* * *
Office of the Chief Medical Officer
Noah Cutler leaned back in his chair. Judy, Dr. Judith Monroe, smiled ruefully from the other end of her table. Her tale had sufficiently engrossed the young ensign and he blew out an amazed air. “I can hardly believe it.”
“Are you calling me a liar, Mr Cutler?”
“No, no.” He protested before a sly grin spread across the CMO’s face. “Only, you met Captain McGregor when you were a child? Forgive me but that was ...”
Monroe gave a look that brokered no figure be attached to the end of that sentence. She opted instead to finish for him. “More than ten years ago.” She gave a little smile at her own humour. “Yes, I was a little girl when I met the captain and as you can easily calculate the ages don’t match up. That would be part of the ‘Event’ tale nobody seems to get around to telling you. Regardless, the captain and the then crew of the Kestrel came to the rescue of my world.”
“And that made you want to become a doctor.”
“Yes. In part anyway. One of the things that became painfully obvious in the days that followed the attack was how under resourced the colony had been in medical care. Both in provisions and in expertise. The Kestrel remained in orbit for some days, even weeks until a relief vessel came to offer more long-term assistance. But they rolled up their sleeves with the farmers of the planet and helped to drag away the burned ruins of farmhouses and the debris of the town. They set up temporary health centres across the planet to help the many injured. They also helped to lay the foundations for a new and improved general hospital at the capital town. As well as providing weapon upgrades to planetary defences and scanning abilities.”
Cutler’s brow furrowed at that last detail. “I didn’t think it was in the remit of the Border Patrol Service to offer such services.”
“It isn’t.” She spread her hands unequivocally.
“But then.”
“But they bent the rules. When stalwarts like Donald Stewart, and yes even my father, raised their voices about how long the response to the attack had been, the captain of the vessel accepted the charge graciously. Only later did we learn of the fact that the Kestrel had exceeded the specs of her engines, defied safety protocols and effectively ruined her engines to make the charge to the planet’s defence.”
Noah nodded his head to concur with her points. “You see ensign, despite the risk to themselves, despite the fact had they showed up later than they did and had good cause to excuse themselves, the crew of that ship – this ship – could not accept that. They defied the odds, knowing every minute counted. That’s something to be admired is it not?”
Embarrassed he gulped nervously at his lack of pride in his posting. In all honesty, he had seen it as a step down from serving with the Fleet proper. “Yes it is.”
“Don’t get me wrong. The Fleeters similarly charge to the rescue of many worlds. They do many amazing things. But I think it’s a sacred vocation for those who serve a Border patrol vessel. It’s their mission, their brief, their charge to be the protectors of the Federation’s borders, to safeguard the inhabitants of the frontier worlds. Nothing is more precious or central to our beliefs. Even as a child, I admired that. In the days that followed, and evidence by the work and support the crew provided, I was only more convinced.”
Judith went to the replicator and produced a glass of water for herself. She took a delicate sip from the cool water before seating herself and continuing.
“Not that everyone was happy about the help offered. Captain Devlin himself was reluctant to effectively arm a planet but a certain CPO made a very forceful argument. The fact McGregor made it in front of colonists amid the ruined council hall made it all the more compelling.” She wagged a finger at Noah. “One thing you’ll learn about McGregor is that he has impeccable timing.”
“Like showing up to rescue you, with an umbrella in hand.”
Judith laughed at the memory. “Ah yes. I remember my father bringing me back up to the mountain refuge after McGregor and Rah had disappeared off. By the time we climbed uphill and reached the refuge, the morning light was beginning to flood the plains and the rains had started to pour. Upon the higher levels of the mountain top we were thankfully excused the worst of the heavy downpours. There we found the remnants forming together to gather our meagre possessions and supplies. Crew from the Kestrel assisting and offering first aid.
“I rushed into my Grandmamma’s arms upon seeing her safe. Safe but scolding. Oh and berating all. Most especially, a certain rough cheeked CPO. She was haranguing McGregor something awful. He of course was telling the ‘old bat’ to ‘cork it’. She wasn’t inclined to listen.”
Noah remarked that that mustn’t have gone over well with the captain.
“It certainly didn’t. However, he told me years later that he respected the old biddy’s resolve. That was of course before I introduced him to her again. I don’t know which one got the bigger shock after all those years to see the other was alive and kicking. I think the captain’s words were, ‘Figures the old battle axe wouldn’t die. Who’d have her in heaven or hell?’ A comment my Grandmamma overheard and chased him out of the house for, despite an age of a hundred twenty odd.”
Noah was trying to imagine an OAP giving chase to McGregor.
“I don’t know anyone else who discomfited the captain more than my Grandmamma, save for Mary Stewart. It was she who had to separate the two of them that night. Reminding my Grandmamma that it was McGregor who had beamed right into the fray when the two of them were about to be mauled by Nausicaan when they had been cornered in the attack. Apparently, Mary had put up a defiant stand walloping the attacking Nausicaans with her umbrella before McGregor materialised to save the day. Actually it was her umbrella that McGregor held in his hand that night. Somehow, in the scrabble with their attackers, McGregor had gained possession of it and wielded it as a sword in his attack back, before chasing off in our direction with it still in hand.”
Eyes wide, Noah asked astonished. “Is it the same umbrella then?”
“As remarkable as it seems, yes it is. It travelled with McGregor through time and space. Mary Stewart gave McGregor the umbrella to keep by ways of a thank you.” Judith recalled the scene vividly for the surreal setting after the horrors of the night.
“A dainty little thing that is. Very handy. Especially on a rainy day.”
She declared proudly, “Not just any rainy day Mr McGregor. That umbrella is for a rainy day on Ponthoon. The deluge of our morning rains can be very forceful, as can the evening winds. For that reason, my Donald got me this especially constructed umbrella.” At this, she gave her bruised and bloodied husband a kiss. “Always has been romantic like that. That umbrella mind, is strong enough to withstand any gale force wind.”
Donald grumbled under his breath being embarrassed so. All the more damming for being done in front of people, especially the Starfleet crew. Mary gave him an admonishing look when he tried to shake off the Vulcan ensign attending his minor injuries.
McGregor gave Mary a wry grin. “And strong enough to crack over a Nausicaan’s head too.”
Crossing her arms as she swelled wit pride, Mary concluded yes it was. And she then offered McGregor the umbrella.
“I couldn’t possibly.”
“Mr McGregor you do not decline a gift, particularly one from a woman my age. And who’s to say you cannot accept the gift. Starfleet protocols? Something tells me that you don’t toe the line too rigidly on that score, hmmm?”
“I suppose it will come in useful.” He held the umbrella up for closer inspection. “And it does rather bring out the colour of my eyes, don’t you think Rah?”
Rah gave an uncommitted growl before hefting up some boxes to be transported back to town. The Vulcan attending Donald looked over, in what could only be interpreted as, disapprovingly. Her beautifully smooth and stoic features remained calm as she informed McGregor. “CPO McGregor. An umbrella does not comply with uniform regulations.”
“Aye but you’ll find Ensign T’Vel if it rains I’ll be dry and you’ll be wet. Now tell me is it logical or not to throw it away?” He turned and kissed Mary on the cheek; but not before she grabbed a feel of his ass cheek.
“You’ve got a live on there, Donald.”
He roused heatedly, “And you’d be best keeping your hands to yourself you little Federation snot. Mary, enough of that now.”
“Donald!” She stilled him with one word before graciously nodding her head at McGregor before turning her attention back to Donald. “Now gather our stuff. We’ve a world to rebuild.”
The Vulcan woman approached Judy’s saviour and addressed him coolly. “The regulations pertaining to uniform are not subject to the law of logic Mr McGregor but the dictates of Starfleet.”
“Aye, that it is ensign.” He stowed the umbrella with a makeshift belt that tied it to his back oblivious to the Vulcan’s words. Despite technically outranking the CPO, the Vulcan knew when not to push the matter and headed off to lead an expedition back to town. McGregor stepped up closer to the giant Kzinti. “Remind me Rah, to help the kind Vulcan with her possessions when the time comes for her stint with us to be over. Bloody officers! The Puffs and Cuffs never seem to get it into their heads that it’s us grunts who do the real work round here.” Rah shouldering a heavy load looked down disapprovingly at the empty-handed McGregor but offered no response. “Why anyone would ever become an officer?” He tutted and made his way off grumbling under his breath.
Noah broke the reverie. “Lt. Commander T’Vel was aboard the Kestrel then, too?”
“As an ensign on her very first tour. That’s a different story again; but suffice to say I don’t think it was the billet she had been expecting or desired. However, she did return to the Kestrel so that must say something about the ship. I hope what I’ve told you helps you to better understand the value of your posting here. It might not be glamorous but it is important work. Especially, to those of us who grew up on the border.”
Thinking on it, Noah did feel better about the posting and in turn about his own call to the job. With that in mind, he thanked the doctor.
“Good, I’m glad it helped. Now let’s go over some of those procedures I was showing you earlier.” With that, Monroe stood and expecting Noah to follow, returned to the main sickbay to revise all they had learned. But more important still, Monroe felt she had imparted a just as important lesson within Noah. The value and the respect the Border Patrol deserved.
* * *
Office of the Chief Medical Officer
Noah Cutler leaned back in his chair. Judy, Dr. Judith Monroe, smiled ruefully from the other end of her table. Her tale had sufficiently engrossed the young ensign and he blew out an amazed air. “I can hardly believe it.”
“Are you calling me a liar, Mr Cutler?”
“No, no.” He protested before a sly grin spread across the CMO’s face. “Only, you met Captain McGregor when you were a child? Forgive me but that was ...”
Monroe gave a look that brokered no figure be attached to the end of that sentence. She opted instead to finish for him. “More than ten years ago.” She gave a little smile at her own humour. “Yes, I was a little girl when I met the captain and as you can easily calculate the ages don’t match up. That would be part of the ‘Event’ tale nobody seems to get around to telling you. Regardless, the captain and the then crew of the Kestrel came to the rescue of my world.”
“And that made you want to become a doctor.”
“Yes. In part anyway. One of the things that became painfully obvious in the days that followed the attack was how under resourced the colony had been in medical care. Both in provisions and in expertise. The Kestrel remained in orbit for some days, even weeks until a relief vessel came to offer more long-term assistance. But they rolled up their sleeves with the farmers of the planet and helped to drag away the burned ruins of farmhouses and the debris of the town. They set up temporary health centres across the planet to help the many injured. They also helped to lay the foundations for a new and improved general hospital at the capital town. As well as providing weapon upgrades to planetary defences and scanning abilities.”
Cutler’s brow furrowed at that last detail. “I didn’t think it was in the remit of the Border Patrol Service to offer such services.”
“It isn’t.” She spread her hands unequivocally.
“But then.”
“But they bent the rules. When stalwarts like Donald Stewart, and yes even my father, raised their voices about how long the response to the attack had been, the captain of the vessel accepted the charge graciously. Only later did we learn of the fact that the Kestrel had exceeded the specs of her engines, defied safety protocols and effectively ruined her engines to make the charge to the planet’s defence.”
Noah nodded his head to concur with her points. “You see ensign, despite the risk to themselves, despite the fact had they showed up later than they did and had good cause to excuse themselves, the crew of that ship – this ship – could not accept that. They defied the odds, knowing every minute counted. That’s something to be admired is it not?”
Embarrassed he gulped nervously at his lack of pride in his posting. In all honesty, he had seen it as a step down from serving with the Fleet proper. “Yes it is.”
“Don’t get me wrong. The Fleeters similarly charge to the rescue of many worlds. They do many amazing things. But I think it’s a sacred vocation for those who serve a Border patrol vessel. It’s their mission, their brief, their charge to be the protectors of the Federation’s borders, to safeguard the inhabitants of the frontier worlds. Nothing is more precious or central to our beliefs. Even as a child, I admired that. In the days that followed, and evidence by the work and support the crew provided, I was only more convinced.”
Judith went to the replicator and produced a glass of water for herself. She took a delicate sip from the cool water before seating herself and continuing.
“Not that everyone was happy about the help offered. Captain Devlin himself was reluctant to effectively arm a planet but a certain CPO made a very forceful argument. The fact McGregor made it in front of colonists amid the ruined council hall made it all the more compelling.” She wagged a finger at Noah. “One thing you’ll learn about McGregor is that he has impeccable timing.”
“Like showing up to rescue you, with an umbrella in hand.”
Judith laughed at the memory. “Ah yes. I remember my father bringing me back up to the mountain refuge after McGregor and Rah had disappeared off. By the time we climbed uphill and reached the refuge, the morning light was beginning to flood the plains and the rains had started to pour. Upon the higher levels of the mountain top we were thankfully excused the worst of the heavy downpours. There we found the remnants forming together to gather our meagre possessions and supplies. Crew from the Kestrel assisting and offering first aid.
“I rushed into my Grandmamma’s arms upon seeing her safe. Safe but scolding. Oh and berating all. Most especially, a certain rough cheeked CPO. She was haranguing McGregor something awful. He of course was telling the ‘old bat’ to ‘cork it’. She wasn’t inclined to listen.”
Noah remarked that that mustn’t have gone over well with the captain.
“It certainly didn’t. However, he told me years later that he respected the old biddy’s resolve. That was of course before I introduced him to her again. I don’t know which one got the bigger shock after all those years to see the other was alive and kicking. I think the captain’s words were, ‘Figures the old battle axe wouldn’t die. Who’d have her in heaven or hell?’ A comment my Grandmamma overheard and chased him out of the house for, despite an age of a hundred twenty odd.”
Noah was trying to imagine an OAP giving chase to McGregor.
“I don’t know anyone else who discomfited the captain more than my Grandmamma, save for Mary Stewart. It was she who had to separate the two of them that night. Reminding my Grandmamma that it was McGregor who had beamed right into the fray when the two of them were about to be mauled by Nausicaan when they had been cornered in the attack. Apparently, Mary had put up a defiant stand walloping the attacking Nausicaans with her umbrella before McGregor materialised to save the day. Actually it was her umbrella that McGregor held in his hand that night. Somehow, in the scrabble with their attackers, McGregor had gained possession of it and wielded it as a sword in his attack back, before chasing off in our direction with it still in hand.”
Eyes wide, Noah asked astonished. “Is it the same umbrella then?”
“As remarkable as it seems, yes it is. It travelled with McGregor through time and space. Mary Stewart gave McGregor the umbrella to keep by ways of a thank you.” Judith recalled the scene vividly for the surreal setting after the horrors of the night.
“A dainty little thing that is. Very handy. Especially on a rainy day.”
She declared proudly, “Not just any rainy day Mr McGregor. That umbrella is for a rainy day on Ponthoon. The deluge of our morning rains can be very forceful, as can the evening winds. For that reason, my Donald got me this especially constructed umbrella.” At this, she gave her bruised and bloodied husband a kiss. “Always has been romantic like that. That umbrella mind, is strong enough to withstand any gale force wind.”
Donald grumbled under his breath being embarrassed so. All the more damming for being done in front of people, especially the Starfleet crew. Mary gave him an admonishing look when he tried to shake off the Vulcan ensign attending his minor injuries.
McGregor gave Mary a wry grin. “And strong enough to crack over a Nausicaan’s head too.”
Crossing her arms as she swelled wit pride, Mary concluded yes it was. And she then offered McGregor the umbrella.
“I couldn’t possibly.”
“Mr McGregor you do not decline a gift, particularly one from a woman my age. And who’s to say you cannot accept the gift. Starfleet protocols? Something tells me that you don’t toe the line too rigidly on that score, hmmm?”
“I suppose it will come in useful.” He held the umbrella up for closer inspection. “And it does rather bring out the colour of my eyes, don’t you think Rah?”
Rah gave an uncommitted growl before hefting up some boxes to be transported back to town. The Vulcan attending Donald looked over, in what could only be interpreted as, disapprovingly. Her beautifully smooth and stoic features remained calm as she informed McGregor. “CPO McGregor. An umbrella does not comply with uniform regulations.”
“Aye but you’ll find Ensign T’Vel if it rains I’ll be dry and you’ll be wet. Now tell me is it logical or not to throw it away?” He turned and kissed Mary on the cheek; but not before she grabbed a feel of his ass cheek.
“You’ve got a live on there, Donald.”
He roused heatedly, “And you’d be best keeping your hands to yourself you little Federation snot. Mary, enough of that now.”
“Donald!” She stilled him with one word before graciously nodding her head at McGregor before turning her attention back to Donald. “Now gather our stuff. We’ve a world to rebuild.”
The Vulcan woman approached Judy’s saviour and addressed him coolly. “The regulations pertaining to uniform are not subject to the law of logic Mr McGregor but the dictates of Starfleet.”
“Aye, that it is ensign.” He stowed the umbrella with a makeshift belt that tied it to his back oblivious to the Vulcan’s words. Despite technically outranking the CPO, the Vulcan knew when not to push the matter and headed off to lead an expedition back to town. McGregor stepped up closer to the giant Kzinti. “Remind me Rah, to help the kind Vulcan with her possessions when the time comes for her stint with us to be over. Bloody officers! The Puffs and Cuffs never seem to get it into their heads that it’s us grunts who do the real work round here.” Rah shouldering a heavy load looked down disapprovingly at the empty-handed McGregor but offered no response. “Why anyone would ever become an officer?” He tutted and made his way off grumbling under his breath.
Noah broke the reverie. “Lt. Commander T’Vel was aboard the Kestrel then, too?”
“As an ensign on her very first tour. That’s a different story again; but suffice to say I don’t think it was the billet she had been expecting or desired. However, she did return to the Kestrel so that must say something about the ship. I hope what I’ve told you helps you to better understand the value of your posting here. It might not be glamorous but it is important work. Especially, to those of us who grew up on the border.”
Thinking on it, Noah did feel better about the posting and in turn about his own call to the job. With that in mind, he thanked the doctor.
“Good, I’m glad it helped. Now let’s go over some of those procedures I was showing you earlier.” With that, Monroe stood and expecting Noah to follow, returned to the main sickbay to revise all they had learned. But more important still, Monroe felt she had imparted a just as important lesson within Noah. The value and the respect the Border Patrol deserved.
* * *
