[sb118-artemis] Ensign Tho'Bi - You Vul-can't be serious!

[Tobi]

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((USS Artemis-A - Deck 3, Quarters 1785))

The great silver ship hung above the blue, green of Risa; much of its corridor, quarter, and deck were empty, with so many of its complement down on the planet below; but not so on deck 3, quarters 1785; there work continued, however awkwardly that might be.   

The Bajoran stepped aside and he hurried inside; doing his best to ignore another eye roll.  The young ensign stood in the center of the Lieutenant’s quarters; he looked about nervously, his eyes fell on a Horg'ahn; an entire shelf to itself.

Tho’Bi: Oh ::gestures at the Horh’ahn:: y-you have a Ho-rah-aah-uun (beat) on display (beat) in your quarters ::finally looks at Vailani:: and I-I’m talking about it (beat) out loud (beat) (beat) Oh ::looks down at deck:: I need to lie down.

With that, the young Andorian lay down in the middle of the cabin and began taking deep breaths.

Vailani: Wha- Are you okay?

He looked up to see the lieutenant leaning over him; she glanced at the Horg’ahn, sat alone on the otherwise empty shelf; lost in the depths of his anxiety, the realization that perhaps laying down wasn’t the smartest thing to do, began to dawn on the ensign.  The Bajoran looked down at him; she did not look pleased.

Vailani: What in the Prophets did you think was going to happen ensign?! It's a decorative item not an invitation to … lay on my floor?!

Tho’Bi: Oh! ::sits up:: I’m not ly-lying down ::gestures at the Horh’ahn:: This is not (beat) not (beat) not a fer-fertility (beat) thing ::perplexed:: I get anxious (beat) Laying down h-helps.  ::struggling to make eye contact with Vailani::

The five-foot six-inch tall lieutenant leaned in closer, her slim, petite frame seemed to swallow up all the light in the room; as though her building anger were a singularity, dragging all the light into a single point of outrage. 

Vailani: I think you should stand up before I drag you out of here by your antennae Ensign. Is that clear?

The young Andorian indistinctly grabbed both his antennae, and let out a startled gasp; he shot, bolt upright, in an attempt to stand to attention; but, in his rush, gained purchase only on his heels; both his legs slipped forward, his feet coming off the ground, and rising up into the air; he thumped down heavy onto his back, the wind knocked out of him, he looked up at the Lieutenant.

The Bajoran sighed and offered her hand; it was only as she helped him up, did he recognize the lieutenant from the previous day down on Risa; it had not gone well, the ensign was relieved to find himself still in Starfleet; what was he thinking?  What was he thinking now?  The sound of the Lieutenant’s voice shook him back into the moment.  

Vailani: Can we get back to checking the environmental controls - quickly? 

Tho’Bi:  Y-Yes, of course ::nodded:: Lieu-Lieutenant.

The ensign crouched; snapped opened the engineering kit, and popped out the engineering tricoder from its foam snug.  He stood back up and aimed the tricorder in the direction of the control panel, located to the right of the door; the user-friendly interface blipped into darkness, moments later, lines of code and data flow cascaded down the display; the blue of his fingers danced across the tricorder.

Tho’Bi: ::attention fixed on the tricorder:: Sorry about the ::gestures at the Horh’ahn:: (beat) ::looks up from Tricorder at Vailani::

The Lieutenant shook her head; she was clearly in no mood to continue that conversation; the ensign took the opportunity to change the subject with gratitude.

Vailani: The temperature does seem a bit off in here.  

Tho’Bi:  ::attention fixed on tricorder::  Yeah ::lost in thought::

The Andorian tilted his head to one side, as he tried to make sense of the readings; Bajor V’ was M Class, with a climate almost identical to that of Earth’s; the Starfleet default should be fine for a Bajoran.  His antennae twitched; the ever expanding spheres of sonar-like impulses traveled quickly, outwards from him, rebounding off the various surfaces in the room; the world felt light, sped up, as though the air offered less resistance.

Tho’Bi:  Fascinating ::smiles to himself:: (beat) ::looks up at the Lieutenant:: Vulcan (beat) The environmental settings were adapted for planet Vulcan ::flips the tricorder around so the Vailani can see:: higher temperature, thinner atmosphere (beat) even a touch of extra gravity.

Vailani: Response

The ensign flipped the tricoder back around and set to the task of resetting the various parameters.

Tho’Bi: ::attention fixed on tricorder:: Temperature reset to 288 Kelvin (beat) Adjusting air density to match Starfleet defaults ::looks up at Vailani and smiles:: You might want to brace yourself for this next part.  (beat) I’m about to reset the gravity.

Vailani: Response

The Andorian tapped the tricorder; there was a sudden clunk sound, followed by a constant low frequency fizzing; for a split-second, it felt like they might lift off; a second clunk brought the fizzing to an end; their feet planted back onto the deck, the Horh’ahn shuddered on the self, and then settled.  The ensign looked up from the tricoder.

Tho’Bi: That was cool ::he grinned:: 

Vailani: Response

Working engineering problems always calmed him down; but the ensign’s anxiety was still there, lurking below the surface.

Tho’Bi: Eh, ::shifts awkwardly on his feet:: Fo-fogive me (beat) I don’t know a lot about Bajoran Religion, but (beat) ::tilts his head and back again:: If you want to light candles or (beat) incense (beat) I-I can set the safety protocols, so (beat) so they don’t go off (beat) and drive you crazy ::nods and smiles::

Vailani: Response

TAG/TBC

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Ensign Tho’Bi

Engineering

USS Artemis-A

A240203T11