No one can Throw a Party Like a Scientist!

Posted on 05 Dec 2014 @ 1:33pm by Commander Norvi Stace & Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Petty Officer 3rd Class David Emerson & Nesh Saalm & Senior Chief Petty Officer Anthony Davis & M'Ressa & Seleya Qellar Ph.D. & Petty Officer 1st Class Viru Evek & Tarishiana Barel & Lieutenant JG Cyrin Xanth & Ensign Jaana Voutilainen & Trisant Myrddin & Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeroen Adlar & Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc. & Petty Officer 1st Class Pieter Van Zyl Ph.D. & Corynn'tha M.D., Ph.D. & Petty Officer 1st Class Threxa Shroll
Edited on on 05 Dec 2014 @ 1:55pm

3,397 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: Starbase 84, Conference Lounge
Timeline: MD 07 - 2100 Hrs

ON:

The white table cloth seemed to run on for miles from where Stace stood, balancing haphazardly on her chair at its head. Candle sticks and glasses and bottles of champagne flowed from her end right the way down to the other, two rows of faces either side of the table standing guard like a ceremonial tunnel; each member of the science department had a glass in hand as it was raised towards the centre of the table forming what looked like a cathedral roof.

A little more inebriated than she cared to admit, the balancing act was hindered more by the plush cushion her delicate feet stood on than the wine but in dress uniform she looked positively regal.

"I'd like to take this moment to thank each and everyone of you for your service these past few weeks. It hasn't been easy and we've seen some things that I'd rather forget. But we couldn't function as a science research ship without everyone pulling together around the clock."

She nodded to Kohl as he stood to her right and smiled warmly. "Our Assistant Chief, newly promoted Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl, is also moving across to our Research division and despite the extra work he's leaden me with, I couldn't be happier!" She raised her glass a further inch and chimed in "Congratulations!" with the roar that thundered from down the table.

"But before we get too sentimental and 'talky', there's champagne to be drunk and food to be eaten so... if you'll please!" And at that, she indicated for everyone to sit and the for the first course to be served.

Abbey sat down, her new crewman insignia resting heavy on her collar she enjoyed wearing mess uniform and the long skirt she wore clung smoothly against her figure showing all her curves. She had found a seat that sat next to Elijah and she smiled at how proud she had been when she told him earlier today before the meal. They had both jumped up and down laughing as he showed his own Lieutenant Pips, A much bigger achievement but he always knew how to make her feel special. "I am so hungry" Abbey stated turned to Elijah with her glass of wine in her hand the effects of which already making her head light and bubbly.

"Me too," Elijah said. He was glad to be here, sure he didn't know all the scientists but that was okay. This would be the chance to do so. He smiled. Wearing a dress uniform wasn't horrible, he didn't wear one that often to really care. He was quite proud of the two full pips on his collar and honestly he couldn't help but keep smiling at the thought. He had never thought in a million years it would happen to him. "We need to hit up the starbase's restaurants and bars."

Jaana had found herself a place at the other side of the table. She wasn't very comfortable right this minute. Social gatherings had never been her thing, not that she even considered not showing up to this. She had too show. She made a deal with herself to get a life, as her sister had called it. Mingle with others. And glancing around the table she realised she really needed to do that more. She didn't know many people in this room, even though she had been working with them for a few weeks now. Not directly, but still. She should at least know who was who.

Next to Jaana, Pieter was feeling no better. He rarely stuck his nose out of the Botany lab and on the rare occasion that he did, he always seemed to feel a bit awkward. But since getting the invitation from the CSO it seemed in bad taste to outright refuse it. If worse came to worst, he could always make up an excuse and leave.

Resting his hands in front of himself, Pieter had opted for wearing his VOICE-integrated glasses, but it had been such a long time since he'd used them, he couldn't help but feel slightly nervous about whether or not he would be able to catch everything that was being said.

Kal was sitting across the table from Pieter, looking at the spread. It was impressive, to say the least. He was in his dress uniform, as well, freshly cleaned. Back at his job in Starfleet Academy, there were always parties left and right that he had to attend. Dignitaries coming to see this or that. It seemed almost like he spent more time in his dress uniform than his regular, sometimes. It was fine with him, though. He always thought he made it look good. So far, he only knew Stace, Kohl and Xanth, but there was plenty of wine. That always helped people meet. Kal looked at the person next to him as he took a sip of wine. "You guys have parties like this very often?"

"Oh, I believe we hold quite a few parties." Shroll smiled, her antennae wiggling excitedly. She hadn't been around at the gathering for very long, but had somehow managed to procure herself just enough wine to develop a slight buzz. Had she thought to dress for the occasion, she would have been in full dress uniform. She seemed to have missed the memo, however, and was instead dressed in her normal work attire. "We don't usually get the science team gathered together like this, however. It is quite an occasion... by the way, I do not believe we have met. I'm Threxa Shroll!" She eyed where she supposed Kal would be, likely missing her mark by at least a few centimeters.

"Kalos Jang," Kal replied as Shroll looked a bit at an angle. He glanced down the table where she was looking and saw nothing. Maybe she was blind? Either way, he nodded and smiled. "What do you do for the department, Threxa?"

"Oh!" Shroll attempted to re-align herself to where the voice ran off to, missing the mark by a couple of centimeters to the right. "I'm the zoologist. Last mission was quite a busy one for me, I almost couldn't keep up! Multiplying tribbles are difficult to tally up, after all." She stuck a hand out in his general direction. "It's nice to meet you, Ka-los? That's a fun name. Kalos. Or do you prefer Jang?"

"Kal is fine," he said, smiling as he shifted a bit to his side to try and match her gaze again as he took her hand. "That's what everybody calls me. What do you do when you're not wrangling tribbles?"

Shroll happily shook the man's hand, relieved that she wasn't going to have to go looking for him. "Zoologist things, I suppose. Tending to the animals in the Arboretum-we have quite a few, you should see them some time, Kal! What about you? Maybe we can compare notes under a microscope some time?"

"Nanoengineer," he said. "I'm always looking for new applications. You never know when the little machines might come in handy."

"Ooo!" Shroll bounced a little closer in her seat, antennae wiggling excitedly. "I've never worked with a nanonengineer before. That should be exciting!.... When we're not on shore leave, of course!"

Maybe it was just the alcohol, but he'd never met anybody so interested in his line of work before. He always assumed it was just because people didn't know how awesome it was yet. "Oh, I'll be in the labs pretty much the whole time. I just got on the ship, I'm ready to go to work. Stop by some time."

"Oh, I'd love to!" Shroll nearly bounced in place, completely oblivious to his line of work and what 'nanoengineering' implied. Not that discovering what it was would have changed her enthusiasm much. "I'll be sure to stop in!"

"As long as you don't bring the animals," he said, smiling.

A nervous and gangly ball of suppressed energy sat down the far end of the table from where his superiors were at, and Cyrin had raised his glass to the toast with a wary look for the liquid in his glass. It was deceptive, this light and bubbly concoction called champagne, and he was determined to be careful and only have the one glass. He'd looked up the chemical composition in the computer the other day, as well as numerous first-hand accounts of people's experiences with it, and he wasn't about to risk a repeat of his night out with Security. He tried a smile out on Jaana sitting on his right, the only other ensign in the room, and observed in a soft voice, "And I'd thought that serving on a science vessel would be all experiments and simulations."

>tag all chatter and introductions, food and drink<

Jeroen smiled to himself as he looked around, holding his glass close. He was older than most here...and with it, quieter. And quit on his way drinking as well by now. He watched the others talk, chuckling to himself. Geeks getting drunk was...well, always fun. And they were all a group of socially awkward misfits, despite everyone trying to deny it. Even him. He reached to refill his glass, taking a slow, deep breath.

Stace smiled warmly at the chatter that was filling the room as she looked about her with a full glass in her hand. It was rare for the entire department to get together socially, and scientists being the unique breed of animal that they were, weren't necessarily built for social interactions. They could give a thesis on the intricacies of electronic resonance scanner usage during its temperamental development during the early 2320s at the drop of a hat, but ask them to hold a conversation with a near perfect stranger and they'd rather you demote them. But it was nice to see her crew trying to socialise, and being the belly of a science-specific vessel, it was imperative that they did this once in a while.

Stace raised her glass and tapped it with her spoon, creating a subtle ring that resounded throughout the room. "If I could have your attention for a brief moment," she said, beaming a smile. "I'd like to nominate Lieutenant Commander Kohl here to give a speech on behalf of our research division. Mr. Kohl?" Norvi loved putting people on the spot, her mischievous streak coming out to play when she got the chance.

Without missing a beat, Kohl had one hand wrapped around the neck of his champage bottle and he rose to his feet. He didn't go so far as to stand on his chair, but he refused to make his toast until his champange flute was filled to the rim. Kohl declared, "I can only begin by thanking every one of you for your focus, your insight, and your engagement throughout this past mission. Even judging by the research you were conducting and the conclusions you were reaching back when we were warping towards Lyshan Three, I honestly believed we would have this solved and sewn up before we even reached the planet. Without all of you, I wouldn't be in this position now. Thank you all for making me look cleverer than I am."

Kohl raised his flute, and then he took a long swig of the champagne, and then he continued talking. "I can't say I've worked with all of you devoted primarily to the Research division, but I did work closely with those of you in the planetary sciences. I must commend you personally for putting aside your personal interests, and the interestes of your affiliated scientific organizations and publications. Not once did any of you balk at putting the mission operations first. I thank you for that. ...But now let's get you back to your own-- Wait. What?"

Kohl's face twisted into a sneer and his head bobbed back. He raised an acusing finger to somewhere behind the table. "What is that awful thing doing here?" Kohl asked.

Stace's eyes widened at what Kohl was pointing at. Her head cocked to one side as she then narrowed her gaze. "Is it...?" she trailed off, now pushing her chair back with the backs of her knees. "No, it can't be." She came out from her table settling and slowly made her way to it. Suddenly, the ball of fluff she was heading for began to quiver and then hiss. It was a Tribble with flaring red eyes! The hiss then became a guttural, ear piercing scream as it leapt up from the floor, followed by three more from behind it, and jumped on Stace. She fell backwards, her arms flailing about around her. "Help me!" she screamed.

"Computer," Kohl shouted out. "Initiate quarantine protocols for this compartment!" The computer responded in the affirmative with an electronic chirp, and the distinctive hum of forcefields activating around the room.

"What the hell is going on?" Elijah jumped up from his chair, the piece of furniture falling back onto the deck. He watched a possessed Tribble jump up onto 'Commander Stace. He rushed to her and grabbed the fur ball and flung it toward the others. He had no idea where the heroics were coming form, he had continued of the belief that this mission changed him. Nevertheless, he was tired of the furry creatures. He reached out to help Stace up and then looked to Kohl. "Where are they coming from?"

Kohl, meanwhile, had shuffled down along the table, and he overturned a soup bowl. Trying to capture one of the tribbles, Kohl slapped the bowl down on the surface, but the tribble escaped his ceramic clutches. "The one I saw," Kohl replied hurriedly, "came from out of the life support duct." Kohl dropped the bowl again, but again, the tribble scurried faster.

Wondering what all the excitement was about, Cyrin stood from his chair and looked on in horror as the sweet, cuddly Tribbles were tossed around, shrieked, and nearly trapped beneath tableware. The poor things! There was so much pandemonium around him though that he couldn't reach for the one Kohl had nearly smashed, and he wondered about the sanity of these humans.

Having knocked back his chair with an urgent scrape, Trisant Myrddin was scrambling to his feet and chasing after the last tribble. He reached for it, clapping his hands together each time he missed the viscious, hissing thing.

Stace suddenly relaxed as a beaming smile formed on her lips. She cut Kohl a glance and winked.

When Kohl caught sight of Stace's wink, he stopped trying to capture Tribbles underneath an impromptu bell jar. Kohl tilted his head towards Stace and he frowned petulantly. "I don't think they bought it," he said.

Stace threw her head back and stared at the ceiling with a smile. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the control and deactivated the remote tribbles. "Ah, it was fun while it lasted," she said, looking to Kohl and then casually returning to her seat as though nothing had happened. She looked to Elijah and smiled. "Nice to know that you protected me though," she said with a smile.

She surveyed the table, candlesticks knocked over, glasses of wine spilled and arranged flowers now... not so arranged. She sighed and took up her glass of champagne again. "Not the best practical joke I've seen executed," she murmured quietly to the table. "And perhaps a little too soon after what we've all been through. But if you can't turn something into a laugh then you've already lost at it."

She turned her attention back to Kohl. "Perhaps just table-magicians and a singer next time, Commander,"

"Lap dancers," Kohl said dryly. "Lap dancers had my vote."

Nesh had appeared on the scene just in time to miss the tribble-trick. Had she not, she may have been one of the more excitable, but all she was was confused the moment she wandered into the party room, holding a pair of bottles of Orion liquor for the occasion. ".... Did I miss the party already?"

Elijah looked between the two lieutenant commanders, at first confused by what just happened. Then, as he watched it dawned on him. Though he wasn't sure why such a joke, he found himself smiling and then laughter erupted.

Cyrin went back to his chair, confused. He was definitely going to need to read up on the Galileo's last mission. He reached out to pluck up one of the robot Tribbles and started dabbing it with a cloth to soak up some of the spilled wine it had landed in, then started examining it.

Chuckling awkwardly, Kohl also returned to his chair. He was pleased to discover he still had a full flute of champange waiting for him. He grinned over at Stace, and he said, "We may need to nominate a morale officer now, Commander. We're a bit hopeless at it."

Kal, for his part, once he realized the "tribbles" were actually robots, couldn't help grabbing one himself. He'd always loved machines, and ones this realistic were good, too. "I don't suppose these are party favors?" He tried to find a seam in the fur to disassemble it and see what they'd done to build it.

"That's," --As he spoke, Kohl jabbed a finger in the direction of the tribble in Kal's hands-- "That's exactly what they are," Kohl said excitedly. He flashed a relieved smile over at Stace. "Our sense of humour is appreciated."

Stace returned the warm smile back to Kohl as she picked up her glass. "We may have all come through some harrowing experiences these past few weeks," she said, raising her glass to the room again as the din began to subside, "but it can't all be work and service and science and research. We've all worked so very hard to get here; to be posted on one of the most scientifically advanced and specified vessels in the fleet. Especially us in this field... in this department. We are what this ship was built for! And I don't want any of you to forget that. Whether some of you will transfer out and move to bigger and brighter things; whether your job descriptions and disciplines change... You were all here! And still are here. And for that I am grateful."

She jeered up her glass and broke into a proud grin. "To the Science Galileans!"

From his seat, Kohl raised his glass as high as Stace had done. "Hear, hear!" Kohl chimed in.

Through the commotion of the tribble joke Abbey had lost Elijah and spent most of the time at the back of the group as people started to once relax she found him again and hooked her arm round his "Don't ever get any prank idea's from them Mr" She teased "I don't like pranks" She lied, in reality she was the one who always took things way, way to far. Raising her glass she followed everyone else's lead "So say we all"

Elijah threw Abbey a smile, it was something of a bit of reassurance. Besides, he didn't play practical jokes and admittedly he was embarrassed he fell for this one so easily. He reached for a random glass and held it up but said nothing more.

"Party... favors?" Nesh may have been confused, but she wasn't going to miss a toast. Snatching up the nearest glass of whatever was next to her, she raised it up. "Here here!"

Kal was busy trying to find the seam in the fur of the robotic tribble he'd picked up to get at the machine bits inside, but he knew people were toasting. Without thinking, he raised the tribble in the air in salute, then quickly brought it back down, hoping nobody noticed.


[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Commander Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer & Second Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Elijah Williams, IV
Geologist
USS Galileo

PO 1rst Threxa Shroll
Zoologist
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Kita]

Cadet FG Nesh Saalm
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Kita]

Lieutenant JG Kalos Jang
Nanoengineer
USS Galileo

Ensign Jaana Voutilainen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo

PO1 Pieter Van Zyl
Botanist
USS Galileo

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