Prudence

Prudence

Full name	Dr. Prudence Ashton
Date of Birth	April 30, 2498
Parents	Leila Ashton (Schoolteacher), Father Unknown
Siblings	None
Spouse	Unwed
Specialization	Virology, Surgery
Gender	Female
Eyes and Hair	Brown, Black
Height and Weight	5'3"/Excuse me?
Status	Inactive
Education Information
Medical School, Ariel
Employment History
Intern at University Hospital - Osiris (2522-2524), Residency at General Hospital - Persephone (2524-2525), Guan-Yin II. Med Ship - Serving Trial Period (2525)

Civil War marched its way across my home planet of Hera in 2511 when I was twelve. Mother and I kept ourselves out of the way, tucked up in our out of the way house in our out of the way town. She had been tutoring me in history in the safety of our own home, the school having been shut with the fighting that was ripping the planet in two. That was when Uncle Jude came in; stumbling through the back door to collapse on the kitchen floor. He was shot to pieces, clothes so bloodied it was hard to even tell where the wounds were. He smelt awful, like he'd been crawling around in the bottom of an animal pen for a month or more. I won't forget it in a hurry, sickly sweet, it was the smell of gangrenous flesh and desperation. Mother fetched water, towels and whiskey, preparing to give him comfort in his last hours. But it was me he turned to, me he looked at until I felt compelled to sit beside him on the floor. He asked me to help him, reached for my hand, begged me talk. And so I did. I spoke of childish things. Nonsense things. The sound of wind in trees, suns in sky and grass underfoot. I held his eyes with mine until they closed, and when they did I told myself that one day I would help people like him. My course was set.

~ Prudence Ashton, 12

Background

Early Years

I was born on Hera in the year 2498. My mother never revealed the name of the man who fathered me. I suppose it doesn't really matter who he was now, because whoever he was - he left. Perhaps he never even knew of my existence. I was a calm and easy baby according to my mother, and she named me Prudence after the virtue she jokingly confessed to not having employed nine months prior. I loved books, soaked up learning like a sponge wherever and whenever I could. Couldn't get enough of it. I suppose my teachers recognised this in me, for they pushed me hard and insisted I try for a scholarship at the medical schools on Ariel. It was the only way I could have gained the training you see, because though not poor as such, my mother could never have afforded to support me through all the years of training it would take.

University and Training

I studied hard, harder probably than I should have, taking to my books for eighteen hours a day in the year before I left school. I travelled to Ariel, took the med school entrance exams and was awarded the much needed scholarship, entering med school at eighteen. I graduated at twenty four in the top five percent of my class, (though I swear it should have been in the top three percent!), majoring in virology, and served two years Internship at the University Hospital on Osiris between 2522 and 2524. This was followed by a year's Residency working the children's wards at the General Hospital on Persephone. I quite liked that, working with children, and whilst there I studied further and achieved a minor in psychology. I never really understood how interesting psychology could be, but I've always been a good listener and its amazing what people will tell you when you're the only one that seems to be interested in them. I try to analyse people from the inside out, which actually is a lot easier than being violent when you want someone to do what you want them to do. Persuasion. That's the way to go. And if you're good at it people end up thinking they are actually doing you a favour and not the other way around.

The Doctor

Some people say I act like I have a broom shoved up my ass. "You work too hard Pru.." "Let your hair down Pru.." "Smile for once Pru, huh?" I -do- know how to have fun, I just prefer not to. Its not going to do that kid in the med bay much good if I'm out drinking and living it up while he dies, right? Couldn't live with that. Dispassionate too. Can't help a person if you allow yourself to be bothered by their pain. I've trained myself not to let emotions show. At least most of the time. Quiet. Driven. Focused. That's all I know.

Working in the hospitals wasn't enough though, not the clinical safety of the wards. Sure it was interesting, but I'm looking for a med ship to join, put myself where my skills might be better utilised. I think I've found one too, the Guan-Yin II. They've taken me on for a trial period and we'll see how that pans out. I'm quite hopeful, it sounds ideal. Travelling the 'verse, taking aid to those that might otherwise not be helped. We'll see...

Description

They say good things come in small packages, and there is no doubt that Prudence is on the petite side of the scale. Her five foot three frame is topped with a sleek fall of glossy raven hair which she wears gathered back in a ponytail, part-braided to wrap around in half-bun style before thick plaited lengths are left loose to drop to small of back. Her complexion is pale in shade, as if too many hours are spent indoors at work and study, and not enough outside in the sun. Milky pale, it enhances the tawnied honey of her eyes, the colour akin to that of firelight through sherry, warm and soft. Framed by thick sooty lashes, her eyes might be considered her finest feature, they burn with an intelligence and passion, tilting towards the outer edges as if perhaps there might be some hint of oriental blood in her lineage. Her mouth is generous, soft and wide, though tends to be set more oft than not in a tight line of disapproval. Her face would be almost a perfect oval, were it not for the slightly angular set of her jaw and the determined thrust of chin. Slender neck holds head erect, a filigree chain of silver gracing it from which is suspended a brilliant fire opal. Worn short it lays at the hollow of her collarbone and provides one of the few splashes of colour about her person

Clothes are conservative, picked foremost for practicality of the work she does; though indeed she shows a propensity towards wearing little other than white. Her shirt is buttoned up bar the topmost fastening, fitting close to shoulders and down length of arms to where they are rolled up to show surprisingly well muscled forearms above slender wrists and artistic fingers. On her left wrist is worn a bangle, three lengths of silver twisted about each other, joined with a simple clasp. A skirt is favoured over pants, hugging close to hips before flaring out to allow freedom of movement. It falls to midway between knee and ankle, merely hinting at her figure without overtly displaying it. Calfskin boots of well-worn leather fit like a second skin, low-heeled and of palest tan in colour, they disappear beneath hem of skirt to finish just below her knees. A belt to match her boots encircles waist, cinching her outfit together in practical fashion, secured with a silver engraved buckle mid-centre of her frame.

Miscellany

Dislikes

I don't like cats. Well, its more than a dislike. A cat walks in the room and I just freeze up. Catatonic. I'm not unreasonable. I just think all cats should be wiped from existence at birth. I can't even stand seeing a picture of one. I think I must have been about five when one sank its claws into my face. I was sleeping after a picnic. It had been a lovely day and mother and I were just curled up on a rug in the meadow. She was reading me a story and I had my eyes closed. Then YOW! Burning pain as this crazed cat leapt on me. I screamed. It clawed. I screamed louder. God knows what filth infested places that cat had been, but the scratches got infected and my whole face ballooned up over the next week. Hot and red so I looked like one of the tomatoes that Uncle Jude used to grow on the farm. So yeh. I don't like cats. If you want to piss me off big time bring a cat near me. Perhaps its psycosymptomatic too, but they make me sneeze. An interesting thing I think, perhaps its some rudimentary self-survival thing put in place by my brain. My early warning system that one of the evil things is in the vicinty and I need to get out. Maybe I'll do a research paper on this someday. Maybe.