Reporting In
Posted on Tue Nov 30th, 2021 @ 5:49pm by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren
Edited on on Wed Dec 1st, 2021 @ 8:46am
2,360 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Episode 12 - Risin' To Risa
Location: Captain's Ready Room - Deck 1 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD002 0900 hrs
After insuring that the Captain was in his ready room and not somewhere else on the ship, Alyssa made her way to the bridge, pausing to look over the layout and the location of science. It was generally in the same place, but there were several basic layouts and she liked to be sure of her work station's location.
After a quick look at the layout on the console, she nodded and went to the Captain's door and rang the chime.
Tyler sighed as he put his signature on the leave request from Vaebn. It was understood, but Tyler would miss his Science Chief and friend. Tyler knew better than most that being home for your family is important, and it was for this reason that Tyler did not withhold the approval for the request. Still, it hurt a bit to lose the Romulan. The sound of the door chime brought Tyler to the present and out of his thoughts. Everyone was supposed to be on leave and so he wondered who this could be. "Come on in..."
The door opened and Alyssa walked in. She took a brief glance around the room, then addressed the Captain. "Hello," she said with a smile. "I'm Alyssa Maren, your new Chief Science Officer."
The irony of the situation was not totally lost on Tyler. He had lamented the loss of his Chief Science Officer as his new Chief Science Officer walked in. He tossed his cowboy hat on the rack behind him. "Welcome Lieutenant please have a seat. Can I get you anything?"
"No, thank you," she said, sitting down. There was an odd melancholy about the Captain that made her wonder, briefly, what she'd interrupted. But his mood cleared and she brushed off the thought.
"Well let me be one of the first to welcome you aboard the Pioneer. I trust you have brought yourself up to speed on the Intrepid Class. Where your station is and the such. There is something I would like you to familiarize yourself with. Your predecessor created something he called whiskers. It was a series of probes that would link to the sensor array and extend our sensors reach. Sort of working as cat's whiskers would. This is something I would like to continue as needed. I see you have distinguished yourself. The CO of the Falchion speaks very highly of you. Do you have any questions for me?" It had been a while since Tyler interviewed a new member of the Senior Staff that he almost forgot what to say.
"I've looked over the specs, and I plan on doing some walkabout to get familiar with the ship. I've found that every ship has its own personality and that's the best way to get to know what the Pioneer will be like. Apart from that, I have looked over the information on the science department. I have no plans to make any significant changes, but there will likely be some small ones as I settle in. To that end, has science been equipped with power generators and backup computers? I like to offer the scientists I work with the opportunity to work on personal research projects in their free time. Some of those require a stable power source and proper shielding."
Tyler appreciated her view on the ship. He agreed, every ship did have a personality, and if you wanted to succeed you had to get to know the ship just like you had to get to know the crew. "The labs are equipped with independent power sources and shield generators. However, as it is on any ship when the need arises power will be taken from those systems and reallocated as the ship needs."
"That...could be problematic," Alyssa said. "Some scientists have ongoing projects that analyze how certain particles interact. A loss of power or containment could lead to not only a failure of the experiment, but an explosion or fire. I'd need at least some labs that have backup generators separate from ship's power to keep them going in an emergency. That's why I prefer backup generators that are off the power grid. While I could prohibit such experiments, there will be times when we need an uninterrupted power supply for mission-critical ones. We'd only need them in a few areas."
Tyler leaned back in his chair and cocked his head as he thought. The old Ops Chief in him knew that she had the right of it, but the Captain within him knew that sometimes science had to take a backseat to survival. However, he was of a mind to see what the new officer could do. "What you propose sounds like a good idea. Coordinate with Lieutenant Diari and Lieutenant Eriksson see what you three can come up with. But I will caution you. With everything that this ship has been through, and what seems to be on the horizon. I will not take power from the tactical systems to provide for the labs. I am sorry..."
"That's why I want a backup generator. That way, if the power goes out, the generator kicks in. I won't have to take needed power and I'll still be able to give my scientists a change to do research and write papers."
"Alright... Coordinate with Operations and Engineering and we can see what we can do. This is after all supposed to be a long-range explorer vessel. Perhaps we should return her to what she was designed for." He smiled as the larger part of him wanted to return to exploration and leave all the trials of politics and fighting behind.
"Yes, sir." Not many outside academics understood the importance of research and publishing, but this got her one step closer to offering that to her department and she smiled. "Thank you."
"As for the whiskers, I don't have a problem with them. I'm sure that ops is coordinating the sensor use, or do they fall under science as Lieutenant Commander Vaebn came up with the idea? Are you also utilizing the long-range sensors through Astrometrics?"
Tyler took a sip of coffee; he was pleased that his new science chief took the time to give the ship specs a once over. "Sensor use was coordinated between Science and Ops. Our Astrometrics lab has the same augmentations that the USS Voyager brought back from the Delta Quadrant those many years ago. So, our lab has the capability to use the sensor feeds and give us three dimensional maps. But that is enough of the technical talk. I like to get to know a little about my officers. So, spill the beans, tell me about the person behind the scientist."
"There's a person behind the scientist?" she said with a chuckle. "Seriously, though, what do you want to know?"
"What do you enjoy? What is your passion? Why Starfleet? In regards to the last question you can't give me the usual answer. You know to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new civilizations and the like." Tyler sipped his coffee again and leaned back in his chair. He wondered what kind of scientist Alyssa was. This far she seemed entirely different to Vaebn.
"I'm more interested in old worlds and ancient civilizations. I love studying cultures, especially the extinct ones. That's one of the reasons I joined Starfleet. I can study them, teach them, and spend each summer working on one, but I can see more out here, and perhaps I'll be on a team that discovers a planet with structures from an ancient civilization we know nothing about. I also get a variety of science here. At a university, I'm teaching history, archaeology and anthropology." She paused. "As you can tell, I’m passionate about history. I'm also passionate about preserving it. And...I should probably let you know that I like to use a blowgun with tranquilizer darts when I'm working on a planet or away team--just in case you have a problem with it."
Off the bat Tyler could tell that Alyssa was just about the opposite of Vaebn. They were both passionate about their work, but that was where the similarities ended. It seemed to him that not only was this woman interesting, but she was a bit eccentric as well. "A passion for history is something we share. I hope one day you get to make that great discovery of a new civilization. You will get to put those anthropological skills to work as we continue to foster our relationship with the Jutrai. As for the blowgun, I do not have a problem with you using it for protection on away missions. However, please make sure that you have them checked out and logged by Lieutenant Commander Myles or a member of his staff. I am curious though why you would choose that particular weapon as opposed to a phaser." The idea of this interesting woman explaining why she used a blowgun to Larim amused Tyler to no end.
"I spent some time working off a relay station. We would occasionally have odd assignments where we had to dress as civilians." He probably had the clearance to read about her time there, but she didn't generally talk about it. "Phasers tended to stand out, and a blowgun could be easily hidden so they didn't draw attention and you can use them on a dart board. It was a...unique assignment."
Tyler nodded in appreciation. "Unique assignments are our bread and butter. I am unlike most Captains that you have dealt with. I run a loose ship that is more of a family and less like a crew. To that end I like to ask anyone new to the staff if they have any questions for me. Consider permission to speak freely to be given, so no holds barred." Tyler added the last sentence with a smirk and put on his cowboy hat. He was pretty sure that Alyssa would have some interesting questions for him.
"So you need a little Western courage to answer my question?" She chuckled. "I only have one question. The Astrometrics lab is top notch, as are the sensors. But from what I can tell there is no hydroponics or arboretum. As space is limited, I would like to experiment with a vertical garden or two."
Tyler laughed at her comment about western courage. He did not know why he grabbed for the hat, he just felt like he needed to wear it. "That sounds great If I remember my history correctly the USS Voyager grew plants in Cargo Bay 2. Now we just do not have the space for a full arboretum, however, I do not see why you can't take a section of Cargo Bay 2 for your own use. Let's follow in those great footsteps." If there was one way to butter Tyler up it was to take initiative and Alyssa had hit the ground running.
"That would be perfect," she said. "Thank you." She could do a lot with part of a cargo bay. It would suit her needs better than a lab, too.
It has seemed like ages since the Pioneer had someone as eager as this woman on the crew, Tyler thought her presence was a breath of fresh air. Perhaps the darkness that the crew has seen has taken the eagerness and wonder out of their systems. "Alyssa, I would like you to make a promise if you would be so inclined. I would like you to promise to never lose this eagerness despite what may happen."
"I can promise to do my best." She looked at him for a long moment, wondering what was behind the question. "I don't expect this assignment to be easy, but there's usually something to look forward to. Even if it's a garden in a cargo bay." She grinned. "Don't worry, I'm also stubborn. It's one of my better qualities."
"That is all I can ever ask of you is your best. Life on the ship is pretty easy. It is just the area of space we are tasked with patrolling. At times we are just simply put ill equipped. It is why we were given a detachment of Starfleet Marines as a science vessel. Sometimes seeing the harder parts of space can take the wonder out of it." Tyler spoke as one who had seen a lot, but still wanted to see so much more.
The science officer nodded. "I think everywhere can have its hard parts, to one degree or another. But they also have some pretty spectacular ones as well, which is why I'm out here and not doing field work. Space has so much potential." She shook her head, chuckling. "Sorry. Commander Vaebn has done a remarkable job here. I look forward to working with what he built, but I'm also excited to see if I can add to it in some small way."
"If there is anything that you learn as a Captain you learn that no matter how great a job someone on your crew does, there is always something that someone else can add. I look forward to seeing what new and exciting discoveries you have for us..." Tyler began and then took a sip of his ever-present coffee. "I want you to know that I consider my crew to be my family. My door is always open to chat about anything you may need."
"Thank you, sir." She smiled. "Does this mean I should consider myself dismissed?" She liked Captain Malbrooke and looked forward to working with him and the rest of the crew.
"If you have nothing else, get out there and show em how it’s done." Tyler said with a smirk.
She laughed. "At least one way of doing things, anyway." She put her palms together and gave him a half bow before leaving him to his work.
A Post by
Captain Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Alyssa Maren
Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
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