Getting to Know You (Part 1)

Posted on 29 Sep 2018 @ 2:40pm by Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater

1,116 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Science
Timeline: MD141

ON

Most of the science labs were now working to spec and Marisa had a number of new crew she had yet to meet, beyond the casual greeting. For her, it was important to get to know the scientists she would be working with over the next three years.

Since Luke had mentioned her, Marisa decided to start with Sofie Ullswater.

Not too far away Sofie was looking over some of the ship's science equipment, not all of it was familiar and she was holding a PADD which was displaying the manual for one of the scanners she'd not used before. The manual was technically complicated and not something she was really enjoying. She looked up from her reading to see a Vulcan-looking lieutenant approaching who Sofie recognised as the chief science officer. They hadn't been introduced yet so she put down her PADD put on a warm smile and offered her hand "Hello sir, I'm Ensign Ullswater, I don't think we've properly met yet."

"No, we haven't." Marisa shook her hand and smiled. "But I prefer ma'am. I come from an academic background, so I'm not quite comfortable with being called sir. Here in science, you can always just call me Marisa. I adhere to protocol when I'm in other areas of the ship. How do you like the ship so far?"

Beaming, Sofie replied confidently "Alright Marisa," she paused "Ma'am." She withdrew her hand and pondered the question "The ship seems nice. It would be the first one that I'm really serving on though so I don't have too much to compare it to yet. What do you think of it?"

"I love it," Marisa replied. "I've been on a number of ships, but this is the first one that focuses on science. What's your specialty?"

"I suppose my speciality is geology." Sofie responded with slight hesitation, the prospect of her specialisation being respected was the entire reason she's taken the assignment here so hearing her boss bringing it up straight away really warmed her heart. "At least that's what I'm good at."

"Good. I'll assign you to work geology when we need it. Mine is archaeology and history," Marisa said. "I also encourage scientists to work on personal research and projects."

"Oh?" Sofie sounded perplexed, though the thought certainly enticed her "What sorts of things have those been in the past?"

"In Academia, you need to do research, to publish your results. So, I took that idea and brought it to Starfleet. There's nothing that says a Starfleet officer can't do academic research when there's time." She shrugged. "The type is up to you. What is going on in geology that you'd like to study? Are there theories you can test in a lab? You can even use the holodeck to do planetary work, like how geothermal activity affects long-term plate shift. What type is up to you. It's not mandatory, but it does give you an opportunity to expand your learning. We also have a number of degree programs, if you want to go that route."

Something tingled into life in the back of Sofie's mind - the excitement of research had always been something that appealed to her and the opportunity to pursue it once again... Well it would be enough for her to forget all the other foibles this assignment was throwing at her. "I..." she spoke more softly now "That all sounds lovely." Her mind hovered back to some of the papers she had brought with her to read "I read a great paper on photogeochemistry recently. I'd love to try and recreate some of the effects its talks about in lab conditions. That could certainly be somewhere I could start."

Marisa smiled. "Definitely. I'll be setting up lab rotations shortly. I would love to see what you can do."

"I'll put together a proposal!" Sofie responded with eager giddiness. Then, calming herself a bit, picked up the PADD she had been reading earlier and used it to gesture around the lab "So what about the mundanities? What are going to be the jobs I need to do round about the labs and such on a daily basis?"

"That depends on what the captain wants," Marisa replied. "Sometimes, it's as simple as cleaning labs and equipment. I prefer to clean petri dishes and slides rather than replicate new ones whenever possible. It makes you more careful. Other days, we're all rushing around to do whatever is asked of us. And still other days we have very little to do and those on shift are working on personal projects. Sometimes it's a little bit of everything. I set up charts each week for the various labs. But if the ship finds something interesting, everything will change." She couldn't help grinning as she added, "That's part of the fun of working on a starship."

Sofie nodded with a smile "I suppose that's why we're all here, looking for new things." She cocked her head and asked "Do you know much about where we're going? What sort of things we might find there?"

"No. Just that this is a deep-space assignmnet and will take three years."

Sofie signed resigned to her ignorance. "Nobody I've spoken to has been able to mention any specifics." She responded glumly before trying to lighten the mood a bit "I suppose that's what we're all here for though - the unknown? Even if I'd prefer if it wasn't quite this unknown."

Marisa smiled. "It is. Part of a deep space assignment is never knowing what you'll run into, if anything. That's why I like to have a backup plan so we're not bored."

"Bored or terrified. I think... I..." Sofie let her guard down for a moment, exposing her anxiety. "Have you ever been in deep space this long before?"

"No, I haven't," Marisa admitted. But she understood Sofie's anxiety. "It can be unnerving to go into the unknown for such a long period of time. What helps me is reading about the early explorers from the larger worlds. In the early days they set out on boat with no real means of communication. They help me put things into perspective." She hoped it would also help Sofie.

Sofie nodded only half understanding the analogy "My homeworld was already mapped out from orbit before the first settler even set foot on it." She sighed almost feeling a bit homesick for the certainty of life at home but quickly pulled herself together "Off the map is probably where the most new and exciting things lie though."

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

&

Ensign Sofie Ullswater
Science Officer
US

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