Posted by Captain John Tiberius Glen (Captain) in Pre sim - Lt. Saark reporting in - CO’s office

Lieutenant Saark had just been transferred aboard the Merrimack. In fact, he’d just barely arrived. The very first thing he’d done was head straight to the CO’s office to report in. He didn’t see much point in delaying - he hadn’t really brought anything along with him, and he saw reporting in as the most important thing to get done. He knew he’d also have to stop by Sickbay.

He’d been asked many, many times why he chose to go into medicine in Starfleet. A lot of people couldn’t wrap their mind around a full-blooded Vulcan wanting to do such an emotionally involved job. But for him, it was a way to study what he was interested in - the body. It had taken him some time to be promoted above the rank of Ensign, and all of his department heads back then, had… concerns about his bedside manner. He certainly wasn’t known for sugar-coating things. But he had improved in that aspect… marginally. For him it was a matter of just doing - regardless of how illogical he saw it to be.

Arriving at the CO’s office, he knocked, and asked, “Permission to enter, sir?”

Captain John Tiberius Glen was in his ready Room reviewing the Star Fleet personnel file of the new Chief Medical Officer; a position they seemed to be turning over at a striking pace recently. He couldn’t understand why, but it seemed they were unable to hold on to their medical doctors for any length of time. Was it the stress of working out here on the very edges of the Federation? Those new worlds, new civilisations, brought with them new diseases, new aliments too. Glen wasn’t sure about a Vulcan as a CMO. He had never heard of it before, but maybe a Vulcan at least would be able to deal with the level of stress. As for the lack of bedside manner, well, how could he be any worse that the rather shouty and erratic Dr Cross, or the gruff and scornful Dr Grunch? So, if this Dr Saark was as good as his references said he was then he would fit in just fine.

Glen had intended merely a quick scan of the personnel file before meeting Saark, but he found that he became engrossed in the comments made by senior doctors and academy instructors. Saark had not had an easy time to get promoted above Ensign, but Glen respected that tenacity and that was a quality that he admired. So, he was barely half-way through the file when Saark arrived at his door.

“Yes, please come in,” replied Glen. “Do take a seat!”

Saark entered, promptly seating himself. “Lieutenant Saark, reporting for duty, sir. You are Captain Glen, correct?” He said, looking over the Captain. He believed first impressions were often the most important, and so far, the Captain gave a good first impression. He caught a glimpse of his own name on a file he recognized as a personnel file. A logical choice, by his standards. Since his promotion, he made a point of getting to know his junior officers, more accurately, their shortcomings and strengths.

His current goal was to understand emotion better. Of course, he did not agree that it was necessary, but he had been advised that if he could at least understand the human side better, he could improve greatly as a doctor. New diseases and ailments, as well as new races, were quite an interest to Saark, and that was why he had accepted an assignment to the Merrimack. It was right up his alley, in fact, and the reason he’d become a doctor. To better get the chance to study these kinds of things. He also liked the cause and effect of diseases and medicine.

~ Lt. Saark, CMO

“I am the one and only!” replied Glen, then remembered Saark was Vulcan. Not a single paragraph in Saark’s personnel file had told Glen the things he really wanted to know about him: As he had developed his discipline of logic, did he have room for a sense of humour? Could he indeed, laugh at all? How adaptable was his discipline of logic, and his understanding of emotions, to enable some essential level of bedside manner?

“There has been much written about myself and about the exploits of the Merrimack,” continued Glen, “most of which isn’t true. Tell me about yourself, Saark. How do you come to be joining us and why?”

Saark gave a curt nod. Those were things that would have to be learned by working with the Vulcan, for if asked, he would only give the Vulcan answer. Humans often seemed to dislike logic, trying to get him to laugh or to emote in some way. So far, he had not. But it was noted that it may, someday, be possible for him to have a sense of humor, at least. That was why they had gone the route of teaching him to understand emotions, without having experienced them much himself. As it stood, his understanding was… rudimentary at best, and incredibly, well, logical in nature.

“I am fascinated by the unknown. Specifically, previously undiscovered diseases and ailments. The interworkings of the bodies of other species. Much like how human blood is iron-based and that of a Vulcan is copper-based, I theorize about what other kinds of species may be out there. The Merrimack is exactly the kind of ship I was looking for, so when I was given the opportunity to transfer here, I took it.” He told the Captain.

“Then you are aboard exactly the right ship, Saark,” said Glen. “Our missions have taken us to the very edges of Known Space. We frequently meet with Klingons and Romulans. We have encountered several new species; we were the ship that made First Contact with the Bolay, disastrous though that meeting was. Of course, not every mission can feel like a success. There was the species that sadly annihilated themselves, and which the Prime Directive prevented us from doing anything to stop it. And our several excursions through time, that we aren’t at liberty to discuss. However, if you want to find new civilisations and new worlds, this is your ship!”

Saark nodded. “I look forward to the missions I’ll be on with you and this ship,” he said. The idea didn’t so much excite him as interest him, greatly. This was, as he’d suspected, exactly the sort of ship he’d wanted.

Unable to think of anything else he needed saying, he asked, “Are there any other question you had for me, Captain?”

“Not a question as such,” Glen said, “but before you came in, I was just musing on our high turnover of CMOs and wondering whether the cause was, in fact, that very stress that comes from working out here on the very edges of the Federation with new diseases and ailments, and often very little chance to check back with colleagues in Starfleet Medical… and whether your unique methods of purging emotions and disciplines that maintain calmness might be an advantage in this position. Anyway, I must let you get to Sickbay and meet your medical and nursing team. So, I won’t keep you any longer.”

-Glen, CO

Saark took mental note of the information. High turnover of CMOs, who all appear to have quit due to stress. “I believe my.. methods, as you put it, will be a great advantage out here, Captain,” he said. The idea that the previous CMOs’ emotion may have been the reason they quit would have pleased Saark, had he believed in emotion. It was one of those things that solidified his belief in the ways of his homeworld. Of course, there was no solid proof that was the reason. Not that it was important, or relevant. “Yes, I’d like to get to work. Thank you,” he said, standing from the chair.

~ Lt. Saark, CMO