Scientific Inquiry

Posted on Thu Jul 9th, 2026 @ 11:15pm by Lieutenant Cyrin Xanth & Commander Cale Llewellyn DSci

Mission: A New Day at Midnight
Location: Deck 7 - Hydroponics Lab
Timeline: After "Solicited Advice"

"...so if you ever think you've got a strange question, or a wild theory, or an idea that's only half-formed because you haven't had time to work the rest of it out yet, my door is open. Science doesn't move forward because someone was afraid of sounding silly. It moves forward because someone asked the question everyone else overlooked." Cyrin beamed at his team, which he'd assembled amidst the green and growing things of the hydroponics. It seemed to him like a fitting place, being around life, the fresh air the plants generated, the smell of the earth maybe reminding people of their homeworlds. He hoped it was a good sort of omen, even if he really didn't believe in such things. At least, maybe it was a good way to start on the right foot with everyone.

"Everyone that already has projects underway, please continue as you have been. Anyone on standby for a task, I'd like you take some time to familiarize yourself with the records about the Omipro civilization please. I'll be doing the same. I'd like to show the Captain we're ready to step in to offer analysis and understanding, should the theft at the museum be about more than just some dusty old artifacts. And please, have some fun too!"

"I don't expect perfection. I don't even expect us to be right all the time. I do expect us to stay curious, to challenge each other, and to enjoy what we're doing. We get to explore the universe for a living. I think that's worth being excited about. Um...thank you!" Cyrin ended with Nyx's preferred method of closing a meeting he'd just learned a little while ago, deciding to copy his betters on that. It really did sound so much nicer than 'dismissed'. He hadn't expected cheers or applause, but there was a scattering of the latter, and plenty of smiles to go around. Something about the short Trill's enthusiasm was a bit infectious towards some others. It probably helped that his introductory speech to his new staff hadn't been some pre-rehearsed, long-winded thing where he laid out impossible expectations. It had been off the cuff, genuine, and friendly, without adding on any additional asks or responsibilities for the time being. What really helped had been getting some input from Christine J'Oh, who had helped him settle some of his 'jitters' and figure out what he should say to his team.

As everyone started to file out of the lab, Cyrin craned his neck when he caught the flash of command-red shoulders through the crowd. Had the captain been standing back there listening? Given his height, he hadn't been able to see all the way towards the doors, and even now couldn't make out who the figure was. He schooled himself to patience as the science team slowly went about their way, though his fingers itched to reach for a PADD he had set nearby on a table that he'd pulled up the archaelogical reports that were available from the colony on Omipro. So much to do, so little time. Maybe he could read, just a little...

The Omipro civlization was a sophistocated culture at it's height approximately 20,000 standard years ago. While translation efforts of surviving records and inscriptions have been slow, so we do not know what they called themselves, we have made more headway in our analysis of other physical remnants, which this report will-

"Nice intro, Lieutenant. Impressive even to me. I'm sorry, where are my manners? Commander Cale Jayson Llewellyn, newly-minted First Officer. I'm new to the crew having only just arrived yesterday from the Gagarin. I'm a Science Officer, as well so if you need help with anything, please don't hesitate," the command officer said with a slight cockney accent.

"Hi!" Cyrin had indeed turned his attention to the PADD, for just a few seconds, he only got a few paragraphs into the reports, when he heard the other man speak up. The crowd had thinned enough that he could see who had spoken now. Human? Unique coloring, but they did have quite a lot of variety for the species, and his really stood out with the red uniform. Cyrin blinked, replayed what was said in his mind, and his excitement rose. "Oh, hi. First Officer! Nice to meet you Cale. I'm brand new too. Cyrin. Cyrin Xanth." Right away, not defaulting to the rank, not even a 'sir' before he launched into a little joke. "Honestly, do you think you could pause time for oh, say about three days, to give me a chance to catch up on everything?"

"I'm afraid that's entirely out of my wheelhouse, but nice try," Cale said laughing. "But I can try to rework the duty roster for you if you prefer." He's certainly not like any other joined Trill he'd worked with in the past. Somewhat impertinent but also truthful and younger than any other symbiont he had ever had the opportunity to come across. Then, his laugh came out of his mind and right out of his mouth, largely by accident. He couldn't quite manage to catch it before it erupted from him.

"No, please don't," Cyrin insisted, but still with a smile. "No special treatment for me, especially on day one. So far, everyone's been really kind and supportive. It's just, we only have a few hours before Nyx might need my team's input. And there's so much to do! Would it be rude to ask if we could walk and talk? I'm sure you have the whole XO-getting-to-know-his-staff thing, and I have some labs to inspect. Plus if you promoted out of Science, then maybe you'd like to see the labs too?"

"Let's walk and talk. It seems to be the theme of late," Cale said. "So who do we have first?"

He hesitated a moment, glanced at the PADD in his hand with a touch of regret, but then tucked it back into a pocket. "Right. Let's go to Astrometrics first. With the enhanced sensor suite the ship has, they'll be charting and refining our stellar maps to a higher level than ever before." He led the way out of Hydroponics and down the corridor and around a corner. "You're from the Gagarin? I haven't heard of it. What was it like? I'm fresh off the Celeste myself just a couple of hours ago."

"It's a newer Sagan-class science vessel. I went there after I left the Merlin the last time. I've been there ever since serving as Chief Science/3rd Officer. And while it was the best period of my life, I've got no doubt that this assignment may prove to be the most challenging of my career," Cale said. "And yes, Mister Xanth, that would be very enjoyable."

"What made you make the move fully, from Science to Command? If you don't mind my asking." Cyrin turned another corner, and then went through the doors into Astrometrics. The room was spacious and perspective shifted suddenly, from the broad if still confined corridors of the ship to this large, open space filled with holographic displays and a map of the nearby part of the galaxy. A couple of teal-collared crew who had arrived just before them looked up, and Cyrin waved at them to continue their work as they came in.

"I'm not sure. I think I always thought that there was more to exploration then the Science end of things," Cale said cocking his head to the right thinking about his answer for a few moments before replying.

"You'll have to tell me if you figure it out," Cyrin said, a little distracted as he looked around. He spoke softly to not disturb the pair working in here too much. His team probably expected him to be looking through the facilities. After examining the displays and holograms, Cyrin turned toward an empty workstation and typed swiftly to pull up the specs on the sensors that fed into the astrometric processors, let out an impressed noise. "Maybe, someday I'll want to command," he continued. "But this is my first time being a senior officer at all. I think I probably have a long way to go still."

"Like I said, if you should ever need anything, anything at all, my door is always open, Mr Xanth. I will tell you my first run at being a senior officer was most interesting. We ran through two XO's during the beginning of our mission. For the next mission, the captain brought me and the flight control officer into his ready room and promoted both of us to full lieutenants and then gave me a field commission to Lieutenant Commander. I was surprised that he chose me, a newly-minted senior officer, to be his new Executive Officer. I still, after all these years, don't understand what drew him to promote me. And I've never received an acceptable answer to my question so I let it go. The current captain is the former flight control officer and my former friend who joined the crew at the same time as I did. I've applied to rejoin the ship a few times but Captain Jones saw fit to disallow me a chance to prove myself. I even volunteered to demote myself in an effort to rejoin the crew but still she declined my offer so I chose not to reapply again. I elected to apply somewhere where my experience would be more beneficial."

And after that somewhat emotional exposition, Cale decided to allow the young lieutenant to offer something of his own experiences during their young lives. He felt the need to allow this young Trill the opportunity to offer something of his life.

"That all seems complicated," Cyrin said thoughtfully. "The ranks and positions and the guessing why things turned out that way. Not the good kind of complicated either, like measuring the mass of a singularity. Let's go to Geology next." He led the way, but was quiet for a few moments thinking that Cale might say more about his story, until, at least to him, the silence seemed a little awkward. "Ah, right, I guess I could..."

As the doors to astrometrics slid shut and they made their way around another bend, Cyrin picked a topic that might be dry to others, but maybe a fellow scientist could appreciate. "I think geology might be the next topic I study. I just obtained my high honors in exoarchaeology about a month ago," he said, using the Trill equivelent to what the humans might consider a Doctorate, though his people didn't use a title like that. "I think that might be part of why Nyx picked me, or this mission is just some crazy coincidence. But I also have the same in astrophysics and exobiology too. How about yourself?"

"I earned my doctorate in Astrophysics and Quantum Mechanics. I was always more interested in the stars and what life could be like in space. Geology never seemed that interesting a subject to me. I have a graduate degree in Climatology," Cale said in response to the Trill officer's question.

"Ooo, someone who won't cringe if I start talking about cosmic strings, or the long-term impact to the fabric of subspace by baryonic radiation," Cyrin grinned up at the other man. "Don't take geology for granite though." Look, the silly little Trill made a joke! "It's all part of the same physics, and there's so much we can tell about a world from it."

That's when the doors slid open on the walk to the next lab, where another pair of specialists were enjoying a coffee break. There didn't seem to be much going on in here, so Cyrin went to the main scanner in the big table at the center to check it out.

"Is there something wrong, Lieutenant?" he asked rather quickly.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Cyrin glanced up from the sensor suite and blinked. Then he looked around, confused. "Was my joke that bad?"

"No, at the main scanner. I was simply asking if anything was the matter?" Cale asked as he walked over this lab's version of the "pool table" in Main Engineering to check for himself.

"Ah, no, I don't think so. Impressive resolution on these sensors though, a full order of magnitude more sensitive than what we had on the Celeste." Cyrin had been impressed so far with what his team had at their disposal. "I don't want to make it sound like my old ship was bad. It was wonderful, really. But it was old too. I think there's only so many refits a Miranda-class can go through. A little sad about it too - the decomissioning ceremony is in a week and I'll miss it. Not that I would want to miss our mission here of course."

He grinned and shrugged it off, "Quantum Mechancis lab next! We didn't have one of those on the Celeste. Maybe they have figured out how to make me be at two places at once."

"That would be wonderful if we were able to do that. I would like to visit my sister again but instead chose to apply for this ship. Let't see the Quantum Mechanics lab. It's been a long time since I've been on a ship with a working one," Cale said to the young Trill with enthusiasm. "I've never served on a Miranda-class vessel."

"Oh, it was a pleasure, I can tell you. I don't think Starfleet has ever built a more capable design. Reliable. Capable. I don't know of another class of ship that served for so long in the fleet. So this one time, in Sector 009, we were en route to excavate an Iconian ruin, when we ran into some Naussican pirates with a modern bird of prey - can't tell you how they got their hands on that. So anyways, when diplomacy failed, and it came down to a fight, the captain of the Celeste..."

The pair continued to make the rounds of the Science Deck, with Cyrin chatting excitedly away.