Posted Jan. 14, 2022, 10:08 p.m. by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) (Lucas Foxley)
Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Reckoning
Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Reckoning
Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Reckoning
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻(snip)
Then he checked the time. Rand should be finished helping Franks by now, certainly by the time Roman made his way there. He grabbed one of his crutches. As much as he hated it, to walk all the way to his lab alone he was going to need the extra support. Then he peeked his head out the door to his quarters, and seeing no one that would stop him, stepped out and headed for the lift.He reached the lab a little while later, his pace still considerably slower than normal, and waved to Franks, leaving the crutch by the door.
~ Roman
Roman was right, Rand was gone when he got there. Franks had no idea Roman shouldn’t be in the lab, and since Alden was such a stickler for regulation it never occurred to him that Alden was breaking them. The aCSO was very eager to share everything that had happened since they had returned. He offered, more because there was so much to catch Alden up on, to have someone go get his samples from Kelmao.
Franks went in for quite awhile about the other labs and what they were doing and all his ideas. It wasn’t that Franks was trying to prove he had done a good job, but he was just that enthusiastic about it.
Roman listened as Franks went on about everything, glad to finally hear about everything going on, outside of the reports Rand had been bringing him. He was talking to Franks and catching up and he lost track of time.
More than an hour later, a voice spoke up behind Alden. “Cmdr. Alden you are welcome to observe, but you are not allowed to interact with the animals or samples.” Rand, having finished her rounds, had gone looking for him. She didn’t even bother with his quarters, she knew he wouldn’t be there.
Roman froze when he heard Rand’s voice. He’d hoped it would take her a little longer to find him. He turned to look at her, hoping she wasn’t about to “tell” on him. He put the sample he was holding down on the desk.
Franks looked at her obviously confused. He thought maybe Rand was teasing Alden, but knew neither would engage in such behavior on duty. Therefore Rand had to be serious. “What was that Rand?”
“Cmdr Alden is still on medical leave.” Rand kept her voice between the three of them. She didn’t want to embarrass or undermine either officer.
Rand
Roman looked completely betrayed. Leaning his hand on his desk to keep some weight off his leg, he looked between them. “I’ve been let off my strict restrictions, and I haven’t signed anything, only spoken to Franks and looked at a few things.” He said.
~ Roman
“Looking is done with the eyes, not with the hands, Cmdr.” Franks looked totally at a loss. He respected Alden a great deal and didn’t want to over step, but if Alden was still on medical leave then he was still in charge of the science labs. “I made the assumption without asking…I’m sorry Cmdr, but I can’t allow any one not cleared for duty to actually work inside the labs.”
“Of course not, Lt.” Rand piped up, “You’ve been doing such an exceptional job, Cmdr Alden would not risk your chance of promotion on such a thing. I’ve been hanging around you scientists long enough to know you simply can’t help yourselves.”
Rand
Roman had been about to say something, but Rand piped up and he sighed. “Rand is right, your work has been excellent. I… I should be off medical leave before long.” Hopefully. It depended on what the doctor he was seeing in a few hours decided for him. But it did bum him out. He’d been having too much fun catching up with the lab going-ons and now Rand had spilled the beans that he wasn’t allowed to.
~ Roman
Rand figured Roman would be upset with her, and that bothered her, but she was right. Franks was doing an excellent job. If he allowed Roman in to work while on restriction, it wouldn’t matter what Roman said about him later. It would be a black mark on his record and prevent him from promotions or consideration for lead positions and eventually a CSO position. That was beneath Roman. “This afternoon actually. Elbbirt said so…” Aww crap…how was she supposed to know that unless she was there. “I was coming back to let you know you may not have to do reports tomorrow,” she said to Franks. Hopefully he would just assume Rand knew because she knew everything that went on, on the ship. She looked at Franks, and in a voice that held far too much authority, “Your aCSO you get to decide how people come and go and observe what’s going on in the labs.” She shrugged and moved away over toward Nibbles to see what she was doing, before heading back out. As long as no one broke the rules, they could bend them all they liked, and she’d make sure it stuck.
Rand
No, Roman wouldn’t want to ruin Franks’ chances at promotion because he was too impatient with his medical leave. “This afternoon…” As much as Roman wanted his restrictions lifted he wasn’t looking forward to that appointment. After that, Roman stuck around for a few more hours, mostly breathing down the necks of the lab techs without touching anything, before heading to the galley to pick up his own lunch. Then he headed back to his quarters.
~ Roman
Rand figured Roman would stay in the lab for as long as he could stand it, and she was pretty sure Franks would talk his ear off the whole time. As well as the rest of the lab techs and those on the landing team. She had expected to return to the lab at lunch to feed Nibbles and find Roman still there. He was gone. That didn’t mean anything, right? Maybe his leg was hurting? He wasn’t avoiding her? Was he mad? Like really angry at her? She was right, wasn’t she? To let know Franks know. Franks could get in serious trouble if someone found out he’d over looked the regulations, especially about medical stuff. Not to mention how everyone always complained how strict Roman was. He’d have a nightmare of discipline problems on his hands if anyone found out.
She was careful, no one in the lab knew what she said except Roman and Franks. She spent half an hour with Nibbles, but the small mouse seemed tired. She ate and then curled up on Rand’s hand again. She’d brought an extra sleeve scrap with her again, so no ‘uh ohs’. She wrote down her notes and then left the lab. By the time she left she’d worked herself up to the point that she went and found Randy.
“What are you doing here? You hate sickbay.” Randy knew immediately something was wrong. He could tell by how she was acting or more to the point, how she was not acting.
“It’s lunch and I get the reports twice a day every day. I just don’t like to stay here.” Randy walked her out and down toward the Galley. “Uh huh, then why all this?” he reached behind her back and grabbed her right hand, pulling it away from her left where she was wringing them together. He tucked her hand into his elbow and kept walking. Once they sat down in a far corner away from everyone else, Randy picked and tugged until finally she told him what was wrong. Randy shook his head, “Rand…my dear sweet sister, what have we talked about. You’ll drive yourself crazy with what-ifs. Just go see him and then you’ll know. Once you know then you can worry. Now scoot.”
She did, but first she took drinks to the bridge and took mid day updates to the captain and then lost her nerve and went to her office where she tried to talk herself into stepping across the hall to his quarters.
Rand
Roman ate his lunch in his quarters and then waited for Rand to show up. He’d have stayed in the lab longer and talked with Franks but his leg was hurting, he’d used it a lot for it being his first day off bed rest, and he’d grown tired of watching other people work. He was only going to end up getting in trouble. So he’d left. Finally, after waiting, he decided to go and look for her. Ditching his crutches, he headed across the hall to check her office first, knocking softly on the door.
~ Roman
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