LtCmdr Jovenan – If you ever want to experience having to look up several questionable sites for weird technobabble again, you know where to find me
Jovenan
((Sensor pod, USS Artemis))
Lt K’Wara was doing well. One target after another, they had cleared even the trickiest pitfalls Jovenan had planned for them. Sometimes it had taken a minute of pondering before the secrets revealed themselves to the new Ops Chief, but in the end, they had made it all. They might had had a particularly sparkling personality, but at least they weren’t the hot-head that would ram the drone into the chaos in order to see what happened – Jovenan could name a few of such people, and in her personal opinion, she could survive just fine without another colleague such as that.
Now the Lieutenant only needed to work out what to do with the final target. It might have been the trickiest of them all: they’d fail if they tried to figure out for certain that they’d fail if they tried to figure it out. The correct course of action was to step back and not poke the sleeping bear. Some people just didn’t believe in letting the bear get away undisturbed, and she wanted to learn if the Lieutenant was one of those people. For the good of the ship.
K’Wara: In order to be sure, I’d phone in a science officer’s opinion, since more invasive scans aren’t recommended for potential First Contact scenarios. ::smiles:: Unless this fancy POD has some more discreet scanning modes I've not found yet?
Jovenan chuckled. They had apparently gone through the options the drone and the Beholder allowed them and found out that none of them were positively out of the other spacefarers’ view. That was indeed correct, only the passive sensors and those scanners operating in the subspace were for certain undetectable for civilisation at that level. They had chosen… wisely.
Jovenan: No, there aren’t. A science officer has made a determination that the target is likely a pre-warp vessel, one that uses a primitive chemical propulsion system. You probably know what your next action should be?
The Lieutenant didn’t waste a second in declaring the correct answer.
K’Wara: I advise we remain at distance and use only our most discreet scanners to get as much information as possible, before getting out of the area, as well as update the database to warn other space traffic off of this path.
That was a full and perfect answer. The suggestion to update the database even demonstrated additional dedication, since it was not something the operator of the Beholder or your average science officer would have to do personally in this particular scenario, but someone like the department chiefs might care very much about.
Jovenan: Good. Now, take the drone back to the position where we started. The computer guidance will take it in the rest of the way. I think we are ready. ::pause:: Final question: pass or fail?
Jovenan had, of course, already determined the grade she’d put in the report, but in the spirit of their earlier back and forth – as well as the interdepartmental cooperation – it seemed fair to give them a chance to argue their stance. She didn’t know what they could say that would make her change her mind, but if they for whatever reason decided to argue for giving them the failed grade, they should at least get the opportunity to do so.
K’Wara: Well, pass, obviously. Especially when put in the hot seat by our Chief of Science. ::smiles widely:: But failure is fine too - failure is how you learn, and most of the galaxy’s greatest discoveries were happy accidents.
Well darn, they were modest and eloquent too. Might as well give them the central seat already – or Jovenan’s job at least.
As the Lieutenant guided the drone towards the area where the computer would take it in the rest of the way, Jovenan stood up from her seat and walked closer to the Beholder’s control chair. The Lieutenant sat still, strapped down to the seat by the various devices they had used to move around the space. As the computer guided the drone back to the pod, she placed her hands on the headpiece and gently lifted the visor up, allowing the Lieutenant to rejoin her as well. The Beholder, and the return to the limited corporeal form from the endless space and unlimited motion in particular, could sometimes be dizzying to some new users, so she studied their face carefully for any signs of nausea.
Jovenan: Still feeling alright?
The Lieutenant blinked a few times. A small smile rose to her face; the Lieutenant hadn’t been so hardy to avoid such a common reaction entirely. It was much better than some of the more sensitive examinees, though, as Jovenan didn’t feel the need to evacuate out of the splash zone quite yet.
K’Wara: ::deep breaths:: Just, gimme a couple of seconds to balance.
Jovenan: You got your seconds. Once you’re comfortable with it, I’ll help you out of your chains.
It didn’t take all that long from them to recover. Just a moment later, the Lieutenant looked up at her and nodded.
K’Wara: Thank you for the practical demo, Lt. Commander... It was enriching.
Jovenan: My pleasure. ::smiles:: I learnt quite a bit myself as well.
If nothing else, she now knew what kind of person had dared to disturbed her in the middle of her reading on vampires. Whether she would forgive or not depended on that information.
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11