Meet the Science Staff, Part 1

Posted on Fri Jan 12th, 2024 @ 6:33am by Ensign Dani Harper
Edited on on Fri Jan 12th, 2024 @ 2:19pm

1,152 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 0: Where do we go from here?
Location: Deck 5: Chief Science Officer's Lair
Timeline: MD: -6 Days to Launch, 0830 hours

Ensign Dani Harper didn't bother to unpack her bags before she made a beeline for the main science labs on Deck 5. She was hoping to see if she'd get a chance to meet her new bosses, but if nothing else she wanted to make the rounds and at least check out all of the labs. When she opened the door to Science Lab 1 she found it in pristine condition - completely untouched. The ship hadn't been in use in at least a decade, and the entire ship had basically undergone a complete refit. She stood in awe. Dani had never worked in a brand new lab before.

There was a loud thud, which must have come from right out of the corner of her eye. Ghiram exhaled dramatically, pushing the large machine towards the middle of the counter, the skittering sounds of the plastic scraping across the surface making his ears curl up.

"Why do these mass spectrometers have to be so damn heavy?"

"Hello?" Dani called out. "I can help with that," she offered enthusiastically as she made her way quickly toward the noise. Seeing the Tellarite officer she became even more excited. "You must be the the Assistant Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Ghiram!" she exclaimed. "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Ensign Dani Harper. I'm very excited about this new posting, sir. I'm eager to get to work straight away, if there's anything that you need any assistance with at all," she offered, momentarily forgetting about the loud complaint regarding the heavy equipment.

"Eh, it's already where I want it on the table. And yes. I am." His scowl twisted up into a polite smile. "Right now, I'm just unpacking my office- I have no plans on bossing some ensign around into doing manual labor for me. Why, is that how it went on your last assignment?"

"Use an anti-grav lift," Vila said, as she entered the office. "Don't hurt yourselves; trust me, you don't want to have to explain an injury before we've even disembarked," she said. "Dr. Lorut, Chief Science Officer. Are you Lt. Korin and Ensign Harper?" She asked. She had gotten word that two people had already gotten their orders and had arrived to do on-boarding checks. Impressive and excellent, she was already pleased. "After you get those set up, come on into the main office. We can chat," she said.

"Yeah, I'll use an anti-grav lift for a box about the size of my head." Ghiram grumbled. "It's Lieutenant Ghiram, not Korin," he said, "Tellarites don't use their family names like you do."

Dani grinned from ear to ear as she rocked from her heels to her toes in excitement. The Chief Science Officer and Second Officer of the entire ship knew her name. "Yes, Commander - er Dr. Lorut, Ensign Dani Harper reporting for duty. I am so honored to meet you, ma'am. And you are our Second Officer as well. This is quite an assignment. I know it's an older ship, but the refit and new commission it feels like we are starting on a brand new starship." Dani fought the urge to squee with excitement.

Hiram glanced at Dani's bouncing and let out a bemused snort. "Are you alright? Do you need to go to the bathroom or something?"

The smile fell from Dani's face as she composed herself to look more serious. She took an official attention posture. "No, sir. I apologize for my behavior," she responded nodding in acknowledgement to her superiors. Ugh, how could be be so careless. These were her commanding officers and instead of acting like an officer she acted like a childish school girl. She'd never see a promotion if she couldn't get her act together.

"Commander is fine," she said. She turned to the other person. "My apologies, Lieutenant," she said. "I don't use my first name, so we're similar in that way," she said. Bajoran naming customs were strange. "And if you need to say something, please say it aloud," she said. "It will fit fine on the lift," she said. "Especially if teleport it on there," she said, and then continued on her way to the office area. "Like I said, come join me. Informal science staff meeting. Get yourselves something from the Replicator," she called out behind her. A moment later, she had a cup of steaming Jumja tea and had put on her lab jacket. She settled down at the small table that served as a desk, meeting table, and eating surface all in one, and waited for the junior officers. As she waited, she did a little work on her PADD. Second officer duties were more than her Chief duties, and required some extra attention.

Ghiram followed the commander, opting to stand behind the chairs at the meeting table. "I'm fine." He folded his arms behind his back.

Vila simply sighed, but nodded. "Alright. Feel free to sit down, we're not officially on duty until we launch," she said, setting aside her PADD. "What brings you to the Imperator?" She asked. "Miss Harper? Feel free to take a seat, too," she said. "You'll find I run the labs tightly, but I try not to be too uptight," she said. "If you show up, do your work, and stay out of trouble, we'll be fine," she said. "Any questions off the bat?" She asked the two.

Seeing Ghiram skip the replicator, Dani decided to as well, shuffling into the office behind him not wanting to delay the meeting. She glanced quickly at the Tellarite lieutenant who was still standing before sliding into one of the seats.

"I'm here first and foremost for research purposes- being near the Romulan Free State makes my studies much easier. Ever since the evacuation began, we've had unprecedented access to Romulan cultural knowledge, and I hope to document as much as I can before they start closing themselves off from the galactic community again." He stopped to let others speak, so he had time to think of questions- and insults.

Dani looked at Dr. Lorut sheepishly. "Honestly Commander, I didn't request a transfer from my old assignment, I was asked if I would be willing to take this position. But I'm just as happy to be here all the same. I know the Imperator's primary mission isn't science related, but I noticed with the refit there is quite a bit of lab space here. I've done most of my work in xenobiology and botany, but I'm willing to be a team player and work where ever you see fit. Hopefully, I'll prove myself worthy of running my own projects - under your leaderships of course," Dani said looking back and forth between the two officers.

>> To Part 2 >>

Commander Vila Lorut
Second Officer, Chief Science Officer
USS Imperator

Lieutenant JG Ghiram Korin
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Imperator

Ensign Dani Harper
Science Officer
USS Imperator

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