DISCLAIMER: The Star Trek characters are the property of Paramount Studios, Inc and Viacom. The story contents are the creation and property of Djinn and are copyright (c) 2001 by Djinn. This story is Rated PG.
Pressure Cooker
By Djinn
Phlox shook out several
pieces of food and let them settle to the bottom of the osmotic eel's
tank. He smiled as it edged delicately
toward its dinner. Studying other
creatures was one of Phlox's great joys.
He loved finding out what they were made of, what they were capable
of. He looked around sickbay, checking
out the other lifeforms he'd brought with him.
They all seemed fine. He turned
down the lights and prepared to retire to his quarters, when an unexpected hail
stopped him.
"T'Pol
to Doctor Phlox."
"Phlox here,
Sub-Commander. What can I do for
you?"
"Could you meet me in decon, Doctor?"
"Of course. I'll be right there."
She was waiting for him. No trace of impatience in her stance but the
look she shot him as he approached seemed tighter than her normal
stoicism.
He gave her the same big grin
he'd given Archer the day they launched.
"I trust you're settling in?
Quite a surprise to have you assigned here permanently, I suppose?"
She ignored his pleasantries,
turning instead to the unit. "The
decontamination function is one of the responsibilities of the medical officer,
is it not?"
He nodded. "It is."
Her look tightened. "Perhaps you need to review the operating
procedures of this unit."
His expression was
sheepish. "Ah. The gel."
"The gel." She turned and looked into the unit. "Which was unnecessary, Doctor. I took the liberty of reading up on the unit
after the Commander and I underwent your version of decon."
"My version?"
"You are the one that
ran the procedure." She turned back
to him, her look hard. "The gel was
redundant, if it did anything at all. The
unique properties of the light in the unit are the primary means for killing
parasites and other dangerous agents."
"Yes. I know that now."
"Only now, Doctor?"
He cocked his head. "I'm puzzled, Sub-Commander. Are you accusing me of something?"
"I have not made an
accusation...yet. I have merely
expressed concern. But tell me, Doctor,
what else in your purview have you not read up on?"
He sighed. "Like you, I didn't expect to be
here. Had no time to prepare. Barely had time to pack up my various
creatures and medicines and get on board."
He saw her look tighten. "I
know it's not an excuse in your book, but no one was supposed to be flying
those shuttles till we arrived at Kronos.
I had my hands full with the Klingon.
I planned to read up on some of my ancillary duties once I knew he was
out of the woods."
Her expression relaxed a bit.
"I'm sorry if you found
the procedure uncomfortable."
"I did not say I was
uncomfortable with it."
"You must have
been. Why else would you have taken the
time to look the unit up?"
"I was struck by the
illogic of the procedure. For example,
if a single crewman were affected, how would he apply the gel to those areas
that were not within easy reach?"
"Ah. I see."
He smiled. "I assure you,
Sub-Commander. This will not happen
again."
"Good." She nodded graciously, then walked away.
He watched her go, then
turned back to the decon unit. He remembered the tension that had been so
abundantly clear when he'd ordered the two officers into the unit. He smiled as he envisioned their expressions
when he'd told them about the gel, but he'd never specifically said that they
had to strip down. That had been T'Pol's logic at work.
He chuckled, remembered how he'd fought back laughter at the time.
He'd known exactly how the
unit worked. There wasn't a machine or
procedure that had to do with his job that he didn't know backwards and
forwards. T'Pol
was right. The gel was redundant. They should have just stood fully clothed in
the light. But the experience hadn't
hurt anyone. In fact, he was tempted to
think that it helped the Vulcan and human improve their relationship.
He laughed again. His mentor at the medical academy would have
approved of this. She'd always said it
was best to observe other creatures when they were under stress, that only then
did they act in ways truest to their nature.
He'd always believed she was right, had told Captain Archer that the
perfect opportunity to study human beings was when they were under
pressure. He was finding the same
applied to Vulcans.
He turned away from the unit
and was startled to find Commander Tucker watching him. He smiled at the engineer. "Hello, Commander. Did you need me?"
Tucker was not amused as he
said, "About that gel..."
FIN