Chem Trials (Backpost)

Posted on Mon Jan 27, 2020 @ 6:05pm by Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

1,945 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Nibiru
Location: Holodeck One
Timeline: Before “Almost Time”

Penny whistled to herself as she made her way down the corridor, heading for the holodeck. She paused when her ears picked up footsteps behind her.

Camille was late. She’d been caught up with another test and zoned out the sound of the computer telling her it was time to meet Penny at the holodeck. Thankfully she finished what she was doing at only two minutes past the alarm and heard the voice telling her off. She secured her station and ran to the holodeck, but thankfully caught up to Penny in the corridor. “I’m not late!” she proclaimed, short of breath.

Penny giggled. "You just made it," she said. "But it's okay. I'm not always a stickler, as you know." She tapped the holodeck controls. "A runabout awaits!"

"What kind?" Camille asked. She wasn't interested in the engineering of ships, but did try to know their capabilities and amenities. She remembered some training missions using shuttles and runabouts back in the Academy, mostly fondly.

"Oh just a regular Danube-class," Penny said. "We'll try the Valkyrie after. I thought I'd let you warm up first. As senior staff, you need to know how to save our bacon." She giggled.

Camille giggled too, partially because her friend’s laugh was infectious, and partially because the idea that Camille would jump to the helm to save the ship was absurd. Still, it was important to have backups. The holodeck door opened and she stepped into the cockpit, Penny following behind. The scientist took her seat in the port-side chair, which she knew was helm. “Orders, Captain?” she asked Penny.

"Ooh, I like that," Penny said, grinning. "Take us out and you'll see a series of navigation beacons. Let's see you navigate."

Camille quickly familiarized herself with the console layout. It was close enough to what she remembered. Right hand on the attitude control and left on acceleration, she slowly brought the craft up to one quarter impulse and began aiming the nose of the runabout towards the first beacon. “Heading 312-mark-78.” She continued to read out directions as she made changed to the ship’s trajectory. So far so good.

"Okay, didn't hit anything coming out...check one," Penny said, giggling. "Good job. Follow the path, keeping in between the beacons and we'll try some turns."

“Aye,” Camille replied. When everything was in control, she was doing a good job. It was simply a matter of inputting coordinates and headings and map reading, things she was generally quite good at. If she did well when things got dicey, it meant that she might have more freedom to go on survey missions alone or with a small team, or could be a more valuable bridge officer to Captain Kennit, able to step up if others were unable to operate the helm station.

The beacons began requiring sharper turns to go between them. It was harder, but she was managing.

"You're doing really well," Penny said, smiling. "In fact," the ship shook as they rocked from weapons fire. "Uhoh, we're under attack," Penny said as red alert klaxons rang out.

"Gah!" Camille blurted as she got to work. The Red Alert automatically raised the shields and brought the phasers online. She knew such a simulation was within the scope of the test, but it still surprised her. She began entering commands that moved the ship erratically. She was doing her best to avoid weapons' fire.

They dipped and turned and shook a few times as the enemy ship began to land shots again. "Part of the goal is not getting hit," Penny teased.

Camille shot her friend a sideways glance before looking back to her controls. “Evasive pattern Beta.” She entered some commands and the runabout began maneuvering more intensely. With a free hand she opened an information panel on their pursuer. “We’re being pursued by a Cardassian Hideki-class fighter. He can outrun and outgun us. At least at impulse. Bringing the warp engines online.” The ship took additional hits. Sparks flew from behind her. For a second she panicked, but pulled herself together. “Beta isn’t working. Going for Gamma until the warp engines charge.” For a few moments, the ship took fewer hits, until their pursuer got wise.

Penny giggled and put Camille out of her misery as the shuttle shook hard and every alarm went off. "Computer, end simulation," she said. She smiled and tapped her padd. "You kept us alive for almost two minutes. That's very good."

“‘Very good’?” Camille asked, incredulously. “Penny, I got us killed.”

"Hey, a lot can happen in two minutes," Penny said. "At the helm, every second counts in a fight. You did great."

Camille considered her friend’s words. “Every second counts. You’re saying that in a real situation, maybe the gunner lands a good hit, or reinforcements come in, but only if we’re alive just one or two seconds more.”

"Or we get the shields back up, or we find a path away from the firefight, or their systems overload from a previous hit, or we figure out how to hack their computer, who knows?" Penny said.

The science officer nodded. “I think I understand. Shall we do it again?” She quickly adjusted her glasses, which had shifted on her face in the chaos of battle.

"All right," Penny said. "Computer, begin simulation 34-alpha." The computer beeped and the exterior changed to a nebula. "Okay, steer us out."

Her expertise in ship sensors and stellar phenomena greatly assisted here. In moments, Camille generated an accurate and detailed map of the nebula’s interior, identifying gravitational anomalies, denser pockets of gas, and large pieces of rock or ice scattered about. Steering was much easier when one knew what to steer around. Hands back on the controls and her map on the console ahead of her, she piloted out of the nebula with relative ease.

"Nicely done," Penny said, grinning. She tapped her padd. "You are officially able to not crash us." She giggled and gave Camille a hug.

Camille smiled and giggled too, though her hands stayed on the controls. “It’s easier when no one is shooting at us!”

"Yeah, always is," Penny sighed. She stood up and smoothed her uniform, leaning back against the console. "So, how's your lab? Got everything ready for launch?"

Camille shrugged. “We’re having difficulty getting the life support system working right in the BSL4 lab. I’m hoping Zack can help me fix it. He’s coming by tomorrow to take a look. How about you? How are preparations going?” She locked the console and lay back in her seat.

"Pretty well," Penny said. "Shuttles check out. I've been tinkering here and there. The computer has a bit of an attitude but we're getting along well enough." She looked down at her boots. "Since you're the science officer, can I ask you a chemistry question?"

Camille’s eyes lit up with excitement and joy. “I’d love nothing more than to answer a chemistry question, Penny! What would you like to know?” I have no idea what experiment Penny might do, but I’m in!

"How....do you know when you have it?" Penny said, half looking up at Camille. "Like, Nicole says you and she have really good chemistry so...how does it work?"

"Oh," the light in Camille's eyes faded when she realized they weren't talking about real chemistry. But she smiled warmly at her friend, who came to her for relationship advice. "That's one of those strange things you really only learn through experience. A lot of it is intuition. You just know that you and this other person work well together. But that's not helpful, so I can give at least some practical guidance. When you have good chemistry, everything feels easier. You know instantly that you and the other person have the same idea about something. Nicole and I might not agree on everything, but we understand where the other one comes from. Conversations come smoothly and don't feel awkward or forced. And when a date ends, you want to see them again, and soon."

Penny's head tilted in her thinking pose. "I see," she said. "So chemistry is more a resulting sensation than an initial one? Something you feel after, rather than during an interaction?"

“Non, not quite,” Camille said, shaking her head. “It’s both. During, everything feels easier, and nice. After, there’s that draw to see them again. I’m sorry if I’m not being clear. This is one of the harder questions about relationships. If only you had a question about actual chemistry!” Camille said with a giggle.

Penny smiled. "Well, if I were human, then it would be a real chemistry question. Humans have tried inducing 'chemistry' with chemicals for centuries. They're lucky they can be affected like that."

"But even then, so many of those don't work," Camille lamented. "I think most aphrodisiacs only work because of a placebo affect, combined with pre-existing chemistry between the people involved. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, but too much and you remember nothing of the evening, or lose your ability to consent. Really, I don't think there exists a chemical that that can induce chemistry between people if it wasn't there before." She stood and smoothed out her own uniform. "So who is it? The one you may or may not have chemistry with?"

Penny blushed hard. "The who isn't important," she said. "But I've met two crew members, one I get along with easily, one not so much. Mister Not-So-Much seems very interested in me but things keep going wrong." She shook her head. "Sometimes, Organics are too complicated I think. Maybe Oscar was right."

“We are very complicated sometimes,” Camille nodded in agreement. “Who’s Oscar?”

"Unit Oscar 47 supervised my training and mission preparation after they were sure I wasn't going to short circuit," Penny said. "Humans are more than complicated, they're dangerous. My makers may not feel fear, but they have it nonetheless."

That furrowed Camille’s brow. “I don’t think we’re dangerous, Penny. No more than other sentients, at any rate. What makes you think we are?”

Penny tilted her head, accessing the proper memory. "Your species is self-destructive. You need our help," she said, her voice suddenly somber, male and deeper.

She looked back at Camille. "But when they tried to give that help, the humans rebelled. They used...humor...illogical behavior. They even corrupted a Vulcan to help them. Their systems couldn't handle it, the contradictions and craziness. It almost killed all of us. Genocide through insanity. That's why they sent me to--" she blinked and paused. "Evaluate."

“Penny,” Camille said softly, “it’s okay.” She was terrified, but she gently put her hand on her friend’s and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’d like to hear more about what happened, but for now we should go.” She gestured towards where she knew the holodeck door to be. “Viens-t’en. Let’s get a drink.”

Penny nodded. "Yeah, good idea. I could go for a milkshake." She smiled and hopped out of her chair, cheery once again. "Officer's lounge?"

"Officer's lounge," Camille agreed. "Computer, end program." The cockpit disappeared around them, leaving them in an empty room, the door exactly where the science officer remembered it. She was glad for the test to be over, and to spend some time with her friend, but this latest interaction about self-destruction and genocide and help...she would need to think on this further.

 

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