A Healthy Outlook

Posted on 12 Nov 2016 @ 12:56am by Lieutenant Kina Hena MD & Master Chief Petty Officer Daytona Ral

Mission: Prelude; Breakfast at Curmudgeon's
Location: Sick Bay
Timeline: MD -1

Daytona had taken his first day on the ship to get settled in. Now he needed to at least check in with the medical department and the chief counselor. He'd start first with Sick Bay. He didn't really mind medical check ups. They were a part of being in the service and didn't really inconvenience him much. Some doctors were a bit too eager to find something out of the ordinary for his tastes, but that was just the way things were. For some, his being an example of a 'perfect' hybrid set them a buzz. Daytona had patiently tolerated numerous questions and quite a few totally unnecessary tests over the years. It was the same with the New Jaleyl City Constabulary's medical officers. Daytona did his best not to let the medical profession's morbid curiosity with his DNA get to him. He entered Sick Bay and looked around for a doctor to check him out.

Being on a sharp lookout for new people, Kina spotted him right off the bat. She had, of course, received his personnel file and to be honest, the novelty of a perfectly proportioned and adapted hybrid held intrigue for her as well. Such perfect balance was rare in hybrids; in fact, Kina didn't think there were any others so equally balanced. Of course, it made treating him all that much easier, which was good. Anytime she didn't have to use guess work was good in Kina's book.

She crossed Sick Bay to greet him. "Hello," she said brightly, giving him a friendly smile. "I'm Doctor Hena. You must be Master Chief Petty Officer Ral. What can I do for you?"

Daytona flashed the doctor a winning smile.

"Greetings, Doctor," he said. "Is there any chance you could give me a clean bill of health with a minimum of fuss and bother? I promise to be a good boy and cooperate with any instructions you have for me."

"I can try," she agreed with a bit of a sheepish grin. "Although, I may annoy you a bit. There are so few hybrids as well balanced as you are. I suspect I'm not the first doctor to feel the need to 'study' you, I'm sure. Promise me you'll tell me off if I keep you too long?" she offered.

"Cross my heart," Daytona replied, crossing an area on his body closer to where the liver would be on a Human. "Forgive me if I don't 'hope to die.' I'm rather fond of living. Where do you want me?"

Kina grinned again. She couldn't help it; he was funny. "Right over here," she said, indicating a nearby biobed. "Hop on up and I'll get you out of here quick as a flash."

"You got it," Daytona said and hopped up on the biobed. "So, how long have you been with the Arizona? For that mat matter, how long have you been in the service?"

"With the Arizona only a couple of days," she answered, taking out her tricorder and beginning preliminary scans. "In Starfleet... oh, let me think... if you count the Academy, almost 20 years. How about you?"

"Forty-two," Daytona replied. "Quit my job as a Detective Sergeant with the New Jaleyl City Constabulary the day the Cardassians attacked Setlik III and signed up with Starfleet. Fought in the Cardassian Border Wars, the Federation-Klingon War, and the Dominion War, with a short break between. My forced 'lateral transfer' back to Security from special operations might have been a blessing in disguise. Gave me a much needed rest."

"Forty-two!" exclaimed Kina. "Wow. That's longer than I've even been alive. And you look younger than me. If I hadn't already looked at your file, I'd have thought you were about twenty-five or so. Well, maybe twenty-eight."

Daytona grinned.

"Got to admit," he said. "Staying young so long is definitely a perk of being part El-Aurian. If I was pure-blood Rigelian, I'd be middle-aged right now. Don't be jealous. I would never have guessed your age if you hadn't given me a clue. Not to worry. I'm too much a gentleman to do the math."

"I don't mind," said Kina. "I've never understood why women don't want anyone to know their age. I'm thirty-seven. And I hope that when I'm seventy, I still don't mind telling people my age.

"What's the phrase?" Daytona said. "You wear it well? People are very caught up on image. I hope that when I'm 1000 years old, I won't be afraid to admit it either...though I suppose that's not really the same. At the moment, though, my lifespan is only conjecture. I'm physically young for a Rigelian in middle age, but who knows how long I'll live. I guess we'll find out."

"I'm sure someone has come up with an accurate formula to work it out," she said with a grin, finishing her primary scans and moving onto secondary scans. "But, I don't enjoy mathematics enough to even think about being that accurate. As a pure guess, I would say roughly two thirds of an El-Aurian's life span.

"Of course," Daytona said. "I don't think anyone in the alpha quadrant has ever met an El-Aurian who died of old age. My mother has been pretty vague about the whole thing. She was only a few hundred years old when she met my father. That makes her between 300 and 400 years only now. But I think the only one on board who's got any idea is our 600 year old captain and I don't feel like asking him about it. I'd kind of like to be surprised. The only thing I worry about is outliving my children. They're in their twenties now and their mother is Human."

Kina smiled when he mentioned children. Although it was likely that his were grown, it was still something they had in common. "I've got the same worry," she admitted. "My son is my universe at the moment. I'd probably be broken beyond repair if anything happened to him. Of course, he's only six years old, so..." She shrugged. "It doesn't sound like the worry ever goes away, does it?"

"No," Daytona replied. "My son attended medical school on Rigel V, the same school his grandfather attended. He works as a physician there now. My daughter is studied psychology on Betazed. Then she moved to Rigel V to be near my clan. I spent as much time with them as my deployment schedule would allow when they were growing up and we've stayed in touch as much as possible. We're close, I think, though it is a bit odd for them to have a father who looks only a little older than they do. Their aging will slow down over the next few years. They look like eighteen year-olds if that, now, but they'll creep up on the physical age of as they mature. Between their Rigelian and El-Aurian DNA that they get from me, that should slow them down a bit, stretch out their lifespans."

"My son gets none of his DNA from me," Kina admitted. "I found him three years ago when I was on the Kilimanjaro. We rescued a transport full of orphans and I just fell in love with him. I thought about what it would be like to see him go away and I couldn't stand it, so I filled out some paperwork and he was mine two months later."

"He's fortunate to have you," Daytona said. "DNA alone does not a parent make. Is he here on the ship with you?"

"Yes, he is," she answered. "He's a bit dissappointed that there are no boys his age, but I've convinced him to make friends with some of the girls."

"Well," Daytona said with a grin. "I never had any problems making friends with girls when I was his age. That paid off when I was a teenager."

She grinned. "I'm sure it did," she said, finally switching to secondary scans. "Of course, try explaining to a six-year-old that he'll appreciate all the girls in ten years' time."

Daytona laughed.

"I seem to remember that I did just that," he said. "Worked, too. Actually, I encouraged him to form strong friendships regardless of whether they were with boys or girls, same with my daughter. They figured it out after some false starts and with a little guidance. Your son will, too."

"I keep hoping it'll soften him a bit," she confessed. "After all, growing up with all boys toughened me up."

"It might," Daytona replied. "At the very least he might learn to better appreciate women, which can't hurt him any. So, what's the verdict? Am I going to make it?"

"Just barely," joked Kina, closing her tricorder. "One of these days, I'm going to find a reason to take a DNA sample from you so I can study it at length. For today, though, I'll leave you alone."

"Why Lieutenant," Daytona said, feigning shock. "Are you talking dirty to me?"

At first, Kina was confused, then she realized what she'd said and smirked. "Is there any other way to talk?" she replied cheekily.

Daytona grinned.

"My thoughts exactly!" he said. "Alright, well, if you're done with me, I'll move along to the next stop on my rounds. Nice to meet you, Lieutenant."

"It was nice to meet you, too," replied Kina, still grinning. "I look forward to seeing you again," she added with a hint of her earlier cheek.

"Nice meeting you, too," Daytona said. "See you soon!"

Daytona winked at the doctor and exited Sick Bay.

Kina grinned and shook her head as she returned to her previous task of sorting through new inventory. She could tell he was going to be fun to have around.