"Multitasking May Be Hazardous To Your Health, Consult Your Physician Before Attempting"
(Previous Post: "Briefing")
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Stardate: 60323.1235
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
The meeting of the senior officers had come and gone leaving the Shillian scientist where she had been before, sitting at her station contemplating the sensor upgrades she had mentioned and trying to relinquish to the back of her mind the other things that had been occupying her thoughts.
The discovery of the unethical research being performed on Capi, or specimen 1-77-012 as Crewman Barrington had referred to the Capuchin monkey as, had deeply troubled the Chief Science Officer of the USS ANUBIS, so much so that it had hindered her ability to perform her duties in regards to the sensor upgrade. As if that had not been enough, the idea that their CEO had thrown in the towel and quit had not made things any easier, and now that he had announced that he would be staying for one more mission, the Shillian woman felt as if there might be hope for a solution to her other problem.
As she looked over to the engineering station located next to hers at the back of the bridge, the Chief Science Officer tried to find the right words to say to David. The scientist had been very pleased to hear that the engineer had decided to stay, but this happiness had been severely diminished by the thought that this had not been a permanent arrangement and that following their next mission things would be back to where they were.
"David," the Shillian said, finally mustering enough will power to speak instead of just thinking about it. "I am happy that you are staying."
"I would not get my hopes up if I were you Maya," the Chief Engineering Officer snarled back, "I am here only for this mission and because there is a possibility that I will get what I want by the end of it."
Not having had the insight into the mind of the engineer as some of the other members of the crew, or the understanding that the Oltharian seemed to share with David, the Shillian scientist had been left guessing as to what the Chief Engineer had meant by his last comment. Even if she had possessed some sort of comprehension into the thought process of the engineer, the Shillian woman would still have found the concept of revenge to be an almost incomprehensible one.
David had lost his immediate family and he wanted revenge against those who had caused him to lose what he cared about , but what about her. The Shillian had not only lost her father and everyone else who might have had some biological link to her, but she had lost her entire world and everything that it represented. In a single moment, the Chief Science Officer had seen all that she had held dear and learned to cherish vanish into nothingness. Despite this indescribably lost, she felt no need for revenge against anyone or anything, instead drawing strength from the fact that she had found a new family of sorts and that through her life and actions the memories of those she had cherished continued on.
The Chief Science Officer decided to leave the engineer to his work and turned back to her station only to find the Marine Command Officer standing on the other side of her console, looking back at her with a strange expression engraved on his face. "I wanted to…" Pravat began, trying to find the right words to say but discovering that how he felt had not been so easily expressed.
"There is no need to apologise," the Shillian woman said, her thoughts actually not being on the unethical treatment of Capi at the moment. "I understand that you and I are from two very different worlds and that we have very different set of values."
The Enaran looked surprised for a moment and spoke without taking any time to think, a character flaw that he seemed unable to get out of. "I was not trying to apologise, I just wanted to see if you could use some extra help with that sensor upgrade. Figured that you could use a few extra hands to make the work easier."
If the Shillian had been the type to be easily angered she might have unleashed a never before seen rage against the Marine for either having claimed that the scientist had been unable to perform her duties without his assistance or because he had actually not come to apologise for his narrow-minded views about the treatment of animals. Instead though the Chief Science Officer found herself to be disappointed and just shook her head in response to the offer made by the Enaran.
On his side, Pravat could see that he had done something wrong, but had been at an impasse as far as figuring out what it had been that he had done incorrectly. The Marine had placed his ego aside and even offered the Shillian to help her in her work, surely that should have been enough to have the scientist reconsider her earlier opinion of him. Since it was clear that he would not make any progress with the head of the science department on this day, Prav decided to leave the bridge without trying to further understand the scientist. This was neither the time nor place for this, his complete focus needing to be on their mission and on the obstacle that they would more than likely encounter along the way.
Frustrated beyond the ability to put into any sort of tangible form, the Chief Science Officer returned to her work as best she could, hoping that she would be able to push aside all of the distractions that troubled her thoughts so that she would be able to complete her task and give her new Commanding Officer the tool she would need to locate the missing crew of the USS MERCURY.
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Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Commander Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2005 post #259
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)
