Data Collation (part 1)

Posted on Sat Apr 25th, 2020 @ 3:43am by Lieutenant JG Ronen Kym & Lieutenant Remy Boudreau & Lieutenant JG Tessa Nicoles

1,142 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Caverns of the mind

ON

Kym walked into the main science lab in search of the new chief to see how she could help.

The Lab was smaller than Boudreau was used to from his previous postings, but it more than made up for it in convenient design. Starfleet Engineering had really pulled the stops out with the Nova class.

As the door opened, he looked up from the computer panel he was studying, and smiled and waved at the advancing Bajoran Counselor.

'Glad you could join us,' he drawled.

"My pleasure," the counselor replied. "Where do you want me?"

He indicated the next console over, 'how 'bout here? No point in us shouting all about the lab,' Boudreau smiled kindly. 'So a Counsellor, huh? Seems to be a few of them about this ship - do I need to know something?'

She smiled and sat where he indicated. "The captain was the Chief Counselor. When the former captain accepted a promotion, Quinn refused the spot and recommended Ka'Tock, who had command training. The admiralty agreed, and he took over. That left me in counseling." She shrugged. "He can still step in if needed, but he has enough on his plate running the ship."

'It can be reassuring if you know someone can step in.' He looked over at the Counsellor, 'I can't imagine you have an easy job,' Bourdreau gestured around the lab, 'certainly it's harder than this.'

"Different. I wouldn't say harder. I deal with people. You deal with the unknown. Especially in this."

Boudreau flashed a smile again, 'the unknown is the fun part.' He sobered a moment and added, 'it does present challenges, I'll admit. Major challenges sometimes.' The man shook his head, leaned in a little and smiled conspiratorially, 'still ... it is why we're here. And finding a solution can be satisfying.'

'Enough about me though, how about you? What made you become a counsellor, Counsellor?'

She smiled. She much preferred to hear about him than talk about herself. "I'm a child of the Resistance. I was still young when Bajor was liberated, but I remember enough. So many people needed to talk, to tell their stories, to have people understand. I like to listen, and I like to help people. So, counseling was the natural course for me. And in Starfleet, I also get to travel, meet different people, and hear their stories." She couldn't help adding, "I get to listen to scientists talk about their work."

His smile warmed as he nodded to show he was listening. Boudreau liked what he heard, 'it seems to be Counsellor that you're a very kind person. Particularly if you'd let me talk science at you. Not many people enjoy black hole physics,' he finished with a joke.

"I may not know the physics, but black holes are interesting--and that's not just being kind," Kym rejoined.

Boudreau laughed loudly, 'don't say that until we've had a chat about them, maybe after all this,' he waved his arms about vaguely to indicate the situation, 'is done?'

'If you'd like, I mean.' He added quickly.

"I'd like that. After this is over, and you've had your psychological evaluation." She smiled. "Business first."

Arching his eyebrows, Boudreau nodded and conceded, 'that's ... fair,' a little disappointed. He supposed she had her reasons. He nodded sincerely, 'I'll be sure to make myself available at the earliest moment I can.'

"Remy, I can't evaluate someone I'm...spending time with," she said, knowing she'd just crossed the line between professional and personal. "And I do want to spend time with you, so we either do the evaluation soon, or someone else does it." Did she just make a horrible mistake and think there was more to his reaction than was really there? Her interest in him as a person was definitely not professional. "I'm sorry. Maybe I'm just being presumptuous..."

He shook his head, 'there's no presumption. I'd just like to get the evaluation out of the way so there's no conflict, that's all.' Boudreau smiled again, 'I'm not here to create trouble for anyone, but I hadn't really considered you couldn't evaluate me professionally if you were, uh, evaluating me personally.'

"It's okay. Science doesn't have the same restrictions." She smiled, glad she hadn't misunderstood. "So, how about you stop by my office at your earliest convenience so we can get your official evaluation over with and then we can work on the...personal one."

'Good - shall we timetable it now?' he grabbed his padd, 'aside from a probably-risky excursion to a planet, I don't really have anything in my diary ...'

"I have nothing on my schedule right now, so my time is yours," she replied. "Tell me when you're available, and I'll be there."

'Alright,' Remy replied, 'How about ... oh-nine-hundred hours Thursday. All things being equal we should have returned from the planet then. I'll bring a hot beverage of your choice?'

"That works." She looked forward to the appointment. Actually, she looked forward to getting it out of the way. "Deka tea would be lovely."

'Deka tea it is, then,' nodded Boudreau in return. 'I can honestly say this is the first evaluation I've looked forward to.'

“I hope you feel the same when it’s over,” she quipped.


Nicoles made her way to the Science Chief's Office with her small Medical satchel slung over her shoulder; the sample needed with her.

"Ah amm sor-ry for being soo late." She tried to keep her Southern Accent in check. "The samples are with me for processin' and all." She offered.

'Not at all Doctor, not at all,' replied Boudreau easily, 'I'm sure you didn't do it on purpose - you want to put them out here?' He indicated a workspace with various analysing machines placed on top, 'I took the liberty of preparing some of the equipment for us before hand.'

"You ah-re so kind." Nicoles took the samples to the place. "I did some preliminary work and the results are just that the scans I have show the Primitive brain is most active in the scientists from a longer range scan."

'Brilliant, Doctor, lay them all out,' Boudreau looked at both women as the samples were laid out, 'so if we put our brains together, I'm sure we can come up with a reason why this is happening.' He clapped his hands together, 'so,' his excitement was growing, 'suppression of the higher brain function suggests something is blocking them. But what exactly?'

(To be continued...)


Lieutenant Remy Boudreau
Chief Science Officer
USS Aurora

Lieutenant Ronen Kym
Counselor
USS Aurora

Lieutenant JG Tessa Nicoles
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Aurora

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