Exeter Symposium (Part 9)

Posted on 04 Mar 2016 @ 8:10am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Petty Officer 1st Class Rebecca Williams
Edited on on 04 Mar 2016 @ 8:13am

2,313 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: Jupiter Station - Deck 75, Auditorium 4
Timeline: MD 82 - 1310 hrs

Previously, on Exeter Symposium (Part 8)...

With that, and a flash of a smile, Oren gave the audience a small bow of respect before making his way off the stage.

Rebecca watched as the El-Aurian walked off of the stage. She was the first to admit that some of that the man had been saying did go over her head but some of it actually she found she could relate to. The talk had opened her mind to think more about herself and her interactions with other people...both in the working and personal environment.

Pinching the skin between her nose, the yeoman considered that perhaps she should have ran at the same time that Holiday had, the last thing she needed right now was a moral dilemma.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

1310: Jared Nicholas' Presentation

Jared stood up, taking a centring breath to calm himself, before stepping up to the podium. “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,” he started, “when I was first approached about doing a presentation before this august body, I was both flattered and, well, nervous. I’m a linguist and in an age of universal translators, I am something of a dying breed. I feel privileged to carry out my studies on board one of the finest ships in the fleet, but there are some, myself included some days, that wouldn’t consider what I do as science. Certainly not hard science.”

He paused, taking a sip of water, before continuing. “And I must admit, I had a hard time coming up with a topic that would be relevant and hold everyone’s interest. I should also confess, that I had writer’s block. And then it hit me, the perfect solution, or at least what I hope is the perfect solution.

Everyone else seems to be focusing on their area of specialization, which is to be expected. I wanted to discuss something different. Something, more fundamental and I hope relevant.”

He paused, taking another drink, wanting to make sure he still had his audience's attention. “Instead of talking about some scientific principle or hypothesis, I want to talk about what has made Starfleet great and what we must continue to do, continue our greatness.

Three words come to mind, three words that define both the vision and foundation of the Federation. Diversity, Integrity and Justice. I could give a literal definition, in number of languages, after all, I am a linguist after all. But just a rote recitation would be boring, and frankly a waste of everyone’s time. So let me tell you what those words mean to me. They may not mean precisely the same to you, but I hope that mine and yours are similar.”

He flipped his notes over he really didn’t need them. “Diversity, diversity is something that we have been striving to achieve, at least as humans, from the beginning of the twenty-first century.. I’m not quite sure we’ve achieved the perfect balance yet, though I do think we are getting closer. Other species have been trying to achieve it for longer than we have, and are perhaps farther along than we are, some other species are not as far long as we are.

That means that we have, a mixed bag in the Federation as a whole.So, what then is diversity? Well in its simplest form, it is acceptance. Let me be very clear here, I’m not saying that we have to agree with one another, one hundred percent. That would be boring, if everyone thought the same thing. What it does mean is that we allow people to be who they are. We don’t judge them, by their religious belief, or lack thereof, or their gender, or gender identity, or sexual orientation. We don’t judge them by the color of their skin. We judge them by the character and by their heart.

We set aside our preconceived notions of what those things and that if we do disagree, we do so with civility. We debate arguments and evidence and only engage in true, substantive, debate, instead of name calling.”

He paused again finishing his glass of water and filling it again from a small pitcher. “It is my desire that we all view each other and judge people as we would like to be judged. The next word I feel is basic for everyone in the Federation is integrity. Integrity is something so simple to define, but much more difficult to live by. It simply means to do the right thing, even if you don’t think anyone is watching.

I have to admit that my past, before joining Starfleet, was checkered. I did things, that looking back on, were not the right thing,the acceptable thing. Some might even be classified as illegal. At the Academy, we had an Honor Code as you who have gone there know. I always, or almost always followed the letter of the law, but the spirit of it escaped me on more than one occasion.

And speaking of doing the right thing, when nobody's watching. That was another lesson I had to learn the hard way. When I first came on the Galileo, it was my first assignment. I was fresh out of the Academy. One night I got hungry and I walked into the kitchen, thinking I could grab a midnight snack. But I ran into the chef, a civilian and we got to talking. That discussion led to, well other things, carnal things, that I don’t want to get into at the moment. It’s not appropriate, nor was it appropriate then. As I soon found out when I was paid a visit by security. It seemed we were being watched, and recorded.

That one small indiscretion, well not so small, almost cost me my career. I was shown mercy by Commander Holliday and the entire command staff. Since that time I have been trying to do the right thing. And have been pretty successful. I now have a family. A wife a child, and two more children on the way. I am a very blessed man.”

After finishing his second glass of water he continued. “The final word i want to talk about is justice. Integrity and and diversity are important, but justice, protecting the innocent, standing up for the oppressed, going to battle for the weak and powerless, sometimes a literal war, are essential. Without that component, we are no better, in fact, we are worse than our enemies.

So today, I have a challenge, a call to action. Let us renew our vow to accept other people for who they are, to exist and coexist with races, species, and even ideas that are different from and maybe foreign to ourselves. Let us live our lives with integrity, just as though the cameras were rolling and everything was being recorded and let us strive to be a just society, where all of our rights are protected and nobody is affected by unfair laws and practices and corrupt judges.

Thank you and thank you for this opportunity to present these thoughts and ideas to you. I hope you find them enlightening and helpful.


13:30: T. Voutilainen's Presentation

With Gilbert on her lap, Tuula rolled towards the podium, conscious of the tens of thousands of pairs of eyes upon her. And a few clusters of eyeballs from the more exotic species in attendance. While she was used to being stared at wherever she went, this was more than usual and she had to confess to being slightly nervous.

Still, to be able to present her paper at a symposium like this was a great honour, especially for a resident doctor. Something like this would be a boon to her career, provided she didn’t end up spending the rest of it doing research on tribbles.

“Good afternoon everyone,” she said, as she lowered the podium down to a more appropriate height for her. As she placed Gilbert on the podium, a camera attached to the holo-projectors in the room zoomed in on the tribble, whose purple mohawk matched its owner’s. “Say hello to my associate and test subject, Gilbert.”

A murmur rose through the crowd; audience participation was not a usual feature of these presentations.

“Come on, don’t be shy,” she called out to the crowd. “Say it, ‘hello, Gilbert.’”

“Hello Gilbert,” responded some of the crowd. In response, the tribble squirmed and cooed, much to the delight of Tuula and to a number of the audience members watching on the projector.

“Stay,” whispered Tuula, patting Gilbert on its body as it shook and nestled itself up against part of the podium. Clearing her throat, Tuula looked over the crowd and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing…

“Hello, everyone, thank you your introduction. As you’ve already heard, my name is Dr. Tuula Voutilainen and I serve on the USS Galileo.” Pausing, Tuula pushed herself away from the podium. She was more comfortable being able to roll back and forth, almost pacing the stage.

“Tribbles,” she said, in a tone which signaled the serious part of her presentation. “While undoubtedly cute, their fast metabolism and the rates at which they reproduce can turn them into an ecological threat and a threat to shipping and space exploration. A single tribble, left unattended in the presence of food, can in a matter of days become hundreds of thousands and wreak havoc on ships systems.”

Pushing herself towards the other side of the stage, Tuula continued, making sure to make eye contact with all the dignitaries. “This discovery, like so many great ones throughout history, was an accident…”

Tuula’s presentation continued, telling the story of the Galileo’s tribble infestation, her discovery of the Gilbert in her medical replicator, and its reaction to the chemicals in the hair cream that she had applied after its burn. Of course, she also left room for serious scientific matters as well – the chemical compounds which inhibit tribble reproduction, and Gilbert’s reactions to them.

“…and so, I can say that with a little more research, we will have no more troubles with tribbles.” Back at the podium, Tuula took a deep breath and glanced down at Gilbert, who, detecting Tuula’s discomfort, tried to emit a comforting purring noise. “Any questions?” she asked, looking over the crowd.

A very tall Antillean woman stood. "Lieutenant Amarlia'kilia. Have you isolated a particular chemical from this hair cream or is it a combination of factors. And as a second question, how long is the efficacy for? Thank you,"

"Yes, it is the selenium sulfide," explained Tuula, bringing up a simulation of the molecular structure of the chemical in question. "As for the efficacy, regular applications have prevented Gilbert here from becoming a father. Of course, more research is required as to the method of application and which methods are most effective for long-term tribble population control. However, our discoveries here have laid a groundwork for that further research."

"Thank you Lieutenant. A most serendipitous observation." The Antillean woman replied and sat back down.

Leaning forward, Rebecca indicated she had a question as she waited for her commbadge to be activated in order for her question to be heard. "Thank you for the interesting presentation Doctor Voutilainen. I just have a quick question, given the tribbles breeding habits and how they can multiply exponentially, do you know is there any research showing how it is that they haven't over run planets yet? Does environmental factors also play a role when on the surface of a planet which could perhaps be adapted to a ship's systems in order to curb their multiplication should two inadvertently find their way onboard."

"There has been a number of papers published on the subject," explained Tuula, "particularly the works of Drs. Tong and T'Plen. Anyways," Tuula cleared her throat, "to paraphrase their work, on the tribble homeworld of Iota Geminorum IV, they were kept in check by predators. That, and Klingon raiding parties. However, the introduction of tribbles to some other planets without any predators has had disasterous results. Beta Capilae IV and Torain II were both overrun with tribbles, causing massive ecological collapse. Not to mention the unfortunate situation on the Voria colony."

Tuula sighed and reconsidered the question. "That is a possibility. Unfortunately, given their somewhat mammalian physiology, creating an environment hostile to tribble life would also create an environment hostile to most humanoids."

Rheneas raised his hand as he stood. "Rheneas Malachy," he started though he was fairly sure the doctor knew who he was regardless. Galileo, after all was but a small ship. "Though your Tribble will not breed now...what are the chances that he might again in the future?"

"So long as I keep slipping a little selenium sulfide in his food," replied Tuula, "he won't reproduce. Of course," she added, "further research is necessary for the ideal delivery methods."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Min Nicholas
Chief of Operations
USS Galileo

PO2 Eva Mercy
Propulsion Specialist
USS Galileo
[PNPC Min Nicholas]

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 2nd Class Rebecca Williams
Yeoman to Captain Holiday
USS Galileo

Lt. Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo

Lt. j.g. Naois Mercy
Counsellor
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USSGalileo
as herself and some temp NPCS
(signatures for all PCs and NPCs)

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

...and other assorted Galileans

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