Those We Are Sworn to Protect

Posted on Wed Oct 30th, 2024 @ 3:06am by Lieutenant JG Daphne Crenshaw & Lieutenant Alice Zuberg MD

622 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Season 1, Episode 3: Trespassing
Location: USS Tigerfish Armoury

Dr. Alice Zuberg disliked having to use weapons. In a perfect universe, none of them would use phasers and would resolve their problems with words. But as the empty space where her right eye used to be reminded her every day, the universe was filled with people who did not want to use words to solve problems. Those people were a threat to those she was sworn to protect.

The USS Tigerfish’s security complex had a small phaser range. Nothing complex, just targets on a board that moved. Her sickbay shift over, Alice decided to put in some time practising marksmanship. So she checked out a Type 2 phaser pistol and began firing.

It was not long before the Tigerfish's security officer stepped out to join her. The doctor was not the first person Daphne had expected to find here, but then she didn't really know the woman. She stepped into the room from the back, obviously not stepping near the danger zone. Even though practice was done at a low setting, basic safety required always treating a phaser as potentially dangerous. "Doctor..."

“Lieutenant,” Alice replied, acknowledging the security chief. “I thought I should get some practice in.” After two more shots, she fully powered down the weapon, safely set it down, and turned to face the security chief. She gestured to her eye patch. “Depth perception obviously isn’t what it used to be, and training like this helps.”

"I would imagine," Daphne said. "Could you use assistance?"

"Sure," Alice answered. "Whatever you can do. I'll never turn down an offer of help."

"Let's see if we can adjust the settings to really work on it," Daphne suggested, heading over to the controls.

The target began moving more erratically than before, really testing Alice's perception. It reminded her of that game she used to play with Selka. Her little sister suddenly found it much harder to shoot the duck, never realizing that Alice was controlling it with the second controller.

But the added challenge was exactly what Alice needed. Her accuracy went down at first but she got into the zone and improved over time. Still not great, but better. "Any tips?" she asked Daphne in between shots.

"Don't aim where it is," Daphne said. "Aim where it's going to be. The phaser is virtually instantaneous but people aren't and only the best trained combatants come close. The target will move in the time it takes you to aim, commit, and fire."

The doctor nodded. "Let's try again then." She readied her weapon, and as the target moved she found her accuracy improving. She was trying to lead her shots just a little bit and barring the occasional jerk of movement that coincided with her shot was hitting them much more consistently, if not always in the centre.

"Good!" Daphne said appreciatively. "Keep doing this regularly."

“Is there a schedule for the practice range posted somewhere?” Alice asked. “It might be a good idea for me to be pencilled in on a recurring basis.”

"It's been fairly first come, first serve," Daphne said. "We can reserve it for you, if you'd like?"

"I think that might be useful for me," Alice agreed. "Just so I can get out of sickbay on a regular basis instead of whenever it's free."

"Would you like me to work with you more?" Daphne asked. "Or just to reserve the space?"

“Working together a bit more would be nice,” Alice answered. “For a little while anyway. Then when I’m ready I can do some self-guided training.”

"That sounds good," Daphne agrees.

The doctor deactivated her phaser and set it down. "But before that, I need another coffee. Join me in the mess?"

"Sure," Daphne agreed.

 

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