She checked each section anyway. There were people who considered that obsessive. Those people had presumably never opened a kit while someone was bleeding out and discovered the thing they needed wasn't where it was supposed to be.

Her fingers paused on the compact field scanner as she wondered how long it would be before she used any of this for real.

Not long, probably.

Blackwatch hadn't recruited a field nurse because someone was worried the ship needed another person to hand out analgesics. That thought should probably have bothered her more than it did.

Instead she felt the familiar little pull of anticipation somewhere behind her ribs. Not excitement about anyone getting hurt; she wasn't that far gone. It was the knowledge that when something did happen, she would be there for it. Not hearing about it afterward. Not standing in Sickbay waiting while somebody else carried the casualties back.

There it was, in the middle of her chest.

Solana zipped the pack closed.

That had frightened her mother considerably more than Solana had ever admitted. Most Risian parents probably imagined Starfleet taking their children to distant worlds, showing them impossible things and eventually sending them home with stories. Solana had somehow found the career path where the impossible things frequently exploded, shot at people or required a tourniquet afterward.

Her mother's opinion of that decision could be summarized by a look she had perfected over twenty nine years.

Solana smiled to herself. She missed that look.

"Are you planning on working today ma'am?" the corpsman asked.

She looked over. The corpsman had finished with the supply cart and was watching her.

"I haven't technically been told to" Solana replied.

"Respectfully ma'am, that wasn't my question" the corpsman stated.

"No, it wasn't" she said.

He gestured toward a stack of inventory padds. "If you're volunteering, we're checking emergency kits."

Solana considered the stack, then the medical pack she'd just finished inspecting. She had wanted something to do. There were apparently consequences for getting what you wanted.

"Fine." She walked over and picked up the first padd. "But if I find an expired hypospray, I'm blaming you personally."

"I've known you eight minutes" he pointed out.

"Then imagine how disappointed I'll be."

This time the laugh came easier.

Solana leaned against the counter and started down the inventory. She could unpack later. She could learn the names attached to every face on the deck later, find the mess, figure out which replicator made coffee that didn't taste like warm regret and eventually locate whatever passed for a social life aboard the Rubicon.

For now, she had a Sickbay to learn and a field kit waiting for the first time somebody needed it. It wasn't much of a beginning, but she had the distinct feeling that wouldn't last.