Aya nodded at his assessment.
"I was imprisoned on Fuchu in Shikoku. I was captured while bringing Cardamine back from Malta to Ainu Depot. My vessel was in very bad shape because it hadnt been used in 2 years, and I was planning on retrofitting it once I got to the station. They ripped into it like swiss cheese and then tractored my escape pod."
She sighed remembering the memory.
"2 years after I was imprisoned I was being transported to a new prison and the transport I was aboard was attacked by a Chrysanthemum patrol. They returned me to Ainu but these new GC are nothing like I remember them. The orginization I once ran has turned into savage terrorists. When I was the leader we used strategy and pirating to meet our goals. This new faction.... they are brutal to their targets."
Aya tilted her head so that he could have better access to her throat as he inspected it further.
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He was quite for a moment, his mouth slightly opened as he concentrated. Things felt normal. The skin tone of her throat felt soft.
"You have good skin tone, well, where the tattoos were not anyway," he stated as he took his hands away from her neck.
He then nodded softly, "I know of the current regime of the Golden Chrysanthemums. Fortunately, I have few issue with them. Saving a few from certain death will help in that area."
In the back of his mind, his eldest daughter came to mind. She was part of that group but he said nothing. He still believed that should anyone find that out that he would become a target in some way. He also kept his friendly relations with them to himself. Aya was pleasant but he barely knew her and trust was something earned.
"Do you use tobacco?" he asked her. "I did not scan for it but I scan smokers for lung lesions." He then thought a moment. She mentioned cardi cigarettes. "You did mention cardi cigs. Would you object to a deep tissue scan of your lungs? It would give me some info on cardi use."
"Tobacco? No I only used Cardamine. My family has always grown it so I was introduced to it at a young age." Aya stated, getting comfortable again.
"I will allow whatever tests you need to run yes. Anything that can help my condition" She said, standing up, letting him lead her to where he would need to scan her.
"I thought Cardamine was studied thoroughly by the medical field given it's wide, yet illegal use throughout Sirius?..." Aya asked inquisitively.
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They walked down a hallway. "I am sure cardamine is widely studied but only a fool reveals that they are doing it. I mean, think about it. Can you imagine the price on one's head for doing that by the Outcasts? While so many choose to find a way to reverse the drug itself, I study how to help those who want to break the grip of its dependency."
They entered a room with scanning equipment. "This equipment will give deep scans of you. It will give me a better baseline of you than what my hand scanner gives and it goes right through your clothing."
He paused as a thought crossed his mind and put on a serious face. "One way you can help would be nightmarish for you but I will learn much from it. One thing I never get to study is someone going through withdrawal....severe withdrawal....to maybe find an answer. I know you suffered greatly in a prison cell but I promise you this, I will not let you die and will do what I can to keep you comfortable. I can even assign a nurse to stay with you."
He then layed her on the scan table. It was like a CAT scanner but deeper. "Please, give that some thought while we do this. It may unlock answers."
He then turned on the scanner and began taking readings.
Aya thought about what he said as they walked through the hallways. It made sense. Noone in their right minds would let it be known publicly that they were working on a cure for cardamine given the size of the Maltese nation.
Aya stepped into the room and looked around at the scanning equipment but froze when he mentioned the withdrawl study. She shuddered. While it wouldnt be much worse than what she had suffered in the prison, she had just gotten her blood-drug levels balanced again, and the worst part of withdrawl was the beginning. 'Which is just quite as well too as that would need to be studied closely', she thought to herself
She put that thought away and layed down on the scanner and allowed him to continue with his study, thinking about if she would be willing to put herself through the suffering of withdrawal again for the sake of science. She did want to help people. She saw what cardamine did to people her entire life.
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The scanner slowly passed over her entire body head to toe and Doc carefully studied the initial results before him. He had heard that there were no reported cases of lung cancer from cardamine users and he was seeing why.....the drug had given a level of resistance unseen by anything else. Of course, studying the lungs of a smoker of a cardamine addict would be the only way to be conclusive. He was finding this info throughout her body. Seeing it first hand made him understand why the Outcasts liked it so much. If it wasn't for the evil nature of it, forcing loyalty amongst people, he might think differently. He finished his scans and would read the in depth report later.
He then helped her up.
"The fact that you are willing to go through withdrawal for study speaks well of you," he told her. "You will be treated as a patient for now but I will grant you the privileges of a guest. The cafeteria has a good food variety and you can use recreation facilities and such but please, when the withdrawal starts to get unbearable, return here so that we can scan what is going on."
He then paged the nurses station. "This is Dr. Holliday. I will need guest quarters for Miss Isehara and she will have guest privileges."
He smiled as they slowly walked back to the exam room where they started. "So right now, how do you feel? Are you in need of a "hit?"
"Right now? Yes I do feel like a hit would help but only because the thought of doing what you ask is making me anxious" Aya replied as he led her back to the exam room. "The withdrawl symptoms I experienced while in the prison were like no pain I have ever had before. It just makes me a little queasy" She said with a shiver.
"Is there anything I can do while I am here other than just be a guest? Living my entire life with the notion of trying to free women's oppression, and then seeing my sisters turn so hostile makes me feel really bad. I have always wanted to help people, not extort them."
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He sat back at the mention of her wanting to contribute. No doubt no one had taken her seriously before. She was a cardi sniffing Kusari woman in the minds of many....a terrorist. Still, he knew Chrysanthemums weren't stupid and had some background. His own daughter was well versed in medicine. Sadly, she used it in a way that violated the Hippocratic Oath. Perhaps Aya could, with a chance, turn it around.
"You make a valid point," he replied. "So what kind of background do you have, Miss Isehara? Placing you somewhere that you can be an asset, catering to your strength, does have appeal."
"Well, in the Chrysanthemums we each had our own ship to take care of, so I do know my way around a ship and can do several types of repairs. Also if I am allowed to leave the station occasionally I know my way around Sirius, and I remember most of my smuggling routes. I could be an asset to you as a freighter pilot as well if you need that sort of thing. I .... well.... USED to own a cardamine business on Malta so I do have some executive experience there, as well as leading a wing of the Chrysanthemums myself."
Aya smiled. Maybe this WAS a fresh start.
"Unfortunately I dont really have any medical knowledge so I wouldnt be able to help you much there unless I was taught to do so..."
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He was still sitting back in his chair, drumming his fingers as he processed what he heard. With the base being so remote and the expansion going on, he figured another good freighter pilot would be a help.
"I am guessing you also know how to use a fighter," he replied. "We do not have a huge need here for a security ship but having one is not a bad idea, especially when warring factions are not far away. A freighter pilot? I can always use."
He motioned to the base itself. "We are expanding but materials are hard to get way out here. That said, a short jump to Newcastle, Tau 31 or Tau 29 and we can get a lot of goods."
He then nodded, "I tell you what, I am a little tight on funds these days as I have so much of the budget going to the expansion but if you can get a trade ship, I will take you up on that. I do ask that it be [MFE] tagged and have a Zoner transponder. I do much to keep our TAZ hosts pleased so I try to keep a low profile here."
He sat up with a soft smile, "We will start there and after a few runs, let us see how you manage ship operations for a bit and we will talk more about something more......administrative."
He offered his hand, "Is that a good accord to get started?"
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