Posted by Lieutenant Commander Roman Alden (Science Chief, First Officer) in Yeoman - Always Up Early

(snip)
Rand took the PaDD back and looked around for a computer terminal. She walked over to the nearest one and pulled out a set of cylendrical keys. She inserted one into the computer terminal and logged into her admin access. She started inputting the reports from the PaDD. “So would it be safe to assume that like most species as he gets older his skills will improve. So it would be possible that he will get faster as he grows?” She paused to double check something against the PaDD. “How many flies can you put in the cage at a time?” Rand finished what she was doing, logged out, removed the keys back to her pocket and returned to where Alden was working, continuing to take notes as he worked.
Yeoman Rand

“Yes, I agree. He’ll probably eat more as well,” Roman said. “Five or so before he gets bored and ignores them. I think he’s figured out he gets fed whether he eats now or later. He wants the thrill of the catch,” he explained to her as he watched the lizard. He wanted to get Mushu a larger terrarium but he currently lacked the supplied to get or make one secure enough and for several reasons he’d never risk the lizard escaping. “He’s never bitten me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wild critter as docile as Mushu is.”

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand, obviously taken by the young Verbosa, watched him as he wandered on the log. She placed two flies in the tank and watched. “He can stand in the middle of the log and reach both sides. Do Verbosa like smaller spaces?” She watched as Mushu looked back at them. Apprently she was taking too long because he walked over and put a foot on the glass again one eye staring at her and the other on the container of flies.
Yeoman Rand

“It seems they live in small dens or caves, either underground or in rotted trees. But they like to swim and can travel long distances during their active time. Mushu seems bored in there…” Roman told her. “It looks you’re teasing him,” he said with a smile, noticing what the little lizard was doing.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

“OH! Sorry Mushu.” This time Rand put three flies in. She should have gotten a stop watch or similar. “I’m sorry Cmdr, you asked me to help.” Once those were caught she put in four to see what Mushu would do. “He doesn’t really have enough room to be able to swim in there.” She jotted down more notes on the PaDD. ‘Room to swim?’ was added as well. “What else can I do to help you?”
Yeoman Rand

“You have been helping. Playing with a lizard is likely just more fun than you were imagining,” he said. Once Mushu had eaten two of the four flies, he began to ignore the others, allowing them to fly around the little terrarium. “I’ve seen you typing, I assume you’re saving me the trouble of doing the notes myself later?”

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand might have been said to grin, but Alden wouldn’t be sure it would have happened so fast. “Well I’m happy to come help with Mushu anytime. What else does he need?” She figured the flies would stay alive and Mushu could eat them later. She glanced at the PaDD, “Yes, Sir. That’s part of the job, make note of anything and everything that might be important. Habbit now I suppose.” And all the while she was making notes of how much Mushu ate, how many they put in the tank, when he stopped eating, how many at a time, and his habit of touching the glass while waiting for food. Even noting that it was always with the same foot. “Would you like the raw notes or is there a particular format you would like?”
Yeoman Rand

“Try to organized the information, thank you,” he said. “All the help, none of the sass, compared to one Randy Farquarson,” he commented. He and her brother had an interesting working relationship filled with very polite sass. “He requires a cage cleaning once a week complete with a refresh of the water in the little pond there. I know he comes from a swamp but the standing water still can’t be great for him,” He told Rand. “I generally take time out of my Friday to get it done.”

~ Lt Cdmr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand nodded but not before she did grin. Randy was a good fit for yeoman to Cmdr Alden. He was very by the book and work focused, to the point of ignoring everything else, according to his file and rumors. Randy was very dedicated to his work but his years as a counselor served him well to be the opposite and help the XO be more approachable and Randy wouldn’t take no for an answer. Rand would be a total push over, and yeoman could not be cowed by the person she worked for. On the other hand Rand was very focused on protocol, a mind for details, and was always ‘on point.’ A good dynamic for the very approachable and easy going Eli Carmichael. “I grew up in the highlands. We had our fair share of lochs and swamp/marshy areas. If I remember my ecology correctly, marshes and swamps are not standing water, they move, but slowly.” Rand made a mental note to see about creating a den for Mushu before then. “What about a low powered pump like what goes in a fish tank? To keep the water moving slowly but allow it to get marshy?”
Yeoman Rand

Roman nodded. “That’s a good idea. We could get someone in engineering to do the work, fit it to the tank properly, considering it isn’t made for it.” He said. “But I do like it. You’re a born-biologist.” Rand was absolutely right. While Roman might like Rand more, Randy was the sort of opposition Roman needed, both to coerce him to do unsavoury tasks and to “be more approachable”. Not an attribute that was considered valuable to anyone in the Alden family.

By then, Mushu had eaten all the flies, and Roman lifted him out of the cage, keeping a good but gentle grip on the lizard as he examined the cage. “I’ll have to rearrange the decorations but right here should do.” He said as he tapped part of the cage.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

“Thank you, Sir. I just observe and try to help, that’s all.” She noted down the extra flies Mushu ate and then she picked up the stylus and began to sketch. “This is a 20x10x12 tank? 10 gallons?” She marked off the area on the sketch that Alden indicated and made a note to ask engineering about installing a pump. “A slightly bigger tank would allow the water area to be slightly bigger and deeper, let him swim some. Of course could always let him swim around in one of the soaker tubs in the gym’s locker rooms.” Rand was actually quite serious. “It would also allow room to put a small den like structure in there. You said Verbose like to make dens?” Rand continued to write and rough, she was no artist, sketch the tank and the ‘decorations’ inside.
Yeoman Rand

Roman nodded. “What exactly do you propose we use? I haven’t got a bigger tank and he’ll escape the gym’s locker room.” He said as he let the lizard crawl on his hand. “That is this tank’s size. Of course, this isn’t the only live specimen I’ve got.” But Mushu might have just been his favorite.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand considered, “Well I suppose the gym is a bit big even if someone was to watch him.” She looked at the tank and then around the lab. She spotted an oval shaped glass, roughly the same dimensions as the tank, high up on a shelf. She walked over, and using a near by step ladder she brought it down and over to the table. “If this isn’t being used else where a lid could be easily constructed. We had a class pet when I was little, a hamster. It had tubes connecting all different size and shape pieces to the main tank. Engineering might be able to attach a similar crawl tube between these two, and this oval one could be nothing but water.” At the mention of others, “Do they socialize well? All the tanks could be connected through this swimming tank. If not small doors could be put in place over each one to insure they don’t interact.”
Yeoman Rand