Posted Dec. 7, 2021, 7:35 p.m. by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) (Jennifer Ward)
Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao
Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao
Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻(snip)
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 righ 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
Roman had returned to the lab not long before Rand got there, and even before she entered, she’d be able to hear him supervising preparing the supplies to go down. “They should be packed neatly, we don’t need to be wasting time fumbling about with haphazardly packed bags,” he said. He was sitting at his desk again. Everything was coming together as he’d planned and he was on schedule to be ready by 0300 when they arrived. Then the scans could be run and they could waste no time getting to the surface.
He noticed Rand after she’d been standing there for a minute, but seeing the protein bar, he waited till she was done with it to wave her into the lab. She seemed even busier than he was, but he figured it would be worth it when he got to tell her he had permission to put her on the landing party. He couldn’t wait to let to know. He hadn’t had the chance yet.
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
Rand finished quickly but without chocking on the food. She moved into the lab and blinked…there was So. Much. Stuff. and in such a small space. She thought the biology lab felt crowded before. Wow. This was not a room she needed to be in. It would be just her luck her clumsiness would rear it’s horrible head and she’d trip and fall into something, break it, and get hurt, or even worse set the preparation back significantly. After considering any possible path towards Roman’s desk she decided to stay where she was. “Topographical maps from Science Command, Cmdr. It took the computer a little while to compile and process the data. NE Helvick said ship’s sensors will be detailed and accurate than the probes used to get that information. She stepped back a pace to let someone by who was carrying a very packed crate across the room and it was only by luck that she managed to not hit Franks as he came in with another crate of containers. Yep this was not a room she needed to be in. She would love to stay and talk his ear off and ask all kinds of questions about it, he was busy. Plus he wouldn’t know the answers to her questions anyway. That was why they were going to Kelmao, to get those answers. So she would have to wait until he got back. She set the print out on the counter near the door and attempted to make her way out without getting into anyone’s way.
Yeoman Rand
The disorganisation would be temporary. But at the moment, yes, the lab looked rather like a storage locker, really. Roman hated it, but the work needed to be done somewhere. He was about to tell Rand the good news when she turned to make her way out. “Rand, wait a moment,” he said, standing quickly to catch up to her before she got away.
Rand made her way out carefully. She hoped they all had time for a meal and sleep before they headed planet side. Especially Roman. Lack of sleep was bad for him and it made things unsafe. She worried about him. She imagined that staying planet side was probably nerve wracking and there would be little sleep anyway. He’d be gone three days. She was going to be so lonely. What was she going to do without him to talk to late at night? That also reminded her that she needed to find out who would babysit her while he was gone. Hearing him call her…oh wow, Rand? Not En Farquharson, or Yeoman? He must be really excited about this. It made her smile. She paused in the corridor and turned back.
He paused momentarily after standing, and then rushed through the narrow path left between the stuff filling the normally neat lab. He caught up to her just outside the lab. “I had meant to tell you something earlier.” There was a piece of paper in his hand, listing the team members headed for Kelmao’s surface. Instead of simply telling her, he handed her the paper. He leaned on the corridor wall, similar to the way he’d leaned on the doorway to her office once, his left shoulder against the wall. He was unable to prevent the smile from showing up on his face. It read as follows:
Those officers selected to join the landing party are to report to the transporter room at 0400 sharp.
- Lt Cmdr Roman Alden (team lead/CSO, Zoology/Biology)
- Ensign Thomas Franks (Ecology)
- Ensign Ethan Valos (Botany)
- Ensign Veera Harvey (Planetary Science/Atmospheric expert)
- Ensign Tracy Morgan (Security)
- Ensign Rand Farquharson (Organisation and Extra Hands)~ Lt Cmdr Roman Alden
Rand looked up at him. She really should not be considering how good he looked leaned up against the wall and grinning at her like that. Forcing herself to focus she glanced down at the paper he handed her. He probably needed her to make copies and post them. She was more than happy to help....her thoughts paused and she read it again. She looked up at him, confused. “I know there is a lot of paperwork when you get back but....um....I’m pretty worthless planet side. I don’t know anything about taking samples.” She wanted to go, there was no doubt about that. The idea was exciting and to actually see when of the places they visited would be an experience she’d never forget. But she didn’t want to take the place of someone who should go.
Yeoman Rand
Roman was still smiling, “You can learn. Besides, do you know how many samples there will be? How much organising there will be to do? This lot” he jerked a thumb towards the lab, “would just toss everything in randomly! We’ll need you.” He seemed certain. It was the official reason he’d put down, but really, he just wanted to include her in his studies, he knew she liked alien planets and he knew she liked hearing about what he did. “I’ve already got the Captain’s approval. Unless you don’t want to go…” His smile said he didn’t think she’d refuse. Two days aboard the ship, doing her normal job, or two days doing biology stuff with him on an alien planet. Was it really a choice?
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
Rand wasn’t sure if she should laugh, because it was true - she was amazing at organizing and the officers were already so excited they were making a mess, or be offended, because he was pawning off their least favorite chore on her. Actually, she laughed, but remembering this was work and where they were, “You make a good point, Cmdr. And since the captain approved, I am happy to help however I can.” Rand had never seen him smile this much, ever. Because he never smiled on duty. If he didn’t stop, he might be declared medically unfit.
Rand was excited. She didn’t care what the reason was Roman had for bringing her, she was getting to go. “Do you need me to post this?” She held up the paper he gave her. She was grinning and already planning for her absence. “Who will feed Nibbles?”
Yeoman Rand
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