The doctor is in

Dustin sat rather awkwardly on the edge of one of the beds in the medbay while Bleu finished going over (at length) why trying to fist-fight a terror-bird was a dumb idea to Yril’k. “Even if you do have the anatomy for it, there is no reason to ignore technology entirely.” The doctor muttered, double checking the joints of the Vex’ess warrior’s blade arms for the third time since they had gotten back to the ship. “Besides, even if using your natural advantages to hunt the creature was effective, your positioning put you at risk of being crushed when it collapsed.”

The former handmaiden took the doctor’s fussing in good grace, allowing the other woman to check her various limbs for signs of damage. Eventually, and with a slight tut of disappointment that she couldn’t find anything significantly wrong with her patient, Bleu gestured to the door. “Fine, you’re clear. Rest for the remainder of the day though, your legs feel a little tense and I don’t want you to pull anything by doing additional training.” With a nod to Dustin, Yril’k turned and left - leaving him the focus for the doctor’s concerns.

“Did you also do anything bloody stupid while you were down there?” She muttered, waving a hand scanner over him - mostly for the look of the thing he was pretty certain, they’d already been checked and double checked on arrival. Shaking his head, he instead opted to answer with his own question. Gesturing around at the medbay, he asked “how are things since we unloaded the patients? Now everything has calmed down, how are you finding your team?”

Bleu shrugged, slotting the scanner back into a holder at her hip. Unlike the rest of her “clothing”, the belt that held the scanner (along with a few other gadgets Dustin was not sure about) was composed of synthetic fabric. Seeing his stare, the doctor paused in answering his spoken question to answer the unspoken one first. “If I hold scanners against me too long it can damage some of the sensors and give false readings. Hence the belt. And to your first question, the team are satisfactory. They met my expectations during the attack on the colony - some of them exceeded my expectations actually; I’m in the process of re-organising the reporting structure in the event of another crisis since I assume you’ll be getting us into one sooner or later.”

Dustin winced at that. “It’s not my intent to get us into crises” he began, before adding “but equally I can hardly refuse a cry for help, can I?” Bleu regarded him for a moment before nodding. “Actually, as an ambassador, you can. Normally, these vessels aren’t built to be combat capable, and the correct course of action would be to raise the council fleet as swiftly as possible, taking advantage of the craft’s high top speed.” She mused, before picking up a tablet from a nearby counter and heading to the door. “However, the fact that this is not how you think is something I approve of. If you’d acted like a normal ambassador, none of my patients that we just unloaded would be alive - which is unacceptable.”

Thumbing the door switch, she glanced back at him. “Captain, I believe we have a meeting in fifteen minutes in your ready room? Since you appear to be free now, shall we get started early, and then I can get back to staffing assignments?” Dustin blinked. He’d forgotten entirely about the meeting he’d booked with the Queri medic; the adrenaline of hunting the giant bird was the probable cause, but it was no excuse for missing something he’d wanted for some time. “Sorry, Bleu, I’d not realized the time” he said, hurrying after the departing slime. “More than happy to start early.”

The ready room was thankfully empty when the pair arrived; Emely had been using it for calls Dustin knew, so he’d half expected her to be in there working still, early as they were. Gesturing for Bleu to take a seat and retrieving snacks and drinks from the automat, he turned the chair next to her around so that they could sit without the formality of a desk in the way. The doctor raised an eyebrow at the informality, but Dustin pressed on regardless. “So, the reason I asked for this meeting is that - well, we didn’t really get much of a chance to get to know each other after you joined the crew. I know you’re really good at your job - but I want to understand all my senior crew. And of course give you a chance to get to know me better as well.”

Green tendrils rippled inside Bleu’s form for a moment before the Queri woman nodded. “Ask away captain. I believe I am aware of the pertinent information regarding you already.” Dustin frowned at that “asides from some chats over dinner, we’ve barely spoken so I don’t think…” Bleu held up a hand “Captain, please. I am a Queri and a doctor. Observation and meticulous attention to detail are parts of my culture I happen to agree with. Since you will no doubt want some examples to appease your misguided idea of what you should be doing as an authority figure… At present, besides myself, Naera and Yril’k, you are intimate with the remainder of the senior staff. All of them are on birth control per their medical records, which is somewhat surprising in the case of the ship’s counsellor.”

She paused for breath then continued “additionally surprising for an ambassadorial harem, all of them appear to be intimate with each other - and indeed, do so without any input on your part. I should note that this is exceedingly healthy behaviour, and better than I had expected on reading your species’ profile. That much, anyone in my role could identify by simple guesswork of who comes and goes from which bedrooms, so I’ll add further detail. You are stressed regarding your ongoing mission and the happiness of the crew, with your cortisol levels spiking whenever arrival at Earth is mentioned indicating apprehension about the changes that will happen there.” Dustin nodded, managing to get a word in. “Alright, so you are pretty good at observing…”

Bleu silenced him with a frown. “I wasn’t done, captain. All that is anything any competent doctor could tell you. What I can tell you because I am not just competent, I am a fantastic doctor is the following. You are currently worrying about making a decision regarding Naera in particular because you find her highly attractive - please do not interrupt - and are worried that your attraction will get in the way of you making a rational choice. You are also perturbed by the fact that you have a perfectly healthy attraction to attractive people - presumably because of your existing harem, despite four partners being tiny as far as ambassadorial groupings go. You are currently worried about what I might mention to the Caenii regarding your thoughts - rest assured that I maintain strict patient confidentiality. Finally, you care deeply about your crew - the entire crew, not just those that provide you with sexual stimulation, and as such spend a lot of time beating yourself up about perceived mistakes and failings. Any questions?”

Dustin opened and shut his mouth a couple of times. Bleu uncrossed and then recrossed her legs and sighed. “In answer to the question you’re trying to form, I have an exceedingly sensitive outer membrane, and I can - taste isn’t quite the right word - sense things like hormone levels in the air if I’m close enough to someone. Generally, I avoid using it over a scanner, it’s inefficient, but in some cases it can be quite useful. Such as in this case. Now, you had questions for me - can we move along with those please as I do have paperwork to do.”