Re-establishing Science

Posted on 25 Jun 2015 @ 10:22am by Commander Norvi Stace & Commander Andreus Kohl

1,524 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Chief Science Officer's Office
Timeline: MD 02 - 1847 hrs

ON:

Stace, now getting used to the maroon colour that peaked beneath the grey shoulders of her uniform, walked down to her former office and stood just outside of its bio-sensor range. She paused, held her breath a little and then surveyed the impassible frame with a new sense of regret. Not one that would haunt her, or cause her to consider whether or not the promotion was a mistake, but more of a regret that steered her away from her scientific passion. But the heart wants what it wants, and it seemed as though the Symbiont held the same sentiment. And to be back in the centre chair of its own ship one day, she had to make this calculated climb.

She smiled, put on a brave face and then walked to the door as it opened for her. Perhaps one of the last times it would do so on her presence alone. She pushed through the threshold and then warmly greeted its new occupant with an open hand.

"Commander, congratulations on your new position! I wanted to come down here personally to see if there's anything you need to make your transition over more enjoyable. And to see if Id left anything of my own clutter here."

Standing behind the desk without a shirt on, Andreus Kohl was in the process of trading between his crimson uniform tunic and the trusty ol' science-teal tunic. Kohl opened his mouth to speak, but no words immediately came. He only managed to communicate by shaking his head and blinking a few times. His sense of fluster was even more apparent when he couldn't figure out which end of the tunic was the collar, and which was the waist. He turned it round and round, letting the sleeves flap about.

"I can't say I've even begun to process how I feel about my new role," Kohl said. He sounded preemptively defensive, because he knew Stace would want him to be thrilled about it. Kohl took a deep breath and then he shared a wicked smile with Stace. "It's going to take me a while longer to reckon what I need. At the moment, I'm having to remind myself that this isn't a demotion after my last posting..."

The penny dropped for Stace. With her career progressing further than it had for her lifetime, but not as far as Janel had been propelled to, it was a comfortable feeling to flit between the two modalities. But she hadn't thought for a moment what it would feel like for someone without her perspective. She smiled a knowing, familiar smile and scrunched up her nose as she walked over to him, raising her arms and taking the teal undershirt from him. Twisting it around in one fluid movement, she righted it and then handed it back to him. "There," she said warmly as she stood back and then took herself over to an empty chair.

"There'll come a day - should that be what you truly want - when you'll command your own starship, Andreus. But for now, we have to take these little journeys; one step forward, two steps back, and then again to the side; in order to get there." She looked around the office at the empty space and sank down in her chair a little further. "Believe it or not, I'm not too thrilled about leaving all this. This is what I've wanted to do since I can remember and it pains me to give it up."

"Maybe now," Kohl suggested in a hopeful timbre, "you'll find your way back to your own research?" He threaded one arm and then the next through the sleeves of his tunic and closed it up the front as he spoke. "If you're not spending your day working on other people's research projects, you can finally work on your own. Think I can tempt you with your own private corner of a laboratory?"

"Give me my own lab and we'll talk," Stace joked, the reality of her new position now settling with her consciousness. She took in a breath and then surveyed her former office, looking about its bare, unfamiliar dimensions with a sort of sadness she had never felt before. "I've moved about in my lifetimes so much and yet this side-step is one of the hardest I've had to face. Do you think we're making the right decision?"

Answering her question without answering her question, Kohl said, "What I've learned is that passing on an exciting opportunity is rarely the right decision." --He pulled on his black and grey duty jacket, and he shrugged to admit he didn't really know-- "Does it matter if it's the right decision? We'll do this for a while, and if it's not working, we'll do something else!"

Stace blew the air through her cheeks in an exasperated expression and sighed audibly. "I'm a planner!" she chanted almost irrationally. "I like to know where my next step is; where my foot will fall. But if that's the only thing stopping my progression here then it's something that I can definitely deal with." She looked about the room for a second time and then scrunched up her nose. "At least my new office is bigger," she jested, wanting ton bring a more lighthearted tone to their exchange. "I mean, you're welcome to come by and have a look if you're feeling a little claustrophobic down here." She laced her mouth with a mischievous and cunning smile.

"Pfft," Kohl breathed out between his lips and he swatted a hand through the air to wave away the suggestion. As he closed the front of his jacket, Kohl said, "You know me. I prefer to wander the labs. I write my reports on a PADD in the corridors of deck four. How much time do you expect to spend in your office anyway? I would suspect we're both going to be on the Bridge far more than we used to. And that's got a better view than any office."

"That'll be where I spend all of my time, I imagine," Stace countered, remembering her former first officer days as Janel. "And that's why I doubt I'll have the time for my own research." She hesitated and then pointed to her undershirt. "Gone forever is the teal, I reckon." She winced a joking sort of smile but anyone who knew her could tell of its thin veil. "Ah," she then admitted, shifting her chair a little more uncomfortably, "I'll adapt. I've done it over five lifetimes so I can surely do it here. We'll weather this together."

"Together, most definitely," Kohl remarked. He raised a hand to fuss with the positioning of the combadge on his chest. "I've come to know our science department intimately, but I'm going to be leaning on you for the Bridge side of things for a little while. Being chosen as Second Officer of Galileo certainly reminds me that I haven't been demoted."

"It's a tough job," Stace clarified, a knowing expression now adorning her face. "And Gamma shift? It ain't the prettiest. Pulling double shifts just to get both responsibilities covered isn't an easy job." She paused and then broke into a smile. "Lucky you know the person in charge of the duty roster then, huh?"

Kohl squinted back at her smile, naked suspicion on his face. "Does that mean you're suggesting a change to that requirement?" Kohl asked.

"I wish I could," Stace replied, a look of futililty on her face. "But we can work something out if it gets a little too much. I didn't really have that much time in the position to accurately tell of the strains. But it's also down to your commitment to the bridge duty shifts." She paused and then added, "You don't necessarily have to do them. The Gally has a bank of upcoming officers who are ready and willing to step in for their own career advancement. It's all down to your priorities and being a science-specific vessel, I imagine that you don't want the department to suffer because of procedure."

"Hmm," was all Kohl vocalized at first. He perched himself on the edge of the desk, and he said, "Yes..." and he said, "Well..." He shook his head and offered up a wry crack of a smile. "I also like my sleep. Perhaps we can find a suitable rotation. Find the right balance of meeting my responsibilities, without standing in the way of promising young officers."

"And that's my job," Stace countered back with a smile and the familiar scrunch of her nose. "I want to keep everyone happy and on track with what they want from their posting here, as well making the sure the ship is run as it has been." She looked to Kohl and then relaxed, figuratively shrugging off her XO persona. "We'll make this work, Andreus. I know we will."



OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Chief Science Officer & Second Office
USS Galileo

AND

Commander Norvi Stace
First Officer
USS Galileo

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