I Wouldn't Wait Too Long

Posted on 09 Aug 2015 @ 8:40pm by Commander Andreus Kohl & Alethea Coleman Ph.D
Edited on on 14 Aug 2015 @ 10:29pm

1,774 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: USS Galileo - Science Labs, Deck Four
Timeline: MD 01 - 2311 hours

[ON]

Coleman shuffled her feet along the carpeted corridor. She hadn't bothered changing, and Sigrid's blood still stained parts of her white civilian jumpsuit. While gravity had been restored, she still wore the anti-grav boots. She had a natural distrust for systems on the starship and she wasn't sure if gravity would still be a problem for them. She hated zero-g and she assumed this was a perfectly reasonable precaution.

She jammed her fists into her pockets and shuffled into the Science Labs where the computer had told her that her new boss, Lieutenant Commander Kohl was currently working. As the doors parted and she made her way inside her beady eyes darted around the space looking for the insufferable attractive man.

For his part, Andreus Kohl was sitting at an LCARS workstation that had clearly been burned out by the vortex. The chair was still in working order, though, and Kohl had laid a widescreen PADD on top of the blackened companel. Along either side of the device's display, damage reports were flashing for attention to inform Kohl about all of the scientific resources that were unavailable and in need of repair. The centre of the display were dominated by the casualty report, which Kohl was scrolling through to check for any word of his team members.

"This place has certainly seen better days." Coleman said, more to get Kohl's attention than to point out the obvious. She bent down with a slight groan and picked up a portable microtome from off the floor. She held it in her hand as she massaged her lower back with her free hand. The pain associated with the move made her frown. Though it was more likely she hated the reminder that her body was not young anymore.

Kohl nodded, in response, and he pivoted his neck to take in the sight of Coleman. He winced at her pained expression, as he assessed her physical condition. Kohl had certainly missed her company while he had been serving aboard Nautilus. At first glance, at least, he couldn't see anything catastrophically wrong with her condition, and so he felt at ease enough to make light. "I assume you're including me in your assessment, yeah?" Kohl asked.

"Naturally." Coleman deadpanned. She placed the microtome down and placed her hands in her pockets before returning to where Kohl sat. She flashed him a brief smile out of practiced nicety that disappeared back within her usual serious looking expression. She also missed his company, though one would have been hard-pressed to figure that out by the way Coleman presented herself. "I would also include one of our colleagues in that assessment." Coleman took her right hand out of her pocket and gestured to some of the blood staining her jacket. "She's currently recovering in Sickbay."

As if he were afraid to acknowledge the truth of it, Kohl nodded, but it was a small movement. Maybe even more like a shudder. He breathed out a harrumph, and he said, "Sigrid," through a frown. He waved his PADD at Coleman, as if it might shake off the science department casualty report. "I can't get access to her chart," Kohl said with more urgency; "How was she when you saw her?"

So that's her name. Coleman thought, still feeling guilty she hadn't known that at the time. She sat at the workstation next to his with a heavy sigh. "Unconscious." She said tersely. When she'd removed her hands from her pockets and crossed her legs she added, "medically induced of course." She held the data chip loosely in her hand and asked, "Were you briefed on the specifics of how she came about her injury?" Coleman wasn't very good at conversations and as usual kept her words short.

Kohl took no notice of the isolinear chip, because he was too distracted by Coleman's eyes (looking for additional meaning behind her limited words) and body language (looking for symptoms of injuries she may be hiding). Although Kohl shook his head, it wasn't entirely clear if he was nodding or indicating in the negative. "I read," he said, "that she didn't pull on her safety harness at her work station."

"Yes, indeed." Coleman said with a bit of a sigh. She still thought it was incredibly stupid of her to do so, but decided against giving her opinion on the matter. She instead reached out and offered the isolinear chip to Kohl. "She was working on this at the time. Refused to leave her station until she'd recorded what she could as we passed through the anomoly. I don't know what's all on it, but she insisted I give it to you."

At his workstation, Kohl turned his chair to face Coleman head-on. He accepted the isolinear chip and he held it between both of his hands, as if it might offer some source of comforting warmth. Kohl stared down at his hands for a short time and then he looked up at Coleman again. He thought about all the things he should be asking her, all the things he should be telling her, but then he thought of the one he shouldn't. The master of the non sequitur, Kohl asked, "Have you started writing your next book yet?"

"Ha!" The laugh Coleman gave came out like a bubble burping out of her mouth, nearly ending on the edge of her lips. It was a genuine laugh, even if her expression didn't change much. She looked around as if the answer was somewhere in the room rather than in her mind before saying, "I've started at least four of them." She blew a raspberry with her lips and rose both eyebrows. "None of them are worth finishing, and none of them are as good as the one just published last year."

"I know what you mean..." Kohl said wearily, as if that's what ailed him. As if writer's block were the heaviest thing they had to worry about. He cradled the side of his head with the pads of his fingertips. He explained, "I've been trying to write this article on trellium poisoning for months, but it feels like I've forgotten how to write since the last time."

Coleman wrinkled her nose at the mention of the subject matter. She leaned forward and propped an elbow on her crossed knee. She made a lazy wave with her wrist. "Well that could be half your problem. Trellium poisoning sounds dreadfully boring." Her face remained blank as she said the words, even if she'd meant the words as a jest. She continued with the same stony look, "I should very much like to read it after your third draft." Her voice stayed monotone, though in her mind she'd thought her words were quite encouraging -- if a bit succinct.

Although Kohl cared too much about Coleman's opinion, he played it relatively cool with a shrug and the dismissive wave of a hand. "Ahh. The topic was assigned to me. I offered to support the research of one of our junior officers," Kohl explained. His fingers fidgeted with the isolinear chip he was still holding in his palm. He clutched it close, and then he pressed it into the side of the PADD he'd laid in his lap. "I thought it would motivate her, drive her towards excellence, but then she requested a transfer. She left our research findings with me."

"She didn't take them with her?" Coleman raised her eyebrows in genuine surprise, breaking her blank expression. She shrugged, 'okay' and leaned back in her chair, clasping her hands together. Keeping hands firmly held or preferably slipped into the pockets of her civilian uniform, kept the minor tremors from being too obvious to people. "Well..." She began saying before she paused and regarded Kohl for a moment, suddenly thinking of her son Michael. The two of them were about the same age and shared that same youthful handsomeness she always found fiendishly trusting. "Well," She started again, "that's a very admirable reason to write an article I think. I wouldn't wait too long to start it though. Thinking too long about doing something is usually why it doesn't get done." Coleman unclasped her hands and held her shaky hands up to stave off a protest. Had he really been Michael he would have been annoyed at what he'd always perceived as her being patronizing. "I speak from experience, not from any kind of age related wisdom or anything."

With a dawning revelation behind his dim eyes, Kohl nodded slowly at Coleman. "Oh, but you are a wise one," he said, looking right at her. He tightly gripped the PADD in his lap. "Because that's what I'm doing now? I'm waiting too long to go see what kind of state the science crew are in. I'm waiting too long to face how little I'm going to understand the vortex data..."

Coleman pursed her lips and gave him a 'who knows' kind of shrug. "Are you?" She had no idea what else to reply to that. She wasn't very good with conversations to begin with and he was jumping all around with his words like an overstimulated kid trying to colour.

Kohl could only wince, at first, wince and nod. Eventually, he could admit, "I am." As soon as he faced that, though, and faced it in front of an audience, Kohl rose to his feet. It was always easier to be strong with someone watching. "I should probably stop waiting," he affirmed. He waved his PADD at Coleman, and he spoke about the isolinear chip stored inside. "Thank you for this," Kohl said, "and for the other."

"Oh..." She said, though it was said more as a disguised groan as she uncrossed her legs and stood, "...sure no problem." She exhaled the breath she had held as she had gotten up and gave him another flicker of a smile. "Carpe Diem, and all that I suppose." Coleman still wasn't entirely sure what she had done to help, but was both quite pleased and slightly disappointed to hear she'd done so. Pleased that she'd helped the Chief Science Officer with...whatever; disappointed that it further confused her as to why she sometimes got lecture reviews such as, 'informative, if a bit confusing in parts.' or 'can ramble or go off topic sometimes.' Clearly I'm a master wordsmith. She thought.


[OFF]


Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Alethea Coleman Ph.D
[NPC'd by K'os Beaumont]
Ecologist
USS Galileo

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