Greeting the Mad Scientist

Posted on Sat Jan 8th, 2022 @ 11:50pm by Commander Cyrus Cain & Lieutenant Cael Maz

Mission: S1 Episode 1: Caretaker, Part I
Location: XO's Office, Deck 2, ISS Vengeance
Timeline: MD 1, 10:00 Hours
1567 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

They dark gray mug in his hand sent up steady steams of steaming white vapor. His black leather gloves, standard issue for officers in the Imperial Fleet, were placed neatly next to the seemingly disorganized grouping of report pads and various other work items. The Executive Officer of the ISS Vengeance was a man who got his best work done alone and his drink was black coffee. Alone time had been at a minimum ever sense he'd took on the job of Project Manager for building this ship, yet progress still had to be made. He still wasn't sure if command suited his skillset, but he knew it suited his sense of importance. He sipped in silence, thumbing through a report on crew that were scheduled to arrive today.

The Captain was on that list. He was a man whom Cyrus had met only once before back when the man had been a Vice Admiral. How the mighty had fallen, indeed. Unfortunately, he had managed to fall directly into Cyrus Cain's way. He sipped again, clearing his throat and tossing the pad down on his desk just as a side door to his office opened from the administrative office space next door and in-walked Megan Rhodes, the mousy Command Yeoman wearing the skirt and midriff uniform variant for women.

"Your 10:00 is here, Commander." she said in a bored tone and an expression that suggested she was already tired of the routine schedules of being docked.

"Good to hear, Megan. Send him in." he responded without looking up at the woman. As she left the room, he reached for his gloves. Pooling the high quality material over his fingers, and tucking them under his sleeves, he waited for the arrival of the newly assigned Chief Science Officer. This person, no doubt a master of all things impractical, apparently came from a different reality. He wasn't eager for the meeting, but he was at least intrigued.

Cael Maz was still getting used to a uniform again, let alone a variant uniform. Command allowed him the liberties of wearing a standard set of clothes while working but now that time had passed. His eyes were unable to fall onto his rank but he knew it well, Lieutenant. Longways away from the Rear-Admiral, he was once crowned with for his service. But he was Section 31 and that did not bother him, too much at least. As he adjusted his uniform he entered the room of the XO and saluted in variant universe fashion.

"Lieutenant Cael Maz, both reporting as ordered."

The Commander looked up at the man with little interest, his brow furrowed as a man who was frustrated with the way his day was going. He returned the salute speedily as a matter of course.

"Yes, the new Chief Science Officer." he said, eyeing the man. "it seems you bring two things aboard this ship which make you an enigma for me, Mr. Maz. The fact that you come to us from a different reality..and that thing in your belly."

"Yes, no doubt. Maz is indeed something worth noting since he is the reason that him and I are both here. But as always, I am here to offer what we have in knowledge and expertise over the course of a very very long lifetime." Cael said plainly. He was not going to placate things or be over...nice about things. Just facts.

“And so you shall, I’m sure.” The XO said, standing up and walking around his desk toward the replicator. He placed his empty mug of coffee inside and then turned back to the science officer with a somewhat thoughtful expression. “I’m going to ask you to excuse my curiosity, but there’s a question I feel compelled to ask. You are from the universe where the Federation lives in peace and in…harmony with other lesser races. How did you manage to get yourself from there to here so reliably? Did you invent technology to do it safely?”

"Where I come from, yes, the Federation lives in peace and harmony but not without the assistance of people like me. The ones that fought for that freedom, the ones who founded the whole damn thing. Then to watch it become so power-hungry that it turned on its own people, its own creator. Well, a mans got his limits. As to the technology that brought me here, that was a one-way ticket from there to here and I burned that bridge as I left. Literally, I set it to self-destruct. Naplam is a beautiful thing in the morning." Cael Maz said clearly being more of Maz than of Cael's demeanor. "Safe is a term I no longer live with in my vocabulary. Go hard or go home."

"It's a shame you destroyed it...such a powerful piece of technology would be very useful indeed to the Empire." Cyrus said, his engineer's mind glinting between mechanical possibilities and the great wealth and prestige which would be brought to an engineer who invented such a thing. Genius was wasted on the unambitious, he thought. "As for your thoughts on safety, I might typically agree, however..."

The XO trailed off, turning his back to the man and taking several steps away toward the window. Outside, Earth Spacedoock was its typical buzz of activity as shuttles and Workpods made repairs and upgrades to a nearby Excelsior Class warship. This environment was home to him, and a traveling starship was still an anomaly to building and repairing.

"In the cold of space, we must always think about the regular miracles of our staying alive. Even a great ship; a great crew must be careful in order to live to fight again." he continued, turning to face Cael with a skeptically hard expression, his gloved hands behind his back. "You should put 'safe' back into your vocabulary, Lieutenant."

"..I will consider it, sir." Cael said after a few seconds of contemplation. "As for the teleportation into another universe, this is not my first time through. Other attempts also cost me dearly in the past. After all, the Empire and the Federation have a very long history." Cael said as Maz informed him through many visuals into his mind of the last few hundred years. "I am sure when the time is right, the 'bleed through' will happen again."

"No doubt you're right." the Commander affirmed, coming close to the other man and speaking more quietly, almost as if he were sharing a secret. "But right for whom?"

His question was rhetorical. There was much he didn't understand about the universe, but Cain had a special sort of certainty for the physical truth; that which was obvious to him and right in front of him. He pursed his lips, taking a step back. When he spoke again, he did so as a military man.

"This is a warship and the Science Department is staffed for the purpose of supporting that mission, nothing else. You can do your...experiments, but they are not to interfere with our mission of defeating the Alliance and restoring what rightfully belongs to the Empire. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

"Clear as crystal, sir," Cael said as he adjusted to the change in atmosphere. "I will ensure my teams stay out of the way and aid when necessary. Is there any particular project you want us to focus on at this juncture or will the artificial intelligence programs suffice?" He had his own personal project he worked on in his quarters, it was small and had nothing to do with the crew not the vessel but it was one he said he would rather die than surrender to not working on it.

"Once we get our mission brief, I'm sure the Captain will make your assignment very clear." Cyrus answered, his eye contact unwavering. He was tough; one had to be in Starfleet. "My concerns are more procedural at this stage as we take on our full crew compliment. As a department head, you will be on Alpha Duty shift, but your daily department report will be due to the Command Yeoman no later than 06:00 and you must be present at our 07:30 Daily Morning Briefings a half hour before your duty assignment begins. Your quarters are on this floor, Deck 2, and your office is on Deck 8 right beside Astrometrics. As I said, Science is not in our central mandate, so you are the only officer aboard. You will be assisted by two enlisted technicians, a warrant and petty officer respectively, and three of our most highly ranked slaves. It should be sufficient for any task you are given."

Commander Cian cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows.

"Any questions?"

Cael listened and took mental notes of who, what, where, when, and why. It was his job on the how part of the whole thing. "No questions, sir. I will get the jobs done with efficiency and effectiveness." He knew he was going to be watched, that did not bother him at all as he had nothing to hide. He would just have to set his alarms earlier than he anticipated.

"I do hope so." Cyrus said, then gave a swift Terran Solute. "Long Live the Empire. Dismissed."

Cael Maz returned the salute with precision and announced, "Long Live the Empire." Before doing and about-face and departing the room.