Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao

Because of routine maintenance, Rand was a bit busier than usual. The computer system was due for what ever it was that engineering did to keep it running smoothly. And right now the computers were up and running but the network was down. It would be for long and engineering was going section by section. That meant though that Rand was running from one place to the next delivering messages, reports, pulling information from the ship’s library, and etc. She didn’t mind, she liked being busy.

The downed network had already made Roman’s day more difficult. There were several things he needed to do in the morning that needed it to not be down and now he couldn’t do them. And of course, that frustrated him. He always put off his paperwork, but he did so on his terms, dang it, and when he wanted to get it done he wanted to be able to get it done.

It meant that she got to make extra stops in the biology lab because orders had arrived for the science department from command. In the Bekleb system, the fifth planet, Kelmao, was class M and had been cleared for study. Rand knew Roman would be thrilled to get the assignment, it was the whole reason he was a scientist. So it was with the orders from command and a print out of what they had sent along she walked into the biology lab. Franks looked up as the doors opened, “Good morning, Rand. You’re a bit early for Nibbles aren’t you?” Franks thought highly of Rand. After seeing her in the observation lounge with Alden, he’d gone out of his way to occupy her conversation when she was in the lab. Specifically when certain techs were also present. It prevented them from bothering her. That thought reminded him, he intended to go track Miller down after shift today.

Rand looked over at Franks. He was a good officer and worked hard. He was always polite, but never tried to engage her in awkward social conversations. “No, just dropping off more paperwork.” Though today she was pretty sure Roman would like this paperwork. “I’ll be back at the normal time for Nibbles.” For the most part Roman made a point of being in the lab when she worked with Nibbles. Getting to spend that time with her, but when he couldn’t, it was Franks who monitored her interactions. She made her way across the lab to give the reports to Roman.

Yeoman Rand

Miller worked in one of the ship’s other labs, and the two didn’t always see each other during the day. Rand’s visits always improved Roman’s day, but he was still grouchy over the computer system’s network issues. At the sound of more paperwork, he looked up with a rather irate look. The visits with Nibbles were an excuse to see her more often during the day, and so as frequently as he could, he made sure he was there when she was. Lately, he hadn’t left for lunch at all, either having someone else bring it or skipping it altogether. “Extra paperwork today? I thought I already had everything,” he said, looking up at her as she handed over the reports.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand, ever the professional, bit the inside of her cheek hard to stop from smiling. Everyone in the lab, in the whole department, knew how much Roman despised paperwork. She knew he’d be irate with the routine computer maintenance going on, and additional paperwork would make it worse. It was so endearing, but she couldn’t let anyone know she thought that. “Nothing that needs your immediate attention, Cmdr. I was told to bring it straight to you though, and to inform you that the Sentinel has changed course accordingly.” She handed over the papers, “From Star Fleet Science Command, Sir. You might like it.”

Roman could tell she was trying not to smile, and looking at the report she’d handed him, it was indeed detailed orders from Science Command. Science Command? Changed course? Could it be…? Rand was getting him excited. Perhaps on purpose, he realized, but he couldn’t help it. Quickly, he flipped through the first few pages, to where it would get to the point and tell him what exactly they wanted him to go study.

Then Rand sat down on the stool that was perpetually beside his desk, that was hers. It’s where she sat every morning going over reports with him. She crossed her ankles and tucked her feet onto the bottom rung and reached over and picked up the stack of reports that were even later than usual because of the disconnected system. That was the brilliant thing about PaDDs though. Now with the prankster taken care of, she could easily put the files to her PaDD and take care of them. Was anyone in the lab surprised when she sat down and started going through his paperwork? Nope, not at all. Everyone knew that Rand could not stand seeing unfinished paperwork. It didn’t matter it was Alden, she would help anyone. But Franks had a feeling she enjoyed helping here more than anywhere else. And it wasn’t the mouse.

Yeoman Rand

The stool was treated with almost a sort of reverence by Roman and to an extent the rest of the lab staff, or at the alpha shift. It was Rand’s, and it stayed exactly where it was, next to Roman’s chair and within reach of all of his paperwork and inbaskets. No one else was allowed to touch it or move it. The late reports had frustrated him, he liked to be timely, and he was glad to see her picking them up. In his own hands were the orders from command:

Destination: Kalmao, designation Bekleb V.
Expected landing zone: Southern forests on the western continent.
Area of study: Environment and liveability, especially potential dangers for a new colony. Collect and study anything of interest, report results as soon as possible.
Kalmao is Earthlike in appearance with the majority of the surface covered in oceans. Ocean chemical balance may not be identical to Earth’s. Twice the size of the human homeworld, Kalmao has four main continents. Because of its orbit path around the Bekleb system’s sun, its days are equal to 4.5 Earth days. The tropical zone is at the south of the planet with the north remaining perpetually cold. This mission is targeted at the deciduous forests near the planet’s equator. The region experiences seasons similar to Earth’s, currently, it is late spring and transitioning to summer. Initial scans show no intelligent life but should anything be encountered follow the Prime Directive at all costs. The Sentinel is the nearest ship with the best equipped staff to handle this research task. Find suitable landing grounds in the forests, collect samples, and look for anything useful or hurtful to a potential new colony.
Expected time: two to three (earth) days.

The orders went on to detail what to do and what not to do, it was the same common sense stuff they put in all their orders. Roman’s grin was slowly growing as he read on, unable to contain his excitement. It had been a long time since their last planet study. He’d have to let Rand beam down, at least once. He turned to Rand. “What’s our ETA?”

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand had indeed been teasing him with the way she worded the information. He was grumpy and as loathe as she hated to admit Scott was right, her presence did seem to have an affect on Roman. Of course she absolutely was not going to admit that to Scott or let on to anyone else. But she could quietly try to make him feel better. She was scanning in reports and filling out lines and checking boxes. She had his electronic signature saved and added it to the reports. She would have him check them before she submitted them, but that way he could focus on the report.

At his question, the corner of her mouth quirked slightly and then was gone. She didn’t even look up from the report. She checked the watch she wore on the chain around her neck. She didn’t need to look at her watch, but it dragged the wait out just a moment, she knew exactly when they would be arriving. She also had the equipment requisitions form at the bottom of the stack Roman was holding. “16 hours from now Cmdr. Approximately 0300 tomorrow morning.” It was going to be a long day for her. She continued to type, tap, and scribble with the stylus on the PaDD as she answered him.

Then suddenly without missing a beat she reached over and snagged a pencil off of his desk and handed it to him, “If you can fill out the bottom form of the stack, Cmdr. I can go see the quarter master about the equipment you’ll be needing.” Franks was observing the by play because he heard the conversation. He wasn’t being nosey, their conversation had been fairly open, and the mention of a course correction and orders from Science Command had caught his attention. Since he often partnered Alden on the bridge, Franks made it a point to keep aware of what was going on. Alden was grinning as he read, so that had to be good. A couple of the other techs noticed as well and were nudging and nodding/pointing towards Alden. Franks nudged them back to get to work. Whatever it was, if they wanted in on it, they had better keep to their work.

Yeoman Rand

Rand was checking her watch and the silence stretched one for twenty seconds… thirty… And then he had his answer. Sixteen hours was more than enough time to prepare. But it would be a long day, 0300 was a less than opportune arrival time. He was already mentally checking off everything necessary and who would be beaming down and who would be staying aboard. He tended to award hard workers, which was exactly why Scott rarely got the chance to beam off the ship. Franks, Miller, Carpenter, and Tavil were good choices with relevant specialties. But he’d have to figure out exactly how many people he needed. He’d beam down himself, of course. And he planned to make room for Rand, too. His excitement was obvious. Even if Rand was teasing him, he was eating it up.

Pulling the requisition form from the bottom of the stack of paperwork (the planet made it worth it but Sheesh was there a lot of paperwork involved in planet studies…) he began filling out the things they’d need, test kits and sample bags and bins, biological equipment for testing air type and quality with more accuracy than orbital scans. Water testing equipment and kits. More slides for the microscopes. Any safety equipment the lab didn’t already have. The list went on. Finally, he signed the bottom and handed the form to Rand. There were a few other forms attached to the orders. A signature to show the orders had been received and would be followed. Once he was done with the paperwork, he’d need to make the announcement to science. He didn’t particularly like making those announcements. Everyone wanted to go and as soon as they found out everyone started sucking up, trying to win themself a spot. Roman hated suck-ups. It was simple to him: if the officer’s specialty was relevant and had a good track record with their work, they’d be on the team. Otherwise, other projects needed doing.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Already anticipating what Roman was going to need, Rand had drafted a printed announcement for science. Now Rand wasn’t a scientist and she wasn’t aware of all of the different departments and specialties, but she’d run a check on the departments and specialists for assigned to Sentinel and then she’d cross referenced that on the library with different specialists typically drafted into planetary studies. The announcement included basic information on the orders and which specialties would be needed. Roman would of course refine the list, but she could post it in the different labs leaving him free to organize everything else. She passed the announcement to him for his review while she read over the requisition list. Simply because she was nosey. She knew she wouldn’t get to go, there was no need for a yeoman on such a thing. She would help with all the reports when they returned.

With a final tap of her PaDD she turned it and handed that to Roman as well. All his reports were done, waiting for his approval. Once she had that she’d get going on getting the equipment. Franks was watching wondering what was going on. He was pretty sure there was a landing party in the department’s future, and the other Alpha shift officers seemed to be picking up on that and were working hard. They were all used to Alden and his expectations. They knew sucking up wouldn’t work, only hard work would get them considered for what ever project had been dropped in their lap.

Yeoman Rand

The announcement was perfect. With a few adjustments to the required specialties, and an added line to indicate interest in going, Roman approved it for her to go ahead and put up. He planned to tell her later that she was to be on the landing party. After he’d gotten approval from the Captain to bring her. He was sure he could come up with an excuse. There was plenty of paperwork and organising of samples to do on landing parties of this kind.

Rand handed him a PaDD and his reports were all finished. With a quick review and just a couple of quick corrections, he approved them and handed it back. He had a lot to do in the next sixteen hours, and he was happy to have her help with it. Between the news of the mission and Rand.. well, being there and helping get his paperwork out of the way, his mood had improved considerably. The equipment the ship already had aboard would need to be gathered and prepared, checked to be sure it was working properly. Materials and supplies would be gathered as well. Landing kits checked for readiness and restocked if needed. The ship only had so many science tricorders, and Roman preferred at least one remain aboard the ship. There likely wouldn’t be more than three science officers beaming down anyway. By the time they arrived at Kalmao, everything would be ready to go in the transporter room.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand took the papers back, hopped off the stool, “Thank you, Cmdr. I’ll get right on these.” She certainly did not smile at him while they were on duty, but her eyes danced a bit seeing how excited he was. On her way out she tossed out to Franks, “I’ll see you at lunch.” Why? because she knew that Roman would be far to busy to ‘supervise’ her time with Nibbles. It didn’t upset her too much. She did enjoy that extra time every day with him, but seeing how excited he was about these new orders was more than worth it. The comment surprised the lab because they had no idea what was actually going on. Just educated guesses, but it had to be important because Alden rarely missed supervising Rand. They all chocked it up to Alden’s strict rules about the animals and the fact Rand was still in trouble for her little mishap with Nibbles. But Alden had said anything, and he usually told her to expect Franks, so how did she know? Franks just nodded, he had been serving in Star Fleet longer than most of the other techs and he knew Yeoman always had a way of knowing things others didn’t. And with Rand that rule held truer than most.

Rand left the lab, heading straight to the Cargo bay and the quarter master. She made arrangements for Roman to come check the equipment and supplies in 2 hours, right around lunch time. That gave Chief Helpful time to pull everything and make sure it was ready. Then by passing the lifts for now, Rand took the ladders and climbed back to deck 3 and then half an hour later, reports submitted and the announcement printed, it was a quick slide down the ladder to deck 9 and back into the biology lab. She handed him the announcement to double check. It was correct of course, Rand would never pass of something to another officer, especially senior staff, unless it was correct. “Chief Helpful will have everything ready for your inspection in an hour and half, Cmdr.”

Roman had been finishing his normal work before the announcement came out and all focus turned to the upcoming landing party. “Fantastic, then we can prepare the supplies.” He said as he checked over the announcement one last time. Then he handed it back to Rand.

Once he handed her the announcement back Rand made quick work of posting the announcement in each of the labs on deck 9, 10 and 12. There was quite a bit of curiosity and then excitement that followed her, but she made sure to vacate the area before they could ask her questions.

Yeoman Rand

Roman’s work was interrupted multiple times by excited officers asking questions after that, and to each he said, “The announcement posted covers the basics of the mission, the chosen landing party will be briefed further when the time comes.” An hour and a half later, he was out of the lab, reviewing the equipment and supplies with Chief Helpful, and that took an additional hour. Before returning to the lab, he made a stop to talk to the Captain about Rand joining the landing party. With her approval on that matter, he finally returned to the lab.

The preparations and briefing the landing party, when he chose who was on it, would take the rest of the time they had before they arrived and would have to take their primary scans to find a good landing site.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand was running back and forth across the ship. The science labs were now interconnected again, actually all the departments were connected, they just weren’t linked together. That was the final upgrade. Rand was passing orders and responses back and forth from the bridge to each department. Her time with Nibbles had been very short, but she’d expected that. With science getting ready, Franks really needed to be doing more than watching her, so she’d made quick work of the actual interaction and was able to finish her notes on her own. She’d missed lunch in all the activity. Now she was headed back down to the the labs to find Roman again. More information had come in from command.

She paused before entering the lab, a protein bar in her hand. No food in the labs was the rule. She leaned against the bulk head and took a bite of the bar. By her breath it was obvious she’d been running. Her weight was on her left foot, her right leg bent taking pressure off her injured right one. She wasn’t sure it actually hurt or if she was worried it might hurt. She’d been running again for the last couple weeks, but not as fast or as far as she usually did. And she certainly didn’t spend all day running around the ship as much as she was today.

Yeoman Rand