[I-BSL4] JP by Lt DeVeau and Ensign Delphane: Lab Ladies - Part 1

[Amanda Nordstrom]

((BioSciences Lab 4, USS Invicta))


::It had been a huge shift in paradigm, joining Starfleet. There were
still times when she had to shake herself into the right frame of mind,
remind herself uncomfortably that the societal norms that she grew up
with were not normal here, and that the world worked in a vastly
different way. It wasn’t always easy, but it was vastly preferable to
being hunted down by the Syndicate.::


::The Orionese Free Trader ship, the Oman, was still free and trading,
according to her mother’s last missive, but there had been plenty of
close calls. Her sisters had stayed, too green-to-the-bone to adapt to a
different way of life. But Antara had encouraged her youngest daughter
to seek a different path, being young enough and intelligent enough to
adapt. Ashara still wondered whether it had been the right decision.::


::Take her boss now. Lieutenant DeVeau wouldn’t last a minute in
Orionese society. She’d have been taken and sold off to the highest
bidder surely - apparently some Orionese brigand had almost tried it a
year or so ago - but here she was the head of a department that ran
smoothly under her control and she had the ear of the Captain. There
were times when it gave Ashara a headache. Some days the simple concept
that a non-related female was not her enemy was difficult enough. The
medication that suppressed her natural pheromones had been annoying, but
now she was used to it. It was the societal conventions that did her
head in.::


::But the science! The things that she got to see and do and learn. She
would never had even dreamt of such if she’d stayed on her mother’s
ship. Never in her wildest imagination. Perhaps the hardest part was
knowing, whilst she might not be fully comfortable in her new life, she
was ruined for her old one. She could never go back to being a Free
Trader, that world was just too small.::


Delphane: Here’s the results of that biochemical comparison, Boss. ::She
declared as she crossed the lab.::


::Alora swiveled around on the chair, an act that was done in such a way
the twenty-something officer exuded a certain gleefulness with the
emotion. If one knew her well enough, it wouldn’t be difficult to guess
that she had to refrain from twirling around in the chair over and over
again on some days. Some days. Not all. Generally, she was able to curb
such playful desires, particularly around her fellow crewmembers.::


DeVeau: Excellent, thank you for getting it done so quickly. What did
you find?

::Alora could, of course, simply look at the data which would be
transferred to her PADD, but that took away the interpersonal contact,
and she preferred to speak to her officers rather than simply stare at a
computer screen for all the answers.::


::Ashara sized Alora up. The Orion was even shorter than the Chief of
Science, and markedly curvy, something not helped by the fact that she
had tailored her uniform pattern to something that really showed off her
assets. She’d learned that one didn’t need pheromones to have an effect
on men. By the look of her the Chief of Science seemed to have other
priorities.::


Delphane: Skyfire was right, there’s definitely common genetic heritage
between the Tholians and the Va Wreth. It’s no coincidence they look
alike.::


::Honestly, Alora couldn’t say she was all that surprised. The fact
that the Tholians had recommended the Va Wreth had indicated some sort
of relationship. Her fingers tapped against the console as she digested
the tidbit of information.::


DeVeau: How close of a link is it?

::It couldn’t be tooclose considering the vastly different environmental
needs. Then again, perhaps Alora shouldn’t speak so quickly -
sometimes, differences weren’t always as vast as one might imagine.::


Delphane: Not very close. ::She admitted.:: Think Orions and Klingons.
They have a distant genetic commonality and from the look of things a
small amount of more recent genetic interchange - recent being in the
last five thousand years or so. Tholians don’t have the long lifespan
that the Va Wreth do, so there’s a pretty high dispersal of the relevant
genes on the Tholian end.


::She rested her elbow casually on the bench.::


DeVeau: I have to admit, the idea that the Tholians might be related to
someone did seem far fetched.


::But stranger theories had proven true.::


Delphane: Honestly, I always thought the Tholians were an orphan
species, I’d never have guessed there was another they were close enough
to to interbreed with. How they overcome the climate issues is anybody’s
guess. ::She said with a grin.::


DeVeau: I’m not sure I even want to know.


::Well, maybe that wasn’t exactly accurate. Truly, the idea seemed
possible, and yet, the mechanics and how to make it work was a
fascinating idea in of itself.::


::That made Ashara’s grin, a flash of white in her green features,
become even broader.::


Delphane: It raises other questions too, given that every Va Wreth we’ve
met so far has been female bar one.


::Which was weird. Female-dominated societies were right up Ashara’s
alley, but amongst her people it was the males who did the talking and
negotiating, unrelated females couldn’t stand to be in the same room
together. Might the Va Wreth be the reverse? Captain Kells had met a
lone male on the ship.::


DeVeau: From what I can tell, they’re a matriarchal society. I haven’t
ascertained the role of males as of yet, but I do hope to establish some
connections over shore leave, so maybe I can learn more of their culture.


::Alora had planned to do that before the whole kidnapping thing. What
was it about her that she seemed to be ripe for the kidnapping? With a
shake of her head, she pressed on about their new associates.::


DeVeau: Are there any other discoveries I should be aware of?


::If Alora had asked, Ashara could probably have ventured a few thoughts
on why the other woman seemed so ripe for kidnapping.::

Delphane: You’re aware that the Matriarchs - Kara, they call them - use
pheromones to keep some control over their crews.


::A lot like her people did, except that Starfleet made her take
medication to suppress hers.::


DeVeau: Yes, that had been indicated in the reports.


Delphane: Well it looks like they can use those pheromones to cause a
number of different changes in the Va Wreth on their ship. Increase
reproduction, speed up growth, all dependant on food supply of course.
Also increase aggression.


DeVeau: Really?

::Fascinating. Their pheromones controlled so many aspects of their
lives. While she knew that certain species had pheromones which could
affect others, but she hadn’t realised that theirs was so all
encompassing.::


DeVeau: Increase agression?


Delphane: Loorix is calling it ‘going locust’. ::She rolled dark eyes.::
It looks like they can shift over in to ‘eat everything and everyone,
breed like crazy, strip a planet bare and move on’ growth mode. From
what we’ve been told it seems to happen when people piss them off.


DeVeau: Whoa...


Delphane: Yeah, it’s probably best that we avoid doing that.


DeVeau: Yeah, no kidding.


::An image of a swarm of Va Wreth descending upon a planet and devouring
everything in sight sent a shudder through her spine. With a shake of
her head, she tried to dismiss it. ::


END


Lieutenant Alora DeVeau

Chief Science Officer

USS Invicta


and


Ensign Ashara Delphane

Biologist

USS Invicta

As simmed by Saveron