Posted by Ensign Karina Niles (Doctor) in Meanwhile… on the Station (for those awaiting the ship)

Posted by Lieutenant Ky’Laria (Scientist) in Meanwhile… on the Station (for those awaiting the ship)

Posted by Ensign Karina Niles (Doctor) in Meanwhile… on the Station (for those awaiting the ship)
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

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“Not as far as the station commander knows,” came Ky’Laria’s matter-of-fact reply. There was no effort to conceal the thorough sizing up that Ky’Laria was conducting on Karina at that moment, probably because of how habitual it was for the Kuras to do so with any new meeting.

She didn’t wilt, so much as change her questioning. She was still determined, and steady before the woman. She had learned swiftly to not be intimidated by rank. It was a job hazard. As a Doctor, she had to be able to outrank the ranked, if not by status, than by actions. If you couldn’t make a Captain calm down and ‘listen’ to you, it could cost their lives or the lives of others. It was with that same tone she spoke to the Sub Admiral. “I had come to see if there was word. I just returned from another shuttle check. They aren’t within reading range. I just don’t understand how a ship could just ‘disappear’. Even if they were halfway back to Earth, we should have some idea of where they were.”

At some point, training had kicked in. Karina stood with her hands clasped behind her as if at parade rest. And she was still holding her head high without being obstinate.

Karina
Doctor

Ky’Laria had taken a moment to consider the Ensign’s line of reasoning, and her eyes narrowed. “What do you expect to accomplish with the sensor palette on a shuttlecraft, that is beyond the capabilities of the long-range and lateral sensors on this station?” she challenged.

Eventually, the Kuras’ body language relented as she recognized a facet of herself in this young human; a medical doctor, probably, running around and trying to work in fields totally outside her own? Strutting up, proverbially locked and loaded, to barge into the station commander’s office and… accomplish what? Aside from a lack of meticulous planning, and wanting perhaps for a dash of cunning, Ky’Laria wondered if perhaps this human’s heart was a little bit Kuras after all… “Unlikely, of course,” Ky’Laria told herself. “But… worth the moment I’ve chosen to spend.”

Sliding her right hand over the utility pouch where she’d put the hand terminal, she unclasped it and retrieved the device again. Thumbing the main power control, she spun it on her palm and held it out to the Ensign. “More than your shuttles will ever tell you about this region of space,” she explained flatly. “But almost certainly still not enough to tell us where our ship has gone.”

With a mix of a smirk and a grimace, Ky’Laria reached up and crossed her arms, grasping the shoulder caps of her uniform and unclasping them. “And would you please, just… stand easy? Now that I am here, I’m a Lieutenant. I was supposed to report to Athena today,” she said, stuffing the ranked shoulder caps awkwardly into her holsters for the moment.

“I need a glass of water,” the Kuras declared. “Come; bring my terminal, and we can sit somewhere and fail to find our duty stations together,” she said, making her best attempt at a cordial invitation after a few years of re-immersion in her own, socially forceful culture.

-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)

Karina paused as the woman before her spoke. Her initial reaction had been that of someone speaking a near overly rehearsed speech. Not that she had passed that, her gaze became a bit more focused on the woman before her. She saw the spots and was intrigued. She had never come across such a body image before. Perhaps it was tattooing, or an anomoly of some strange cross breed. The tinted skin and slightly pronounced teeth also lent one’s mind to see more than a mere human.

She stepped up to take the offered terminal and watched as the high ranking insignia were pocketed like a costume change. The outfit the woman wore bore out further inspection as well. More than a work out suit, yet not quite body armour, Karina got the impression this was more than some mere security officer come from training, or some scientist looking for more efficient enviro suits.

“In answer to your first question, I have been on the ship long enough to realize there are times when ships and stations and even whole planets can be obscured and hidden from sensors, but still be visible. If the ship was in danger in one of those moments, I had hopes my own eyes would break the dilemma and I would be able to send for help. But I have checked as far as I dare, alone, in nearly every direction. There is one more, off the port quadrant, I shall try tomorrow. But I do not hold much help at this point.” Despite her resolve to look tomorrow, there was still a hint of defeat in her voice near the fringes. Perhaps not even to the point she was aware of.

“It is natural, to wish that one could do more to influence a situation,” Ky’Laria replied sagely over her shoulder. “And one who wishes to have power beyond their present limits, is most likely to find opportunity make it so.”

Karina gave a half laugh. “While I admire your beliefs, Ma’am… I doubt I can find a ship that isn’t there. No matter what my determination level.”

After issuing an ‘of course not’ chuckle, Ky’Laria quickly replied with a wave of her hand, “I’m not suggesting that you could… will a ship into existence. I mean only that… those who always seek to… master their surroundings, control their situation… those who retain that desire, and keep it deep within themselves, will find themselves achieving it in some small ways. I suppose it’s an attitude of constant self-improvement, through the lens of my people’s culture,” she explained.

Never one to shirk when her mind hit a moment of query, she spoke up as she moved in the direction the woman beckoned. She wasn’t sure why, but she wasn’t ready to merely give up and walk away. “You said our ship… I take it you will be joining the Athena when they get back? The punctuated word held a conviction of certainty any seer would have been proud of. “In what capacity?” She moved up in slightly exaggerated strides till she was beside the woman. She was suddenly thrilled beyond words that she would get to see the medical records of the woman. Before being equal in pace, Karina had taken another study of the woman. It had been a long time since something… or in this case, someone had taken her notice. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

Karina
Doctor

Unseen, Ky’Laria spared a brief smile at the sound of the young Ensign’s purposeful footfalls in pursuit. “I will be joining the Athena when they get back,” she repeated as her smile slowly faded.

Pausing until the human had caught up, she looked over at her, and briefly again looked her over, before continuing, “I am a science officer… at least, in Starfleet.” Pausing to reflect on something which seemed to amuse her, she soon added, “I had the opportunity to study the Federation’s outlooks on astrophysics and biochemistry, at the Academy. I even obtained some of those quaint, four-year degrees!”

She held out her hand, gesturing at the terminal which Karina was holding. “On the subject of astrophysics, that is the foundation of my inquiry into Athena’s disappearance.”

They came upon an intersection, and Ky’Laria quickly rounded the corner to the right, stopping a few paces later at a turbolift. “Are you well versed in astrophysics, Ensign..?” she trailed off, making unspoken inquiry as to her unlikely research partner’s - intern’s? Draftee’s? - name.

Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)

A science officer. That explained her sense of the ‘impossible’. It was an admirable quality that ocassionally the technical minded doctor wished she could share. “Quaint four year degrees?” She laughed at that. “You make it sound like it was a walk in the park. If it was, for you, then I applaud you. I know bodies, not stars. I fear I barely managed to pass my basic astro classes at the Academy. Probably would have failed if not for Ja.. just having a friend to help.” She bit back the momentary slip. He was someone she wanted to forget… not remember. And certainly not with fondness.

Ky’Laria observed the woman for a moment; unfortunately for the young doctor’s attempts at concealment, her body gave away still more. Subtle changes in skin temperature and capillary dilation, respiratory rhythm, even chemical signals betrayed, to the Kuras’ understanding of humans, a wound perhaps slightly re-opened.

She pressed the call button for the turbolift, resolving to regale the human with all the details of how easily she could read her. It would be worth trying to avoid the context, however. Perhaps focusing on the capabilities of her spots… “I wasn’t referring to the difficulty,” Ky’Laria stated, bringing her tone down a touch to better align with the changes in the Ensign’s body language. “But the longevity. My people seldom obtain any kind of… certification? Until at least… r-r-r-r…” The odd trilling noise which she issued seemed, by her expression, to be a simple filler sound - a Kuras ‘hmm.’ “Twenty-one years is the shortest degree-like… thing, that we have. Twenty-five Earth years, in fact.”

At the hanging of her name, Karina chided herself mentally. “Niles… Ensign Karina Niles. Call me Karina. Seems silly to be worrying about rank and position right now with the ship’s fate still unknown.” She quickly realized this woman’s rank was no trifling thing and found herself nearly stammering to correct herself. “I mean, my rank, anyway, Ma’am. Just call me Karina, or Doctor if you wish. I’m not the Chief of the Athena medical, but Doctor will suffice anyway.” She hadn’t gotten a multitude of degrees, but she had studied her backside off to get where she was.

She just hoped she hadn’t just offended someone who could snip that short in a heartbeat.

Karina
Doctor

The lift doors hissed open; the car was empty. Ky’Laria, who had been watching Karina unravel a little before her, glanced to the waiting lift and silently gestured for the doctor to enter first.

With a stoic expression, Ky’Laria stepped with ever-graceful motion into the lift, and the door hissed shut behind her. “Is it Starfleet that would have me reprimand you now for… being too informal? Or is that a facet of human culture?” For all the imposing presence, her voice had a genuine air of curiosity about it. Surely, ‘at home,’ a subordinate would simply have been better trained than to disrespect the hierarchy of command so, but this was not her home fleets and certainly not the same culture. For Ky’Laria, it was a strangely refreshing opportunity to learn again - and why could one not learn from someone a hundredth one’s age?

-Lt. Ky’Laria (Sci)