When the Doctor's Away...

Posted on Sun Apr 12th, 2026 @ 5:40am by Lieutenant Amy Gordon & Commander Rhupert Tyree & Lieutenant Katya Davi

1,760 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Avan's Colony
Location: SS Adelaide
Timeline: Just after the rescue run

Kat and Amy watched two movies, but when there was still no word from Zuub about their quarantine, Kat decided to check the computer to see what else they could do to pass the time since the doctor was clearly busy.

It was then that she noticed there were several EMH programs in the computer. "Hey, Amy, maybe we could use one of the EMHs to see if we can be released from quarantine?"

"EMH, as in plural?" this made Amy leap up to go see what Kat had found. "Ooh that looks really interesting, wonder what they are like? "

Looking around at their current situation, then back to Kat, Amy remarked a bit wistfully. "I really would like to get to my own quarters, for a little bit of quiet time. Just to unwind, to hole up."

"Okay. What's the old saying...better to ask forgiveness?" Kat queued up the first of the holodoctors. A Doctor Doogie Howser. He was a teenage boy with glasses in a white lab coat. He wore an old-fashioned stethoscope around his neck.

"Doogie Howser." Amy looked at the young man, she had seen the old shows and the guy was just nope, she didn't want to be examined by him. "Absolutely not. He's way too young and I feel rather uncomfortable with him being the one to examine us. Nope, next!"

"Okay. Next on the list, Doctor Clara Pellar," Kat said as she activated the holoprogram. The woman was short and had a perpetual frown on her face. She also looked like she was in her eighties. The woman looked at Amy and Kat and muttered, "What's your beef?"

"No." Kat quickly removed the EMH and selected one that looked a lot better. She liked his smile, too.

Doctor Mark Sloane was not as old as the last EMH and had wavy white hair, a white mustache, and a bright smile. He did a little dance, spun in a circle, and sang, "Chim, chimney, chim, chimney, chim, chim, cher-ee. You need a doctor? That doctor is me..."

"Oh, I like him," Kat said, grinning at Amy. "What do you think?"

"I do like him very much." Amy responded, having a beaming smile watching him.

"Okay. But we should look at the last two."

Her eyes went to close to the next one, "Doctor Sherman Potter..."

An older man, with snow white hair, lines of experience showing in his face, he might look a bit gruff, but there was also the softness in his eyes. He had in his hand a small portrait of a horse, with the small placard which said Sophie.

He cleared his throat, his sharp yet congenial gaze looking at the two women. "Evening Ladies, what can I do for you."

Amy looked at him then at Katya. "Oh, he's a possibility as well. There is another one..."

A mystery fifth EMH doctor....

This man wore a brown suit, a fedora, and a long, multi-colored scarf. He had curly brown hair and a lopsided grin. "Care for a Jelly Baby?"

"The program just says The Doctor," Kat said. "What's your name?"

"Why, I'm the Doctor." He looked at the two women, then around the cargo bay. "Ah. Were you looking for a medical doctor? I'm afraid I'm not he. Just push the button and I'll get on with my business then."

He tipped his hat to the two women just before Kat sent him back into the computer. Only, as she did so, there was an odd, mechanical sound she couldn't identify as he disappeared. "That was...interesting." She shook her head. She'd have to learn about him later.

With a sigh, she turned back to Amy. "So, we have Doctor Sloane and Doctor Potter."

"Or both of us, if the problem is complicated," Doctor Sloane said. "Nothing wrong with a second opinion."

A data stream emerged from the computer console and a holographic figure emerged. She had purple skin and an open, smiling face with warm brown eyes. Her reddish brown hair with purple and gold highlights was arranged intricately in a bow and lace ridden up-do, though several curls were in the process of escaping. She was dressed in a form fitting, purple ship suit and brown knee boots, with matching belts at her trim waist. A purple and blue prehensile tale flicked slightly on the deck as she regarded Amy, Kat and Doctor Sloane.

"Hi guys," the new arrive said with a bubbly voice. "Is this a sausage fest or do you want a real opinion as to what's wrong with you two?"

"I prefer bacon to sausage," Kat said. "But we are looking for opinions, if you have one." She didn't say which opinion she'd take, but she did want answers.

Trance looked at the two women, her brown eyes going gold for a few seconds before reverting to brown and she grinned. "Both of you are borderline dehydrated and bleeding stress, which explains all the fun. Full scans show you don't have anything more wrong with you than you did before, really. No signs of what that poor Klingon is suffering from anyway, when I do a cellular comparison. You DO have higher than normal levels of nitrogen in your systems. I recommend a few hours in your quarters with the oxygen turned up or wearing an oxygen enriching cannulas for a day."

"Then we don't need to stay in quarantine?" Kat looked from Trance to Doctor Sloane. She didn't care who cleared them, as long as they could leave the cargo annex.

The last one, the woman with purple skin, she was intrigued. Just something about her.

"Are you saying we can go to our own beds, have a shower?" Amy looked at the other EMH her eyes, having a delighted gleam. "not necessarily in that order, but, I would love that!"

"I am sorry Doctor Potter, I just want to get to my own bed." Amy said apologetically.

Potter looked over towards Amy and also Katya, over his wire rimmed glasses. "It’s okay ladies, I don't blame you for listening to her, and she is right. You both need rest and more water."

"She's also right that you don't need to be quarantined," Doctor Sloane added. "You're both welcome to leave--as long as you take care of yourselves." He smiled cheerfully. "If not, you'll have to visit the doctor again."

"Wonderful." Kat grinned and did a little Pas-de-Basque. "I don't know if I want to hug you or ask you to dance."

Doctor Sloane spread his arms wide. "Why not both?"

Dancing In the Dark began to play as he walked toward Kat, took her in his arms, and began to dance.

Kat grinned as they took a spin around the annex. When the song ended, she gave him a hug. "Thank you, Doctor Sloane."

He hugged her back and then bowed. "You're very welcome, my dear. If you need me, you know how to find me." And then he de-materialized back into the computer.

Kat sighed. Too bad she couldn't convince the captain to dance with her. She brushed the thought away and turned to the others. "So, we clean up here and we should be good to go." She bowed to the other doctors. "Thank you all for your assistance."

Amy held up a finger as it to give things a pause, "Doctor Sloan, come back please." a little bit of a wistful note in her voice. "I'd like to have a dance, if you please. A little bit of song and dance. " though she won't continue the rhyme, maybe a little bit of romance. Amy was feeling a bit whimsical. Perhaps it was due to what has happened on the planet they had been on.

Kat was grinning as she watched Amy dance with the doctor. But in her head, she couldn't help repeating, "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down the pants...."

Amy enjoyed the dance, it had been such a long time since she had been held in somebody's arms when it came to dancing. And well, actually, being held in someone's arms period. The dance ended in a bit of a flourish, Sloan spinning her around then giving a bow, and a twinkle in his eyes, before he bowed and stepped back to join the other doctors.

"That was delightful." Amy exclaimed.

She turned to the purple skinned doctor and also looked at Katya, "We get to go to our quarters now, yes?"

Glancing at Doctor Sloane first for confirmation, Kat nodded. "How about we exit, stage left?"

"Or a walk up the avenue," Doctor Sloan said, holding out his arm for Kat to take and began to sing, "We would swim up the Avenue but we haven't any lake..."

Kat joined in and they both sang, "So we'll walk up the Avenue" as they began to walk out of the cargo annex. "Yes, we'll walk up the Avenue. Yes, a walk up the Avenue's what we'll take."

At the door, the doctor disappeared again. Kat turned. "Thank you, doctors, and thank you, Amy. We need to do this together...minus the quarantine."

Trance had gone quiet while the other holo-doc's weighed in. As the patients exited, she glanced at the old doctor and said, "We Might be mistaken..."

"Horse Feathers," Potter blustered as he began to fade. "I haven't been wrong about a diagnosis since...nineteen fifty three."

"Oh dear," Trance commented as she too began to fade.

That last comment made Kat hesitate. Could two doctors be wrong and one right? Yes. But it shouldn't happen to a holographic doctor. Still, she paused. She turned to Amy. "Your call."

Looking from one doctor to the other, Amy had a confused expression in her gaze. It went away, she'd been through something like this before. Drawing herself up, she looked at Katya, then looked at the two doctors as they faded away.

"We're going to our quarters, sleep in our own beds, if something is found out later on, then, well, it can be decontaminated." Amy stated. Moving towards the door to head for her quarters.

Amy's next words drifted through the air. "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. A quote by Marcus Aurelius."

END

Katarina Diaz
Mechanic/Communications
AKA Katya Davi
USS Valiant


Agatha Smith
Handy Woman
Aka Amy Gordon
USS Valiant

 

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