Meeting the Scientist

Posted on Fri Sep 30th, 2011 @ 4:12pm by Lieutenant Commander Nilani Prax & Lieutenant Mignon Melia
Edited on on Thu Dec 22nd, 2011 @ 9:33am

Mission: The Pak'Leth Problem
Location: Science

ON

Mignon looked forward to meeting the Chief Science Officer more than any other on the starbase. As a scientist herself she was curious about the woman in charge.

So she walked up to Lieutenant Commander Prax's door and rang the chime.

"Come in!" The cry was almost hurried from within, as the doors to the science lab opened. "Come in, shut the door and don't move a muscle," the woman inside said. She had her back to the door, and there were others in the dark room, but it was clear from her voice and posture that she was the one in charge in there. Immediately in front of her was a large semi-sphere embedded on top of a table; clear, like glass, but with many moving, red lights just inside on the edge of its surface. The other individuals in the room were each staring diligently at a series of consoles arranged around the room's edge.

Mignon stepped in and to the side so the door could close and held perfectly still, her eyes watching the semi-sphere intently.

"OK, careful... modulate the alpha wave just slightly... that's it..." Nilani was practically like a conductor, and the scientists her orchestra, as she carefully instructed each to adjust various settings in the experiment being run. "No, that's too much! Adjust the beta to match..." her voice became frantic quite quickly as she tried to save the work they'd put in so far on this particular try. "Dammit, we've lost it. Lock it down, and file the readings for the next test. Computer, lights." As the room's lumination returned to standard levels, the Commander turned to see who their visitor was. "Good evening Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"

"I'm Mignon Mejia, the new Counselor."

"Ah, welcome aboard then, counsellor," Nilani said, as she held out her hand to shake that of the newcomer. "Commander Prax, station's science officer. I take it you've already met Alex?"

"Yes, I have," Mignon replied, shaking the science officer's hand. "I'm especially pleased to meet you as I spent some time studying archaeology, so I have a special fondness for science."

"Ah, yes, archaeology," Prax smiled as she grabbed a few things and led the other officer out of the lab, her work there obviously complete. "I've never been much of a history buff myself - well, except for the bits of history that I was around to be witness to. I've always been more interested in looking towards the future."

"Which is a good thing," Mignon stated as she followed the other officer. "Me, I've always looked to the past. Except when it comes to counseling."

"Yes, I suspect that dwelling on the past rarely helps in that field of work," Nilani commented wryly. "I trust though that this is just a social call, and not something within that work?"

"Yes, it's just a social call -- although you will have to come by and take your annual evaluation."

Nilani chuckled to herself. "Well, good luck with that. The best minds at Starfleet medical have always had a tough time of working their way through six past lifetimes' worth of memories and experiences, along with my own."

"Good point," Mignon grinned. "We'll just focus on the current one. It'll make things easier for both of us."

"That's the thing," Nilani's grin turned mischievous. "You can't separate them."

"There is that," Mignon conceded. "But you still need to come in and take the written test. I can count this as the verbal part of the evaluation. I like to get to know someone a bit before I look at their test results."

"Well then how about joining me for a raktajino on the promenade?" Prax asked, turning her thoughts towards the fact that she hadn't had a good cup of coffee since she'd started her experiment that morning. "There's a place that does a decent brew over on level thirteen. They actually roast all their coffees from real beans."

"Sounds great." Mignon was curious to see what else they made fresh. Real beans. Real cream? The possibilities were intriguing.

The duo stepped into a turbolift, and Nilani instructed it where to take them. "Promenade, level thirteen."

OFF

Lieutenant Commander Nilani Prax
Chief Science Officer
Starbase 332

Lieutenant Mignon Mejia
Chief Counselor
Starbase 332