Finished In-Processing

Posted on Tue 15th Sep, 2026 @ 11:20am by Lieutenant JG Pifanyi Itzyana & Captain Mindo

1,764 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: [MAIN] Learning to Fly
Location: Captain's Ready Room, Ops
Timeline: Current

Already there were rumors circulating about 109 about the arrival of a Hermat who, every now and then, has to turn feral. The dating couple Pifanyi traumatized with the scene on the holodeck before she ended the program the other night had, of course, been telling others of the horrific scene.

As Pifanyi strolled through the corridors, she could almost feel eyes on her, either through the rarity of others working with a Hermat thus making her a rare sight or through fearing that she could, at any moment, tear into innocent bystanders as she launches into feral mode at the drop of a pin, something that was completely false and also something she had, long ago, grew weary of having to explain, so she just let the facts tell the truth as she continually showed them all that she was, in fact, tine and again not springing into feral mode.

She had her PADD in hand with her in-processing checklist pulled up. Everything was done except for meeting the Captain, who, she learned from perusing the updated roster, was on his first official day of being Captain.

She entered Central Ops, showed her PADD to any who cared and they allowed her further entry as she trekked to the Captain's Ready Room. Again, she felt a few eyes on her, even felt she heard a few whispers, but gave that up to simply being used to it. Pifanyi depressed the chime on the wall beside the door.

Inside, Captain Mindo called for her to enter. The door swished open and revealed a very odd layout for a Ready Room. The desk was a table very close to the ground, with large beanbag chairs in front and behind it. A futon close to the ground opposite the desk looked like a comfortable makeshift couch. There was also what appeared to be a fully stocked minibar, with several bottles atop a freezer unit, where Mindo was retrieving a bottle of what looked like orange juice.

"Hi there," he said in a friendly tone, pouring the juice into a glass and grabbing one of the glass bottles on the top. "I'm making myself a tequila sunrise. Seems an appropriate first drink in the new Ready Room. You want anything Lieutenant... Itzyana?" he asked, pronouncing her name "It-see-yanna" and hoping if he got it wrong he wouldn't end up with serious bite marks.

Pifanyi had heard that this captain was laid back. Strict, however, when he needed to be. She had seen many of these tequila sunrises and even had one while at the Academy. It ended up not being her thing. "Yes. Thank you, sir. Kick in the Glut please," she said.

She approached the chairs before his desk and stood as she had not yet been invited to sit. And, of all the crew she had met thusfar, it turned out to be the Captain to whom she would have to first explain Hermat naming conventions. "And it's Lieutenant Pifanyi...sir. Itzyana," she said it as 'Its-yana', "is simply my number."

"Lieutenant Pifanyi it is," Mindo said. "I'm afraid I don't have all the ingredients for a Kick in the... isn't it pronounced 'glute' instead of 'glutt?'"

"It's 'glut' and not 'glute,' sir," she said. "It is a pun containing the name of my planet...in my people's native tongue that is. Glutflealglouhlaug," Pifanyi pronounced with, what seemed to be, layers of rolling-r's, clicks, and various double-vowels. Something quite impossible for most speakers to hope to pronounce. "The replicator knows what it is...and...non-Hermats will need a command authorization code for the replicator to make it."

Mindo grinned. "Not this one. Before I did anything in here, I reprogrammed the replicator. I'm sure 'Kick in the Glut' is in the database." He turned around. "Kick in the Glut," he commanded. In seconds, the drink materialized and Mindo handed Pifanyi the glass. "There you are, Lieutenant. Please have a seat." Mindo grabbed his drink and sat down in the comfortable beanbag chair behind the lowered desk.

Pifanyi sat as well and drank from her beverage. "Thank you, sir. The reason for my being here...I am sure you already know...I have finished everything else on my in-processing worksheet. The last thing is," she looked at her PADD, "'Meet the Captain.' That and...I hope you can tell me where I will be stationed. My orders do not make that indication."

The Captain finished taking a sip from his glass and, setting it down, remarked, "Definitely a good first drink." He looked back at Pifanyi and sat back in the beanbag chair, color-coordinated to match the appearance of the rest of the room. Picking up one of the PADDs on the desk, he continued. "I've been studying your record, what little there is. You graduated with high marks, but were disqualified as valedictorian." He looked up from the PADD. "That seems rather odd. Care to elaborate?"

"Pifanyi thought for all but a half-second before, "too smart, sir," she said. "We Glut..." she paused and corrected herself, "...Hermat all naturally have eidetic memories. That, and we are subjected to, what you might consider, a brutal education curriculum on our homeworld. I am only 5 years old...well...5 as my planet revolves. 3 when I entered the Academy after already passing all first year exit exams." She shrugged. "I studied in transit to Earth. We only require 3 hours of sleep a day. Adding in breaks to eat, I attended classes 18 hours a day. Perfect attendance and perfect grades all the way. The student body took issue with that and petitioned to disqualify me as valedictorian. Of course I could have fought that, but I decided it would be a waste of time doing so. We Hermat do not believe in wasting time. Life is too short."

Mindo nodded and said, "As a Fesarian, I'm reminded by many of how short life can be." He set down the PADD with hir record, his remark delivered with utter sincerity, as if it wasn't a joke. "Cutting to the chase then, I have already accrued several messages expressing concern over some of your recent interactions with other crew, and frankly, I have no place to put you. You scare people... but you don't scare me. So, I'd like to offer you the position of Captain's yeoman and personal physician. I want to show everyone you are an able, talented, professional officer so good at what they do that the Captain himself handpicks them to be his doctor." Mindo didn't need to mention that the position was a major springboard for someone's career... not everyone gets a personal recommendation from a Captain when applying for a new job.

"Yeoman," she repeated as though saying it to herself so as to hear it...again. She arrived at two conclusions regarding the vagueness of her posting in her orders. (1) They had a spot to fill and anyone would do. (2) Whatever secret assignment that she was going to take was to remain secret for a while longer. Yes, being a yeoman would mean much running around with little in the way of her medical profession save for servicing him and him alone. But Pifanyi did know that opportunities were endless and all had to start somewhere. This yeoman position could definitely lead to other and greater opportunities. "Yeoman," she said again, then, "I find the assignment intriguing, sir. Not what I was expecting but this will definitely expand my focus and allow me to branch to other areas of interest. Thank you, sir. I will not let you down."

Being his personal physician...she better not let him down.

"And...as a medical professional...others should have no fear of me. The Hippocratic Oath, sir. 'First do no harm.' Of course there is an exception clause in Starfleet Regulations regarding Hermat medical practitioners. And my record speaks for itself. Not once has that exception clause had to be invoked."

"I'm not worried about that," Mindo said. "However, I would like to know how knowledgeable you are in Fesarian biology."

"I have no knowledge of Fesarian biology, sir." She let only a second of time stretch after that admission before, "Give me a few hours to study and I will be good. A day, I will be great. A week, and you will think I know you better than you know yourself." Pifanyi furrowed her brow in thought. "Is Fesarian biology dissimilar from Linnik biology, sir?"

Mindo smiled at the faux pas. "They are the same. 'Linnik' is a slur. Fesarians don't take kindly to the term."

Pifanyi tilted her head somewhat. "Interesting. I did not know that. Now that I do..." she trailed off. "That was the term used by the night-shift doctor I trained under...he did appear to be a bit xenophobic." She straightened. "I shall, therefore, never use that term again, sir. And...I am somewhat studied in Feserian biology. A few days is all I need to be proficient."

Mindo nodded. "Good. I suggest starting now, Lieutenant. I'll update your status as Yeoman immediately." He started to call up the personnel files, but paused when he noticed Pifanyi still there. "Um, do you need something else?" he asked.

"If I may, Captain," she started. There was clearly a question she felt she needed to ask. "What was it my orders are not telling me? I know I was not told to report here to be a yeoman."

"No, you weren't," Mindo said. "Your original orders would have you report to Commander Damion Ildaran. I disagreed with the ridiculous posting." Mindo's voice grew more intense as he talked. "Ildaran is somewhat of a radical and I don't know how our previous CO tolerated the man. I urge you to stay away from him. Trust me, your role as Yeoman is a better fit."

This actually peaked Pifanyi's interest. For many Hermat the best way to get them to do something was to tell them to NOT do exactly that thing. She found herself wanting to know why she needed to stay away from the commander. "Understood, sir," she said. "Thank you for you time and for this assignment." With that said, Pifanyi turned and started away.

Mindo sat quietly as she left, hoping he had left a semblance of intrigue over Damion. Even if it was too obvious and she was on to him, she would probably go to him anyway. He turned to his PADD to see who was next on his long list of first-day meetings.

 

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