A Luxury We Can't Afford

[Zanthier Madine]

​

[ location -- Medical Bay 05S ]​

[ tag -- Vaeron Vallaeris ]​

It was still raw: the untimely death of Doctor Aes'ona Terrani, Madine's predecessor.

And to think, the medical genius and technical pacifist had almost made it--had she been on a different ship, had the pirates not been in their way, had she refused to go to Sullust to begin with, she would have still been here, back in the safety of the interior of First Order space.

Even for as much of a...nonideal naval officer she had been, she didn't deserve whatever had been done to her.

Madine didn't mourn alone though. With her, the rest of the late adjunct's trusted team, doctors Brayaa and Launderslaug, though the trio had since been split by reassignments. And not just that. The other nail that drove the two men away from the young replacement was her mechanism of adapting. Of coping. Perhaps her old friends saw it as cold, but Madine saw it as a necessity to survive under the hawk eyes of the Grand Admiral now. She refused to simply fill Terrani's boots. Rather, she would strive to make them new, beginning by shinning the toe to remove any scuff of the late doctor's insubordination-bordering-on-treachery.

Doctor Madine reached down to her breast pocket with the hand not holding her pipping cup of caf to adjust her uniform's nameplate. It had been a busy few hours in the infectious disease lab a few decks below, and though it was her favorite place to be out of the two, she had been scheduled to return to her assigned medbay at 14:30...which, with a glance down at her chronometer, was just five standard minutes off.

Perfect. Medbay 05S, previously known under Terrani's medical leadership as Support Medbay, was within sight, just down the hall.

 

[Vaeron Vallaeris]

Vaeron has learned about Dr. Terrani’s death from a co-worker, though he didn’t know the exact specifics. A small part of him wanted to believe that it was a shame that they had lost Dr. Terrani, but he would have been lying to himself. Admittedly, Vaeron found her to be a rather dull and boring person, and would even go so far as to say that she was droid like. Now, with that being said. Vaeron, of course, recognized her skill in the medical profession and found her lack of ambition to be trustworthy. People without any ambitions or any stubborn ideals tended to be rather easy to control, and less likely to stab you in the back, the latter was rather important to him. For that same reason, Vaeron decided that it would be best to get to know the new doctor who had taken her position and would be help taking care of him.

He arrived at Dr. Terrani's office at 14:28, only to discover that no one was there. Now, of course, since Vaeron was so interested in this new doctor, he had decided to let himself in. About two or three minutes later, he heard someone come in. He calmly turned to face the interest, and dipped his head towards her in respect- he found that respect would get you far in life. "You must Dr. Terrani's replacement," he spoke in a rather calm and charming manner, and immediately made eye contact with her while he spoke. "Forgive me for intruding, I thought someone was in here, and when I learned that someone wasn't well, I couldn't help but snoop around."

 

[Zanthier Madine]

When Madine entered the medical bay, she stopped by the nurses' station to, after setting down her mug, took her white laboratory coat off, leaving her in her zipped uniform jacket. She then slung the coat over her left arm bend, took back up her mug and continued to her previous superior's office. At first, she wasn't looking, for the way she had set herself on was clear. Rather, she glanced down to the keycard at her belt and easily pulled it up to chest-height on its reel. But, when she looked up, she let it retract. The door was already open.

Not strange at all.

Due to Madine's dual purpose as a doctor and a scientist, she had given the high-ranking medical staff on the entire deck clearance to enter her office, in case they needed a medical file immediately while she was down in the lab. The system was very different than how Terrrani had done it, but, then again, the late doctor rarely slept it seemed.

It became clear as soon as Madine was a few paces from the door that no fellow doctor, scientist, nor surgeon had let him or herself in, however. It was the back of a black-hair man that she assumed she didn't know, for he did not were either a medical uniform, scrubs, or a lab coat.

Upon reaching the threshold, Madine cleared her throat forcefully but as politely as possible. Whoever this man was--a Ren, an agent, or a non-medical breed of naval officer--she best not be rude. Passing into the room, she said crisply, "Mind your eyes," before switching on the lights. Then she leaned over her desk to place her beverage near her datapad, after finding a coaster for it, and hung her coat up near the doorway.

"I am," she answered, stepping near the unknown man and offering a handshake. "Doctor Zanthier Madine, Infectious Disease and General Preventative Medicine." As the man continued speaking, Madine bit her tongue to remain on-script for a formal, civilized discussion, though part of her wanted to say something accusatory. Snoop around? He made himself seem like FOSB. And that meant he might have been looking for any indication Madine might act as Terrani had. Humanitarianism was a good trait for any doctor, but the borderless mind of Terrani had caused many a problem.

Mentally, Madine shook her head. She had to stop being this ridiculous. She had pushed the paranoid conspiracist down since after her first conversation with Agent Luther Ando, but still it remained, as small and often-insignificant as it had become.

As one of her military comrades, this man deserved the benefit of the doubt from her at the very least. Quite possibly one of her staff members had left open the door. Anyone who think someone would be working within, then, even in the slight darkness.

She offered a small smile, professionally friendly while not forced. "No harm done." A beat passed as she walked around her desk and motioned to the loveseat opposite her office chair. "What can I do for you, sir?" Before sitting, she unzipped her jacket and swept it behind her to do so more comfortably, much like unbuttoning a blazer.

--†--​

[ [member="Vaeron Vallaeris"] ]​

 

[Vaeron Vallaeris]

She seems to be a rather simple woman, Vaeron had thought when his cold and indifferent gaze landed upon her. She needed not to clear her throat to alert him of her presences, for he had already sensed her arrive through the force. Vaeron wore rather simple garments which mostly consisted of a black First Order naval uniform and a wine-colored cape with golden trimming. On his right breast pocket, Vaeron wore a gold pendant of a snake eating its own tail with a spear piercing its midsection. It was the heredity of his house and Vaeron was rarely seen without some ornament honoring his family, and if he wasn't wearing the pendant it, he would most likely be wearing his family's colors instead.

He waited for her to set her stuff down and turn on the lights before he continued any form of conversation, and while she was doing those two things, Vaeron was watching her intently. Vaeron outstretched a gloved hand to take hers, and the two gently shook each other’s hand like civilized people, but then he hid his hand back under his cape when he was done. He could sense that she wanted to accuse him of something, no doubt to point out that he had been spying on her, and that he shouldn't be into her private documents. Whatever the case, it didn't matter. He was here on his own personal accord, no one else saves for his own.

"You have nothing to fear Doctor, I am not here on behalf of anyone else but my own," Vaeron told her truthfully, and once again made intense eye contact. "However, I will inform you ahead of time and to create a bridge of honesty between us. I will be going through your records when I get back to my quarters, and in fact, I had already started before I came here,"

He smoothly shifted his gaze down to the love seat that she gestured towards and with a firm but gentle nod of his head, Vaeron kindly refused to sit down. "You don't have to do anything for me, besides holding this conversation with me," with that he folded his arms behind his back, and started to explore her office. "I like to get to know the person that is in charge of making sure I am healthy, as a way to assure my saftey in case I am in your care. So tell me about yourself, what do you want in life?"

 

[Zanthier Madine]

Curious. People normally weren’t quite so blunt.

Still, she appreciated the heads-up and, since she had calmed down, took it in stride. Very likely nothing personal. Madine motioned around the office with a graceful flourish of the hand now not holding her caf. “Then by all means,” she muttered before taking a sip of the creamy, caffeinated liquid.

“About myself?” she repeated, crossing her legs. She had half a mind to rattle off her credentials--basic training at the field medical school at Zenith Base, a masters of science in infectious diseases at the Medical Academy of Cloud City, and then a honorary doctorate for her work under Doctor Terrani--but she quickly though best not repeat what a fellow officer likely already knew. “I’m a doctor and a scientist,” she replied instead. “I support our men and women in arms by keeping disease off our ships and stations as well as I am able." She paused, leaning to set her caf back down in favor of teepeeing her hands over her datapad. She lay her chin on the tops of her fingers, watching her guest intently. "I expect you will do your part as well, by following general preventative measures. Washing your hands, getting vaccinated, respecting quarantines, and the like."

Another pause before she asked, getting up, "Are you sure I can't help you find anything?" Without so much as waiting for an answer, Madine returned to her lab coat, silently fishing for something in one of the pockets. Finally, she pulled out a datastick and walked back over to her desk.

--†--​

[ [member="Vaeron Vallaeris"] ]​

 

[Vaeron Vallaeris]

Vaeron found bluntness to be a virtue, and couldn’t stand it when people didn’t get straight to the point. He continues to explore her office but then lost interest when he deduced that there was nothing important about her here, he would have to visit her old office when he was done here. He swiftly turned to her, swiveling on his heels as he did so. A sour look formed across an otherwise blank face as she answered with her credentials and the basic nonsense that he already knew, "I don't need to know the basic answer that you give everyone, I already know your name and your profession," Vaeron said sharply with a small note of anger in his voice, a cold indifferent anger. He observed her and then noticed that she held her hands over a datapad, Vaeron raised an eyebrow at the observation and approached her desk. "Of course doctor, I am a man who holds personal hygiene as utmost importance, you needn't worry," he smiled thinly and crossed his arms behind his back., he watched her get up and retrieve a data stick. "Tell me doctor, what do you want? And please don't lie, I'll know when and if you are lying."

 

[Zanthier Madine]

Madine popped off the thumbdrive's top, which landed softly on her desk, with her nail, before inserted it into her datapad. She flinched slightly at the man's veiled aggression, but smiled anyway. "Of course not, sir, but I'm afraid you're missing my point," said the doctor, recrossing her legs.

With that, she drew a breath and explained, "I only want to do my job." Then she paused, softly chewing on the inside of her cheek as she considered his request of her not to lie--not that she was, she simply didn't want to leave anything out that might make him think that she was. She was trying to answer him to the best of her ability, honestly, but she was unsure exactly what he was probing for. Finally, she decided that transparency was the best policy.

"I want Terrani back," she said after a long moment of thinking. "I didn't want her job, not initially. But don't worry, I made that exceedingly clear when I was promoted."

It was weird to say that out loud. It was nice to work under a lead doctor, as it offered some amount of freedom, specialty. And while now Madine still worked in her ID lab, she held much more responsibility now. Still, that in and of itself wasn't a bad thing. The young doctor wouldn't have had any quarrels with serving her purpose in a new capacity had anything but the sudden death of a coworker given her the opening.

Quickly, she added, hoping not to dissuade the man of her professional abilities, "It won't effect my productivity." Another pause came, but went much quicker than the last. "The position's not unwanted; the circumstance is just...uncomfortable." The doctor allowed that the hang in the air momentarily. "I hope you understand."

--†--​

[ [member="Vaeron Vallaeris"] ]​