LtCmdr Jovenan – If you don’t fill your pockets with cool rocks, are you even a geologist?
Jovenan
((Science lab 2, Deck 9, USS Artemis))
Jovenan would occasionally tour the science facilities and see how things were going. Of course, she’d let people know before rushing in to one of the labs reserved for long-term or critical projects – not to mention Hazardous Materials Lab – but the short-term spaces where anyone could just pop in to finish their project didn’t necessitate such considerations. She had noticed that some scientists harboured shy tendencies or otherwise didn’t want to bother her if she only sat in her lonely office all day. Jovenan couldn’t judge them, she definitely had been one of them. Visiting the labs and other work spaces had permitted some of the even reclusive blushirts to flag her down.
Richards: Commander! ::Waving at Jovenan:: Wanna see some cool rocks?
Jovenan smiled as the relatively new addition to her department noticed her and waved at her. From what Jovenan had learnt of Richards, she probably hadn’t needed Jovenan to come to her to find the courage to ask for her help or opinion – then again, she had still much to learn of the planetary scientist. Either way, the offer sounded enticing.
Jovenan: I wouldn’t say no to cool rocks. What do you have there?
Richards gestured to a small collection of rocks while smiling at her. Jovenan looked at them, trying to figure out their type and origin with the first glance. They were just a few centimetres in diameter, grey and visibly porous. Several mechanisms could cause meso- and macropores. Young sedimentary rocks formed in shallow waters were often more porous than older and deeper rocks. It could also be chemical leaching, fracturing or erosion wearing down softer materials, or maybe fossils trapped in sediments, leaving only the body crevice and the shell. Or maybe there was a more volcanic explanation. There were some curious orange specks on them, which she couldn’t easily identify. Instead of guessing further, she turned to Richards.
Richards: I have these samples from Galaris VI. Interested in taking a look at them with me? I was just about to cut one of these bad boys in half. After they have been cleaned and sanitized…
Jovenan: Sanitised? Why?
Richards: Well… Thanks to some cross contamination the soil sample is unusable. But the rocks are safe.
Richards offered her a PADD, which she accepted and quickly read some of the results the scientist had already got. The list of compounds featured a section that she was more familiar from biology rather than geology. Amino acids and other biological compounds were not particularly surprising considering they had been on an M class planet, although considering the topic at hand, she could see that there might have been a problem.
Richards: I may have put these samples in my pocket since I didn’t have a field kit with me. The same pocket I used to carry my cheezy poofs in that same morning…
Pockets? That was highly unusual – actually, delete that, it was not. Jovenan could list from the top of her head a baker’s dozen of geology professors and many more students (if she actually remembered their names any more) from the University who would frequently pocket a cool rock they found and share the news with their fellows. Remembering the conditions in which Richards must have picked up the samples, Jovenan could not fault her.
Jovenan: Oh, that’s unfortunate. But at least you got something, that’s much better than what I’ve got: nothing. ::looks at rocks, nods:: Cleaning and sanitising them should restore them to studiable condition.
Richards: Response
Jovenan: Just out of curiosity… What exactly are “cheezy poofs”?
Richards: Response
Jovenan nodded. How Richards described them, she could see that they were somewhat similar to the popcorns – at least in function if not in taste and manufacture – which she had first become familiar with at a movie night when she was an Ensign. As for the reason Richards was carrying tasty snacks with her, Jovenan didn’t want to invade her privacy to ask. Perhaps it had something to do with the pregnancy cravings she had heard about, maybe Richards needed a reliable source of energy during the mission, or maybe the scientist just liked them. Instead of asking, Jovenan turned back to the rocks and leaned in closer to study them visually.
Jovenan: So, what’s your hypothesis? What do you expect to find about these rocks or the geomorphology of the location?
Richards: Response
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Lieutenant Commander Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11