Inspection Part 2: Magic We Understand

Posted on Wed Nov 20th, 2024 @ 4:56pm by Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Cornelius 'Kit' Hanlon & Lieutenant August Hobbes & Crewman Raine Ni-ya & Ensign Kol Reme
Edited on on Wed Nov 20th, 2024 @ 8:11pm

1,359 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: To Boldly Go
Location: Science - Deck 6 - USS Fenrir
Timeline: Day 6, 12:20

ON - CONTINUED:

Science, Deck 6

The next stop was the Science labs, under Lieutenant Hobbs. Kit liked the scientist, liked his ambitions and drive as a scientist. But that was personally. Professionally, this would be the first step towards the ship going on its mission, this inspection...a chance for the crew to find out where they stood and a chance to improve before the system tests.

The doors to the Science labs opened and he stepped to the side, to let Blake enter first.

Moving in, Blake glanced around to take in the space. The first time she had stepped into a lab had been when she became a First Officer. She'd never even entered one before that, let alone spent any real time in one. With a refitted ship and a new crew, it was natural that the space seemed ordered and well kept. She expected her Chief of Science to keep it that way.

Hobbes worked long hours because that was his nature. He never asked the same of coworkers though, more often than not, they got caught up in the work and stayed on. Science wasn't a job where you clocked out at the end of your shift in favor of leisurely pursuits. It just ... wasn't. Since coming on board, he and his team had gone through a whole list of things -- from verifying that everything the ship's computer said they had in the labs was actually there, checking the calibrations and running simple tests on the equipment, to going through all of the supplies on-hand. There had been an exhaustive list, put together by his team and himself over the replicator equipment version of take-out that first night, and they had finished it. Ready.

"Here they come," he said sotto voce to Crewman Ni-Ya who happened to be standing next to him when the doors opened and the Captain and First Officer stepped in. He removed his glasses, hooking them over the edge of his uniform out of long habit.

Raine let out a breath, her pale eyes watching the two humans approach. "Not sure what they expect, we've barely had time to set up," she breathed, her voice low and throaty.

"We finished the agreed upon checklist," Hobbes said, as he shifted back and forth, one foot to the other. "Reminds me of that first year in the Academy. If the science classes hadn't been so interesting, I might never have survived the quarters inspections."

Raine looked at him for a moment before she tilted her head. She had never had any issues with inspections, but she did not own much. "We will be fine," she agreed, because they had indeed finished the agreed upon checklist.

"Lieutenant Hobbes," Kit greeted the man before he looked around. "I am not much of a science man, but this certainly looks...spotless."

"Has to be, Sir," Hobbes answered. "Contaminates can impact results. Not a good thing when an analysis includes inaccuracies based on the presence of material that should have been cleaned away." He shrugged lightly. "We keep things organized, clean, and there are less mistakes, we're more efficient. Even if Starfleet didn't have its own standards of cleanliness, we'd have our own. It's just ... necessary."

Kit nodded at the words, taking a slow breath. Yes, that did sound good. Reassuring, actually. "I know you are waiting on some more personnel, but what's the status on the labs?" He knew there would be still things needed to be done, but he hoped that they were getting on with what they could do to get things right before they departed.

"All of the equipment has gone through calibration and testing. We've done our own inventory and matched it up against the official one. Nothing's missing and everything is working. We're as ready as we can be," Hobbes said. "The team put in a lot of overtime to make sure of that."

"Good, but hopefully the need for extra hours will...calm down once the rest of the personnel arrive," Hanlon said, making a note to check the logs. He wanted to make sure that no one was already exhausted when they departed.

"Already back to normal hours," Hobbes said. "It wasn't so much onerous as it was a shared sense of getting ready." He chuckled slightly, his gaze returning to meet the Captain's own. "I monitor hours, of course, but for the most part, scientists are a curious lot. The worst thing you can do to them is force them to take time off when they're in the middle of something important. More than once I've found someone in the labs at two in the morning because that's when inspiration hit." He shrugged lightly. "I don't require it; it's just how we as a group are."

Hanlon nodded as he watched him. "Just keep an eye, that is all anyone could ask," he said with a small smile. He had been around scientists in Starfleet...and met a few at the Academy too. "This has been very enlightening for me, Lieutenant. It's not that often I set foot in the labs."

"Yes, Sir," Hobbes said. He gestured toward the lab that looked, to his mind anyway, rather lonely. Once it was filled with experiments and scientists, working on problems, looking for answers, it would real more right. More like home. "Well, you're welcome any time, of course."

Blake couldn't help the smile of amusement that managed to break out on her features. She had barely scraped through her science training. He might not be so keen to extend that welcome to her if he knew the level of her ineptitude. "Well, I can honestly say that we feel reassured to have an officer of your calibre running the department. We'll be relying on your expertise and voice of experience."

Ensign Kol Reme watched on as the seniors talked, seeing his new Chief in a different light. The Bajoran officer was pretty sure he was much the same age as Lieutenant Hobbes, but it was clear that Hobbes was some kind of high flyer. The slight frustration he'd felt at the career gap between them fizzled away as he realised that maybe he was in exactly the right place to learn from one of the best.

Raine looked over at her new Chief as well, her features not betraying anything. The road to redemption and all that, humility would do well. So she made herself embrace that idea instead. "And hopefully we won't create something that'll eat the ship," she said, because old habits died hard.

"Is there anything else you need or want to bring to our attention?" Blake asked briskly, not wanting to move on if there was a burning issue on Hobbes' mind. Otherwise, it seemed like the scientist had everything well and truly under control.

"No Sir," Hobbes answered. "Nothing comes to mind." His glance strayed to to the crewman who just had to put that idea out there in front of commanding officers but he kept his expression neutral.

"Very well...carry on then," Kit said with a smile, looking at the department before back at Blake. All in all, it had been a good inspection and Hobbes had answered all the questions.

Hobbes heaved a small sigh of relief as the captain left; in his mind, science existed a bit apart from the normal ship's routine and he preferred it that way. Everyone remained where they were and Hobbes made a shooing gesture with his hands. "You heard the Captain," he said, grinning, "we passed and it's time to get back to work." A ripple of sound, a mixture of relieved sighs, chuckles, and quiet murmurs, accompanied the movement of his team as they headed back to their projects, to their own little worlds. And that, Hobbes thought as he watched them, was how it should be.

TBC:


Lieutenant August Hobbes
Chief Science Officer
USS Fenrir

Commander Cornelius 'Kit' Hanlon
First Officer
USS Fenrir

Commander Scarlet Blake
Commanding Officer
USS Fenrir

Crewman Raine Ni-ya
Science Officer
USS Fenrir
[PNPC - Hanlon]

Ensign Kol Reme
Science Officer
USS Fenrir
[NPC]

 

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