CDR Naxell — And Now, Some Science

[Naxell]

((Airlock, Deck 16, USS Khitomer))

Naxell: I don't think the dust is hazardous, but I have no way to be sure. We need to get my suit as clean as possible before I take it off.

He gestured towards the hard metal connection around his neck, holding his helmet to his suit's collar. He couldn't see it but he'd been around them long enough to know there were plenty of nooks and crannies for foreign contaminants to hide in.

Melville-Kilpatrick: Better to be safe than sorry, sir. This way, then?

Naxell: Yes, once we pack away the samples.

The storage canister was easy enough to use with gloves on, even if the act of collecting itself felt clumsy. The plates were designed with examination in mind, not collection, but the containment canister was designed with the expectation that it would be in the vicinity of environments and materials that required containment.

There wasn’t much Naxell could do to assist with the cleanup as they moved out of the airlock and into the ready-area just inside, and so he focused on manipulating the canister and the plates that needed to get inside of it as Ensign Melville-Kilpatrick focused on brushing him off.

Melville-Kilpatrick: You should be good to go.

Naxell: Are you sure? No do-overs on this one.

Melville-Kilpatrick: I don't think I missed anything...maybe lift up your arm?

He did as the Ensign suggested, after setting the canister down near the doorway. The EVA suit didn’t allow complete freedom of movement, but he was able to raise his arms up a substantial amount, and bend his elbows enough that his hands reached above his head. He turned in place, slowly.

Naxell: All clear?

Melville-Kilpatrick: Response

Naxell: Okay! Helmet off, then.

((Timeskip, Science Lab, Deck 16, USS Khitomer))

Commander Naxell hadn’t realized just how uncomfortable the EVA suit had been until he was out of it. It was warm, stuffy, and smelled entirely too much like himself. He had briefly attempted to account for the time he spent in it, but when the math started adding up to a dismally high figure he abandoned the effort and settled on “too much time.” Now that he was outside of it, he was less warm, and less stuffy. He probably smelled a bit too much like himself, but unfortunately for Ensign Melville-Kilpatrick, he was the ship’s captain and so there wasn’t anything to be done about that.

Naxell: ::slowly:: Placing the first sample into the scanner…

Melville-Kilpatrick: Response

Naxell: Indeed, the cloud was impervious to our scans. Now we find out if that’s because of what the cloud’s made of, or because of how the cloud is held together.

Melville-Kilpatrick: Response

TBC

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Commander Nax-Ellarneii-Tellargo

Commanding Officer

USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)

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