Science Department Meeting (Part 1)

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

2,772 words; about a 14 minute read

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

ON:

Again. Wow. Really it felt far too much. Before it was an emergency, so was now but it felt more permanent. Then there was the new pip on her lapel. That had to be some sort of record. In four months, a battle, away missions and deaths, she was a full Lieutenant. A department head with no acting attached to it, had she grown that much? The girl that could barely talk to anyone, the Cadet that ate nothing, but ration bars and hid from everyone. Now at least a part of her felt like a grown up, eating, talking to people. Being an officer felt far easier than being a person, both needed work though. Thinking of Maenad left her numb, was that the kind of officer she wanted to be?

For the last hour she had walked in circles around what was now her office, now she had moved to walking in circles around the conference room. The pip felt heavy and the title felt heavier. There wasn't anyone to look to any more, she was responsible for everyone. Her department, the entire ship, its missions all of it fell to her. That was a lot, she'd almost died a few days ago barely able to even look after herself. None of that was the face she wanted to wear that wouldn't help anyone. Finally she came to a stop and sighed, no, she had to live up to the title. An officer, that was what she was. Her hair dropped loosely around her shoulders, skin paler than normal and her hand rather shaky. Kiri put on a brave face though, green eyes that seemed a little cold. Projecting the persona of an officer, a leader from her books, her imagination. They were all older, more experienced, but she could pretend, that was important right? Technically, this was a first impression.

No, standing up wouldn't do, she needed not to seem stressed. Taking a seat at the head of the table she placed her hands in her lap at first, then on the table, finally tensed together teasing her finger tips. The time was upon her, everything was in place, only she'd completely forgotten about the lights. She was sat in almost complete darkness.

Jacob walked to the briefing room still unsure of things. He hoped that all the information about all things that were goings on would be cleared up. He thought about Maenad and Liyar as he approached. He straightened his uniform and walked in. The room was dark as a cave in the middle of night. "Computer," his deep voice called out, "Lights, standard settings." Soon the room illuminated and he saw Kiri sitting there and was a bit startled. His eyes immediately went to the new pip and realized the change was indeed upon him. He straightened up to his full height and stared forward, "Chief Research Officer Pendleton reporting as instructed ma'am." He gave Kiri all the respect due her new position and her new rank.

She wasn't the only one with a new rank. The situation between the two of them when it came to their jobs felt a little grey before. If she was meant to tell him what to do, or what. It was a little more clear cut now, at least in as much as he was her equal, her colleague. Blinking she stirred from her sinister position, "At ease, please." Forcing a nervous smile she looked up at him, "Congratulations on your promotion, I hope we can keep working together," Nothing around her seemed that stable, changing. He was still here though, so not everything had changed.

Jacob smiled at her, "Thank you Lieutenant Cho, and as to our working relationship, I am here to help.. I think you know that. I am here to support you... I know.. I know that at times it seems like we don't seem to communicate as much as one would think a couple of Scientists should, but my opinion is that with Maenad gone, you more than deserve this promotion for in the few times we have directly worked together, I have found you to be an excellent scientist and an excellent officer. I have enjoyed the missions we have been on... I just wanted you to know that."

Jac was prompt to the meeting, equally as curious about the subject of said meeting as he was about getting the opportunity to watch (and judge) his fellow scientists. He entered and realized that the only people in attendance were the Lieutenants in charge of the department. Jac gave a mental chuckle. The Galileo's more senior officers seemed to be comprised of some very young officers. If the trend continued, Jac could be able to position himself along that promotion path.

"Sirs," Jac saluted crisply at the officers. As he hadn't met the other male in the room yet, he introduced himself, "Ensign Jacrux reporting."

Victoria Crawley walked into the conference room, laughing at something Ensign Chevalier was saying. Noticing that Lt. Cho was already in the room, she stiffened immediately and stood at attention. Not that she was going to say anything about it, but the new department head looked a little...overwhelmed.

"Lieutenant Victoria Crawley, sirs," she said, saluting the other officers in the room.

Nat followed behind her. She threw a casual wave to the officers assembled, only to see Victoria snapping to attention and Jacrux - she assumed it was Jacrux, anyway; she was yet to meet him but he definitely looked Romulan - saluting. Embarrassed, she followed up with a rather lax salute of her.

"Ensign Natalie Chevalier," she announced to the two Lieutenants who she took for Cho and Pendleton: she'd not met either yet, but it was obvious from their appearances who they were.

Ariadne was late. Again, she groaned within herself, mildly irritated as well. She was always peeved when pulled away her research (though no one except those who knew her best could really tell). Well, it must be important, whatever it is

She entered the Briefing Room. Most everyone seemed to be there already, including a few she didn't immediately recognize. Feeling somewhat out of place, she saluted her new superior. "Ensign Ariadne Fleming."

Nat shot an encouraging smile sideways at Ariadne: there were enough people here she herself didn't recognize that it was good to see at least one familiar face.

Vince Kramer walked into the Briefing Room casually with a cup of coffee in his hand. Everyone seemed so prim and proper. He wasn't going to rain on their parade, but he wasn't going to dress up for the occasion either. He walked over to a near chair and sat quietly.

"Good evening everyone," Kiri stood up as they entered, right on time, returning their salutes, "Lieutenant Crawley, Ensign Jacrux, Ensign Chevalier," Finally, "Ensign Fleming, please take a seat." The department she knew was changing but it didn't seem for the worse. Liyar was gone yet there was a Romulan, that was new. Then three human women, not that much older than her. It used to be her on the other side of the table, the brave face held for now. Then she started to realize that Fleming was a name and a face that she knew from somewhere.

There was a bit of a bang as Nesh ran in, almost running into a chair. She stopped and flashed a quick smile to Kiri. "Sorry," she said, holding her hands up before moving to find a seat. She wasn't sure if she was meant to be here or not, it was just...well. She was part of it all. Sorta. Mostly. Except for that one time when she...she stopped the train of thought. She had to behave, to be quiet. After all, it was Cho's meeting.

Vincent was rather startled by this Youngling barging into the room so loudly. He almost spilled his coffee by the disturbance.

"I'm afraid that all this is rather sudden," Even though Kiri was sat down she had the urge to stand up when she spoke, "There is still a lot of work that needs to be done with regards to cataloguing the data we gathered during our survey of the Rojar system. That will be our focus for the next few days," Holding her hands together she tried to smile, "I'll be meeting with each of you tomorrow to help organize your individual projects, but before I go into more detail, would you like to introduce yourselves?" This was their first time meeting together like this, it made sense in her head at least. "I'm Kiri Cho, I grew up in China on Earth and joined Starfleet when I was eighteen. I've been with the Galileo for almost four months now, I specialize in computer science, physics, sensor interpretation and mathematics," Looking at the rest of them she seemed to brighten up.

Jacob smiled at Kiri and then looked at the rest of them, "I am Jacob Pendleton, born and raised on a farm in the southwest corner of Grant County, Wisconsin, North America, Earth..." He kept his deep voice lower in the volume so as not startle the new people in the room, "... I specialize in Xeno-Science and Xeno-Research.. and Music.." He smiled broadly at the group then continued, "Just kidding, I love and play music, but I am not scientifically trained in it. I have been on the Galileo for a short time and I enjoy it here, but I have to say that I am not successful without all of you, it is you who make this work possible and incredible."

Though it might have been polite to wait for a Lieutenant or SSO to go next, Nat was never one for waiting on ceremony. She smiled at the burly Research Officer and stepped up. "Well, I'm sure some of you are wondering who the newbie is. I'm Natalie Chevalier, though everyone calls me 'Nat'. I'm an Ecologist with the Planetary Sciences Division, and after I got kicked off every planet I was assigned to, I was sent to the Venture. Now you're lucky enough to have me. I'm from New France Colony, so the department won't be entirely missing a Francophone," she laughed a little uncomfortably, regretting the joke the moment it passed her lips. These people had served with Lt. Panne a lot longer than she, and probably didn't appreciate her making light of her departure. More solemnly she added, "I guess you'll mostly find me in the arboretum."

Jared who had been sitting in a far corner of the room as unobtrusive and unnoticeable as possible was watching the proceedings. He had enjoyed meeting Nat earlier and wanted to make sure he would be able to talk with her and officially invite her to dinner. He moved a little closer to her.

Kiri smiled and after a pause gave a startled nod towards Ensign Chevalier, it was interesting that she also spoke French, though only random chance. There were also some signs that she knew too well from herself, behind her mask she found speaking in public even better. Feeling that attention was turning towards her again she noticed Lieutenant Nicholas's movement. Almost like a school teacher she asked, "Would you mind going next Lieutenant?" She knew him but half of those around the table she didn't think would.

Jared looked over at her unable to keep smirk off his face., "I am Jared Nicholas. I've been here almost a month now I was actually born in space. Well to be more precise I was born on a spaceship. I had, well interesting childhood. I traveled to a lot of places, saw a lot of people and things. I am the ship's linguist."

"Well, thank you," Kiri had hoped for a little more than that but it was something at least, she also wasn't sure what to make of the smirk, "Who would like to go next?" This social part felt like it was getting to her a little, she'd been making progress but now there was even more pressure.

Victoria looked around the room, realizing that she was next. She cleared her throat and forced a smile. She hated introductions. "So, I'm Victoria Crawley, xenopsychologist. I'm new; I've only been here a little less than a week. You'll probably find me in sickbay or the labs. I was raised in Kennebunkport, Maine, along with my brother, Peter. We moved to California a few years after he...died. I love music and I absolutely adore languages, but I'm admittedly a bit obsessive about my work." She smiled and looked at Lt. Cho, unable to think of anything more to say.

It was rather obvious to Vince that it was his turn to speak. He, however, had no desire to stand up to address the group. So, with another quick sip of coffee to clear his throat, "I am Vincent Kramer; a former Starfleet officer. I resigned my commission after 3 years and returned to the University, where I received my Doctorate in planetary science. I have been working for the United Federation of Planets for the last 2 years as a Civilian Scientist in Starfleet on several ships during that time."

Vince looked around the table from one side to the other, rocking his head from left to right, and then took another sip of coffee. He thought, These guys are not interested in me. Let's just get on with it.

Jac took the opportunity to speak after the civilian. He folded his hands, one metal, one flesh, in front of him on the table and met everyone's eyes squarely. He wasn't the only newbie in the room but he was one of the most confident. "My name is Jacrux and yes, I am half Romulan. I was born in the now defunct mining colony of Kator. I have been with the Federation for a little over five years. My specialties include anthropology, ethnology, and archaeology. The Venture decided I would be of more use on the Galileo, so I transferred here only a few days ago."

When Victoria had mentioned that she loved languages Jared's ears had perked up and he made a mental note to talk to her after the meeting. There was something about Nat that he liked, her rebel spirit more than likely, but there was no guarantee that they would like each other after they talked. The prospects for romance or for that matter even friendship were uncertain. Besides there was no law against having too many friends, although he was pretty sure that Holiday as cute as he was, would try to find a regulation to cover it.

Kiri was glad there was chance to talk Rihannsu with someone; at least she assumed that Jacrux did. That covered most of the people that she had coming to the meeting, Nesh and Fleming were left. Ariadne Fleming, thinking back Kiri was able to place her. At the Academy they had had several of the same classes together, though Kiri had said maybe a hundred words in three years to anyone at the Academy that wasn't about work. Most of those were, "No thank you," and, "I'm afraid I am busy." Still, that had been all her fault; she should have at least tried to make friends back then.

Ariadne stood up. Taking a deep breath to quell her nerves, she began, "my name is Ariadne Fleming, and I am the Oceanologist. I grew up in Tybee Island, Georgia on Earth, and this is my first posting after graduating the Academy. "She quickly sat down, grateful to be done with that. She cast a glance at Lt. Cho. She knew her from somewhere. Now, where...Oh, yes, the Academy! She was a classmate of Ariadne's from the Academy. Not that she knew her well. Lt. Cho was never much of a conversationalist. But Ariadne never minded. She always found her pleasant company nonetheless. She would need to speak with her later.

TBC:
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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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