When Astridh got notice of the sensor blip, she did not really see why it mattered. A single blip means nothing in the long run. It could be that someone was tracking them, which might be unwanted, or it could be something else entirely, like a sensor bug or someone simply being in the area by accident. Eydis knew for a fact that they’d done very little that could attract attention from anything in the area. Still, the midshipman might find an answer useful. [i]‘Not issue. Single blip can be anything. Notify if you see a clear and suspicious pattern. Signed, Lieutenant Astridh Nic Shitric.’[/i]. She made sure not to reveal anything to the one seated opposite her on the table. Non-military personnel had no need to know anything about military events.

When Ms. Shitric’s device went off, Joseph’s eyebrow went up in question. His body shifted back a little back into the seat, his face relaxed into something less than pleased. He knew every time a device, those ipods, tablets, or other such high tech toy went off then it was likely important. Or at least gave someone a chance to escape his focus and that was what he expected of his current patient. He wouldn’t blame her after all. While she would view Joseph’s questions as nothing more than annoyance, he genuinely cared about the well being of each and every single of those under his care. It was, after all, what made him good at his job. Most people couldn’t say that everyday. With a still body and rather sour look, Joseph waited until the woman had finished typing upon her modern device. His ears perked for that key phrase which would allow her freedom from his probing questions. 

Once she had finished, Joseph commented, “I take it now you’ve got some duties to attend to then, Ms. Shitric?” 

“I do not. It was a non-issue. Irrelevant.” She would not say anything more, as the doctor was not part of the bridge crew, and should not be privy to anything solely relevant to bridge crew. “What were we talking about again? I forget.”

Joseph had to fight the urge to chuckle at his current patient’s words. It seemed innocent enough but usually most patients took any chance to rush away, she didn’t. “Usually that’s the sort of problems cause the worse stress with patients in my field of work, Ms. Shitric. Most cast aside a repeating headache or minor, unexplained bruising as something harmless. Sometimes that’s not the case. It’s my job on board to determine and ensure my patient’s health, even if they don’t like my stubborness. Even if they believe I’m being over-cautious about something petty. I rather be sure it’s that than risk something worse.” 

His hand gripped his coffee and took a sip, the still warm liquid tingled on its way down his throat. “Besides, even if was an irrelevant thing then I’m surprised you didn’t use as an escape for this conversation.” 

Astridh nodded. “I could have, but that would have been a lie.” She took a bite of her food and swallowed before continuing. “Dealing with injuries is quite different from military tactics. A minor bother is most often an indication of a bigger issue with first aid. In military tactics, it has equal chances of being both that and nothing of consequence, and there’s no way to find out which it is without access to more information. You should know that well. How easily could you judge whether or not a patient is suffering from a mild concussion from twenty meters away?” 

“Either way, one wrong choice can have some serious results.” Joseph’s pointed out flatly. “Not everyone would think it’s the later or consider it. That’s a human fact sadly and one we all have to accept, my concern is to lower that risk. Don’t mistake my comments as telling you how to do your job, Ms. Shitric, it’s not my intentions. I don’t like someone telling me how to do an operation. You have your job as do I, the only difference between you and me is I have a lawyer stopping me. Now, where was I again?” 

“You were trying to ferret out personal information I am not required to share.” Astridh offered in a semi-helpful manner. She had no intention of sharing it. She did not, after all, want there to be any risk of Eydis being discovered. It was far too soon.

Joseph was unfazed by this woman’s bluntness, the manner returned it seemed. “And if the shoe was on the other foot, wouldn’t you want to do your job correctly? Even on the off chance the information you receive isn’t enriched with anything helpful at the moment?” 

“Perhaps. But I do not expect anything beyond what I get. You’ll have to talk with my family lawyer to get the information you want. Anyways, I’ve got to do some other things to take care of now. We’ll talk more later.” When Joseph nodded while sipping his coffee, Astridh stood up and walked off, her thoughts churning about how she might get started on her [i]real[/i] mission.