When are Physicals just Physicals?
Posted on Sun Jul 13th, 2025 @ 2:34am by Lieutenant JG Patra Rommel & Lieutenant Commander Mark Johnson
1,964 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
The Games
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Current
Patra walked down the corridor of the Wayfarer watching the crew go about their respective duties. Her senses were tuned to the Wayfarer’s every sound, hum, and looks. She was on her way to Sickbay to check in, but was dragging her feet as she did not relish the upcoming visit. She finally arrived at the Sickbay doors and stepped through. She was immediately greeted by an overeager Ensign ‘May I help you Lieutenant?’ Patra snapped a bubble and replied in a rather harsh manner, having grown tired of medical personnel “I seriously doubt you would have the skills to deal with me Ensign. I am here to see Lieutenant Commander Johnson only. Is he in his office?” The young Ensign was taken aback and at a lost for words, having never dealt with anyone so curt.
"Oh...I...I just thought.." the young ensign started to splutter a few words trying to come up with a decent sentence to answer the lieutenant but he couldn't come up with any. Lowering his head in defeat he pointed his index towards the CMO's office.
"Doctor Johnson is in his office, ma'am, he left order not to bother him unless something of paramount importance was afoot" he shrugged "I guess he is going through the last batch of sickbay's report. We've been quite busy lately and he needs to catch up on paper-work" he explained.
Patra smiled at the Ensign "Well why do you think I brought this beautiful pale-blue liquid?" she replied, showing the Ensign a beautifully crafted crystal bottle with a very pale-blue liquid. "Of course you're still a pup, so you may not have any of this wonderful elixer. Well I best be off to the mean old dragon's lair. I have such wonderful news to give the dragon. If I were you I'd consider a transfer to another department or ship. You're sure to catch a little bit of the fire the dragon will spew." With that final statement Patra sashayed toward the good doctors office.
The ensign, visibly shaken, let her go, continuing with his chores.
Upon arrival she touched the chime next to the door. "Greetings and Felicitations, dear mean old dragon, at least I believe that was what Trelane said to the wonderful crew of the Enterprise." States Patra in a loud confident voice.
Lt. Johnson's eyes popped wide open at the voice behind his back. He turned abruptly and locked his gaze on Patra.
"Well..." he stayed speechless for a while. He was definitely not expecting to see someone resurrected from the grave.
"I guess somewhere there's a better doctor than I am" he finally spluttered showing a shy smile.
“Oh, come now Commander, you should know by now that Starfleet has a way of bringing people back from the dead. I mean the most famous is Ambassador Spock.” Patra said with a warm smile. “I brought a gift.” Here she held up the crystal decanter of pale-blue liquid and two crystal shot glasses. “I recommend you take a snort or three of this before you open this bad boy.” Here Patra held up a PaDD. “Forewarning, if you decide to open this PaDD and the information it contains, you’ll be making a deal with the devil.” With that statement a serious and stern look appeared on Patra’s face.
"Oh, is that medical advice?" Mark asked jokingly while accepting Patra's decanter. "Let's do it this way" he motioned her to a seat in his office "sit down, give me a debrief of what's in the PaDD and I'll pour a few shots of this "medical liquid" for both of us, deal?"
Patra sighed, looked about then took a set. =/\= Computer seal door and dampen and ensure no communications or recordings other than authorized recording granted by Lieutenant, junior grade Patra Jiselle Rommel in Chief Medical Officer’s office. Enact Level 10 Intelligence and Security Protocols. Authorization Romeo Four Two Three Papa One Eight Juliett Eight. This is a classified conference between Lieutenant Commander Mark William Johnson, Chief Medical Officer of the USS Wayfarer and Lieutenant, junior grade Patra Jiselle Rommel; Chief Engineering Officer USS Wayfarer. Place security recording on; access Eta Sigma Kappa Alpha; and forward to Admiral Garry Yates Elton, Starfleet Special Projects & Operations Group.=/\=
=/\=Acknowledge. Enact Level 10 Intelligence and Security Protocols. Authorization Romeo Four Two Three Papa One Eight Juliett Eight. Verified that Lieutenant Commander Mark William Johnson, Chief Medical Officer of the USS Wayfarer and Lieutenant, junior grade Patra Jiselle Rommel; Chief Engineering Officer USS Wayfarer. are only present individuals. Security recording on; access Eta Sigma Kappa Alpha; and forwarding to Admiral Garry Yates Elton, Starfleet Special Projects & Operations Group upon completion of meeting.=/\= replied the computer.
Once Patra was satisfied, she sat back and smiled at Lieutenant Commander Johnson; “Remember you asked for this. Pour a shot of that fine Romulan Ale.” She smirked “How good is your theoretical astrophysics? Never mind, what do you know about point to point travel in space; the folding of space so to speak?” Patra waited for the doctors response.
Mark raised an eyebrow, his fingers delicately pouring the pale-blue liquid into both shot glasses. The scent alone gave away its strength—definitely Romulan Ale, and probably the vintage that got banned twice.
He handed her a glass, then lifted his own.
"To ghosts" he said dryly, before taking a sip. His face twitched slightly at the burn, then relaxed into a nostalgic smile. "Gods, that's good. Illegal as hell, but good."
"Point-to-point travel... folding space?" He paused. "I’m a doctor, not a warp theorist, but I paid attention in Starfleet Academy. You're talking about artificial wormholes, Einstein-Rosen bridges, that kind of thing, right? Dangerous, power-hungry, and generally unstable unless you're the Q or playing with Iconian leftovers."
Patra smiled “To ghosts” and slammed back her drink. “Yes, it is as illegal as hell. Yes, you may keep it. Have nine more stashed around various areas.” She smiles and sits back and with a sigh begins to speak “Back to business, laymen’s terms you are correct to a point. I’ll let you know I am probably the only living species member of the Federation who has ever experienced it. Point to Point is nothing like a worm hole, artificial or natural. One nanosecond you are in one spot in the universe, the next you are in a totally different location. In theory you could leave the Milky Way Galaxy for any other Galaxy in the known and unknown universe.” Patra pauses to make sure the doctor understood everything so far. “Some mad genius of a Vulcan invented such a device and Starfleet placed the engine on a shuttle craft and placed it on the USS Atlantic along with the mad Vulcan. Both to be protected by an even crazier hologram known as Kagan. Said hologram was created by Section 31 and went totally rogue. Killed the inventor, took over the Atlantic and the entire fleet engaged in battle in the of Tyra.” Here Patra stops speaking, her eyes far off in what many called the thousand yard stare.
Mark laid back on his seat, trying to let all those information sink in.
"Is that...safe? I mean, instantly dislocating from one place to another withouth the safeties measures of the teleport can't be medically safe overall" he pondered.
He then scratched his beard "And is that device still available? I mean, with all the mess we found at Tyra almost any device is presumably destroyed"
Patra snorted, "Oh, I wouldn't recommend traveling like that to anyone. Yes the device still exist, though extremely brittle, as well as that cursed hologram." A small trace of a smile crossed her haunted face. In an almost whisper she stated "I survived. Ever particle of my being was smashed to the subatomic level. I could sense ever single subatomic particle of my being. I watched them in their orbits. Then I was stretched out like spaghetti, still in subatomic form. As all this is happening I am consciously aware of the entire universe, all its myriad layers. I actually saw the Lovecraftian Cthulhu Elder Gods, the Progenitors in the liminal space-time, I saw great wonders and the most darkest horrors. My mind was filled with color and no color at the same time. I heard the most joyous sounds and music as well as sounds and music that would shrivel a soul. Time seemed to go on forever during that period, yet it was only a few nanoseconds according to the ships chronometer. Then I was smashed back together, at the subatomic level and the universe scrambled to put me back together." Patra sits back deeply in her chair, the haunted look even deeper on her face; if possible. She stared off to some unknown sight.
"That doesn't sound like something a doctor would approve" Mark commented on Patra's explanation of what physics wise happened.
"I bet you had been visited after such an happening, right?" he asked, worried that one of his patient would suffer long term damages from such a procedure.
“Oh, I have had Vulcan mystic healers in my head putting me back together, multiple Starfleet doctors and counselors poking about. Did you know I am probably the only known being in the universe that has all of their subatomic to atomic level particles flowing in the same direction?” replied Patra, deftly attempting to avoid her “demons” discussion with the good doctor.
"Well, a medical advice would be to take some time off. Maybe coming back to service so fast is not a great idea." he offered.
Patra laughed out loud at the doctors recommendation. "No thanks. I have had more time off than I care for. Apparently Starfleet Medical and Counseling feel same way. So in their infinite wisdom they dumped me on you. Guess they thought you hadn't been working hard enough lately."
Mark frowned at Patra's comment. "So they make me babysit atomic-dislocated officers now" he commented.
"Well, I might agree you are fit for duty as long as you swear that anything...and by anything I really mean any kind of anomaly in your health, make it physical or psychological, will be reported to me immediately" he locked his eyes on her, "understood?" he asked seriously.
Patra snorted out a laugh, “Doc since I went through the wringer I have felt anything but normal. Hell, I can’t even use the damn transporters yet.” Here Patra holds up her hands and does air quotes, “Not yet medically certified for the use of transporters as the current molecular alignment may cause issues.” Patra smiled mischievously, “So does that mean I have to report all my boo-boo’s, say like a papercut or such.”
"Well, the most relevant ones" the doctor commented, trusting the good sense of the engineer.
Again Patra smirked and replied, “Of course, though you may want to be more specific; I am sure your definition of ‘relevant’ is different then mine.” She smiled for a second as she watched the doctors reaction. “Just kidding you.”
Mark rolled his eyes upwards.
"At least once, be serious lieutenant" he commented while taking the gifted bottle and securing it in a locker in his office.
"Try not to get disintegrated and re-combined again" he smirked.
"Oh, I guarantee you I have NO intention of repeating THAT AGAIN. she then got up to leave, "Duty calls. God only knows how much of a mess my ship is in."
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Lt. Cmdr. Mark Johnston
CMO, USS Wayfarer
Lt. JG Patra Rommel
CEO, USS Wayfarer
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