Unworthy - Kirsten Beyer [7]
“Good,” Chakotay said, relieved.
“But how …?” Icheb began and was quickly silenced by another knock at the door.
“Hang on,” Chakotay instructed before moving briskly to answer it.
As expected, another old friend, Sveta, stood before him, her strong features coldly calculating and her mane of fine white hair pulled into a neat braid that ran down the center of her back almost to her waist. Though she had been responsible for bringing Chakotay into the Maquis more than ten years earlier, she didn’t appear to have aged a day since then.
“Thank you for coming,” Chakotay said sincerely.
“You said it was urgent,” she replied warily.
“It is,” he insisted. “Please, come in.”
Sveta cast a penetrating glance directly into his eyes. He understood her concern. The last time she’d seen him he’d been mired in his own dark struggle, and she had rebuked him harshly for wallowing in his despair. They had not parted on good terms, but now was not the time to try to mend fences.
Fortunately, Sveta seemed to immediately sense both his urgency and his command of himself and the present situation. “It’s good to have you back.” She smiled as she crossed the threshold.
“It’s good to be back,” he agreed.
CHAPTER TWO
The Doctor would never be able to have a biological offspring. He was a hologram, so procreating was an impossibility. Still, he believed the sense of deep pride he experienced while sitting aboard the U.S.S. Galen— an experimental medical vessel he and his creator, Doctor Lewis Zimmerman, had designed, with considerable help from their longtime associate, Lieutenant Reginald Barclay— might be like the pride a new parent would feel.
The first sickbay he had ever known—on Voyager— had been efficient in its specifications, if a little too utilitarian. Though no one would necessarily enter Galena’s evaluation suite and applaud the décor, the Doctor believed that the softer browns and subtle greens of the color scheme made the space welcoming. More important than these superficial changes were the design features he had insisted upon, which made the entire suite more pleasant and useful for both physician and patient.
His private office was situated near the entrance so he could see when anyone entered, even if the computer was not programmed to alert him about new arrivals. The sickbay consisted of three emergency biobeds and a series of private exam rooms, innovations he knew his patients would appreciate. Separate surgical, intensive care, and recovery wards were adjacent to the main sickbay. Two larger wards one deck below could be activated in the event of a fleet-wide catastrophe. The Doctor hoped against hope never to see those wards used, though his many years in Starfleet had convinced him that such hopes might be unrealistically optimistic.
The Galen’s primary function was to provide medical support to the Federation fleet that would depart for the Delta quadrant as soon as its diagnostics were complete. As such, the vast majority of the medical vessel’s space was the Doctor’s domain. However, unlike other medical starships, the vessel was meant to be staffed almost entirely by holographic personnel in times of emergency. Therefore, holographic emitters had been installed throughout the ship. Unlike a holodeck, they did not alter the space into whatever an individual might desire; they activated emergency medical, engineering, or security holograms as required.
While the Doctor had focused his attention on creating the perfect medical facility, Zimmerman and Barclay had focused on the hologram designs. Thus far, those with whom the Doctor had interacted—primarily doctors and nurses— all appeared to be meeting or exceeding expectations. He doubted if anyone required to use Galen’s facilities would question who the real staff were versus who the holographic staff might be. The Doctor fervently hoped that one day, such distinctions would be meaningless.
His office