ops Ensign Kudon and Lt. Cmdr. Deveau - Collaboration

[Sal Taybrim]

A really lovely character building JP, showing off what can be accomplished with a little teamwork during shore leave!

 

 

((Atmospheric Lab, Deck 510, StarBase 118))

 

DeVeau and Kudon had just ended their meeting with Galven and were about to proceed along a few tracks to determine the best way to neutralize the Death Fog leftover on Vankoth II.  One was to separate the silicon from the silicon platinum chloride.  The second was to add ascorbic acid to chemically neutralize it.  And there was the third possibility of a combination of breaking the Death Fog molecules apart and adding something.  One way or the other they needed to get rid of the SiPtCl2.  There was also the matter of getting more accurate data from the Klingons on the level of Death Fog in the atmosphere

 

Kudon: So, Commander DeVeau, shall we go to a containment holodeck or do you want to work on the models first before trying them out?

 

DeVeau: Best to take things carefully I think.  Let’s work on a few models, then test.  

 

The two of them headed to the Science Main Office on Deck 506 to develop the models together.  Once there, the two sat down at a computer station and started exploring possibilities.

 

Kudon: I would recommend that we first translate the algorithm into Klingon and send it to them and hopefully get their data soon.  The more accurate our data, the better our models will end up being.

 

DeVeau: And the sooner we get that information, the sooner we can find a solution.  Agreed. 

 

Kudon: After that, I would be most interested in us starting on a model on your idea of adding ascorbic acid to see what effect that may have.

 

While he was genuinely interested in DeVeau’s theory, Kudon also knew it was smart to defer to one’s superior officer.  He would get a chance eventually to try out his model.  Better to show respect first.

 

DeVeau: We can run more than one model at a time.  ::Alora pointed out.::  So let’s be efficient, eh?

 

Making the best use of their time would get to an answer sooner rather than later.  Alora focused her attention on the task at hand.  Translating was made a little more difficult by the fact that some of the vocabulary used was not common.  Some words didn’t have straight Klingon translations.  Eventually, however, they accomplished that task. Then they went about setting up the models.  If they gave promising results, they would then take them to the holodeck and run some tests.  While they waited, Alora leaned back in her chair and studied the man across from her.  DeVeau: So please tell me about yourself, Kudon.  

 

This took Kudon quite by surprise.  He was not used to superior officers, especially ones he just met, to want to get to know him.  After a moment of hesitation he replied.

 

Kudon: Well...what exactly do you wish to know.

DeVeau: Whatever you’re willing to tell me.  

 

He wasn’t sure where to begin, so he just went with the basics.

 

Kudon: I am 22 Terran years old and fresh out of the Academy...plus one mission obviously.  I am from Vulcan.  

 

That wasn’t surprising to Alora.  While not all Vulcans were born on Vulcan depending on what their parents did, most were indeed from their home planet.  

 

DeVeau: How did you end up in Starfleet? 

 

Kudon: I’ve always known I wanted to be an Engineer.  Or at least a science officer.  At the Academy, I focused on maximizing the efficiency of fusion and warp core engines when they are operating together.

 

He was presenting what was his usual stump speech about what work he had done.  He usually assumed superior officers cared more about his resume than his personal life.  With Hael as quite the exception...in many ways.

 

DeVeau: Surely there’s more to your life than that.  Vulcan’s weren’t generally known for being forthcoming, but Alora did prefer to get to know her comrades.  After all, they worked together, they lived together.  They fought together.  They were family - maybe not biologically, but family none the less.  

 

Kudon: I spent little time off planet growing up on Vulcan.  My youth was rather immersed in a number of different Engineering projects.  I entered many science competitions and I will be honest that I won most of them.  If I may, Commander, if we are aquainting ourselves with each other, may I ask what brought you to Starbase 118 Ops?

 

DeVeau: Why certainly.  I was assigned here.  Before that...well, I can’t say, classified, but before /that/, I was in the Shoals on the Veritas.  

 

Kudon: Interesting.  That must have been quite different than here.

 

DeVeau: Yes, very.  Being on a base is quite a bit different than being on a ship, but not only that, the area was different, the people different.  Atmosphere in general.  The way you live is…

 

Just then, an alert went off on the computer and Kudon took a look, Alora following suit.  

 

Kudon: The first iteration of each of our three models has completed.  

 

The two of them scanned over the data results on the screen.

 

DeVeau: Oh, this looks promising.

 

Alora pointed at the information on the screen, though it was quite unnecessary.  

 

Kudon: Yes, it appears that Silicon can break off from the platinum chloride, as long as the temperature is kept within reasonable range.  The model with adding ascorbic acid is also successful.  What readings do you have on the model with both splitting the Silicon and adding the ascorbic acid?

 

DeVeau: Same - results show in an effective break down of the Fog.  

 

Kudon: So all three seem like effective methods to neutralize the gas.  The trouble is figuring out, which one is best.  And I don’t like the p-value of breaking off the Silicon only being .03.  97% chance of success is good, but a lot can go wrong 3% of the time.  

 

While Kudon certainly wanted to go with whichever model produced the best outcomes, part of him was very hopeful that his Silicon model would work.  This algorithm that had now been modified multiple times to detect, and now destroy Death Fog, was his ongoing project and if his theory of breaking off the Silicon were correct, it would help him feel somewhat redeemed for the limitations his algorithm had faced during the mission.

 

DeVeau: True.  Alora broke off, pondering the information they were presented with.  

 

Kudon: We can recalibrate and try another model run, but I think we need that data from the Klingons before we can do so.

 

DeVeau: I concur.  The more information we have, the better we can prepare, the better success we’ll have as well.  We’ll, unfortunately, have to wait.  

 

Kudon: Very well, Commander.  While we are waiting, I understand you are from Earth, correct?

 

Alora leaned back in her chair, crossed one leg over the other, then used the foot that remained in contact with the floor to twirl around.  When she was facing the Vulcan again, she nodded.  

 

Kudon was rather taken aback that his superior officer was twirling on a chair in front of them.  Not that he necessarily minded, but it was not what he expected.  On the other hand, she did seem to want to get to know him.  He could show her the same courtesy.

 

DeVeau: I’m an Earthling, born and bred in Georgia, spent quite a few years in Japan.  Some of my family still lives there.  Question. 

 

Kudon: Do you want to ask me a question?

 

DeVeau: What kind of music do you like? 

 

Kudon: That is a..surprising question, but I am happy to answer.  In fact, Commander Hael is the only person I have spoken with about music since I arrived.  We both appreciate an old Terran group called Metallica.  If you haven’t heard of them, they were what was called metal.  Very emotional music.  In fact, I like most music that expresses deep feelings.

 

At that point, Kudon wondered if it made sense to tell her that he was a Vulcan that had chosen to experience emotions.  It helped fit with his like of emotional music.  But he hardly knew DeVeau and he did not want to seem like he was confessing or giving up some dirty secret.  So he kept quiet about it for now. 

 

DeVeau: Do you like to dance?

 

Kudon: Well, metal is not exactly the type of music to dance to.  But come to think of it, I have never danced to any type of music before.  What do you ask?

DeVeau: Just curious.  So what type of things do you do when you have downtime?  What floats your boat?

 

Kudon: What floats my...what?

Alora giggled and twirled around, this time in the opposite direction.  

 

Kudon felt strange that she did the twirling again.  As someone who chose emotions, coming from a culture that does not, he usually struggled with ambiguous social situations.  And here he was not sure what the line was between professional and personal communication and behavior.  He found DeVeau to be a very nice person, but nonetheless he felt awkward.

 

DeVeau: It’s an earth saying - it means, what interests you?

 

Kudon: Oh I see...I enjoy cooking a variety of different dishes.  Sometimes I’ll replicate certain ingredients, but I like to make things from scratch as much as possible.  It feels very creative.  I like to cook dishes from a variety of cultures, not just Vulcan.  I also read a great deal, about engineering of course, but I took a number of Academy courses on interstellar diplomatic relations, so I enjoy reading about how different planets, empires, and so forth both cooperate and compete with one another.  What about you?  What...floats your boat?   

 

Alora grinned.  A Vulcan who expressed emotions /and/ adopted idioms.  She knew they existed, but she’d never met one before.  Very interesting.  

 

DeVeau: Oh, lots of things, really, but I’ll just choose one.  Singing. 

 

Kudon: How long have you been doing that?

 

DeVeau: Since I was born.

 

Alora grinned and shrugged. 

 

DeVeau: My mom’s a musician, I heard it in the womb, evidently, I came out singing myself, so to speak. 

 

Kudon: What is your favorite part about it?

 

That was not a simple answer.  Alora leaned back further into the chair pondering the question.  She forwent twirling about and, instead, just turned it from side to side a little as she considered the question.  What was her favourite part?  About singing?

 

DeVeau: I guess...being able to express one’s self in a way that’s augmented by the music.  Pain is more painful, joy more joyful when music is added.  And then...being able to become someone else and something else, even just for a little while.  Not because I dislike myself, but because it’s interesting to explore different thoughts, ideas, and situations.  Which...kind of goes along with another thing that floats my boat - acting.

 

Kudon: Wow, that does sound very enjoyable.  You should get some of the other crewmates together and we could all do it as a group.  I almost forgot to ask you, what kind of music do you---

 

He was cut off by the computer alert, just as DeVeau had earlier.  The Klingon data had come in.

 

Kudon: The Klingons certainly sent us the data very quickly.  It is not like them to be so immediately cooperative.

 

At once, Alora was all business.  As much as she enjoyed learning about people, she also knew there was a time for chit chat, and a time for work.  She eyed the data on the screen and nodded. 

 

DeVeau: Sounds like they want to get rid of this stuff as soon as possible - which is understandable.  

 

Kudon: What I’d like to do is have the computer translate it back from Klingon and then run our three models again.

 

DeVeau: Okay.

 

Alora didn’t argue though she was fully capable of translating it.  Perhaps he wanted it written down, which she could understand.  

 

As he started the translation, Kudon was starting to fill with excitement.  There was just something about the combination of abstract mathematical analysis with real life data. 

 

Kudon: Reverse translation complete.  Ready to input the data into our three models.  Let’s see what kind of light we can shine on this Death Fog.

 

Alora took a few moments to read over the information, though she chose to do so in the original Klingon.  

 

DeVeau: Let’s input the data on all the models and see what happens.  Best not count our chickens before they’re hatched.

 

Kudon: I agree that would be the best approach...I must say Commander, ::getting more and more animated:: and I think you can appreciate this as a Science Officer, there is just something so exciting about creating an algorithm and seeing it work in the real world.  It may seem silly, but I actually am nervous about what the results of our models will be.  Accurate, inaccurate?  Worse, better?  So many think of science and engineering as just brainpower, but there is real creativity and, dare I say, emotion involved.  Don’t you agree?

 

So he had let her know about his emotions after all, albeit indirectly.

 

Alora’s verdant eyes twinkled.  Little did he know she’d already seen that he allowed emotion - after all, Vulcan’s didn’t use terms such as ‘like’ and enjoyment when referring to themselves.  That display, however, showed that he did indeed allow his emotions to the forefront for more than simply descriptive words.  When she didn’t answer, too entertained by his excitement, he queried again. 

 

Kudon: There must have been a time when you felt like this?

 

DeVeau: Oh definitely.  And I agree.  More creativity is needed than people suspect, you have to think outside the books, look at things from different angles - like an artist.  

 

Kudon could not contain himself to sit down so he started pacing behind the chairs they were sitting in.  He was about to respond to DeVeau when the computer did one final alert to indicate the three models had finished running.  

 

Kudon: What are the results?

 

Alora didn’t answer right away.  She perused the results for a moment, then turned to the pacing Vulcan.  

 

DeVeau:  It looks like a combination of our ideas would work best.  It offers the most stability, and it actually speeds up the process by a whopping fifty percent! 

 

Kudon: Fascinating.  I think we should let Commander Galven know immediately.

 

DeVeau: Yes, yes we should.  I also think we should run it through the holodeck and test it out that way, but I suspect we’ll get the same answer.

 

Alora stood, allowing the chair to finally go still.

 

Kudon: I must say, Commander, I have enjoyed working with you.

 

Still standing, Kudon put out his hand to shake hers, with a small, but quite obvious, smile on his face, thinking how their teamwork had led to potentially very positive results.

 

Alora’s smile lit up her face and she accepted the hand warmly, though surprised as Vulcans were usually uninclined to touch due to their telepathy.  At least, that’s what her experience had been.  

 

DeVeau: I feel the same, it was a pleasure working with you.  I look forward to doing so more in the future.  

 

Ensign Kudon

Starbase 118 Ops

Engineering Officer

O239703K10

 

&

 

Lt. Cmdr. Alora DeVeau

Science Officer

Starbase 118 Ops

M239008AD0