A Scientific Evaluation

Posted on Sun Feb 7th, 2021 @ 7:56am by Lieutenant JG Ronen Kym & Lieutenant Remy Boudreau

2,030 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Caverns of the mind
Location: Counseling
Timeline: 0900

ON

Kym read the reports from the away team, partly because she'd helped a little with data analysis, but mostly to see how the new Chief Science Officer was doing. She expected him at 0900 for his psychological evaluation. It was customary to do a baseline evaluation on every new crew member so she could get a feel for how he or she would fit in with the crew and if there were any special needs to address.

For the first time in her professional career, she was eager to have the evaluation over and done with because she was close to losing her professional objectivity.

She checked the chronometer again. Still not nine.

Hurrying down the corridor, Boudreau held a carry tray of takeaway drinks in one hand, and his padd in the other. With a slightly harried air, he noted he was probably going to be late for his appointment. Not the best impression to give he thought to himself.

Still he had the drinks. That counted, right?

Arriving at the Councellor's office, he rang the chime at 0907 hours. Tucking wedging his padd between his arm and chest, he freed his hand to run it through his hair, tidying it up a bit.

"Come in, the door's open," Kym said. She was relieved that he made it--not that postponing was a problem, but she really didn't want to put this off any longer.

Boudreau breathed deeply, calming himself and stepped through the door as it opened.

Kym smiled when he entered. "Welcome. Please have a seat."

He smiled, 'I brought your tea for you,' and held up the drinks carrier. As he went to take a seat he put it down on the desk in front of him. 'Sorry for being late, the trip to the planet required a lot of paperwork in the end.'

"It's fine. I'm glad we didn't have to postpone it." She picked up her tea and took a sip. "Thank you. Please, have a seat." Normally, she would have gone over to the conversation area, but today she wanted a bit of a distance. More professional. She was going to do this strictly by the book.

She sat at her desk and set her cup down so she could take out a PADD. "Tell me a bit about yourself," she began. "And why you chose Starfleet."

Boudreau took a sip of his coffee as he considered her question. 'Well, I guess to start with ... I grew up in Louisiana. But not New Orleans, not everyone from Louisiana comes from there.' He smiled, 'small university city, Lafayette. Pretty normal upbringing really. Mom and Dad were college lecturers amongst other things. We enjoyed going camping around the state, and up in the Appalachians. Spent a lot of time in the water, especially in summer. Loved that.' Boudreau shrugged, 'still do. I'm the eldest of four siblings. No major trauma, no tragic events, no big family secrets.'

'Why join Starfleet?' He thought a moment again. 'Well ... The War, really. It changed Earth in a way I never could imagine. Earth in the twenty-fourth century is the closest thing to paradise humanity has built in its history, and the Founders and the War almost ruined it.' Boudreau went quiet for a moment again, these weren't things he had considered in a long time, 'I realised I was privileged to have the upbringing I did on Earth, and Starfleet was instrumental in ensuring I could grow up to pursue my interests without any outside constraints.'

'I found I was good at science, I enjoyed it, and I thought, essentially, I could pay back a little of what I owed to Starfleet and the Federation by doing so, so I applied.' He smiled, 'besides, Louisiana was getting small - only so many times you can go up and down the same bayou.' He became serious again, 'Starfleet has also allowed me to professionally pursue my research, so it's a debt I'll likely never repay.'

Boudreau shrugged, 'that's about the long and short of it.'

She made a few notes on her PADD. "What's one thing you've learned from your time in Starfleet?"

'That we don't understand half of what we think we do, but our strength, infinite diversity in infinite combination, allows us to prevail in the majority of situations in which we find ourselves, and further our knowledge so the people that come after us can proceed further down the ... path, I guess.' Boudreau shrugged, 'not sure if that's the right word.' He took a sip of coffee and fidgeted as he waited for his answer to be noted.

She picked up on the fidgeting and hid a smile. She didn't like making people nervous, but somehow a lot of people felt that way with their medical and psychological evaluations. She made a few notes and looked up, smiling. "Tell me something about your childhood. What are your strongest memories."

'Strongest ...' He frowned, 'well ... there were the family camping trips, to the Appalachians especially,' he smiled then burst out laughing, 'I was convinced as a kid I'd seen a bigfoot. Couldn't be right, obviously. Then there's the swimming and canoeing up and down the bayou, we did a lot of that.' He finished, quietly and contemplatively, 'and there was the first trip to the moon, to see family. That was nice too.'

"I thought Bigfoot was farther north?" She shook her head. She would look that up later. "Do you think that influenced your decision to go into Starfleet and science?"

The six year-old cryptozoologist in me begs to differ,' he thought. 'Yes,' he answered, 'quite probably. I moved from bigfoot to other creatures as a kid, and built quite a library of kooky books. In the end I graduated to real biology, and from there science in general, and eventually Starfleet.' Boudreau laughed again, 'but maybe one day I will catalogue an animal that was a folk tale for myself.'

"It's possible. Some tales are based in truth," she said. "Finding one of the mythological creatures would be quite an accomplishment. I hope you have that chance."

Kym paused. "Tell me something you don't want me to know."

'Do you mean something along the lines of 'I have an illicit bottle of Romulan ale stashed in my quarters, or a deep and devastating secret I'm holding back on?' Boudreau deflected the question with the joke.

She leaned forward and grinned. "That depends on how you want to view it. The answer is different for every person."

'Alright. Firstly, I do have a bottle of Romulan ale in my quarters - what Starfleet officer doesn't, these days?' drawled Boudreau. 'Mostly I feel like a fraud somedays you know? Not every day, just ... sometimes. I'm a science officer, and I failed in my first test on the Baghdad. Should've seen that micro black hole swarm coming. Maybe the ship would still be in one piece, and maybe the crew would all be fine.'

He smiled, bitterly this time, 'I call myself a specialist in spatial anomalies, an expert. And I couldn't see it coming. Looked over the sensor logs from the days and hours beforehand and there's nothing obvious. Nothing subtle, either.' A shrug, 'at least that's what I tell myself.

Kym wanted to touch his hand or give him a hug for physical comfort, but she was too far away. "Everyone feels like a failure at one time or another," she assured him. "I don't think you failed anyone. As advanced as our technology is, we don't catch everything. People die. I honestly don't believe you were at fault."

'Rationally, I understand that. At 3am in the morning when I can't sleep ... it plays on my mind,' he smiled genuinely, 'thanks for the ... reassurance.'

"Any time." She smiled. "Also, part of a counselor's job is to be available when she's needed--even at three in the morning."

'Thanks for letting me know - you'll be my first port of call if I'm up at three am.' Boudreau indicated she could continue with her questions.

"If you can't find the solution to a pressing problem, what do you do?" she asked.

'If I were working alone, I'd round up my officers and see what they could bring to the table. In a pressure situation where the answer or solution was needed immediately ... give my best guess or attempt. That's all I could do.'

"And if you were part of a team?" she asked.

'As part of a team, if I couldn't find the solution I'd defer to the person who could devise it.'

She pulled out a PADD. "And last but not least, I have this. There are no right or wrong answers, just mark the most correct answer. Once I analyze the results, we'll be finished."

Boudreau took the PADD reluctantly, eyeing the contents suspiciously. He read it carefully, reading out parts under his breath. 'Arrive at an L-class planet ... ruins ... dead civilisation ...' The man began to answer questions cautiously, 'away team ... archaeology survey ... lose contact ...' His brow furrowed further the more questions he answered. 'Discover ... Gateway ... Security officer disappears ... Iconians!?' Boudreau glanced at her incredulously before returning to the questions, working his way through as honestly as he could.

He handed the PADD back to the Bajoran, 'that was challenging,' Boudreau admitted.

"I know. I always wonder which answer is more accurate. But, it's done, and you won't need to do it again for at least a year." She slipped the PADD into a slot for the data to copy to her computer for analysis. "Once I look this over and write up my report, you're officially done. It'll take an hour or two, but there shouldn't be any issues."

Boudreau relaxed. He realised he'd been tense since stepping in through the door. 'I'm glad you don't think there'll be any issues. I guess most of us don't like these sessions because we're expecting the worst.'

"I know," she replied, smiling. "I get it a lot. I try to make it as painless as possible. The initial session is the worst. After that, it's just updates."

The computer chimed and she pulled out the PADD. "You're good to go. I just need to finish up, but you can consider yourself good to go." And with that, her professional obligation was almost done. Just the report to file.

He drained his cup. It was cold, but he didn't mind. With the evaluation over, he could move on to the next item on the agenda. 'Sooo ...' he began carefully, 'how much longer do I have to stay professional before I can ask you to come for a drink? Or dinner?'

She chuckled. "Two hours? Just long enough for me to write up my report. Unless that's too soon?"

His lips twitched into half a smile, 'almost too long in fact, but I'll wait for propriety's sake.' Boudreau spread his hands, 'and, if I leave now, maybe we'll have the report done sooner?'

She chuckled. "Yes. If you leave now, I'll get right on it." Her smile turned into a grin. "Do you want me to message you when it's done?"

'It'd be handy if you did,' Boudreau said, getting to his feet, 'we can make some arrangements then.' He glanced at the chronometer, 'I'm going to have to head back, run some lab tests - I'll catch you later, Counsellor.'

"Have a good day, lieutenant," she replied. She watched him leave, then turned to her computer to begin her report.

'Let's hope it is,' replied Boudreau as he stepped through the office door. His step was lighter as he made the short way down to his office. Always good to talk to people properly he reminded himself.


____
OFF

Lieutenant JG Ronen Kym
Counselor
USS Aurora

Lieutenant Remy Boudreau
Chief Science Officer
USS Aurora

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