Science Coming In

Posted on Tue Aug 11th, 2026 @ 3:23am by Lieutenant Kabon Praers & Commander Cornelius 'Kit' Hanlon

2,631 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Behind the Curtain
Location: First Officer's Office
Timeline: A few days before arrival at Apsloe

ON:

Kit sat behind his desk with a cup of coffee beside him, reading through Lieutenant Praers' personnel file for the second time. He had already made the questionable decision of opening one of the man's papers on stellar nursery formations and had managed several pages before accepting that while he could follow most of it, there was a point where his engineering background stopped being helpful, and he was mostly relying on stubbornness and a faint hope he'd understand it. Still, it had been interesting enough and told him something about the man he was about to meet. Praers had done well at the Academy, had experience as an Assistant Chief and clearly knew his field, but it was the move into his first Department Head position that interested Kit more. Being good at the work and being responsible for everyone else doing it were two different things, something Kit remembered rather vividly from his own first days as a Chief Engineer.

He took another drink of coffee as he scrolled further down the file, taking in the ambition towards command with a small smile. That was something worth remembering. Kit had always considered part of his job as First Officer was making sure people got the opportunities they needed to work out where they wanted to go next, although for now he was more interested in finding out what Praers wanted from the Science Department and what sort of Chief he intended to be. The file could tell him plenty, but Kit had long ago learned that they rarely told you everything useful about a person. He glanced towards the time in the corner of the display before reaching for his coffee again, taking a sip and giving a small nod of approval when he found it was still warm. At least he was getting better at that.

Kabon had spent the last few days in a shuttle reading over the science department’s manifest and crew roster for the Fenrir, as well as learning what he could about its Commanding Officer and Executive Officer as well. It had been one of the few distracting things he could do given that his transfer to the ship had been delayed after his prior ship, the Rhea, had run into an issue with the Pakled. Now instead of being at Utopia Planitia, he had been here, playing catch-up with a Vulcan shuttle pilot who was willing to leave him to his thoughts, thankfully.

What had surprised him the most was that neither the Captain nor First Officer seemed to have much background in the sciences. The Trill had to remind himself, however, that such a background did not make a good leader, and that’s why they had people like him on their ships. And now he was going to see just what his department would be on this vessel. He had heard stories of some ships where the science division took a back seat until suddenly the ship had run into a brown dwarf star capable of supporting life in its system. Luckily for the Trill, his last posting had been on a science-centric ship, and with it he was never bored.

So, here he was, in front of the door to the First Officer's office, ready to put those thoughts aside and discover what truly awaited him. In one hand he held a PADD that carried his transfer orders, and the other was raised, reaching out to the panel next to the door. And with a quick press, the chime button was pressed, announcing his arrival.

"Enter," Kit said as the chime rang and he stood to greet the Trill that entered. He smiled at Praers. "Lieutenant Praers, I'm Kit Hanlon, the First Officer...please, come and sit down. Can I get you anything to drink?" he asked, motioning to the replicator.

Walking inside the office, Kabon came to a stop a few feet from the desk of Commander Hanlon and snapped to attention. Just as he was prepared to introduce himself, he was beaten to the punch, clearly the First Officer well aware of who he was and that he had been on his way down. The shuttle bay manager must have notified the Commander once he had been dropped off, he thought to himself as he relaxed from his stiff posture. "Commander Hanlon, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir. And thank you; a glass of icoberry juice would be wonderful."

Looking at the desk in front of him, Kabon stepped forward and pulled back a chair to sit down. He made himself comfortable and then placed the PADD he had been carrying with him down on the desk so that Kit could take it once he had come back from the replicator. "I apologize for my late arrival, Commander. The Rhea ended up in a bit of a confrontation with a Pakled vessel trying to steal a Federation transport vessel. Ever since their planet blew up, they've become very aggressive scavengers."

Kit grimaced and shook his head, moving to the replicator. "Don't apologise," he said, with a soft chuckle. "I am sure that eventually the Pakled will understand that the relief ships the Federation sent to them are...actually for them to use, and that there is a planet in their system perfect for their relocation if they choose." He got him the icoberry juice for Kabon and for himself another coffee, and carried both over, putting them down. "And please, Hanlon or Kit, depending on the situation when we're talking like this..." he met the man's eyes and smiled, taking a seat.

“Let’s be honest, the Pakled are more than likely to end up trying to steal a Borg cube not knowing what they’re actually dealing with before they realize that the relief ships are there to help them,” Kabon replied with a chuckle as he took the glass of juice. While the Breen apparently liked icoberry juice frozen, he just liked his chilled, just like the replicator served it. He used the opportunity of taking a drink from the glass to study the human officer and his demeanor. Setting the glass down after a moment, he returned the smile and gave a nod of understanding. “Alright Kit, I’ll go with that if you call me Kabon. Though I have a strong feeling when I meet the Captain I shouldn’t start things off by saying, hey Scarlett, nice to meet you.” A mischievous smirk spread across his lips as he set down his glass and slid over his PADD to Hanlon.

Kit chuckled and took the PADD, looking at the transfer confirmation. "Yes, I recommend you don't get that personal with Captain Blake to start," he said, his blue eyes shining at that. "Welcome to the ship, Kabon." He tapped his thumb against the edge of the PADD before setting it down on the desk beside him. "I've had a chance to look through your record, and even attempted one of your papers on stellar nursery formations. I got several pages in before accepting there was a point where my engineering background stopped helping and stubbornness wasn't going to carry me through the rest." He smiled, reaching for his coffee. "But you've got a good record, and this is your first posting as a Department Head, so I wanted to take the chance to meet you properly before we throw you into everything. See how you're settling in, what you want to do with the Science Department and, more importantly, what you need from me to help you do it."

Kabon was glad to see that his humor wasn’t viewed as too much, and he relaxed into his chair. He was impressed that the Commander had taken the time to try and read one of his research papers. In fact, he felt it was a compliment that the man wanted to understand his new science officer better and not just what was in his service jacket. “Did you stop at the part where I start talking about how the variation of turbulence in the area coupled with gravitational distortion can affect the outcome of the dense filamentary structures throughout the cloud?” Unless you were very excited by astrophysics, then that particular paper could probably get very boring not even halfway through.

“I appreciate you wanting to meet with me before I get turned loose, as it were. I haven’t even seen my quarters yet, to be honest; I figured it was important to check in, seeing that the ship was already underway. I have to say though, the delay in getting here gave me plenty of time to look over the ship specifications and my department's roster.” Kabon paused for a moment and took a drink of his juice before deciding to shoot big right off the bat. “One thing that I did notice is that astrophysics is down on deck eleven compared to the rest of the science labs, which are on deck six. I’m going to assume that has to do with where the sensor pods are located on the ship. I’d like your permission to discuss with Engineering setting up a direct live connection between astrophysics and stellar cartography, complete with an immersive holosystem. On Rhea, we installed such a system, and it allowed us to take sensor data as it came in with the addition of existing data and turn it into a full 360-degree interactive holographic map. It provides a much more immersive way of studying what’s around us, and when I need to explain something we discover, well, think about being able to see and touch what I’m presenting versus just a layout on a console display.”

Kit raised his eyebrows slightly as Kabon launched into the idea, but the smile that came with it was genuine. Something was reassuring about meeting a new Department Head who had barely made it aboard and had already started thinking about what he could improve. But he appreciated the actual question. "For the record, I think I made it somewhere around dense filamentary structures before deciding the universe had defeated me for the afternoon." He took another sip of his coffee before nodding. "You are right, it is partly the sensor pods and partly the size of the ship itself. Fenrir was designed with disaster response in mind, so most of the rooms on each deck can be converted if we need to take on evacuees or lose access to another part of the ship. Astrophysics is a little more difficult to move around because of the equipment and its direct connections into the sensor systems."

He considered Kabon's suggestion for a moment before nodding. "Your plan is solid though. Absolutely talk to Engineering about it. I'd include Operations as well, particularly if you're looking at a constant live feed rather than pulling the data when you need it. They'll want to make sure you're not creating any interesting bottlenecks in the sensor network." He glanced briefly towards the display on his desk, already mentally running through the sort of questions he would have asked back when Engineering had been his problem. "If Engineering and Ops are happy with the power requirements, data routing and whatever modifications you need to make to the labs, then I don't have an objection. Put something together with them and send it through to me once you've worked out exactly what you need."

There was a small grin as his superior officer explained that he had gotten farther than expected in the paper that had been published in Nautilus, one of the oldest scientific journals in the Federation. It was that paper and the other published paper that he planned to submit with an application to the University of Alpha Centauri next year. The university offered a remote doctoral program for Starfleet Officers, and he was highly considering getting his SC.d. But back to the focus at hand. "I figured it was the sensor pods the moment I started reading about the ship. Disappointing, but understandable as well given the mission profile of the Fenrir. With that in mind, I will make sure the science labs have standing plans in place in case they need to be converted at a moment's notice for emergency response operations."

The next part actually surprised Kabon, though; he had not expected the XO to be so supportive of his initial proposal. It was going to require a bit of work, as he pointed out, and quite a few department heads signing off on it. Not to mention then his and eventually the Captain. "I'll write up the proposal proper and have it in the shared datastreams for the Chief Engineer and Ops. I'll also make sure a copy goes into yours as well, Sir. Once I've met with them, I'll follow up if they agree that it's doable. Now, is there anything you need from me before we begin our first mission?"

Kit gave him a small smile and shook his head. "No, nothing else. You should go and meet your team. The Assistant Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Junior Grade Xey, has also just arrived. But Ensign Kol, Lieutenant Junior Grade Montague, and crewman Ni-ya have been on the ship since the retrofit and know where all current...science things are at."

“Well, I’m glad to hear my crew is mostly settled in then. I’ll take care of those meetings before we reach our destination. Oh, one last question. Is the Captain expecting me this afternoon or should I report in with her tomorrow?” Kabon asked as the conversation was beginning to wrap up for them. In his head, he summarized everything he and the Commander had covered, committing it to memory.

"Ideally this afternoon," Kit said because he knew that the new arrival would have flagged for Captain Blake. "It would not be the end of the world if you send her a message and arrange it for tomorrow, though." He stood because he suspected the other man was eager to go and figure out things...get to know the ship. And it was a nice, universal signal that he could go. "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Praers. I look forward to working with you."

“I’ll go make sure my things got to my quarters and then report in, Sir,” Kabon replied as he too stood up and reached out his hand to offer a shake. This is what he had been taught at a young age was popular with the Humans at the end of a conversation that went over well. “Thank you for having me Commander. I look forward to working with you as well, Sir.”

Kit took the offered hand and shook it firmly, smiling. "Likewise, Kabon. Go and get yourself settled in before we find something else for you to do." There was a hint of amusement in his eyes as he released his hand. "And good luck with Captain Blake."

With the handshake completed, the Chief Science Officer turned around and took his leave, heading out so that he could get underway. Who knew what new adventures awaited him on this ship? Each day would bring its own surprises, and he looked forward to them.

Kit watched the doors close behind him before sitting back down, reaching automatically for his coffee. He had the distinct feeling that Science was going to keep Engineering and Operations busy for the foreseeable future, but there were considerably worse problems for a First Officer to have. But that was okay...he'd figure it like usual. They all would.

OFF:

Lieutenant Kabon Praers
Chief Science Officer
USS Fenrir

&

Commander Kit Hanlon
First Officer
USS Fenrir

 

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