"In The World Of Intel You can Never Be Too Prepared, Or Can You?"
(Previous Post: "Celebration")
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Stardate: 61013.1400
Since the moment Captain Rikar had said that she would
be accompanying Ensign Stormwind, the Shillian
scientist had not stopped thinking about all of the
things she would need to know to insure a smooth
mission. Dealing with Talia and Enaii had taught the
Chief Science Officer the advantage of being well
prepared and although the Shillian could never hope to
match the physical prowess of the Intel Operative of
the agility and swiftness of her daughter the
scientist did have a field of expertise in which she
excelled in.
As if she had been studying for a final exam back at
the Academy the Shillian woman had crammed into her
head every piece of information pertaining to the
people of IRRAJ into her brain, so much so that the
Chief Science Officer had actually felt for a moment
as if her head had been on the verge of exploding.
Luckily for everyone this had only been a figure of
speech and the scientist had been as ready as could be
when she had stepped into the specialised area where
the DRAGONSEYE had been stored.
"Ensign Stormwind?" the Shililan asked as she walked
into the large room and took note of the new markings
which had been carved into the external fuselage of
the small ship. It had been easy for the Chief
Science Officer to see that the ship had been so
marked so as to make it appear as a craft which had
seen its fair share of action, thus giving more
credibility to whatever cover story the Flight Control
Officer had concocted for their little journey ahead
of the ANUBIS.
After a quick yet thorough survey of the outside of
the DRAGONSEYE the Chief Science Officer made her way
inside the craft in search of the man she had wanted
to see. Since the Shillian woman had not found him
working on the exterior of the ship it had been by
pure process of elimination that the Shillian had
figured the man would be inside. As she made her way
directly to the flight deck the scientist had not been
in anyway surprised when she found Ensign Stormwind
sitting at one of the flight stations.
"Excuse me Ensign," the Shillian said which caused the
Flight Control Officer to abruptly spin around due to
the fact that the Chief Science Officer had
unintentionally startled him. The reaction and facial
expression of the half Vulcan man had been a clear
indication that Ensign Stormwind had the full range of
human emotions despite his efforts to show a more
*Vulcan* façade to the rest of the crew.
"Ma'am!" Derek replied explosively further reinforcing
the conclusion that the Chief Science Officer had just
reached in regards to the Flight Control Officer's
emotions.
"I think it's time we had a little chat," the Shillian
woman said as she eased herself down in the chair next
to where Ensign Stormwind had been station. "I can
imagine that you may be somewhat apprehensive about my
having been assigned to accompany you on this mission,
I mean in your position I would have likely been more
comfortable with someone like First Lieutenant Pravat,
Lieutenant Commander Enaii or even Lieutenant
Commander Serenna in charge of this mission, all three
of them able to fall back on a wide range of unique
experiences which would have benefited you both should
something unexpected take place. All that I can offer
you to ease whatever concerns you might have is that I
have made a point to commit to memory everything that
might prove useful to us during our stay on trading
circuit of IRRAJ."
Ensign Stormwind had barely managed to feel fortunate
to have been sitting when the Shillian had started to
speak when the Chief Science Officer continued at what
had appeared to be an even faster rate than before.
"The first thing we will need to do is review each and
every regulation concerning the trade of goods on the
IRRAJ's market, I mean if we want to come across as
expert traders it would not be wise for us to not be
familiar with the most basic of regulations enforced
on that particular world, the Shillian said as she
produced several PADDs from her pockets. "I have
taken the liberty of listing all of the more relevant
regulations in order of importance so that we can
become better acquainted with them, of course this
will be only the first of many subjects that we will
need to review prior to our arrival if we are to
solidify our cover story beyond any reproach. By the
way what is our cover story?" the Shillian woman
asked.
"Traders of religious artefacts," the Flight Control
Officer replied still in shock by the fact that the
Shillian had stopped talking long enough for him to
actually speak.
"That is it?" The Shillian gasped in horror.
"According to my research on the IRRAJ's religious
belief such traders are frowned upon by the higher
classes and literally ignored by the commoners which
means that our cover may actually lead to us
attraction more attention to ourselves, something that
I am sure neither one of us wants. We will have to
review all of the available data and come up with
something with a little more substance to insure that
we can blend in with little effort amongst the
numerous traders who will undoubtedly already be
there," the Shillian woman said before she paused for
a brief moment as she tapped through one of her PADDs
in search of the information in question.
Ensign Stormwind wasted no time and jumped on the
opportunity to say something more certain that if he
hesitated the slightest the Shillian would resume her
warp-speed explanations which honestly seemed to go
nowhere. "Commander, if I may be so bold, I would
suggest that you work on updating our cover story
while I continue to prepare the ship, all of this
while we are heading for IRRAJ. It would be logical
for us to head out as quickly as possible so as to not
invite speculations from curious observers who might
notice that the ANUBIS and DRAGONSEYE came from the
same general direction."
"Very well," the Shillian agreed in a rather short
way. "I will clear our immediate departure with the
bridge," and with that the Chief Science Officer left
the Flight Control Officer to his work. Given the
option of having to listen to the explanations and
research of the Shillian or piloting the ship, the
half Vulcan had made the only *logical* decision
available to him.
---
"To see the world in a grain of sand, 2006 post #179
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 29, specialized craft storage area
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)
