Human Hubris (Part 2 of 3)

Posted on 21 May 2016 @ 2:44am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Andreus Kohl & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Lieutenant Wilhelm Von Haeften & Lieutenant Benice Gyce Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Natalya Kirilova & Lieutenant JG Noah Khoroushi & Lieutenant JG Randolf Eklund & Ensign Miraj Derani & Ensign Jerico Stark & Ensign Jaana Voutilainen & Ensign James Langley & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Duval & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Sable Iroh Ph.D.
Edited on on 21 May 2016 @ 2:50am

2,106 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 11 - Divinum Mundi
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Transporter Room 1
Timeline: MD 01 - 2140 hrs

Previously, on Human Hubris (Part 1)...

Following Holliday into the transporter room before the doors closed, Andreus Kohl felt as if he didn't know what to do with his hands. He crossed them over his chest, he dropped them by his side, and then he folded them behind his back. As challenging and uncertain as the assignment had been, some part of Kohl regretted leaving behind his post as Chief Science Officer at a time like this. That anxiety manifested in a tightening of his jaw. Other than that, he simply opted to do what Holliday would do.

Entering the transporter room she saw she wasn't the first to arrive. Clipping her tricorder to her belt Jaana noticed the phaser the security officer was wearing. "Uhm, am I at the wrong place," she asked. "I thought we were going to meet Doctor Iroh and talk about the experiment she's going to run on the planet?"

Greg let out a laugh. "It's a precaution ma'am. I'm fully expecting absolutely nothing to happen, hence why I chose the tiny phaser instead of the big one. Back when I was a cop, we carried always. Even when going to eat. Plus, if you read up on all the crap the Enterprise-D crew had to go through, even on normal scientific expeditions, you would see where I'm coming from."

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

"Yes, of course," Jaana said. She felt stupid, she knew protocol. Away team were always escorted by security. Even when they were just going to go to another vessel and ask some questions to a scientist. She walked further into the room and waited for the others to arrive.

Quinn entered the transporter room with a PADD in his hand. He was more than interested in Dr. Iroh's work, especially ever since his cybernetic arm implant. She was somewhat of a pioneer within the robotics community, and Quinn was determined to met her.

James entered the room next and God damn. What was this? It looked like half the ship was here. Apparently there must have been something lost in translation when it was announced that there would be a boarding party. It was a boarding party, not a boarding party! He was about to about-face when he did exactly that. He'd be damned if he was going to look like a clamoring fool just to get his first words in with a brand new artificial intelligence. No. Instead of waiting in line and taking a number he decided he'd play it cool and run into it or the doctor somewhere else on the ship if the situation presented itself. He exited just as quickly as he entered.

Judging by the number of people waiting for the doctor and her party to beam over, Randy understood instantly. He was sorry to see he wasn't the first security officer to arrive, but glad to see one had arrived so quickly. He was also glad to see the other officer had come armed, just in case. He'd been checking the systems in Deflector Control on Deck 6, so it had taken a few minutes to get up here.

"Everything under control so far, Mr. Mitchell?" Randy asked quietly as he moved up next to the man.

Greg smiled at his superior, "All quiet on the Western Front sir." he replied while looking at everyone gathered in the transporter room. "If you need me on anything else, just give me the word."

"Copy that, Chief," Randy looked around. He was torn. He didn't like having this many of the senior officers gathered in one spot with something outside his control about to beam into the middle of it; too many high-value targets exposed. At the same time, this was their ship. If they weren't safe here, Security had truly failed in its duty. "For now the word is 'vigilance,' at least until we know more about the situation."

Newly minted Lieutenant Wilhelm Von Haeften came into the transporter room at a light jog, afraid he'd see everyone materialize without him. He had decided to steal away some more kisses from Rebecca before he beamed down, and the act had almost caused him to be late. He supposed one day it would get him in trouble, but for now he got away with it. He nodded to everyone that he knew.

Natalya decided to join at the last minute. With so many of the senior officers going she'd felt a need to remain behind on the bridge, but then again, they were still in the Federation core. Any of the junior bridge officers dispatched to relieve them could handle a rogue asteroid or lost freighter asking for directions. She was curious about Dr. Iroh and her work,, even if she didn't exactly approve of it. She would've definitely liked to visit the colony ship, but perhaps there would be time for that later.

Entering at the last minute, Tuula rolled up next to her sister and smiled up at her for a moment. They usually didn't see each other much while they were both on duty, but she still felt happy to have her sister back.

Anthony Duval approached the crowd in the transporter room. "Woah. Full house here!." he mused aloud as he looked over the room.

"Indeed," Gyce confirmed as she stood almost stoically, watching everyone assembled.


Bridge

Miraj watched the bridge empty itself in short order, with a small sense of bafflement. It was a robot. Or a cyborg or something. Either way, it probably knew nothing about flying, no more than any other autopilot system. How interesting could it be? She patted the conn affectionately. "Don't worry, boy. I'm not going anywhere."

She wasn't the only one who had opted to remain behind and man the bridge; from his place at the Ops console, Noah chuckled. "Can you imagine the crush in the transporter room right now?"

"Worse than sardines." Miraj giggled. "If they're not careful they'll come out wearing each others legs."


Transporter Room

Transporter room 1 was now very crowded by all of Galileo's traditional standards. Lirha glanced around at the different crew members who had slowly trickled in over the past several minutes and she was grateful to see so many of them expressing a scientific interest in their pending assignment. And not only the academics, but those brave redshirts who carried their phasers close to their hips in order to protect the rest of the team.

Lirha waited for all of her crew to step up on to the transporter pad, then she walked up to her designated spot and gave the transporter chief a curt nod. "Energize," she commanded.

Eyes widening slightly, Jerico had watched and silently counted as officer after officer filed into the transporter room, lead by none other than the CO herself. Not only was it his first day on the job, but he would be transporting a large bulk of the staff, as well. Right, no pressure there. None whatsoever... Of course, Jerico was a professional, no matter how green he was. He was a damned officer, after all. "Aye, ma'am," Stark responded, initializing communication between his buffers and the destination. "Energizing." Nimble fingers deftly moved along the control boards, tapping various colors and tabs and compensating for the amount of biomatter. That done, he pinged the transponders and...away they went.

A collection of bright white and blue sprinkles began to manifest around the transporter pad of the Galileo, the matter stream from the larger colony ship being downloaded through the smaller Nova's pattern buffers as the figures of their visitors came into being ahead of them.

At the front of the party stood the aforementioned Dr Iroh, her civillian attire covered by a white labcoat that reflected the amount of time she spent busy in her lab. Stepping down she opened her hands in greeting around waist level and approached the assembled party.

"Ahh Admiral Saalm, so nice to meet you in person. Thank you for your gracious invitation to board your vessel. "

"Welcome, doctor," Lirha said in return with an inviting smile. The doctor didn't appear to be quite as old as she remembered from her picture profile, but her smooth dark skin most likely was a product of good genetic appearance. Or simple cosmetics. "Thank you for joining us. Please allow my crew to present themselves," she added, turning sideways to wave a green hand at the large crowd that was assembled. "They are all eager to meet you."

There was a bit of shuffling but Allyndra was probably more used to this kind of formality then most. She made a small bow of the head and tiny bit of curtsy. "Allyndra illm Warraquim," she said her name with the full musical sound and attendant trill. "Chief Medical Officer."

Thankfully, everyone arrived as they should, each with all their requisite parts. For that, Jerico was grateful. Screwing up would have meant a diplomatic incident, at the least. He assumed that the offer to introduce themselves was mainly for the officers more senior than him, or at the very least, not the pup ensigns stuck jockeying the transporter. Taking a half-step back, Stark quietly let the others continue to speak to the doctor and her compatriots.

Protocol gave Natalya a chance to speak without having to elbow her way to the front--one of the newly discovered perks of being a senior officer. "Welcome aboard, doctor. I'm Natalya Kirilova, chief engineer." She kept it simple. Technically she was also a doctor, but her lack of published research made her a virtual unknown in the engineering community. After her introduction she stepped aside to allow some of the others to present themselves.

Given his observations of Doctor Iroh over the subspace communications on the Bridge, Andreus Kohl wasn't hopeful that the scientist would have patience for this degree of Starfleet pomp and circumstance. He introduced himself as, "Commander Kohl," but he said it so quickly, it probably sounded more like mandaco. He cleared his throat and he added, "Second officer."

As the doctor's head swung in his direction, Randy was once again reminded how much simpler life had been before being promoted. "Lt. Eklund, ma'am. Security." He was fairly certain that concise and direct was the way to go here. He glanced over to Mitchell, perfectly attentive, and was impressed with the man. Though it was highly unlikely they'd need it, Randy was relieved to see that at least one person had had the common sense to bring a phaser to this little gathering. Maybe he was just a bit paranoid, but better to have a phaser and not need it than the other way around.

Greg, being a low level security officer, didn't know if he was supposed to also introduce himself, especially since he had a limited scientific understanding. Instead, he just politely smiled in the general direction of Doctor Iroh, while standing by the door behind everyone, before surveying the room again.

"Lieutenant Benice Gyce," the Bajoran announced and bowed her head respectfully to their guest. "I'm Galileo's chief of security."

"Lieutenant Wilhelm Von Haeften, Chief of Science." Wil said with a curt nod.

Duval looked around. "Warrant Officer Second Class Anthony Duval." he rumbled.

"Doctor Tuula Voutilainen," said Tuula, placing a hand on her sister's arm. "And this is my little sister Jaana!" she exclaimed, her excited attitude a sharp contrast to her dark makeup.

Luke bowed his head in respect and gratitude, "Lieutenant Luke Wyatt, I am the ships Strategic Operations Officer. I hope you have a pleasant stay aboard the Galileo Doctor" He smiled and then stepped back allowing others to introduce themselves.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Noah Khoroushi
Assistant COPS
USS Galileo

WO2 Anthony Duval
Engineer
USS Galileo

LCmdr Allynda illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Natalya Kirilova
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Commander Andreus Kohl
Second Officer
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Dr Sable Iroh
Chief Researcher
[pNPC Holliday]

ENS Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

AMB Caymen Greener
Diplomat
USS Galileo

CWO2 Greg Mitchell
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Jaana Voutilainen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo

LT Wilhelm Von Haeften
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Reyes
Commanding Officer
USS Semmes
[PNPC Saalm]

And other Galileans...

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