Posted by Ensign Nala Winters (Science Officer) in Teller Graham’s Office Hey boss I have a brilliant idea

Posted by Ensign Kalani Alindor (Science Officer) in Teller Graham’s Office Hey boss I have a brilliant idea

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Teller Graham (Chief Science Officer) in Teller Graham’s Office Hey boss I have a brilliant idea
Posted by… suppressed (19) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Kalani sat at her desk twiddling her stylus back and forth producing a rhythmic clicking sound the echoed through the lab. She had been debating and pondering the thought in her mind for months. If she didn’t get it out she would just do something rather rash and worry about the consequences later. The beg for forgiveness approach however didn’t exactly work when the action was clearly premeditated. This was Kalani’s conundrum.

Staring at Teller’s office Kalani decided to make her move. Walking to the replicator she thought for a moment about what to request. She hadn’t spent a lot of time with Teller alone so she had no idea what his poison was. “What to do, what to do,” she said to herself in a sing-song tone. Looking back over her shoulder, an idea struck her. Humans, while highly intelligent, were still just animals and creatures of habit. Habits were comforting things so she pressed a button on the replicator. =/\=Computer have the replicator produce the last food and drink items requested by Teller Graham. =/\= Seeing the items on the replicator pad, Kalani briefly wondered if this was typical or just what her grandpa called a hankerin’ for something different. Picking up the food and drink, she carried it to his office. Rapping on the door jamb with her free hand, she called out, “hey boss got a minute?”

Kalani Alindor, science officer.
OOC: If she brought food and drink it would be a coffee two sugars two cream and a sausage egg and cheese on a croissant.

Teller looked at his computer then back up at her. He responded, “Not really, but if you wait until I have time you’ll never see me.” He stood up. Reaching out with a hand he offered to take the food and drink.

“Coffee, two sugars, two creams, and sausage egg and cheese on a croissant,” she announced although it was clearly evident what was on the tray. “I would like to say my keen powers of scientific observation showed what the big dog stalks at the replicator but sadly its just a computer and remembers what we ordered last so I took a chance.”

“Bribery… I’m automatically suspicious.”

“Pffft,” she waved a hand as if the comment was a compliment instead of a direct observation of the most basic of human principles. Food had always been a bargaining chip since the first creature crawled out of the ocean with a fish in its mouth to garner favor with the rest of the creatures who had established a house, bed, or other necessity. “Don’t be. I left here last night in the middle of the night and you were here and I got here for first shift and I don’t think you have moved from your spot.” This was not a lie. Teller was always buried in a project and Kalani wanted to harness his brilliant mind and singular talent of discovering new things into her corner.

“So I am not sure if you knew but that article I submitted for review to the Daystrom Institute came back last week on Achieving Biodiversity of Estuaries.” Kalani wasn’t fishing for compliments or acknowledgment of something that would eventually be a dusty footnote in academia. It was just a way to introduce the topic she wanted to discuss.

“I’m not sure where water… and probably fishes impact a star-ship. As you know water freezes in space.” Teller appeared young, freshed faced, although tired. He frequently gave the impression of an individual too young for his position in terms of his appearance.

“True but it doesn’t freeze planet side and that is where my practical results lay. You can run far more simulations on a starship so when you actually hit dirt side you don’t waste time,” Kalani said.

“Well, the main criticism was how my scale of balance in the brackish waters between the saltwater pond and the freshwater tidal pool could not be maintained on a larger scale which is ridiculous. The halophytic trees, shrubs and other plants growing in the area are doing their job just like predicted. Daystrom however wants a larger scale project. Of course, my response was how am I supposed to get bigger. We are on a Pendragon ship and not a full-scale science ship or ideally on a planetoid. After thinking about it for a couple of days…I got an idea.” The excitement and confidence radiated off the ensign as she took a seat across from Teller in one of the two empty seats facing his desk.

“Tell me sir,” she looked at him with a serious expression. “Do you prefer for one to ask for permission or beg for forgiveness in the matters of scientific exploration?”

Kalani Alindor

OOC: I don’t know where you want to go…

Luke
OOC: Into science fun and tylenol for the captain…:) I edited my post ~ Kate

Teller raised an eyebrow, “Well in general, I prefer to beg for forgiveness if the project is important enough but doesn’t affect others. In this case however, you don’t have the luxury of choosing ‘begging for forgiveness,’ since the cat is half way out of the bag already.”

“Not if we change the subject or stuff that cat right back in the bag.” Her laugh filled the room. Kalani liked her boss. She hadn’t had a lot of interaction with him but the ones she had had always been productive. From what she had experienced, Teller was not a micromanager. He let his people explore theories and succeed or fail. A professor once said to her that only through failure did one learn. Teller seemed to embrace that concept with sparked loyalty and hard work because from what Kalani had experienced most of the science was a failure until you found the big discovery.

“How is that breakfast,” she asked nodding to the food on the tray.

He took a sip of coffee. “For some reason I don’t think your bribe is big enough.”

Teller

“I could order you more food,” she let out a laugh hooking her thumb at the replicator behind her.

“And ruin my girlish figure… no thanks.”

Taking a deep breath she decided to just dive into the point. “So you know I have that space for my vivarium to work on establishing equilibrium in places where life is devoid to promote a more natural terraforming situation instead of fill a hole with water and stuff some flora and fauna around it.”

“Sure,” Graham led her on without agreeing to anything.

“I know my theory is sound but some of the science I could use a second mind with. I also,” she cringed slightly and hurriedly added the end part, “would love some help punching through the floor of the storage closet on D deck and flood it so we can study benthic ecosystems.”

Kalani Alindor science

And there it is. “You want to what?” He unconsciously shook his head in the negative fashion. “I don’t know how we could do that, the engineers would lose their minds.”

“There are several two or three deck areas on the ship. Cargo bays, shuttle bays, lounge, why on Earth would we punch a hole in your closet, if the area is that small I can get us a large cargo container and it there.”

Graham.

Kalani took on a thousand-yard stare as she listened to Graham. “Don’t worry about the engineers. They will be fine,” she waved him off as if that was not a concern. “You know though I think you are totally right. We should flood the cargo bay below the closet. We have a ton of them that really aren’t used for much of anything.” Well anything Kalani cared about. Getting a smile on her face she looked at Graham. “So when do you want to start? I have a shuttle on standby to take us to Aquaria VI. I know a guy there that can get us some species of kelp, seaweed and urchins from a specialized cove that has animals that adapted to depts of 20 feet which are normally found at 50 feet or deeper. You know what that means don’t you,” she looked at Graham with a kid at Christmas expression. “It means you could create actual sustainable fisheries and such in places that don’t have or shun replicator technologies but still preserve the environment. When you look at it that way what are a few bulkheads, conduits, storage for the crap everyone brings and no one uses.” While Federation plantes, settlements, and colonies were zero carbon footprints the universe was vast. Societies still strip mined and destroyed the lands of places for things much like they did in the late twentieth and twenty first centuries.

Kalani Alindor science

Graham shook his head, “No, no, that’s not a plan. I need a floor plan, space, power utilization. Feeding resources… staffing requirements.” That was just the few things that he could pick off the top of his head. “The duration, the hypothesis you are trying to prove, how does your experiment prove it.” There was far more involved then pick up and go. “Hell how much is this going to cost me, to buy the stuff from your guy.”

Teller

Kalani moved her chair even closer to his desk. “Okay, all the samples are free because…I know a guy,” she wobbled her head back and forth in a don’t ask manner.

“Oh, silly me you know a guy.” Teller wasn’t convinced. Knowing a guy usually meant doing something illegal, certainly at least underhanded. Not that he wouldn’t do something a little questionable, but he had to weigh such things.

“Who doesn’t know a guy,” she let out a huge laugh. “So back when I was in the academy I got hooked up with some dude from Green-GalaxyPeace. He was way to radical for me. Tying himself to trees and such. Anyway,” she waved the thought away, “he got me hooked up with Eco-Frontier. The are subsidized by the Federation and tend to focus on flora and fauna on uninhabited worlds. There has to be a balance. The point to that whole story,” she moved her hands in circles as if arranging the pieces of a puzzle, “is that they can provide samples and specimens without disturbing landscapes and no red tape.”

“At least tying yourself to a tree didn’t really risk anything except your own freedom.” Graham actually respected those who were willing so sacrifice their own comfort for the cause. It was far to easy to use someone else’s time or money to do things. When you put in a pound of your own flesh. That meant you were committed

“True but the tree was infested with yellow sac spiders. By the time they untied him, he looked like he had the mumps,” she let out a laugh. “He wasn’t much of a biologist as you can guess but a complete and utter ChapSnap junkie. That isn’t my guy though. Just saying,” she needed to make sure Teller understood the samples she would be getting wouldn’t be coming to them in emptied mayonnaise jars.

“Also none of the supplies are coming from our department,” she grinned widely like the cat that caught the mouse. “Happy wife, happy life. Jarred always orders twenty percent over for emergency purposes. We are just going to use that twenty percent. I mean what is the worse that happens. He needs a power converter thingy on the fly and he just takes it from the vivarium. Honestly, it seems ridiculous to just leave things sitting on the shelves in case,” she air quoted the word, “he needs it. Starfleet always gives engineering the largest budgets so we are just Robin Hooding it for the poorer departments. ” Kalani moved even closer to the edge of his desk letting her enthusiasm bubble over like a kid at Christmas. Her excitement was making her talk a bit faster and move her hands about more rapidly as she talked. “The power requirements are a bit hefty so I have a couple of guys I know in engineering setting up a power supply that is isolated off the main grid. It would be insane to have us get attacked and loose power to it.”

“Until we have an emergency and he needs those supplies. We have to report the usage.” Goodness this woman was a menace. If she was left to her own devices she would get them both court marshaled. “The power,” he shrugged, with anti-matter reactions power that wasn’t used was lost so he could get his head around that.

“As to feeding and staffing that requires no one. The whole point is the system is self-sustaining so the insects feed the amphibians, the amphibians feed the small mammals and reptiles, and so on.” Drumming her fingernails on the table she got a slightly distant look. “We have only one issue so far and that was when I didn’t calculate the voraciousness of the Delmarvian bog toad and their ability to eat the fish I had Jarred add. To be honest,” she looked at him a bit sheepishly, “I did feel kinda bad that day. Jarred was scooping the fish out as fast as he could but it was a blood bath in the Ichthyology community that day.”

Kalani Alindor science officer

“What would happen if we lost containment, or your habitat lost power. We certainly could go into combat anything could happen.”

Graham

“Well Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest gets played out before our eyes as Bruce gets a plate and makes the vivarium a schmogasborg,” she let out a small laugh. “It’s not like the captain’s lizard isn’t the top predator on the ship. Nothing in the tank is poisonous to the crew. Sure there are quite a few snakes and spiders but they are harmless.” Looking up at Teller, Kalani tried to put on the best help me face she could muster. The truth was she could do it alone. The reality was no one ever really wanted to do a road trip on their own. It would also make things a lot easier if he signed out a command shuttle for them to take but that was the conversation after he said yes.

“So you ready to get out of these metal walls and get back to nature. I promise you I make a cup of bush coffee.”

Kalani Alindor

“Well if the call of the wild is part of the experiment then I guess we only need confirmation and a back up so the experiment doesn’t get out of its container and permission from the commissar to take some of the excess supplies. I probably could get clearance with in a week, but if one of these plants get out and turn a Little Shop of Horrors on us you’ll be an ensign for the rest of your life.”

Graham

Plants…who said anything about plants, Kalani thought to herself but nodded with a smile. “I am going to be an ensign the rest of my life,” she let out a laugh. “They extra hundred credits are not worth the headaches of having to tell someone they have a half baked idea or the paperwork.” Realizing she resembled those two comments, Kalani stood deciding now was the best time to leave. “So I will let you do whatever it was you were doing and get things arranged on my end.”

=============
One week later
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Standing in the shuttle Teller acquired, Kalani looked around and was more than impressed. It made sense. Teller was the science chief. She didn’t assume he would be scuttling around in a general population shuttle, but this was far more than she expected. Boxes, crates, and bags filled the space with anything and everything one might need for a proper scientific expedition. Pursing her lips, Kalani wiggled them back and forth debating if she should have maybe went into more detail than a planet name as their destination. The word remote applied to their destination was kin to more polite terms such as fixer-upper or a diamond in the rough. There was no way the shuttle was going to be able to land anywhere they were heading which meant trekking to their destination.

Before the Saracen, Kalani spent her entire time in the field. Teller was brilliant but didn’t seem like the jungle trekking science type. Still he had said he wanted to get away from metal walls. This was definitely going to scratch that itch.

Ensign Kalani Alindor science

Nala had just gotten word about the little science mission a few hours ago and was super excited. She had to go from the Lab to her quarters to pick up a few things. There was a possibility of being away from the ship for several days. She would need her brushes, change of clothing, and hygiene given products. She started with her sketchbook and drawing case.

” Do I want to bring them along?” she asked. On one hand, the pink-dyed leather-bound sketchbook was small and so was her pink rose print case that held a combination of pencils, erasers, colored pencils, pens, and alcohol markers. On the other hand, they meant a lot to her. They were a gift from her father. He had given them to her the day she graduated. Did she want to risk them being damaged. She thought for a few more moments before putting them in her small not-star fleet issue backpack.

She turned to leave the room when she looked back suddenly. ” Oh I can’t forget you, Dove” She said. Hurrying back over to her bed and picking up the small orange stuffed bunny and putting it into her backpack. Doves’ head stuck out of the top of the bag with her constantly worried face and long ears showing. She could not go on her first mission without Dove that would just be plain silly. With that she left her quarters and headed for the shuttle bay.

It took her around 20 minutes to find the bay and another ten to find the shuttle. She saw another Science officer next to it. The almost completely white furred Caitian approached Kalani. Her pink and purple backpack was held in her hands. Her tail swished back and forth in content yet excited manner. Her bright blue eyes caught Kalani as she approached. ” Hi, I’m Ensign Nala. Is this the right place for the science mission? I think it had something to do with collecting fish” she asked.
Ensign Nala

“Hi,” Kalani said with a smile. “We are just waiting for the science chief.” She kept a smile but was starting to get a knot in her stomach. Maybe Kalani should have explained things better. She did not do hip boots and waders to get samples. Kalani did ticks and insect repellent hacking her way through a jungle for a single specimen up a tree or in a cave. The science department was filled with all sorts of fields of study. There were the generalists like the science chief that were brilliant in all the topics of chemistry, physics, and biology. Teller could supervise and assist in any experiment in any division. That was why he was the science chief. Kalani could talk your ear off about comparative physiology and biodiversity but the minute one spoke about physics she began to zone out.

” Oh Kalani this is going to be so much fun im sorry I totally did not recognize you for a moment” She said with a smile.

Kalani had not spent a lot of time with Ensign Nala. Just enough to know she liked the woman and knew they could easily be friends. “So what is your specialty. In science,” Kalani asked moving a few things around the shuttle as she talked and waited for the science chief.

Kalani Alindor science

” umm im interested in a few different things. Ecosystems and how they work are fun, so is physics and robotics” she said. She was quiet for a moment thinking. ” What do you study?” She asked finally.
Ensign Nala

“Planetary climatology and exo-ecosystems,” she pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she talked. “I met a kid named Paris Carisi when we were stationed on Mars for a summer. My dad was an ambassador so we traveled a lot. Anyway, she was doing all sorts of fun stuff because Mars was one of the first places we actually have tried to terraform. Since they are all in domes you can see how well that is going but I was hooked. I became that dorky kid that filled a tank full of water and left it sitting out to see what happened when crap fell in it. As you might guess on a starship the atmospheric scrubbers kept the tank with basically clean water for weeks. There was some dust but none of the murky fun stuff you get when you leave it outdoors or in front of open windows.” Kalani moved and kicked things out of the way as she talked.

“So one day my dad was meeting with this Vulcan ambassador and he told me not to just do whatever one else does but think outside of the box and use what I had instead of trying to make the experiment fit a plan. He gave me a Vulcan Orchid which I almost killed like five times. Six months later we ran into him and he gave me a cactus and told me to figure out how to make them live in the same pot. The orchid needs constant misting where as the catcus only could be water once every three months because water literally burned it. I figured it out eventually. Soon I moved from small plants to plants and small fish. My dad’s friends in the diplomatic corp began bringing me more and more stuff from all over the galaxy until we had to make a terrarium. That monstrosity on deck five all started from an orchid to a ten year old girl,” she laughed. “Over the years I honed and experimented more until coming up with some variations that don’t compete with native plants and animals places that are,” Kalani stopped talking and stuffed her hands in her pockets. “Sorry about the life history of Kalani’s crazy as Jarred calls it.”

Kalani Alindor science

” that all sounds really interesting, I enjoy learning new things, and I was hoping Joining star fleet could help me unravel some pretty big mysteries in my past,” She said taking her sketchbook from her bag and a pencil. She started to sketch Kalani as they talked. ” So do your hobbies only include science?” She asked.
Ensign Nala

Teller looked about and hummed as he entered the shuttle, “I hope you don’t think we are going to hump all these supplies somewhere…” He wasn’t about to do that much lifting. “I hope we can scan and land near what you need.” Marching in a jungle wasn’t something he considered ‘fun.’

Graham

” Oh come on now wheres your sense of adventure Lutenat” Nala said with a bright grinn.

“My sense of adventure is hiding behind my fear of a hernia.”

“That is always the plan,” Kalani said in a slightly forced smile. “I mean who actually enjoys falling into a pile of poison ivy or river full of leeches. Not this girl,” she hooked her thumbs at her chest trying to be playful and fun. If Nala and Teller were more of the lab type instead of the fieldwork type, it was okay with her. Everyone loved different aspects of science. For a second however she let her mind drift and imagined Teller not in his uniform. Instead, he was wearing tan cargo pants, with a t-shirt and one of those bucket hats to shade his eyes from the sun or have the brim work as a bill to funnel rain off his face. As her gaze looked down she was instantly snapped out of the daydream seeing his shoes. They were far to shiny to have ever seen mud and gunk.

” Yah the line at leaches and poison I’ve it takes healthy shin to maintain this fur” She said as she smothed out a messy patch of furr on her tail. Her ear twitched as she heard something aproching.

“Usually animals with discrinable fur have a resistance to poison ivy and other similar plants. ” He looked at the two ladies, “the oils never reach the skin.”

“Shall we go,” Kalani said before letting out a sharp squeal as strong hands wrapped around her waist and a sloppy kiss was planted on her cheek?

Nala’s ears flattened against her head. her tail wiped back and forth agitatedly. ” Ouch!” she said with a bit of surprise. ” Should I have warned you someone was approaching?” She asked.

“Not without saying goodbye and a stern warning to listen to your chief and to come back in one piece,” Jarred’s voice whispered in her ear. His comment caused Kalani to laugh and lean back onto his chest as she patted his hand.

“If I kill the chief I am pretty sure Dante would ask for our transfers. Its not like....owww,” she let out a yelp as something suddenly pinched her shoulder. Rubbing the spot she looked back at Alindor. A small pea size bump was under her skin just below her fingertips. “What was that?”

“Kill me? What?” Teller was only picking up one end of the conversation. “This isn’t the Roman Empire. Knocking me off, does not promote each of you one step in rank.”

“Tracking beacon. I have been working on it since our little weekender to Vespa. Before you start to gripe, no I do not trust you and neither should you,” he looked at Teller. “In fact if she utters the words short jaunt, little climb, or the all-time famous curiosity never killed the cat....run dont walk back to the shuttle. Other than that you could be spending the weekend being chased by space Yeti’s and living in trees like Wookies.” His words were chirper and light as normal with the chief of experimental engineering. Extending his hand to Graham he put on a serious expression and simply said, “good luck and I pray you come back.”

Nala giggled she tried to hide it. it just did not work. ” I believe the phrase is curiosity killed the cat, and I’m perfectly capable of getting into trouble without Kalani’s help besides a little trouble is always fun,” she said.

“Go,” she snapped at her husband. “You are not being funny and I will be back in two days. Two. Now git. I love you,” Kalani said to Jarred. As her husband walked off the landing ramp, Kalani looked back at her co worker and boss. “He can he so dramatic. So are we ready to launch?”

Kalani Alindor science

” Dramatic I thought he was just being funny. If you want ill help you pull a prank on him when we get back” Nala offered. as she put her sketchbook and pencil away. she looked at the CSO and then back to Kalani. ” I know this chief engineer who is terrified of bugs. if we find interesting ones I’m going to have to get some pictures of them to send her. The only regret would be not being there to see her reaction” Nala said with a slight smile as she wanted the other two to board the shuttle. ” Do either of you know how to fly this thing” She added after a moment.
Ensign Nala

Teller snorted… “Really you planned the trip, but you didn’t include a pilot in your plans.” Teller plopped himself in the helm station. He happened to be an excellent pilot.
“Atomic Batteries to Power, Turbines to Speed.” He lifted the shuttle of and pivoted slightly.
=^=Riverboat Gambler to Saracen permission to depart, for a three hour tour… a three hour tour.=^=

Graham CSO