A Students Guide to Navigating Starfleet

Theo & Charles

'Great, can I go?'. Theo proceeded to stand up, however Charles put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him back down. 'Not quite'. He forced a smile.

Theo took a deep breath in, clearly starting to get irritated, which made Charles feel oddly satisfied.

'I just need to do a quick psych assessment and eye check'

He placed a device on the end of Theo's finger which was to measure sweat conductivity and heart rate during the psychological interviewing.

'I'm just going to ask you a series of questions and you just indicate whether you NEVER, SOMETIMES, OFTEN or ALMOST ALWAYS feel this way'

'Question 1, I find it hard to wind down'

'Never' a green light appeared, indicating it was right

'Question 2, I couldn't seem to experience any positive feeling at all'

'Never'

'Question 3, I found myself getting agitated'

'Never'. This time a red light appeared on the monitor in front of Charles. Charles raised his eyebrows. Theo rolled his eyes 'Well I'm agitated right now'

'I'll put that down to situational factors then'

They went on, until getting up to the last question. 'I was worried about situations where I might panic and make a fool of myself?'

Theo hesitated. 'Ah' he cleared his throat and looked away. 'sometimes'

Charles was surprised by the last answer, Theo of all people, but the green light didn't lie. An odd sensation came over him and in that moment he wanted to say something to Theo to make him feel like he wasn't alone in his response that he too felt the same way sometimes. Instead he settled for a nonchalant nod. As much as he despised Theo, his honesty in this last question made him feel as though somewhere in an alternative reality they might be friends.

'Okay well that's er all done'

Theo nodded and pressed his lips together, his shoulders raised.

'You er passed by the way...stress levels are a little high but that's expected form all students at the academy, in fact I would be surprised if they were low'

Theo sat there in silence.

Charles cleared his throat. 'Okay last one and then you can get out of here, I just need you to cover your left eye and read the chart displayed on the screen'. He signaled towards the eye chart that sat opposite Theo.

Theo read the chart perfectly all the way to the bottom line.

'Okay and now cover the right eye'

Expecting the same result, Charles was surprised when Theo started getting letters on the fourth line wrong. After struggling for what seemed ages, Charles ordered Theo to stop. He grabbed the medical index and looked into Theo's file to see whether he was expected to wear glasses when flying. Nothing showed up. He picked up his medical tricorder and started scanning Theo's left eye, to see whether there had been any changes to the shape.

'Have you ever been prescribed anything for myopia? Charles asked.

'Myo—what the fuck is that?'

Charles rolled his eyes. 'Short-sightedness, it means you have difficulty seeing distance. Have you ever had to wear glasses?'

'No...why? Do I need glasses?'. There was slight panic in Theo's voice.

'Well that would be a start'. 'How long have you had vision troubles in your left eye?' Charles said while still examining his eye.