The Boy with the Golden Stars

Posted on Wed Aug 14, 2013 @ 7:14pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson

880 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: A Whole New World: Part 1 - Precipice
Location: Astrometrics
Timeline: 62505.51 Fri, 23 Nov 2384 08:12:45 GMT

Nicole walked into the Astrometrics lab and took a moment to whistle in appreciation at the panorama in front of her. "I can see why it's hard to pull yourself away from here," she said to the crewman in front of her.

Alex had his back to the door as he poked at the controls in front of him, causing that panorama of stars and nebulae to shift around slightly. "Right?" He agreed as he turned around and offered the woman a smile. He gave a quick, lazy salute as he stepped forward and offered his hand. "Alex, but it sounds like you might know that already." He grinned.

"Nicole," she said, taking his hand and shaking it, then yanking him towards her, spinning him and pushing him into a chair. "There, that's more like it." She pulled out a tricorder and flipped it open. "So, since it appears the senior staff is too busy 'senioring' to report to Sickbay, I'm making house calls. How are you feeling?"

Alex's eyes widened a bit as he was yanked toward her then pushed into a chair. "Oh?" he said somewhat surprised as the chair spun slowly. "Ahh... was that supposed to be today?" He said after she spoke and he remembered that whole 'fitness for duty' thing that he was very late at showing up to. "Honored, I suppose. I didn't know I was senior staff." He leaned back in the chair and propped his feet up on the console in front of him.

"You aren't, but you're on the list of no-shows," she said. "And you didn't answer my question."

As he sat up properly in the chair he laughed a bit. "Well, in that case, I'm not feeling as honored as I thought I was." He shrugged. "I feel great, no complaints."

"I'm showing blood pressure slightly elevated. High salt in your diet? Or find a nebulae that looks like a dirty picture?" she smirked, closed her tricorder and made notes on a padd.

"Door number one." He said as he stood up. "No reason for the second, really. It's easy enough to put regular pictures on the screen," he added that nonchalantly as he stepped over toward the center console once again. "Have you ever been on one of these ships?" He just assumed she'd know he meant the type of ship they were on right now.

"Why no," she said, adopting the accent of a Rigellian country farmer. "These modern things are too fancy for us simple folk. I was just lucky enough to sneak on board." She gave him a look, then glanced back at the main screen. "My previous ships were Defiant, Galaxy and Ambassador class. You?"

Alex stayed facing the screen to hide a slight eye roll at the accent, then he nodded. "Ahh, so you haven't been on an attack cruiser before then? I think it's pretty interesting, actually. The systems can vary greatly from the types I've been on, which were Galaxy and Defiant as well. I was also lucky enough to do my cadet cruise on a Ronin class ship."

"Well, I haven't been on this kind of attack cruiser," she said. "A Defiant-class ship isn't exactly meant for patrol duty. But then again, aren't you here to appreciate it for it's scientific abilities, rather than its tactical ones?"

He couldn't help but grin as he glanced over at her. "All boys like guns. At least it seems that way, especially since you assume I meant the tactical systems. Which, I might add, are quite impressive as well." He pushed some buttons and the large, panoramic screen showed star clusters and nebulae rushing away as it zoomed out. "With the astrometrics sensor suite the Victory can see out to 50,000 light years. Even it's regular sensors are rated for 25 hundred. Both very good numbers, but she's still very obviously an attack vessel. One that I'll appreciate any way that I can." He gave the top of the console a few gentle taps and a rub like he was petting a dog.

Nicole watched the screen for a moment. "Fifty thousand hm? Halfway across the galaxy..." her eyes lost focus for a moment. "I'll have to have you keep an eye out on a few things for me."

Alex nodded. "Sure is, resolution isn't that great though. Lots of blind spots. However, seeing as you'll be looking after my health, keeping an eye out for a couple things is the least I could do."

Nicole's eyes glanced at the screen. "Let me know if any of those blind spots move," she said. She covered up her quiet moment with an awkward smile and put her tricorder back in her bag. "I think I have all the baselines I need. And remember, if you get eye strain, don't hesitate to stop by!" She sauntered back towards the door and waved as she left, heading for her next victim.

"Well that's just all relative, isn't it?" He responded with a smile before giving her a nod. "I certainly will, Doctor. Good hunting." He turned back to the large screen and resumed his study of the Victory's charts.

JP

Nicole Anderson
CMO
USS Victory

Lt. j.g. Alex Volos
Stellar Cartography
USS Victory

 

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