LtCmdr Jovenan – It’s never just a rock, but sometimes you have to dig a little find the cool rocks
Jovenan
((Archaeological Survey Site, Serein Basin, Rylor))
The day volunteering at the dig site was proving much more fruitful than Jovenan would have ever dreamed of. In the short timespan, Lt Cole had unearthed historical artefacts and structures that – at least Jovenan believed so – were a rare discovery even for the more seasoned experts in the field. Although Jovenan’s own role had been restricted to standing by the side and pointing out details her background as a planetary scientist allowed her to notice while the security officer did the actually manual work and their supervising archaeologist was responsible for the scientific side of the endeavour, she felt like a part of a fascinating find. And it was not just the contribution to the research that the day was providing to her: she was at the ledge of learning a brand-new side of the junior officer, one that was much different and much more than the field of explosions she left behind her.
Jovenan: ::to Cole:: I’m also quite impressed by your deductions. Did you ever consider becoming a scientist?
Tal: There’s still time to defect. ::lightly, to Cole:: You’ve already demonstrated strong observational instincts and an acceptable tolerance for uncertainty. That’s most of the job.
That was definitely true. Being a scientist wasn’t just memorising facts. Perhaps those were also the qualities that were useful for a security officer, which has allowed Cole to grow as one and also to hone in those skills. Safety was important, but Jovenan loved seeing the LtJG’s skills getting to flourish also in her own wider field.
Cole: Defecting to science feels a little drastic. Can I start as an honorary consultant and see how it goes?
Jovenan smiled a little. She might try and remember to ask Cole to stand in to assist someone in the Science Department for an experiment some day. However, until then, she might as well see if those qualities come up in the Lieutenant’s performance in her actual duties. But before even that, there was still this current day and their current tasks. Cole had taken a significant lead relative to her with her discovery, while Jovenan had spent the last moments just observing her at work. Science wasn’t competition, and Jovenan didn’t take view Cole’s success as an attack to her status as the actual senior scientist here, but she was still feeling like she was missing from all the fun. Feigning being upset from Cole “overtaking” her, Jovenan brought her hands to her hips.
Jovenan: I’m stepping back to my plot. Not going to let you hog all the discoveries!
She returned to her plot just next to Cole’s. The structure might just extend to her side of the line, so despite Cole having already found something, Jovenan had a good chance in adding to the discovery. And even if that particular remains of a structure didn’t happen to go through here, there might be something else in the proximity – for all she knew, she might be digging in what was once the interior of the building. It might have been a warehouse, a temple, a communal space, a home, whatever, but it probably had something inside, something she might find. Ultimately, however, she was just having a fun day outside, and having a small, whimsical competition with her colleague would only make it more enjoyable while also doing something productive.
Tal: By all means. If this turns into a professional feud over excavation squares, I’ll consider my afternoon extraordinarily well spent. ::airily:: I believe you're next up for a miraculous discovery, Jovenan.
Cole: Your turn, Jovenan. Try not to make mine look boring.
Jovenan: ::laughingly:: I make no promises!
Tal: Excellent! A word of advice: don’t chase the dramatic interpretation. ::lightly, but not unkindly:: Archaeology punishes optimism almost as reliably as it rewards patience. Look for repetition instead – alignment, matching cuts in the stone, anything that suggests this seam belongs to a larger pattern.
Jovenan nodded. Of course, the same applied to all sciences, and she didn’t need the archaeologist to tell her that. Still, it served as a useful reminder that despite their good spirits and well-meaning competition, they were doing actual science here and that they were here as volunteers at someone else’s research project. It would be better to tone down a little, or at least not let it affect their judgement. They couldn’t let their enthusiasm come at the expense of recording everything with diligence – things moved couldn’t be unmoved, things that they might set aside in the search of the big discovery might be more valuable than anything they found.
Cole: Understood. I’ll try to keep up with your standards.
Jovenan: Of course. ::looks around her plot:: I don’t know where the structure would have extended to, but it probably had related functions near it. I’d imagine road or path, garden, waste dump or sewer. Inside, a roof and a floor, whatever was inside. A lot of opportunities to leave something behind.
Tal: If this is part of a threshold or access point, the interesting pieces may not be the obvious ones. ::gesturing lightly with the brush:: Fasteners. Post holes. Wear patterns. Evidence that something opened, closed, or was handled repeatedly. Small clues are still clues. Especially here.
Small clues. Little discoveries. The reports a scientist wrote in their daily work were just as important as the grand, award-winning papers, even if they didn’t always earn the same respect; ambitious junior scientists sometimes burnt out their enthusiasm when their first publication didn’t rocket them to the top of their fields, while some seniors felt like they couldn’t do justice to their earlier accomplishments with the mundane. Digging through the soil with her trowel, Jovenan wondered if she was in danger of slowly inching towards the latter. Not that she was in any way well-known or accomplished in the wider scientific community, not even among Starfleet scientist who frequently dabbled in the impossible, but after opening and closing a rift between universes, discovering creatures born from the corruption of a Genesis device, and saving civilisations, she feared losing the thrill she once felt when just cataloguing dust. Swapping the trowel to a brush, she cleared what might have been a shard of an artefact but ended up being a natural rock like the surrounding millions. She still smiled. Maybe it was the best to find something as humble as that.
Cole: I’m beginning to suspect archaeology and investigation have more in common than advertised.
Jovenan: I can see that. Some of the methods are the same, and in a way, the objectives too: finding out what happened here. The age of the scene is just a bit different… unless the investigators are badly delayed.
Tal: Response
Cole: I keep thinking about the last person who touched this and had no idea we’d be here centuries later trying to make sense of it.
Jovenan certainly shared the sentiment, but she couldn’t concentrate in commenting on it, as she noticed something peculiar about the stone she had brushed free from the loose soil. It was the similar type as most of the other stones they had seen, including those used in the structures, at least when it came to the minerals and chemical composition. However, it was fractured in a way that didn’t often happen in the nature, and – as she noticed as she continued to brush around it – it had company.
Jovenan: Lieutenant Tal, could you come see what I’ve found? ::makes way:: Looks like a layer of fire-cracked rocks.
Tal: Response
Cole: Okay, that's a good find. ::playful smile:: I liked this better when my square was winning.
After responding to the smile, Jovenan turned back to the archaeologist. As much as she wanted to keep the spirit of the competition going, she was cautious over the possibility of ruining what seemed to her an interesting discovery.
Jovenan: If it’s a hearth, there might be, um, evidence of what they used as fuel or what they ate, at the bottom. I’m a bit afraid to brush more, in case I accidentally remove something important before you have a chance to have a look.
Tal/Cole: Response
She retreated a little from the rock layer, careful where she put her hands as she took support from the ground, still crouched. As she did so, she wondered if she should let even her brush to touch anything, just in case she had caught ash or lipids or DNA on it when unearthing the hearth’s base.
Jovenan: Can we help with taking the samples, or is it strictly for professionals only?
Tal/Cole: Response
The playful smile reappeared to Jovenan’s lips.
Jovenan: Sorry we keep getting adding to your workload. If we keep doing this, I fear we might take all your free evenings for a while.
Tal/Cole: Response
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11