CHAPTER EIGHT
Starfleet Medical, Starfleet Command
Old Presidio, San Francisco
April 28
“Citizens and visitors to the city are once again urged to stay away from the water until the shark menace has passed. Civic Commissioner Barnard Clift assures everyone that all is being done to capture the shark and ensure safety in the Bay.
In other news, Captain Christopher Pike today made contact with…”
Piper muted the televisor in his office. He looked through the Plexiglas partition, past the Starfleet Medical emblem on the window, at the biobeds where Mitchell, Marcus and Milton were. He did not want to rouse them from their examinations which were still ongoing. Lenore had gone into shock after arriving at Starfleet Medical and was being treated for that. Only Carol Marcus seemed to be untouched in any way. Not bad considering she had effectively been depth charged.
He sat down, rubbing his face wearily. It was not yet evening and he was tired. He remembered the last shark hunt and that had been the biggest thing to hit San Francisco probably since the UFP’s formation in 2161.
“Doctor?”
He looked up to see one of his nurses standing there. A bright attractive Bostonian she was one for the future, he was sure. “Yes, Autumn?”
Autumn Murphy known to most as Amy gave her sure-fire smile. “The patients are wanting to leave.”
“Okay, I’ll come out.” Piper lumbered into the ward, hands in pockets. “So, I have a mutiny.”
“If you think we can go, we’d like to go,” said Mitchell, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and pulling on his t-shirt. “I’ve been poked and prodded enough.”
“You’re all fine but you mustn’t push yourselves…”
“Who’s pushing?” Lenore said. “We’re doing all right.”
She sounded tired, they all did. “You’re pushing yourselves beyond your limits. This shark can wait until morning.”
“Hell it can.” Mitchell was now on his feet. “Respectfully, Doc, we need to get it before this death toll increases.”
“Nothing to stop you, so go,” Piper said a little hotly. As Mitchell passed last he grabbed him roughly by the arm, swinging him around. The women did not see as they had quickly left. Only Autumn Murphy saw and she froze to the spot. Mitchell was about to shout when Piper’s look silenced him. “Just what are you trying to prove? That you can break yourself and these women in the process? I told you, you are going too fast and you could kill yourself if this keeps up.”
“Thanks Doc, but I’ve got a dad.”
As Mitchell went to carry on Piper’s firm grip held him. “I know about your old man, Mitchell. I’ll be more of a father figure than him. I also am a doctor in Starfleet, not just that, I’ve been a doctor since you were in slim jims and I’ll be damned if you act this way!”
Mitchell stared at him, then backed up rubbing his arm. How did he know about my dad? Jim? I’ve only ever told Jim. So much for that buddy…Look, Jim cares…and Piper isn’t a blabber. He shook his head to stop the tumbling thoughts. “There is a shark out there, like I told you this morning, and we need to get it.”
“Just watch yourself, Gary,” Piper’s hard voice remained, “I’ll be damned if I bury you.”
“It won’t come to that. I promise.”
Piper let him go, reluctantly. The nurse broke the silence. “That was…intense, Doctor.”
“Worse things happened,” Piper murmured then tried a smile. “Sign off for the day, Autumn. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Mitchell on his way to catching up with the women passed various floors and offices. He almost walked in on an autopsy class (“Remember, when making the first incisions on a Tellarite, you make sure the body’s pressure is low”) until reaching a first floor landing made him pause. He walked in through old fashioned hinged doors and stopped at a similarly old fashioned door with frosted glass (if he chose to remember, Gary would know this was a building that mostly pre-dated the century. Much came before Archer’s time and so technology was a hodgepodge of 21st Century knowhow and 23rd Century know-what) marked up with lettering: DOCTOR SANDRA APRIL (PSYCHOLOGIES AND MISSCN. FIELDS).
He knocked and when he heard a voice he stuck his head in, reminding himself of Eldman High School days. Gary Mitchell, your grades are slacking. Sit down whilst I lay out what you need to do to improve.
“Doctor April?” he asked quietly.
Her office was quite small with a desk in one corner, a couch to the left and a wall painting of the Enterprise. The woman behind the desk in medical blue took off spectacles. She had shoulder length dark blonde hair and a warm face that immediately made Gary feel at ease.
“Come in, Gary.”
He frowned, stepping inside. She saw his look. “I was expecting you. Mark’s an old friend of mine. When I agreed to see you whenever, I did some looking. You’re as handsome as your photo shows.”
Mitchell blushed. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Sit down and don’t call me ma’am, I’m likely old enough to be your mother but I don’t want to feel it!” She chuckled standing whilst he sat. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
When she came back with two mugs Gary felt a little nervous. “I…I should get going.”
“I have nothing planned for the afternoon. Not unless you want to help file my records. No? I didn’t think so,” she laughed. Her accent was ‘transatlantic’. Every now and then vowels sounded British and yet she sounded American. From what Gary remembered, she had joined the Enterprise as her first CMO under her husband’s command. Two tours of five year missions later she worked here whilst he took up head of Starfleet Operations.
“Shall we begin?”
He took a sip of his coffee. “Where do I start?”
“Wherever you like.”
“All right.” He paused then nodded, “I was born in Eldman out East…”
**
When he left two hours later, it was growing dark. He got in touch with Lenore who was parked up in a coffee bar just outside the Presidio. Carol had gone back to the Institute. When he met up with Lenore and he kissed her in front of everyone, there were cheers and applause from cadets in high school fashion. Then he sat down and talked to her.
Nothing more, nothing less.