A Scientific Discovery

Posted on Mon 2nd Sep, 2013 @ 10:19am by Colonel Horatio Drake & Lieutenant JG Lys Greystone

1,395 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/5
Location: Deck 12: Drake's Ready Room
Timeline: MD-01: 0730

ON:

Drake had nearly finished his first cup of coffee, it wasn't enough to fully get him going - he needed another! He had roughly fifteen to twenty minutes before the Chief Counsellor, Lieutenant Graves, would be joining him in his Ready Room. Then, for the next three hours at least, they would be going over the monthly crew psychological evaluation reports. This was something that Drake absolutely hated... boring wasn't the right word.

Lys slowly found her way to the local that she needed to be at. The science officer was a bit nervous perhaps and yet not. This was a new place for her, a place with people she didn't know but at the same time it was a place she needed to be. Lys reached out her hand, it shook ever so slightly and she paused for the briefest of seconds before someone bumped her elbow and she pressed the chime not on her own accord. "Sorry 'bout that" she heard them say even as she felt them move away. A soft flush hit her face as she quickly had to decide to stay or go.

"Oh bloody hell, not already", to say that Drake wasn't yet used to the duties and responsibilities attached to being a Commanding Officer, would be an understatement. But the number one thing he couldn't come to terms with was the constant disruptions. The amount of admin work he had to get through meant that most of it had to be when he was off-duty in his quarters.

"A starship CO doesn't have this crap..." he mumbled under his breath as he returned to his desk, but remained standing. "Come in" He said, louder and in a cheerful voice.

Lys Greystone entered and smiled a light smile it didn't quite hit her dark eyes but then again she didn't feel all that cheerful but kept that smile on her face anyway. "Good Morning, Sir."

"Ah, good morning Lieutenant"... 'who the Hell was this?', he thought to himself. Oh God, not another embarrassment with not knowing the name of a new transfer.

"Please, take a seat" he gestured towards the chairs opposite his desk. As he maneuvered behind the other side he tactfully grabbed the PADD from the left hand corner, knowing it listed new crew. He turned it on and glanced down at it... he had it.

"Lieutenant Greystone, I presume?"

Lys stepped forward and sat on the edge of the chair, her back straight. She was a bit nervous, well actually more then a bit and and she nodded and then added. "Um, Yes, Sir."

"Would you care for something to drink?" He asked, politely.

"Hot tea would be nice but, Sir. I can get it if you point me to the replicator and if you like I am willing to get you a beverage of your choice as well."

"Oh a coffee would be delightful, thank you" He gestured towards the replicator on the far wall.

Lys stood and stepped to the replicator and brought back their drinks. She sat back on the edge of her seat and placed the hot mug on her knees after she took a sip, it helped keep her hands busy and it soothed her a bit. She took another sip while he seemed to have an internal debate over something.

He knew he couldn't blatantly call up her service record; she would know what he was doing and that he wasn't prepared, as ever. Instead he decided to play it safe with general questions and logic. She was listed as the new Chief Science Officer... she looked mature but at the same time her face, framed her her dark hair, betrayed signs of youth. This could be her first HoD posting or hundredth for all he knew.

"So, how do you feel about the Chief Science Officer position on a Stardock Class?" He smiled, a safe question indeed.

Lys smiled softly as she set her tea back on her knees "Sir, I think that anyone in that position would be quite busy. It would also be quite enlightening as there would be much to learn and much to share with others in the department aboard her."

"I'm glad you think so, Lieutenant" There was a certain calmness to her voice that reminded Drake of how Jade spoke... a knowledgeable calmness, betraying very little.

"Our last Chief Science Officer was rather suddenly recalled to her home world, we're fortunate to receive a replacement so quickly. What was your last posting like?" Another safe question.

A vast amount of emotions flickered across the young woman's' face as she tried to decide how to answer that question. To cover it she lifted her tea with a trembling hand and took a sip to try and steady herself. It was a question that rattled her, as she was unsure how her last post had been as all she remembered of it now was the loss of her husband and her unborn child. She took a deep steadying breath. A look of pain and loss in her eyes. "The Luxembourg was a good assignment, Sir. Busy as one might expect of a science ship but a good place to stretch and be stretched." A simple answer but she was not sure how deep she wanted to answer that question. Lys looked down at a spot on the floor, any spot worked as long as she didn't have to see pity written in someone elses eyes yet again. Surely he had to know why she had been sent here. To heal, to grief.

Whilst Drake may not have known the reason for the look in this officers eyes, he certainly knew the look itself. It was one that he often betrayed himself with. In his experience it was the loss of a loved one - compounded by the fact that it was just an accident and blame... the blame that he desperately needed to place at someones door... couldn't be assigned. He made a mental note to, firstly, not push her anymore on this subject and, secondly, actually read her service record.

"Well... I hope Protector can live up to the Luxembourg!" He was going to go on to explain how the system they were in was fairly interesting, however he would only embarrass himself with his lack of scientific knowledge and probably just tell the new Chief Science Officer things she already knew.

"I actually hope it will be much better." Lys looked up and replied quietly with a soft smile. She picked up pleasant feelings from the CO and she thought that she would enjoy working with him and the others aboard the base. "I have a question if I may ask."

"Of course" Drake smiled.

"Do you ever actually leave the base to explore the area around it?" Lys was curious as she had not yet looked into the details of anomalies, planets or this section of space.

"Well, in the long term we intend to do just that... however with the current repair of the base and the minimal crew, we've really had to focus on getting everything back up and running in the first instance." He took a sip of his coffee and placed the mug on the desk. "However, if you're interested in charting the surround area, we've got an Oberth Class starship that is nearly space worthy again".

"Then I will stay and assist in helping repair the base. The stars I am sure will not move over night and the science department will of course scan in between the other things that must be attended to." She took a sip of her beverage and waited to see if other instructions, questions of her would be required to be answered.

"Very good, Lieutenant" He smiled. "Was there anything else?" He smiled and looked down at the PADDS scattered across his desk, giving the polite indication that he had work to be getting on with. The horrendous, never ending, administration work that came with the office. He wondered, for a second, how many PADDS there were on the station... and how the majority of them seemed to be located in his Ready Room.

"Oh No Sir." Lys replied "I have nothing else"

OFF:

A Post By:

Lieutenant (JG) Lys Greystone
Chief Science Officer

&

Colonel Ashton Drake
Commanding Officer

 

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