The Garden - Melissa Scott [0]
CAPTAIN KATHRYN JANEWAY STARED AT THE IMAGE IN her viewscreen, and the holographic doctor stared back at her with an expression that she could only call dyspeptic. Not that he wouldn't be the first to correct her misuse of a medical term, she added silently, but he still lacked a certain level of self-awareness in his interactions with other people. But then, he hadn't been designed for full-time, nonemergency function; if one took that into consideration, she thought, he was doing better than she would have expected. In the screen, the hologram shifted impatiently, and she brought her attention back to him.
"Well, Doctor?"
The doctor looked at her, his mouth compressed into a thin line. "I have to report two cases of scorbutus-ascorbic acid deficiency."
"Scorbutus," Janeway repeated. The word was
vaguely familiar; ascorbic acid deficiency was more so, and she frowned. "Isn't that-"
The doctor nodded once, jerkily. "Scurvy. That's the common name, anyway."
Janeway's eyebrows rose at that, and she reached for her datapadd, calling up the file that gave the supply situation. Voyager's food stocks were spelled out in intricate detail, each item cross-referenced for its nutritional values as well as caloric content and availability. "According to my files, Doctor, there's no shortage of vitamin C in the stores we have on board. Are you sure these crew members are eating a balanced diet?"
"I've questioned both Ensign Renehan and Lieutenant Imbro about their eating habits over the past month, and both claim to have been following Star-fleet nutritional protocols," the doctor answered. "Indeed, by his account, Lieutenant Imbro should have exceeded the requirement for ascorbic acid to a significant degree. Nonetheless, both are suffering from scurvy. I've put them on supplemental dosages of ascorbic acid, which should correct their condition, but I cannot satisfactorily account for it."
Janeway took a deep breath, let it out slowly, keeping her face without expression. Nutritional deficiencies had been something to worry about from the moment the Caretaker had brought them into the Delta Quadrant Voyager's crew, human and nonhuman alike, had evolved in a very different part of the galaxy; there had always been a chance that the planets of the Delta Quadrant would not provide the various necessary minerals and trace elements in the quantities Voyager's crew required. Still, ascorbic acid was one of the basics, one of the things that the away teams scanned for automatically, and as automatically rejected flora that did not provide it. "All right, Doctor," she said
aloud, "keep me informed of Lieutenant Imbro's and Ensign Renehan's conditions-"
"Excuse me, Captain." The hologram's gaze was focused suddenly on her wrist, where the sleeve of her uniform was pushed up against the edge of the datapadd. Janeway followed his look, and realized that he was staring at the bruise just above the bones of her wrist.
"It's nothing, Doctor."
"It looks painful," the hologram answered. "Would you mind telling me how you did it?"
Janeway frowned. "Now that you mention it, I'm not entirely sure. I must have hit it against something. ..." Her voice trailed off as she realized what she was saying, and the doctor nodded briskly.
"I would appreciate it if you would come down to sickbay for an examination. Bruising can be an early symptom-particularly if you don't remember injuring yourself. How are your teeth and gums feeling?"
"They're fine." Janeway's frown deepened. She rarely spent much time worrying about her body; she did what was necessary to keep herself fit, but otherwise tended to ignore her physical self until illness demanded her attention. And so far, at least, she felt well enough, had observed no unsettling symptoms. . . . She looked at the bruise again, ugly beneath her skin, and nodded to the doctor. "All right, Doctor, I'm at your disposal."
"Sooner would be better," the hologram said, and Janeway allowed herself a smile.
"I'll be there in an hour. Compile a report for me