Why a moon

[Lieutenant JG Lance Wright]

With all the comings and goings aboard Nike since their return to Sol, Lance found he needed bury himself in his lab to avoid the comings and goings of crewmembers. He'd said goodbye to a couple of his friends who were moving on.

After all there was something there in the rubble evidence that had been transferred to Nike from one of the failed missions recently in the Gamma Quadrant. He wasn't sure of all the details other than the unbelievable disappearance of some officers and the Federations failure on one of their building projects.

In the small amount the Chief had given him to test he had found some nitrium and if the ratio was consistent within the moon of that planet there was no wonder the inhabitants had been mining it excessively. This tiny specimen was more than .234 parts nitrium. That was astronomically huge in a prime ore chunk. But the real killer was one single molecule.

"Lieutenant," he called out the opening into the main lab. He knew he needed someone else to take a look at the atomic scan because if he was right there was more than just nitrium on that moon. Unless he was hallucinating that looked an awful lot like kemacite. But he was a geologist and more at home with the formative nature of the rock than its chemical composition.

In either case it might explain one of the reasons the Klingons were so blasted interested in that backwater system.

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[Lt. JG Evangeline Vaughn]

While others were either coming or going, saying their goodbyes or greeting new comers, Evangeline was busy at work. She has a list of Operations Orders for various issues that needed an engineer to tweak or repair. Her latest item took her on excursion into the science labs.

With tools in tow and a cadet shadowing her, Evangeline made her way to Deck 10. As they exited the turbolift she handed the cadet the PADD.

“Cadet Price, what are we being asked to do here,” Evangeline asked.

The young man studied the screen as they slowly walked down the corridor toward their destination. After almost a minute of reading the young man answered with conviction.

“Reported science terminal that is not functioning,” he responded handing her the PADD back.

“Yes,” Eva said in acknowledgement of his correct answer. “We’ll enter the labs and inquire where the terminal is located, then do our diagnostic and repair it if possible.”

The cadet nodded his understanding and followed behind Eva as the doors whooshed open and they entered the science lab. Once Evangeline spotted an officer she made her way over to him.

“Pardon me Lieutenant,” she said to get his attention then made introductions. “I am Lieutenant Vaughn from Engineering. This is Cadet Price,” she added while motioning to the young man behind her. “We’re here to take a look at a malfunctioning terminal. Could you direct us to it’s location?”

Tag Lance/Any

[Lieutenant JG Lance Wright]

He heard the murmur of voices in the other room but then that happened frequently and he just tuned them out most of the time. But the person who appeared at his call definitely wasn't the person he was expecting. He twisted around back to his experiment and picked up another instrument along with his tricorder.

“Reported science terminal that is not functioning,”

He looked over his shoulder he'd thought he'd glimpsed a female officer but that was was decidedly male voice.

"What are..." he started.

“Pardon me Lieutenant,” the female officer said. “I am Lieutenant Vaughn from Engineering. This is Cadet Price,” He nodded at both of them. Though he didn't really understand what a cadet was doing herel “We’re here to take a look at a malfunctioning terminal. Could you direct us to it’s location?”

"Hmm," he said. "I didn't make the call but I think it's that one there." He pointed across the room at the terminal Ensign Forth had been pounding on last night.

He smiled at the rather pretty officer. He knew the face but didn't think he'd ever actually met her before.

"I'm Lieutenant Wright, Geology," he returned the introduction.

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[Lt. JG Evangeline Vaughn]

"Hmm," he said. "I didn't make the call but I think it's that one there."

Evangeline nodded and pointed at the terminal, giving the cadet a look. Price looked at her confused for a second. Eva raised an eyebrow in prompt. Then the realization kicked in; he took the instrument from her and went over to begin the diagnostic as they had discussed before coming into the lab in the first place.

Eva looked back at the Lieutenant and shrugged a little flashing her eyes in mock frustration at the cadet. It was nice to have help, but training certainly had its downside.

"I'm Lieutenant Wright, Geology."

Smiling she said, “Good to meet you. I think I’ve seen you around before…. The ship is so big.” With the amount of people on the ship, she often felt that she’d seen most people a time or two before meeting them formally. “Is your department receiving many personnel changes?” The question seemed to be on a lot of people’s minds since their return from the Gamma Quadrant. For Evangeline this was the third Captain (or was it the fourth) that she would be serving under since her posting on Nike. She was fortunate that her department head was still here. Too much change at once made her feel a little uneasy.

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[Lt. Commander Patrick Davidson]

After his daily workout in the holodecks to release some tension and anxiety, Patrick showered, changed into his uniform and made his way to the science labs. Having served on the Nike for quite some time he was used to the weaving corridors and hidden niches. It took very little time for him to find the place he had called home for the last few years. The only difference was, this time, he would be working aboard the ship as Chief Science Officer. He was still beaming after the promotion. He'd been working toward it for some time. To finally reach that goal was quite gratifying. The ego boost wasn't bad either.

Stepping into the labs he looked around, nodding his head at the officers who stopped and acknowledged him before going about their duties.

"Is everything in working order?" he asked Lieutenant Jamerson as the man wandered by.

"Everything except that one terminal I told you about yesterday. Someone is here to see that's it's fixed before we depart."

"Excellent." He moved through the labs in search of an officer in yellow. Spotting her and her partner wasn't particularly hard in the sea of blue.

He approached just as the woman posed a question.

“Is your department receiving many personnel changes?”

"Only good changes I hope," he said, glancing at Lt. JG Wright quickly before turning to the operations officer. "Commander Patrick Davidson. This shouldn't take too long to fix right? I heard we're departing fairly soon."

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[Lt. JG Evangeline Vaughn]

"Only good changes I hope. Commander Patrick Davidson. This shouldn't take too long to fix right? I heard we're departing fairly soon."

“Uh…” Evangeline looked to the Commander, surprised by his sudden presence in the conversation. The combination of cute between the hunky science guys along with the pressure of being put on the spot by a superior officer gave Eva pause and she had to take a couple of seconds to order her thoughts before she responded to the very reasonable request from the Commander.

She gave a glance toward Cadet Price who was busily running the diagnostic, then looked back at the Commander with a genial smile. “I will just confer with my associate on the diagnostic. If it’s a minor issue, we’ll be out of your hair in less than ten minutes. If it’s more severe, I’ll give you a better estimate of the time it will take to get it back on line.”

With that, Eva waited for a non-verbal queue of acknowledgement before adjourning to the terminal to find out the status of Cadet Price’s diagnostic. As she arrived he looked over his shoulder at her with a mild nervousness on his face.

“What is it?” Eva looked at him uncertain why he seemed nervous.

He looked at her again and spoke in very hushed tones, “the diagnostic came back with nothing wrong…”

Eva took the device from his hand and reviewed the readout. Sure enough, the panel was operational. But the screen was dark. So Eva started examining it manually while the cadet looked on at her every move.

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[Lt. Commander Patrick Davidson]

Patrick pretended not to notice the blush that rose to the Lieutenant's face. Clearly she had been chatting up one of his officers and didn't take lightly to being interrupted. If he said that he cared he'd be lying. He wanted his labs in working order before they departed. There was nothing more embarassing than reporting broken equipment during a crisis of some sort. He could picture it now. The crew being marooned somewhere in need of working lab equipment. The Captain asking for updates and he would be standing there like a deer in the headlights with his mouth hanging ajar.

"Oh, you expected our equipment to be working. Ha!" He would say. It would take more than a shovel to pick his broken pride off the floor when the Captain was done with him. Usually something as small as a terminal malfunctioning wouldn't bother him, but now, being chief, he took responsibility for everything in his department. Even a loose screw in a faulty terminal was of the uptmost importance.

"The diagnostic came back with nothing wrong…”

Patrick crossed his arms and looked to the lieutenant for answers.

"Have you tried turning the terminal on, by chance?" He asked, smiling wryly. Shaking his head, he left them to their business.

Patrick turned to Lieutenant Wright. "How about we focus our attention on work and let other 'distractions' do the same." He gave a knowing nod before walking away to check on the other officers present.

End Patrick

[Captain Xian Chen]

**All Hands Whistle Sounds**
//“’By order of Admiral Lara Rell, flag officer of the United Federation of Planet’s Eighth Fleet: Command of the United Federation of Planet’s galaxy-class starship, USS Nike (NCC 71268) is hereby transferred to Captain Xian Alexis Chen as of stardate 85498.12.’

“I hereby assume command of this starship and accept all duties and responsibilities herein.

“I won’t waste time with long speeches. We are about to embark on a potentially dangerous mission. Let’s prepare for departure. We leave for Quo’nos in an hour.

“Chen out.”//

[Lieutenant JG Lance Wright]

“Good to meet you. I think I’ve seen you around before…. The ship is so big.”

That was very true, people tended to group together with other people they knew or people they worked with. There was a whole set of friends he usually hung out with though half of them had been transferred since they left the Gamma Quadrant. He’d just gotten a recent promotion instead of a transfer and he was alright with that.

“Is your department receiving many personnel changes?”

Just then the Chief walked into the geology lab.

"Only good changes I hope," he said, glancing at Lt. JG Wright quickly before turning to the operations officer. "Commander Patrick Davidson. This shouldn't take too long to fix right? I heard we're departing fairly soon."

Lance smiled nervously at Commander Davidson and returned his eyes to the analysis scope. He’d been hoping for another officer to take a look at his findings but if the Commander had a moment he’d bring it up.

“the diagnostic came back with nothing wrong…”

“What,” he questioned himself softly. He’d tried that station several times and hadn’t been able to get it working.

"Have you tried turning the terminal on, by chance?"

He almost held his breath. Of course he’d turned it on. But he wasn’t about to say anything.

"How about we focus our attention on work and let other 'distractions' do the same."

“Yes sir,” he said and spun his chair back around and bent back over his station. **Great! Now I’m in his black books.**

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[Lieutenant Sin Frost]

Sin had made her way to sick bay to have herself checked out after her little bought of nausea post transport. It had happened to her in the past. But Sin was the type of person who was very diligent about her health. ‘Always better to be certain than sorry’, was her philosophy.

Unfortunately for the nurse who looked her over, Sin was not always the best patient… More like a nightmare self taught would be physician. That mind of hers was constantly working and her mouth loved to yammer on about the contents in her head.

After her release, Sin headed to her quarters to get settled. She meticulously went through every inch of her room, then sent a list of items to Operations that she needed addressed in order for rooms to be habitable. As she finished composing her very well written comments the Captain’s announcement came through the comm system.

*An hour,* she thought to herself. *Better report in.*

“Computer, location of the Chief Science Officer.”

The familiar tone chimed then the AI responded. “Deck 10, Science Labs.”

Giving herself the once over, Sin made her way to that location. Sin entered the geology lab and began meandering around. After a fruitless search, she decided to stop and inquire. Catching a glimpse of the pips on the collar of Lieutenant JG who had his head down in focused concentration, Sin stopped beside him to inquire.

“Excuse me Lieutenant; I’m looking for the Chief Science Officer. Have you seen him?”

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[Lieutenant JG Lance Wright]

Once the chief was gone he lost all sense of time. Lance was so wrapped up in the information in his head regarding this small sample of rock from a gamma quadrant moon that he seemed to be finding a miracle of composition, that he didn’t hear anything around him.

“Excuse me Lieutenant; I’m looking for the Chief Science Officer. Have you seen him?”

It took him a moment to register that someone had spoken to him… or had she. There was another operations lieutenant in the room after all. But then he blinked when he looked up she was a science officer. Of course she’d speak to him first.

“Uh, yes he was here a few minutes ago and then he left.”

He looked over at the ops people working on the station across the room.

“He just popped in here for a minute. Not sure where he went.” He smiled at her. Then he tilted his head.

“Hey, can you take a look at this sample? It has properties way off the scale and I just want another set of eyes on it to see if they saw what he saw or if he was imagining the results.

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