Pittance of Time
Posted on Mon Mar 26th, 2018 @ 7:25pm by Commander Martin Sorenson & Karrun North
Mission:
Refit and Relaxation
1153 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure
The doors to the sickbay whisked open with their usual promptness despite the struggling nature of the rest of the ship due to the ships crippled computer trying to keep up with the demands normally being made on three cores now down to a single core. Maybe it was because medical had priority or maybe it was just luck, none of that really mattered to the pair stumbling through the door. "Hey! I need some help here!" The waiter from the Galaxy's End called as he shrugged upwards trying to get Karrun into a better hold as he carried her bridal style over the threshold.
Martin looked up at the call and recognizing the woman being carried in, gestured for an NP to take over triage as he ran over. A quick medscan confirmed what he already suspected. "Temporal shock. This way," he said clearing a path for the man to get her to one of the few available biobeds. He was loading a hypo even as she was laid down and administered it immediately. The readings on the bed fluctuated, then sluggishly began to rise. "Karrun, can you hear me?"
"No." Karrun muttered as she winced in pain her arm instinctively shooting to her head. She opened one eye, spying towards the sound of the voice, "No I cant hear you. What the hell happened?" The El-Aurian asked as she closed her eye again moving her arm to rest on her forhead for a more comfortable pose, "And why am I in sickbay."
"When the ship began shaking, she passed out hard. I couldnt get the doors open and comms weren't working." The waiter said his anxiousness abundant in his voice, "Engineers only just got the doors open like five minutes ago."
"Great.." Karrun muttered again.
"You did the right thing bringing her in," Martin assured the waiter. "Don't worry. We'll take care of her." Looking down at Karrun, he explained. "Since you were out of it, you probably missed the Captain's announcement. There was an ...mishap... after we engaged the QSD and we got thrown into a time skip. We got thrown 3 years into the future, which given your species' sensitivity to temporal disturbance, basically hit you like a crack to the head."
"That explains why I feel funny." Karrun said as she waved the waiter away looking up at the Doctor. "I'm going to have a mother of a headache for a few days that's for sure." She stopped and bit her lip as she thought over what the implications were, "Three years you said? To the day?"
Martin paused, thinking. "Now that you mention it... yes, I think so." He frowned. "A really strange coincidence actually, given how chaotic the incident was."
"No, time has a way of screwing you over like that in interesting ways." Karrun replied chuckling a little bit before wincing from the jostling of her head, "At least everything feels normal we just... missed three years. A drop in the bucket."
"To you, maybe," Martin said. It wasn't a huge span in a human life, but it wasn't insignificant either. So much could happen in 3 years... but he couldn't let himself dwell on that. "Although I'm glad to hear everything otherwise feels normal. I'd hate to think that in addition to time and space we also jumped timelines. But as to normal, it looks like just three years is still giving you quite a headache."
Karrun sighed, "See there is this thing about time. It can seem like it's flying by when you're having fun, slowing to a crawl when you're bored and waiting for your shift to be over. It's all about the perception of time and how you perceive it with your own senses. You biologically are still 32 but now by records are 35, for you nothing has changed yet for the world outside this vessel everything has changed how you perceive this change is entirely up to the person who is doing the perceiving. Will it be hard to reconnect with some old family who now have thought you dead? Sure but you're back now, you're alive and they would rather have that than having to think you missing and dead. Time is now important to you and to them, your relationships with each other are more important because you missed them and they you. Live every moment like its the last and you'll never waste one."
"Good advice, I'm sure," Martin remarked as he checked her neural readings after that rambling reply. "It may be less comforting to some members of the crew though," he cautioned as he loaded another hypo. "Species like Ensign Marocain that mature more rapidly, or people with young children or grandchildren that didn't come with us, for instance. Time is important, and something we can't get back, so losing it unexpectedly is going to be hard for a lot of people to process."
"Fair. But loss can come at any instant even if we weren't gone. It's the life the officers and enlisted of Starfleet chose. Its all something they made an acknowledgement might happen one day." Karrun replied as she felt the hypospray push against her neck and a faint hiss. "Few people experience the type of loss over and over again that species like mine experience. The best one can do is acknowledge it, mourn and move on. If one dwells, it festers and infects their being. It changes a person." She finished sadly.
"I understand," Martin acknowledged, touching her arm gently in sympathy. He didn't have an El Aurian's lifespan, but in his career he had seen more than enough loss, despite every efforts to prevent it. And that loss could come at any instant had been all too clear to him since his mother's sudden and unexpected death. It was that more than anything that played on his mind since learning of the time jump - the question of how his father had taken the news that he was lost too, as well as the question of whether his father was still alive. But he was not about to burden a patient with his private concerns. "Once you're feeling better, I'm sure you'll have a number of people in the bar that will need to hear that advice."
"They may be more looking to drown their sorrows than looking for advice, but who knows people do interesting things while under the effects of an intoxicant." Karrun smiled as she pushed herself up and into a seated position as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed, "One moment at a time Doctor, thats the best we can do."
"Very true," Martin agreed, but gently prevented her from getting up. "However, I think you could use a few more moments rest before we let you go."
"Fine. But dont expect good service next time you're in." Karrun replied with a faux pout.
