Perspectives

Posted on Tue Oct 18th, 2016 @ 2:04pm by Ensign Kanali Paxton & Lieutenant Commander Morai Keen

1,247 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Civil Act
Location: Aft Lounge
Timeline: En Route to Starbase

ON:

Kali plopped down into a chair near the windows and rested her chin in her hand, glumly staring out at the stars. She'd been right, darn it all. She gotten it all right, made her calculations perfectly, and her plan had worked perfectly, exactly how she had said it would.

The Captain had seemed pleased enough, she supposed.

But even the flawless execution of her plan had not impressed everyone. The Security Chief hadn't said anything. He'd still acted like she was stupid cadet or undergrad who had dared to interrupt her elders.

She sighed deeply and tugged at her bangs.

Keen was a counselor; he did not have mystic 'Ju-Ju'- or empathy to aid him in his duties, he was a good judge of character and he observed people and that was one thing he felt he had somewhat of a talent. As a Vedek he could watch his flock and get the emotional rise or fall from them. Looking at the Ensign staring out the window he had to ask himself if he should or should not?

Walking up to the table he had the decision; he had not met her formally but knew her from the reports.

"Mind if I join you ensign?" Keen said with a smile. "I hate to eat alone and all?" He asked. "I like to get to meet new people, do you mind if I join you?"

Kali started a little and looked up at the man who had approached her. "Oh. Umm... Yes, sir. Please, sit down," she said and quickly adjusted her posture and attitude to face him rather than the window.

"Ensign Paxton, it is good to see you again." He said with a grin. "Your geological experiment was enough to establish communications was a very good bit of work. Good thing they had you along I think?"

Kali's smile was weak, at best, and she tugged at her bangs again. "I suppose so," she agreed.

"You do not sound convinced?" Keen took a drink of his tea. "You did an important job of setting a charge and making an opening for communications. From the depth and such a Geologist was the perfect person to be in the party if you asked me, is there some reason you feel different?"

"I- I guess not. I'm glad I could be useful. I just- it seems like... not everyone thought it was such a good solution, I mean. But it worked, and... That should be the important part. We weren't trapped down there, at least," she said, practically arguing with herself.

"It was favored by the Captain, you should not take that lightly and that ground and barrier was making our sensing or communicating hard you know?" He chuckled. "It might not have seemed much to you but..." He paused. "tell me how you figured it out, your thought process... in layman's terms as I am a counselor, not a scientist?"

Kali shrugged. "Well... If you're underground and your only known route of exit is blocked, then the first priority should be finding a new way out." She sounded just a little bitter, since she had been completely ignored when she'd pointed that fact out to the landing party. "Of course, we were trapped with no communications, so I was just collecting rock samples. The stone there had a high concentration of flint- and flint is a very... predictable type stone. It fractures in certain mathematically predictable and defined ways based on the angle it's struck at. It's one of my hobbies actually- flint napping- and as I looked at the way the stone in the access shafts had weathered over the centuries, I saw that because of the way the force fields had been placed, the rocks had weathered unevenly. It caused stress on the stone to be distributed unevenly. Any kind of rock would have been weakened by that and so easy to demolish, but high flint content made it possible to predict and control the way it broke apart. So it was just a matter of finding a properly worn access tunnel and then running the numbers to find the correct way to hit it." She had started speaking faster and more animatedly, but now seemed to recollect herself and she sat back, adjusting her bangs over the blue tattoo on her forehead again. "To create a new exit which, as I said, is the first priority when trapped underground."

"When trapped escape should be the top priority." Keen assured. "You did the right thing and your method is what helped get the Away Team back to the ship, but what I comes to my mind is why you feel you did not do the right thing; what makes you..." He had a light bulb go off. "Or should I ask who makes you feel as though you did not act correctly?"

Kali frowned. "Lieutenant Commander ch'Valri seems to think that my idea posed too big a risk to the site itself. Look, I'm a scientist, I understand that a pristine archaeological site is a great find. But he acted like it was more important than getting out of there- and like I didn't know flint from sandstone," she said a little bitterly.

"From the scans that I saw the whole thing was a precise excavation, you were not trying to make an exit tunnel but more of a way to communicate and get a transporter signal down, am I right?" Keen observed. "Though I can understand how being chewed out... I think that is the Earth term my wife uses, can rattle your nerves." HE smiled. "Both the Captain and I were impressed with your work and you have proven you know the difference between the types of geological formations and such as well." HE looked her square in the eye. "You did well, I was in command of the ship at the time and trust me you did the best thing possible."

She smiled- a little feeble, but a smile nonetheless. "Thank you, Sir," she said.

"That is an official compliment." Keen said with a chuckle. "Do not be so hard on yourself." He continued. "I would have you on an away team with me anytime, I will keep you in mind should the Captain assign me to lead."

Kali's smile grew just a little more sure and she tugged on her bangs again self-consciously. "I'd be glad to help on any missions I can, Sir," she said, hopefully.

"It is good to have people that know their jobs." He continued as his food was dwindling. "I hope you do not think me rude if I say I must be going? He saw the chronometer. "I have Bridge Duty tonight and a family that would like to see me once in a while."

"Of course not, Sir, I'm sorry- I didn't mean to keep you." Kali flushed a little at her rudeness. "Thank you for your feedback, it... it's nice to hear when you've done a good job."

"You are welcome." Keen said as he rose from his seat. "Please feel free to say hello anytime, I could introduce you to My wife Adriana and son Anthony." He smiled. "We will be getting him out and about so likely you will see them soon enough."

She smiled at him again. "Thank you, Sir, I'd... like that."

OFF

Lt. CMDR Morai Keen
Chief Counselor/ 2XO

Ensign Kanali Paxton
Geologist

 

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