…because for some muses, sinday just ain’t it. Specify the muse for multimuse blogs!
I don’t believe fortune tellers, they don’t rely on scientific facts. Magic is a science we do not yet comprehend. Do you think a robot takeover is techincally possible? What do you know about alternate dimensions? UFOs are really just strangely shaped clouds. I don’t believe in aliens. What’s your favourite conspiracy theory? That’s not science, that’s supersticion. I think I could get the hang of this thing a lot quicker if the instructions weren’t written in some alien language. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Don’t touch that. We don’t know what it does. It looks like some kind of weapon. They’ve got a force field! Ow! That thing just zapped me! You think you can fly this thing? I think I might’ve opened a protal to a wormhole… I thought I was the only one left. It’s not science, it’s common sense. I’m not smart enough to study science. Can you help me with my science homework? Everything is theoretically impossible until it’s done. Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. Science is the poetry of reality. Science is the key to our future. Nothing in life is to be feared, it’s only to be understood. I am among those who think that science has great beauty. The science of today is the technology of tomorrow. Science is a way of thinking, much more than it is a body of knowledge.
“Always Someone There To Remind Me” (RP w/ @commanderuna)
“That could’ve gone better.”
Captain Pike noted La’an Noonien Singh’s quiet observation as the landing part gathered at their pre-determined beam-out point. As Chris visually confirmed that everyone who’d accompanied him were accounted for, he thought back to the events that transpired.
A remote Starfleet Corps of Engineers outpost residing on a planet in the early stages of warp development had requested a supply drop, and the Enterprise had been sent to deliver the much-needed equipment and provisions. While planetside, a warp field experiment went awry, and rather than let more experienced minds tackle the problem, Pike charged in to evacuate the technicians while their supervisor stabilized the field.
The supervisor didn’t hold back his shock and dismay at Captain Pike for impulsively putting himself in harm’s way. “This is Starfleet, Lieutenant Commander,” Pike reminded the younger supervisor. “We work together and get the job done, and from my perspective, we succeeded.”
He could feel the horrified, wide-eyed stare of Noonien-Singh, shaken by watching her captain, the man she was meant to keep safe, throwing himself into a potentially deadly situation, and he felt a twinge of self-awareness and regret begin to seep in.
Now, as the landing party prepared for beam-up, Pike reiterated his earlier statement to her. “And, it could’ve gone a lot worse, Lieutenant.” He lifted his communicator. “We good to go, Mr. Kyle?”
“Yes, sir,” the young transporter tech replied. “Energizing.”
Shortly thereafter, the landing party was standing on the transporter pads aboard the Enterprise, and Pike was not surprised to see his first officer, Una Chin-Riley, standing there, arms folded in front of her.
“Oh, boy,” he muttered quietly to himself as the team split up to handle their duties.
“I take it you have words for me, Number One,” Pike assessed. “Let’s go to my quarters. La’an, you have the chair until I get up there.”
“Aye, sir,” La’an replied, exchanging a glance with Una before leaving the room.
He glanced at Una. “Let’s walk,” he suggested, exiting the transporter room.
“Try not to yell at me too much until we get to my quarters, hmm?”
“Completely understandable, ensign,” Pike replied. “I think we can sacrifice a salute for putting out a potential fire.
He could feel unease radiating from the ensign as she spoke of first impressions. Not wanting her to feel thrown into the spotlight and robbed of a chance to meet his approval, he offered a casual smile.
“Well, I never did fully believe in the whole “one chance to make a first impression” thing. If you can get that internal bio-scanner circuit board working again, you’ll make me and the staff in Sickbay happy.”
Alright, so … apparently pretty cool. Thera shot another sideways look, this one more assessing. “That’s a relief, sir.” Added just a little bit quickly, one hand rubbing across the back of her neck as another side of ‘first impressions’ jumped to mind.
Pike would know, right? Maybe right then he didn’t connect it to her, but he would have read her file, seen that as far as Starfleet was concerned this was her second chance rather than her first. But then … she exhaled in a huff, that was just another reason to make good on it while she could.
“Frankly, Captain,” As if it was her nature to speak any other way, “the whole board needs to be replaced. If I requisition one, can I stamp a priority on it with your name?”
Pike’s brow furrowed as he thought aloud. “The whole board? We just launched from drydock a week ago! How the hell could we have a whole circuit board fail?” He let out a sigh and ran his hand over his face.
He met Thera’s eyes and said, “Yes; put in a requisition for it and let them know you have priority authorization from me. I’ll make sure Engineering is aware of it so Hemmer doesn’t give you a hard time.”
Pike smiled as he added, “He still might grumble about it, but that’s how he usually is.”
Captain’s Log; Stardate 1502.4. The Enterprise has been assigned to catalog extensive lifesigns on planet Okuda 7, a world previously known to be utterly devoid of life. It’s no small task, to say nothing of solving the mystery of how a barren world can suddenly be teeming with flora and fauna without any sign of terraforming or husbandry. If there’s any crew in Starfleet that’s up to the task, however, it’s mine.
“Entering standard orbit of Okuda 7, sir.”
“Thank you, Erica,” Captain Pike replied. “Nicely done, as always. Mr. Spock, begin scans, if you would.”
“Aye, Captain,” Spock replied, turning to peer into his scanner. “Planet remains Class M; no apparent changes to weather patterns or geology. No signs of terraforming equipment or byproducts, and no indications of any vessels or structures on the surface.”
Turning back to address the captain, Spock added, “It would appear the only difference between previous surveys of this world and ours is the presence of plant and animal life forms across both land and sea.”
Pike sighed and shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense…but, that’s why we’re here, so let’s figure it all out.”
He turned to face exo-zoologist and exo-botanist Briar Rowan. “Alright, Miss Rowan. The spotlight’s on you. Any theories before we make our way down there?”
Briar knew that she had to temper her excitement but her face gave her away entirely. She was beaming from ear to ear. The idea of exploring a planet undergoing such change was huge. There could be anything down there. Of course scans had picked up a lot but she didn’t think all, especially not with the way the planet had accelerated.
“It could be a case of tachytely, that’s accelerated evolution, which would be fascinating to see, although I’m sure Mr Spock has considered that. It could be that last time we were here something was left behind and that something has grown and expanded. There could be something on this planet that leads to the accelerated evolution of living matter from our planets. The possibilities are endless, there could be bunnies as big as tigers down there, plant life more sentient than we’ve ever encountered.”
Briar realised she had been gesturing wildly with her hands and quickly stopped, she tried to neutralise her face and failed.
“I mean, there could be anything down there. We should probably go armed in case there’s anything that might eat us but, for the most part it doesn’t appear to be hostile.” Of course it also didn’t appear friendly but Briar wasn’t focused on that.
Pike listened intently to Rowan, trying not to smile too widely at her excited gesturing and enthusiasm. While he expected some manner of professionalism while on duty, there was fun to be had in exploring, as well, and he wanted his crew to feel the potential thrills that came with their ongoing mission.
“A wise recommendation. I certainly don’t want to run into any tiger-sized bunnies while unarmed.” Pike stood and began walking towards the turbolift. “Lieutenant Rowan, Mr. Spock, and Lieutenant Noonien-Singh, you’re with me. Number One, you’re minding the store. Let’s go solve a mystery.”
Moments later, the landing party materialized on the surface of Okuda 7. Chris immediately scanned their immediate surroundings with their eyes to make sure there was no animal life nearby waiting to attack.
“Unbelievable,” Pike muttered. “How in the hell could this have happened so quickly?”
“According to the geological survey performed by the U.S.S. Magellan one year, four months, three weeks and four days ago,” Spock reported, “from this exact spot, there was nothing but rock formations for 27.3 miles in every direction. Truly fascinating.”
The captain was about to comment when he heard movement in a field of brush nearby, followed by what sounded like a growl. He held up his hands to signal “Quiet!” to the landing party, then gestured to the brush.
La’An slowly drew her phaser, while Chris rested his hand on his, still nestled in the holster.
“Good. See you there.” With that, Pike left Pardalis to her task.
Over the next 18 hours, the captain was pleased to hear that Thera had deftly handled the circuit panel issue and had even managed to impress Chief Engineer Hemmer, which was no small feat.
By 1830 hours after he last saw Ensign Pardalis, his executive officers and the others he’d invited had arrived in his quarters for dinner. Pike had a playlist of his favorite music playing, and everyone was pitching in to either prepare food or drinks, or set places at the table.
When Pike heard the chime, he came to the door and was pleased to see Thera waiting.
“Ensign Pardalis! Welcome! Come on in and grab a drink.”
Well, this was new. Ish. It wasn’t that Thera had never been invited to some soirée with senior officers, especially back in the day, but it had been rare, and not since she’d been back at the Academy. And she could safely say she hadn’t been to one featuring her CO wearing an apron before.
Sheknew she blinked, suspected the surprise was clear on her face if only for a second or two before turning into a smile. “Thank you, sir.” As far as she was concerned she was still ‘new’ herself, still feeling out the boundaries, and until she knew them better she’d err on the side of caution. Likewise her dress; ‘casual’ was just her off-duty uniform, tunic replaced with a light jacket, and as she glanced around the room she thought that seemed about right.
It also, as she stepped through into Pike’s quarters, gave her a hint of something else, and she turned to look at him again.
“Everyone seems to be helping out, sir, is there anything I can do?”
The captain was simultaneously sauteing seasoned beef and pollo asado in sizzling pans when he heard Thera’s offer of help.
“Yes! If you could, uh, move those bowls of fixings to the bar over there, I’d appreciate it.” Chris pointed to several large bowls of taco fixings.
“It’s Taco Tuesday!” he announced. “At least, I think it’s Tuesday.” He let out a chuckle and shrugged a shoulder. “Even if it isn’t, any day’s good for tacos.”
“Damn, that chicken smells amazing,” Una sighed happily as she grabbed the tortilla steamer.
“Yeah, until you douse it with habanero sauce,” Chris remarked.
“I have refined tastes!” Una stated in her defense.
“I’m surprised you have ANY taste, with that stuff.” He looked up again and saw Thera returning to the kitchen area.
“Make sure you grab a drink or a snack and relax, Ensign,” Pike said, smiling kindly. “I didn’t invite you just to put food out, after all.”
Captain’s Log; Stardate 1502.4. The Enterprise has been assigned to catalog extensive lifesigns on planet Okuda 7, a world previously known to be utterly devoid of life. It’s no small task, to say nothing of solving the mystery of how a barren world can suddenly be teeming with flora and fauna without any sign of terraforming or husbandry. If there’s any crew in Starfleet that’s up to the task, however, it’s mine.
“Entering standard orbit of Okuda 7, sir.”
“Thank you, Erica,” Captain Pike replied. “Nicely done, as always. Mr. Spock, begin scans, if you would.”
“Aye, Captain,” Spock replied, turning to peer into his scanner. “Planet remains Class M; no apparent changes to weather patterns or geology. No signs of terraforming equipment or byproducts, and no indications of any vessels or structures on the surface.”
Turning back to address the captain, Spock added, “It would appear the only difference between previous surveys of this world and ours is the presence of plant and animal life forms across both land and sea.”
Pike sighed and shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense…but, that’s why we’re here, so let’s figure it all out.”
He turned to face exo-zoologist and exo-botanist Briar Rowan. “Alright, Miss Rowan. The spotlight’s on you. Any theories before we make our way down there?”
Pike watched with growing alarm as Lieutenant Rowan moved ever closer to the sound of the ominous growls. “Lieutenant…” he quietly called out. In the corner of his eye, he noticed La’an getting ready to fire her phaser, and he quickly held out a hand in a silent order to stand by. Pike wasn’t going to just start blasting until there was cause to.
When the animal, which looked liked a cross between a bear and a dog, peeked its head out and Rowan reached out, his body tensed with fearful anticipation.
To his surprise and relief, however, the creature sniffed and then stepped forward so its head would rest just under her hand, allowing for Rowan to pet it.
Both Pike and La’an relaxed and lowered their phasers. The captain let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
“We’ll, uh, let you two get acquainted first before we come closer. I don’t want to spook the…Bear-dog? Dog-bear?” The captain said with a shrug.
“no, no, it’s nothing, i swear… except, ”ortegas had tried to explain it to her, and so had kyle, the two of them coming from different angles: starfleet graduate and enlisted officer, and yet both could not explain this particular aspect of the ship’s culture to her; being part of starfleet was like learning a whole new language, and sometimes, no matter how good you think you’ve gotten, you will eventually struck out, find a word or a saying which is completely foreign to you. “starfleet is just… a lot, uh, sir. ”
“It absolutely can be,” Captain Pike agreed, leaning back in his chair.
“I remember my first year at the Academy; there was so much to take in so quickly. There are a lot of unspoken…well, I don’t want to call them ‘rules’; maybe ‘tips’ is the better word. You had to learn not only what to say, but how to say it, and when, and to who, and you damn sure had to know why.”
He smiled gently as he met Chapel’s eyes. “You may be an outsider looking in, but you’re doing a hell of a job. I hear nothing but amazing things about you from so many of the crew. Don’t second-guess yourself, and don’t let anyone intimidate you.”
The Enterprise is limping its way to the nearest starbase for repairs after our encounter with the Gorn. Let it be noted that my crew, as always, performed above and beyond the call of duty. They’ve put forth a tremendous effort to repair what they could and get us back in working order, but I know they - and I - still feel the heartache of the losses we suffered. I can see it in their faces as I pass them in the corridors. It hides just behind their eyes as they work so diligently. Those seven people were colleagues and friends. Our losses could’ve been far worse, but that is cold comfort, at best.
Captain Pike paused outside of Lieutenant La’an Noonien Singh’s door, taking a deep breath before ringing the chime. In the brief time he’d known her, La’an demonstrated uncommonly resilient emotional fortitude, but the Enterprise’s battle with the Gorn was far more personal for her, as she’d endured a horrific experience with the mysterious hostile race many years ago. This made him concerned for her well-being, hence his decision to visit. He suspected she’d simply downplay or dismiss his concerns, and he wasn’t keen on pushing her, but as her captain and someone who cared about every single officer under his command, he felt compelled to check in on her.
Once he received permission to enter, he walked in and stood a few paces away from his security chief.
“Lieutenant, I hope I’m not bothering you. After everything that happened, I wanted to stop by and check in to see how you’re doing.”
Captain Pike let out a quiet laugh. “That explains a lot, Ensign.” He watched Thera work for another few seconds. He appreciated her dedication as well as her attitude; she was one of many who comprised what he considered the finest crew in Starfleet.
“Submit a report on your findings to me and Dr. M’Benga so you can get this done. Anything you need, you’ll get, and if you get any pushback, let me know personally, Ensign.”
Pike began to walk away so he could leave the young officer to her work, but paused after a few steps, turning to look at her again. “Oh, and Miss Pardalis,” he called out, “I’d like you to join me and my senior staff for our next dinner, tomorrow night; 1900 hours. And, no matter what anyone tells you, it’s casual.” He smirked as he remembered his last dinner, with Cadet Uhura showing up in her dress uniform. Leave it to Ortegas to prank the new blood.
“Just bring you and your appetite.”
Another holdover from her earlier days; fix the problem caused by the problem, in this case the down equipment in Sickbay, so others could get on with their work. The damaged board would probably end up salvaged for parts, but it might also give a clue on how to avoid this happening again.
“Ooh, yes sir …” Quietly impressed at the endorsement, though she was sure it only applied to this particular time and this particular repair - she was old and savvy enough to not let it go to her head. But … well. Maybe that ‘first impression’ hadn’t gone so badly after all.
Her left hand stung a little and she’d just pulled it out to squint at when Pike spoke again, and dignity hoped he didn’t see her eyes go wide. Had he just … ? The Captain’s Table - ? “Uh …” It took a fair bit to knock the wind out of Thera’s sails, but that had done the trick.
“Yes, sir. I’ll be there.”
“Good. See you there.” With that, Pike left Pardalis to her task.
Over the next 18 hours, the captain was pleased to hear that Thera had deftly handled the circuit panel issue and had even managed to impress Chief Engineer Hemmer, which was no small feat.
By 1830 hours after he last saw Ensign Pardalis, his executive officers and the others he’d invited had arrived in his quarters for dinner. Pike had a playlist of his favorite music playing, and everyone was pitching in to either prepare food or drinks, or set places at the table.
When Pike heard the chime, he came to the door and was pleased to see Thera waiting.
“Ensign Pardalis! Welcome! Come on in and grab a drink.”
Pike’s brow furrowed as he thought aloud. “The whole board? We just launched from drydock a week ago! How the hell could we have a whole circuit board fail?” He let out a sigh and ran his hand over his face.
He met Thera’s eyes and said, “Yes; put in a requisition for it and let them know you have priority authorization from me. I’ll make sure Engineering is aware of it so Hemmer doesn’t give you a hard time.”
Pike smiled as he added, “He still might grumble about it, but that’s how he usually is.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.” The nod Thera gave back was brisk, reminiscent of the the parade-ground, but her thoughts were too busy to notice. Pulling out her comm she sent off the request - sooner done, sooner fulfilled - before coming back to the matter at hand.
“It’s not actually the whole board that’s gone, sir,” She corrected, peering into the panel again. “It’ll just be quicker for Sickbay to replace it, then we can take our time figuring what went wrong with this one.” The burnt wires were cooling now, and she went back in with screwdriver in hand.
“Also,” A hint of a return smile as she worked, “engineers are required to take Grumbling at the Academy … it’s a minor in our third and fourth years …”
Captain Pike let out a quiet laugh. “That explains a lot, Ensign.” He watched Thera work for another few seconds. He appreciated her dedication as well as her attitude; she was one of many who comprised what he considered the finest crew in Starfleet.
“Submit a report on your findings to me and Dr. M’Benga so you can get this done. Anything you need, you’ll get, and if you get any pushback, let me know personally, Ensign.”
Pike began to walk away so he could leave the young officer to her work, but paused after a few steps, turning to look at her again. “Oh, and Miss Pardalis,” he called out, “I’d like you to join me and my senior staff for our next dinner, tomorrow night; 1900 hours. And, no matter what anyone tells you, it’s casual.” He smirked as he remembered his last dinner, with Cadet Uhura showing up in her dress uniform. Leave it to Ortegas to prank the new blood.
“Always Someone There To Remind Me” (RP w/ @commanderuna)
“That could’ve gone better.”
Captain Pike noted La’an Noonien Singh’s quiet observation as the landing part gathered at their pre-determined beam-out point. As Chris visually confirmed that everyone who’d accompanied him were accounted for, he thought back to the events that transpired.
A remote Starfleet Corps of Engineers outpost residing on a planet in the early stages of warp development had requested a supply drop, and the Enterprise had been sent to deliver the much-needed equipment and provisions. While planetside, a warp field experiment went awry, and rather than let more experienced minds tackle the problem, Pike charged in to evacuate the technicians while their supervisor stabilized the field.
The supervisor didn’t hold back his shock and dismay at Captain Pike for impulsively putting himself in harm’s way. “This is Starfleet, Lieutenant Commander,” Pike reminded the younger supervisor. “We work together and get the job done, and from my perspective, we succeeded.”
He could feel the horrified, wide-eyed stare of Noonien-Singh, shaken by watching her captain, the man she was meant to keep safe, throwing himself into a potentially deadly situation, and he felt a twinge of self-awareness and regret begin to seep in.
Now, as the landing party prepared for beam-up, Pike reiterated his earlier statement to her. “And, it could’ve gone a lot worse, Lieutenant.” He lifted his communicator. “We good to go, Mr. Kyle?”
“Yes, sir,” the young transporter tech replied. “Energizing.”
Shortly thereafter, the landing party was standing on the transporter pads aboard the Enterprise, and Pike was not surprised to see his first officer, Una Chin-Riley, standing there, arms folded in front of her.
“Oh, boy,” he muttered quietly to himself as the team split up to handle their duties.
“I take it you have words for me, Number One,” Pike assessed. “Let’s go to my quarters. La’an, you have the chair until I get up there.”
“Aye, sir,” La’an replied, exchanging a glance with Una before leaving the room.
He glanced at Una. “Let’s walk,” he suggested, exiting the transporter room.
“Try not to yell at me too much until we get to my quarters, hmm?”
she’s never entirely pleased with the idea of the captain going on away missions. protocol aside, una’s got what some might consider to be an inflated sense of responsibility to protect the safety of every member of the crew. one thing she’s well aware of is that the safety of their captain is a fairly significant contributing factor when it comes to the well-being of everyone else; their morale, their emotional safety, among other less prominent aspects.
at the word that things hadn’t gone according to plan on the surface… well, una hadn’t been surprised per-se, but frustration certainly had come into play. that frustration is what’s prompted her to meet the away team in the transporter room. there’s an undeniable wave of relief at the sight of the pair who’d gone to the surface — undoubtedly two of the people aboard enterprise who mean the most to her — returned unscathed; that, in turn, leads to frustration taking over once more.
“that would be correct, captain,” the confirmation comes with a nod, brief and firm as arms fall to her sides with her gaze drifting to la’an’s for just a moment before falling into step beside chris.
“don’t worry, i’ll save the more heated thoughts for when there’s no one to overhear,” a pause as she offers a quick glance in his direction as they walk, “you know, this is just another example of why i hate seeing you go off on away missions, don’t you?” that’s tame enough for a start, isn’t it?
“I know there’s been a push for captains to stay behind during away missions, but you know I don’t abide by that, Number One,” Pike replied as the pair strode down corridors, passing crewmembers who’d look on in curiosity. “It’s not about capability or trust; it’s about responsibility, and as captain, it’s my responsibility to represent Starfleet.”
When they finally reached his quarters, Pike entered and made his way to his shelf of rare libations, grabbing the bottle of Saurian brandy and two glasses.
“C’mon, we can have a drink while you yell at me,” he said with a wry grin. He poured some of the brandy into each glass and handed one to Una.
“Those technicians could’ve been killed, Una. You know me well enough to know I couldn’t just stand and watch it happen.”
