Aye, Aye Captain

Posted on Sat Feb 1st, 2020 @ 11:30am by Captain Luka Mahone

955 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Canary
Location: CO's Office, Command Center
Timeline: MD 03

Only his second day on the colony, and an issue had been brought to Simril’s attention as a matter of urgency. A shuttle of unknown age and unknown origin had been recovered from the planet’s surface. Simril had read a briefing prepared for him by Lieutenant Commander Bray, the colony’s chief archaeologist. But it was a delicate operation and the CO, who he had yet to meet, had asked him to lead the initial scientific investigation from the Starfleet side.

So this morning, Dr Simril was meeting Captain Luka Mahone, the commanding officer of Haumea Colony. Mahone was young for a Starfleet captain, only 35. His background was in medicine, and he had been the executive officer on the USS Io, the ship that had been the spark that lit the match that was Haumea.

To get to the meeting, Simril went via his office in Science Facility 1 to pick up a couple PADDs. His walk was through the middle of Haumea Colony to the Command Center, the repurposed saucer section of the Io, where the nerve system of the colony, or at least the Starfleet side of it, resided. Whistling to himself as he walked, Simril reflected how peculiar it must be for the captain to still work in the skeleton of his old ship.

His new role gave him easy access to the facility. As a member of the leadership team, he had one of the higher clearances on the colony. It wasn’t long before he was stood in front of the door to Captain Mahone’s office, rang the bell, and was let in to face the man who, though 25 years his junior, would be giving him orders for however long Simril remained here.

"You must be Lieutenant Simril, good." Luka gestured toward one of the vacant seats in front of his desk. "I think it's safe to assume there's a lot we have to discuss."

Cutting right to the chase was usually something Simril appreciated in a meeting like this. But in this instance, it just meant Simril would have to wait longer to decide whether he liked his new CO. "I think you are right, Captain, let's not waste any time," Simril spoke as he took a seat in front of the desk.

Luka tapped his fingers on a PaDD he had been holding close since the morning began. The arrival of their new scientist had him anticipating what he believed to be a negative reception. The Starfleet science staff already had enough of a difficult time as it was. This shuttle would prove to be something more complex than what they had had to handle prior.

The investigation itself was likely to be the easiest part. Politics always made things difficult. He gave pause, before deciding on asking, "... So, with what's been given, do you have questions before I begin?"

"No, no questions," Simril replied quite quietly. He was not quite sure what complications the Captain would throw in and how far this would ruin the plans he had already begun forming in his head for analysis of the shuttle.

Luka's expression wavered slightly, as if he had expected a line of questions. They may have been of different schools of thought, but Luka was merely a scientist by another name. He would have had questions. "Well... I'm sure you're aware of the shuttle itself, and the number of reports that have been made on it. The investigation has not officially begun for a number of reasons. But the one you should primarily be concerned with is the fact that you will not be the only lead on this project. You'll be working with Doctor Setek, who heads the science division on the civilian end."

"Yes, I understand that there is a delicate working relationship. Problems with jurisdiction and other silly things. Lieutenant Commander Bray has helpfully provided a report on this." Simril cleared his throat, realising that perhaps the Captain wanted him to prompt him onto the more difficult topics. "With all due respect Captain, we've taken the shuttle out of the position its been embedded in for hundreds of years, possibly. Structural integrity could be compromised. We need to begin archeometric testing as soon as possible to get a basic understanding."

Simril shifted a little uneasily. "But I would hypothesize that with an artifact such as that shuttle turning up here, this isn't just going to be a science operation, is it?"

"It is not." Luka confirmed. "And I'll mitigate as much of the political backlash this might start as much as possible, but I would rather you be aware of what could crop up. Setek is a level-headed man, and does tend to be reasonable, but he isn't the only civilian scientist. Nor do I expect this will keep to the scientists."

"I understand. I'll try to walk the fine line," replied Simril.

Luka gave pause. "I will also have to ask that you keep your findings to the science team. The science teams will have been briefed on this, but until we find out exactly where this shuttle has been or where it came from, it will be better if we had all the answers before we released them to the public. Or as many answers as we can find."

"I see, I see. I'll do what I can but there's no guarantee a discovery like this will be kept under wraps for long. What else should I know, Captain?"

Luka merely pursed his lips together. "As long as everyone keeps to their confidentiality agreements and goes through the right channels... We should be safe. But no, Dr. Simril. For the moment, that is all I have."

TRUNCATED POST

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