LTCmdr. Quentin Collins - Team Blue-Green-Gold

[Justin Partridge]

((Interior. U.S.S. Arrow, Deck 1. Corridor.))

Quentin Collins stood for a moment as the rest of his peers streamed from the meeting. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and waited for...nothing and no one in particular. He just wanted to stick close to the Bridge and the just adjourned meeting. Partly because of his own sense of duty, but also because he was still smarting slightly from Jacin Ayemet's acerbic energy in the meeting.

The Captain trusted him and his staff enough to be "as water" as one of his old instructors liked to say. Able to shift and form around the needs of the ship and one's Command structure. His slowish movements and hunch-receptive nature rewarded him, even if he was still frowning slightly as to the attitudes of one of his best officers.

However the form of the First Leftenant and Other Leftenant, Connor Dewitt started to creak the frown upward. Sometimes the universe gave with both hands. He greeted the burgeoning party with a slight wave.

Tallera: Commander!

It seemed she had gotten somewhat caught in the outward flow of bodies into the hallway adjourning the Bridge. He could relate. Especially in his first missions with the Eagle. Another mighty but quirky ship.

He slowed up even more, crossing his arms now to anchor himself fully to the deck plating.

Tallera: Commander Collins - if you or the Lieutenant :: A nod towards the Bajoran-looking woman. :: are presently unoccupied, perhaps you'd care to assist Lieutenant Dewitt and myself?

Collins: I would be happy to! We! We would be happy to, I'm sure.

He tapped his comm, giving the universal sign for "one moment, please" with his other hand. 

Collins: =/\=Collins to Jacin, please join me and First Lieutenant Tallera in the corridor, please. She and Mister Dewitt have need of us.=/\=

Jacin: =/\=RESPONSE=/\=

After a beat, the Science Officer had joined them in the largely empty hallway. Now somewhat backlit by the hew of the Yellow Alert. 

Jacin: RESPONSE

Tallera: Lieutenant Tallera, pleased to meet you Lieutenant Jacin.

She seemed to physically reorient herself. It was fascinating to observe. It was like he could literally see her thinking and working through the process of social interactions. 

Tallera: I believe the best way to protect the Proteus drive is to hide it.  We can't cloak it, but perhaps we can camouflage it.

Collins: Well, I love the sound of that. What did you have in mind?

Jacin/Dewitt: RESPONSE

Tallera: Simple. Locate a nebula - or perhaps a sufficiently low-mass gas planet - that has a matching ambient temperature and a composition of heavy metals that will make the ring seem just a patch of unremarkable high density.  Meanwhile we paint the ring pink.  Or whatever color the ambient light is.

He was on board with the first bit. That had a ring of canny practicality to it as well. Not only would they be the only people in the sector that would know precisely where it was, but whatever place they picked would also have the benefits of localized camouflage and likely a physical deterrent from trying to pluck it out of whatever mire they wanted to 

The new paint job however...might have been a touch more sauce for the goose. 

Despite how much it made him smile wider. 

Collins: We can certainly scan for an appropriate hiding spot from Astrometrics and take some deep pulse scans of the system's lightwave spectrum output once we come to full stop. But the livery to match those lightwaves? I haven't the slightest idea where to start there.

Jacin/Dewitt: RESPONSE

Tallera: RESPONSE

Quentin nodded in rising fascination. It might have sounded cockamamie in the moment, but it seemed as if a whole lot more thought when into it than Quentin assumed at the moment. Bolstered even further by their peer's input.

oO You broke your own rule, midshipman. Never assume, remember, you pompous hack? Oo. Quentin pushed the dark voice down and re-focused himself (while he tried to avoid the gaze of Jacin Ayemet).

Collins: Right then. Connor, with me. You two, grab whatever you need up here or in the Engine Room and meet us on Deck 4. There are fabrication and replication suites in the Science Lab. Ayemet can show you where they are.

Jacin/Dewitt/Tallera: RESPONSE

Quentin flicked his right arm up and out. Revealing his father's watch, wrist-side-up, underneath the sleeve of his freshly-pressed uniform.

Collins: Just over an hour left still. You can do loads in an hour. Several meals, a few baths...plenty of time, yes?

Jacin/Dewitt/Tallera: RESPONSE

Collins: We've got this. Probably.

He gave a wry smile and spread his hands out for his colleagues to continue ahead, but stopped short after taking just a few steps.

Collins: Ayemet, a moment? If you please?

He waited until Tallera and Connor were away in the Turbolift. Now only themselves populated the corridor. He wrung his hands nearly apart as he turned to finally face her.

Jacin: RESPONSE

Collins: Are you okay? I mean to say, is there anything you need to say to me? Now is the time.

Jacin: RESPONSE

Collins: We need you, Lieutenant. I need you. None of this is going to work unless we are all together.

Jacin: RESPONSE

Quentin simply nodded. He never dropped his hands though.

Collins: Right. Yes. Deck 4 then. Call ahead to me or Connor should you or Tallera need anything else.

Quentin turned...and then turned back, crossing quickly, and taking the Turbolift at the other end of the corridor.

If she needed her space, he would give it to her.

He could do that much right, at least.

((Interior. U.S.S. Arrow, Deck 4. Astrometrics Lab/Stellar Cartography.))

((Precisely 37 Minutes Later...))

Quentin Collins and Connor had been scanning for what felt like lifetimes.

They had yet to come to a full stop yet, but to Quentin it felt as if time stood still. They had scads upon scads of beautiful, poster-worthy scans of the system they were about to see for realsies.

But nothing at all had jumped out at him for "Prime Hiding Spot". It was absolutely maddening. Even more so when he thought about just how Jacin Ayemet felt about him and her life amid the Arrow.

He almost flung himself out of his station's chair and cursed the jangle of his nerves thanks to the coffee and his insecurity.

Dewitt: RESPONSE

He huffed a laugh and gave the officer a slight smile.

Collins: How can you tell? I'm hiding it super well.

Dewitt: RESPONSE

Collins: I just...really want to get this one right, Con. For all of us.

Dewitt: RESPONSE

Quentin perked up considerably, plucking his glasses from his pocket (new, two-tone box frames of black and white) and plunking them quickly onto his face as he leaned into the display.

Collins: Oh?! What have we got then? I'd give my back teeth for a semi-permeable gas giant. Or, OO, maybe some lingering frozen asteroid trails!

Dewitt/Any: RESPONSE

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TAG/TBC

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Lieutenant Commander 

Quentin Collins III

Chief Science Officer

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U.S.S. ARROW NCC-69829

ID: E239512QC0

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