"Volun-told Offerings"
Posted on 11 Feb 2026 @ 2:03am by Lieutenant Commander Riah Amberlyn XMD & Lieutenant JG Ryan Collingway & Lieutenant JG Mira Quinn
1,233 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Silent Inheritance
Location: Sickbay Annex, Deck 16
//Communications Array////
Ryan was working on replacing a dead circuit when his communicator chirped. "Lieutenant Collingway, please report to Medical Annex, Deck 16." The message was automated.
"I'm busy," Ryan said, but of course there was no response. With a huff he checked the duty logs. There were currently no maintenance requests for that area at that time. Grumbling, he replaced the dead circuit board for now and went to sickbay.
///Medical Annex////
He was soon ushered into the waiting area. Surprisingly, there were seven other people waiting. "Hey," he said, spotting Mira. "Any idea what's going on?"
Mira shook her head. She was actually glad to be called in - whatever this was, she was sure it was better than going over replicator and waste data. Which was interesting in a very theoretical sense. Theoretically.
Ryan sat in the empty seat next to her. "You know, it's no secret I had problems adjusting to this ship. But at least I used to be able to understand what's going on with the Arawyn most of the time. Now?" He shrugged. "Seems like every other day there is some random thing happening which I have no explanation for."
His rant over, he glanced at her. "What about you? Anything weird or unusual happening on your end?"
"Weird and unusual..." Mira smiled, "you could say that. That's Science for you."
She craned her head to look around. "Maybe it's Medical too."
Ryan shrugged slightly. "As long as we're not the lab rats." They both waited.
“Who’s a lab rat?” asked Dr Kim, appearing around the corner from Ryan’s seat. He smiled amiably. “No involuntary lab rats here. All ethically sourced, volun-told offerings.” The doctor stood to his full 5’4” height, hands deep in the pockets of his lab coat. “Know you are giving your life’s blood for a good cause, Lieutenant. Trust me, it’s a good cause. And standard procedure. We need a random comparison of blood samples to determine efficacy of one of the multitude of vaccines you have been given over your long history of Starfleet service. You are one of the lucky ones to be selected for this rare opportunity. Thank you thank you thank you.”
"Lucky is one word for it," Ryan said with a slight frown. But he supposed it made sense. "All right, fine. The sooner it's done the sooner I can get back to work.”
“Are you checked in with Reception? I’ll check where you are on the list,” Kim offered, checking his small PaDD for the roster of current.
“Lt Collingway, Ryan.” announced Ryan.
“Yup, read your name tag. You are Lt Collingway. Looks like Lt Mira Quinn is next. You’re after her. The techs have this set up in Exam 1, and got it down to a science,” said Kim. “Lt Quinn,” he swept a hand leading the way to the exam room.
Mira stood up. "Wish me luck," she said as she swept past Ryan and into the exam room.
In the exam room, she sat down in a chair and watched the technician prepare.
It didn’t take long to apply the sampling hypo-unit and draw the blood. “This won’t hurt as much as the vaccine did,” said the technician. The original vaccine had caused minor swelling and a lingering soreness at the injection site.
"Is that it?" she asked, as she pulled down her sleeve. "Is this testing Starfleet-wide?"
“That’s a good question that I don’t know the answer to. I thought you might. I’m enlisted. Don’t know much but gossip. I just got here on shift and was told to draw blood all day. I do know it’s not everyone on the ship. Dr Kim said it was a random sampling, only about 60 people,” answered the technician.
Mira smiled her thanks, and went outside to ask Dr. Kim.
Ryan was next, and sat down next to the tech. "Why do I feel like the donation blood drive didn't go so well last year?" he said jokingly to the tech. "Maybe I should have actually read the fine print on my Starfleet contract next time.”
“There’s a lot in that fine print, isn’t there? I’ve noticed that too. Big print!” She used her hands to indicate a bold display across a big screen. "Glamorous job as a medical technician on a starship. Two years of advanced training at the glamorous - they like that word - Starfleet Academy in beautiful San Francisco. See faraway places, travel the galaxy. Small print.”
She reduced the example to a by-line. "Rewarding career with an emphasis on helping others. Fine print.” The gesture changed again: squinting, small space between two fingers, indicating diminutive lettering. "Draw blood from grumpy crew members who hate Sickbay for half a day and sterilize and repackage instruments the other half. Tiny print, barely readable, but there. You might occasionally get to pull blood on a handsome smiling lieutenant…occasionally. Be grateful for tiny favors.”
Ryan couldn't help but laugh. There was something about her that was refreshingly honest. "Big print-work on the warp core. Be part of the glorious engineering corps. Small print-dragging screaming cats out of replicators." The bloodwork done, he stood. "If you want someone to rant to, I'm always around," he offered with a smile. "Off-duty, I mean."
He felt a twinge of guilt as he said that, but mentally shook it off. Alura had made it clear they were just friends, after all.
The tech stopped and an impish smile spread. “Occasionally I get an offer I can’t refuse. My name is Melinda Willeman, comm WIL27. Comm me when you need a rant.” With a wink she held up the vial of blood and rocked it. “All done."
"Ryan Collingway. I just might," he said, matching her smile. "And I hope the rest of the grumpy officers aren't too hard on you."
"I shall survive," she quipped.
Outside, Mira cornered Dr. Kim.
"Doctor," Mira asked. "This vaccine testing is all over Starfleet? I hadn't heard anything about it.”
“Neither did I ...until yesterday,” Kim replied. “You’d be surprised how many random tests go on. I wasn’t kidding about volun-told lab rats. Sometimes, after an away mission to a strange planet they will do testing to determine how well their vaccine protocols are holding against pathogens on other worlds. I suspect that’s the deal here.”
Ryan joined them, listening to the end of the conversation. He shrugged. "I should get back to fixing that circuit board," he said, checking his maintenance requests. Damn, a lot had popped up while he was side-tracked. "What about you? Still mapping out Eirian space?" he asked Mira.
"Mapping the Spinward March," Mira said. "Cmdr. Sorvak is finding ways to keep us busy while you guys tear the ship apart. I guess Dr. Amberlyn has found a way to keep her department busy too."
"Seems like," Ryan said. It was biting at him that this seemed unusual, but he took Dr. Kim's word that it was for study more than anything else. Besides, he was mostly thinking about the technician he had just met. "Have a good one, Lieutenant."
Lieutenant (JG) Ryan Collingway
Engineering Officer
USS Arawyn
Lt JG Mira Quinn
Science Officer
USS Arawyn
PO Melinda Willeman
Medical Technician
USS Arawyn
(npc apb Kate/Amberlyn)
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