Meeting of the Minds (Part 1)

Posted on 12 Nov 2012 @ 12:38am by Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Crewman Athlen & Trisant Myrddin & Bal Kenyal MSc & Ensign Karen Taylor & Vincent Kramer Ph.D. & Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeroen Adlar & Corynn'tha M.D., Ph.D. & Petty Officer 3rd Class
Edited on on 12 Nov 2012 @ 7:22am

3,325 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 2; Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 03 1500 hours

[ON]

An unexpected blast of natural light forced Maenad to close her eyes as she entered the observation lounge. Squinting, she made her way to the head of the table and tossed her PADD on its shiny black surface. It took a moment for her eyes to fully adjust, and she walked to one of the large windows to look outside.

It was a beautiful day, she thought, wondering if she would get the chance to get outside. The colony stood in the distance beneath a brilliant blue sky, disturbed only by an occasional shuttlecraft. She watched a Type-8 shuttlecraft swoop in for a landing on an adjacent platform, supporting herself on the sill with her palms backwards and her forehead against window.

"Good afternoon," an upbeat voice came from the door as the first arrival walked in. The Rigelian crewman's shaggy blond hair was ... sort-of combed, a haphazard attempt to appear presentable and such. It appeared he was the first one there, and he sauntered over to a chair and sat, leaning back to regard Maenad with his usual cheerful countenance.

Maenad turned around to see a face she had only seen before while going over the department roster. He looked like a Vulcan, but he certainly didn't carry himself like one. "Greetings," Maenad said from the window. Pushing herself away from the sill, she clasped her hands behind her back. "Crewman Athlen, I presume?"

"Oh yes, that would be me." He smiled warmly, taking in her features. She definitely appeared the no-nonsense type, but if Athlen was affected, he clearly didn't show it. He leaned forward, staring halfway between a PADD and the lieutenant.

It astonished her to see a vulcan acting so human. Maenad knew that he was rigelian, but that he looked like a vulcan threw her off a bit. She might like this Athlen if only for the fact that he was a defiant, or rather a natural, vulcan. She approached where he sat down and offered her hand. "Pleased to finally meet you," she smiled, told him her name in return, then sat on the table. "You're quite early," she observed matter-of-factly, looking out the window.

Athlen shook her hand firmly. (And if there were any further behavior from Vulcan standard, that would've been it.) "It is very good to meet you, Lieutenant. I honestly was not expecting to be this early, I have just come here from the lab," he said with a gesture near that particular direction. He met her eyes and said rather plainly, but without accusation, "You seem surprised by me."

Maenad watched him for a minute, looking down at Athlen. "Well," she said finally, "I just don't often get to see a vulcan accepting himself for who he is," she grinned before adding, "Even though you're a rigelian."

"Well, we do look similar," Athlen granted with another easy smile, "But in much the same way a Betazoid looks similar to a human. I am not V'tosh ka'tur for example, in much the same way a Romulan is not," he explained, but reigned himself in before he went on a sociological rant and bored the woman half to death. The doors hissing open broke their conversation, and Maenad pushed herself off the table to a stand, seeing Kiri walking in with a rather odd-looking device.

Lieutenant Cho entered next, a pad pressed against her chest and a small dome clutched in both hands. Noting that the other occupants were talking she glanced at them but didn't interrupt. The dome was covered in small lenses, pointing in every direction though a grey shell. Placing in the centre of the desk Kiri busied herself in setting it up, after several seconds a test hologram was projected into the air, rotating slowly.

Corynn'tha entered the room and nodded to those that were present. She was wearing a teal covered shirt and khaki colored pants, and a white lab coat over-top with her name and title. He glided with gracefulness as only a Vulcan could. "Greetings, it is agreeable to see all of you at this juncture."

Nexia walked into the area and smiled warmly towards everyone. In her squeaky Selkie voice he gave a shy and quiet greeting. "Hi."

Athlen waved to them. "Good afternoon."

"Welcome, welcome," Maenad greeted, walking around the table. "Take your seats," she gestured vaguely to the several empty chairs around the table and approached Kiri. "I'm looking forward to this," she said to her, looking at the slowly rotating hologram.

Kiri wasn't quite sure what Maenad meant but nodded anyway, "Yes sir." On her part it was just easier to convey her plans for the sensors visually given how lacklustre the reception of her last presentation had gone. If anyone else wanted to use it they were welcome to, test complete she deactivated the holo-emitter and took a seat in the middle of the table, placing her hands in her lap. Hair neatly pulled back into a bun and tired eyes hastily hidden behind a light layer of makeup.

Jeroen looked around for a moment before taking a breath as he looked around. He was curious. It was one way of describing it. He was curious.

Corynn'tha and Nexia both took a seat at the large table. The Vulcan civilian looked across the table. "It will be, inspiring to have so many form the science department present at one time."

Karen walked into Observation Lounge, huge smile on her face, "Good Afternoon everyone!" She greeted everyone as she took one of the chairs, getting a good look outside the window, "I still can't get over looking out the window and seeing a sky instead of stars." she commented to no one and then turned her head to the person next to her. He looked like a Vulcan but with a smile on his face she knew it wasn't. "Hi, I'm Karen Taylor, Astrometrics." She greeted extending her hand.

"Hello!" Athlen said in his usual chipper tone. He took her hand, shaking it firmly. "I am Athlen, sociologist," he introduced, friendly as always.

"A sociologist? Awesome!" Karen smiled looking at him, "You enjoying your time here so far?"

"Oh yes, very much," Athlen chirped excitedly, returning the smile with one of his own. He took a look at the man following Karen.

Having entered the lounge behind Karen, a dark-haired Bajoran man crossed the room to sit on the other side of the table. Trisant Myrddin pulled his chair back, as the other spoke, and he took to his seat without a word. He laid flat his PADD on the tabletop and turned his grey eyes on the device Ensign Cho had been handling.

"And hello to you as well," Athlen said mildly once more to the newcomer.

Trisant raised a hand in greeting and spoke mildly: "Hello."

As the other poured in one after the other, Maenad remained standing near the centre of the table where Kiri had set up her device, gradually making her way to the head of the table. The department seemed to be getting along well, despite the fact that several were new faces to each other just as they were to her. She nodded respectfully as people came in and sat down, but to give each a personal greeting as she had to Athlen was no longer possible.

Maenad did a quick head count and noted that there were still people missing. Standing over the head of the table, she thumbed her PADD where it lay flat on the desktop; apparently they were still waiting for a Bal Kenyal and a Vincent Kramer. The time said 1454 which meant that they still had a few minutes. She looked up from the table, daydreaming out the window about the interesting physical she had had that morning.

Kiri observed, watching the people in the room, the changes. Those that were on the ship before she had introduced herself to before, the new ones she would do so. It seemed better to wait for them all to be here though, so she only had to do it once. Working on her pad without looking she took note that Mr Myrddin was eyeing her projector, her lips moved as if she was about to speak but quickly thought against it.

The doors to the observation lounge opened and Dr. Kramer took one step inside the room hesitantly. "Ah . . .I'm sorry for disrupting. I'm looking for the . . um . . Science meeting." He stepped in quickly as the door began to close on him.

Maenad jerked out of her daze outside, seeing a man standing in the doorway. His question annoyed her because, to her, it seemed fairly obvious that they were all science officers. There were only a few people in civilian clothes, but most were in their science blues. "This is the science meeting," she snapped.

"Okay then." Kramer said and walking towards a chair. "Vincent Kramer, Planetologist." he explained.

"Welcome, Mister Kramer," Maenad said back to him, nodding to one of two empty chairs left around the table. "Take your seat."

Kramer looked about to those present and nodded to them and sat down quitely.

As Kramer made his way to his seat, Maenad glanced at her PADD on the table. A minute ahead of schedule, she decided to begin. Looking around the table she saw the many diverse faces that made up her team, and was pleased. "All right," she said, gathering everyone's attention. "Let us begin." Her gentle smile faded as she got down to business, assuming a refined posture.

"I am Lieutenant (junior grade) Maenad Panne, and I have been assigned to the Galileo as the new chief science officer. A little bit about myself; I come from Nantes, but I have lived a little more than half of my life in Montreal and San Francisco - San Francisco during the academic year and the rest in Montreal. I have served aboard three starships: the USS Zebra, Ocean, and Crane as a science officer, assistant chief science officer, and chief science officer - respectively. My personal research is primarily in micro- and traditional palaeontology and xeno-archaeology. I am additionally known for my papers on evolutionary biology and genetics. Before being assigned here, I spent a considerable amount of time on Vulcan for my current project, which is on ancient vulcan mythology, the Time of Awakening, and the teachings of Surak, and their influences on modern vulcan thought." Maenad pulled out her chair, but didn't yet sit down.

Athlen placed his head in his hand, but he kept his eyes unwaveringly on Maenad as she spoke, clearly interested.

"I understand that things have been difficult for those of you who were present during the last mission. I want to laud our Ensign Kiri Cho for her efforts in keeping the department running smoothly in absence of a tenured science chief, and I want to thank you all for respecting her authority. Maenad smiled down the table at Kiri. "As the assistant chief, you will deal with Lieutenant Cho probably more than you will with me, but that does not mean that she is to be treated any differently than you would me," she paused, "Not that I am suggesting that anyone here would, but I have to say it."

Maenad held out her hand to present Kiri and to turn everyone's attention toward her. "Miss Cho, if you would like to introduce yourself to everyone and say a few words, then we will open up the floor for everyone to make a formal introduction." Maenad took her seat, crossing her legs and leaning backward, hands clasped in her lap.

The parting of the lounge doors interrupted proceedings, preventing Cho from responding immediately. A tall, slim and rather pasty looking Bajoran eased himself into the room and drew a wry smile of apology across his lips. He spied an empty seat and made his way towards it, shuffling with embarassment until he was comfortably sitting. Noting that those around the table were watching him, he swallowed and attempted to remedy the situation. "I apologise, I'm Bal Kenyal. I hope I haven't interrupted, I didn't mean to be late."

Like a teacher to a tardy student, Maenad raised a single finger and said, "See me afterward," with an alarming mysteriousness in her voice. Her PADD read that it was 1504; Maenad returned her eyes to Kiri. "Ensign," she nodded for her to go ahead.

Kiri wasn't sure she wanted someone to be fighting her corner when there might well be no need. Yes she was young but no one seemed to have a problem with that, to bring it up seemed, rather odd to her. For the meeting though, she had planned for this, even having written her own notes. Standing up she closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. She had been head of the department and now she was back to the assistant, she had to come across properly, like an officer. Drawing from her imagination she found a voice more confident and commanding that her natural one, "Thank you Lieutenant, thank you everyone for attending." It was a good start, "I also wanted to thank all of your for your help and professionalism during the last week."

"To those new members of our department, welcome." Since she had been asked to arrange this meeting Kiri had also laid out what she expected to happen, "If you please, would you all take a moment to introduce yourselves and work," Looking around at everyone she gave a weak smile before sitting back down. It had gone okay, for a start, even that small bit had taken her almost an hour.

Athlen stood next, his posture easy and refined, he clasped his hands behind his back to avoid fidgeting as he was prone to. This was a professional meeting after all. "Hello," he said mildly. "I am Crewman Athlen. And I am not a Vulcan," he opened with a grin. "I am Rigelian. You can easily distinguish most off-world Rigelians from Vulcans by the presence of these." He lifted his hair a little to reveal the heavy golden clasp that adorned his right pointed ear at the opposite side of his tragus, and brushed his hair behind it before continuing. "These signify our bonds to our betrothed mates in childhood. You will have to forgive me... I have a tendency to ramble." He smiled sincerely. "To put aside any rumors or speculation, I am not dangerous, nor do I lack the ability to control my emotions. As you are aware of the Vulcan philosophy of Surak, so must you be aware at least of some necessity for control, lest I turn into a berserker and flip over the table." Another grin. He took on a more formal tone as he continued.

"This is done differently with Rigelians, and comprises most of our culture, which is far different from our Vulcan and Romulan cousins. As for me, I was born and raised on Rigel V, as part of the Forgiveness Clan in our southernmost hemisphere. I was chosen to represent my clan in Starfleet as part of an exchange program, as our faction of Rigel V is on nebulous terms with the Federation. I hope to bridge the gap between our two governments in such a way that many more Southern Rigelians in the future will look to Starfleet as a viable choice of career. I am a sociologist, but I primarily work for the diplomatic station on the Galileo. My job is mostly composed of assisting people in interspecies cultural conflict. This is my first assigned vessel and I hope to make many friends here. Thank you." He bowed and then sat down, arranging himself in his calm manner and he looked to the next person to stand.

Vincent stood next, looked right then left, and cleared his throat before speaking, "I am Dr. Vincent Kramer. I am a former Starfleet Officer. I went back to the University of Hawaii for further study. My specialty is in the evolution of a planetary system. I chose to return to Starfleet in a civilian role, instead of an officer. I felt it allowed me more freedom of thought and direction for my field of study."

Nexia stood up and smiled as her green-blue scales shimmered against the light. "I am Petty Officer Third-Class Nexia Alona. I am the ships Oceanologist. I am from Pacifica...obviously. It is very nice to meet all of you." She quickly sat down and waited for the next one to introduce themselves.

A tall, slender Vulcan stood up. "Greetings fellow scientists and scientific specialists. I am Doctor Corynn'tha, the ships Xenobiologist, and a civilian from the Vulcan Science Academy, where I have been an instructor for the past decade. Thank-you for having me." She sat back down and folded her hands on the table before her.

Remaining seated, the younger Bajoran said, "I'm called Petty Officer Trisant." --He smiled uncertainly, as if he had pronounced his own name wrong-- " I started my career in Engineering and Operations, but after some years operating sensors and astrometrics, I was assigned to Galileo as a Stellar Cartographer. I look forward to working with you all." Trisant immediately turned his head to see who might be next.

The latecomer sheepishly stood up, his seat scraping noisly across the deck. His voice cracked as he tried to speak, forcing him to cough and clear his throat. "As mentioned, I'm Bal Kenyal. Please, understand that Bal is my first name, Kenyal my second. I was raised by foster parents, I took their surname. That aside, I'm a biologist and geneticist with a background in laboratory research. I spent some years as a line officer in Starfleet. Prior to retirement, I was the commanding officer of the Voltaire."

Kenyal then sat quickly, pulling the chair tightly into the table - soundlessly this time. He had seemed nervous initially but his tone of voice conveyed a sense of weariness, perhaps with the traveling. He blinked and gazed at the centre of the table, allowing the introductions to move forward.

"Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeroen Adlar," Jeroen said as he looked around the others. He kept his voice calm. Level. Easy. "I am the geoengineer and as such, I am all about the terraforming."

Maenad watched and listened to everyone as they spoke, careful not to interrupt any of them. The Pacifican she thought was an interesting team member, having never met or seen one in person. She was also perked by Bal's mentioning of being a former commanding officer, about which she made a mental note to address another time. The rest seemed to make a healthy group of scientists; everybody had their brand of reservedness, except for the rigelian Athlen, whom she found uniquely amusing. She entertained the idea of a science department Christmas party, imagining how uncomfortable they all would be.

"Very well," Maenad said after a few seconds' pause following Mister Adlar. "On to business," she nodded to Ensign Cho. "Miss Cho, would you please share with us your report?"


To be continued...


[OFF]

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Corynn'tha Dr., Ph.D
Xenobilogist
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 3rd Class Nexia Alona
Oceanography
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Crewman Athlen
Sociologist, SCC
USS Galileo

Bal Kenyal MSc
Biologist
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 1st Class Trisant Myrddin (played by Kohl)
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo

Dr. Vincent Kramer
Science Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Karen Taylor
Astrometrics Officer
USS Galileo

PO2 Jeroen Adlar
Geoengineer
USS Galileo

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