I cannot make light, I'm so burnt out, I'm a meteor shower

Posted on Fri Oct 14th, 2011 @ 1:57am by Senior Chief Petty Officer Julia Neral & Lieutenant JG Andreus Kohl

Mission: Tomorrow's Arizona
Location: Secondary Science Lab A, USS Arizona
Timeline: Concurrent with the end of 'What waits beyond...', and before 'Filling the Cracks'

ON:

Bent over a console, Julia scanned the words on the screen as they rolled quickly by- committing most of what she read to memory, glad once again for the Vulcan mental discipline that supplemented her ability to quickly learn new languages.

She had taken over one corner of a secondary science lab, modifying it to meet her needs as best as possible. Though the main science lab might have been a marginally better location for running her microbiology experiments because of the greater equipment variety...for that very reason, as well as its larger size it was also notably busier.

And busy wasn't exactly the best way to describe a space she wanted to use as a sort of language lab as well. So she managed to find the time to have some extra equipment installed, sterile chambers, isolation force-fields and the like (thought there wasn't space for very much,)...as well as minor upgrades to the display and adding a holographic interface for studying nonverbal languages.

A few officers usually came and went, working in the rest of the lab...but all in all, the extra sleep deprivation had been worth it in order to complete the overhaul. Once again she was glad her sleep schedule was more flexible than most humans, it made things more...convenient.

Most of the senior staff were up on the bridge, preparing for the trip through the Gateway. Julia would have liked to be up there to observe, but Commander Aix was already going to be at his station and there wasn't much more beyond his capabilities that she could contribute in this particular case.

So she had elected to stay down in this lab and put her own expertise to work on continuing to study Species 8472. Well, she had already reviewed the entirety of Starfleet's data, but she was now wrapping up her analysis of the information provided by the Borg, attempting to extract everything she could from it. It just so happened that the rest of the science department was occupied elsewhere, so she had the room to herself for the time being. One screen off to the side had been programmed to provide updates from the bridge.

Julia glanced up when the red alert sounded, briefly taking only the short time to finish the paragraph she was on before moving over to look at the screen. Bioships...

Well, it looked like they were engaged in combat, which meant there wasn't much she could do to help for the moment except to hope that the Borg and those on the bridge knew what they were doing.

Just as she straightened up, there was a deafening explosion. Luckily not in her face...but still too close for comfort, and enough to knock her backwards and singe her eyebrows.

Scrambling to her feet, Julia took only a moment to be thankful she was able to get back up as her attention was immediately drawn by flames licking up the jagged edges of the blown console, before she could perform a damage assessment on herself. "Bath'pa!" It gave her a special gratification to curse in Vulcan, the language of a people who normally repressed their emotions.

Since the fire suppression system seemed to be damaged as well, Julia dove for the nearest extinguisher. Luckily she was far from easily rattled, but that didn't mean she couldn't curse.

Just as that fire was being put out, there was another...unpleasant noise, loud enough to cause pain to her sensitive hearing. A structural support fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing where she had been standing moments before. "Ghuy'cha'!" This time a Klingon invective seemed more appropriate. Things did not appear to be going well...

Over on the opposite side of the science lab, a boot-heel collided with a sealed jefferies tube hatch. The hatch opened forcefully until it swung against the bulkhead. Two fists gripped at the upper lip of the open hatchway for support, and then Andreus Kohl leaped out of the hatchway feet first. He stumbled across the carpet, but he stayed upright on his feet. He didn't fall over. A pair of engineers came scrambling out of the jefferies tube after him, followed by a medic, and followed by a flood of water.

Kohl turned his head from side to side, studying the room desperately, and then he stared down Julia. "Where--" asked Kohl, "Where is this, exactly?"

Julia had stumbled backwards to avoid the flood of water, almost tripping when she realized her left ankle didn't want to support much weight. Catching herself, she came to rest against a lab bench.

This certainly was an unexpected bonus. Fire, water, what else could possibly happen? No, thinking that would only invite another surprise....

Raising one arched eyebrow slightly, she returned his gaze with a wry smile. "Deck 8, Secondary Science Lab A...don't you recognize it?" Julia gestured across the room. "Though admittedly it doesn't look quite the same as last time."

"It... oh... You're right. It doesn't look the same," Kohl replied, each word coming out gradually as he recognized his surroundings with his roving eyes. He looked back over his shoulder to one of the engineers. He said, "And you were right, I did take a wrong turn back there." Kohl spun back to consider Julia on the bench.

"Is there anybody else in here," Kohl asked.

Julia shook her head. "Nope, it was just me before the four of you showed up." She took a moment to actually assess the damage cause to her own body, something for which Vulcan mediation was useful. It appeared to be relatively insignificant...which was a statistical unlikelihood given the current state of this lab.

While the engineers circled the room with their tricorder arms extended, the medic stepped past Kohl to pace a circuit around Julia. Kohl, meanwhile, was eyeing the structural support beam embedded in the deckplating. Distractedly, Kohl said, "Uh Chief, can I ask you to walk out into the passageway with us until the engineers confirm the structural stability of this compartment?"

There was another little half smile on her face. "Of course. That would be advisable." Carefully sliding off the bench she had perched on, she tested the injured ankle. That wasn't going to work...during the brief time she had stopped moving, it had stiffened up. The medic noticed, and indicated she could use him for support. Julia nodded in thanks, glancing back at Kohl. She had to admit it was rather agreeable to see him again, but it was unfortunate that it was under such circumstances.

Kohl followed behind Julia and the medic, as they moved towards the passageway. His eyes were down down on his PADD where he typed a couple of notations, and as he did so, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "I suppose..." he started to say uncertainly, "it's for the best I wasn't able to find you that type-3 Prohaska incubator..."


=Secondary Science Lab A, USS Arizona=
=Two weeks ago, almost=

"--and then, what is a Prohaska incubator?" asked Andreus Kohl, looking up from his PADD to direct the question at Julia. The fair-skinned Argelian was looking far more fresh-faced, and clean, than he would do the next time he visited Secondary Science Lab A. His voice came out imperious. It wasn't what he had actually intended, but he was having difficulty with his job --sourcing equipment, in this case-- and he didn't want to admit he was having difficulty. Better if the job be acknowledged as unreasonable. He went on, "And why do Starbase 900's computers refuse to replicate it?"

Julia met his gaze, judging his expression evenly, her long red hair artfully tamed. He was an interesting character, and she had decided that was a good thing. Refusing to be phased by the tone he was taking, having guessed that it was because her request was indeed difficult to fulfill, she stood her ground. At least he wasn't being truly nasty about it....it was his job, and it wasn't as if she had purposefully tried to make trouble for him. All she could do was be patient. "It contains an organic component that most of our technology can't accurately replicate. As for your first question, it helps regulate the growth of certain microbes that are normally difficult to culture outside of their natural environment."

"An organic component? That's rather novel!" said Kohl with a fresh enthusiasm, and wonder, that hadn't been in his manner before. With only slightly less enthusiasm, he said, "Yeah, no, I'm not going to be able to track one of those down before we leave the starbase." --He made a note on his PADD-- "What would be second best?"

She relaxed slightly, now that he was no longer on the offensive. "Well, if I can't have my first choice..." Julia smiled a little- she really wasn't all that disappointed, she knew her request would be hard to fulfill. But it had been worth it to at least ask. "I guess I can make do with the standard part, I believe it is a Starfleet Type BX348 Inhibitor."

"Really though, there must be something finer than Starfleet standard," Kohl said, using a dismissive timbre for the phrase 'Starfleet standard' and a cheeky smirk the rest of the time. "I've been looking for an excuse to take a shuttle back to the Alpha Quadrant. ...There must be something you need. That-- that I can track down within a couple hours of the Union star system."

Julia arched an eyebrow in playful response, letting herself smile just a little more. "In that case..." She paused a moment to think, before heading over to the nearest console. "I'll transfer the specs over to your PADD. Since you're going to be in that region, it should be fairly easy to find." Completing that order of business, she turned around to face him again. "I quite appreciate this offer."

"Chief of the Boat shouldn't have to study in a pedestrian science lab. Means I'm not doing my job right," said Kohl. It was back again, that streak of imperiousness, on her behalf and on his own. His chin tilted up and his shoulders rolled back, and yet a pico-second later his voice took on a humble tenor. "It's my entire career to make sure everyone has what they need to work, and to play, and to live."

She looked at him appreciatively. Julia had heard enough of that sort of imperious tone of voice from Vulcan friends and family, but their type of supposedly humble arrogance was far more annoying- coming from Kohl, who was certainly not a Vulcan elder, it was just another one of the many language clues she could recognize. Kohl here had pride in his job, the same kind that she had, and that was something she could appreciate. "And we, at least I...thank you for your dedication." She smiled just about as much as she ever did while on duty, but it was sincere.

Nodding once at her, Kohl remarked, "My pleasure." He tilted his head back further to consider the ceiling and the walls. "Is there anything else you think you'll need to make this space your own?" he asked.

"I believe anything additional is on the list I provided...shouldn't be anything too hard to find. I haven't had any new ideas since I originally put in the request." Julia shrugged slightly, tossing a glance around the room. There really wasn't too much she could do beyond making sure the equipment was properly stocked.


=Deck 8 Corridor, USS Arizona=
=Current=

As he strode out into the passageway, Kohl swiveled his head from side to side. His eyes roamed wildly, looking for any obvious signs of damage or distress. Behind him, Julia and the medic followed until the doors to the Science Lab hissed closed. As he continued his visual patrol, Kohl asked Julia, "We'll have to start again, yeah? I can't begin to guess if your request will be easier or harder to fulfill if I'm digging through future-tech here." --Absently, Kohl straightened his uniform jacket and cleared his throat-- "...Have you had any new ideas?"

Julia leaned up against the wall behind her, turning her gaze from the closed doors over to him. She almost grinned. "Haven't had the time to really consider it." Her expression became somber. "Right now I'd just like to have things working again. Luckily I'm not too tied down to one place, my duties take me everywhere."

"Yeah," replied Kohl, his gaze and timbre betrayed a prolonged moment of wistful reverie. His eyes settled on the doors to the science lab too, and then he looked to Julia. "Mine too."

She smiled quietly but sincerely. "Since there is nothing for me to do here anymore, I think I'll head up to the bridge." Julia straightened up. "Thank you for all your help...let me make it up to you some time? I'm sure we can figure out something, once we aren't being fired upon." There was a hint of amusement in her voice.

"Yeah, I'd look forward to that," replied Kohl, and he nodded for emphasis. He shifted his weight over to his right hip, and tilted his head slightly. "The figuring it out."

"We'll be in touch then." She turned to the medic, who wanted her to stop by Sickbay but managed to convince him she'd be fine and would just come by later. With a small smile, she turned back to Kohl. "I hope you remain unharmed." The smile widened just a little. With that, she turned and headed down the corridor, off to the bridge and to hopefully find Commander Aix.