Ens Hiro Jones - Love a Good Strudel Topping
notyourfrog
((Deck 7, Sickbay - Null gravity treatment ward, USS Artemis-A))
Hiro floated half a meter above the decking, making minute adjustments to a harness suspended in mid-air by a localized tractor beam, designed to prevent a patient from drifting away during treatment. The sensation was ... weird. Hiro had done examinations, surgeries, conducted experiments galore, and treated an absurd list of injuries, infections, and other maladies, but never needed to eliminate the variable of gravity to do so. The Artemis, while smaller than the Excalibur had been, was equipped to do some very cool stuff.
Jones: Computer, increase tension of lateral retainer by 0.5 percent.
The computer beeped in acknowledgement, and the harness shifted ever so slightly. Satisfied with the adjustments, Hiro pushed off and drifted toward the yellow line in the decking which marked the shift from nill-grav to standard gravity. As his feet landed with a soft double thump, his comm chirped.
Yalu: =/\= Yalu to Lieutenants Yellir and Osuna and Ensign Jones. Please meet me in the Operations Center on Deck 5 in 15 minutes. Muffins and coffee will be provided. =/\=
Jones: ::tapping the badge:: =/\= Jones here, 15 minutes, aye. =/\=
Chuckling at the thought of muffins and coffee at a briefing, Hiro cleared away the few tools he'd spread around before heading upstairs to the Ops Center.
(( Operations Center, Deck 5, USS Artemis, 14 minutes later ))
Hiro walked into the Ops Center, impressed as usual by the Artemis. It was a smaller ship than the Excalibur, but instead of feeling "lesser," just felt ... condensed. The Ops Center had everything Hiro expected to see: displays both traditional and holographic, readouts of various things he didn't have the time or clearance (most likely) to read, etc, but it also had an array of tools he didn't even know the name or use for. There were also muffins. oO Well I'll be. He wasn't joking after al. Oo
Hiro nodded to the Commander as he milled about, waiting for the meeting to begin, all the while eyeing a particularly tasty-looking blueberry muffin with a strudel topping on the tray.
Yalu: Greetings, everyone. Please grab a muffin if you’d like one and then take a seat. We’ve got a lot of work to do.
Jones: ::trying not to snatch the blueberry muffin too fast:: Don't mind if I do. Thank you sir. I thought you were joking.
He broke off a small piece and popped it into his mouth. It was fantastic. Hiro made a mental note to ask Yalu which muffin profile he'd used to replicate this.
Yellir / Osuna: response
Once seated, with muffin in hand, Hiro listened as Commander Yalu filled them in on the situation: they would be arriving at the Da'al homeworld in about four hours to assist in the recovery and aid efforts following a meteor impact.
Yalu: The four of us have been assigned to Ground Zero, the impact crater. I’ve got the name of our contact, Kef’in Dari, who will greet us at the site when we arrive. The Da’al are a peaceful people, but stridently independent. They know they need our help, but they don’t like it. The way I see it, we’ve got three main duties.
The situation sounded dire. Hiro set the remaining half of his muffin on the small plate, then set the plate on the table and leaned forward slightly, intent on the details being disseminated.
Yalu: First, we have to assess the infrastructure damage and come up with a repair plan. ::to Yellir:: Hallia, we’re going to rely on your expertise here. The Da’al are advanced, but they're in way over their heads. We’ve got to get the city functioning again as fast as possible.
Yellir: response
Yalu: Second, we need to get ahead of any potential health or environmental effects of the impact. ::to Jones:: Doctor, we’re going to rely on your expertise here. The meteor displaced tons of earth, destroyed countless buildings, and unleashed any number of hazards into the environment.
Jones: Understood.
Yalu: Third, we need our environment to be as conducive as practicable to carrying out our assessments and rendering our aid.. ::to Osuna:: Lieutenant, this is where I think you’ll be needed the most. The immediate vicinity of the impact is in complete chaos. I want you to give our Da’al contact anything he asks for to bring order to Ground Zero.
Osuna: response
Yalu: It’s no secret that the Da’al would rather handle this themselves. They may be reluctant, but they’re not stupid. They know we can help them. And that's what we're going to do. Match their energy and stay on their good side.
The Commander took a bite of his own pastry. Hiro smiled slightly to see this subtle evidence of Yalu's ability to still enjoy simple pleasures even while the proverbial waste products were hitting the atmospheric recirculators.
Yalu: We are on track to arrive at Da'al in about three-and-a-half hours. Now, what questions do you have?
Jones: When we get there, will we be joining an existing team or will we be operating independently but in tandem with the Da'al rescue workers?
Yalu: response
Jones: I see.
Yellir / Osuna: response
Ensign Hiro Jones, MD
USS Artemis-A, Medical
E239510KD0
"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one." - Marcus Aurelius