Reporting In

Posted on Friday 6 April 2018 @ 21:56 by 1st Lieutenant Cara O'Reilly MD & Lieutenant Colonel Kachiko Bayushi

Mission: Lost Souls
Location: Bayushi's Quarters
Timeline: Current
1146 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Cara finished unpacking and changed into the proper uniform that the Grissom's Supply Sergent had brought her a few minutes after she had checked into her quarters. She brushed her long hair and rolled it up into a tight bun, checked her appearance then grabbed her orders and left her quarters. "Computer....location of Lt. Colonel Bayushi," she asked as she headed for the nearest turbolift.

=^=Lt. Colonel Bayushi is in the Officers' Mess on Deck 3.=^=

Cara stepped into the turbolift and a few seconds later the door slid open with a whispering hiss and she stepped into the corridor on Deck 3. As she approached the Officers' Mess she could smell food and realized she hadn't eaten. Maybe she would grab a bite after reporting in. She stepped through the doors and looked around. The LtC was easy to spot as she was the only Marine in the mess hall. Cassandra walked over to her table and cleared her throat. "Excuse me, Colonel. I'm Lt. O'Reilly...reporting for duty," she said, standing at a relaxed attention.

Kachiko arched an eyebrow at the pretty young redhead, before gesturing across the table, "Why don't you get yourself some chow and sit with me?"

"Thank you, Ma'am," Cara said and set her PADD that held her orders on the table. She hurried over to the serving line and grabbed a plate of pot roast, a bowl of salad and a glass of ice tea then headed back to the table. She set her tray down and took the seat across from the Marine CO and took a sip of her tea.

"So I have been informed that you are a physician? I realize that you are a Marine, Miss O'Reilly, but you will be reporting to the Chief Medical Officer, not myself." Kachiko paused to take a sip of her orange juice. She was currently annoyed at the constant stares at her. Her diminutive stature? Her unearthly pale skin and shock-white hair? The black uniform with black insignia, communicator and Type-II phaser? She couldn't know without peering into their minds, which she was resolutely avoiding right now.

"I apologize. I do have a tendency to garner unwanted attention everywhere I go," Kachiko sighed. "We can continue this discussion somewhere else if you wish?"

Cara was in mid bite when she looked around. With a shrug, she quickly swallowed her bite and said, "I don't mind if you don't, Colonel." She wiped her mouth then said, "so I was a bit confused about my orders. They said my assignment was to be ACMO but when I looked at the manifest I saw that the Grissom already has an ACMO. Plus I have been billeted in temporary quarters. I have been around long enough to get the feeling that there's more to this story than what I'm seeing." She took another bite of her pot roast.

"There is more, but I can't tell you," Kachiko sighed. She shrugged, "Normally I don't mind, but I'm a telepath and the thoughts angled in my direction are loud and increasingly lewd. Well, that and I'm usually expected to go as unnoticed as possible." What the Colonel was referencing was her past as an Infiltrator and Skirmisher. "I'm sure that Commander Barstow will clue us in sooner than later. Until then, sweetheart, relax. Read a book, take a long bath. Try and get rested because there's a lot of work ahead of us."

Cara looked around at the oglers and shot them all warning glances. "Some people have no class," she said, shaking her head. "But they're Fleeters. Can't really expect them to understand the concept of respect."

"Lieutenant," Kachiko chuckled. "The dirtiest minds I have encountered were Marines."

According to the former First Lady of the former United States, Eleanor Roosevelt, 'The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!' To be truthful, that carried over the Starfleet Marines."

"I'm not too worried about it, it just gets tiresome after awhile," Kachiko smiled, looking non-commital.

"How long have you been a Marine?" Cara asked, realizing that she was going to have to settle for small talk with the LTC since conversation about their assignment was classified. She took a bite of her vegetables.

"Fifteen years," Kachiko said before taking another sip. "I was a Fleet Tactical Officer prior to that. Nine years there. Went through the War in a Security detail."

A Private walked over to the table carrying a PADD and held it out to Kachiko. "Excuse me, Colonel. I need you to sign off on this requisition."

Cara focused on what was left on her plate and realized her eyes had been bigger than her stomach. She took one more bite and tossed her napkin on the plate, washing her bite down with her tea while the Colonel took care of the Private.

Kachiko glanced over the requisition form and applied her thumbprint, before handing it back to the Private, whom promptly disappeared. Turning her attention back to the Second Lieutenant, Kachiko asked, "What prompted you to join the Corps as a Physician? Medical personnel are pretty exclusively Fleet?"

"My specialty is Emergency Medicine so I started seeing a lot of Marines coming through the ER during my internship and residency," Cara said, leaning back in her chair. "When it came time to choose between a hospital assignment or something in the field...which to Starfleet is on a ship....I decided I would rather treat the wounded on the line rather than have them wait until they were transported to a Sickbay or Medical facility. And how best to do that than to become one of them, so I joined the Corp." Then she added, flippantly, "besides...I look better in green than I do in teal. It goes with my eyes."

"Well, you redhead gals do look delicious in green," Kachiko winked playfully. "Sorry. If you weren't a Jarhead, I would probably be flirting with you. My late wife would have liked you, too."

"Well then," Kachiko changed the subject. "It will be good to have an actual Doctor along, I just hope you don't mind occasionally getting dirty."

"I'm in the wrong business if I do," Cara laughed then grabbed her tray. "On that note, Colonel....it was nice to meet you but now I need to go meet the CMO and get my schedule," she said as she got to her feet.

"Let us walk together and see the doctor," Kachiko pushed herself up to her feet. She likewise needed to check in before they arrived at the Merlin. Snatching up her now empty bowl and drinking glass, she gestured to the replimat, "After you, Doc."