The equation of Criminal Science

Posted on Thu Dec 2nd, 2021 @ 12:54am by Lieutenant Adélie Anders PhD & Captain Maho Takahashi

948 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Handling the Fallout
Location: Science Complex, Deck 10
Timeline: After 'Sabotage! Part 1: Briefing'

With the headache that was the shuttlebay situation being tended to, and having notified the yard engineers at Utopia Planitia about the parts that they would need to pick up, Maho decided her next order of business was to check the science labs and make sure nobody from the previous iteration of the science department sabotaged those as well.

Upon entering the main science complex, Maho took a look around and didn't immediately spot anything missing upon her basic preliminary examination. However, it would be best to consult with the Chief Science officer on the matter; Maho had been informed that someone more qualified for the role than the ensign out of the Academy that had come through her ready room had been found, and with everything going on over in shuttlebay, Maho had requested a meeting with the new CSO in the Science complex at their earliest convenient opportunity.

Adélie had no idea what was going on. That was pretty usual. The man's attention was usually restricted to math and science, and he could be known as slightly oblivious to other things going on around him. He was still new to the ship; and it made sense for his commanding officer to want to meet with the new department head. The half-Vulcan made his way to the science complex, and arrived with a smile.

Maho turned when she heard the doors to the Science complex open and saw Adélie step through.

"Lieutenant Anders:" She hailed. "I take it you had no trouble finding your way on board?"

"No trouble at all. No trouble at all, Commander." Adélie glanced around the room before settling his attention on Maho. He blinked. Despite his smile, the man's expression seemed almost exceedingly neutral. Perhaps there was some Vulcan in him after all. "Good to meet you. What are we here for?" He got straight to the point.

"The chief of flight control has recently brought to my attention that many things have gone missing from our shuttlebay." Maho explained. "We believe it might be an act of sabotage, and I wanted to check in with the other departments and make sure nothing similar has happened. I understand that you are new here; however, if you spot something out of place, or anything missing, I ask that you bring it to my attention."

"I'll bring it your attention if I notice anything," Adélie answered truthfully, though he wasn't sure how much there was to notice. He didn't quite have a good baseline; it was hard to notice if something was missing if he didn't know it was supposed to be there in the first place. "Sabotage, huh? What exactly happened?" He didn't hide his curiosity.

"A suspiciously large amount of tools and components have gone missing from our shuttlebay; too much to be considered acts of disgruntlement by the previous iterations of flight control and engineering." Maho explained. "We're still attempting to get down to the bottom of things, but I have no doubt that we'll find out who did it and why."

"Interesting." Adélie thought for a moment. Growing up, they had had one guy in their research station with a sour personality. Tools kept going missing and they finally found them all in his room. He surely didn't need them all; it was just a petty act. But they were jovial researchers, locked in a small space. Things couldn't go far. Here on a government-sponsored starship, such an act was much more impactful. "Sounds serious."

"It is serious, and we're certainly not taking things lightly." Maho responded. "However, I've been in the field of law enforcement long enough to know that there is a certain science behind criminal mindsets. Not enough to understand the smaller intricacies, but that's what we retain a science department for; to determine if there is anything scientific behind the criminals we apprehend, and inform the command staff accordingly. The job is certainly not for everyone, and many in the sciences division are often confused as to why an internal affairs ship needs a science department. As such, they usually do not realize the importance of a science department on board an internal affairs ship. However, I hope to dispel such confusion, and encourage an open door policy if you have questions about your duties."

Adélie nodded. He had learned fairly early on that the fact that they were half-Vulcan made some people overestimate how serious he was about things. Science was one of those things that warranted no overestimation; if somebody messed with the scientific equipment, they would warrant the full extent of Adélie's wrath. Frankly, Adélie didn't care too much about this ship's specific scientific purpose. He was no forensics expert. But he figured that any Starfleet ship would get into some sort of scientific issues; and besides, this was the right size of ship to be the next reasonable step in his career. A few years as the science officer here, and then maybe he could be transferred to an actual exploration ship... not that he would let the others know of his eventual goal there. It was only polite that he put his full effort and enthusiasm towards the task at hand. "I appreciate an open door policy," he smiled.

Maho nodded. "Very well, then you should have little trouble with your time here:" She extended a hand to the half Vulcan. "Welcome aboard the USS Myogi, Lieutenant Anders."

"Thank you," Adélie gave a slight smile as he shook the woman's hand. "I'm glad to be aboard."

Posting by

Commander Maho Takahashi
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Adélie Anders
Chief Science Officer

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