The Lights Are On...
Posted on Wed May 29th, 2019 @ 8:36pm by Captain Liarra Von & Commander Talia Varen
Mission: Starbase 332, Where Are You?
Liarra felt a little better about the situation, if only just, after meeting with S'er'in'e. Although the radiation exposure had taken its toll on him, he was at least in the process of recovering. But Colonel S'er'in'e was not the only officer that had to step in to repair that reactor. Her first officer, Commander Leo Luciano, was exposed as well. He appeared to be in a different section of the hospital as Colonel S'er'in'e, but no one was able to tell Von much besides that. So she tracked down the one person that she knew beyond a doubt would be aware of his situation.
Liarra stopped just outside the door to the office of the Chief of Medicine. The door was already open, and Doctor Varen was sitting at her desk. Von knocked gently on the wall to get her attention, not wanting to startle the doctor by making a lot of noise. "Doctor Varen. I hope I'm not disturbing you."
"I'm grateful for the disturbance I assure you" her words were punctuated by a yawn and she looked up at the Captain. "And call me Talia, please...at least when its not urgent."
Liarra smiled. "Talia. I was hoping you could give me an update about a patient. I know doctor-patient confidentiality might keep you from sharing a lot of details. I don't even know if you're his attending doctor, but I know you have a vested interest in his status as well. Could you give me an update on Commander Luciano's condition? So far no one has been able to tell me anything."
Her smile immediately disappeared and was replaced with a look of Vulcan calm that was eerie to see on the vivacious woman. "That is a difficult question to answer captain...a very difficult one indeed."
Liarra's demeanor shifted quickly as well as she started to fear the worse. "Difficult?" she asked. "What's wrong?"
"Physically? He's recovering well." Talia said, hoping that Von would be able to fill in the blanks.
Von was no doctor, but she could get where Talia was going. "But mentally is a different story."
The drop in Talia's shoulders was enough of an answer before she nodded yes to the actual question. "I can't reach him. He's blocked me and everything else out so securely that I can't bypass his barriers. He hasn't spoken, or acknowledged anything that's being done to him. It's like...a robot. He eats and sleeps and breathes but no one is home."
It was concerning news, for many reasons. Liarra and Leo weren't the closest, but she still considered him a friend. But he was also the second in command of this station, and if there was a time that she needed her number one, it was now. But she was not so bad at reading people that she couldn't see how difficult it was for Talia. Liarra offered a reassuring hand on Talia's shoulder, or at least reassurance was the intent. "I'm sure he's in there, Talia. If anyone can bring him out of it, it's you."
Talia smiled at the praise of her abilities. What else could she do but that? "He's in there. He's just locked himself in so tightly I don't even know where to begin to break down the walls. If I were...well...more Vulcan..." What her father wouldn't have given to hear her, his favorite daughter say that. Wincing away from the connotations that conversation would bring she sighed. "I'll keep trying."
"I know you will," Liarra replied with an attempt to reassure. "Please keep me posted if anything changes with his condition."
Talia sighed deeply, and glanced up at Liarra. "Of course. And I'll keep trying."
"I know you will, Talia," Von replied with a nod. "I know you will."
Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332
Commander Talia Varen
Chief Medical Officer
Starbase 332
