Unexpected Connections

Posted on Mon Jul 31st, 2023 @ 2:17am by Private 1st Class Cedrik Feng & Ensign Mika Petrova

Mission: S1 Episode 5: Ex Post Facto
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Date 2371-08-20 at 0630
2072 words - 4.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Sickbay was often a mixed bag; you never knew what you were going to walk in on. Most of the time it was calm and sterile, populated by a doctor, two nurses, and any crewman who might have bumped his head of skinned his knee. At other times it was bustling with physicals being completed. The real reason it was there, however, was only seen when things got bad. A battle, an explosion, or whatever caused the metaphorical shit to hit the fan, and the room was bursting with patients, doctors, and those who demanded answers. This was somewhere between the two, and Mika was one with the routine of the room.

Since she had received her commission and officially graduated, she had retained her position as a secondary doctor on Alpha Shift. She couldn’t shake the feeling, now that her studies were finished, that her presence was largely unnecessary. With one physician present and the other shifts already populated with Lamont and Rosen, she sort of just stood there looking pretty and tried to avoid annoying Daniel Brasken.

Now, as he was in surgery with Lyra, she was the doctor on call in the main Sickbay. That means she was continuing her week-long task of reorganizing the medical supplies in the back room. Riveting.

After some time, the doors to the surgical bay opened and the Banean doctor walked out followed abruptly by the armored figure of the Shadow Squad’s medic. The bulk of the procedure was over so the alien was being returned to his cell. Cedrik handed him off to the waiting security guards and then finally took his helmet off. He gave a long sigh and just stood there for a moment, taking a beat after the rather stressful past two hours. He was about to leave to return to his squad, but then remembered he had a request to put in.

Shrugging, he turned to head back to the supply room with his helmet under his arm. He stepped through the archway and looked around.

“Hello?” He called, not seeing anyone immediately but there were a few rows of shelves someone could have been behind.

“Hmm?” Mika said, balancing a stack of medical tricorder in protective packs. She hefted them onto the shelf and sighed. Brasken had given her this job because he hated her; it was as clear as day.

She peaked her head around the shelf she was standing behind and saw a boot on the other side of the room and nothing else.

“Hello. How can I help you?” She asked, her voice sweet like honey, her slight Russian accent adding interest to her words.

“Oh, yes I-” Cedrik turned toward the voice and then stopped, his dark eyes widened a bit. “Um…” He licked his lips, just staring at her a moment longer and then seemed to get ahold of himself.

“Uh sorry Miss- I mean Ensign Petrova… Doctor Petrova?” He frowned, unsure of what to call her now. He’d seen Mika around, he knew her name, but he’d never really looked at her until now. She was beautiful.

Mika smiled. He was tripping all over his words and she found it very cute. She stepped out from behind the shelf more completely, her very shapely figure angled slightly from a graceful positioning of her legs.

“Doctor Petrova works just fine.” She said simply, her smile bright and kind. “And you’re Cedrik, right?”

“You know me?” He seemed genuinely surprised by that. His eyes ran up and down her body, but it wasn’t the leering she would have been used to from most men, his seemed like genuine admiration. “I mean yes, I’m Cedrik. Cedrik Feng.”

“I know the Shadow Squad had a medic named Cedrik Feng. You are a member of Shadow Squad and I saw you bringing Lieutenant Cassiel into Sickbay.” She said, making a final approach and gesturing to his suit. She had indeed noticed the look he gave her, but she pretended not to. “I put two and two together.”

“Right. Right, that makes sense.” Cedrik reached up and rubbed the back of his head with his gloved hand. “Sorry. Yeah. I actually uh… wanted to put in a request for a few supplies I noticed we were lacking. Is there a nurse or someone I should talk to around here for that?” He peeled his eyes away from her and looked around. He didn’t want to be rude.

Mika spent a lot of time being ogled and she always pretended not to notice. When he averted her gaze, she certainly did notice and couldn’t help but smile. It was very sweet, in her mind.

“Normally, I could tell you the answer is yes, but I’m the one the good CMO has put in charge of supply. What are you looking for?”

When Cedrik looked back to Mika, he made sure he focused on her face and eyes alone. He gave her a smile, naturally charming. “I was looking to requisition four plasma infusion units. They are missing from my tool set and they are very useful out in the field.”

Mika walked to a nearby terminal and navigated to the requisitions application. It was a mildly tedious document, so she started to fill it out for him.

“Well let me get this started for you. I’m not allowed to just give things out; they have to be approved by the CMO. I Can make sure he sees it today though.” She said softly to the man behind her. She turned her soft brown eyes to him again. “Does that work for you, Cedrik?”

Cedrik had walked after Mika but maintained a respectful distance from her personal space and while she worked, he had been looking around the supply room without any real intent other than he hadn’t been in there before. When Mika spoke though, he immediately looked back and smiled at her. “Yeah, that’s perfect. Thank you, Doctor.”

His voice was respectful and he looked at her with an easy gaze, focusing on her face again instead of her body. “I really appreciate your help.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just glad I got a little company. I’ve been here for days during working hours.” She said, stepping aside to allow him to input his code on the request.

“Sorry to hear that.” He stepped up to the console and tapped at it very carefully considering he was still wearing his armored gloves. “Seems pretty drab. What do you do with your free time, though?”

Most people thought that Mika was naive and a bit oblivious, but she was conscious enough to know when someone was angling for something. Questions about hobbies from a man, in her experience, were rarely just talk. Still, with Cedrik, it still seemed totally innocent and kind.

“When I’m off duty, I love to put on something comfortable, pour some wine, and curl up with a nice book.” Mika said with a smile reminiscent of that feeling. “Or I go for a run to blow off some steam. I don’t have much of a social life, so…”

She moved out of his way and, when he was done, she submitted the report.

“How about you? What do you do when you’re not being a super soldier?”

“Usually practice cello for a while because even being seventy thousand light years away, I can somehow still very clearly hear my father firmly stating the importance of doing so.” Cedrik grinned. “If not that and I can manage to get a bit of holodeck time, I’ll load up horseback riding programs. I do enjoy a good book too; what are you reading now?”

“Oh, gods. Are you serious?” She asked, her smile brightening as she became exciting. “You’re telling me you play strings and you ride? That’s amazing!”

Her energy was suddenly bursting from her for a moment, a rare thing for Mika Petrova.

“I play violín, even though I haven’t touched the thing in months. And my mother insisted Andrei and I learn to ride and fight when we were growing up. I never caught on to the fighting, but I can ride like the wind!”

Cedrik was slightly surprised at the sudden enthusiasm, but it was infectious and made his grin grow wider. “Really?! It’s great isn’t it? Hey, maybe you should come with me sometime. It is more fun when there’s someone else.”

The invitation seemed to be genuinely born of the enthusiasm they shared for the activity and not some smooth ask for a date.

“Oh, that would be great!” She said, her smile growing a bit warmer as some of the adrenaline died down. “I’d love to get on a horse again some time. I always felt the freest doing that back home. Just sun, grass, wind and nothing but possibilities.”

“Yeah, it is really perfect, isn’t it?” Cedrik’s grin tamed down into a smile, unconsciously mirroring her settled enthusiasm. “We’d have to go in the early evening or after. Shadow Squad’s schedule is extremely strict and I don’t have free time until 1930. Is sometime after that okay with you?”

“Late night horseback riding after dinner. That sounds so nice.” She said, stressing the word “so” to indicate how she felt about it. “I’ll make myself something exciting and meet you at the holodeck at 1930. And, one more thing, would it be okay with you if it were sunset?”

Mika put her hands together in a begging gesture, her face scrunched into a cute “please” face. She was playing some imaginative game with herself, role playing an actual experience. She wasn’t sure how he might feel about that, but she’d just have to worry about that later.

Cedrik didn’t answer immediately, staring at Mika in that stupid way young men stared at pretty girls like her when they were being adorable. She was so cute. He recovered with a slight shake of his head and averted his eyes, slightly embarrassed by himself. “Sunset? Yeah… yeah of course. I know the perfect spot.”

He recovered then, looking back into her eyes and giving a smile. “Any particular kind of horse you prefer?”

“Oh, a Kabarda. Female.” She said, answering immediately without the need for any consideration. “My absolute favorite.”

He nodded. “Alright. I’ve never heard of that one. Is it a Russian breed?”

Mika nodded, her lips still turned up at the sides at the thought. There commonalities had helped her to warm up to him a bit and she seemed perfectly comfortable now. She looked at him with big brown eyes.

“It’s from the Caucasus. I had one named Olga growing up. She was my little sweetheart and now I really love riding horses that remind me of her.” she said, then she heard movement in the corridor outside. Her eyes cut to the boxes and crates in the storage room. “I’d better get back to work or I might be in here by our holodeck visit time.”

Cedrik had taken a keen interest in her explanation. His kind brown eyes moved between her lips and eyes while she told him about a little piece of her childhood. His eyes ended on her own, and he gave a smile and nod. “A Kabarda made it is, then.”

He looked over his shoulder at the crates she had looked at, then back to her. His expression had shifted to one that was almost reassuring in a way. “I should get back to my squad too. I’ll see you tonight then… Doctor? May I call you Mika?”

“Of course.” She said with a wave. “I’ll see you later, Cedrik.”

"Great. See you then, Mika." With one final smile, Cedfik turned and left. Despite the events of the day, he felt excited. Perhaps it wasn't a good sign he wasn't torn over the loss of Patrick, but the man had caused his own death by doing something stupid so in a way... maybe it was expected. Of course it wasn't the first person Cedrik had lost, so perhaps he had become a bit jaded to it even at his age.

Either way, the coming evening was sure to be fun.

END