Of Civilizations past and meetings that are fast

Posted on 10 Sep 2016 @ 4:14pm by Lieutenant JG Lenaris Marika & Lieutenant JG Braxton MacKenzie
Edited on on 10 Sep 2016 @ 10:11pm

1,583 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Chief Science Officer's Office
Timeline: MD -02 1548h

[ON]

Braxton sat in his new office going over Starfleet info and creating the new schedule for staff. He'd sent a note to all science staff to pop by and say hi and he had yet to receive a visit.

With a knock and bump, Marika made her presence known, her reading of last months report on the Haradian city ruins taking up most of her attention. For minutes she stood there PADD in hand, head in the metaphorical clouds, trying to imagine herself heading such an expedition.

Braxton looked up from the reports he'd been reading and stood walking towards the young woman. "Hello. You must be Lieutenant Lenaris." He'd read all the staff files. This was his archaeologist. A fellow digger! The one he knew he would watch like a hawk, not because she did anything wrong but because her expertise was his. "Come on in and sit down."

With a smile and a hop, Marika entered the room and offered a traditional Betazoid curtsy. "You summon! I appear!" A giggle quickly followed suit as she sat down, closing her PADD and setting it on her knees.

Braxton was caught off guard. Something that didn't happen often. The curtsy, the words, the giggle, the hop. He shook his head. She reminded him of a bubbly fairy. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it and then headed to sit on his chair. He set his cup on the table and lowered to himself down still feeling quite thrown off balance by her. The only problem was that his chair wasn't where it was suppose to be and instead of making contact with the chair his behind made contact with the floor. He let out an undignified yelp as he fell.

The young Bajoran peeked over the table, eyes sparkling with amusement. She disappeared momentarily only to reappear at his side, taking a seat on the floor as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "I did always prefer the ground myself." She cocked her head slightly to the right and offered a smile, with it every chance for him to keep his dignity despite the situation. "I take it you're my new boss?"

Braxton had to work hard to keep from laughing. The little sprite had sat on the floor so he wouldn't feel bad. He shook his head and stood up. "Yes...and I fell fair and square so you don't have to try and help me keep my dignity...I lost that long time ago." He smiled and Offered her his hand. "Shall we try that again with real chairs?"

With a shrug she took his offered hand. "I wasn't lying about my preferences, but chairs are good too." She smiled amicably as she made her way around the desk, back to her chair.

"Alright well I'm the new chief Braxton MacKenzie. Tell me about your self Ms. Lenaris. And can I get you something to drink?" His professionalism was returning.

"Hmmmm..." She paused to consider the question for a moment, obviously overthinking it, her eyes darting as she stared at nothing. "Tulaberry Juice please." She smiled as she looked back to him and her eyes focused on something again.

"I'm sure anything you need to know is in my profile really. Did you have anything specific in mind?"

Braxton got the juice and a tea for himself. Handing her the Juice he sat down in his own chair. "Well tell me what drew you to the field, what you like about your job, what you dislike, things you are working on now."

"I usually juggle about a dozen possible projects, half of which I actually end up working on. I can send those I'm currently working on. Although I should warn you they change quite often." She grinned and continued. "As for my job, I love it. Nothing to dislike really. I'm in space, I do space things, then I read papers and work on my own in the meantime. If I'm really lucky, at some point I'll get to use my expertise in the field. In any case, I learn more, which is the poit of it all."

He gave a nod. Braxton picked up his mug and sipped the warm contents. "Well Archaeology is a specialty of mine so I would like to be kept updated on what you are working on." It was always like that. He usually kept a close watch on archaeologists in his department yet...he'd grown over the years and he'd learned to share. "May I be honest with you?"

The Bajoran nodded eagerly. "I'd hope you always are."

"I am but this is...well different. Because of my specialty and love of Archaeology I tend to keep a close eye on those in the field. I don't want you to think that I mistrust you it's just I have a strong love of the subject matter and I like to keep informed. If I get too nosy please feel free to tell me and some of my archaeologists have told me that I tend to assign most of the work to myself in that area. It is true but I'm trying to change that and share the work." He chuckled. "So I'm going to need you to be direct if you think I'm not giving you enough work or if I step on your toes. Know it's not malice or wanting glory it's a genuine love for all things historical."

Marika nodded again. "Sure thing. You'll find I'm both low maintenance and have no difficulty speaking my mind." She offered the man a wink and a giggle. "Then again, I have been known to leave a trail of debris on occasion." While that was both an understatement, and a friendly warning, it was clear there was more than a little heedlessness to this person.

He smiled. "I appreciate honesty. I also tell my staff feel free to call me Braxton. I'm not big on rank. In my department everyone is equal. Now your turn to ask questions."

"Do you play an instrument?" The question was prompt, without hesitation. For whatever reason, this was a question she was obviously looking forward to ask.

"Piano and electric Guitar." He said. "How about yourself?"

"Ooooo! I play the Bajoran oboe and the Chinese erhu! We should totally hook up and play sometime! Tuula in medical plays the harp and I think crewman Decker plays the drums and the Operations Chief plays some guitar I've heard. I wanted to learn the guitar. My roommate well the one I had was supposed to teach me but my sweet prince ran off to become a fighter pilot and so I'm stuck with no knowledge of it. Ever been in a band? Because we should totally start one up! Tuula and I talked about it but then things got all weird and there was evil versions of everyone running around causing mayhem and then it was shore leave and I caused mayhem of my own and then everyone was so busy not making the habitats explode that we never got a chance to actually go through with it and now I'm rambling on and on I do that sometimes, I'll shut up now."

The fact the speed of the speech had increased more and more as she went on, went only hand in hand with her excited gestures, obvious passion for the subject and finally her bouncing off the chair, only to sit back down when she finally did stop.

Braxton smiled. This woman was so bubbly. He was happy to see her excited about something but her enthusiasm about the band and him in it... "Well I'm sure I'm not band worth." He said with a smile.

"THAT! Is preposterous! Anyone can do well in a band. You just need to find your place. And when you fear it, then you embrace it!" She held her chin up defiantly.

He smiled at her. He rally liked this girl. "Okay well maybe I'll play for you one day." He didn't know why he offered. He never did.

"AWESOME!" With evident glee, Marika jumped from her chair and clapped. Somehow the 'maybe' didn't register at all. "That reminds me of the ti..." A loud series of chirps inturrupted her, saving her superior from a rather lengthy story. "Oh shoot! I forgot I need to get in the brig!" Without waiting, she shot outside the room, barely waiting for the doors to open.

Her head popped back sideways in a very cartonny way. "See you later!" She flashed the man a toothy grin and started running.

He hadn't dismissed her..."Wait!" he called. Braxton stood. "Why the brig he asked. Really curious now.

Already in something of a half run, and thinking about half a dozen different things, Marika didn't hear her boss calling out to her. She turned the corner just as he stepped out of his office.

"Miss Lenaris! Hang on a second!" He yelled as he turned the corner.

Tripping on a bit of raised carpet Braxton splattered facedown just as the lift doors closed whisking Marika away.

He stood and sighed frustrated. He'd have to add that to his department rules, no running off on the department head before he's dismissed you...one would think common sense but...

[OFF]

*******

Lieutenant Junior Grade Lenaris Marika
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

&

Lieutenant Junior Grade Braxton MacKenzie
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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