Colliding Atoms

Posted on Tue May 16th, 2023 @ 4:49pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Phoebe Baxter & Lieutenant JG Hopkins Cobb & Ensign Winston Hubblestone

1,947 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Prelude to Rebirth
Location: USS Firebird, Science Lab 1, Deck 2
Timeline: 7 May 2396

[ON]

Science Lab 1 had originally been the largest lab on the Firebird. However, after the departure of the ship's Marine detachment and the refit of their previous space, the ship had added more family quarters, a school, a lounge, two new science labs, and an astrometric lab. All the new labs were very spacious. They also had yet to be used.

Winston looked up from the graphical overlay of the Badlands and glanced at Lieutenant Cobb. They hadn't developed much of a relationship yet and Winston hadn't decided if he liked the other science officer. He was incredibly smart and witty, but he also was a little scatterbrained and had started two accidental fires already.

"So, what do you think? The new chief should be here soon. Did you read her personnel file?" Winston said.

Cobb looked up from something bubbling and beeping with a look of semi-wild abandon. "Read, read?? Good heavens, Winston. I don't have time to read! Can't you see there's all this science to do?" Cobb gestures at the things in front of him. "That said, I did have a brief moment in between naps to gander at the first page. It'll be good to get a fresh perspective. Seems like a fine addition to this ragtag team as we expand into those shiny new spaces."

Cobb went back to their beeping and bubbling as they continued talking. "Now, do you have any thoughts you'd like to share?" The bubbling intensified, but Cobb wasn't worried. There were plenty of fire-suppression systems in place for such things.

"Well I hate to be a gossip but... she moves around a lot. I mean, all the time. So the good news is that if she is a horrible boss, we probably won't have to deal with her for long," Winston said and then thought about what that implied. "Of course, if she's a good boss then it would be sad to see her go. I mean, this is my first assignment but it feels like having someone who is competent to lead you is a good thing. Hmm. Otherwise, I saw that she's not really a specialist in any field. She's published four good articles on four separate topics, which is bonkers to me. I have enough dealing with astrometric analysis and some metallurgical experiments."

Cobb still didn't look up but felt as though it was important to continue the conversation. "No specialty, you say? Bah, good stuff! Specialties are for people without the imagination to push themselves in the name of science. I'll have to read those articles before they arrive to see what's in their head. Shouldn't take me more than a couple of hours while I wait for this experiment to finish."

Now it was time to look up. "As far as the assignment is concerned, this ship is notorious for being full of oddities. Why, have you met that old engineer? I haven't met an odder fellow in an age! And don't get me started on the treatment you'll receive from that medical hologram. I think this new boss will be splendid. Do you know when they'll visit? We really should clean up some of the more obvious spills."

Winston grimaced at Cobb's remark. He looked around the lab with fresh eyes, not liking what he saw. It wasn't that they were inherently messy scientists. But it had been just the two of them for some time and they'd fallen into a routine. Most of Winston's mess was electronic. He had PADDS and sensors readouts and graphical adjustment tools strewn all about his workspace and the space next to it. After all, the lab was designed for six people and since there were no other people, why not use it? But Cobb... he was a different story. On their first day, they'd ended up working near each other and the fiery result had ruined one of his lucky uniforms and set off the fire suppression system. He'd moved as far away from Cobb as possible right after.

But there was no denying that the lab was a bit of a mess.

"Yeah, we should clean this place up a bit, Lieutenant. I think she's talking with the Captain right now, or so Petty Officer Lak told me.

"Excellent! That'll do nicely."

Cobb realized the exclamation was originally directed at some numbers coming out of a machine. He really should respond to Winston. "Oh, and that sounds good too. I'll read these numbers later, but for now, let us get to work. I'll handle anything that looks liquid-y or non-electronic in nature. We should have plenty of time if the captain is bending our new boss' ear. What say you?"

"Yeah, sure," Winston said. He was scooping up the PADDs when the door swished open, depositing a new face in the lab. Winston gulped when he saw the full Lieutenant pips on her collar.

"Oh dear."

The newly appointed Chief Science Officer took in the scene and understood at once. "So, I'm guessing you weren't expecting me to pop in so soon, huh?" She offered with a grin, relating to the mad dash to straighten up. "It's okay, we'll get this place tidy once we've said hello. I'm Phoebe."

Cobb recovered quickly. "In fact, I was expecting you any minute. I was just saying that the captain doesn't keep people for too long when there's work to be done. We were just getting started on the cleaning anyway. Lieutenant Hopkins Cobb, by the way. A pleasure to meet the new fearless leader of this ragtag team of science."

Cobb snapped off his best salute with a hand that had some sort of luminescent smear on the side.

Winston stood up, the blood draining from his face. I am in so much trouble he thought. This was not how he'd envisioned reporting to his first department chief. "Sir, Ensign Hubblestone at your service. My apologies for the... for the... mess?" He felt his knees going a little weak. Were the lights too bright? "It will never happen again!" He blurted and then pressed his hand over his mouth. He was so bad at socializing.

Phoebe held up her hands. "At ease, boys, it's okay. Nice to meet the two of you." She stepped a little closer to the pair and brought her hands to rest on her hips. "I'm not that big on rank or formality, so please relax. Well, except for you, Hopkins - your hand is glowing. You might want to wash that off."

"Fair observation. The glowing generally means the experiment is working, but I suppose it's a bad sign when you don't remember the origin of this particular goo. I'll be right back." Cobb wandered off to find a wash station.

"And as for you, Ensign," Phoebe continued, turning to Hubblestone. "Be careful not to make promises we can't keep. Science can get messy, that's part of the fun. As long as we keep things safe, I imagine we'll be making the occasional mess along the way."

"Yes, sir. I agree that we will probably be making messes," Winston said, glancing toward Cobb. "I just meant that I will try to keep things clear at my station." He began the careful process of disposing of some of the material he'd been working with that he no longer needed. It amounted to a small amount of dilithium crystal, some victurium and some tripolymer composite. "So, Lieutenant, what other posts have you had before coming to the Firebird?

"Galileo, Uhura, Hamilton, and Minerva, in that order," Phoebe answered, her mind flashing through memories of each one at warp speed as she named them. " Gal and Minerva were dedicated science ships, but I enjoyed my time on each of them." She watched him meticulously declutter his work area. "Is this your first post?"

"Yes! It is!" Winston said. "I've been on the ship for just a few weeks. It's kind of a funny story about how I ended up here." A frown flitted across his face. "I was a little late leaving the Academy because I had an injury. I'm a bit of a klutz. I was hoping to get a spot on the Biko but I missed out. I hadn't heard anything about the Firebird before I was assigned here but it seems like a great place. And it has a whole bunch of labs that we haven't even touched. I mean a LOT of labs." Winston laughed.

Phoebe's eyes widened with childlike joy. "I know, all with brand new equipment! I'm honestly surprised you boys haven't cracked open Astrometrics yet. Any particular reason, or just waiting for permission?"

"Well, uh, we had a few problems getting this lab up and running. For the refit, they packed everything away and then they rearranged the space a little to make it better. But in the process, they stored the equipment all over the ship and we had to dig into all kinds of places to find it all," Winston said and then continued in a lower voice so only Lieutenant Baxter could hear. "And then Lieutenant Cobb decided to take things... out for a spin and we had a small accident."

Cobb was just wandering back wiping his hand with a towel that was inexplicably dirty given how clean it'd been a moment ago. There must have been more on his hands than he thought. He caught just a brief whiff of the conversation detailing the lab.

"What's that? Ah yes, it took time to find and unpack things. Why, I think that the engineering chief was properly sick of me as we tracked down all of our stuff. You'd think they were storing it in what I hear are his favorite Tubes considering the places we found boxes. Ridiculous it was. Anyway, it seems like we have it all now but there are always experiments to run that get in the way of a full inventory. Do you think that's the first thing to do now?"

"I do, yes," Phoebe nodded, eager to get to work. "Let's get the labs up and ready to run and let's have an up-to-date list of everything we have on hand; equipment, samples, and so on." She stood and adjusted her uniform. "Also, the captain has requested I familiarize myself with all there is to know about the Bajoran wormhole, so if either of you have anything to share, please let me know." She looked from Cobb to Hubblestone. "I think that's more than enough to get us started. Any questions?"

Winston shook his head. "Not at the moment. But I'll do some research on the wormhole. I know there's a ton out there. I've never been there. Hope we get the chance!" Winston said.

"Wormholes, you say? I never really cared for that particular phenomenon in my younger days, but I'm certain I have plenty of reference materials I can find that cover it. I'll make that first priority once we get you that inventory. Off I go!"

Phoebe nodded, beyond thrilled with her team's enthusiasm. "All right, then. Let's get to work!"

[OFF]

Lieutenant Phoebe Baxter
Chief Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Lieutenant JG Hopkins Cobb (NPC by Harlan)
Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Ensign Winston Hubblestone (NPC by Llwyedd)
Science Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

RSS Feed

Comments (1)