Cooperation

Posted on Mon Dec 21st, 2009 @ 4:03am by Lieutenant Commander Kaylis Kirana

1,328 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Shoreleave - Welcoming Old Friends and New
Location: Outside the Chief Operations Officer's Office
Timeline: Backpost=-Prior to Shalie's departure

ON:

Kevin Larkin snaked through the halls of the Archimedes second deck with a specific destination him mind. He had something of a mission, and when he set his mind to finishing a task, little else usually crossed his mind. Most of the time this focus served him well, but there were times when his one track mind could be a hindrance, such as this moment, when he walked straight passed the COO's office due to being completely lost in thought.

After snapping back to reality, and making an expression as though he'd forgotten something so that he could safely turn directly around without looking foolish to others in the corridor, he made his way back to the door and pressed the panel to announce his presence.

Shalie had just returned to her desk with a cup of coffee as the chime rang at her door. Her first thought was that it was O'Connell, but that was quickly ruled out since he never used the chime. "Enter" she called lightly as she took a sip of the scalding beverage. Awaiting the arrival of her newest visitor.

"Lieutenant Montgomery? Kevin Larkin, Chief Science Officer. I was wondering if I could get your department's assisted with something."

Shalie gently set the cup on her desk top and quickly looked over the science officer. "Sure...but I will need a tad bit more information from you first." She leaned forward an tapped her fingers across her LCARS panel, quickly pulling up all of the relevant information on the technology in the science labs. "What seems to be the issue?

"Well," Larkin stepped through the door before continuing. "I've been looking at the data down in the stellar cartography lab, and I think one of our lateral sensor arrays might be slightly misaligned." Not wanting to give the wrong impression, he quickly added. "It's not enough of a problem for ship operation to be impeded, but it inhibits any kind of stellar analysis. I'd be happy to take care of the problem myself, but I was wondering if you could spare someone to help me. I'm still not familiar enough with the Archimedes' system to feel comfortable doing it alone. I wouldn't want to cause more of a problem, while trying to fix the one we have," he smiled shyly as he finished.

"Sure thing..."Shalie quickly replied as she pulled up the duty roster. Her smile was quickly replaced with a bit of a questing smirk as she tried to find someone that had the training and was avaliable. She glanced over at the Science officer before she made her decision. "Well it look like all of my qualified people are currently assigned to other projects with higher priority.....however, I have and the time." She stood up and motioned for the door. "Lead the way.

Larkin smiled, and turned back into the hall. After several moments of silence, walking toward the nearest turbolift, he found the need to attempt to strike up a conversation. "So," he paused, unsure of what to say. He'd never been very good at small talk. While he didn't find the prospect quite as nerve racking as he used to, he still didn't know how to go about it. "I'm guessing from the fact that you're not looking at me like you've just seen a ghost that you must either be newer to the ship than some or you didn't know my...predecessor...very well."

"You would be correct in that assumption."Shalie replied easily. "You are the first Chief Science Officer I have met on board the USS Archimedes." She had honestly never even crossed path with the previous Chief of Science. "So I would assume there is more to the story?" She said with a quizzical grin.

Larkin smiled, a hint of embarrassed behind his eyes. "It certainly is something of tale, although I'm continually bothered by the fact that my life is sounding more and more like some cheesy novel. How much do you already know?"

Shalie laughed slightly. "Not much really...other then the fact that you should be dead...or that you did died...." She kind of shook her head at how that sounded. She wasn't thrown off by the situation simply confused. "I know that a ton of people were mourning you....that I felt."

The CSO sighed, as the pair arrived to wait for a turbolift. "Well, the Kevin Larkin they were all mourning wasn't really me. He was a clone created by an extremist group, who was implanted with subconscious conditioning designed to control his actions and sabotage the Archimedes. I, on the other hand, just spent the last two years as their prisoner."

Silence fell between them as Larkin concluded his explanation. It was only broken by the sudden parting of the turbolift doors. "You see what I mean about the cheesy novel?"

"Yeah..." Shalie started with a laugh. "That is pretty bad...But...I am sure you will out grow it soon enough." They stepped into the lift and headed for science labs.

Larkin smiled as the turbolfit hummed, "Hopefully. So, I told you my convoluted story. What's your's?"

Shalie looked over the Science officer before deciding to tell him the story or the truth. She didn't know him well enough so she chose the story "Well my story is almost as cheesy..."She stared with a reassuring smile. "My human parents found me when I was three month old adrift in an escape pod among the wreckage of a ship...I spent the next 18 years on board a cargo ship until I applied to the academy. I was and still kinda am a screw up hence the 15 years in Starfleet and I am still only an Lieutenant junior grade." She said with a smile as they reached their destination. Stepping off the list she continued. "The last posting I had was on the USS Rook which was taken over by alien robots and sucked over the galactic edge. While most of the crew escaped unharmed...I crash landed on Targus Minor where I was tortured until I was rescued...then I ended up here." She turned to the science officer..."See I told you mine wasn't much better." she ended with a laugh.

Larkin chuckled. "Of all the things that two people could have in common, ours had to be imprisonment."

The pair arrived at the compartment of the Archimedes which housed the sensor suite. An array of systems status displays, each monitoring a different portion of the ships sensor grid, lined the walls of the room. "I believe, it's that one over there that's the source of my trouble," he pointed to the control panel which he believed commanded the lateral sensors.

"Well worse things have linked people together." Shalie started as she moved to the sensor panel. The problem shouldn't be too hard to fix. She shook her head as she discovered the problem. "I hate it when station personnel mess with my ship" She said with a smile as she set to work.

"They do have a tendency to muck things up, don't they?" Larkin commented, as he observed her work from a secondary control panel. "Sophisticated systems like these can be quite temperamental. Unless you have experience with that specific system, you're really just mashing buttons." A grin crossed his face. "Good, the 5 to 6 parsec scans are beginning to come into better focus."

"Good...the algorithm should work itself out of the next hour." Shalie commented as she moved towards the door. "I won't be able to tell until then...so if it gives you any more problems get a hold of Operations and we will get it taken care of for you."

Larkin smiled, "I certainly will. Thank you for your help, Lieutenant."

---

Lieutenant Kevin Lankin
Chief Science Officer
USS Archimedes

and

Lieutenant JG Shalie Montgomery
Chief Operations Officer
USS Archimedes

 

RSS Feed