Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side-sim: The Study of Kelmao
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Rand wasn’t sure if she should laugh, because it was true - she was amazing at organizing and the officers were already so excited they were making a mess, or be offended, because he was pawning off their least favorite chore on her. Actually, she laughed, but remembering this was work and where they were, “You make a good point, Cmdr. And since the captain approved, I am happy to help however I can.” Rand had never seen him smile this much, ever. Because he never smiled on duty. If he didn’t stop, he might be declared medically unfit.

Rand was excited. She didn’t care what the reason was Roman had for bringing her, she was getting to go. “Do you need me to post this?” She held up the paper he gave her. She was grinning and already planning for her absence. “Who will feed Nibbles?”

Yeoman Rand

“Yes, please post it - in the labs and elsewhere since not all of our landing party members are scientists. Ensigns Scott and Carpenter will take over care of the animals for the three days we’re gone,” Roman replied. He was excited, that’s why he was smiling so much. It worried him, landing parties always did because there was always risk, but he loved them all all the same. And then there was Rand to worry about. But he always tried not to be overbearing because of his own fears. “The ship should be within range to help out if we need anything.”

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Ugh....Scott. The minute the girl found out Rand was going to Kelmao, Scott would not leave her alone. She was sure Nibbles would be okay though. Scott had taken over helping with her when Rand was out with her foot. Scott had been a huge help and very kind. She also knew she would be interrogated by Scott ruthlessly upon their return. Then Roman was suddenly looking at her funny, and there was a flicker of something not quite so happy. And then his words pieced it all together for her. He was worried, about being off the safety of the ship. She wanted to hug him and tell him it would be alright, but she couldn’t. Not in the middle of the corridor anyway. “I’m sure it will be fine, Cmdr. I’ll keep in regular contact with the ship. I mean the report said there were no sentient species, and if anything was really big and potentially dangerous they would have mentioned it, right?” Rand knew plants and animals didn’t have to be big to be dangerous, but if something was out of the ordinary it would have been mentioned.

Yeoman Rand

“Probes wouldn’t have reported anything unless it was quite a lot larger than earth animals, like larger than a bear,” Roman replied, glancing quickly around the hall. Rand could almost always tell when something was bothering him, but he didn’t need the rest of the crew to know. “Get prepared with the rest of the landing party after the note is posted. Once we arrive everything will go quickly,” he said.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand nodded and she understood the glance around as well. In all truthfulness no one would consider his words to be a reflection of his worry but her own. Rand was amazing at her job and she was at the top of her class. She could have the pick of any posting she wanted, but she was still not quite a year out of the Academy and exploring space was still thrilling and terrifying. Anyone listening would just assume Alden was just reassuring a young officer. Rand nodded and then paused…she had absolutely no idea what she needed to do to get prepared for an over night landing party. She didn’t want to tell Roman that though…she didn’t want to look idiotic. She knew what she needed to do for Cpt Rogers before they left, but…she’d have to figure it out. “Yes, Sir. I have quite a bit to arrange for Cpt Rogers and the ship if I’m going to be gone 3 days. No one wants a repeat of when I was out with my foot.”

Rand returned to her office and made copies of the landing team selection and also scoured the officer’s hand book about equipment for planetary studies and multi-day landing teams. She felt very ill-informed. Rand spent the next several hours posting the landing party selection, notifying all departments of when and how to submit their reports, programming the computer to forward them to Cpt Rogers at the correct times, making sure the Galley knew to send someone with Rogers’ meals up, and for the bridge crew to get their drinks. She also had all the reports and information pulled from the computer for Rogers meetings that week and left them stacked and labelled in the conference room for her.

What Rand didn’t have done was her prep for the landing party. She had no idea what she was personally supposed to bring. The only person she could think to ask was Chief Helpful. So down to the cargo bay she went and found him. “Rand you look like a child who was just asked to invent warp drive and doesn’t even know what that is.”

Rand grimaced, “That’s how I feel. I’ve been assigned to the landing party, but…” Helpful nodded and led her over to a supply locker, “But you’ve never been on a landing party or a multi-day one. Well most of your gear has already been req’ed by Cmdr Alden. Shelter, food, scientific equipment, emergency medical kits, hazmat gear. You’re job will be mostly the same as you do on board. So a tricorder and a PaDD. I would suggest extra power packs for both, and a box of blank data disks. They are going to collect a lot of data and it will need to be dumped out of their tricorders. A spare communicator just in case, and a change of clothes for yourself.” He pulled out the power packs, data disks, and a nap sack and gave it to her. Helpful had been doing this a very long time, before Rand ever joined the Academy, and he knew from experience the small things that people forgot. “Thanks Helpful.” He nodded with a grin and Rand left. After taking care of that, Rand decided on sleep and setting an early alarm.

Yeoman Rand

For Roman, there were too many last minute things to do for him to get any sleep before leaving. Between finishing up preparations and making sure the labs were ready for three days without himself and three of his officers, picking shift leads to be in charge while he was away, he didn’t have time no matter how tired he was getting. He’d dealt with minimal sleep before. He figured he’d be fine.

Finally, it was 0300, and the lab looked more like it normally did as the supplies had been organised and moved to the transporter room. Everything was ready to go when they arrived and assumed standard orbit around Kelmao. The science team on shift immediately began the necessary scans while others began a final check of equipment and supplies for the landing party.

When the equipment was moved to the transporter room, Rand was already there waiting and began to inventory the equipment against what Roman had requested. This gave the rest of the team a few minutes to gather their personal packs, hit the head, it get something to eat. It was too late now to run diagnostics so it was only a matter of making sure it was all there. She was monitoring the reports of the scans and the ship’s comma for information. Just to make sure she didn’t miss any changes or requests.

But a sudden and abrupt change of orders came down the chain of command. Roman’s worries only amplified when he found out. There had been an attack on a mining colony somewhere a distance away. Probably pirates but Starfleet wanted to be sure. It would take about three days - the same three days the landing party was studying the planet here. The Sentinel was to drop off the landing party and leave, way out of the contact zone for the entire time Roman’s team would be on the surface. He made sure that final equipment check was thorough - if they forgot anything, there would be no coming back for it.

~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO

Rand heard and immediately slipped out of transporter room 1, which was on Deck 3. She knew the change was going to stress him out, make him worry more. A quick stop down the corridor to her quarters added black tea and coffee for everyone. Mostly it was for Roman because she knew he wasn’t going to rest at all now.

Returning she had protein bars and thermoses for everyone. How did she do it? She’d already anticipated the early morning and had it standing by. She passed them out while they waited for Alden, then she handed him a bar and a thermos with black tea, honey, and heavy cream. She didn’t ask or offer. She simply handed it to him, expecting him to consume it. Just like she had everyone else.

Yeoman Rand