CYTM31

=Chapter 31=
==Can you tell me where can we start over?==
Ia Drang House
Kowloon
February, 3057
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Elizabeth had her first seizure on her 20th birthday in the bathroom. It caused her to breaking her toothbrush and cracking a shatterproof plastic water glass.
"Fuuu..." it was exhausting and she hurt in places she wasn't sure she had before hitting the floor. Well, there goes any chance of military service.
She dialed up her Naval Militia commander, Commodore Alicia Li.
"Alicia...I need to tdy a Corpsman with Neuromedical training and pharmacology for a long term mission."
''
"Oh god, Liz, what happened?" Alicia asked
"I think I snapped my toothbrush. When I woke up on the floor of my bathroom in a puddle of piss."
Half an hour later, Elizabeth's 'security detail' was assembled, and she was being transported to the Coast Guard Medical at Vin Drin Lap.
The diagnosis was what she expected.
"Stage two, Your Grace."
"Fu..god...it's right on time, isn't it?" Liz asked.
''
"Worst case? Yeah.  You're on time."  Dr. Mai Huyn explained, "We have some options to moderate the seizures and deal with the pain, but nothing will last."
"Set me up the good drugs, Doc." Liz said, "Big enough doses to keep me working, small enough to keep me from falling apart."
Anti-seizure, anti-depressants, and heavy duty analgesics.
"Pot?"
''
"Cannabis sativa, only novel characters and the occasional historian calls it pot.  You can have it in pill form, edibles, or smoke-ables, but it's for the lost appetite from the other medications and because it's been found to have side-effects that amplify the effectiveness of your anti-seizure meds."''
''
"It's a good thing I had a rep as a stoner then." Liz allowed.  "This makes me going navy not a thing that can happen."
''
"Yeah, I know." Li agreed.
"I guess I just have to make sure it gets built anyway.  You wanted short-range duration patrol ships, Li. I saw the proposal you gave granddad when I was cleaning out his office at the Ia Drang house...how many can you crew?"
"We can crew quite a few." Li said, "Twelve, maybe."
"Then you shall have twelve." Elizabeth told her.  "See to it, I want those mini-ships in service by the end of the year."
"It'll take longer than that to get them finished, Your Grace." said Commodore Li
"Then I want them in service as soon as possible." Elizabeth clarified, "I want those...'cutters'? I want them operating asap. I want them conducting tactical combat drills and qualification fires with nuclear anti-shipping ordnance.  The Naval acts aren't going to get us enough ships fast enough. The sooner or later the Clans will remember they've got several hundred SLDF battlewagons waiting to be used...and is there any MOS in the Coast Guard I can qualify for while on medication?"
"Duchess! No! You're sick!"
''
"Victor won't give me a waiver, but I can gods-damned waiver myself with my allotted household troops." Elizabeth snapped.  "So name an MOS, Commodore.  Something I can do."
"Nothing Active-Duty, Duchess." Commodore Li stated firmly.  "I won't risk crew and personnel on that."
"Reserve?" Elizabeth bargained.
"Research and Development office." Li told her, "Or you can work in rear line supply."
"I'll take the R and D then. I'm already approving the expenditures, might as well take an open hand in the actual science and engineering...even if it IS as a ****** administrator."
"You'll have to pass Coast Guard Basic, and the next open application is not until December. Our training groups are already overloaded."
"Fine." Elizabeth said, "Pencil me in for the first available training cycle in December...and schedule my aptitude testing."
"Yes, Your Grace."
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