Selara sipped tea and looked over the last drill times. “Hmm…” She rubbed her chin, “If we activated the EMH sooner than 5:13, we could shave,” she quickly did some calculations on her notepad, “ten seconds or so?” She scribbled the equations, “that doesn’t seem right…”

A beep from her console caught her attention. “A new assignment?” She read the message, “An opportunity to go planet side? It’s like they read my mind.” Selara smiled; she knew just the team. She typed a command to send a group broadcast, “Selara to Parker, Mendez, and Korren, report to Sickbay.” It was time to see if the drills paid off.

On break and resting in her quarters, Renee was studying the drill results from her nursing staff.

Her staff.

She knew she was very young to have a position like that, but the tragedy of Frontier Day and a letter of recommendation from Doctor Weaver, her Eagle CMO, got her the job.

She didn’t know if she should smile or frown.  A call from Doctor Selara refocused her attention.

Renee stepped into sickbay and went directly to Selara’s office.  “What’s up, Doc?”  Renee giggled at the very old line from an Earth cartoon.

“Thank you for joining us, Miss Parker,” Selara smiled, motioning to an empty chair. “We’ve been ordered by Captain Dread to go down to the surface.” She handed a stack of PADDs to Ensign Korren, who, in turn, passed them down to Mendez, who passed the last to Renee. “We’ve been tasked with supporting the medical workers planet-side. I want to start with triaging patients, then move to coordinating with search and rescue teams to retrieve or recover trapped individuals. We’ll then break out into teams and assist with generalized help as needed. Questions? Thoughts?”

Renee skimmed through the information on the PADD she was given.  This was going to be her first mass casualty rescue mission, and she was beginning to feel a nervous flutter in her stomach.  It wasn’t going to be anything like the holo simulations from her academy days.

“Will we be accompanied by security teams?” said Renee.

“Not from our side, at least not initially. We won’t be without help; there are security forces present. I feel it would ease tensions if we didn’t come in with a show of force. We’ll have a team standing by in case they’re needed.”

Renee understood, though she would have been more comfortable with an armed security officer watching her back.

Selara’s jovial voice took on a serious tone, “Understand… from the moment we arrived, we’re going to be dumped into chaos and confusion. Things will be running at a fever pitch. Not everyone positively responds to this. You’ll be met with delirium, depression… even aggression,” She let the last word hang a moment, “We’re all used to experiencing people on their worst day. It’s up to us to help guide these people towards a better one. If anyone wants to back out of the mission, now is the time. No one will hold it against you in any way.”

Renee looked at the others.  She wasn’t backing out of an important assignment like this.

Craig Korren looked at the others, “I think I can speak the group when I say we’re not backing out.”

Selara smiled, “Excellent, I knew I chose wisely.” She typed commands in her PADD, “I’m sending you the command hierarchy and assigned areas. Mr. Korren will run Operations, coordinating with the hospital to ensure people have what they need. Miss Parker, you and Mr. Mendez will provide assessment and treatment. Mendez will run second on the team. I’ll work with physicians and provide surgical services if needed.”

“One more thing: the facility’s equipment may be a bit… antiquated. So take your time and exercise patience. We will be taking equipment, but that will only stretch so far.”

“Perhaps we could transport down on shuttles,” said Renee.  “We can take far more supplies, and if strategically placed, they could be used as makeshift trauma centers and operating rooms.”

Selara smiled at the suggestion, “That’s an excellent idea Miss Parker! It would go a long way to take strain off of the colony’s resources while offering our own.” She used her console to send a requisition request for two shuttlecraft. “All right,” She stood from behind her desk. “We’ll reconvene in Shuttle Bay 2 in 20 minutes. Make whatever preparations you’ll need beforehand. Dismissed.”