The girl with a strange tattoo

Posted on Sun Feb 16th, 2025 @ 7:47pm by Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami & Lieutenant Commander Oscar McDonald MD & Jynx

1,826 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Prior to mission briefing

Early mornings, in that hour or two before the ship seemed to come alive, were perhaps his favourite time of the day. If, of course, he was forced to choose. Why? Quite simply for the peace. A few early risers may be spending some quality time in the gym or indulging in a lazy start to the day, or enjoying some time with their significant other… or whatever else this crew did in their free time.

Either way it meant relatively abandoned corridors for his walk to Sickbay. Which meant no forced pleasantries, no pretending it was going to be a good day while making small talk with someone while stuck in a confined space going from one deck to another … especially if that was Ensign Little. Shuddering at the thought he actually made an about turn and backtracked to take the stairs, unwilling to repeat that experience for some time.

Oh, Chloe had thought it hilarious of course. Easy enough when you weren’t facing a million quick fire questions which suggested the ensign was more suited to intel than computer maintenance.

Making it to Sickbay, he paused when he quickly realised that the lights were low as they had a patient asleep in the far corner. It took another moment for his eyes to adjust and realise it was Jynx, the often confused - at least when it came to names - barista who had become well known amongst the crew since the coffee shop opened. Curious he retreated to his office where he found Dr O’Connor behind his desk writing up notes.

Hearing his footsteps she glanced up, offering a tired smile and a wave. “Morning,” she offered, starting to stand until he shook his head and took the chair opposite.

“Busy night?” He queried. He could review the logs, of course. But in person handovers was customary and preferred.

“Mostly a few bumps and bruises from workouts,” Chloe explained, “and Ensign Vesti is molting again. And we have one patient in for observation.”

“So I see,” he nodded, glancing out and across the bay. “What is the story there?”

“Apparently while they were doing the end of night clean up something made one of the units tip, Jynx pushed her coworker out of the way but got trapped underneath the unit and the espresso machine. A couple of cracked ribs, some minor burns and a concussion and a fair few bruises too. I wanted to keep her for a day’s observation.”

“Sensible approach. How did that even happen though?”

“I don’t know, there was apparently a snapping sound just before so perhaps it’s related. I’ve asked engineering to go in and assess any damage and see if they can find out what caused it,” Chloe explained, handing over a medical file. “She was unconscious when she first came in, but since she’s been awake she has refused further pain relief or any kind of medication at all. Which given she is half human, half …. Unknown? Is perhaps not a bad thing. She’s a tough cookie.”

“What caused the burns?”

“The feed for the espresso machine,” she answered, “all treated and dressed. Although,” she tapped the controls and called up an image on the monitor beside the desk, “what do you make of this?”

Standing, McDonald stepped closer to the screen, not quite sure he was believing his eyes. Underneath the visibly damaged skin tissue was a design. One he tilted his head this way and that to try and understand why… “a tattoo?”

“Kind of,” Chloe nodded, adjusting the image, “but this is nothing superficial.”

He felt physically ill. His experienced eye had already calculated this mark was years old and she was … he checked the file he still held… eighteen.

“It looks like a code,” Chloe pointed out quietly.

He gave a small nod in agreement. “Indeed,” he confirmed. “I’ve seen Orion’s and the likes use something similar but not quite like this.”

“It must have hurt,” Chloe whispered, her eyes troubled.

“I imagine it did,” he signed, deactivating the screen. Turning back he shooed O’Connor out of his seat. “You are exhausted, I can take over early and you can go sleep. I’ll keep an eye on Ms Jynx.”

Once he was alone he called up the frankly almost non existent record for their new patient and her curious mark. On a hunch he adjusted the image to make it clearer and - more importantly - searchable before sending the computer on a wild goose chase.

Adrianna was just awake and finishing her breakfast when her PaDD dinged. Adrianna picked it up and looked surprised. "I have to go. Have a good day," she kissed Vance's cheek and headed out, buttoning up her uniform jacket on the way.

Stepping into medbay she looked around, trying to find the doctor.

Hearing footsteps and for a moment suspecting his patient was awake, McDonald was pleasantly surprised to find Lieutenant Baciami in the middle of the medical bay. Abandoning his desk he walked out to greet her, “Morning, Lieutenant. Everything alright?”

"I hope so," she replied with a smile, "you've just done a search and it's flagged in my system. Who is the patient?"

McDonald’s eyes widened in surprise and she could perhaps easily see the many, many questions he suddenly had. But what was that old saying? About curiosity and the cat?

“I ran an image search,” he confirmed, gesturing for her to follow him into the privacy of his office where he could close the door and see out while not being overheard. “It’s some kind of branding or tattoo we found on a patient. This…”

He called up the image file on his desktop monitor and turned it so she could better see it. “Why would it flag up with you?”

"You're right, it's part of a syndicate smuggling ring. Ownership branding and count," She smiled, instantly recognising it, "back when I was undercover, we came across of freighter that was smuggling children. I kept tabs on all the children to ensure Starfleet took care of them. Most of them have the mark removed when they turn 18, but there is still maybe fifteen who are still too young or didn't have it removed. I didn't realise that we have one of them onboard."

McDonald swore under his breath as he deactivated the monitor and sat down, gesturing for Ade to take the seat opposite. “Smuggling children… why am I even surprised as if I’m some green around the gills cadet?! When was this?”

She sat down, "I've been out for two or three years. It was one of last things I did. Perhaps four years ago?" Adrianna shrugged, "all of the children went into StarFleet care. I made sure of it. Is something wrong?"

The timing made sense, from the medical data. “I’m not sure this one stuck around,” he confided, “given the overall lack of anything we hold. I’d normally cite patient confidentiality and all of that … but you are a clever woman and I’m sure could do the math. And you are observant.”

He nodded out towards the bay with its one patient.

Adrianna looked over and was surprised to see Jynx, "really?" She looked back at the doctor, "I'm surprised that she didn't recognise me. I've spoken to her enough since she has been on board."

“Given the crew’s love of coffee, I think she has met half the ship… perhaps it is a time she has chosen to forget? Traumatic experiences tend to be events we try to repress, even as adults, unless conscious effort is made. Or there could be more to it. I can run more scans while she is here in case there is perhaps head trauma or a physical reason. If not, we may be best getting guidance from the counsellor on how to proceed. Especially when we don’t know much about her. Literally next to nothing.”

Adrianna nodded, "I won't push the matter. It was some time ago. I only care about the persons on that ship being safe and well, Doctor." She looked back out to Jynx, "though, just to be safe, it can't hurt to just ensure that it's suppression and not a head injury or something, right?"

“Wouldn’t hurt a bit,” he assured her. “Must have been quite a find, a ship full of children?”

"We were pulling the freighter apart for scrap," she nodded, "I was searching the smuggler hatches and suddenly had eyes staring back at me. I abandoned my mission to ensure these children were safe. There were just shy of thirty. The oldest, I believe was sixteen, the youngest, they estimated was 2, maybe 3. I know Starfleet hunted high and low for parents, but nothing. The chances were they were all orphans-- children noone would miss."

She paused and made the topic a little lighter, "I followed those children back to Earth under my disguise, to a point. Then stayed on earth for 2 weeks before heading back to Freecloud to continue the mission. That was my first holiday for like... A year or two." She chuckled softly.

“The life of undercover operative is never an easy one, so I’ve heard. Two many exes in this galaxy for this handsome face to go place’s unnoticed,” he commented, stroking his beard. “Well, thanks to your mission they are as safe as possible. That’s a lot of lives to have changed. For the better.”

Adrianna couldn't help but chuckle, "I went straight from the academy to undercover. My only ex was also an undercover op. I didn't have a chance for problems like that. My cover got blown because my family decided to celebrate an anniversary at the vineyard. My face was all over a bottle of Baciami grappa."

She stood up and straightened her uniform and gestured to Jynx, "if she needs anything, let me know. It's weird, but I still feel a responsibility for those... What were... Children."

“Even though you aren’t responsible for them, I will,” he promised.

"Consider it maternal instinct without actually being a mother-- or being old enough to be her mother," Adrianna chuckled, "I'll pay in day trips to the lowerdecks and the dears that form because of it."

“The lower deckers love the special attention you give,” he grinned. “Speaking of which, I do have one question you may know the answer to. Technically two. Who is Gary and what is this Church of Tribblism that’s appearing on all mugs, T-shirts and god knows what else on this ship?”

"I've been keeping an eye on it," Adrianna snorted, "seems like a lower decker has a pet tribble onboard. He's got quite the following. All hail the Gary, doctor." She smirked in amusement.

“At this point, what could go wrong?” McDonald conceded. “All hail Gary.”

OFF

 

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