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"Alone In A Crowded Universe"
(Previous Post: "Multi-Tasking The Jobs")
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Setting: USS BASTET, Sickbay
Stardate: 30149.1100

Selene Fiona Iverson, Captain of the USS BASTET, leaned back against the primary biobed of her sickbay with a silent sigh as she watched with relief the Oltharian engineer and Terran/Vulcan Doctor working with diligence.  The ship to which the half Dinaali had been assigned to as Commanding Officer had been far from ready for action, and despite all of the work that it still required there had been no hiding the pleasure the woman felt in seeing things moving one step closer to completion.

As much as she might have disliked the fact that her ship had been nearly empty of any type of personnel, her having been born on a severely overpopulated world had made Selene appreciate the eerie quietness and general emptiness that echoed through the USS BASTET.  Although this had not been conducive to the ship being made ready for duty, it had been a welcomed change from the crushing hustle and bustle that could be found on DINAAL, the home of her mother.

Selene had been thrilled to join Starfleet giving her the opportunity to not only see worlds beyond her own, but to also experience a life that she would never have been permitted to.  As a member of the 'lower class', her options in life would have been very limited despite her mother having been a nurse working in an actual hospital.  Thanks to her father being a Captain in Starfleet, an entirely new world had opened up for the Terran/Dinaali hybrid.

"The energy within the primary power conduits appears to be slightly out of phase," the giant engineer said as he crawled out from one of the floor level maintenance access.  As imposing as the Oltharian was, Selene could not help but admire the way he seemed able to move about and into the tightest of areas.  "I will get that fixed right away so to make sure that the rest of the calibrations are accurate."

The Captain turned to look at Doctor T'Leia to relay the message but was cut short by the half Vulcan woman who simply nodded her head to advise that she had heard the report. So for the time being the best that Selene could do had been to let the Doctor and engineer work while she enjoyed as much as possible the stillness within her ship.

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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bio-Chemistry Lab
Stardate: 30149.1600

Doctor Doyanne had been working non-stop on the device pulled out of the ancient machine since it had been brought onboard the USS ANUBIS.  The pile of empty vials resting next to a hypospray hinted that the Chief Medical Officer had traded her need for sleep for several dosage of stimulants to enable her to continue with her research uninterrupted.  That had been the second aspect of this issue to bother the scientist, the first having been the complete isolation the Doctor had enforced upon herself.

The Shillian woman cautiously and quietly drew closer to the working woman, not having said anything for fear of startling the engrossed Doctor and causing some sort of accident that would likely not be easily forgiven.  Carefully the Chief Science Officer made her way around the research table, growing increasingly surprised by the fact that Doctor Doyanne had not taken notice of the extra presence within the dimly lit Bio-Chemistry Lab.

"May I ask as to what it is that you are trying to do with that thing?" The Shillian eventually asked in a nearly whispered voice, again trying hard not to startle the Doctor while at the same time addressing her own curiosity about the entire matter.  Something of importance had been taking place, but as of that moment the Chief Science Officer had no clues or speculations as to what it might have been.

"The bio-regenerative properties of that shell are like nothing we have ever seen before," Doctor Doyanne explained, her attention still completely focused on the dark blue bio-matter that covered the device.  "It adapts to its surroundings and acts as a link between what is inside and anything that comes in contact with it.  The cellular composition resembles more that of densely packed neural network than any other biological substance, and yet it acts and reacts with the properties associated with a muscular mass."

"If the item and the shell that encase it are indeed from Yxidii origin, the properties you describe might very well be unique to that dimension, or an unexpected result of having been brought into this dimension," the scientist offered only to have Doctor Doyanne wave the Shillian away as if she had been hindering the research in some way.

=/\= Dalziel to Doyanne, I need you in my office. =/\=

The call from the Counselor had made the Chief Science Officer jump but oddly enough the Chief Medical Officer appeared not at all bothered by the unexpected interruption, in fact the Doctor had not lost a single second of attention or work.

"Sorry. Can't. If you need help from a Doctor, call Mizore, I truly cannot stop what I am doing right now. Doyanne out," the Chief Medical Officer replied without a second thought or consideration for the reason or reasons why the call had initially been made.  As a dedicated scientist, Maya could easily understand the drive and need to focus every bit of attention and energy onto a single project, especially if it held the promise of a ground breaking discovery. That said, as the former acting Executive Officer of the USS ANUBIS, the Shillian had found the reply given to be rather problematic if not flat out rude.

"Should you not have at least asked as to why Counselor Dalziel requested your assistance?" the Shillian scientist said as she continued to observe the Doctor working with a single and all-encompassing interest.

"This is too important," Doctor Doyanne huffed as she traded one medical tool for another with frantic urgency.  "Mizore is just as qualified as I am and in fact should be the one running the department right now.  I cannot spare a single second away from this, there are just too many lives at stake."

Maya sighed to herself.  As a fellow shipmate, the scientist wished that she could help in some way, but as the former Acting Executive Officer, the Shillian woman knew that there had been only one way to deal with this situation.  The USS ANUBIS had been in need of a Chief Medical Officer and Captain Morningstar needed to be made aware of this situation so that he could address this need as only a Commanding Officer could.

---
Jessica Solarik

Lieutenant Commander Maya
Chief Science Officer
USS ANUBIS

&

Captain Selene Fiona Iverson
Commanding Officer
USS BASTET

"To see the world in a grain of sand,
and a heaven in a wild flower.
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
and eternity in an hour."
- William Blake (British, 1757-1827)