Tudes, and tudes....so much attitude

Posted on Mon Nov 10th, 2025 @ 3:44am by Chief Warrant Officer Karzen Son of Arjune, Son of Ragan MD, MPH & Technician Tahlina Yanez-Tahli
Edited on on Tue Nov 11th, 2025 @ 3:48am

1,570 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: A New Dawn
Location: Infirmary

The cargo bay of the Ju'day raiders was small compared to most other ships, but it was still impressive, and took a veteran quartermaster to keep it running efficiently. But that has taken a toll on her body, mainly bruising, a few broken ribs, wrists, and fingers, and a leg. Luckily, a significant number of these injuries occurred while she was working for Earth Cargo Services, allowing her to receive treatment within the company's internal systems. In contrast, the others were out in the frontier, and they were treated to the best of their ability.

Either way, for her, doing and having regular physicals was something she fully supported, which was odd for her, especially since she had struggled within crews until she was brought into the fold of the Ada Lovelace, "oi! Doc, you about?" The quartermaster called out.

Karzen was at his desk in his small office looking over his scans of Kesden's implants. "Fascinating," he said. Then he heard a voice calling for a doctor. He signed and muttered. "I will do no harm or injustice to them... no matter how annoying they may be..." Then he rose from his desk and called out, his usual wry wit clear in his tone. "I am about many things. Suppose you're asking if I'm in, then yes. ENTER, in the name of Hippocrates, Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea! ENTER, in the name of ENTER, in the name of the Elements of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water! Enter in the name of Kahless the Unforgettable, lest he be forgotten! In the name of the Great Bird of the Galaxy, ENTER already, and become less sick, injured, wounded, and/or diseased!"

{Jesus, fuckin christ,} the mixed heritage Latina sighed, "just here for a physical, don't need to be a damn drama queen," she shouted back as she shook her head.

"That's going to be very difficult with you in the corridor and me in here," Karzen said. "I make house calls, not hallway calls. So? Are you going to come in, or are you going to stand around in the corridor bellowing insults at your honored elders? Don't worry. I have experience in pediatrics, so I should be able to handle any medical problems you might have."

"Ass,' she muttered, walking in even though he was right, "Alright, here I am, inside your precious domain," the always angry quartermaster.

"And oh, how honored I am you're gracing me with your august presence and spectacularly sunny disposition," Karzen said. "I am Doctor Karzen, Son of Arjune, Son of Ragan. And you are...?"

'Technician Tahlina Yanez-Tahli, quartermaster," she said with a slight Latina accent.

"Alright, Technician," Karzen said. "Please lie down on this biobed, and I will conduct a series of scans. As you probably know, this isn't supposed to hurt. If it does, the biobeds were installed by Starfleet. Blame them." Karzen's voice softened. "In all seriousness, Technician, I am a physician. I am sworn to do neither harm nor injustice to my patients. That includes you. So, please lie down on the biobed and let's get to work."

Tahlina climbed up onto the biobed and laid down. "....I know how a fucking biobed works," she snarled, before taking a breath, "right, didn't mean to snap," Tahlina added as she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down using the techniques that Aleshanee taught her.

"Well," Karzen said. "If you do know how a 'fucking biobed' works, you're one up on me. I just put people in them and press buttons. Though I'm not one hundred percent certain you didn't mean that you know how using a biobed for fucking works, or that you know how a biobed engages in the act of fucking works. I'm familiar with the former from med school, but I was wholly and totally unaware that the latter existed." Karzen frowned. "Your scan says you're around twenty years old. Assuming you went to work when you became an adult at 18, I'm seeing an awful lot of healed-over injuries for such a short period of time. How long have you been slinging freight?"

{What in the hell does he take everything literally,} she thought, "...and long enough to get those injuries," she said knowing that he didn't need that information.

"That doesn't tell me anything, young lady," Karzen said. "Two years is plenty of time for you to get all of those injuries... if you have an underlying skeletal system issue. Let's scan for that, shall we? Hold still. This won't take long... though of course what I consider a long time could be different from what you consider a long time... just a little longer... though that's sort of a relative concept as well... how long was it you said you've been slinging freight?" Karzen sighed. "You're my patient and you're legally an adult now. I've got no obligation to report you for lying about your age to ship out on a freighter before your 18th birthday without parental permission if that's what you're worried about. I need to understand your medical history, your past injuries included, so I can provide you with the best possible care. Lying to me or withholding information hurts you more than it hurts me."

Tahlina scoffed, "parental consent that is cute," she said trying lie still as she chuckled at that comment, "fine I was 17 when I started 'slingin' cargo'," she said using air quotes, "and I started at 17 becasue of lack of 'parental' whatever," she said again usin air quotes.

"Thank you for telling me," Karzen said. "I commend you for taking responsibility for your own care and support at such a young age. Your scans are within normal parameters for a human of your age and background, with the following exceptions. First, since Starfleet was kind enough to give us replicators and replicator matter tanks, I'm going to add a nutritional supplement to your food plan. You've been roughing it for a while and I'm guessing the food wasn't the best. I'm going to give you a shot full of vitamins and minerals you've been missing out on before you go." Karzen was typing into a PaDD, making notes and sending orders to the ship's computer. "I've also emailed you a video on health and safety for freight slingers like you. I know you think you're immortal at your age. I did. Why else would I have signed up to be a fighter pilot as soon as I reached the Klingon age of majority? But you're not immortal and you're not invincible and you can get hurt. If you're not careful, you're going to have an accident you won't recover from. Or you'll simply wear down a lot faster than you should. Or you'll have a fatal accident. I wouldn't wish any of those things on you. I especially think the last would be a great loss. to this crew, to your friends, to your family of choice, and, even if they may not show it or even know it, to your blood family as well."

The alphabet soup after Karzen's name included the letters MPH or 'Master of Public Health'. He earned this academic and professional distinction while completing a combined residency in internal medicine and preventive medicine, which included occupational health and safety. Preventing his patients from getting sick or hurt in the first place was a focus of his.

{So young to be so bitter, to have such a large chip on her shoulder,} Karzen thought to himself. {That can't be good for her health, either. Maybe we'll try to work on that.}

Some years ago, Karzen had participated in an accelerated psychiatry residency for physicians taking on a second residency. He did it to enable himself to provide mental health care to patients on the frontiers of Federation space, places where there were few physicians and fewer mental health professionals. Karzen mainly folded this care into regular medical appointments, as he rarely had time to do regular therapy sessions. But he knew what warning signs to look for and what to do when he saw them. Karzen vowed that in his own way try to be a support system for these people he now found himself working with, and when he couldn't do it himself, he'd find them the care they needed.

"If it means anything," Karzen said. "And even if it doesn't, I am sorry your parents did not live up to your expectations. From your tone, it sounds like they didn't live up to society's expectations either. If this troubles you, you may come to me and I will listen. I may come across as a grumpy, cantakerous, cranky, sarcastic son of a bitch, but don't let that scare you off. You strike me as someone who doesn't let much scare you off. Why start now?"

Tahlina sighed this wasn't the first and wasn't gonna be the last, "sure, maybe," which all knew was a no, but at the same time sooner or later she wouldn't have a choice, and then she would have a choice to make. "All we almost done," she asked.

"Almost," Karzen said. He prepped the vitamin and mineral hypospray and pressed it to Tahlina's neck and let the device push the solution through the girl's skin. "Now you're done. Be on your way, young one."

"Humph, and thanks," was all Tahlina said as she left the infirmary.

 

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