Lt JG Quentin Beck - I hate, I hate, I *hate* Peter Pan

[Daniel McGillian Jr]

As someone who dearly loves the movie Hook, I appreciate this reference, and from what I know of Beck, this seems right on the money. Well done Sir.

 

((Sickbay Complex, Deck 10, USS Ronin))

 

Although the monitors in Sickbay were capable of displaying external views similar to the viewscreen on the Bridge, Quentin had opted to keep up the normal displays if only because he wasn't particularly keen on the idea of acting as bait. Sure, to some people it might have seemed appealing to jam a hook through their soft tissues and wiggle themselves onto it so they could properly catch a fish, but he liked his soft tissues and wasn't particularly a fan of impaling himself just to get someone else's attention.

 

Of course, he was not the Ronin's Commanding Officer, and although he thought the whole damn plan was a bad idea, he kept his reservations to himself; there was a lot on the line here, between what little he knew was happening back at Earth and the rumblings of a potential assault by the Lattice Alliance. As much as he wanted to protect his own backside, he understood what was expected, especially now that he'd been promoted and was fully serving as Acting CMO, rather than waiting for Kel to take over the office again.

 

So as soon as the order came to start prepping for the worst, Quentin shifted to Business Mode. While they'd been in spacedock, before he'd briefly departed, he'd done as much as he could to make sure the entire medical staff had everything they needed to function in the worst of the worst emergencies; considering they had managed to survive the attack from the Consortium, the Lattice Alliance seemed like small potatoes.

 

oO Foghorn Leghorn accent - 'That's a joke, son.' Oo

 

He'd divvied up the preparation to those he knew he could trust; these were, primarily, Chief Nurse Wyla Avae, Doctor Lana Morgenstern, and the exocomp orderly, Beguiling Enigmatic Charmer, in that order. His new minion— err, junior officer, Alyndra Syrex he opted to keep close by because he knew he'd need her help most of all, functioning as a veritable right-hand man, so to speak, since before his return he'd uh… well, lost his right hand. 

 

Each of them had been ordered to prep individual wards - Morgenstern at Ward A, where they would handle the simplest and fastest treatments, Avae at Ward B, where they would handle more advanced injuries that were just on this side of trauma, BEC at Ward D, where he could trust the Exocomp to prep for any incoming dead.

 

That left Ward C for him and Syrex. The worst of the worst injuries would be there, the ones that would determine whether the injured officer walked out of Sickbay or was carted to Ward D. He'd been spending an awful lot of time in Ward C lately.

 

Preparations for any incoming injuries were mostly done, so then it came to fulfilling mission parameters; he'd pulled Syrex with him into one of the medical labs to start synthesizing the known treatment for Sencha-wave radiation, and they'd been at it for a few hours by now. Quentin stood behind and to her right as he monitored her work, nodding his head slowly.

 

Beck: Good, good, that's the tenth batch we've managed. You're getting better at this.

 

Syrex: Response

 

He glanced over his shoulder as the computer chimed, indicating there was another fresh batch of arithrazine ready to be distributed to each of the hypos. He crossed over to the chemical fabricator and raised his right hand to reach in to grab it… only to forget, once again, that his right hand was missing and he would need to grab with his left. Grumbling, he hooked his fingers over the edge of the container and dragged it towards the end of the fabricator panel, pulling it out and against his hip so he could carry it to the next table over.

 

Beck: I'll grab the next pallet of vials. Once you're through with that set, let's load them on–

 

Before he could finish the order, the Captain's voice filtered through the comm and overrode his train of thought.

 

Niac: =/\= Bridge to Sickbay...how are you doing on those arithrazine inoculations, Doctor?  If we get hit by one of those S-Wave weapons I want to have more than enough prepared for the entire crew. =/\=

 

Pursing his lips thoughtfully, Quentin turned to approach the comm panel on the wall and stabbed at it with his thumb to open his end of the line.

 

Beck: =/\= Steady going. Our new Ensign Syrex has almost completed the tenth batch of a hundred doses, and we're lined up to make at least ten more if all goes well. That'll leave us with approximately four doses per crewman once all is said and done. It's just time-consuming since we have to do a lot of this by hand. =/\=

 

He winced a little at his own use of that word, jaw growing taut briefly as he shook his head at himself.

 

Niac: =/\= I realize it's not ideal but it's the only protective measure we have at the moment.  Make whatever final preparations you can, I expect things will get busy up here in the very near future.  =/\=

 

Beck: =/\= Aye, sir. I'll get a couple more sets of hands on these if it comes down to it. We certainly have enough for the initial assault, at the very least. =/\=

 

There was a momentary pause, an audible beep coming in over the line. Something was up.

 

Niac: =/\= Standby for action, Doctor.  Bridge out. =/\=

 

The freshly minted Lieutenant JG let out a bitter sigh and raised his hand to press the side of his pinky against the comm line to close it.

 

Beck: I like action as much as the next guy but that usually means we're gonna be stupid busy.

 

Syrex: Response

 

Moving to the far wall, Quentin grabbed the handle of a hover cart that was loaded with multiple pallets of vials and dragged it over next to the table where he'd dropped off the arithrazine. Then he raised his stumpy right arm and glared at the fabric covering where his hand should have been before reaching into the pocket of his labcoat and extracting a hook that was mounted on a synthetic sleeve that fit neatly over said stump.

 

Ohnari had told him no hooks on their last conversation, but he'd opted not to listen because he didn't know how the hell else he was supposed to use his right arm for anything until she managed to get him a prosthetic. That would unfortunately have to wait until after the encounter with the Lattice Alliance, assuming they survived it at all.

 

That was a cheery thought.

 

Beck: ::under his breath as he looks through the hook::  For reasons of good form, I have decided that the so-called 'Pan' will return in three days to commit the arbitrament of the sword.

 

Syrex: Response

 

He blinked, glancing over at her, his cheeks coloring a little.

 

Beck: You, uh… weren't 'sposed to hear that.

 

Syrex: Response

 

He waved the hook dismissively and shook his head.

 

Beck: Just me being an idiot. Are you almost done with that batch?

 

Syrex: Response

 

Tag/TBC

 

Lieutenant JG Quentin Beck

Acting Chief Medical Officer

USS Ronin NCC-34523

A238810SA0

[+ Talia Ohnari]

*hooks