Posted by Commander Shara Calloway (Executive Officer) in Demil’s Arrival

Posted by Lieutenant Demil Lis (Chief Science Officer) in Demil’s Arrival

Posted by Lieutenant Demil Lis (Chief Science Officer) in Demil’s Arrival
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Demil sat aboard the shuttle as it completed its final approach to the Asimov’s shuttlebay. He wasn’t flying it - the shuttle already had had a course laid in when he boarded it in San Francisco, and all he’d had to do was submit to a bioscan and it engaged. Not that he exactly minded. Less time spent piloting was more time to catch up on the latest publications in genetics and xenolinguistics, and he was currently on the conclusion on one paper analyzing the genetic divergence between Vulcans and Romulans.

The message that brought him here had been brief and not entirely clear. Lt. Demil Lis: You are hereby reassigned to USS Asimov as Chief Science Officer, effective immediately. Please report to Starfleet Academy Shuttlepad 47 at 1700 hours. Further details will be available once underway.

He’d gathered his things - not particularly hard, most of them were in the same corner of his office - informed Captain Foley he’d received orders to report elsewhere, brought all ongoing projects to a freeze point. It was 16:59:46 when Demil stepped into the shuttle - he checked - and he was airborne 2 minutes later. Then and only then had the computer given him any details on the Asimov or the mission he was on his way to.

His eyes flicked up as the dull thud alerted him to the fact he was on the deck. He stood up, straightening his uniform and brushing any dust off; carefully set the strap of his bag over his shoulder; and stepped out into the cramped bay.

Lieutenant Demil Lis
Chief Science Officer

Awaiting him was a fairly tall Human woman, in a red-duty uniform and three solid pips. She watched him intently as he approached, as if she were studying him. Her uniform was not only tidy and her boots polished, but her nondescript brown hair was up in a smooth roll at the back of her head. “Lieutenant Lis, welcome to the Asimov,” she said in a confident tone that carried the tiniest hint of a rasp.

~Shara Calloway, XO

“Ma’am!” The Trill officer snapped to rigid attention. True to his self-inspection, his uniform was perfect - boots shinned to a mirror finish, combadge and twin pips literally mirroring the bay in front of him, not a strand of his hair loose from the neatly-combed style. He’d perfected carrying his bag just so not to wrinkle his jacket, and stood perfectly still as he replied to the XO. “Reporting aboard.” His once boundless energy was contained, but the same spark still adorned his eyes - the cutting edge was where he belonged.

Lieutenant Demil Lis
Chief Science Officer

Shara fought a smirk. She was about the last person who expected such intense formality. “At ease, Lieutenant.” She gestured with her head. “Come on, let’s get you settled in. How was your trip here?” she asked as she led him out of the suttlebay.

~Shara Calloway, XO

Demil relaxed by his standards, though it was still the formal “at ease” stance the Academy taught. He followed behind her, matching pace. “It was relatively uneventful, although the file was not particularly clear as to the mission details or the science department organization. I had hoped you might be able to enlighten me.”

Lieutenant Demil Lis
Chief Science Officer

Shara nodded slowly. Trust Personnel to leave out the important bits, but then again they only knew the half of it it themselves. “Well, the ship itself takes on a wide variety of missions that tend to be classified, either because they involved classified situations, or there is a greater security threat we’re concerned with. We are given wide latitude to complete our assignments how we see fit, and it will not be unusual to hear the phrase “at any cost”. Now, that doesn’t mean every mission we take on is super high stakes, but expect there to me more to it than most other ships will deal with.

“That’s where your department is key. We need a science department that is very well rounded with a great deal of expertise. On the whole we don’t take green personnel who have no proven their knowledge and skill unless there are very specific circumstances we’re willing to overlook or accommodate. What that means is that your department has to be ready to analyze, process, and hypothesis highly complex and sensitive information and situations. It’s not for the faint of heart,” Calloway said, throwing a tiny smirk in his direction.

~Shara Calloway, XO

Demil nodded. “I take it that either Personnel Command or yourself judged my experience appropriate then. Are there strict subdepartments in place or do you typically prefer a more collaborative research approach, especially given the more unorthodox mission profile?”

Sometime when she wasn’t looking, he had pulled out a PADD from some pocket somewhere and was actually taking notes, both on what she said and his own planning.

Lieutenant Demil Lis
Chief Science Officer

“Less subdepartments than you might find on another specialized ship. Since we’re geared for information gathering and prepared for both defensive and offensive measures, collaboration is definitely the name of the game when we can,” Shara said as they walked along the deck. “But the thing that every person has to understand is that there will be times when a mission had to be highly compartmentalized. That means, there will be times when certain key people will have information that the rest don’t and cannot have. Whether they will eventually learn those details depends on the situation, but either way, Captain Kiernan and I will be upfront about that from the beginning. In that situation, everyone is just going to have to suck it up and accept that they may be missing details they prefer to have. I promise you there is a reason for everything we do, and if we are told by the uppers that we aren’t to share certain info, but we determine it’s actually vital for the success of the mission, you can expect that the Captain and I will weigh the pros and cons. If we decide that the secrecy is harming our efforts, then we’ll share what we feel we need to.”

She liked that he was asking thoughtful questions and she had noticed the padd now in his hands and was inwardly amused.

~Shara Calloway, XO

“Understood. Do we have a current or imminent mission I will need to read up on?” he asked, dragging around bits of a flowchart on part of his screen. “The information available in the shuttle was quite limited.”

Lieutenant Demil Lis
Chief Science Officer

“Yes,” she said simply. “I will make sure you are have access to where we are at, but we are doing a classified investigation with high risk and unknown parties. It’s a bit of a puzzle and”-Shara gave him a sideways glance-“those involved in it previous seem to end up dead.”

~Shara Calloway, XO

“Interesting,” Demil replied, masking the numerous reactions to the last statement. “A puzzle in what way?”

Lieutenant Demil Lis
Chief Science Officer

She arched her brows. “Rule number one on an Intelligence vessel: don’t talk about classified missions in the open. If you want the details now, we need to go somewhere to discuss it. If you’d prefer to settle in first, you’ll have access to the ongoing investigation.”

~Shara Calloway, XO

Demil flushed for a second. “I don’t want to impose on your time, Ma’am,” he said, “I can review it in my quarters if that’s easier.”

Lieutenant Demil Lis
Chief Science Officer

He was not the first joined Trill she had served with, but he was fairly young on his own and the one previous host didn’t mean he had as much experience as those she had met before. There was something, well, young about Demil that reminded her of Faye before everything had gone to hell. She stopped in her tracks and gazed at him.

“This is going to be a different assignment for you, and I suspect we’re going to challenge you ways you’re not expecting,” Shara said, giving him a warm smile. “There are lots of things you should know about me, but one is that I never offer what I’m not willing to give or do. And while it’s not a rule, another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes you have to impose upon people. Sometimes the circumstances require it. You’re a department head, a member of the senior staff. People are going to be looking to you for direction.” She took a measured breath. “Why don’t you do your checkins and have a review of the material and then we’ll meet for a debrief and you can ask any questions you might have. I’ll answer what I can.”

~Shara Calloway, XO

“Yes, ma’am,” Demil nodded. “I’ll try to keep that in mind. When would be convenient for you to meet later today?” Despite his best efforts, he was bouncing ever so slightly between his feet. “And do you have an office that I should go to at that time?” The PADD had re-emerged, ready to note the details, though it was rare that he forgot something of this nature.

Lieutenant Demil Lis
Chief Science Officer