Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau - "Too Many Questions"
Amanda Nordstrom
((USS Rahuba - Small
Conference Room))
The Cheyenne class starship was completely new to Alora. To
her eyes, it looked like a miniature Galaxy class that had
mirror nacelles, but she also wasn’t an Engineer. She was a
scientist. As such, she focused on scientific matters.
At least, she used to. Since the first month of the year,
known as January on Earth, she had been First Officer. Nine
months. Nine months in a red collar. Nine months away from
the science labs. Nine months as part of command. She still
hadn’t *quite* gotten used to it. Shouldn’t she have?
Shouldn’t she be more confident? Shouldn’t she feel like she
had a better hand on things? Shouldn’t she be better than she
was?
They were questions that plagued her. Such things had never
bothered her before that new position. She’d always been so
secure in her place as a scientist, whether as a regular
science officer or even a chief science officer. She’d rarely
- and honestly couldn’t remember ever really doing so -
questioned herself in those roles. In that one? Perhaps it
happened less often, but it still happened and Alora continued
to ponder the wisdom in having her that position. And it was
taking away from what she *should* have been thinking about.
The next mission. Terra Prime.
Shaking her head, Alora forced herself to start down the path
she was supposed to be traversing. A poisoned atmosphere.
Attacked ships. And a terrorist group of some sort taking
position on Miranda VII. A hive of scum and villainy, the
base was notorious for the types of people that passed through
its docks. They would need to tread carefully. She had gone
straight to the Rahuba, then made a discreet call before
coming to the designated room. Now both of the other officers
were there with her, and they had to make a plan.
DeVeau: Right.
Alora tore her eyes away from the view the window afforded.
They were in a conference room, but one of the smaller ones,
meant for smaller teams, like hers, to sit and discuss
matters, to brianstorm . Which is what they were about to do.
DeVeau: Terra Prime. What do we know?
Alora knew the history, but one of the things about
brainstorming was to say things out loud. A computer whiz she
knew had called it ‘ducking’. Mainly because he used a rubber
duck. When faced with a problem he was struggling with on a
computer program, he’d talk to the duck, starting off with
everything he knew, follow it up with the problem, then try to
reconcile and figure out how to solve it. For them, it might
not go *quite* that straight forward, but they needed to get
everything out on the table.
Bailey/Yael: ?
DeVeau: Ash, you said it had been some time since they’d been
heard from. When was the last time?
Even as she asked the question, Alora picked up her own PADD
and began to search the database. The more information they
had, the more ammunition they could use. At least, that’s
what Alora hoped.
Bailey/Yael: ?
DeVeau: So if they haven’t been really active in years save
for a few tiny issues here and there, why the sudden
resurgence? Have they been recruiting? Saving up for a power
move, hence the base of operations on Miranda VII? Why
there? Why now? Utopia isn’t a huge colony. If they’re the
reason for the poisoning of the atmosphere, and while we’re
not 100% sure, I’d stake all my plants on the idea that they
*are*, what would they stand to gain by attacking them?
Bailey/Yael: ?
And there, Alora felt rather useless. She was asking a lot of
questions, but she really wasn’t able to give any answers
except that if these people really were Terra Prime, it was
all because they had an idea that humans were more important
than anyone else and everyone else could go shove it.
DeVeau: Historically, they were mainly concerned with keeping
Earth pure and getting everyone else out of the solar system.
So why leave that solar system? What do they hope to
accomplish?
More questions. Still no answers. Looking over at her two
friends and fellow officers, Alora sighed.
DeVeau: We’re going to have to tread very carefully, whether
they are Terra Prime or not.
Bailey/Yael: ?
-- Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau First Officer Starbase 118 Ops al...@blar.net M239008AD0