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

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: Honoring the Ardent

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

(snip)
Rand got the feeling Roman didn’t want her to do that, so she let it drop. She wanted to help, but she could only do as much as he was willing to let her. She didn’t like that, but she had to accept it. Of course maybe they could take a couple days off after it was done. She noticed they weren’t listening to the audio or video , she would do it herself, but she wasn’t going to be sneaky.

Roman looked at her when she didn’t say anything else about. It seemed like Randy had thought it was a good idea, and Roman was already struggling with this. When they did the audio/video files he’d been avoiding… “You… You should. It would help.”

Rand looked over at him and nodded. She would take care of that when she saw Rogers later that evening. By the time she was done working it out, Rand had to work late that night and her regular shift the next day to make sure everything was handled for Rogers. Then she had a week and half she could take. Rearranging her regular days off along with leave time she should have more than enough for the project to be done. If she was lucky she’d even have a single day between returning to duty.

They had gone through a lot of preliminary notes across the days. It was so much data. The project was huge. Rand put in the next disk and bit the inside of her cheek to stop from squealing. It didn’t quite work. It was SO CUTE! It was a rabbit, it had to be, but the colors!! “Is that… chameleon like camouflage?”

Rand

Rand put the next disk in and Roman had to smile as she let out a little squeal. It was, as Jay had called it, a Chamelo-bunny. Of course, Roman had not let him put that in any of the reports. The memory was painful to think about. Why had he always been so serious? Why hadn’t he let Jay have more fun with it? Roman’s emotions were obvious in his voice as he tried to speak, “It’s camoflauge is perfect. It looks like fur it has, but it isn’t, not like Earth rabbits. They can change the colour of that fur as easily as a chameleon. But they aren’t a cuddly as Pipkin either, they’re more like… The chinzilla.”

~ Roman

Something that cute should not be dangerous! That wasn’t fair. Rand kept that thought contained. She could tell it really bothered him, and she felt bad being excited to see it. Questions about the science seemed to help. “Did you discover how it was able to change its fur?”

Roman touched his hand when he thought about the viciousness of the chinzillas. By now the marks were little more than fading scars. “It releases a special chemical into its bloodstream that effectively changes the pigment of the hair. Like I said, their hair isn’t like Earth fur, it’s not dead cells. It’s living tissue that looks like fur. It… It feels like it, too. Soft fur.” He’d had one on the Ardent, but it had died in the attack. Lucky animal. The ones that survived he’d had to put down, so he didn’t have to watch them starve before the ship was rescued. There wasn’t enough food to support all that extra life. By the time the ship was rescued they’d begun rationing it to last the remaining crew. He took a deep, shaky breath and grabbed Rand’s hand, squeezing it. All those animals… There hadn’t been another choice, and Roman wasn’t supposed to be attached to them anyway, by his own rules. Jay had always teased him for that, despite being just as attached to the animals himself. Roman’s eyes had welled up with tears and his face was turning a bit red as he tried not to start crying again. “We, ah… we tested the chemical and the pigment, but Chearian animals use different pigment than Earth ones, so the chemical couldn’t change the pigment of an Earth animal.”

Rand squeezed his hand back. “That’s amazing,” she studied the photos of the process and shook her head in wonder. There was so much that was amazing in the universe. But after that part was finished she called a brief stop. She sat with him for long quiet minutes and then they walked down to the Galley for more tea and then back to work.

Roman hugged her while they sat in silence. It always made him feel at least a little better. Then he went down with her for the tea.

The whole disk was about the animals and initial observations and goals. Rand was just as curious as she had been about Mushu that first day.

Rand

Every animal there was a story, and every animal all Roman could see was the attack, or putting them down. It was a long and hard disk for him. He tried to answer all her questions, but some of his answers were short.

~ Roman

Rand thought if she watched the videos and listened to the audio herself she wouldn’t have to ask Roman so much, and that would give him a break. He was studiously/stubbornly avoiding them. Even though they were going by date he was skipping all of those files. She didn’t blame him. She knew, without looking, that Jay would be on those files. She didn’t bring the suggestion up though, not yet. She knew he would stubbornly refuse to let her do it. He wouldn’t do it and neither could anyone else.

It wasn’t stubbornness entirely. Well, it was, but not for the sake of stubbornness. Roman wanted to see those disks, he really did, he just also knew how hard it was going to be so he had been putting them off.

They stopped for lunch because Rand refused to let his current work be ignored. Franks would do a fine job of stepping in, but Mushu and Nibbles had to be cared for. Roman also had requests from staff and letter/reports as XO that needed attention.

Rand made him stop for lunch and do his current work. He had to play with Mushu (that was the pleasant part) and do his XO paperwork and duties (that was the less pleasant part). It didn’t take too long to finish up. Then they went back to working on the project.

When they were finally done with that disk Rand give him a cool cloth (that she had grabbed during one of their breaks), turned off the computer, and began to rub the knots out of his shoulders. She had half an hour before her evening reports.

They finished that disk at last and as Roman reached for the next, Rand turned the computer off and gave him a cool cloth. He got the meaning of it, stop and take another break. So he set the disk down. Then she started to rub his shoulders. They were tight and it felt a lot better when she was done.

Before leaving she handed him a disk. “You’ve gotten several responses to your inquiry about Mr. Wyvern.”

Rand

Then she had to leave for her evening reports she handed him another disk. “Oh, good. I can take care of this while you’re gone.” And that was what he did. One of the responses was from a nearby sanctuary that had the perfect resources for the large snake. He sent a response to them.

~ Roman

Rand stopped at her office and brought several things with her when she was done. She sat down at the computer. “I am going to be working late, but wanted to come here first. I can work here unless it will bother you.”

Rand

“You can work here,” Roman said, and moved over and made space on the desk for her things. The next disk went over the technical details of several studies pertaining to the animals, antivenoms and behavioural patterns. It was an easier disk for Roman because it was all science and most of the notes were done by him. He skipped the next disk. It would be the videos from the same set of studies. He worked all night until Rand stopped him.

~ Roman

Rand was trying to multi task -take notes as Roman gave them to her, and while he was working she was doing her own work. It wasn’t too hard, more like making the most of her time. The technical details weren’t something she could really review for accuracy so she was just creating a final draft after Roman reviewed it for anything missing or incorrect. Eventually Rand stopped him and herself. Pipkin was rather happy about it, demanding quite a bit of attention before she would leave them alone.

The next day went much the same way. The following day though, Rand stopped him before they left. She was hesitant and didn’t really want to say anything, but it had to be done. “I need to watch the video and audio tapes. There are gaps in the summary report - evidence, examples, things like that. I can do that by myself, or…we could stay here and do it. Away from everyone.”

Rand