"Over Preparing And Shillians Go Hand-in-Hand"
(Previous Post: "Working in Tight Quarters")
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Stardate: 60329.1225
The invitation to the senior staff had been sent and
the Shillian scientist had spend the last fifteen
minutes making sure that everything had been as ready
as could be for the meeting that would take place at
the same time as the luncheon. Lt. Commander Serenna
had wanted to bring all of the officers together prior
to their boarding the HATHOR for a few reasons, the
main one having been to inform the crew of the
specifics of their upcoming mission.
In order to facilitate this task the Chief Science
Officer and Executive officer of the USS HATHOR had
prepared a detailed flight plan which she had copied
on as many PADDs as there had been members of the
senior staff. Never before having dealt with the many
responsibilities of a First Officer, the Shillian
scientist had wanted to make sure that everything
would be perfect, or at least as close to perfection
as could be.
As she placed the last of the PADDs on the table, the
attention of the Shillian woman was diverted to the
main doors which she had heard open. When the Chief
Science Officer saw the Enaran Marine entering, the
scientist immediately feared that the time for the
meeting had come and that rest of the senior staff
would be right behind him. Instead the Shillian
scientist let out a sign or relief as she watched the
Marine First Lieutenant approach her alone.
"Are we expecting the entire admiralty of NEW
ALEXANDRIA to show up?" The Enaran said looking at the
perfectly set place settings at each of the tables
that had been reserved for the meeting. "Do you want
me to fetch the band or will you be using pre-recorded
music?" Pravat teased knowing that the Shillian had
worked long and hard for this little senior staff
get-together.
"No band, no music and *no* admirals," the Shillian
said just as the miniature Enaran primate jumped from
the floor to a chair, to the table and onto her left
shoulder displaying an amazing level of speed and
agility.
"You do know that Lieutenant Commander Serenna wanted
this to be an *informal* meeting?" The Enaran asked,
not entirely surprised by the attention to details the
Chief Science Officer had displayed in her
preparations.
"Yes, I know," the Shillian scientist replied looking
at the end of the table where the Commanding Officer
of the HATHOR would be sitting. "If this had been a
formal meeting, I would have asked for the banner of
the Federation to have been placed on the wall behind
the end chair, but since this is an informal meeting I
thought it best to keep things simple, I mean we are
all here to enjoy our time together away from out
respective duties while at the same time get an idea
of what will be expected of each and everyone one of
us during the mission to come."
The Marine had to bite his tongue so to not mention
anything about what Lieutenant Commander Serenna had
asked of him. As much as he had wanted to warn the
Shillian about the possibility of unexpected
occurrences happening during the shakedown cruise of
the HATHOR, the Chief Science Officer had not listened
to anything the Enaran had said.
"I just think that you might have gone a little
overboard," the Marine First Lieutenant said while he
reached for one of the PADDs the scientist had so
meticulously placed in the centre of each of the place
settings. "I have taken part in far more complex and
dangerous missions than the one we are about to go on,
and never did I receive a detailed mission plan such
as the one you prepared with has indexed and
cross-referenced items. You are on the edge of
telling the crew when and where they will be able to
breathe during the mission. You might not see it that
way, but take it from me; you might have gone a little
too far with all of this scheduling."
"Do you think I should give us more time at the
KARRABY CLUSTER or maybe schedule an extended stay
near the T-Tauri star S-7331? I mean it is possible
that I have not taken into account that the ship and
crew may need some time to unwind after each test of
the specific systems of the HATHOR," the Chief Science
Officer said, clearly displaying that she had devised
the flight plan as a scientist and not as an Executive
Officer.
"I do not think the problem will be resolved by the
scheduling of more time," the Enaran said while
shaking his head. "To be honest I think it is the
scheduling itself that may be the issue. I know that
you have it in you to be a great First Officer, but
you have to start looking at those around you as being
more than members of a research team. The shakedown
cruise of the HATHOR is not like one of you scientific
experiments that can be scheduled and detailed to the
millisecond. The ship can and *will* react in ways
that you have not taken into account, that is why
every new ship is sent on such a first mission, to
work out the bugs out of the systems."
The Chief Science Officer stood motionless with an
expression of defeat on her face as the Shillian came
to realise that she had not done as her new
responsibilities as Executive Officer had requested.
Being in charge of a group of scientist searching for
answers buried deep inside the physical properties of
the universe around them had been something completely
different that the task that she had been given, and
the Enaran Marine had finally made her understand
this.
"Pravat," the Shillian woman said in a weak voice,
"can I ask for your help with something?"
The Marine sighed as he expected the Chief Science
Officer to request his assistance in her taking on the
role of First Officer of the HATHOR. "I will do what
I can to help," the Enaran eventually said with a
smile, after all he had not been able to resist the
Shillian before, so why would now be any different.
"Can you help me gather the PADDs before everyone
comes in?"
Pravat laughed. "Sure, no problem."
---
And
Acting Executive Officer
"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2005 post #516
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 16, The Black Hole
Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Commander Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
USS HATHOR
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)
