Reporting for Duty Again

Month 16 Day 6

2322 Hours

Ivy Wilson

Ivy was leaving the mess hall when she noticed Mac sitting alone at a corner table, her back to the wall. Wilson disposed of her tray and hurried over. "Mac! What are you doing here?"

Mac looked up from her half-eaten meal and grinned. "About ready to relieve Smythe. Shall we go together?"

"I didn't hear you were released from sick bay! This is great! But, it doesn't look like you're done with breakfast."

The redhead grimaced. "I overestimated my appetite. It's all gone cold." She opened her lidded mug and dumped the rest of her drink in it, then stood up.

"Let me handle your tray," Ivy volunteered, and disposed of it, then met Mac at the exit. "I wasn't sure when they'd let you out of sick bay. Mr Smythe didn't seem to know, either."

Mac grinned. "I'm not sure the doctors knew, when Smythe left me there. There was the... possibility of complications, if they followed the usual treatment methods. So they had to make some adjustments." They got on the lift and sent it to Engineering. "Besides, they had to wait until the Fireball's tailor could get a new uniform made for me. One with enough room for a back full of bandages."

"That's got to be uncomfortable."

"As long as I'm careful how I move, it's not too bad. I think the ointment under the bandages has some analgesic property to it."

"So, does that mean you're on light duty, or what?"

Mac gave a sigh as the doors opened, and they stepped out. "Yes, but it's a strange kind of light duty. I have to go back to sick bay to do my sleeping. Let's wait until I report to Smythe, then I can fill you both in at the same time."

"Oh, yes, of course. What am I thinking?" They entered engineering and headed for the office. "Well, we're here. Where is he?"

"Probably got caught up in doing something," Mac said, and swallowed nervously. "Let's wait in the office. Maybe we'll see him on the monitors."

They entered the office, and Mac gingerly sat at the desk, careful to sit forward to keep her back away from the chair. Ivy studied the various monitors, but didn't catch sight of Mr Smythe, nor of Lt Vojeck, the C shift supervisor. And then, she heard Smythe talking as he approached the open office doorway.

Mac stood up, her hands clasped together, and faced the doorway. Smythe stepped inside and stopped short, his gaze on the redhead. "Colleen," he whispered in surprise. He surged forward, and took her hands in his, a blissful look on his face. "What are you doing here?"

Mac looked surprised, and her voice sounded nervous. "I've been released for light duty, so I've come to relieve you. Basically, I'm supposed to avoid doing anything that hurts my back."

"I didn't expect you," he said. "It sounded like there might be... complications."

She looked down and licked her lips. "Yes, well, they've decided not to use the dermal healing ray on me, so when I'm not on duty, I'll return to sick bay to spend more time with the blue goo. They aren't certain how long a full recovery will take."

"You got your hair done," he noticed. "I like it."

Mac shot a wild, confused glance at Ivy, then pulled a hand free to touch her short curls. "I considered having it all shaved off, but Beth suggested I try this."

"I'm glad you listened to Beth," he told her. "But of course, you would look beau—"

"Mr Smythe," Ivy broke in, aware of Lt Vojeck looking in through the doorway. "Now that you are aware of the conditions of Lt MacDowell's light duty status, are there any specific instructions you want her to do during this shift?"

Smythe gave her a mournful glance and sighed, dropped Mac's remaining hand. "Well, let me think about what needs to be done. So we might as well get started with your briefing." He noticed Mac smoothing down the front of her uniform. His brow crinkled in confusion as his gaze traveled down her form. "As good as it is to see you, Colleen, you seem a bit... disheveled."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. My uniform was put together in a hurry, with extra room for the bandages covering my back. So, between the rush job and not knowing the exact measurements to use, it isn't as tailored as it usually is."

"Bandages," he muttered to himself, and gave her another look-over. "I see."

"I'm afraid my uniform for tomorrow will be equally... un-tailored," Mac went on. "In fact, until I stop needing the bandages—"

He held up a hand to stop her. "Yes, I get the idea. Very well, it's part of your light duty status. Now, let's get the briefing done. Has anybody seen Lt Jamison?"

"I'm right here, Mr Smythe," Jamison said from beyond Lt Vojeck.

"Good. Well, let's all squeeze in here, and Lt Vojeck and I will brief you other three on where things currently stand, with thoughts on what should be tackled next. And share what thoughts we have on what Lt MacDowell's light duty status means she can't do. Right now, I'm thinking she can't do any work in the lowest tier of access panels, because that would probably require her to lay on her back and she's not allowed to do that. Yes, Mr Jamison?"

"I'm not sure she could adjust an EV suit sufficiently to keep it from pressing against her back."

"Good point," Smythe agreed. "And it would be a waste of time when we have other engineers who don't have to make those adjustments. So, Colleen, you're stuck inside and off the floor."

Mac gave a wan smile. "At least you aren't assigning me to paperwork."

Smythe visibly winced. "I might have to do that at some point. I'll have a ton of paperwork to finish up before this is over. Right now, I'm making a verbal tally of everything in the Chief Engineer's log." He paused to hit a 'record' button on the desk, and then the briefing went on.