[Barriers] I am the captain of my fate.....

[Faith Augustin]

25th Zi'da, 719

"I need to discuss it with you," Faith said, firmly, and Captain Marson looked at her with an exasperated expression on his face. "Look," he said, trying to sound calm and reasonable. "It's freezing, they're not sleeping. It's just symptoms of that." For a short little creature, she was feisty, he had to admit and a brief moment of sympathy for the Professor (as he and the crew all called Padraig) flitted through his mind. Faith watched him and her eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?" She asked the question because it needed asking - because this man was stubborn and bull-headed and she needed to make him see sense.

Like he was talking to a child, the Captain sighed and then answered her. "I know that, Mrs Augustin, because I know these men. I know how they work and I've seen them descend into babies before. It will pass, it always does." Faith was five foot four (nearly) and she stood to her full height and glared at him. He knew her reputation - of course he did - but still. She was a sweet and quiet thing, generally. Quite why she had a bee in her bonnet about this, he didn't know. He knew his men, after all. "Well, Mr Marson," Faith said, and he unthinkingly, automatically, corrected her - assuming it was a genuine mistake. "Captain Marson, Mrs Augustin."

And that was all she needed.

"I said Mr Marson, and I meant it," she said, causing him to stop thinking about the latest navigational reports or the repairs that were needed. "You call Padraig Professor, but I'm Mrs Augustin? I'll have you know I'm better qualified than he is. I have studied both Medicine and Surgery to the highest level of education, I run the healing order which covers known Idalos, and I have healed people of diseases which were incurable before that, including a plague which threatened to wipe out Andaris - to begin with. Oh, and I'm just as much a Professor as he is. So, don't you expect 'Captain' from me, if you choose to ignore what I've worked for. And while we're discussing it," Padraig would recognise it, of course, Faith knew people. She understood that this man was - in his core - respectful and polite but fundamentally didn't want women on his ship. Sailors were a superstitious lot, there was no doubting it. He was on edge, too, and she knew that she needed to earn his respect.

And she wasn't going to do that by playing nice.

"While we're at it, Mr Marson, how about you let me steer this boat," he winced, visibly winced at that, "I've never done that before and my sense of direction is so broken it's almost funny, but hey. Experience doesn't matter. So, I'll steer the boat and you diagnose the crew. Because it makes as much sense." He looked at her and just for a moment as she glared at him, determined and stubborn and totally unwilling to back down, he glared right back. But then, he put his hands up in a gesture of surrender and a grin broke on his face.

"I pity the Professor if he annoys you," he said, and Faith shook her head. "He doesn't. So, Captain, how about you give me a run down of the crew, of their symptoms, and when it all started?" He didn't say anything about the fact that she called him Captain, but he nodded his head.

"Right you are, Doc."

Faith smiled, and got out her notebook.

[Faith Augustin]

25th Zi'da, 719

It was cold. The whole place was freezing, and Faith was so glad that, even when she had a perfect memory (which she no longer did) she had kept up with the note taking. She'd done that because she believed that medicine was a collaborative pursuit, it wasn't something that she did alone and, so, while she might remember things, she knew that she had to make sure that there were notes there for someone who wasn't her.

But right now, the reason she was glad was because it was cold and she was miserable (and yes, she did have to admit that just perhaps she'd been a little grouchy with the Captain) and he talked fast. Faith was impressed with how well he knew his crew, and she listened to what he had to say about each of them. "So, is there usually some kind of outbreak when you undertake a voyage?" Faith asked, slightly querulously. "Is that what you're saying?" He considered it and then answered.

"Sailors are a funny lot, Doc," he said and Faith would have agreed vociferously if she'd spoken so, instead, she said nothing. "They're full of superstition and half-baked beliefs," the Captain continued, "and when they're somewhere new - or there's something new happening, they're more prone to a bit of drama." Faith nodded. She looked down at the list he'd given. "How many of your crew are female, Captain?" He looked up at her and gave a slight shrug.

"There's you, and the other scientist that the University put on board. We don't have women on ships, usually," he said and Faith considered that at least if they'd been on a biqaj ship, there'd be none of that nonsense. But still. People had the right to think what they wished. She sighed, slightly. "I understand that you think it's nothing more than a cold or flu at the worst, but I don't agree," she said. "You know how you can feel that there's a storm coming, and you can't explain how?"

Captain Marson looked at her and frowned. It wasn't an expression of disapproval, as such, it was more of an expression of concern. "Yes," he said, "I can. It's like... I know the signs, and I see them without looking. I don't realise that I've done that and somehow, I just know, yes." Faith nodded her head and looked down at the notes she'd made with a slight sigh. Captain Marson asked her, quietly. "What are you saying here, Doc?" Faith looked up at him and pale silver eyes regarded him intently. She didn't want to say what she was about to, but then again she was in the situation she was in and that was that. They were in this together and, as they were already run aground, there was very little she could do except be honest with him. One last glance at what she saw and Faith gave a silent prayer to Famula, to Vri, to Moseke, that things here weren't as dire as she thought they might be. But, he'd asked her a question and so Faith lifted her head and answered.

"I think there's a storm coming," she said.

[Faith Augustin]

25th Zi'da, 719

"Alright," Faith said, quietly and calmly, "I think we're needing to look at the big picture here. The food we're eating is good and wholesome. However, now that the vessel is damaged, we might be adding an unknown time to our stay here. It could get tricky." Faith was good at stretching the larder, she was confident that she could do it here, but it was one part of a larger whole. And every aspect of that whole had to be considered. "I'll have another look at what we've got here - what the food situation is. I'd like it if you could get people fishing now, rather than when we absolutely need it," she said and considered that carefully. "Then, I'd like to look at your shift rotation for sleeping, waking, and make it a bit more stringent." There seemed to be something of a 'we'll get it done' attitude which, while commendable, didn't ensure appropriate levels of and amounts of sleep for each person. Faith knew that rest was fundamental to good health - and to good healing. So, there was that too. Looking at it, she sighed. "The issue is the cold, and the then change in temperature which this necessitates. I can't see a way around that other than to do our best to ensure that the crew are kept as warm as possible inside the ship." She sighed slightly and looked at the Captain. He'd gone from not believing her to actually paying attention and, in doing that he'd realised that there was more here than just a group of over-dramatic sailors.

Faith hoped she was wrong and that over-dramatic sailors was all it was.

Yet, just in case she wasn't wrong, she had to prepare. "I need a lab space. I know Padraig has all the labs and he's the Professor," she said with a smile. She also knew that if she spoke to Padraig, he'd hand over whatever she needed without hesitation. Yet, that wasn't the point. "But if your crew start falling ill, I need to not be negotiating then. I also want you to think about, maybe even get ready, a place where sick people can rest, a medical ward of some kind." She hoped - more than hoped - that she didn't need it. But Faith wasn't prepared to run on hope. She'd done this too many times and lived through too many situations. She knew, more than anything, that they needed to have contingencies in place for the worst-case scenario.

Although, of course, that was the one which ended and we all die so it was harder to prepare for.

"What do you need?" Captain Marson asked and Faith understood and recognised the sound of his voice - the tone of resignation. She looked up at him and regarded him. Why people took that tone with her, Faith genuinely didn't understand. Padraig told her she was a 'force of nature' but she'd never considered herself such. She just spoke the truth as she saw it, and laid their situation out, clearly. If that made him feel pressure, then perhaps he should have listened sooner, Faith considered. But then, she went back to her earlier realisation; she was a touch grumpy. She didn't like being cold.

"I need a space with beds. Lab space. And also, I'm going to check the herbs you have here, I have a very well stocked medicine supply, but just in case there's anything I've forgotten." It was a possibility, after all. He sighed. Faith smiled.

"Hopefully, I'm wrong", she said. He didn't look reassured, but he looked even less so when she added. "I'm not wrong. But we can hope, yes?"

He sighed again and she smiled again. "Excellent," she said."I'll start moving in."

[Doran]

Faith:

Knowledge: -
Loot: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: I didn’t realize that there were solos in addition to the barriers collabs/modded threads that I’ve already read. This was a very interesting thread about the medical issues on that extraordinary journey in my opinion, and I really like how you started it.

I loved the following passage early in the thread:

For a short little creature, she was feisty, he had to admit and a brief moment of sympathy for the Professor (as he and the crew all called Padraig) flitted through his mind.

Faith is indeed feisty, and you play her quite well in that regard. Captain Marson on the other hand was a well-realized NPC. He was a bit stubborn at first, but he knows his men well. How can he simply call Faith who is better qualified than her husband “Mrs. Augustin” though?

The dialogue was well-written and interesting. I just have one problem when it comes to this thread: I want to know what happened next and if Faith turned out to be wrong or not!

In the review request, you didn’t list which skills you used. It seems to me as if this is due to the fact that you used the automatic review request, but this is an old thread from the time before we had all those tags. Still, I thought this was something worth mentioning.

With that being said, enjoy your rewards!

P.S.: You can also find the XP for this thread in your UCP!