Dorian's shuttle was on its way to the Enterprise. He had been anticipating this sight since he had read the assignment notification. He didn't get a chance to read his brother's message. He saw the raw, unchristined Enterprise stationed at Starbase 1. Her large warp nacelles glistening, contrasting against space. Unlike most humans, he didn't have to eat. What he did have to eat was something entirely different. It was rounded objects and all he had to do was swallow them. The shuttle craft came to a stop into the shuttle bay. He came out of the shuttle appearing to be amazed of what he had to see. He partially wondered how Valerie and Paul would react. Paul may be floored and ask if there were any MX's around. Valerie could be awwed by the sheer awesomeness of the scenery. But she was dead. So was he.
Dorian had a good idea there were were twenty-two decks to this ship.
There were Jeffrie tubes scattered about the ship. The floors were light gray and the walls were white. He came to engineering to see the large room with the circular item in the center that contained the dilithium crystals. At the back, there was the hydro pump that was massive with large tubes connecting a mile and going in various directions. Dorian half wondered why they needed a hydro pump installed when they had replicators. It was a impressive feat for humanity. Dorian felt proud to be part of this workforce. He made his way to deck five via turbo lift. He could feel the anticipation building up. He was serving under Doctor Puri. He had heard of the man, scarcely, from his brother Simon. He was excited. He thought about how humanity had reacted upon making their first starship and working in space with a group representative of their civilization. Everyone was created equal. The starship Protector had been a beacon of hope and inspiration. It is what inspired his parents to join Star Fleet and serve in it. It would have inspired Valerie to join. Why did he care about the two detectives?
He came into Sick Bay that was rounded and wide. There were biobeds propped against the light blue walls with curtains attached to the railings that were installed to the wall. The monitors were split into four sections on the same screen. There was one chair alongside the biobeds. There was a desk across from the biobeds. What was the desk needed for? The doctor's office was connected to sick bay, as well Dorian thought of the triangle shaped med bay from the starship Protector. It was amusing how many devices were inspired from the show such as the tricorder which was the scanner, the vox which was the communicator, the laser pistol which was the phaser, and the digital conveyor to the transporter. It then became reality to Dorian that he is going to be serving on this ship in two weeks. Just the realization that this beautiful sick bay is going to be what he is serving in and living in when the doctor is not around. He toured sick bay in its entirety to the surgical room and to the four wards. There was an isolation room connected to sick bay. He heard the sounds of footsteps. He turned away in the direction of Doctor Puri who seemed to be startled at first to see Dorian.
"Doctor M'Benga!" Puri said. He had a white mustache and white hair that was frazzled standing in all directions. Puri resembled Philip Boyce to Dorian. Perhaps they shared a common relative. Dorian dismissed it. "It is good to see you again. I did not expect to see you nearby Earth so soon."
"I am not Simon," Dorian said. "I am Geoffrey." For an odd reason, he wasn't sure of that. "His twin."
"Oh," Puri said. "My bad. What do you think of the girl?"
"She looks fine," Dorian said. "She looks better than the Protector."
"You do realize the Protector was based off a broken racquet in Galaxy Quest?" Puri asked. "Of course, she looks better than that improv. She was built to be a starship."
"I am aware of that," Dorian said. "But still clever."
"I didn't expect you here so soon,M'Benga." Puri admitted.
Dorian laughed.
"M'Benga's are known for being unexpected." Dorian said. "Why are you here so early?"
"Vulcan has been attacked," Puri said. "And we are going in with cadets."
"Cadets?" Dorian said. "What about the other ships?"
"Three starships have been deployed," Puri said. "We will be joining them shortly. Probably not going to be anything devastating. Not like the entire planet is going to be destroyed." A sinking feeling sunk down in Dorian's mind. "We can expect some injuries on this ship. At least your first mission is going to involve helping injured crewmen on the Enterprise."
"We can actually lose a planet?" Dorian asked.
"Highly unlikely." Puri said. "Star Fleet has seen worse."
"Tarsus IV is nothing compared to defending a planet, doctor." Dorian said.
"True," Puri said. "But we never lost a planet due to a attack."
"Only colonies." Dorian said.
"Only a hundred people in most cases." Puri said. "Besides, we got the Armstrong,Hood,Mayflower,Newton, Odssesy,Truman,Wolcott,and Antares dispatched. Going to be like a drill."
"Eight starships for Vulcan?" Dorian said. "Isn't that too much?"
"Eight starships is enough." Puri said. "Prepare yourself for the cadets. I am going to deck five and get some shut eye." He started to turn away from Dorian. "I will be taking a powernap."
Puri left sick bay leaving Dorian standing there, alone. First thing's first, turning on the medical observation screens that showed cadet files. Their files would have been all ready uploaded by the time they arrived onto the starship. Star Fleet was effective with what it did including transitioning and transferring. Dorian had heard they were considering turning uniforms into dresses for gender equality. Everyone was still complaining about the short sleeved dresses. Dorian had a bad feeling about this.
