He Blinded Me With Science

Posted on Sun Apr 7th, 2019 @ 11:21pm by Lieutenant JG Haxin Mariwat & Lieutenant MacKenzie Jordan

Mission: The Team Assembles
Location: Astrophysics Lab
Timeline: Mission Day 2 at 0935

As soon as he'd boarded the Polaris, Lieutenant MacKenzie Jordan had checked to see if any other members of his team had arrived. He hadn't been afforded the opportunity to select any of the members of his team; instead, the Office of Mission Operations, in conjunction with the Office of Personnel, had assigned his entire crew. As such, he wanted to try to meet with his lead specialists as soon as they arrived. A good relationship with the leads would be necessary, just as a Captain would want to get along with his or her senior staff.

Figuring that the best place to accidentally run into members of his team was the groups assigned working area, the bespectacled man entered his small office. This part of the ship was typically home to science labs but had been reconfigured some to accommodate the needs of the Scientific and Technical Assessment Team. Now, in addition to a couple of dedicated lab facilities, there were a couple of offices, equipment storage, a small briefing room, and a lounge area which was equipped with a replicator, two small tables, a couch, and a rectangular coffee table.

His office was similarly sparse; a small metal desk topped with a standard computer terminal and his chair was a drab gray but comfortable. A pair of identical chairs were in front of the desk. That was it. It was plain. It was simple. It was without flash. But it was still his office.

Sitting at the desk, he began going through the team roster. His assigned deputy, an Ensign Nilis Adar, was a security officer fresh out of the Academy. The Technical Lead was a veteran Staff Warrant Officer named Victor Ward. "Seasoned," MacKenzie said with a chuckled, looking at Ward's record. The engineer had enlisted when Jordan was a toddler. It'll be nice to have some solid experience on the team, he thought.

Then he got to the Scientific Lead. According to the roster, the senior scientist on his team had just arrived on the Polaris.

"Computer, location of Lieutenant Haxin Mariwat."

* * *

Lieutenant JG Haxin Mariwat sat in the specialized astrophysics lab. Just like the record he had no idea the STAT team leader had just reviewed, he had come aboard. Rather than settle in, stow his gear, and tour the ship, Haxin did exactly what any of his personality type would do.

Check out his working space. The Bolian had quickly found the astrophysics lab, and he'd immediately put it to the test by loading his thesis regarding magnetohydrodyanmics and their role in protostars. He'd been working on the thesis since his graduation from the Academy several years ago, and in doing so he'd accumulated terraquads of data that he had to balance between storage at Starfleet Science's data farm, the Polaris's computer core, and a handful of data carriers he had brought to the lab, it would be a significant strain on the ship's and team's resources.

"Computer, load datasubset Mariwat Alpha-Nine-Six-hash-Three-Two-Two-Two-Lambda-Nine," he said, quickly tapping a few calculations into the computer. "Standby to filter the data through the following equation..." He produced a thin stylus from a pocket he'd fashioned using the tricorder holster slot on his pants and quickly scribbled an equation he'd modified from Newton's law of conservation of motion that allowed for the use of a fluid volume. All the while, he kept muttering bits and pieces of Gauss's law for magnetism as he moved from console to console, loading various subsets of data for the computer to parse and collate.

Jordan entered the lab quietly. Instantly, he saw the thin Bolian busily working on something. "Lieutenant Mariwat?" he called out. "Sorry to disturb you. I'm Lieutenant MacKenzie Jordan," he said as he approached the scientist.

"Hmm?" asked Hax, not bothering to look up or turn around. He finished a set of commands and glanced to his left to see the bespectacled man as the Bolian approached another station. "Good. I am in need of an assistant. What do you know of solenoidal vector fields?"

"A solenoidal vector field is a vector field with divergence zero at all points in the field," Jordan replied, confused why the Bolian was quizzing him on vector calculus. "Why?"

"What about Gauss's law of magnetism?" Hax answered the new arrival's question with a question, still not taking a moment to see who had arrived.

What is going on? the blue-eyed Lieutenant wondered. He searched through his brain to see if he could pull the information out. If he had it at all. "An equation in classical electrodynamics that states that the magnetic field has divergence equal to zero," he finally managed, wincing at the thought of a particular teacher from his school days.

Before the Bolian could fire off another question, MacKenzie stepped forward and placed a hand on the other man's shoulder. "Lieutenant," he said, hoping that he could avoid further cross-examination.

Feeling the new weight on his shoulder, the Bolian turned to see a bespectacled, dark-skinned human sporting a red collar and lieutenant's pips. His expert memory kicked in, knowing that naturally he would not be sent an officer in red to be a lab assistant, especially if one was higher ranked than the astrophysicist. "Ah, yes, Lieutenant. My apologies. I know my programs are a strain on the computer core, but I can reroute the string queries to not interface with the navigational records so that you can steer the ship to the third star on the left, or wherever it is that orders send us."

Still not sure what to make of the Bolian, Jordan decided he needed to hit the reset button. "Let's try this again. I'm Lieutenant MacKenzie Jordan. I'm in charge of the new Scientific and Technical Assessment Team. I believe that you're my lead scientific specialist. Assuming you're Lieutenant Mariwat."

Hax blinked, surprised by the introduction. He supposed he should have seen that coming. After all, he came straight to the lab in lieu of reporting in. "Oh," he stammered. "Right. Of course. Yes, I am Lieutenant Mariwat. I guess I don't have to worry about how much of the navigational I'm using now, am I?"

"Not as far as I'm concerned," the Human man replied. "But watch out the Polaris' CO. He doesn't strike me as the friendly type. But maybe you'll have a different experience, you both being Bolians."

Jordan looked at the wall display. "What are you working on?"

"I've been working on a doctorate thesis regarding magnetohydrodyanmics and their role in protostars. I really have another year or two of work left to go on it," stated Hax, "assuming the Polaris' computers are up to the task. I know the Excelsiors, even the refit ones, are really showing their age, but it's a good test to check their performance quotients, should that become an issue in the future."

"I'll take your word for it," he replied simply. Whatever Mariwat was doing, it was beyond Jordan's grasp. "Can we talk for a few minutes? Assuming it isn't a bad time for your work."

"Is there ever a good time, sir?" Hax asked, halfway serious as he gestured to a nearby chair. "Normally, I'd ask if you would like a hot beverage before we begin, but I've had bad experiences with spills around older equipment. What do you need, oh fearless leader?"

Oh fearless leader? Jordan thought. This guy's going to be interesting.

"Well, I wanted to meet you. Since we'll be working closely. Is that alright?" He didn't want to be too forceful with the Bolian; the scientist was already distracted and Jordan didn't want to make it worse.

Hax was momentarily perplexed, and his face certainly revealed so. "Why wouldn't it be all right? Your my superior, my supervising officer. A Vulcan would call it logical that we meet. If anything, I'm disappointed you're not a laboratory assistant."

"I didn't want to disrupt your work," Jordan explained. "If you were in the middle of something, something critical, I would wait." He walked over to a chair and sat down. "Since that doesn't seem to be the case, let's talk."

"Not critical?" Hax looked over at the computer screens that were scrolling rather sluggishly through his work. "Well, I suppose not. What do you wish to discuss, Lieutenant?"

"I want to get to know you a little," he answered. "Tell me about yourself."

Hax shifted in his seat slightly before answering, "All my life, I've been fascinated by the universe. People are great, don't get me wrong, but its the in-animates that catch my eye. On Bolarus, we experience a certain subset of the laws of physics. As I've grown and studied, the more I find the laws to more rigid than Vulcan logic, more shady than the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, and more complex than Sheliak law. There are entities, the solar or interstellar sort, that regularly defy the laws of both physical and astrophysics, and I couldn't be more fascinated. Starfleet provides for me a way to continue those studies whereas the private sector relies more and more on investors and favors and platitudes and schmoozing... Starfleet keeps it simple. I'll wear the uniform, meet its demands, and work on my studies as I'm able. It's a great job really."

MacKenzie couldn't fault the Bolian; Starfleet was a great mechanism for scientific work, especially for someone working in stellar sciences. "It sounds like you've got it figured out," he said politely. "Do you have any command experience? As the science lead, you'll be overseeing the other science specialists."

"If you're asking if I've had lab assistants before, the answer's yes," Hax confirmed.

"That's a start," Jordan began, "but I was referring to something a bit more...involved. Leading away teams, for example." He hoped that the Bolian understood that the science specialists weren't just lab assistants. "Anything like that?"

Hax blinked, unsure what the Lieutenant was asking. "One can't lead away teams onto the surface of a white star, Lieutenant. Nor can one venture out into a nebula wearing only an EVA suit. I might not have led away teams, but I have led groups of people behind monitors and sensor pallets to study interstellar phenomena."

"What about conducting a planetary survey? Or supervising a multidisciplinary team...not just scientists? There are likely to be times that you'll be put in command of a runabout with a cross-functional team to carry out a mission. A mission that might not be astrophysical in nature either."

"As I understand it, sir, such missions are part of the cost of the uniform. If that is what Starfleet, and by extension, you, Lieutenant, wish for me to do so, then I will do so without complaint." Hax paused for a moment and then added, "And, if I do not perform well, then I trust that you will inform me why so that I may improve for future outings."

MacKenzie smiled. "That sounds fair," he said, extending his hand.

Hax accepted the hand, giving it a semi-firm handshake. "Anything else I should know, Lieutenant?"

"I don't think so," the dark-skinned man replied. "Let me know if you need anything for your research. I'll see what I can do," he said while standing. "I can't make any promises though."

The Bolian rose quickly to his feet to rush over to a stack of padds. He couldn't find the one he was looking for, so he grabbed one and started typing furiously. "Actually, I've got a few things I do need. Multi-spectral thermometers, magnetoscope, additional computer resources, a case of isolinear chips and..." He looked up from his hasty actions to find that he was, again, alone with his work.

"Typical," he muttered. Setting down the padd, Hax returned to his last console and looked at the readouts. "Where was I? Oh, yes..."