You Get What You Need
Posted on Thu Dec 19th, 2024 @ 2:32am by Captain Thorrin & Lieutenant C'Mila Juli
Edited on on Thu Dec 19th, 2024 @ 2:33am
2,045 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Like Sands Through The Hourglass
Location: Captain's Ready Room - Deck 1 - USS Herodotus
Timeline: MD001 1500 hrs
Thorrin sat in his Ready Room aboard the Herodotus. At the moment he reviewed the file on the person who would be his Chief Science Officer. An Orion was not a person he would have expected to seek entrance into the Thucydides Program. So, she was most curious to him. He summoned her to his Ready Room right after he read the preliminary report for Marisa.
Lieutenant Juli checked her uniform one last time as she crossed the Bridge and casually smoothed her hair hoping to catch any fly aways before tagging the door chime that would announce her presence at Captain Thorrin's ready room. She had never served with an El Aurian before, but was certain that a Starfleet Captain among a race of listeners was likely a stickler for details.
When the chime rang Thorrin made sure to pour himself a glass of prized Calvados. Being a time agent did have its perks and an extensive wine cellar was one of them. "Enter..." When the doors slid opened it revealed his new science officer. A person that he had so many questions for. But first his southern manners dictated that the pleasantries be dispensed with. "Lieutenant welcome, welcome. Please help yourself to a glass of wine and have a seat." His honeyed New Orleans accent never failed at putting someone at ease.
As Juli stepped into the ready room the Captain was already greeting her, and she quickly realized that neither the Captain nor this meeting would be quite what she expected. Her posture shifted from an almost-march into the room to a casual walk when she realized the Captain was offering her a glass of wine. She tried her best to hide her surprise, though being fairly new to the senior officer ranks, such an offer was a first for her.
"Hello, Captain. Thank you," Juli responded as she approached the guest chairs. "Wine, sir?" She asked curiously.
"Yes of course. Any meeting is made better by a glass of fine wine. I prefer the Calvados, or Amontillado, but any fine wine will do in a pinch. Perhaps it something of the French in me. Have no fear of retribution for drinking on the job as it were. You will find that there are a lot of things done differently aboard this ship." Thorrin smiled gently as his deep black eyes watched the new arrival. It is always said that El Aurians were a species of listeners, but Thorrin was more of a watcher, a voyeur. He enjoyed learning all he could about a person by simply watching how they moved.
"I'm not familiar with either of those, sir. Well at least not outside of an Edgar Allan Poe short that I read not long after moving to Earth," she admitted with a shy smile. "I'd probably embarrass myself if I pretended to know the difference between a fine wine and a regular one. When I'm in doubt, I usually just ask for a chardonnay. Though, I was introduced to some Tuscan blends at a tasting menu, and I haven't tried one yet that hasn't been pleasantly interesting." Juli hoped she sounded more endearingly naive than completely ignorant as she tried not to dwell on the thought that she'd just been dumbfounded by a topic as simple as wine during her first meeting with the Captain.
"Ah yes chardonnay is a good wine for everyday use. Have a glass of calvados here." Thorrin poured her a glass from his decanter. "In due time I will teach all you should need to know about wine. But, that is for another time. In ther interim I would like to know why you are here? That is to say on this ship or in this program? Surely the idea of not gaining recognition for your work here is unappealing. You should know that this is something that I ask of all members of my crew."
Juli graciously took the glass from the Captain and brought it to her nose, the scent reminding her of mulled cider. Before taking a sip she contemplated Thorin's question. "Recognition, like notoriety, sir? That has never been a goal of mine. I imagine there are better careers than Starfleet for an Orion national to pursue if that was what I was after," she answered honestly.
"My entire reason for being here - in Starfleet at all, and with allegiance to the Federation is that I've always perceived that its operation was driven by a moral compass - not notoriety or greed." She looked into her glass for a brief second before looking up at the Captain again. "This mission, specifically? As you know, I applied knowing almost nothing - well nothing about the mission really. But, if you look at my record you'll see that I've never really shied away from an adventure. And I saw that Starfleet was in need of someone who was able to go dark and disappear for an extended period of time. I don't really have many ties to keep me from accepting an assignment like this."
"My dear Lieutenant going dark and disappearing is only the half of it. You will never be heard from nor seen again. In fact as far as the general public will know you have disappeared and most likely died. For you see no one can ever know that the Federation has the capability of time travel." Thorrin's honeyed New Orleans accent paused for a moment as he sipped the wine. He closed his eyes to savor the flavor and allow his words to sink in. "Now, we are not going to hold you against your will of course. So, if there ever comes a day when you want to leave the program. Your memory will be wiped and memories replaced with something else. You will never know or remember this program or anyone associated with it. If you do not like this now is the time to speak up and you may leave."
Juli finally took a sip of the calvados. It was stronger than she'd expected, though smooth. "Well, I hope we all get along well enough, then," was her response as she cradled the glass in her lap and maintained eye contact with her new Captain.
"As do I Lieutenant, as do I. Now, tell me. What is your area of study? It is my understanding that scientists like doctors have specialties. So, what is yours?" Thorrin hoped that she had at least a working understanding of temporal mechanics. She had to or Isaacs would not have approved her appointment to the Herodotus. At least that was what Thorrin thought.
Juli took another sip of the calvados. "Astrophysics and chemistry were my majors at the Academy, and I've done a bit with both over the years. I wanted to set myself up to be flexible, have a wide range of opportunities and that's panned out. I'm sure they've declassified my work to counter against chemical and biological warfare," she answered.
Juli became more relaxed, and animated as she talked about science. "Though the two fields aren't mutually exclusive. Non-physicists don't always realize that, but there's a reason I added chemistry specifically as a secondary field of a study. A temporal event is a prime example of where the two fields diverge."
Her work on chemical weapons and biological warfare, those had to be the reasons Isaacs chose her. Thorrin had to admit that knowledge would come in handy in the missions to come. However, he was a little uncomfortable with a Chief Science Officer who had no specialty in temporal sciences. "With all do respect. What experience do you have with the temporal sciences? As you are no doubt aware this ship will be travelling between universes and time itself. We will also be dealing with people who have arrived here, in our time, our universe and making sure they do nothing to harm it. There are those in the department who have named us, timecops."
"As far as experience, I've only encountered an actual temporal phenomena once in my career," Juli admitted. "But once you understand advanced physics, temporal mechanics really isn't all that difficult. What tends to give scientists the headaches is that there isn't a formula to gather answers for everything. For example, whether or not a time traveler will notice a change in the timeline, predestination or pogo paradoxes - answers to those questions are often 'best guesses' and people in the hard sciences tend to not like those."
Thorrin nodded appreciatively to her answer. "Well then I presume you are not one of those scientists that to not like best guesses. In instances such as that you will work closely with the Temporal Operations Officer, whose job it is to look toward all those outcomes." Thorrin paused as he contemplated where he wanted to go next in this interview. "You have told me why you are in Starfleet. However, if the temporal sciences is not your specialty. What praytell appeals to you about being on this ship?"
Juli was starting to feel a bit like she was under the microscope. "I apologize for asking, but are you uncomfortable with my qualifications, sir?" She asked.
"No... Not uncomfortable. I will admit that I would have rather had someone who had some more experience with temporal sciences. However, that is as they say not a deal breaker. If you are wondering why I am asking so many questions. I tend to want to learn everything I can about everyone who is joining my crew. Get a feel for how they tick. I am after all a very particular person. Now, if you would be so kind as to answer the question about what appeals to you about the Herodotus?" Thorrin answered her question without hesitation and with so little emotion, a Vulcan would have found it fascinating.
"Well, to be honest, I liked the idea of trying something new. Something that not very many Starfleet officers get to do. I like to keep a little bit of adventure in my life," Juli responded.
"As for temporal sciences - if this program were public knowledge, I imagine that if this program were public knowledge there would be a lot more candidates with a specialty in that area to choose from. I ruled it out as a major because I knew the odds - well believed the odds of encountering a temporal phenomenon in my career were quite low. Once maybe twice in a lifetime. I wanted a field that would put me in the center of the action, so I'd be dealing with not just theories, but real problems that need to be solved under pressure," she continued.
"I can become an expert if you want me to be," she said with a smile. "Temporal science is just physics. Time, space, energy, and matter. Once the details were released I already pulled some of the more recent papers. But you have a timeship, sir. This is incredible. I could have been in a lab doing temporal experiments all day long, but wouldn't have had access to these specs. But what you do have is an eager science officer with experience in the field and under pressure." She took a breath. "I have a feeling we might feel a lot of that here."
Thorrin sipped the wine and smirked. She had unknowingly just said exactly what he wanted her to say. "I also have a Science Officer who knows the magnitude of what she is dealing with, and one who knows that the great unknown of temporal science is simply the basics of life. So, my dear Lieutenant without gilding the lily and no further ado allow me to welcome you aboard the Herodotus and the beginning of the rest of your life."
Juli couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. "Thank you, Captain. I'm looking forward to it."
A Joint Post By
Captain Thorrin
Commanding Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Lieutenant C'amila Juli
Chief Science Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
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