Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: Honoring the Ardent

(snip)

Roman shook his head. “It was rather earthlike, except in what would be most similar to earth’s mesozoic era, with tons of oxygen which meant a lot of plant life and rainforests. Unlike Earth however the planet has not evolved giant lizards. Well, not too many giant lizards. It has longer days than Earth so most the animals are diurnal with poor night vision.” A lot of scientific details, and still no planet name. And the scientific details were still a little difficult for him. Nearly all of his research involved Jay.

~ Roman

No name, yet, but more detail. Randy would come back to that. “Giant Lizards? Every little child’s dream, to see a living dinosaur. Tell me about them, specifically.”

“What kinds of animals did they send you to study?”

Randy

“They weren’t quite as.... Jurassic as you’re thinking,” Roman replied. The memory of Jay popped into his head, unavoidably the center of his attention:

They were standing at the computer console in the Ardent’s main biology lab. Roman sat in the chair, just like he would now, Jay standing behind him with a hand on the back of the chair. Both stared eagerly at the screen, awaiting results. “We sent the probe half an hour ago!” Jay complained, “There should be images transmitting by now.” Roman grinned, giving Jay a look that said, You’re being ridiculous with a side of playfulness. “Hang on, they’ll be here. You know how slow some of the older probes are. Starfleet stuck us with the ones so old I bet your dad’s ship used them. New ones won’t make it for another month.”

“Can’t you put a rush-” The images started to show up, transmitting from the probe on the planet’s surface. “There’s dinosaurs! That’s every little child’s dream right there. To see a living dinosaur.” Jay’s voice held all the excitement of an excited five year old with a stegosaurus toy. “It’s not even big enough to be a dinosaur,” Roman scoffed, gesturing to the screen. “Look at the tree behind it, that’s eight feet tall, tops.” Jay shrugged, “Earth had dinosaurs that weren’t taller than skyscrapers. Don’t be a dream crusher, Roman.”

The memory hit Roman like a ton of bricks reminding him far too much of things he wasn’t ready for, crushing him with emotions he’d spent far too long hiding. His attempt to stop his emotions from showing themselves did nothing to stop the fresh, hot tears that ran from his eyes as he put his head down trying to hold himself together. He was not going to do this, not here. Not when someone that wasn’t Rand or Randy might walk in… He really wished Rand were there just then, but she wasn’t, it was midmorning, she was most likely still doing her morning meeting and tasks.

~ Roman

Randy was waiting for a description, scientific and precise. He didn’t get it. If he had known how exact his words reflected Jay he would have been both astounded and guilty. Instead Alden broke down. That was progress, hard progress, but progress. He moved to lean against the edge of the desk and placed a hand on Alden’s shoulder. Then, as if knowing what he was thinking, Randy pulled out his communicator, flipped it open and began a series patterned taps. When a double tap came back he closed it.

Much quicker than he expected, Randy heard the quick click of boots in the corridor. He got up and opened the door standing in the way of passersby, as Rand gave him a puzzled look. She looked past him and pushed her way in. Randy nodded his head toward the door and left. Rand pressed the button on the desk and locked the door and then hugged him.

Rand