"Not Your Usual Dry Meeting" -

Posted on 04 Aug 2025 @ 11:50pm by Lieutenant Commander Riah Amberlyn XMD & Captain Sabrina Corbin

1,866 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Assignment: Arawyn
Location: Sickbay :: USS Arawyn

// Bridge //

Sabrina stepped out of her ready room with a soft whoosh of the door sealing behind her. The conversation with Holt was still echoing in her mind, steady, measured, productive. There was something quietly promising about the woman, and Corbin appreciated her directness.

But now, with the morning clock ticking closer to the senior staff briefing, she had a few moments to herself, and she didn’t intend to spend them buried in reports. She wanted to see her crew, not in the confines of formal introductions, but as they were, doing the work that kept the Arawyn humming.

She tucked her PADD under her arm, heading to the turbolift on the bridge with a purposeful stride. Her pace was casual enough not to raise alarms, but practiced, she was very clearly a captain on the move.

She wasn’t looking for anything official. Just a pulse check.

Unofficially.

“Deck Seven,” she said, voice crisp but unhurried.

// Sickbay //

As the lift began to descend, Corbin let her senses drift. Not toward anything in particular, just listening. There was something she’d started to feel aboard this ship. A hum, not quite auditory, more sensed than heard. The Arawyn was finding her rhythm. Or perhaps Corbin was learning to hear it. In quiet moments like this, it felt almost like a tune winding itself through her.

She smiled softly as the lift doors parted. The bright double-wide entrance to Medical Reception welcomed her forward.

"Captain Corbin!," said the woman behind the reception counter, standing quickly, "Nurse Amy Carter," she added. "How can I help you?"

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Nurse Carter. Is Doctor Amberlyn about?”

"I'm sure she is, Captain," She pressed the code into the interoffice comm, alerting Amberlyn in her office. She was rewarded with an immediate green reply. "She's on her way," reported Nurse Carter. "I can have a cuppa coffee or tea delivered to her office if you'd like, Ma'am."

"Just water, please," She smiled, reflecting that she had already had multiple cups of coffee that morning, well above her normal intake.

"It will be waiting for you, Ma'am."

Riah adjusted the collar on her lab coat and entered the circular reception area from the inner medical suite of offices, exam rooms, and labs. "Captain Corbin, welcome to Sickbay. LtCmdr Riah Amberlyn, at your service. Would that be for medical issues, or a private visit in my office?" Her greeting was warm but professional, unflustered by the surprise visit. In fact, she was delighted to actually meet her new Captain in Sickbay, on her home turf, so to speak. She felt much more secure in Sickbay than being called to the Captain's Ready Room.

Corbin smiled in greeting to her CMO. "Commander Amberlyn," Sabrina took on the address that Riah had used for herself, "I just wanted to make your acquaintance in a less formal setting than the Senior Officer briefing later today. A quick visit, if you have the time, of course. I don't want to impede either."

Sabrina looked around, pleased with everything she saw. Her previous visit had been brief, absent of the heart of his department, just a flag officer from a security background and a slightly anxious yeoman. "Thank you, Nurse Carter." She addressed the woman staffing the reception desk with a smile and nod as the pair of women started to walk towards Amberlyn's office.

The Captain noted, "I can already feel the warmth this department has gained in just a short time."

It was a short jaunt across an open area large enough to move a mobile bio-bed through to get to the CMO's round office. "I'm glad you can feel it," replied Riah, motioning the Captain to have a seat in small seating arrangement on the right as you entered the space. "I'm sure it is the honeymoon, everyone excited about the newness of everything and the calm. The politics will show up, always does a little, but right now everyone is getting along and I think as a whole, from what I've seen of the staff who have reported to their shifts, everyone is eager and efficient." She was casual, but not outside the boundaries of professional protocols. "We're still getting hooked up with all the bells and whistles. The spiral layout of the department is a little unusual, but I think I'm going to like it. More organic and flows well ... so far anyway. I should ask, do you have any questions for me?"

Sabrina was already impressed with the doctor. In the short time they’d been aboard, she seemed to have a firm grasp on the department; anticipating needs, managing the space with quiet confidence. That didn’t surprise Corbin; the woman had served in this role for a few years already aboard the Coventry.

It was true, everyone was still riding the wave of excitement. Very few knew each other well yet, and inevitably, personality conflicts would surface. Such was the nature of sentient beings.

“I like the design as well,” Corbin said with a small nod. “It feels efficient.”

She placed the PADD she’d been carrying on the desk, freeing her hands and resting them loosely in her lap, fingers laced in a more casual posture.

“You’ve already answered quite a few questions just by how the department’s running,” she continued. “But I wanted to check in; see if there’s anything you need. I imagine things will ramp up quickly once the full crew is aboard and medical updates begin. I don’t mind being first in line when you’re ready to start scheduling.”

Riah chuckled. "I appreciate that. Set an example for the rest of the reluctant ones. I have to get all the equipment online and tested. They upgraded some things of course after they installed the original system. We are stumbling around with the use of sometimes only one or two computer terminals at a time." She waved off the concern on the Captain's face. "But they are working overtime, and I've been on their tails, so I'm assured tomorrow will be the big unveiling of the bug free, state of the art, new and improved clinical software. So, you might pencil in your incoming exam for two days from now, just because ... well, because. You know old Murphy's Law."

Sabrina smirked. She decided right then that she genuinely liked Riah and her easy manner. Among the small handful of senior officers she’d met so far, there was already a broad mix of personalities, but the doctor had a calm accessibility that made her easy to be around.

“I’m not worried about the upgrades. Everything here seems to be in good order,” she said with relaxed confidence. “As a former ops officer, I have a deep appreciation for how these things come together.”

She paused, then allowed a hint of self-deprecating honesty to slip in. “And my eagerness to get my exam out of the way? It’s less about setting an example, though I do try, and more about a slight obsession with clearing simple tasks off my list. It’s... mildly compulsive.”

Riah laughed aloud. "The value of a little OCD should never be discounted, Captain. Your secret is safe with me."

With a wide smile, knowing there were few people who would know her as well as the Counselor and the CMO, she teased, "Well, that's reassuring."

"I am living a dream, Captain. Pinch me! I have begged the CMO gods for several years now that I might be stationed as the CMO on a ship with every medical frill and luxury I could think of. I figured to ask for more than I expected. And here I am, sitting in this round office with all the frills and all the luxuries beyond what I ever imagined. And an exceptional crew to boot. You have one very happy CMO, Captain, and I will never take any of this for granted, but will give it everything I have to keep this crew and their kittens - yes I've heard about the kittens - healthy and give them all the care they could ever hope for, not just on this ship, but that's available in the choicest medical facilities in the Galaxy. I am so grateful to be here, to have this opportunity. Thank you for approving my transfer from Coventry. I loved that ship and her crew, but this ....this is nirvana."

"Kittens, plural?" She asked with a slight chuckle, but was glad the Doctor had heard, it was next up on her topic. Corbin had already scheduled Ptlomey with a necessary check on the Spacedock so as not to tie up her busy crew. But she hadn't yet heard of others acquiring or bringing them onto the ship.

"Oh, yeah. I think someone, when they heard that a new ship was crewing up decided it was a good way to rid the Station of its little overpopulation of animals. So they sort of set them free in the vicinity of the loading dock," said Riah. "They actually have an animal shelter on the Station, set up to help adopt animals that are discarded by incoming ships, left in people's quarters when they ship out from duty or living on the Station. It's a social problem. But, there are very few rats and mice and such pests on the Station compared to before pets began to be the thing among star travelers."

"That's a sad thought, I had my last cat for eighteen years and wouldn't think of a circumstance to not be able to have him." Sabrina shook her head at the pet dumping problem.

"I know. They're family. Not disposable objets." Amberlyn continued, "We have our own resident Dranelli Dragon. A little guy who can parrot what you are thinking. I'm not sure how accurate he always is, but he said exactly what I was thinking when I was introduced to him."

Riah explained the fiasco that had ensued in the Sickbay with Joe Roseberry's little dragon, Tavri, made a slick escape and went on an adventure in the storeroom. And that her yeoman had agreed to adopt the animal since Roseberry was desperate to re-home it.

Corbin found her mouth open in a little bit of surprise at the tale, but then she considered the circumstances and shook her head, deciding, "As fascinating as that creature sounds, I think the captain’s thoughts being broadcast aloud might pose a danger to my own sanity, never mind anyone else’s."

Sabrina glanced at the time and sighed. As pleasant a diversion as this had been, duty called.

“Doctor, it’s been a pleasure,” she said, rising with a faint smile. “I’ll see you this afternoon, for a much drier meeting, I’m afraid.”

"Captain, the pleasure has been mine. Showing off Sickbay is a joy. Next visit, I'll give you a tour. I'll see you out." They rose in tandem and Riah directed her out of the maze of curved walls and corridors.

~~~
Captain Sabrina Corbin
Commanding Officer
USS Arawyn
&
LtCmdr Riah Amberlyn, XMD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Arawyn

 

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