Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Side sim: How you spend your free time (OPEN)

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Side sim: How you spend your free time (OPEN)

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in Side sim: How you spend your free time (OPEN)
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)
Murphy watched the game with baited breath, eager to see who won or lost. In her position she could see both boards and knew how close each was to winning. They were so close!!

NPCrewman Murphy

Rand listened as Scott called her last attempt, “Hit.” Rand stuck a red peg into her ship and examined her attack screen, possible places left and the pattern of placement. “E5.”

Rand and Carla

Rand glanced up at Murphy smiling shyly. “I think you’ll be playing Scott next.”

Rand and Carla

E’usah waited, watching the ball carefully, she had set up her next shot perfectly and Carla was out of position. She hit the ball with a chopping motion, almost as if she was trying to cut it in half, the resulting backspin on the ball caused it to hit the table then shoot to the side almost obliquely, if Carla managed to return the ball E’usah would be in the perfect position to slam the ball nearly crosswise to the far side of the table. She had promised to not use her tail to hit the ball, she never promised not to use it to help her balance, she threw her tail to the side bringing her into perfect position.

E’usah - NAV

Carla dived for the ball, and clipped it with her paddle, but it hit the net and rolled back towards her and off the side of the table. “Point for you,” Carla grinned and caught the ball on the bounce and tossed it back to E’usah. “Very nice.” Carla was no champion but she enjoyed the game and friendly competition. She would have to keep an eye on E’usah. She was nimble and a very good player.

“Soo,” said Scott, eenie-meenie-miney-moe-ing another place to put a peg. “You’ve been visiting the lab a lot lately,” she said. What she wanted to talk about was Alden, but she hoped Rand would think she wanted to talk about the animals. That way, she could bring Alden up slowly to get her inside scoop.

~ NE Scott

Rand nodded while she waited for Scott to call out her choice. “I was asked to assist with the Atariva Mouse. Apparently Lt Cmdr Alden needed someone not involved in the study and data collection to interact with it. I have some free time in my day, so I agreed to help. My understanding is the the mouse needed someone to bond with, and a good scientist would never do that. So I was asked and agreed.”

Rand and Carla

“A good scientist would never do that, huh? That sounds like some of Commander Alden’s crap,” Scott said. “B6.” Scott held quite a different belief from Alden on multiple things, and while she wasn’t daring enough to break his rules, she didn’t agree with his ‘never bond with the animals’ rule.

~ NE Scott

Rand didn’t take to people bad mouthing their superior officers. It wasn’t that she cared if they disagreed but it could be done respectfully. But it wasn’t her problem. “Hit,” and she placed a red peg on her board. “A good scientist stays objective, and that’s universal whether in biology, astrophysics, or medicine. Emotion can change the course you take. It does not mean you aren’t compassionate.” Rand had had many conversations about that with Randy during his studies and then residency. “I can get emotionally attached, assign human characteristics to an animal that doesn’t have them. Then you guys can look at the the strict facts and my fanciful observations and get a more accurate quantitative and qualitative data. Besides these animals are not pets.” It was an issue that Rand would have to deal with, on her own, when the study was over, and Nibbles was gone. She was warned not to get attached to the mouse, but that was also her role, to let it attach to her. For Rand it was hard to not return that attachment.

Rand

Scott cheered silently at the board game. “I don’t see the problem with it, really. You can like something and be objective about it. The commander is just way too uptight about everything.” She replied. Unless Rand was around, then he was right agreeable. But last time Scott had said that, Rand had made a quick exit, so she kept quiet.

~ NE Scott

“Or maybe he is really good at his job and knows what he is doing. He only graduated 7 years ago, and he not only already has the rank of LtCmdr he’s the chief science officer and first officer of the ship. He’s been published multiple times for his work and decorated for his service. 2 years into his tour he was promoted to Jr Lt and made CSO of his ship. You graduated a year ago. Do you think in another year you will have impressed the brass that much to get that kind of fast promotion? I know I won’t have.” Rand looked at the board, “G7.”

Yeoman Rand

“Aw, hit!” Scott said, marking it on her board. “Probably not, but I wasn’t implying he’s not good at his job. Just that he should loosen up a little. But wow, aren’t you quick to defend him?” She said and then she giggled. “A3.”

~ NE Scott

Rand marked the spot and sighed, “I’d be quick to defend you too if someone was gossiping about you.” Maybe she was quick to defend him.
He was a nice person, he worked hard, he had clear expectations for everyone who worked under him. Scott didn’t know what a blessing that was. And Alden was kind to her. Rare qualities to find in one single person. Scott was obviously still hung up on Alden being more tolerable when she was around. “G6. No what you are implying is he should be more social and less work focused while on duty. We are ensigns,” she stressed the word. “We have that luxury,” not that Rand would act like that, “Command and Senior staff don’t. You judge them while they are in duty, you don’t know anything about them off duty. And when things hit the proverbial fan you’ll be glad he is so ‘uptight’,”

Yeoman Rand

“You don’t have to be social to not be such a…” There were a lot of words Scott could put there. Finally, she chose one. “Stickler. He’s always on everyone about everything. He once told one of the day shift ensigns that she should tie or cut her hair. She wasn’t even working with anything dangerous.” Scott complained. She didn’t hate him, but he certainly wasn’t her favorite department lead of all time. She just liked a more laid back environment, Alden always kept everything so… chop-chop, always be working. And the safety. Of course it was important, but he was just so particular. It drove Scott crazy some days. “It’s good to be good in those kinds of situations, but you know, some people can be both of those things.” And maybe Rand had a point, she didn’t know anything about Alden off duty. But then, no one did. So that said plenty about him if you asked Scott. On the other hand, she did find it interesting how Rand sounded when she talked about Alden. Maybe they were Ensigns but command staff wasn’t immune to feelings. Alden could totally like Rand! His stoicism made it agreed to tell, but Scott was pretty sure he did.

~ NE Scott

The conversation had turned too close to home. Some people didn’t like mixing work and fun. Rand didn’t, in fact she couldn’t. She would get things wrong and panic more than she already did if she didn’t follow strict protocol. She immensely grateful she hadn’t brought up her acting career. And she wasn’t going to explain how she was able to identify with Alden’s rules. Scott was nice but Rand felt very uneasy and nervous suddenly. She needed out. “Hit. You win.” She quickly cleared her board so no one could check. “Looks like you get to play Scott, Murphy.” Rand stood, grabbed her PaDD and snuck out the door - away from the crowd and what Rand was certain was Scott’s gossip.

Yeoman Rand