A Sleeping Fancy

Posted on 01 Mar 2015 @ 2:10pm by Lieutenant JG Tulkas Eido & Commander Norvi Stace

1,503 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo - CSO's office, Deck 4
Timeline: MD07 - 09:00hrs

((Just a brief disclaimer, I'm doing a lot of introductory JPs, and in the spirit of getting them done reasonable fast, I'm writing them at much the same time. If something a previous encounter says might influence the writing here, I may need to make a brief change. I'll point out if I do though, and I expect most of it to be introspective changes!))

"Deck 4." Tulkas clasped his hands behind his back as the turbolift made its short journey from the second deck to the fourth. He instantly felt more at home as he found himself in the beating heart of the Galileo. Here, science came first, exactly as it should.

It was oddly quiet, a result of the imminent shore leave, no doubt. The senior officers were always last to leave the ship. His next two appointments were in theory, next to each other. He knew drastically little about either the Chief Science Officer, or the Chief Research Officer.

He announced his presence at the door to the CSO's office, and adjusted his uniform for what felt like the twentieth time already today.

"Come in," the Trill called almost without noticing. She placed down her cup of coffee and then raised her eyes to the door as it breathed open. Her relaxed face now flourished into a smile as she flashed a greeting at him with her eyes. "Hi," she said, almost informally. "What can I do for you?"

Tulkas swept into the room and stood formally a few feet away from the desk, his hands behind his back. "Lieutenant Eido reporting for the scheduled meet and greet, Ma'am. I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Scheduled?" Stace parroted with a confused look whipping across her face. "I'm - uh - sorry." She quickly rifled through the three data padds on her desk and scrolled through two of them. Her eyes dotted about the screen as her brows knitted together. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I only returned from the decontamination unit this morning. I didn't think Starfleet would be so quick to plough more work on me after everything we've been through." Her eyes flicked up to meet her visitor. "I assume you're reporting for duty before we break for shoreleave?"

The Denobulan nodded, not moving from his rigid stance. "Yes Ma'am. Someone in administration has a strange notion of appropriate timing." He smiled slightly as he waited for the Commander to get into the right mind-space.

She wiped her forehead and then shook her head, bringing herself back into the room. "Let's start from scratch, shall we? I'm Commander Norvi Stace. It's nice to meet you, Lieutenant. Can I offer you a drink or something?"

"Tulkas Eido, and water would be lovely, thank you." He replied politely. He suddenly realised that the meeting with Commander Blake has left him parched.

Stace smiled silently, stood up and replicated the water, placing it down in from of the lieutenant and offered him the seat on the opposite side of the desk. "I have to admit," she added, lowering herself down into her own seat and interlocking her fingers in front of her, "I haven't so much as given the new transfer list a glance. And, if I'm honest, I wasn't going to until I installed myself on the starbase in the temporary quarters. But, you shan't be punished for yours - or Starfleet's - eagerness. What position have you been assigned with us?"

"Exobiology, within Planetary Sciences, as I'm to understand it, Ma'am." He moved to sit down, adjusting his uniform yet again as he adjusted himself into the chair. He then subconsciously copied Stace, interlocking his own fingers in a similar manner to her. "I've spent the last 4 years in a similar position aboard an Intrepid class, the USS Tigran. Good, solid and more importantly needed work, but not pushing the envelope like the Galileo does."

"And that, Lieutenant, is why I am proud to head up this department and specifically on this ship." Her warm smile now developed to cut her teeth into her features. "You'll be a valuable addition, as I am sure your placement here will, in turn, return the favour to your service record. She's a fine ship."

"Thank you Ma'am." He smiled, wider this time. "Although it might sound cliched, the reward for me is exploring more of what the universe has to offer, rather than furthering my career." He reached forward for the water and took a brief sip after he'd finished speaking, before adding, "Luckily for me, I avoided the Tribbles, I can't imagine they overly help exploration nor career opportunities."

"They certainly widen your threshold for tolerance, I can vouch for that!" She chuckled a little at her own joke and then returned back to the conversation, taking a sip. "Do you have an professional goals with us?"

"Getting the experience I need to be able to have my own team some day, Ma'am. Gathering data for furthering not just my own, but Starfleets understanding of the cosmos." He placed his glass back on the table.

"So you're after my job?" Stace glared back with a mock expression. But then she relaxed into a smile. "It's a good goal to have, and one that I am proud to have accomplished. Do you have any external research that you wish to continue on the Gally?"

"I have a few projects, Ma'am," Tulkas replied, appreciating her levity. "Most relate to the later part of Terraforming, the introduction of the biosphere to an adjusted environment. I am trying to find a way to speed up the process, so it doesn't take 150 or 200 years to stabilise the ecosystem. Bioseeding."

Stace's eye piqued as she turned her mouth downwards, considering what the lieutenant had proposed. "Bioseeding?" she queried, cocking her head to one side. "That certainly sounds interesting. Do you have an official proposal just yet or are you in the early stages of planning?"

"Very much early stage. I'm planning on running a few very preliminary simulations for research support over shore leave. It'll be making up the final part of my thesis." His eyes twinkled excitedly.

"Well," Stace flashed a smile, "I'd be interested to read it when you have completed it. You should also run it passed Commander Kohl. He'd be interested in seeing what you have."

"Absolutely, on both counts. I have my introduction with him shortly after you." He was pleased that Stace was at least showing some interest in his work. Some of his colleagues had gone to posts where the Chief Science Officers were very disinterested.

He turned his attention to a question he had. "Presumably, I'll be based primarily in the dedicated planetary sciences lab we have on board?"

"For the most part, Lieutenant, yes you will. But as a science officer you may have to take up duties across the entire science discipline from time to time." She looked directly at Tulkas and scrunched up her nose. "I run things a little differently to a non-science specific vessel. You will have your assigned duties in your discipline, peppered with a few, more responsible duty shifts where you maybe based wherever the department is in need of a more senior officer. I also allocate you time for your own personal research to be done on board. We may be officers of the Federation, but we are, mostly, scientists. Each week I assign out the multi-purpose labs and we requisite what you want for when. It's a rather efficient and highly organised system. And it means that the crew, on such a small ship, doesn't cramp one another out."

"Sounds good to me, Ma'am." He nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment before adding; "I should mention, in case you're not aware, than I don't sleep in the conventional fashion for Starfleet. I'm more than happy to do double shifts regularly, if that helps. I spend most of my downtime in a lab of some kind, anyway."

"I have to admit," Stace replied, her eyes now widening with interest, "I haven't ever met a Denobulan before. Through any of my hosts, actually. You're the first, and I'm not too familiar with your species' customs and habits. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable on the Gally?"

He smiled slightly in response to the question. "We're not that different from most of the Federation member races, except for sleeping just a few days a year in one giant nap."

"Like an annual hibernation, so to speak?" Norvi asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Exactly that." Tulkas nodded enthusiastically. "I'll work out the specifics with medical, and give you plenty of notice. It's not likely to be happening for a few months."

"That's no problem," Stace agreed. "Just remember that my door is always open to you, Lieutenant."

OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer & Second Officer
USS Galileo

AND

Lieutenant Junior Grade Tulkas Eido
Science Officer
USS Galileo

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