Science Security Reports

Posted on 25 Aug 2012 @ 11:02am by Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Lieutenant Aria Rice

3,409 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3 - Security Office
Timeline: MD10 1700

Kiri found herself getting rather a full taste of running a department in the last few days, even more so not it was offical. From leading repair efforts down to duty assignments and reporting to the XO she seemed to be everywhere. This afternoon it was something different again, something she had only found out she needed to do three hours ago. Every week the department head needed to fill out a list of all of the security issues within their department. While there weren't many Kiri had spent time digging through logs and trying to remember problems that at the time she just filed to deal with later. She had taken a look at one of the template pieces and based her own on that, it was a little rushed but since it was due now it couldn't be helped. If it really was anything important she'd have told them right away, Kiri was someone who took formalities seriously though.

The young woman's dark hair was pulled into a plain pony tail today, wearing only a touch of mascara and a faint layer of pale lip gloss. Blue uniform prim she approached the security office with pad in hand, wondering if it would be Rhodes inside or someone different. Ever since the conversation she really summed up as strange she had pondered when she would run into him again. That was the thought crossing her mind when she pressed the door chime, not wanting to interrupt if someone else was in there.

"Come on in..." Aria Rice looked up from where she was leaning against the desk, having abandoned sitting in the chair because frankly...she was bored. Her long hair was tied back, a bit higher up than Kiri's. Her eyes were more heavily made up, black kohl marking them. She wore no lipstick or lipgloss and looked over at Kiri with surprise. "Hey. Can I help you with anything?" she asked as she straightened her petite frame. She wished she had her heels on. But to be honest, right now she was just happy that everything was calm again and that no one in the senior staff had shot her during the mission. Plus side, silver clouds...you name it. She was happy.

Somehow relived that it was someone other than Kohl, Kiri returned a smile smile as she entered. It was a woman the same size and shape has herself that she didn't know, Kiri was used to being shorter than most people. Raising her hand to her mouth the science officer silently cleared her throat, "I need to make a security report on behalf of the Science Department, if that is all right." A smile formed of half false confidence and half nervous embarrassment returned for a second before she looked questioningly at the officer.

"Do you have to?" Aria asked as she watched her, taking a breath. "I mean, those are really boring..." she grimaced at how she sounded and nodded. "But yeah. Sure. I...err...take a seat, get nice and comfy. Want a drink? I mean something that won't get you drunk..."

If it was part of her facial repertoire Kiri's jaw might well have dropped. She'd heard academy students say things were boring before, but an actual officer doing so? It was as alien to her as the idea of swallowing live worms for food. Trying not to let it phase her though Kiri walked forward and started to take a seat. Then the question came, forcing her to once again try and figure out the stance. Did this woman mean it as a common courtesy thus, it was an annoyance to fulfil or as a ritual that made her more comfortable. Just like always, Kiri didn't have a clue, "Water, if its no trouble," Taking her seat finally and waiting for the woman's full attention.

"No trouble, it's all replicated anyway," Aria moved to get her some water and some strong coffee for herself. She sat down and watched her before taking a padd. The other woman looked...well...like someone that usually, she'd get on with. But she seemed a bit awkward. And Aria couldn't blame her. "First, I am Ensign Aria Rice. Second...I will just need some details of your name, rank and position before I can fill in your security report."

Feeling she'd made the right choice Kiri relaxed slightly, breathing slightly easier. It was nice to make new introductions though, "I am Ensign Kiri Cho, Assistant Chief Science Officer." Giving Aria time to note it all she looked at the water but didn't take it. She was trying to work this woman out still, was she joking before?

Aria looked at her with surprise at her job title, slowly tilting her head. The girl was her own age and she was already assistant chief? Must mean she was pretty damned smart. She nodded gently as she looked down. She hated this bit. "Now, are there any unsafe areas that you are concerned about within your department?" she asked, lowering her eyes to the padd again.

"The only safety issues are the hazardous materials store rooms on decks four, five and six. If it could be arranged that security patrols check the access logs more often during their patrols, if you have the resources," While it was more than likely safe, some of the ships most hazardous materials were on those decks, that were for the most part open to everyone on the ship. It would make her more comfortable at least, everything else was minor that still needed to be reported.

She nodded as she got it in, checking with where the closest patrol went. "Should not take them more than a few more minutes to do, so that is easily arranged," she met Kiri's eyes and smiled gently. "I'll volunteer those that fancy becoming mutants in the nearest future." She chuckled before frowning. Okay, she should have learned by now that superhero references were not understood nor appreciated upon any Starfleet vessel.

Kiri's vision of mutants was a science based one, that mutants normally died painful deaths as their cells broke down. The chemicals inside were more likely to burn, melt or poison those that weren't careful, that realisation made her add, "They aren't to enter, if there is a problem they shouldn't proceed without a specialist," Looking rather concerned. She thought that it was the way things would already be, better safe than accidental deaths though.

Aria looked at her before smiling gently. "Okay...well, that is easily fixed," she said quickly and nodded, looking down. "Anything else you'd like to raise? I mean, I can get someone above me to double check all of this, ma'am, if you'd be more comfortable with it."

The last thing Kiri wanted to do was offend the woman, if she was sat in the Security office on the other side of the desk, then she should be able to do it, right? Dealing with people yet again was proving harder than she wanted it to be, now she was second guessing both of them. Looking concerned for a second she shook her head, "It is quite all right, everything else is minor problems and request, nothing complicated," She forgot the smile this time, looking down at her pad instead before glancing up at Aria.

Aria watched her before chuckling. "Well, never underestimate the general stupidity of a security officer," she said almost playfully, watching her. "That was a joke. What I mean is...I'm pretty new here, pretty young and low rank. I get it if you'd want someone more seasoned look it over."

Age was a factor in experience, but not ability, Kiri felt she was somewhat of an example of that. To see someone else self deprecating themselves made her feel very uncomfortable, "I don't think you are stupid, but accidents can happen to anyone and you're personnel aren't trained to identify hazardous materials," Giving a nervous smile she went on, "I'm sure you have more experience than me at your job," It was fine for her to do it, she knew she didn't deserve her position though. This woman was an officer like her, someone trained for four years to do their job, Kiri had faith in that.

Aria chuckled and watched her, shaking her head. "Sure I do. Thing is, it's a bit difficult to take someone like me serious. And it is difficult for me to be serious..." she looked at the padd to check it was all filled in before offering it over. "Please sign, and I will make sure that the Chief gets the patrols to check it all out."

Taking the pad Kiri stripped it apart with her eyes for a few seconds before entering her approval code, her name appearing at the bottom. Handing it back she slipped her hands back into her lap, "I have a request from a member of staff that security not enter labs with overrides codes while they have experiment in progress locks on, if that is okay?" While finding it petty herself, Kiri had put it across, the crew member had been quite irate about it.

"Should be fine, but we need some sort of system for it. I mean, if something goes wrong and alarms come off, we have to investigate. But I suppose we could check the combadge signatures and alert whoever is inside that we want to enter, and they can tell us if they want us to...bugger off," Aria said and shrugged, meeting her eyes with hope. "It's communication, right? I think we just need to tell each other stuff. Does that sound okay to you?"

Kiri looked rather affronted at the language, feeling the point she was trying to make had been missed slightly. Looking slightly uncomfortable again she answered, "Sorry, if an alarm is sounded, I don't think there would be any problem. As I understand it, it was just a compartment check that interrupted an experiment. If there was an alarm I would rather you treated it as a worst case scenario than worry about false alarms." Pausing she tried to put together what she was trying to say, "When they find a door locked, just a reminder to check why and weight up how important it is to check the room at that exact moment, then consider communication." This time she hoped it was clearer, any misunderstanding was her fault, it meant she hadn't explained it properly.

"Oh, I see!" Aria shook her head, nodding as she sipped her coffee and grimacing at finding it luke warm. "Hm...I have to admit, that changes it. So someone overrode the controls just because it was locked and they wanted to go in, no alarms, no weird activity, just people working?" she checked to make sure she understood Kiri correctly.

"As I understand it," Kiri nodded, "I also understand that normally the labs are unlocked and it might appear strange." Noting that the other woman was drinking Kiri took it was a cue and did the same with her water. Still trying to understand how the woman spoke and acted the way she did.

Aria watched her for a moment before nodding. "I'll talk to the Chief, see what we can do..." she smiled and stretched her legs out. "Hey, personal question...I know you're Trill, but that accent sounds like home to me. You a Luna girl too?"

Kiri was more confused by this than anything, she had been to the moon a few times. It was strange to hear someone say that about her voice, one that came over the translator as soft and singsong, changing slightly tone just enough to be noticeable between each word. Part of that was her accent, part of it was just the translator turning her Mandarin to Standard, "N, No. I'm from China," Without thinking she added, "I was found," Kiri cut herself short and looked very hard down at the ground. That wasn't something she liked to think about, let alone talk about to people she knew, let alone strangers.

"Ah...my mistake," she said and held her eyes for a long moment before reaching to touch her sleeve. "Sorry. My foot sort of lives in my mouth nowadays. Never could say the right thing, even on a good day..." she said and shook her head. "Clearly, I am projecting. Must be lack of sleep."

"It's okay," Kiri was very quick to reply, shaking her hands, she didn't want this woman to feel bad, in the grand scheme of things the Moon was close to China. Leaning closer she asked, "Are you from the Moon then?" Small talk wasn't bad, she'd leant that much with Mor'an and Kohl, it could even be very nice.

She met her eyes and nodded. "Yeah. And clearly, the universal translater makes everything just sound like home to me," she said and smiled gently, holding her eyes. "And you're from China. Which if you ask me is rather awesome...much better than a half-terraformed, levelled society of dystopia..." she winked as she watched Kiri, taking a breath. "It's been awhile since I have been back there, I must be getting a bit homesick."

From what she could tell when she was there, the Moon was nice. It was like a cross between being on a starship, while still being on a planet. Not really any different from the majority of Earth, was calling it a dystopia a joke? Or did the woman really not like it? All that aside though, this woman was from near Earth, they might have something of a shared experience, something in common. Hands back in her lap, Kiri gave a small smile to the wink, "Do you like Earth?" It was a start, going by the fact she may or may not like the Moon.

"It's nice, in places..." Aria watched her before shaking her head, her face animated with warmth. "I think I might be a bit of a space-rat without even realising it. What about you? Starships or solid ground?"

Kiri found this gambit of emotions similar to her friend Trisha, something that was so very different from herself, yet enticing. It brought a smile to her face, that was by comparison a mask with only two expressions. Her voice slightly brighter, "My home is on Earth, I worked very hard to be on this ship though." Something that part of her regretted, being here not so much, but working so hard. Running and hiding from the world instead.

She watched her before nodding gently. "I worked very hard as well...except for a few times. You know, those times I need to go and have fun. Not that work isn't rewarding, Kiri! I mean, I love being in Security. But sometimes, I just need to go out and have fun. Even if it is something as silly as running around, or drinking games in someone's quarters. Silly things, you know?"

Kiri had heard of other people doing thing like that, in retrospect she had even been invited to a few. At the time though she hadn't realised, or that she needed to have fun with people, she was too scared, too worried, rejecting them all with excuses. She still hadn't done any of those things, reminded of that she became very sombre, "I'm afraid not." Finding it hard to look at the other woman now, she was quite different from the reserved Mor'an or the soft Kohl.

Aria watched her for a moment before leaning closer. "Well...then you and me should relax once this is over. My and...Kohl's quarters, if we are still sharing. A bottle of something we all enjoy and then just relax, chill...whatever you want. Sounds good?" she smiled, her eyes warm. "Just three of us. No one else...you might not need it, but sometimes it is good for the soul to do stuff like that."

Kiri was surprised that she shared a room with Kohl, it was a small ship but still, odd. To be offered something like that, felt old and somewhat uncomfortable. The idea of spending time with Kohl again, that would be nice. Not being in public was also a plus. While this woman, wasn't someone she trusted, Kohl was, if was he was there, nothing bad would happen. Perking up a little she nodded, "That would be nice, I think," There was another question though, "Why ask me?" If that could be answered, then maybe she could encourage more people would offer her things like this.

Aria watched her before smiling to her. "Well, because you seem nice. And you are my age. And...I love how you have your hair. I know, superficial...but you just look like a genuinely good person who might just need...I don't know...a break? And if you end up hating it, I won't force you to do it again. But I don't know many people here. There's Kohl, and Scarlet Blake and her daughter Lily...but that is sort of it. My big mouth is good at keeping people back."

While she would put on and pretend to be modest, Kiri loved people saying nice things about her. She didn't trust herself to guess at how other people saw her, just trying her best every time to come across as good as possible. To finally hear that someone other than Brayden saw her as good, nice, to even compliment how she looked that he never had. She blushed, a real smile flashed across her face as it flushed a light shade of pink. Her voice was quiet still, if more buoyant, "Thank you, you're nice as well," What she was doing and how she acted was right, she wasn't making all the mistakes she thought she might. While she felt that they should be getting back to work something caught her attention, "There is a child on the ship?"

"Yes...her name is Lily. She is adorable...we came here when I did, with her mother," she said and smiled gently, her eyes warm. She liked Lily after all, and Scarlet.

Kiri didn't really know anything about children, she didn't spend much time with them when she was one, or when she was an adult. It was just unexpected, but, observing a child might help her with the newest development at home, her new sister. She would have to see if that could happen, it made sense to her though. Beside all of that though, she had taken up enough time here already, there was more work she had to do. Looking unhappy at bringing this free talk to a close, "The only other thing to discuss is a request to offer basic weapons training to science personnel that want it, would that be possible?"

"Yes, it would be," Aria said and smiled eagerly. "I mean, I could teach that if you want to. I like teaching people stuff like that. Weapon safety, how to fire...not like those holodeck things you play with. A gentle touch is all it takes..." she winked and took a padd. "I'll fill out a request for approval by the Chief."

Standing up Kiri nodded her head, "Thank you very much. I'll send you a request when I have an idea of the times that department staff would be available," Looking away shyly she smiled a little, "As for the other thing, would you let me know when you'd like to do it?" Hovering near the desk still Kiri waited to get back to work. To her, being social was important but nowhere near that important.

"I'll send you a message as soon as this has all calmed down," she said and smiled warmly. "I'll give you a few days notice of course, because...well, that's just polite..>" she stood and watched her. "It's nice meeting you. Properly anyway!"

"And you also," Kiri smiled, bowing her head slightly. Rather nervously she backed away and left the office, not really sure how to do so politely. Everything had gone rather well, much better than expected. She'd met someone new and would have the chance to spend more time with Kohl, it was turning out to be a lovely day.

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ENS Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Aria Rice
Security Officer
USS Galileo

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