Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Roman’s Gladiators

Posted by Ensign Randal ‘Randy’ Farquharson (Yeoman Second Rate) in Roman’s Gladiators

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman) in Roman’s Gladiators
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Rand had been allowed to introduce Randy to the animals in the lab and it had helped Randy to have a more in depth idea of what Alden had been doing. But then Randy, with all the crew losses and transfers and not having met with the ship carrying the replacements yet, had been moved to medical. Randy really was a great nurse. Nurse Practictioner actually. Rand was proud of him. That also meant she was picking up more of the work to help Alden. That actually wasn’t Randy’s fault. With Carmichael having transferred, Alden was in command for the moment, so Rand was working with him all day long. The man had a lot on his shoulders before, and now it was even more. Rand admired how he handled it, never seeming to be phased by the endless amount of work. She did her best to mitigate all of it and make things flow as smoothly as possible. She probably annoyed Alden as much as she had Carmichael. She did her best.

Carmichael transferring was disappointing to Roman. They had been friends, and had worked well together. And then, after Carmichael left, and before Rogers came aboard, command duties had been transferred to him. Rand had been indispensable. She wrote up notes, did paperwork, helped with basic lab duties, along with her other typical jobs, like compiling his reports. He was sure he’d have lost his mind without her, though he did feel bad. He knew she was as busy as he was, especially with Randy’s transfer to medical. At least he didn’t have to hear Randy’s nagging anymore.

At 0530, Rand had finished her run, showered, put on her uniform and arrived in the galley. She spoke to the chief briefly and then headed down to the biology lab. She entered quietly and walked over Nibble’s cage. Early in the morning before she left to collect morning reports, was the only time she had to spend with the small rodent. He was doing much better with the consistent interaction. She didn’t notice anyone else in the lab at the moment so she wouldn’t be able to handle him, but she could feed him. As she passed his enclosure, Mushu placed his left front foot on the glass. “Oh I know you’re hungry, Mushu, but I’m not supposed to feed you. Cmdr Alden will be in soon or En Anderson.” Mushu’s eyes followed her as she went to the sustenance cabinet and took out a new blend of fruit and nuts for Nibbles. Rand liked the changes that Alden had made to the lab, with docile animals on a separate side of the lab from the aggressive ones. That meant she didn’t have to watch Mr Wyvern track her across the lab and contemplate trying to eat her.

The lab had been upgraded considerably. The enclosures were as large as space would allow, to give the animals closer to their preferred amount of space. They were newly secured, with lids that would not be accidentally coming off, and reinforced on the larger or stronger animal’s enclosures. For the dangerous ones, a feeding mechanism had been fitted, in order to allow safer feeding protocols. Usually, it was in the form of a two-door hatch. The first door was opened from the outside, the food dropped in, whether it be pellets or meat, and then the first door was closed and secured. The second, inner door could be opened by button, dropping the food into the cage. Animals had been sorted, the docile herbivorous on one side of the lab, and carnivorous or dangerous on the other, separated by a screen.

Rand started making notes on the clipboard of his behavior, what she was feeding him and how much he ate. Nibbles was still asleep, having taken the cut sleeve of her uniform that he’d attached to weeks before, and tucking it into his nest. She made a visual inspection of his respiration rate and noted it down. His cage was fairly clean and wouldn’t need changing for a few more days. She carefully lifted the lid keeping an eye on Nibbles. He was still a wild animal after all, and carefully scattered the food mixture into the cage, without putting her hand in, and then closed and secured the lid.

Yeoman Rand

It was 0700 when Roman arrived in the biology lab to find Rand already working on the daily observations. He knew she preferred the observations for the animals like Nibbles or Mushu, names which she gave them. But she also did notes on the others, though less frequently. It wasn’t a job he minded, so usually she left taking notes on Mr Wyvern and the other carnivorous to him. A tea already in hand, he took a seat at one of the lab tables and looked at his PaDD. Since Rand had been working with him more regularly, they saw each other almost every morning, so after he’d sat down he said, “Morning, Rand.”

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO