The Bard and the Blabbermouth

Posted on 05 Sep 2015 @ 10:16pm by Lieutenant JG Lenaris Marika & Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D.

2,205 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: Uss Galileo - Deck 3, Multipurpose lab
Timeline: MD03 - 10:00hrs

ON:

The news of his old position beimg filled so soon after his "promotion" filled Oren with a mixed feeling of excitement and regret. Now the option of changing his mind and goimg back to his old job was gone. Still, always one to look on the bright side, Oren read the new scientist's personnel file without judgment. Well, a bit of judgment. One should always have a critical eye in their field.

Walking into the lab, Marika whistled a jaunty tune. Totally oblivious to the rooms occupant, she headed for the center console and took a seat. Quickly bringing up her preferred interface, her feet started dancing to the rhythm of her whistling.

Without a thought, her fingers followed suite, pausing and quickening as needed as she went through the database looking for the information she had come here for.

"Well, aren't you an absolute ray of sunshine," Oren said from his corner, smiling broadly. It was refreshing to see someone in their field be naturally cheerful. There were way too many stick in the muds as far as Oren was concerned.

Marika's head shot up in surprise and giggled. She beamed a smile at Oren and jump from her seat and started towards him. "I'm very, oh so sorry. I did not even realize you were there." Evident happiness spread around her in a soft glow. She bowed deeply in respect. "Please accept my sincere apologies."

Oren's smile brightened. "No worries," he assured her. It was refreshing to see someone so focused on their work, even with the ship half-falling apart. The Prophets knew Oren wasn't like that; he was as easily distracter, like a five year old.

"I'm Oren Idris, the new Chief Research Officer," he said, the new title still awkward.

Offering her hand as was customary among most crews, she gazed at him with kindness. "Lenaris Marika, your new Archaeology and Anthropology specialist. Just got in a few days ago from a dig in China which was simply subliiiime! But I'm -so- -very- -extraordinarily- excited to be here." Her excitement could be felt rising as she spoke, to the point she was barely holding herself from jumping in place by the time her sentence was over.

Taking her hand, Oren shook it gently before letting go. "I felt that way when I joined my first ship as archaeologist. Then I realised that there isn't much work for me on a starship. The anthropology work though, is more interesting if you can make your own fun,"

"Yes! But! When we do come across something, chances are we'll be the first to study it in a long time, if at all. And that my adorable new friend, is why I wanted the starship gig." The more she spoke, the more one could feel the excitement emanating from her. Her eyes flared in an almost scary manner as she punctuated her words. "Wait. You said you were an archaeologist? That is simply awesome!."

Anyone sane would probably attempt to get to the nearest exit and run as far away as possible at this point, if only to avoid the warp core breach obviously in progress in this young Bajorans head.

" So where have you been? What have you found? Anything Awesome? Stupid questions, it's all awesooooome!"

Oren's smile widened and he couldn't help but be affected by the young woman's energy.

"We haven't been to many places since i joined, but we did uncover this lost civilization of incorporeal beings," he explained, happy that he finally had someone to geek out with. "You should have seen it! We found this huge cave with what seemed like an endless number of obelisks. They were all in this really intricate pattern that you had to wonder how it was all made! Underground! And suddenly, these red lights like tentacles began to emerge from each one!" Oren spoke excitedly. Though, at the time those events took place, he hadn't been nearly as excited. After all, they had been in danger of dying and one must have priorities, after all.

“Awesome!” Was Marika’s only interjection as she nodded her approval at the recounting. Definitely they would get along just fine. Marika kept smiling, her eyes taking in Oren’s energy as the story was recounted. Her own body language encouraged the young looking research officer to continue.

As Oren continued to describe the room in intricate detail, his voice eventually took on a wistful tone. Finally, he sighed, his mouth forming a pout. "Then we had to leave," he said. "The Institute took over."


Marika sighed with envy, wonder in her eyes. “Wish I could have seen that with my own eyes. But it sounds like it was awesome! Your a very good storyteller. Who should put that aside as a possible career choice should you ever leave starfleet. I wonder if the composition of the obelisks had something to do with why they were there. Did you follow up with the institute? I wonder if they found a communications method. I read about these gaseous life forms on Thotuun V that communicate with a mixture of colors and density. Has to be awesome to get a chance to work with such beings.”

The young ensign took a quick breath, obviously about to continue her barrage of words, but stopped and stared at Oren for a moment. Her gaze was warm, one might say loving. Then something clicked, as she suddenly remembered why she was here. She jumped in place once, as if to shake her innards in hopes things would fall back into place as they should, and then promptly went back to the center console she had been on not long ago.

Oren watched her curiously and briefly wondered if she was on anything. Or if, perhaps, she should be. Walking over to her side, he looked down at the console. "We never got the chance to follow up on it. When I tried, they just said they could confirm nothing at this point in time." He rolled his eyes. "What are you working on?"

“Starfleet is still waiting on my final report on the Xia dynasty dig.” She nodded towards the screen filled with chinese characters and images of various artifacts. “I wanted to be on the field as long as I could, so I postponed my report until my transfer.” Her fingers moved quickly across the screen, bringing up various items and writings. For a moment she seemed almost calm. “I’m going to miss that place.” Turning to look at Oren she beamed another warm smile. “I figured I’d take a few hours to do some touch ups now that my shift is over.”

"So you consider yourself more of an archeologist, then? I've always been more drawn towards cultural anthropology. I only ventured into archaeology years later." Leaning against the console, Oren watched the Ensign work.

“Only in that it’s how I approach life. I’m curious, driven to find answers, not afraid to get my hands dirty, and like most archaeologists, in contrast to most other scientists, I’m ok with not having all the answers.” Seeming thoughtful for a moment, she quickly snapped out of it and grinned at Oren. “So yeah. I’m an archaeologist. Of everything that can grab my interest.” She winked at the El Aurian and giggled.

"I've enjoyed archaeology in the sense that it gave me more insight into the daily lives of the people in ancient civilizations. What they loved and hated, what drove them to get up in the morning and how they saw life. I've always loved learning about people's lives," Oren explained, reaching up to push his bangs away from his eyes so that he could see the Bajoran more clearly.

Marika nodded frantically. "Yes! Yes! Exactly! To get to know people that are separated from us by centuries or millennia is just sooooo awesome!­ It’s the ultimate sneak peek! Something so few will ever truly appreciate. It’s a shame. Sometimes I wish I could open people’s skulls, and flick the interest switch to on, you know?” Her excitement lowered for a second. “It all has more value than people realise. It’s a chance to touch, if only briefly, those who came before us.” The young woman blinked a few times, as if something was in her eye. “So Chief Research Officer… What does that entail exactly?”

"Well, my job is to manage and supervise all research and development projects on the Galileo," Oren replied.

“No.” This was said matter of factly, as if any other possible addition, was irrelevant. Looking up at Oren with a dead serious stare. “That will not do at all.” She stood in a flash and grab both of her colleagues shoulders. “ You make it sound like the most boring job in the world. It has to be interesting. It has to be intriguing. It has to be exciting!” An excited smile reappeared on her face as quickly as the last one had faded.

“Let me think. Keeper of Lore. Protector of Knowledge. Bard of the Great Sciences. No! I got it! Overseer of scientific theorem and discovery. Much much better than chief research officer. Now for an adequate explanation.. innovate and implement scientific and technological discovery for the benefit of the crew and captain of the Galileo. And if you want to go real important-like, you can add .. as well as the Federation and all sapientkind. I know, not a word, but it should be. You have to admit it’s much better than that …” Her hands did a weird shaky wobbly dance as she said those words. “Whatever that was you just said.” She stopped and stared at Oren with such hopeful eyes, her smile still shining as brightly.

"I don't think I can fit all that on the plaque of my office. The one I got was so tiny," Oren pointed out, returning her broad smile with his own. The new archaeologist was proving to be quite a character, and he had a feeling that he would enjoy having her around more, both on and off duty.

“Ha!” Grinning like the cheshire cat, Marika “Then I will make you one! Once our current situation is resolved and we can spare the power.” Sitting back down, she sifted through her data quickly. “And I forgot to sync one of my PADDs. So like me. I’d forget to dress in the morning had I not made it a habit.” She winked at Oren with a sly smile.

"That would make for an awkward visit to the lab," Oren joked, crossing his arms and leaning back on the console. "Unless you were on Betazed. Then it would just be...well, summer," he amended. As she typed, he watched her.

"So...do you have any future projects in mind?"

“Note to self, go to Betazed during summer.” Looking up at Oren with a chuckle. “Thirteen. But I’ll try and bring that down to half a dozen before I present them to you.” She nodded to herself, attempting to convince herself she could do it.

“Just too many interesting possibilities. But I should be able to bring it down to those who have a better chance of offering tangible results. Unless of course I start getting more ideas. Which is prone to happen… mostly every night. Thankfully I usually lock those away for future dates. Unless of course they’re too awesome not to, at which point I add them to the pile, start preliminary work and then try and convince myself not to add another one after that. Which is usually, completely and rather quickly ignored in light of a new idea. Heh! but that's why I became a scientist. I think… there may have been other reasons. There were other reasons. In addition to that. Not in place of. So betazed in the summer eh?”

Oren was chuckling quietly as Marina's mouth seemed to run away with itself. As she finished rambling, he debated whether to comment but decided to let her off the hook.

"Yes," he said instead. "I worked on Betazed for a few years and I studied there before that. It's a very interesting culture, if lacking in privacy on certain levels."

“Awesome!” Looking down at the console for a moment, Marika confirmed her suspicion and groaned. “I really did forget to sync seven and thirteen.” Looking back up at Oren, she gave her new friend an apologetic smile. “Mind if we pick this up later? I need to get this done. But I want to learn more about Betazoid nudist penchants.” She grinned.

Grinning back, Oren nodded. "Sure thing. We can have lunch if you want, but I have to go work too. Being Bard of the great sciences requires at least some of my attention," he told her, making his way to his new office. As he passed, he gave her shoulder a small squeeze. "Keep up the good work!"


OFF:

Lieutenant JG Oren Idris, Ph.D.
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Lenaris Marika
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

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