Post 14

Posted on Wed Nov 19th, 2014 @ 2:49pm by Commander Leo Carpegiani PhD

Mission: Begin with a Bang
Location: Chief Science Officer's Office, Discovery NX-04, Drydock, Earth Orbit
Timeline: May 12th, 2155 - 1030 hours

Leo had sequestered himself in his office, which was just off the main astrometrics labs, with the door locked, the lights dimmed and a select playlist of late twentieth century heavy metal rock music blasting from the speakers in the bulkhead.

The acoustics were serviceable in his office, so would be good for times like this when he had his head buried in the latest journal articles from the scientific community. He could have used headphones, but he preferred the aural pleasure of the sound waves bouncing around the room. Besides, Lorenzo was not a fan of the music.

He was almost to the end of a fascinating study on the metabolic abnormalities developed in introduced species of the genus Corvus on Deneva when the track he was listening to – an extended live version of a Foo Fighters classic – wound down. He was startled when a woman's voice cut through the silence between tracks and he dropped the PADD on the desktop.

"Have you had neighbours complain about the noise yet, boss?"

He spun around and his eyes widened when he saw Lieutenant Elena Semyonova leaning in the doorway, her legs crossed and a PADD held casually in her left hand. He could just make out her mischievous grin in the dim light as the next track started.

Reaching over and pausing the music, he also thumbed the lighting control and brought the lights back up. They both blinked as he said, "I asked Starfleet to send me competent research staff. Don't tell me they screwed up and sent me you?"

Elena chuckled and stepped closer to him, handing over the PADD. "Sorry, boss," she said in her mishmash accent that wasn't quite Russian, a little more eastern American. "Pretty sure they just don't think you can run a whole department without me around to pick up the slack."

Leo took the PADD and smiled, "Any department head who has to find extra time to correct your mistakes is bound to fall behind in other areas."

The pair had served together most recently aboard the Constellation but also prior to that at Jupiter Station. They had developed a friendship built on mutual one-upmanship, brutal insult-based banter and a deep, unspoken respect of the other. He wouldn't admit it to her, but Leo was sad about leaving her behind on the Constellation.

Leo looked over the orders on the PADD and was pleased to see that Semyonova had been assigned as his deputy. They worked well together, and he knew her strengths would help to strengthen the department when had hitherto been light on in a few areas.

"I have to say," Leo said, tossing the PADD onto his desk and leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head, "I thought Captain Meistreich would have promoted you to Chief Science Officer. Sad to see he fired you instead."

Elena snorted. "Oh, he wanted to," she said, crossing her arms and perching herself on the edge of his desk, "but I refused. Instead, I had a friend in the Prime Minister's Office pull some strings and get me this assignment. Anyway, I couldn't have you out there taking all the glory for yourself."

"Even with you here, I will be taking all the glory, Lieutenant," Leo shot back.

She feigned a wound right over her heart. "Ouch!"

"If you don't piss me off," Leo continued, "I might permit you a co-authorship."

"So magnanimous, you are, boss."

"Don't you forget it."