Mindo Stopped Short

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 3:05am by Commander Mindo & Lieutenant Alexandra Alves MD
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:44pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: USS Pandora
Timeline: current

ON:

Lieutenant Mindo exited his quarters and headed down to Sickbay to pick up Dr. Alves for a drink. He'd taken a shower, but had changed back into his uniform, which was clean and pressed. While this had the potential of being a date, he didn't want to presume, and had found people more comfortable with a man in uniform. Since Mindo had no expectations for the evening, a neutral choice of clothing seemed appropriate. He was careful in picking his aftershave, though, trying his best to think of which scent would be most pleasing. After putting on his LEGs, the apparatus that allowed him to hover at regular height, he was out the door.

Mindo never expected sex on dates, contrary to popular belief. He more enjoyed being in good company, and it seemed like people with such expectations were not exactly the most respectful when time came to say good night. His recent affair with Lieutenant Jameson came without such expectation. The offer for a nightcap had been unexpected, and the night that followed was quite enjoyable, though it became a little awkward later. But Mindo felt they had worked it out. And anyways, the counselor had found company in Lieutenant Sandoval. They seemed to be happy, so Mindo was happy.

Upon arriving, he immediately noticed how quiet sickbay was. Only one bed was occupied and the patient was being tended to by a nurse. He activated his LEGs, hovering up a few feet so as to be eye level with Alexandra. Upon seeing her, Mindo broke out into a grin. "I hear this is a good place to get physical," he said, then, "Sorry... get A physical. My mistake."

The doctor was working overtime as usual, but at least, today was more quiet compared to the last few weeks, with all the murder investigation and the attack by the Breen going on. She worked on some reports, while waiting for the chief engineer to show up. She promised Mr. Mindo that he could take her out to dinner, which she looked forward to. Mindo was a funny man, who often amused her - and for some reason, her daughter grew quite fond of him.

Alexandra reacted to Mindo's joke with a wry grin. So, apparently stories of John and Aeryn's little 'adventure' in sickbay has gotten out. She wasn't sure Mindo was referring to that, or was simply making a joke, but she heavily suspected the former. "So... you'd like me to get your physical?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," said Mindo. "But when I do I know where to go. Shall we?"

"Ah, yes, please." she nodded, and placed the PADD she was holding on a nearby table.

===== Pandora's Box =====

"It's sort of a shame we couldn't go somewhere on the station," said Mindo, taking a drink of his Cochran Cocktail. It was less than ten minutes later and they had already ordered their drinks. "Despite being quite spacious, Pandora's Box feels a little claustrophobic by comparison."

"I don't mind it." Alex said with a gentle smile, as she looked around the place. "The station is truly awesome, but our little recreation deck is great in its own right." she explained. "Sooo... how's engineering these days?"

"Doing much better," said Mindo. "With the equipment we acquired on Paradise, the repairs have gone much faster. We'll be in top shape when it's time to leave. How's sickbay?"

"Sweet." the doctor nodded. "We've been working overtime examining the corpse, and all that. It's been a rush in the past few weeks. Fortunately, it's better now." she explained "Finally, I have time to do something else than reading autopsy and test reports."

"It'll be good to get back to Federation space again," said Mindo. "I think we could all use a big break."

"Sure." Alex agreed. "It's been ages since I've been home. I don't even know how the blue sky looks like anymore." she smiled and shook her head. "Oh, by the way, I'm curious, what's your homeworld like? Honestly, I don't know much about it."

Mindo smiled at the thought of his home planet. "It's very beautiful," he said. "My continent, Eloi, is very rich in forests. There are rolling hills and beautiful countrysides. The beaches are also amazing, but don't go swimming. Eloi is a northern continent and the water is very cold. We have cold winters and warm summers. I thought I was a summer person, but after moving to San Fransisco and feeling the California heat, I realized I definitely like the cold more. How about you?"

"Sounds a truly awesome place." she nodded with a friendly smile, trying to imagine the engineer's home planet. "Brazil is close to Earth's equator, which means we have a warm climate. Awesome beaches. Have you ever heard of the Copacabana?" she explained. "But we're quite diverse in terms of climate. We have deserts, as well as rainforests." She took a moment to lurk around a bit, then returned her attention to her dinner companion. "I'm very much of a summer person. Warm beaches, playing football in the sand, taking a swim, wearing nothing but a bikini whole day long." she laughed.

"Bikini!" Mindo repeated, eyebrows raised. "That sounds like a sight! Any old boyfriends back in Brazil?"

The doctor gazed at Mindo with a very obvious look and a grin. "Yes, I agree. Those beaches are quite a sight." she said with a smile, heavy of the darkest sarcasm. "Not really." she then replied to the engineer's question. "I've never even been home for more than a few weeks at a time, since I've joined Starfleet." she explained.

"Must be nice having a home to return to," said Mindo. "Have you family there?"

"My parents, grandparents and some other relatives, yes." she nodded. "My brother lives in Miami, my sister on the Cygnia Minor colony." she explained. "How about your family?"

"My parents died when I was about six years old," said Mindo. "I never had any brothers or sisters. After they died, my father left our estate and me to a legal guardian. It didn't last long. My guardian had a huge gambling problem, and he sold the land when I was twelve. It was humiliating living with him. No one liked him, and no one liked me. When I became of age, I left and enlisted in Starfleet. They're my family now."

"Oh, I see." Alex said on a kind voice. It was not exactly a happy story. "At least, you've found a place to belong to." For some reason, she imagined Mindo's species as being ultra-evolved, and ultra-sophisticated, so this came to her as bit of a surprise. "I'm the only Starfleet person in my family." she then said, diverting the subject. "Most of my relatives are boring scientists and doctors." she grinned.

"Not many Fesarians have joined Starfleet," he said. "With no wars on our planet, we have no need for militaries, so Starfleet seems like a silly concept. But I wanted something different. A century ago, a Fesarian explorer named Balok returned to Fesaria with art and literature from many different races, including films and novels. I particularly enjoyed the old-fashioned films from the various races. Earth cinema particularly fascinating to me. I guess that's a big reason why I chose to join Starfleet. I wanted to see Earth." He smiled. "There aren't many Fesarian explorers. I'm glad I met Terrekal here on Paradise. You meet so many kinds of people in the Federation, but meeting someone my own race has felt like having a little piece of home."

"Ah, yes. I've read about Balok.", she nodded. The 'corbomite incident' is required reading at Starfleet history class, but she also remembered reading about it in some book back when she was a child. "Glad to hear you're so fascinated by our little blue planet." she then smiled. "It's always good to see a familiar face. When we're back in Federation space, I should take a vacation and visit home." she said. "I must admit, I'm more familiar with books than movies." she then diverted the topic. "What's your favorite movie?"

Mindo shrugged. "There are so many kinds, from different races and points of view. The Cardassians enjoy tales of politics and redemption. Klingons are experts at war musicals. I don't have many Romulan films, but from what I've seen, they like stories with dark elements and surprise endings. The Ferengi cinema is chock full of porn, as you may imagine. I do enjoy Terran films, though. Terrans tend to like stories with happy endings, and yet they've produced some of the best dramatic works I've ever seen. There is one I enjoy called 'Roshomon,' which takes a certain event, in this case a rape and murder, and recounts it several times from several different viewpoints. It gets very dark, but it reminds me of a situation in my own past, where no one wanted to believe my side of a particular incident."

"Sounds interesting." the doctor said with an honest curiosity in her voice. "Brazil used to make lots of... well, I don't know the proper term..." she paused for a moment, "Serialized fiction... in the past. Stories arching through many and many episodes. But most of them were primitive and badly-written melodramas, from what I've read." She smiled, and diverted the topic, as Mindo's last sentence raised her curiosity again. "What kind of particular incident?"

Mindo sighed, taking the time to figure out what he was going to say. "Some high-ranking Starfleet officers got me involved in something very shady. When the cat came out of the bag, I was the one who took the fall. I was demoted and reassigned to the Tornado, my post before here. Meanwhile, the story was covered up and..." he paused, "and some people died to keep it secret. What little reputation I had was almost completely destroyed and when I finally confessed the truth, they moved me here to the Expanse, where I wouldn't cause them any more trouble. At least, that's what I think happened." Mindo looked down and scoffed. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I guess cause you asked. I've told you more of my life story in one night than anyone else on the ship... what's your story? I haven't heard about Mister Alves."

"Noone will hear about this from me. You can trust me." Alex said with a trustful nod. She then made a small grin, as she heard her dinner companion mentioning her former husband. "Well, actually, you might've heard about him." she grinned. "Or more likely, about his magnum opus. 'Basic Warp Field Theory for Starfleet Personnel' by Nathan Kiley." she laughed. "Probably the most boring book in the history of books. But I'm not an engineer."

Mindo laughed at that. "I know that book! He wasn't kidding when he put 'Basic' in the name. It was like reading a children's book, but with smaller words and shorter sentences!"

"Really?" the doctor's eyes widened with amusement. "He considered writing that book his great achievement." she laughed. "Well, he obviously had more time for his research after we separated." she then added with a shrug. "Anyways, I've never really indulged myself with warp field theory, so it's quite gibberish for me. But I guess, reading an anatomy book must be similar for someone who's not in the medical field."

"I'm sorry," said Mindo. "I wasn't trying to put him down. At least he actually got published. Everything I've ever written has either gone unread or overlooked. Not that I'm the writing type. His book is actually required reading for students who are at the lowest level of the Academy's engineering schools. I'm sure many students trying to find the right major find the book very informative. He got the general theories right, but once you get further in, you realize that not everything about warp theory goes 'by the book.' Also, my people mastered warp drive nearly two thousand years ago. One of the basic science tests we do in school is build a miniature warp drive. Even in a farm country like Eloi, kids are taught these things."

"No worries. Honestly, I always found his fascination with this topic to be the most boring thing ever." the doctor grinned. "And you're very right. Nathan is, well, quite much a 'by the book' person. I was never ever able to open his eyes to see past the guidelines." she explained with a shrug. "And that's truly amazing." she then said. "Compared to your people's advancement level, humans probably seem like a bunch of cavemen with stone knives and bearskins."

"I wouldn't say that," said Mindo. "In many ways Starfleet is superior. Fesarian ships are not anywhere near this size. To this day, Balok's ship, the Fesarius, is one of Fesaria's largest spacecraft. Starfleet also has more advanced transporter technology, food replicators, and holodecks. Fesarians aren't as knowledgeable in those areas because to us they seem impractical. As for medicine, we can do wonders with other Fesarians. Otherwise we wouldn't live so long. But if a Fesarian were treating someone so different from us, say a Klingon, we wouldn't know where to start. Starfleet doctors know more in those areas."

"Actually, it took me quite an effort to familiarize myself with Fesarian physiology." she said with a friendly laugh. "But as you've said, your people are not exactly common patients on Starfleet vessels." she added. "But certainly less troublesome and more grateful than Klingons." she smiled. "Serving on the Hugo, I once had to treat the injured in a Klingon shuttle accident. They kept growling at me and telling me I'm a weak human doctor, and they rather die in glorious pain than suffer the dishonor of receiving pain reliever from someone like me."

"Klingons have a thing about loving pain," said Mindo. "And their honor code is flexible at best. I'd only been here a few weeks and found myself with a Klingon's hand around my neck. He was angry because I was sleeping with his crush, a certain helmsman. According to this particular Klingon, I won the fight because he didn't kill me. I see it a little differently, since it's been a year and he's marrying the helmsman. What's even weirder, I'm going to be the Klingon's best man. I don't hate Klingons. I don't even dislike them. But I sure as hell don't understand them."

"Wow, that's something." Alex grinned. "If Klingons are weird and contradictory, let's not even mention Vulcans. They can be truly puzzling sometimes. I know by first-hand experience."

"Oh really?" said Mindo with a sly grin. "Do tell..."

Alexandra grinned viciously, knowing very well that Mindo was expecting some juicy story about a Vulcan lover of hers, or something like that, but she had to disappoint him. "Well, it's my former boss." she spoke up. "Doctor Sintar. Sometimes he really could get on my nerves." she explained. "Imagine someone who complains about you bringing some flowers to cheer up patients. It's against regulations, doctor Alves..." she sighed. "And Vulcans tend to be obsessive-compulsive about every minor little detail. Drives me crazy."

"Plus they have no sense of humor," Mindo added. "I mean, what can you say about an entire race that represses their emotions? I worked with a Vulcan once, on the USS Taggert. My biggest priority was to get the man to smile. I literally cared about nothing else. I tried for over a year, but got nothing. I think the closest I came was when I informed him I was being transferred."

"Haha. The same with Doctor Sintar." Alex laughed. "I believe, it was the happiest day of his lifewhen I got transferred off to get my own department here. He finally got rid of the overly emotional annoyance and her even more annoying daughter." she grinned. "Maybe that's why he wrote so much praise about me. He secretly hoped that if they see me as a great CMO candidate, they offer me a higher position elsewhere."

"I dunno," replied Mindo. "Vulcans are a very emotional race, they're just very good at repressing their emotions. And they seldom lie; I'm sure he meant what he wrote. When I was transferred to the Rhys, my chief on the Taggert wrote a glowing report. I had enough time to find him and tell him thank you for the words he had said. He replied some hooey about logic and fairness that I don't really remember, but it meant a lot."

"True." she smiled. "I was just joking. Although I don't think Doctor Sintar would've ever admitted to me how much help I've been in that hectic sickbay." She shook her head, and changed the topic. "So... It seems, my daughter has taken a liking to you."

"Really?" Mindo said, with a tiny hint of playful sarcasm. "Hadn't noticed."

"Don't be hard on her." Alex said with a friendly smile. "She needs a father figure in her life. And a father figure who plays with awesome arcade games and has a fun, easy-going nature seems like a perfect match to her."

"Careful," said Mindo, "that almost sounds like a proposal. We're only on drink number two." He downed the drink he was holding and raised his eyebrows a couple times in a feisty gesture before setting down the glass.

"Don't be so sure." the doctor replied with a grin. "Besides, where's drink number three?"

Mindo grinned and leaned forward. "I've got a whole bar at my place, with a few drinks even the Box doesn't have. We could get comfortable and watch a movie?"

"Ah, well... I'm sorry, but it's late and this has been a long evening already." Alexandra said with a sigh. "Let's just have another drink here and finish it for tonight." She didn't know what Mindo had in mind exactly, but she was aware of his reputation, and well, she certainly didn't want to accompany him to his quarters. "But watching a movie sounds cool. How about maybe doing it the other day? We can select a film Veronica might enjoy as well." she suggested with a grin.

Mindo nodded. "Sure, uh, we could do that. I've got some family films that may interest her. I think I have one about a golden retriever who plays soccer. I've found humans make the best family films. Klingons' are too violent, Cardassians' are too boring, and the Ferengi don't actually make films suitable for children. And I don't think she'd be into Vulcan documentaries."

"A golden retriever playing soccer?" she asked with a grin. "Sounds quite weird. But Veronica likes dogs and loves soccer."

"Oh yeah," said Mindo. "Back in the late twentieth-to-early twenty-first centuries, humans made lots of movies about golden retrievers playing sports. Apparently they're really smart."

"Apparently they are." Alex nodded. "So, let's meet up later this week for a movie?"

I've dug my metaphorical hole this deep, thought Mindo. I suppose I should keep going. Veronica isn't so bad, right?

"Right," Mindo said aloud, more answering his own question than Alex's. He looked up at her. "Right. Later this week."

"Next week." the doctor smiled in agreement.

OFF.