Someone's Mixed Up

Posted on Sat 4th Aug, 2018 @ 2:50pm by

1,188 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Location: Deck 95 - Chief Science Officer's Office/Lab 3
Timeline: MD 10, 0830

Cheya changed into her Starfleet Uniform and looked in the mirror. She had tied her hair up as it had a more professional look. She started to walk away, but threw a glance backwards at the mirror. "Nice," she murmured to herself. Somehow she had managed to pull the look off, even with the turquoise. This was the first day of the job and orders were to meet the boss - Lt Commander Jasmine Collins-Keller.

She had tried to pry for some information about her, but without being in the department, there wasn't much to know. Apparently, she was very awkward in social scenes but had one of the biggest baby showers ever known. Cheya thought it was strange, but then she didn't know what information was true and what was just rumors. She was intrigued to meet her, though. She wondered how old Jasmine's child was, although it was probably none of her business. She enjoyed the presence of children and seemed to get along with them; maybe one day she would find time to have her own.

She exited her quarters and hurried to the nearest turbolift and found that Jasmine's Office was located on deck 95. Before she knew it, she had arrived outside her office, exactly one minute before she was supposed to. She pressed the chime and waited....

...and waited....

She pressed the chime again ...

...and waited....

No answer. =^= Computer, can you locate Lt. Commander Jasmine Collins-Keller? =^=

=^=No records indicate a Lt. Commander Jasmine Collins-Keller on board =^=

'Hmmmm strange,' She thought. She moved away from the office after a good fifteen minutes of waiting. It would have been enough time to wait if the Lt. Commander had been running late. She noted that some of the Science labs were on the same deck so decided to investigate more into where she should be.

Cheya walked into lab 3 and noticed the certain buzz that came with a lab. She walked over to a fairly tall person with brown hair from behind and awkwardly spoke, "Excuse me, can you help me?"

Anthony turned around to see a slender young woman in science blue. "Oh, there you are!" he exclaimed, noting how green her eyes were. "I've been expecting you. Ensign Pieters, right? I'm Lieutenant McCabe, the Assistant Chief Science Officer. Great to have you with us. Let me show you around, get you a lab spot."

"Sorry if I'm late but I got told to go to Lt. Commander Collins-Keller's Officer, but no one was there. A mix up of messages somewhere perhaps?" Cheya asked. McCabe seemed friendly enough, even if he did tower over her.

McCabe smiled, "Could be. Let's see, you're anthropology, right? I think those labs are up one deck and probably ..." he checked his PADD, "yes, Labs 12 and 13. If you aren't superstitious, lab 13d is open, and it's a nice large one. It can be all yours." They got on the lift and rode up one deck.

"Oh wow, blimey. A lab to myself? Mental!" She exclaimed, before realizing she said that out loud. She fumbled her words. "Oh. Sorry. Oh. This is my first posting, but I was expecting something smaller. Wait, don't get me wrong, I'm excited about it. I'm going to shut up now!" She blushed. What a nightmare, I'm making a fool of myself! she thought.

"Been there, done that, have the pips to prove it," the lieutenant laughed. They walked a short distance down the corridor on Deck 94 until they came to a door which opened before them. Leading off the short corridor were 4 additional doors. "Besides, it might not be as grand as you think. Let's take a look." He pressed his thumb into the lock for the first door on their left, and it snicked back into the wall. Waving her in front of him, he said, "See what you think."

Cheya walked ahead, "This whole lab is just for me?" She continued to look around. The size of the lab was impressive, sort of the size she had used in the Academy, except for many people, not just her. Maybe being on a base was going to be good after all; she wouldn't have had anything this decent on a ship.

Around the outside of the room was an array of skeletons, some she could instantly recognize - Human, Klingon, Gorn, Xindi and plenty more. In display cases on the desks were some smaller creatures that she couldn't identify. Toward the middle of the room was ethnographic fieldwork equipment and microscopes, among other related equipment.

"This is amazing, are you sure this lab is just for me?" She glanced at McCabe in wonder.

He grinned. "It takes a little getting used to, doesn't it? Because we are on the edge of Federation territory, everything here is a little more detailed, a little bigger, more extensive. We don't have the luxury of being in the core worlds with everything available to us."

"Truthfully, I think the base is a little larger than it needed to be, but there's something to be said for impressing the natives," Anthony shrugged. "It benefits us, because we have more space than necessary. It's why we could have Tivoli Gardens - those decks were all empty before Ms Lantz had the idea to use them as the wonderful place we've come to know. She and her committee had everything worked out when Disney came along and took over. They kept many of the committee's ideas, though, because they were well thought out.

"Well, anyway, I don't need to go off on a tangent about Tivoli Gardens. Yes, this space is all yours, and I expect you'll use it well. The boss will be around to see you one of these days, and she likes to see evidence of projects. That's just a heads-up for you. If you find yourself short of something you consider necessary, shoot me a message."

"Tivoli Gardens is impressive, and I've barely done a deck of it!" Cheya exclaimed, going around the room and examining the bones at the side. Of course, I can't wait to meet her. Thanks for your help Lieutenant."

"You're welcome. I'll leave you to become acquainted with the lab. I believe 13c is occupied by an archaeologist, so you might introduce yourself. The fields are related, I think? Remember, if you need something that hasn't been supplied or you can't replicate, just ask. Your position does include replicator credits, and I've flipped the file to your PADD so you know what your limits are each month, though for some things, I can authorize extra credits," McCabe assured her.

"Again, welcome to SB109. I hope you'll enjoy your tour of duty with us." He smiled and exited the lab, checking his PADD for messages. Nothing showed he had to be anywhere else for a few minutes, so he decided to check on a few of the other lab rats, as he mentally nicknamed them. Never hurt to let people know the boss was on top of things. He wondered, though, just when he'd see the Chief Science Officer again.

 

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