[Vimyridge] 950613.22 JL (C.Blake, Wilkinson)

[Lathee]

      <sickbay>

      Kat hadn't heard too much about the upcoming mission yet  she'd been 
spending her time going about her duties in sickbay. Sure it was nice to get 
away and try to spend time with either Nick or Logan but now it was business 
as usual. She'd continue to be available to either of them when they desired 
her company. She'd hoped the rumors about her have finally been quelled. It 
was nobody's business how the beautiful and occasionally lonely widowed 
doctor spent her off duty hours.

      Kat looked over the crew manifest double checking for incoming and 
existing crew members needing physicals. 'damn' she muttered before setting 
the PADD down on the counter to rub her eyes for a moment. She picked up the 
PADD again and began to go over some notes on new medical procedures 
attempting to keep up with the latest changes in how things were to be done. 
She'd find that she may need to spend hours on the holodeck brushing up on 
her surgical skills running a simulation. Her mind wandered to the time 
she'd tried to teach ensign Azten a former security officer,  emergency 
field medicine thinking it was something every starfleet officer should 
know. She chewed her lip and walked over towards Cait's office "knock, 
knock" she said as she stood in the doorway.

      Cait looked up from the report she was working on and smiled. "Come 
in, Kat. Have a cuppa and grab a seat. I was just about to call you."

      "oh?" Kat  said as she walked into the room and over to the coffee 
pot. "how is it I just seem to know when you needed to talk to me?" she 
teased as she picked up a mug and poured herself a  cup. "things have been 
too quiet around here as always it seems, but I suppose it could be a good 
thing I guess cause it means the crew is healthy and quite mindful of safety 
protocols." she said as she added cream and sugar to her cup and took a seat 
near Cait's desk. "So......what did you need to see me about?" she asked 
taking that first sip from the cup and adjusting to the chair making herself 
comfortable.

      "We're responding to distress call from a ship. I think I can guess 
the first thing that comes to mind with those words...the Tamco. Things are 
different though. They were checking out a wormhole. No information on that. 
Sciences and engineering are working up a probe so hopefully, we'll have 
some information before we get there." Cait took a sip of her coffee and 
regarded the woman sitting across from her. "Are you up to this?"

      Kat raised a brow thinking back to the botched Tamco mission. "Are we 
one hundred percent sure this distress call is genuine?" she asked feeling a 
bit skeptical over it. She took another sip from the cup pondering for a 
moment. "So what are we looking at?....another rescue type thing?......I 
mean where does medical fit into this?" she asked still thinking back to the 
Tamco, she couldn't help it, it was still fresh in her mind not to mention 
how soon after the attack it had occurred. With Cugino's attack further 
behind her and the reassurance of Reed's word that he'd dealt with the 
origin of the attack. She gave a nod. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be as long 
as history doesn't repeat." she told her.

      "Far as we can tell, its genuine. As for medical's part, well, we 
won't know much till we get the scans back and someone actually goes over to 
take a look. I can't guarantee history won't  be repeated." Cait sat back in 
her chair. "I can't send you out if there's a possibility you're going to 
have issues if things go wrong."

        Kat took another sip from the cup while pondering. "I'll be all 
right." she told her. "I've had the time to work through what happened 
before." she explained. "If there is any reason you think I shouldn't go, 
I'll stay aboard the ridge and handle things here...either way I know I can 
handle it." she said thinking back to the latest mission in the caves. "what 
about our most recent mission do you think I handled that well other than 
getting a little claustrophobic?" she asked.

      "You did just fine on that. I was concerned with your comment about 
history repeating itself. If you feel up to handling stuff, we're good." 
Cait ran her fingers through her short hair. "We need to be prepared for 
rescue and for a morgue situation."

          Kat gave a nod "well the Tamco incident did leave a lasting 
impression at least as far as answering distress signals go." she stated 
taking another sip and finishing off her cup. "what would you like me to do 
to get set up?" she asked. " and are we talking about just here in sickbay 
or are there areas of the ship to be used for triage and a makeshift 
morgue?" she added. "I suppose I could coordinate something with the other 
shifts to get teams organized in preparation.."

      "Give everyone a heads up. There's not a lot we can do until we know 
exactly what we're dealing with." Cait smiled a bit grimly. "And our people 
can handle whatever is thrown at them. Mister Reed and I are suppose to get 
together to discuss what needs to be done. I'd like you there. Figure we'll 
need at least one of the cargo bays to use for the injured or the dead."

      Kat gave a nod with the hint of a smirk at the mention of Reed. "I 
suppose I can get our people briefed and moving on the set ups while we wait 
on the lieutenant's arrival." she stated. "that is if that's okay" she added 
setting her cup down for the moment. She had no doubts about the medical 
crew's performance in a crisis.

"Of course its okay, Kat. The more they know, the better prepared they'll 
be. Course, we have to say sorry, we're spitting into the wind and have no 
idea where its gonna land." Cait grinned and shooed the other woman from her 
office.