Marching Orders

Posted on 10 Oct 2014 @ 11:32pm by Lieutenant JG Kalos Jang Ph.D.
Edited on on 11 Oct 2014 @ 12:18pm

941 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: Earth - Starfleet Academy
Timeline: MD -27: 2130 Hours

[ON]

Kal sat in his lab, feet up on his table, eating a bag of hard candy while his computer system ran a new diagnostic of his latest nanomachine. It was a new generation of the machine he'd been working on for the last year and a half; a complex little device designed to protect the bio-neural circuitry that was being built into all of the starships. It was a hell of a robust computer system, fast and capable, but it also presented an increased risk of virus infection over the older systems. They were getting close to installing the new load of machines into a test ship, and there couldn't be room for errors. Purging the nanites after installation would be a pain that nobody wanted to deal with.

It was late, but he didn't really notice. When he was in the middle of the work, everything else faded away. The lab was state-of-the-art, with a holographic interface that allowed Kal to get a view of his designs every which way. Right now, it was in exploded view, with a hundred magnified pieces spread out and expanded over his interface while the computer scanned for irregularities. He had ear phones in, listening to music while he worked. One thing that Earth had going for it was the music. He wasn't sure what exactly he was listening to, but it was loud and it was fast and they were complaining about things.

It spoke to Kal's mood, although the strawberry flavored candies helped.

One minute, Kal was looking at the nanomachine he was working on, the next his SO was standing there, waving her hands and shouting. Kal pulled out his earphones and said, "I was listening to music."

"Were you really? I couldn't tell when I was shouting at you from across the lab."

Commander Gabriela Morales was a small woman, petite with black hair starting to be touched with streaks of gray. She was in charge of Starfleet's Nanoengineering department and thus was Kal's boss. "Almost done with the new schematics, boss," he said, popping a fresh candy in his mouth.

"You're here late."

"What else am I gonna do?"

"Earth is a major cultural center, you know."

"If you say so."

Morales sat down on the edge of the table, looking at the designs he had up. "Oh, you changed the actuator." She held up a bottle of something purplish. "Have a drink with me."

Kal blinked, surprised. He looked around the lab, "Here?"

"Everybody's gone, Kal." She set the bottle down and walked to the break room, coming back with a couple of coffee mugs. Handing him one, she poured a generous helping of the bottle into each cup. "I'm not sure what this is," she warned him. "Admiral Banto gave it to me. I drink it, like, once a year."

Kal sniffed the drink, then took a sip. It was like drinking warp coil coolant. She grinned at the face he made, then took a drink herself. She only just managed to not cough. "Why are we drinking in the lab?"

"Call it a celebration," she said.

"Okay. What are we celebrating?"

She picked up a PADD from the table, pressed a few buttons, then handed it to him. "Lieutenant Jang, you report to the USS Galileo at Starbase 84. I told you I'd get you a field posting."

Kal looked at Morales to see if she was screwing with him as he took the PADD from her and read the orders. "The Galileo?"

"She's a science vessel. You'll be able to do some good work there. Whatever insane nonsense you couldn't do here, if you can get them to sign off on it."

"I still think if you gave me a fresh brain, I could do something spectacular."

"Stop with the brain thing. It's weird."

Kal shrugged and downed the rest of his drink as he looked at the orders. "So she's out there, all the time? It's not like go out for a month on a cruise, come back to work on a lab on the base for three?"

"No, she's a real ship. A good one, too. I know some of the people on her."

Before he'd ever even joined Starfleet, Kal had wanted to get out into space. His two years at the Academy had turned into five years, stuck on Earth. Everywhere you went, everything was free, people were content and Kal was utterly bored. The weather was oftentimes so nice you'd swear they used environmental controls, like on Risa. It made him itch all over. Back home, it rained 95% of the year, everything cost more than it should and people had to fight for everything. Being on Earth was like living inside of a marshmallow.

A ship meant new things. It meant accomplishing something, and seeing planets he'd never seen before. It meant doing work on a ship. "This is final?"

"You've got three days, then you catch a ride out on the USS Solstice. She'll take you most of the way. She's in a hurry, so she'll get you out there in a couple weeks. In the three days left here, you catch your replacement up to speed, say the requisite goodbyes, have a party where you have to be gracious for once in your life, thank me profusely for my help and guidance and then you're gone. Unless you want to stay?"

"Hell, no," Kal said.

Morales smiled. "Okay. Then I'm sorry to see you go. Try to be nice."

"I'm nice."

"You're not a complete monster, I'll give you that."

[OFF]

--

LTJG Kalos Jang
Nanoengineer
USS Galileo

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