Reserve Activation Clause

Posted on Tue Aug 16th, 2022 @ 7:48pm by Lieutenant Commander Marc Kitchner M.D.
Edited on on Mon Jan 16th, 2023 @ 8:34am

600 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Fool’s Errand
Location: Various
Timeline: M1 MD04 (2268.19.05) 0700

It took Marc Kitchener a long three days to make things come together, but he made it happen. His landlord was nice enough to let him out of his lease two months early and more importantly look after his two dogs for him. All of his furniture was placed into long term storage and anything that couldn't be stashed in a 20x20 storage locker aboard ship was given to Chris Budzinski to add to the Medical Centers private library. Marc had to pull a favor or two to get his commission reactivated because it had been nearly 15 years since he suspended his service. He arrived at the local Starfleet Command center near his home outside of Baltimore. "Good morning Crewman." Marc set his small bag down on the counter and fished out his ID cards and handed them to a young lady behind the desk.

"Thank you Commander," the young woman responded, her hair matching her bright red uniform. She slid Marc's ID card into the matte gray computer with her pale fingers. After a moment she said, "I'm sorry sir but this card expired ten years ago and the system shows your separation from service being January 15, 2253.

"That’s part of the reason I'm here." Marc said, trying to keep civil. "I have been on inactive reserve since '48. The Midway's construction was fast tracked. I was asked by her Captain, Tristan Faust, who’s an old family friend, that I come out of retirement for her shakedown cruise, because there isn't another certified ship's surgeon available at present." The young lady nodded following his tack this far. "I was told there were a few forms that needed to be signed before I could take up the posting, and that the personnel officer here could help me with that." Marc pulled a black leather bound notebook from his coat pocket. "A Lieutenant Commander Dave Micucci. Would you be nice enough to tell him I'm here?"

"Ah… Of course, Doctor." the young lady responded, trying to keep calm. She was fairly used to dealing with bureaucratic messes, but this one was above his pay grade. "Excuse me a moment…"

A few minutes later the door to the security office opened and a security officer who was fairly gruff and long in the tooth appeared, "Everything should be in order Commander," he said, extending his hand, a new ID badge was in between his fingers, "You can keep or toss your old one. It had a wear out date of at least a decade ago."

"Thank you Dave, I appreciate the help with all of this." Marc shook hands with the man who wasn't much younger than himself.

Marc returned to the front desk. "Young lady, I wanted to apologize for being hard on you earlier. I've repeated myself more times than I can remember in the past few days." The young woman smiled at him. "Commander Micucci said there is a transport shuttle to Starbase 1, what time is the next one scheduled?"

"You have about an hour and a halfs wait, Doctor. The pad is back down that hallway at the far end. There's a little coffee counter where you can wait just inside the doors." The young woman said.

"Thank you. I never asked your name?" Marc asked making amends for earlier.

"Kristen DeAngelis, Doctor." Kristen said smiling.

"Thank you Kristen, take care." Marc said as he picked up his two bags and headed for the pad. Was this the start of an adventure or what?

--
Lt. Commander Marc Kitchner M.D. - Second Officer, Chief Medical Officer

 

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