Artemis: Changes in Science
Dori
“Doctor Cordoba, we’ve got some personnel changes.” Lily stepped into the office, finally comfortable enough in the working relationship between the two of them that she didn’t need to knock when the science chief was working in there. The only time she didn’t bother Marisol was when she was working in her lab - but then that was pretty much standard procedure for anyone in science.
She lay the PADD she had been carrying on the desk. “Ma’ard is being transferred back to the Alpha Quadrant, and we’re getting an archaeologist who’s a specialist in Borg artefacts and technology. Somehow the paperwork got lost and missed us at Starbase 75.” she didn’t sound impressed. “But her shuttle should be here before we pick up Doctor Jarok.”
Marisol’s lips thinned. “I hope someone is getting a stern reprimand over that paperwork mishap. When will she be arriving?”
“Well, actually...” Lily was stalling. “In 20 minutes.”
“TWENTY MINUTES?!!!” Marisol shouted. She began a long tirade in Castilian Spanish, then switched back to standard. “That is some paperwork fuck-up.”
“Yes, I agree. Someone dropped the ball in a big way.” The astrophysicist was not impressed, and her voice showed it. “Would you like me to go down, or accompany you, or...?” she left the question open ended.
“Yes,” Marisol said. “She should be able to meet her assistant chief, no matter what happened with the paperwork. We’ll need to check the state of Ma’ard’s lab, if we’re putting her there. This is such unbelievable mierda.”
“I’ve got Lisa Javet sorting it out now. They are both biologists.” Lily replied. “So we can go whenever you’re ready.”
“Then let’s go now. No time like the present,” Marisol sighed, rising from behind her desk.
The two headed down to the shuttle bay, which was just unsealing after the runabout had landed. Lily watched Bamber and Aiden walk in, and remembered seeing that they were getting a marine as well. They followed at a distance, and entered just in time to see the new scientist walking into the shuttle bay.
Joanna frowned at her sister before exiting out of the shuttle’s side hatch. “Well you had it coming there Jenny” she spat back into the shuttle. She put her hands on her hips then hefted her bag. She turned toward one pair of officers then to the other before approaching them. Without even being asked to come forward she walked right up the the pair and offered her hand “Bonjour...I presume you're here to check me in...so sorry about the last minute arrival.”
“Paperwork,” Marisol muttered before taking her hand. “Hola, I am Lt. Commander Dr. Marisol Cordoba del Rio. You may call me Dr. Cordoba. I will be your department head. This is Lt. Lily Crawford, my second.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” the young woman said, offering her hand in return. “Welcome aboard. You can call me Lily. I understand you’re a specialist in Borg artefacts, as well as an archeologist?”
“Xenotechnology is my field, I dabbled in Xenoarchology as my Minor” she corrected then smiled “The borg has been more than just a specialization, they’ve been part of my life for sometime” she shook her head “Were are my manors you told me your names, you should at least known mine” she smiled again “Joanna Amiee Byrd formally of the Forge Archotech Institute...returning to active duty”
“I apologize, I only got a quick look at your transfer papers before we came down. There was a...problem with the paperwork. Someone lost it, and only just alerted us of your arrival at the last minute.” Lily said. “Xenotechnology sounds like a fascinating field.”
Joanna nodded “I very much enjoy it….so” she stated “Been awhile since Starfleet took a interest in me, where do you want me?”
Lily glanced at Marisol. “One of the other scientists has offered to make sure your new lab is cleared out and ready for you. In the meantime, we can show you to your new quarters. I imagine Dr. Cordoba will have a better idea of what’s going on mission wise than I do, but I can make a start. We’re going to be doing some interesting work on the Hobus nebula, and bringing on board a prominent Romulan scientist who’s an expert, quite soon actually.”
“I am most eager to get to know your work, Lieutenant Byrd,” Marisol said. “Or do you prefer to go by Doctor?”
Joanna shrugged “It’s been awhile but Lieutenant Byrd would be fine...I guess” she gave her a slight shrug “I didn’t expect to return to Starfleet honestly...the things I do for family” she glanced over spotting the exchange between her sister and the other officers. “Yes indeed….” she muttered
“You’ll find your lab to be state-of-the art,” Marisol assured her. “I don’t settle for less than the best for my people.”
“And we’re heading in a direction we haven’t in at least a hundred years, I think. It’s hard to say what we’ll find out there.” Lily added. “What did bring you back?”
“My sister, a drunken vindictive XO who got punched by a girl and a goddamned barfight” she admitted to quickly
Marisol raised her eyebrows. “I hope you don’t think it’s been in vain. We end up exploring some pretty interesting areas.”
“Sorry” Joanna watched her sister still conversing before turning back to them “I did miss Starfleet I won’t lie...I was bound to as for reinstatement sooner than later” she admitted truthfully “I left initially due to some close calls...one with an old friend.” She reached into her shirt and withdrew a small charm, showing the pair. The charm was a depleted crystal of dilithium, borg enhanced metal wrapped around it. “We thought we found a downed Borg Sphere...abandoned and left for dead….however starfleet failed to mention that the Borg in that area were highly active…” she looked at them “As interested in them as I am...I don’t wish to join the collective...neither did the Captain of the Red Dawn...he abandoned us for 5 days”
That made Marisol blink. She exchanged glances with Lily. “That sounds like a truly awful ordeal. I’m glad you made it out.”
“It wasn’t all bad...got to see my mother again….so it was worse.” she remembered looking into the lifeless eyes...seeing recognition for a few seconds before the programing kicked back in. “After that I went to the Forge who had just unearthed some relic tech….” she remembered the confidentiality agreement then shut up. “Hobus system...thats going to interesting.”
Lily was trying to wipe the horror off her face, and couldn’t do it, despite the professional interest the Hobus system had for her. “Yes, it’s never been scanned in the detail we’ll be able to do it in. We’re hoping to get some new information on it.” she managed.
Marisol cleared her throat delicately. “I’m sure you’ll be wanting to see your quarters.”
Joanna yawned and realized she still was in her civilian attire “I guess I better, just to make sure the old uniform still fits” she grinned “Shall we?”
“Yes, it’s this way.” Lily indicated the direction to the nearest turbolift and started walking.
Joanna nodded and proceeded to follow the pair towards it. She initially walked into the turbolift then stopped and glanced at her sister “One second” she stepped to the doorway and looked at her sister. After a second she felt herself make contact before she transmitted
<My Room Once your settled, we need to talk> she watched her sister shake her head, realizing she had got the message before stepping back into the tube
“Sorry I had to tell my sister something” she offered with a grin.
“I see,” Marisol said.
“Sorry forgot to mention my mother was human but my father was a betazoid...so my sister and I have a connection” she stated “However I got my mother’s genome over my father’s...Jenny on the other hand is well trouble”
“We’ll let the marines worry about Jenny.” Lily replied. “It must be nice to have that kind of a connection with your sister.”
“When we were younger it was...however ever since” she let out a sigh “You know what they say you can’t pick your family….maybe its my fault” she let out a sigh “sorry my family troubles shouldn’t be the topic of the day...how is the holodeck on this boat?”
“I’ve found it to be entertaining,” Marisol said. “No complaints.”
“If you know you want to use it, it’s best to reserve it, but there’s a lot of good programs in it.” Lily added.
“I will keep that in mind,” she responded. She was going to have to start making a list of things to do in order once again. Feeling overwhelmed she leaned against the turbolift’s wall and let out a breath. She was also going to need to get the usual alarms set up against. “Anything I should know about mandatory events on the ship, also this may sound weird since it’s been awhile but are there any families on the ship….kids?” she asked “I just need to know how secure I need to make my lab or quarters.”
“There are some kids, but the kids are restricted in where they can go. I don’t know how it’s done, but I know they wear the same commbadges as we do, except for the really little ones, so it’s probably using those.” Lily told her. “No mandatory events. Come and go as you please from your lab. Most of the scientists set their own hours, based on their experiments, but if you’re needed for an away mission you’ll be expected to go.”
“I understand I like jumping in” she offered “I mean only way to get new things is to look for them correct” she smiled “Would security be the ones escorting us on the surface...or would it be….the Marines?”
Lily opened her mouth and then shut it again.”You know, I’m not sure. I’ve never been on an away mission. Dr. Cordoba, do you know?”
“Depends on the situation,” Marisol said. “However, I have very little influence over such situations. As a scientist, when I’m requisitioned for an away team, even I just grab my kit and go.”
More things to add to the list it seemed. She only had two other questions, these were the most important to her when it came to her work ethic. “Well I am phaser certified again, so that should not be a worry there” she stated
Lily nodded. “That’s good.” she replied.
“But for me there are two very important factors, its been awhile since I was on a Federation Vessel for more than a week so question one” she glanced at both of them “I’ve been know to bring some “safer” work back to my quarters to keep working after rotations end.” she explained “But that would only work if I am not sharing a workspace...so will I have a roommate or do I get my own room?” she asked
Lily looked at Marisol, then at Joanna. “Oh, you get your own quarters. All the officers do. I... think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. This is the biggest class of ship in the fleet, and the rooms are sized to match.” she glanced down at the PADD she had been carrying at her side. “They should be right along here somewhere... ah, here we go.” she added, stopping outside a set of doors.
Joanna looked at the door and smiled “Home sweet home” she stated as she punched a few figues on the control panel. THe door slid open to reveal a decently sized room. She frowned slightly, remembering once again this was starfleet and not the private sector. “You have enough space...you don’t need the loft area” she muttered to herself. SHe glanced over at the pair and smiled again. “So one last question..the replicators, do we have ration vouchers this time around?” she asked “Last time I was on a Starship was the USS Red Dawn and the Captain still ran it like we were at war...do we still have limits?” she asked
“No ration vouchers.” Lily smiled. “We’re not at war, thank goodness.”
Joanna let out a long breath of relief then looked at the pair. “Well then thank you for the escort and the warm welcome...is there anything else we need to go over or will I get the grand tour some other time?” she asked
Lily looked over at Marisol again.
Marisol shrugged. “That’s entirely up to you, Lieutenant. I understand you may be tired from your journey and just might want to tuck yourself in for a while. Otherwise, we would be happy to show you more of the ship. Your call.”
Joanna though for a moment and was about to take them up on the offer when a voice invaded her thoughts.
<Should be up in two hours….unless you want to cancel...like always> she could almost feel the sass rolling off her sister’s mental tongue. SHe glanced at the pair and gave them one last smile.
“As much as I would love to take the tour tonight, it's been a whirlwind the last few days...with everything” she explained “Perhaps another time, right now I think I should get some rest so I can start fresh tomorrow” she was lying of course she was more than ready to start work now...but didn’t want the first conversation with her sister to be one of anger...again
“I look forward to having you on the team,” Marisol said. “You settle in. See you for shift tomorrow.”
“It was nice to meet you.” Lily added.
She nodded then entered her room, the door closing behind her. She waited for them to walk away then let out a sigh tossing her bag onto one of the chairs. It would just be there for now...she had more important things to take care of. “Computer is the replicator connected?” she asked. The computer responded with a positive response “Good...I need you to replicate me one chef salad with dressing on the side...two tumbler glasses, a bowl of black berries...ripe” she waited as these items arrived in the replicator alcove then moved them to the single table then spoke the last item. “And one bottle of citrus flower honey mead..warmed….this is going to be a interesting first night.”
End