problems, and it could affect their work and ability to perform it.

"Tell me, as I'm assuming you've spoken with the CC, has there been any outward sign you've seen to cause you concern?" he asked.

Shon shook her head, “no, nothing yet, some of the symptoms of this would be fits, blackouts, misdirected senses, for example thinking something is cold, when it is in fact hot. Lack of good judgement, tremors and, in the later stages aggression and even death. I am trying to find an explanation for this and a way to rejuvenate the nanites. Trying any surgical options also carries great risk, something I am not qualified to do.”

Finchley was taking stock of how grave the situation was, not only from the ship's crew perspective, it being the Chief Counsellor who was the one in trouble from her problem, but from the personal perspective of Isabelle as a person.

"The Borg nanites situation has come back to haunt us, as I knew it would" Finchley replied, thinking back to the situation that had caused Isabelle to unfortunately have the nanites in her body in the first place.

"We don't have a specialist onboard who can deal with this, the closest we have is McCrudden, our Chief Engineer. He may be able to help you out, but I can't be certain, you'd need to ask him."

She nodded, “ that’s a good idea Finchley…er Captain, sorry….I am very tired. The problem is that these symptoms may come on quite suddenly, what if the happen whilst on away team duty? I must admit to a great deal of anxiety about this new mission and how the crew will perform anyway. I will continue to look into this problem and Isabelle has agreed to wear a monitor that should give us some warning if any of the symptoms occur. There is one other scenario, these nanites are so directly embedded in her brain stem she could just…die….at any time.” Shon rubbed her forehead. “I hate this, I know I have not been back on board very long but Isabelle has been very non judgmental, friendly and has acted as though I had never been away."

"Regardless of how little time you've been back, you've acquitted yourself very well, hence you being promoted to Second Officer" Finchley replied, "but what is more of my concern is how tired you are, that's not good. Yes, the situation with Isabelle is quite alarming, given what could go wrong at any given point, but I have to think of the overall health of the crew, not just individuals, and not just Senior Officers either. The fact you have a monitor on her means at least have forewarning if anything should go awry, but 'we' have to look at the bigger picture. When was the last time you slept Shon?"

She paused, she had to think, her brain had reached its ‘stew’ phase. “I think it must be over forty eight hours. I have been wrestling with this problem since she came to me. The last thing I want to do is frighten her, it might lead to her second guessing anything she does, or says. But nothing is coming to me Finchley.”

"Then you need a distraction Shon" Finchley said, "something that can take your mind off of the problem and let it work in the background. I'm no stranger to that scenario you know, being as it happens more time than I care to share. If I'm stuck, if there's no solution presenting itself, I do something out with what the problem is and after a while, my brain taps me on the shoulder and presents me with the answer."

She nodded and began to stand. “Thank you for seeing me so late.” She said and immediately sat back down again.

Finchley quickly moved round to the back of Shon's chair helped her sit back. "You're overly tired Shon, you've worked yourself to the bone and that's not good. You of all people, being my Chief Medical Officer, know not to push one's self this far. It impairs cognitive function, dulls the reflexes and causes us to do all kinds of strange things which are out of character. Look, with your permission, I'd like to try and help you."

She nodded the feeling of him near her oddly comforting and realising she was in no state to argue.

"Thank you" Finchley replied. He placed his hands lightly on her shoulders and began to massage them. He could feel the tension in her shoulders and neck, so he pressed his thumbs into her slightly harder, trying to get them to relax more. He moved his hands back and forth along her shoulders and up onto her neck, "Gosh you're almost rigid Shon, you're so tired,"

She moaned as she felt his thumbs over the tight knots in her neck. she had not realised she was so tense and had not meditated for some time. "Surak, that feels so good Finchley. Pushing against his hands she felt something that she had forgotten.

"Well, a Captain is here to help his crew in whatever circumstances he can" Finchley joked, "and well, if I can help you relax more then my jobs done."

He moved both his hands to her right shoulder and worked on the knots there, then moved over to the left. Finally, he concentrated on the middle and her lower neck. He gently helped her to her feet and began massaging up and down her arms, feeling them tight as well. "You know, for someone who's told me off on more than one occasion for not looking after myself, I'm not going to tell you that this is the pot calling the kettle black, but, this is the kettle saying to the pot that they're black."

He began to gently shake her arms to loosen them off, then began a hand massage, then up onto her wrists, forearm, her upper arms and back onto her shoulders. He began to feel Shon relax more, and he was glad that the tensions she'd been feeling had now began to dissipate .

"How's that, is there anything else I can do for you to help you relax?" he asked.

That was wonderful," she sighed, "you have definitely missed your calling, you could have made a fortune," she laughed softly. I would like to stay a little longer, maybe have a glass of wine, talk?"

"Sure thing" Finchley replied, going the replicator and bring back two glasses of wine. He handed one to her and gestured for her to sit down again and he himself sat on the edge of his desk. "What would you like to talk about Shon?"

She sipped the wine feeling the fire of it slipping down her throat. "when I left what happened to you?" she asked. "It's been what, two years?"

"Give or take" Finchley answered, "Can you be a little more specific on what you mean, are you asking about what happened to me personally or professionally?"

She could feel his physical presence near to her, inches from her and the smell of sandalwood drifted over and into to her Vulcan nose. "Personally, if you don't mind me asking, has their been...anyone special in your life?" she sipped some more wine.

"Oh, I went completely off the rails" Finchley replied, "I think it's what's referred to as clinical depression. I became very withdrawn, angry...I mean very angry...I didn't eat much but boy did I drink. That lasted the best part of six months till Kilbane and Karadis took things into their own hands by taking me to the gym and knocking ten colours of shit out of me for five or six hours till I couldn't take anymore. I don't blame them, I'd become a liability, not worthy of the Captaincy or trust of the crew."

"I am so sorry," she said softly and put her hand on his leg to try to communicate her sadness. "I never meant for any of that to happen Finchley." she finished her wine and put her glass out towards him, "refill, please."

"That one went fast" he laughed, taking her glass and getting a refill for her. Returning, he handed the full glass to her and went back to his perch on the edge of the table. "There was one thing that came out of the situation though, I went on a killing spree, not on the ship you understand, I meant when we were out on any mission. I had to redirect my anger, so that's where it went. How about you, what happened to you?"

"I immersed myself in work, did a lot of training, went on some long deep embedded missions, learnt to be on my own. At one time I decided to return to Vulcan but it was too quiet." she laughed, "and, of course it is difficult to resist when duty calls. I pushed you away in my thoughts. then one day I was shot by a Cardassian spy. It was my fault, for one moment I took my eye of the ball as they say. I spent several months in rehab, then they sent me on the Romulan Presidential mission and.....I saw you and it all came flooding back."

"I have to say, it was a surprise to see you back, and oddly enough, in a good way" Finchley replied. "As much as our departing had been hard and a lot off horrible things had been said by both of us, seeing you again brought back many nice feelings and memories. Can I ask you, when you were told you were being reassigned to the Blackeagle, how did that make you feel?"

"Very happy, and very unsure of what to expect and....how you felt about me?" she phrased that as a question.

"If I'm honest, my feelings towards you have never changed Shon, even with the way we went our separate ways" Finchley replied. "When I found out you were coming back, I didn't say anything to anyone because I didn't want there to be any prejudgement of your return."

He stood up and put his glass on his desk, "But now, I think it's time you got some rest, can't have the Second Officer out on their feet, can we?"

Shon sighed and finished her drink. She had been enjoying the feeling of intimacy with him. "Maybe we can do this again sometime?" she said as they walked to the door.

"Yes, I'd like that" Finchley replied, and as they reached the door, he took her gently by the arms and turned her towards him. "I've really enjoyed this...chat, but there's one thing that's missing and I'd be remiss if I didn't do it."

He reached forward and gently kissed her on the lips. Suddenly all his feelings for Shon came rushing back as her soft lips touched his. He placed his hand behind her head and felt the softness of her hair and he drew her in a little bit closer.

For a moment she was shocked by the fierceness of her response. Her arms wrapped around him drawing him closer, tasting his lips wanting more.

Then the door opened and the world went into slow motion.

"Bird, sorry to rush in here like this, but I think I may have a way of testing how the Range..." Kilbane began to say as he walked in. He stopped as he saw Finchley and Shon in an embrace, kissing. His stunned astonishment showed on his face, but he quickly recovered himself as he coughed into his hand and said, "Sorry, my apologies Commodore, Commander, I didn't mean to interrupt you both."

He looked between them, angry words on the tip of his tongue, but he bit his lip, turned and and walked back out again.

"What in Surak's name are we going to do now?"

Finchley looked at Shon, "That is a good question, I wish I could tell you" Finchley replied, looking after the rapidly hurrying away Kilbane.

 

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