Face Off

Posted on Wed Oct 20th, 2010 @ 12:14am by Lieutenant JG Ronnie Wolfe & Lieutenant JG Jerreck O'Connor

919 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Peace, or Something Like It
Location: Chief Science Officer's Office
Timeline: Current

ON

Ronnie walked into the Chief Science Officer's office. "You wanted to see me?" she asked.

Jerry nodded and looked her over, lightly. He didn't stand up to give her a hug, or a handshake, or much of any kind of greeting - and his smile was only there in shadows. He looked a little strange - for him. Which of course meant that he looked, overall, very much out-of-sorts. "Yeah, I did. Take a seat. You and me, we haven't worked together much. I want to change that - starting now. I came up from the planet and was told the Captain was kidnapped. I want you there at the staff briefing. If they decide to be uncool, I'll give it right back to them. I think I understand now what it means to be in a foul mood. I went down to that planet. According to the Marines, according to the doctor, and according to every tricorder, there were humans there. But I didn't feel a single one of them. And I'll believe that a large percentage of these people can cover up their emotions. They didn't grow up on Risa, after all. They grew up on, like, the anti-Risa. So I can believe they hide what they feel and that's cool - I'm not a counselor or a doctor, right? But... I felt nothing, Ronnie. Not a darn thing down there. Not a person, outside of the Starfleet personnel. So I want you to take notes at that meeting, both about what's said, and what you see in me. Because, I want this to be handled between us, until there's a reason to tell anybody about anything. Because, hey, let's be honest. This job has been totally mind-blowing so far. I love it, I love the crew, hell, I love you and I don't even know you, but I love you because you're part of the crew, you're my assistant, and you've bailed my fat out of the fire already. So, I don't know if it's just... the Betazoid stuff having all this new stuff hitting it and shutting down, or if it's real. I mean, I can feel your presence here, for instance. So... take notes. See if there's anything. And while we're looking for the Captain, I want to know what's going on down there we didn't see the first time. And does the EM retransmission unit I stumbled across have anything to do with either of them?"

Hearing him talk at length for once was probably something of a surprise, but he had seemed like a man who needed to get a lot off his chest. With that, he stood up and walked over to the replicator. "Computer. A... Vulcan Mocha. Double sweet." He turned to Lancaster: "Hey, yeah... I just realized, I'm being an awful host, even if we are kind of in a hurry here. You want a snack? A drink?"

Ronnie had been taken off-guard by the Chief's tirade. She wasn't sure what to expect from him but this wasn't it. She took a moment to digest what he'd said as she walked in and took a seat. "Dr. Pepper, light ice," she said. "So, what do you think is going on? And why don't you want to be at the meeting?"

Jerry nodded and got her soda, handing it to her with a light smile. He sat down in his chair and shrugged, thinking for a moment about what she had asked him. He had to keep his eyes somewhat off her, because if he just started thinking while looking at her, his thoughts would turn to her and he knew it. And with that, well, getting smacked would be the least of his worries today. "The thing is, I do want to go. I'm just not sure I'm really up to doing it alone. I just came up from the away mission, I'm still dealing with the detox the transporter gave me, and my empathy fritzed down there somehow. But, I don't know. Maybe it's just the way the Turkanan people emote doesn't show up to me? I dunno. But there's something that bears investigation - either into me, or into them, and I'm willing to try both ways if we can."

Ronnie listened to him, a little confused. "Okay. You're the boss. We'll see what we can uncover."

He chuckled and looked at her, sighing. Her assertion that he was the boss didn't help any. Especially since he was never all too confident on that point. "Yeah. I think that's the best way to do it. There's something weird happening with them. Can we get one of the neurobiologists down there for a bit?"

"I don't see why not," she said with a shrug. "It may have something to do with the kidnapping."

"I don't know why, but I get a funny feeling you're right."

Ronnie nodded. "Then I'd better get on it right away." Her opinion of her boss had improved from their first meeting. Maybe, just maybe, she'd grow to like this guy.

Jerry nodded and smiled at her: "Yeah, uh. Dismissed, I guess." He turned to his terminal and sighed, the coffee in one hand, the other typing on his terminal to see if there were any prior times involving a Turkanan and a half-Betazoid, where the Betazoid was adversely affected.

OFF

Lieutenant JG Jerrick O'Connor
Chief Science Officer
USS Calypso

Lieutenant JG Ronnie Lancaster (PNPC)
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Calypso

 

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