"A Shillian With Too Much Time On Her Hands Is A Dangerous Thing"
(Previous Post: "Simulated Reality")
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Stardate: 60330.0700
The Shillian scientist sat at the controls located at the end of a platform which for the time being floated amidst countless holographic stars and astral bodies being displayed on the large, 5-deck high curved surface of the walls which formed Stellar Cartography.
"You can come in," the Chief Science Officer of the USS ANUBIS said to the figure which had appeared in the doorway, the Shillian having easily picked up on the presence of the Enaran man, something which by itself had been strange enough. More than once Pravat had gone to one of the science labs of the ANUBIS and had managed to reach the Shillian woman without her having known that he had walked into the room. For a reason that he had every intentions of discovering, the scientist had become aware of his arrival immediately after the doors had parted.
"Is something wrong?" The Enaran Marine asked, moving across the catwalk leading to the control center located in the center of the quasi-spherical room. Although he had not seen the face of the Shillian, the Marine First Lieutenant had been given more than enough clues as to the possibility that something had been troubling the scientist, the latest of these hints having been the way her pet sat motionless on top of the consol.
"Why would you thing there is something wrong?" The Chief Science Officer and acting Executive Officer of the USS HATHOR asked, the tone of her voice indicating that her mind had been wandering somewhere between the holographic stars that filled the room.
"Nothing really,"' the Enaran man replied. "I am just not used to seeing you sitting like this without you working on some revolutionary scientific approach to bridging the dimensions or trying to solve some ancient and unexplained mystery that no one else has every heard of."
"What are you trying to say?" The Chief Science Officer asked, turning her head to look at the man standing next to her. "That I am wasting my time trying to find answers to some of the greatest scientific puzzles that exist in our time? I mean that is what a scientist is by definition meant to be doing, I realise that maybe there are times when I push this to its limits but that only means that I am dedicated to my work and my research, if people had not been dedicated to finding these long sought answers the no races would have made it to the stars or found ways to reach worlds that would have normally taken hundreds of generations to get to under normal propulsion."
Pravat quickly raised his hands in the customary and universally understood surrender sign which brought the rambling of the Shillian to an abrupt end. "I never said that you were wasting your time," the Enaran man said, trying is best to get out of the rut that he had found himself inadvertently into by no action of his own. "Actually I was pointing out that because of your dedication to your work, I found it strange and even concerning to see you doing nothing more than staring at the stars."
"I am sorry Pravat," the Shillian said, reaching for the miniature Enaran primate and taking it into one hand while petting it with the other. "Call it nerves. I am trying not to over think and over prepare for our mission on the HATHOR as I have been told that part of the job of a Commanding Officer and Executive Officer is to deal with the unexpected and that my trying to anticipate all that could happen was only going to make things worse as there would be no way for me to predict or be ready for *everything* that might happen."
The Enaran smiled knowing that short of telling the
Shillian about what he had been planning for the
mission, as per the request of Lieutenant Commander
Serenna, there would have been no way for her to be
able to expect what he had in mind. "Do not worry so
much," Pravat said doing his best to reassure and
comfort the scientist. "I may not know you as much as
I should or could, but I do know enough about you and
the way you work to be certain of one thing; you will
make it through whatever comes up, be it on this
mission or any other. The experience that we all have
gathered during our time on the ANUBIS has prepared us
for pretty much everything. How many other crew can
claim to have dealt with everything that we have?"
The Shillian woman stared into the deep brown of the
eyes of the man looking back down at her, seeing a
wisdom therein that she had never expected to find
there. The scientist smiled and returned her
attention to the monkey in her hand who appeared
rather upset by the fact that his being petted had
stopped while the Shillian had been looking at the
Enaran. "Thank you," the Chief Science Officer of the
USS ANUBIS said, "for everything."
"There is no need for you to thanks me," Pravat said
while looking at the pet he had given to the woman.
"I did nothing other than to point out something that
you already knew. Now how about some breakfast and
then after that see how the others are doing on
preparing this surprise party for Lea?"
The scientist seemed hesitant to leave Stellar Cartography at first but after a few seconds of deliberation the Shillian woman decided to leave her troubles behind and accept the invitation if for no other reason than to spent some time with the Enaran. Not ready to admit it anyone, not even herself, the Shillian scientist enjoyed being with Pravat who seemed to know exactly what to say or do to make her feel instantly better, at least for the most part. After all the two of them had found themselves on the opposite sides of a few arguments since they had met, but those had mostly been because of the difference in their styles and views of the cosmos the two of them shared.
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"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2005 post #539
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 13, Stellar Cartography
Jessica Solarik { maya_992003@yahoo.com }
Lieutenant Commander Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS
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)
