A Scientific Arrival

Posted on Sun Jul 7th, 2019 @ 12:16pm by Captain Alistar McKeon & Aura Vera

1,085 words; about a 5 minute read

Arriving at the Endeavour hadn't been nearly as much trouble as Aura had expected. Getting on board, however, was turning out to be quite the impossible task. The unjoined Trill woman was still standing in the transporter room nearly an hour after she had beamed aboard waiting to have her paperwork checked by a senior officer, and her patience was beginning to run thin. Crossing her arms over her chest, she took a deep breath and released it before she spoke again to the petty officer standing before her.

"I've already told you that I have the clearance to be on this ship. You've seen my papers, and I've been waiting for you to call a senior officer down here. Now, get someone down here. Now!" Aura snapped.

The petty officer gulped, not sure what to do. He didn't want to disturb someone with this, but at the same time, he didn't think that not disturbing someone was going to be a good idea either. Tapping his comm badge, he hailed the bridge. "Transporter room two to bridge. I need someone in charge to come down here ASAP," he said.

Alistar rubbed his eyes and sighed as he heard the call from the transporter room. Lately, the only operating transporter room had been the source of a lot of the command staff's issues. That, and repairs. Pressing the comm button on the auxiliary station behind the command chairs, he replied. "Someone will be down there in a few minutes," he said before he turned and gazed around the bridge. Realizing that he was pretty much the only person who was there who could respond, he muttered "Oh, shit," before he started off towards the turbolift. The trip to the transporter room seemed long and short at the same time, but when he arrived he walked in and looked at the rather attractive Trill who seemed agitated. "Should have called Silvisi," he muttered before he walked over. "I'm Captain Alistar McKeon, captain of the Endeavour. What seems to be the problem?" he asked.

"Nothing, if you count as being left waiting for someone to come down here and give confirmation to your outstandingly friendly and welcoming transporter room staff for over an hour as something that is normal," Aura said, trying to keep the frustration and aggravation out of her voice. Handing over her authorization papers to the captain, she continued. "I'm Aura Vera, a civilian scientist granted permission to work aboard the Endeavour as a field specialist in your science department."

"Well, I'm sure we can figure out what's going on," Alistar said as he glanced through the paperwork. "What's your specialty?"

"My primary specialty is Archaeology, but I have a few degrees in Anthropology and I took generalized studies in basic and general medicine and life science," Aura replied, feeling her temper cool a few degrees.

"Pretty wide range but excellent choices and much needed on an explorer," Alistar said with a nod as he turned his attention towards her. He noticed first the Trill spots, and then her clothing. She looked as if she would fit in better in a dig site after at least a year on site. "You're not a lab rat are you Miss Vera?" he asked.

"I prefer to be in the field as opposed to a lab, but I'm comfortable with either so long as my work and research isn't interrupted," Aura said, trying to be polite despite her bluntness.

"Well, I'm sure we can try to arrange some field work for you. We're heading to the very edge of uncharted space, and our new home port is a colony world that has been barely explored. There's a whole system of planets for you to dig through. And we're only heading further out from there."

"That sounds absolutely wonderful, Captain," Aura said with a smile. "I assume that I'm welcomed to stay on board, then?"

"I think we can find room for you somewhere, if you don't mind the fact that we're going through a patch of repairs," Alistar said as he waved for her to join him before he started towards the door. "Civilian quarters on the Endeavour aren't the most luxurious around, but I'm pretty sure you prefer a tent in a jungle somewhere."

"There's nothing wrong with a tent in a jungle, but I will admit that it's always nice to have a comfortable bed on a clean star ship to come home to," Aura said as she joined the captain. Looking around their immediate surroundings, she gave a smile. "Although I hope that this isn't what the Endeavour looks like on a regular basis."

"Not really no," Alistar said. "So, I'll have the quartermaster set you up with permanent quarters on the ship, and I'm sure we can find a lab for you to work in. We have a few labs that don't get used much if you want to work alone, but I'll let you settle that detail with Commander Silvisi. She's both XO and chief science officer." Coming to a stop, he turned towards the attractive Trill. "So, any questions?"

"Just two that come to my mind," Aura replied. "One, where's the Quartermaster? And Two, where can I find the first officer?"

"With the shape the ship is in, he's likely to be anywhere. You might want to stop by and talk to anyone from operations. If that doesn't work out, the XO is usually on the bridge or somewhere in a science lab and she can get you settled in as well," Alistar answered. He tried to hide it but he glanced at a nearby computer interface as they passed and checked the time.

"Well, I'm sure that you have a lot of things to be taking care of, being the captain, so I probably need to let you get back to them. I do thank you for taking care of that chaotic incident in the transporter room, and I look forward to working on the Endeavour," Aura said.

"It was my pleasure Ms Vera. I hope you enjoy your time on the Endeavour, and if you have any problems be sure to let me or Commander Silvisi know. Welcome to the Endeavour," Alistar said, giving the Trill woman a smile and nod before he started down the corridor. He would have to check in later to make sure she did get settled in along with the rest of the new crew.

Captain Alistar McKeon
Commanding Officer

Aura Vera
Civilian Scientist

RSS Feed