Science Department Meeting (Part 2)

Posted on 17 Jul 2013 @ 5:00pm by Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley & Lieutenant JG Jacrux & Ensign Natalie Chevalier & Ensign Ariadne Fleming & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Nesh Saalm & Vincent Kramer Ph.D. & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas

2,576 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 4, Conference Room
Timeline: MD12 1700

Continued:

Everyone having made themselves known Kiri took the lead once more. This was meant to be an official meeting after all. Placing her hands together she spoke rather softly, "I will talk to all of you in more detail, but I can give you a brief idea of what I would like you to work on." If they had other plans she might be able to find other personnel but these were her first choices. "Firstly I hope you will all be able to work with Lieutenant Pendleton with your research projects that don't directly impact the mission or the operation of the Science Department." He was the one charged with research in general after all, unless it was something she required. "As for Science duties, Ensign Chevalier there is a lot of ecological data to review and there is a fair amount of aquatic readings and samples as well Ensign Fleming." Finally there was the ship they had discovered, "Lieutenant Nicholas and Ensign Jacrux there is data from a derelict ship we discovered, we haven't been able to decipher anything about its language or origins so far, I would like your assistance with that."

Jared had been leaning against the far bulkhead when he heard his new boss' words. He put down the glass he had been holding and gave her his full attention. "Yes sir," he replied, "That is what I am here for."

Nesh watched everyone with a small smile, listening to them. She wasn't exactly sure when to jump in, so instead she held the padd and did her notes...and potentially some drawing.

Jacob stood up to get the attention of the room, "I say we first give a show of respect and honor to our new leader, Lieutenant Cho." He bowed to her and began to clap.

Victoria stood up and followed suit, smiling a little awkwardly at their new leader. She felt a little bit odd, not knowing Lt. Cho very well, but they had talked earlier that day and she had decided that she thought she would be a good replacement for Lt. Panne.

Kramer rolled his eyes slightly, but, in this instance thought it best to go with the group. He set down his coffee cup, stood, and gently clapped his hands, participating with the others in acknowledging the Lieutenant's new position.

Jared applauded reluctantly, but did not stand. He thought Jacob was brown-nosing and had no respect for brown-nosers. He of course appreciated the Lieutenant and her hard work and dedication and felt she deserved the promotion that she had been given, but a standing ovation was a little too much and he refused to be a sheep or perhaps a lemming would have been a more apt description, just going along with the crowd.

Keval felt much the same way, but since he was already standing and more polite than the linguist he too clapped.

Nat goggled at Lt. Pendleton, wondering whether he realized how utterly bizarre this all was, but she went along with it anyway, clapping lightly: she wasn't senior enough yet to be able to afford to step out of line, and Lt. Cho hadn't signed off on her continuing her work in the arboretum yet. She was a little disappointed to realize she'd missed all the fieldwork and that she would be limited to analyzing data after the event. Hopefully the next mission would give her more to do.

Ariadne, for one, felt happy for Lt. Cho. Though she hadn't been here long, she knew few people (besides perhaps the commanding officers) worked harder than Kiri. As for her assignment...well, truthfully, she preferred analyzing on the field, rather than shipboard. But, no arguing with a senior officer. At least, not yet.

Kiri flushed red and then almost as fast deathly pale, "Um, thank you," Mumbling the words slightly. Pendleton tended to do things that made her uneasy but this, well. The wince in her mind was almost verbal, that everyone joined in and she hadn't even done anything. She wanted the adulation of everyone, Kiri wanted the universe to see her as amazing, but it didn't feel right. This was a role she didn't feel ready for, now she was being applauded. Speaking softly almost to herself, "I haven't really done anything yet, but thank you." Still it was nice to feel that most of them were supportive.

Jacob sat down and then said to Kiri, "So, maybe we should all talk about projects we want to do, projects that still need to be done and maybe areas of science and/or research that we may be neglecting?"

He was speaking to her, but Kiri didn't currently have any projects. Taking deep breath she reflected towards the others, "Does anyone have any research they are currently undertaking that they would like to share?"

Once again, there was something of an awkward pause. But Nat wasn't one to stand on ceremony, so she filled it. "I'd like to expand the variety of the arboretum a little. Most of the plants there are Terran. It seems a shame that only one boring little planet like Earth gets represented, when we have a whole galaxy of flowers and trees and grasses...So, for a research project, I was thinking of trying out a few specimens in the Botany Lab, maybe some hybrids and some more exotic plant types."

Jacob nodded to Nat's suggestions and began to enter them into his PADD.

"We have a number of plants gathered from the Rojar system, once they are proven safe we can introduce some to the Arboretum. There are also some available in the seed bank," Kiri thought that might be a good idea, depending which of the plants were used. The one that physically attacked people might not be, nor the compressed gas trees. A part of her was slightly insulted by Earth being called boring.

Nat nodded vigorously. "Thank you, Lieutenant, that'd be great!" she said enthusiastically, immediately overlooking the concerns about 'safety' that Cho had tried to flag up. The chance to sprout a testament to the wildlife of the Rojar system in the arboretum was too tempting to trifle with such things.

Kramer would actually rather be at his computer going over the crustacial scan data on Rojar V. He was hoping he would not be called on for some report. There was hours upon hours of reports to go write and then go through to provide the final report to Starfleet about the planetary and raw resources this system will provide. He took another sip of his coffee.

Jacob spoke up after making his notes. "Ok, so there are many things we could be doing detailed research on. Rojar was a literal treasure trove of finds. We have animals, plants, geologic and mineral reports, and even some cultural research that is quite extensive that I was part of and could probably use a hand to get all the data properly sorted. Other than that, if you have personal research you are currently working on let either of us know, we like learning all we can just as much as any of you do."

Most of those things fell under her purview as their mission was to survey the system. Beyond that some of it would be unrelated research; still it was good everyone was informed. Since no one else seemed to have that much to share Kiri did have something she was thinking of doing. "I hope we can have a more open work environment. As such would anyone object if research projects were made public to the department and displayed to everyone? So people can offer their expertise?"

Nat wasn't too sure to make of that, so this time instead of being the first to blurt out her answer, she waited to see what the others made of it, brown eyes flickering around the assembled faces. She was all for collaborative research and hated the interdisciplinary strife that could sometimes beset research projects. But there was something to be said for personal pride in one's work, and opening up all research to the scrutiny of the rest of the department seemed to her to run the risk of making things more competitive. Of course: thus far it didn't seem anyone shared her enthusiasm for the arboretum, so it was entirely possible the entire premise would be moot to her in any case.

Jacob couldn't believe a room of scientists could be so quiet, "What is wrong with all of you? You're all intelligent, curious and competent and yet nothing to say? Really?" He shook his head, "Ok then, I offer my services and expertise to anyone's current project right now. If I have to be the role model then I shall be."

Kramer turned to Pendleton and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Really? He thought and turned away, What a brown noser.

Victoria coughed quietly into her hand and looked down at the table. Well, that got awkward fast.

Jared rolled his eyes at the whole affair, The meeting was becoming a marathon and was dragging on far, far too long, "I think," he ventured to say, "Is that we are scientists with other things to do than sit here in a meeting. We could, you know actually be out doing something scientific. As far as your being a role model, well I am sure that if anyone needs your help they will be more than glad to ask for it.

With all due respect to our new boss and the position she has earned, this meeting, in my opinion has gone on entirely too long. If it is not out of line, I would like to move that we dismiss this meeting immediately so that we can all go about our duties. My understanding is that this was simply to be a briefing not an all day affair."

Even Kiri could tell that the mood was starting to change. There were a few other things that she thought might be worth talking about, but really they would all wait until tomorrow at least. This was meant to be an afternoon of R&R rather than meetings after all. Though she hadn't meant for this to be a democracy by way of a meeting, if he or others didn't want to be here though. While it was a precedence she wasn't sure about, "We have covered everything that is essential Lieutenant Nicholas, you can leave if you have pressing matters to attend to."

It wasn't that he particularly had pressing matters to attend to, but in his mind the meeting was going on and on for other reason, than to go on and on. It was also being taken over by Jacob whose nose was getting more and more brown by the minute.

From the looks of the crowd he was not the only one that felt the same way. "Thank you ma'am," he said as he turned to leave.

Nat shot an apologetic glance to Lt. Cho: she felt a bit embarrassed about how the meeting had turned, but it was starting to drag on, and she wasn't sure this kind of administrative discussion was best done as a group. "I might, um, step out too - but maybe I could come talk to you about the arboretum at some point, Lt. Cho?"

Kiri had wanted everyone to be clear and talkative. One of her problems before was not always knowing what everyone was planning for thinking, that was hard for her. This wasn't something she had really been able to practice before, at least there had been some success, "Yes, I will come and see you tomorrow."

"Thanks." It was obvious Lt. Cho was still adjusting to simply having the new Chief role, let alone making it work, and Nat was inclined to go easy on her. In her own quirky, obsessive little way, coming to talk about seedlings and arboretum adjustments was her attempt at friendship. She added a respectful nod to Jacob, and then followed Jared out, wondering whether his invitation to dinner was still valid.

Jacob watched them as they walked out and when they had all gone he turned to Kiri, "Well," he said while letting out a sigh, "Looks like we have a lot of 'individual' types who want to just do their own solo research... I guess some things don't change in Science departments..."

Victoria watched the others leave before getting up herself. Not knowing what else to say, she turned towards the lieutenant, offered her congratulations on her promotion, and walked out of the conference room.

Dr. Kramer felt a little bad for young Kiri. He stood with coffee in hand and faced her, but paused to take a sip. Then finally said, "Lieutenant Cho, congratulations on your promotion. You have some very big shoes to fill. I'm definitely not the one to ask. I'm just saying, don't feel bad. Things will turn around in time."

Jacob turned to Dr. Kramer, "Actually Doctor, Ms. Cho is more than capable of not only filling those shoes but making them look even better than before. Lieutenant Cho is an incredible scientist and she will lead our department with grace and excellent leadership, of this, I have no doubt." He bowed to the Doctor, then to Kiri, "As for me, I shalll return to the mountains of data we collected from Rojar. Have a good afternoon both of you." He smiled at both of them and turned to walk out the room.

"I'm sorry, you are right," Kiri made sure that Pendleton was gone before speaking, "I have a lot to do, I might have some questions soon, if that is okay." She knew Doctor Kramer had far more experience than she did on matters like this. The way Lieutenant Pendleton seemed to be holding up as a paragon with what she felt little evidence made her rather uncomfortable. Being the centre of attention was something she wanted, but was also something she had almost no experience of.

This was definitely NOT the time to criticize the young Ensign. Vincent said encouragingly, "We can talk, anytime. The skills of Leadership take time. So don't be too hard on yourself. For some guidance in that area, lean on the XO. That's what he's there for."

Ariadne stepped out quietly. She felt for Lt. Cho. The poor girl looked so stressed. "I do know her." She made a mental note to come and talk to her again.

"Thank you again," Kiri spoke softly to Kramer, "I'll come and see you about your research projects tomorrow, let me know if there is anything I can help you with?"

A smile came across Vincent's face. She was taking charge and he was sure would do well as their Chief. "Alright then. I will see you later."

OFF:
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Lt.(jg) Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley
Psychologist
USS Galileo

Ensign Natalie Chevalier
Ecologist
USS Galileo

Ensign Jacrux
Anthropologist
USS Galileo

Ensign Ariadne Fleming
Oceonologist
USS Galileo

Dr. Vincent Kramer, Ph.D.
Planetologist
USS Galileo

Nesh Saalm
Captain's Sister/Scientist's Mate, CIV
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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