Departmental Deshabille

Posted on Wed Jan 17, 2018 @ 10:00am by Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Civilian Aleczandra Naqiis-Ryan

1,784 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Victory Conditions
Location: Science
Timeline: MD 1 1600

Alanna was slowly getting used to the station. She now had a map on the wall in her office with every lab and science facility and its location. When she touched a lab on the screen, it would list what was being done in the lab and who was working on the project or projects. It would also let her know who was currently in the lab. If she needed to, she could open an audio or video conversation. She knew that the computer could do all that with a word, but she was a visual and tactile learner, and this helped her remember what was where.

She'd also taken some time to get a few prints for her office. She had one of the woods on Catalan Colony, one of the high desert in Southern Utah, and one of a whimsical castle. They didn't really go together, but each had its own attraction for Alanna.

She was standing at the window, watching people work below her, when there her door chimed.

"Come in," she said, turning around to see who it was.

The door slid open, revealing a young teenage Human girl of about sixteen. Her hair was long and every shade of the rainbow, cascading past her shoulders. She wore a bit too much black eyeliner, and her lips were painted a dark crimson. She wore a black Steampunk Zombies t-shirt, jeans, and heavy black boots. She was pulling on a white lab coat, a bit contrasting with the clothing she wore.

“Good afternoon...Lieutenant,” the girl greeted after a glance at Alanna’s pips, her blue eyes running along the attractive officer’s form, as well. “Aleczandra Ryan, your lab intern.” She fluffed her rainbow hair out of her collar and held out her hand, which had some black and silver bangles. “But you can call me Zandra. Can I get you anything?” she asked.

"No, thank you," Alanna said, taking stock of the girl's attire. "When you're in Science, please call me Alanna. There are far too many lieutenants running around here." She nodded to the girl's t-shirt. "Who are the Steampunk Zombies?"

Zandra brightened up a bit. “Only the best band in the quadrant!” she said. “They’re an orchestral metal band from Earth.” She pulled out a personal hand padd and swiped around a moment before showing Alanna a picture. A group of Humans in their late twenties were dressed in tattered Victorian steampunk garb, faces painted pale and zombie-like.

“I have some music, too. Do you want to hear Hearts Devoured or Poison Pen? VeeVee -- Victoria Vincent, she’s the lead singer -- has great range.” She started to play one of the songs from her padd.

"What do you normally do around here?" Alanna asked conversationally.

Aleczandra stopped the music and shrugged. “Whatever you tell me to do, really,” she said. “When I first get in, I usually make the rounds and get everyone their afternoon pick me up. Then it’s usually shift change, so I rinse out all the glassware and put it through the sanitizer. Then I make the rounds and take some readings on the long-running experiments, clean the animal cages and feed them, and then do paperwork. It’s nothing terribly exciting,” she admitted, “but I only started a few months ago, and we haven’t really had a chief for a while. I hope to actually get to do some real science eventually.”

Alanna nodded. That sounded about right. "What type of science are you interested in?"

“I like the mathematics-based sciences best,” Zandra said. “Physics, quantum physics, astrophysics, astronomy. Chemistry, too, is cool. Less so the icky ones, biology, xenobiology, though I do pretty well in those, too. Top marks. My mother was a Chief Science Officer and homeschooled me, since we were stationed on ships mostly, so I’m ahead of my class at school.”

"Very nice," Alanna said, smiling at the teenager. "If you'd like, you can spend one day a week in physics or astrometrics. There's no reason why you can't have some duties there as well as general gofer." She raised an eyebrow. "If you'd like, that is. And you can spend one day a week studying science specifically. What do you plan on doing after you finish school?"

Aleczandra brightened a bit. “Thanks, sir!” she said. “It’s a lot better than cleaning targ shit!” She paused. “Excuse the language,” she said, brushing her rainbow hair back from her face. “Pretty sure dad wants me to go to the Academy,” Zandra admitted. “I don’t know what I want to do. I’ve pretty much been raised on starships. It’s hard to fit in with civilians. I have considered going the strictly science route, though. What made you choose Starfleet rather than, say, applying to the Daystrom Institute?” she asked.

"First, call me Alanna or ma'am. I'm not much for being a sir." She smiled at Aleczandra. "I actually considered being a field archaeologist. I taught for a bit, too. But the lure of exploring the unknown drew me to Starfleet. This station shows lots of promise, too."

Zandra smiled. “Sorry. Habit. Dad’s old school, and drilled into me that everyone is sir,” she apologized. “And if he ever walked in here and heard me calling you by your given name, I might not see freedom until I’m eighteen,” she joked.

“Yeah, exploring the unknown is cool. I’ve just been doing it my whole life, by proxy. It was nice having a real home on Leto Colony for a couple years. Now we’re here, and I lost all my friends I made there,” she said with wry acceptance. “Kind of the best of both worlds. Out on the edge, but the the cutting edge facilities of the Daystrom.” Not to mention she now had her mother inside of her, pushing her constantly in that direction, too.

“So what’s the Academy like?” Zandra asked. “Figure I’d get some unbiased opinion that isn’t my mum or dad.”

"Well, since I'd already gone through university, it was not bad. It's more school, but with hands-on experience and a lot of training," Alanna said. "The first two years are general learning. The second two you specialize. So, if you enjoy school, you'll love it. If you don't, it's only four years."

“Well, I enjoy school when it’s challenging,” Aleczandra said. “Right now, I’ve been mostly drawing pictures of my horse.” Well, and other things that she could get away with, like remotely hacking the school’s computer systems, or trying to learn Bolian. Remarkably, it was one of the few languages Kinony didn’t speak.

"Have you considered doing more work so you can finish school quicker?" Alanna asked. "If you're bored, it might give you something to work towards." She smiled. "Besides drawing your horse."

Aleczandra brightened up a bit. “Sure, I could do that,” she said. “My mom taught me when we were on starships,” she said. “She was a Chief Science Officer, too, before she…” Zandra trailed off.

Alanna created a schedule on a console. "So, do you have any particulars as to where you work when?"

“After school is fine,” Zandra said. “I’m not really in any extracurricular activities, other than working here.”

"Really? You don't hang out with your friends?" Alanna asked. "I'm happy to put you to work, but I don't want to interfere with time for your friends." She put together a tentative schedule and moved aside for Zandra to have a look. It was pretty basic, two to four hours a day, six days a week. The times were flexible to give the girl plenty of time for homework. "I can drop it down to four days and leave you with the weekends free."

Zandra shrugged. “Like I said, moved around a lot. Stopped making friends,” she commented. Not to mention it was a bit awkward now that she was Joined. Her perspective had shifted. “Though Lieutenant Reynold’s stepsisters are visiting. They’re pretty cool.”

They’re hot, Juheni thought in her mind. I love it when Teena does that thing with her tongue.

Shut up, Juheni! Zandra shot back, flushing a bit and giving Alanna a nervous smile.

“Weekends free does sound good, though,” the teen told Alanna. “How about you? What do you do for fun?” she asked.

Zandra was thinking too loudly for Alanna not to hear what she was thinking. But she was not about to say anything to the girl. It was none of Alanna's business what she thought of Lieutenant Reynold's sisters. Nor could she ignore the emotional accompaniment. "I read. Sometimes I go hiking or camping. I enjoy the outdoors, but I don't always have the time. How about you?"

“I like to ride my horse,” Aleczandra said. “Well, not really my horse. She’s on Earth. I had one on Leto, too, but had to leave her behind. Now it’s back to holodeck riding,” she said, a bit sadly. “Dad has a nice program of the ranch and a few other places we enjoyed riding. Otherwise I read or listen to music, play some holo-games and see how many places on the station I can hack into,” she said with a grin.

"Really?" Alanna gave her a half-smile. "Sometimes that skill can be useful--as long as you don't try it against any Starfleet computers." She'd created a few worms and spiders herself. They often came in handy when dealing with alien computers or ancient technology.

Aleczandra just grinned. “I won’t say so if you don’t.” And winked at Alanna. “But who better to test your skill against?”

"Only in times of need," Alanna said. "But testing programs is within the scope of this department. So, perhaps we can do that in the future."

Aleczandra smiled. “I’d love that,” she said. “Especially with the equipment you have available.”

"Good. We'll give us both time to get comfortable with the setup here, and then we'll see where we go from there," Alanna said. "Before I send you off, do you have any other questions for me?"

“I don’t think so,” Zandra said with a smile. “Thank you, si--Alanna,” she corrected herself. “And if there’s anything you need, let me know.” Zandra straightened in the door and brushed back her rainbow hair, waiting for her dismissal.

"I will," Alanna said, giving the teen a smile. "Dismissed."

____
OFF

Aleczandra Ryan
Science gofer
NPC Caleb Ryan

Lieutenant JG Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space Nine

 

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