Post 21 - Mysteries and Redundancies

Posted on Mon Apr 20th, 2020 @ 1:36am by Lieutenant Commander Jason Morris & Ensign Ariennye t’Aenikh

Mission: Prologue: Back In Action
Location: Primary Science Lab, Deck 7
Timeline: [Mission Day 01 - After "Post 20"]

Jason's first stop was to the science department, with only a fresh academy graduate in charge it would need special attention especially since the ship was going into uncharted space. What was Starfleet thinking?

[Primary Science Lab, Deck 8]

Ensign Ariennye t'Aenikh had, as soon as the small staff meeting had concluded, retreated to the relative safety and security of the Science Lab that also housed her own office. Unlike her previous misgivings and hesitations it had now sunk in that she was, in fact, the master and commander of the Science Division aboard the ship. And as such, walking into the office reserved for her without the usual bout of self-doubt was the least she could do.

The space she had "confidently" entered was sparsely decorated and minimally furnished, a fact that made Ariennye feel more at home there rather than less. It had a good deal to do with how spartan her childhood had been, not just on Romulus but afterward as well. The Academy was the closest thing to real luxury she'd ever experienced. It seemed almost redundant to say that her expectations were always rather low.

Once perched behind the desk, the Romulan brought up everything the ship's computer had on the region of space she'd overheard the other officers in the meeting discussing, the Nacene Reach. As the information cascaded down the holographic screen, Ari began to feel more and more excited at the prospects that awaited her. It was a puzzle, from a scientific standpoint, and while records weren't entirely non-existent, Voyager hadn't spent a great deal of time focused on root causes, they were far more interested in staying alive at that point in their journey toward Earth. If there was one thing that could motivate the woman, it was a really good puzzle. It was very much a reflection of her being almost the antithesis of her race. Where most of her kind wrapped themselves in mysteries, Ariennye sought to unravel them all.

"It would probably be helpful if we had some molecular density extrapolation chambers for dedicated sample testing..." the Romulan began mumbling aloud, "Oh, and maybe even a few stellar core sampling probes..."

Jason tapped the chime to the Science officer's office.

"Come in," the Romulan gave a rather curt reply as her eyes darted around the holographic display almost in a trance.

Jason walked into the room and saw the young Ensign looking at a display. He walked to within a few feet of her. "Ensign, you have something for me maybe?" Jason said gently.

"Something for you?" the woman mimicked absentmindedly, "Not yet... just theories right now. I'd need to take some samples of a few stellar fragments, which requires more molecular density extrapolation chambers than we have on the ship to really do the tests right. And probes... anything that would withstand the stellar core sampling process... at least twenty of them..."

Ariennye's eyes never stopped darting around the holographic display as it hung in the space between them, though she never once actually looked at the person speaking as she took in the information being presented to her by the computer.

"While I am happy that you are so passionate about your position Ensign, I need the list of requirements," Jason said reaching past her and temporarily turning off the display in front of her.

Ariennye blinked a few times before actually taking notice of who was in her office, "Oh... Commander... I... um..."

It took a few more seconds for her to register that he'd asked something of her, which made her eyebrows twitch when she realized that she'd actually just told him what she'd need. The only problem was, she wasn't sure how to repeat it to him and not sound rude about it. This wasn't something she was very adept at.

"I think we'll need... at least four molecular density extrapolation chambers... like I said... and probes... stellar sampling probes... twenty..." the woman's eyes drifted around the man as if she were in thought, but the truth was she didn't want to attempt to look him in the eye, lest her perturbed feelings become apparent.

"We should bring more probes than twenty don't you think," Jason replied. "You could also do with less daydreaming Ensign, it is okay when you are just another researcher or science officer but as the head of a department you will need to focus."

Ariennye shifted uncomfortably in her chair, "I wasn't daydreaming... I was trying to figure something out... And just so you know, stellar sampling probes are very specialized and can't be used for anything other than launching them into stars. And if my theory is correct, we'll only need them when we encounter stars that are relatively young... not just any star will work... that's why I thought twenty would be right for my experiments to work... I don't want to be wasteful or take up space we could use for less standardized equipment..."

"My apologies then, you're not wasteful and neither is getting extra resources to make sure you have enough. I'll get you 30 probes, Ensign, will there be anything else you need?" Jason asked her.

The woman thought it over for a long moment before she shook her head, "No... I think everything else we have aboard is redundant enough already that we don't need to go too overboard... probably..."

Jason nodded and turned around walking away and out of the science room to leave the Ensign to her work.