Scattering Songbirds

Posted on Sat May 18th, 2024 @ 9:58pm by Commander Izzy Schröder Ph.D. & Lieutenant Commander Hamish Brott & Lieutenant Skye MacLeod

1,062 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Spiders of Sarastus VII
Location: Bellwether | Ops

The shimmering effect of reliable Federation transporters had begun at the hands of Lieutenant Commander Hamish Brott, station commander, and occasional transporter operator though far from specialist. He was in Ops with Lieutenant Skye MacLeod when he received the transmission from his old friend, the starship Warbler had arrived. Too large for the Bellwether's launchbay, the old Aerie class starship took up residency at one of the stations old ports, usually used for larger cargo ships. At the console, Brott called out to the science officer. "Your chariot is here my dear" he said with a jovial chuckle. "But first, I'll let you get acquainted."

Two figures, an adult and an adolescent by the stature of the glimmering silhouettes were beginning to take shape in Ops. More distinct features began to form. The taller of the two a female with a caucasian skin tone and a full head of dark hair curly hair. Her adolescent companion, a male approximately one hundred six five centimeters in height, a humanoid with a darker skin tome and a sculpted bit of dark hair.

Brott immediate scurried from his console and wrapped his arms around the now solid figure of the woman. "Izzy!" he exclaimed. The Bolian was clearly excited. He nearly lifted the woman off the ground several centimeters. "Welcome back home."

Izzy was amused to see her old friend and former crewmate was his same jovial self if not rounder than last time they saw one another. She accepted his embrace knowing it was coming. "Brott, you've been treating yourself well I hope?" She took a look around "It looks different but still home" added Izzy.

Brott smiled. "And it's yours to explore and see everything you've missed" he said. "I'll be in my office catching up on some paperwork, but this is Lieutenant MacLeod, she's kindly volunteered to accompany you."

Izzy approached the science officer and reached out extending a hand. "Miss MacLeod, a pleasure. Thank you for offering your assistance. Doctor Elizabeth Schröder, Professor" she added. The rank pips of a Starfleet commander on her. "Izzy" she said in a quieted tone.

"Skye. I'm happy to meet you both." She had lots of questions, but first she wanted to meet the professor and, who she assumed was her student.

"A pleasure," Izzy replied. "Brott has spoken quite highly of you."

Professor Schröder then looked at her companion, placing a supportive hand on his back and gave him a good firm shove forward. "Go ahead, don't be bashful now. You sure weren't the whole trip here."

The adolescent blushed. To him Bellwether was not small, not tiny, not old. It was as spectacular as Deep Space Nine because he had never been to Deep Space Nine. Frankly, he had barely been away from home. "Hi," he said nervously. The only Starfleet officer he had really been around had been Izzy, but Professor Schröder was not exactly typical. "I'm Jase. Jase Jackson" he said with his eyes wide.

"He's fifteen" noted Schröder.

"Hi, Jase Jackson. I'm Skye MacLeod. So, what brings you are with the professor?"

Skye. That's an awesome name thought Jase. "She abducted me one day during my lunch period. I was just hanging with my friends eating my sandwich and then she showed up" he said though his version of events left much to be desired.

Izzy sighed and shook her head. "Jase was towards the top of his class at Robert Langer High. He flagged Starfleet Academy's attention. I'm Director of our preparatory program which admitted Mister Jackson. He's been accompanying as we studied different nebulae types."

Jase shrugged "Yeah, but you did take me from school at lunch, and I was eating a sandwich."

"Do you want to join Starfleet?" Skye asked him. The more she learned about Jase, the more curious she was about him.

A question that was worth an answer he was not sure he had yet. "I think about it sometimes," he admitted. "We learn a bit about it in school. It seems kind of cool, I guess. Mom says it is dangerous, but being in a nebula is cooler than reading about them."

"It can be both. There are times it's really cool and we get to look at things like nebulae and ancient civilizations. There are also times when it's dangerous. Right now, you should learn all you can about your options so when you're older, you'll know what you really want. Starfleet isn't always the answer. A lot of scientists study nebulae from starbases and planet, too. Be aware that most of the time, scientists look at data and read reports. Or we're analyzing something. Sometimes it can be boring, too. But if you love what you do, the boring times aren't so bad."

Izzy Schröder smiled. It was very true that Starfleet was not always the answer for these gifted young minds. Of course she would have loved if they decided choose Starfleet, but if they did not, then at least they would have this wonderful experience and potentially do something to benefit the Federation. "And sometimes we get the opportunity to fly right into a cluster of ionite nebulae and study their storms closely. Something I'm sure Lieutenant MacLeod is looking forward to."

"Definitely." Skye smiled at both of them. "If you want to travel the galaxy and study stellar phenomena, there's no better place than Starfleet. I'm looking forward to learning more about this particular nebula at the moment."

Brott exited his office and greeted the trio with a friendly smile. "Jase, how about we take a little stroll down to the infirmary to see our Doctor. We'll let these two talk nebulae and storms."

Izzy gave a nod of approval to Jase. "Thank you, Brott. The lieutenant and I will have a nice chat."

"See you soon, Jace," Skye said, then turned to Izzy. "Where would you like to talk?" There weren't many options on the relay station.

Izzy, having served on Bellwether herself before smiled. "You still have a cozy little lounge?"

"We do," Skye said, leading the way. "We recently added a vertical garden to one of the intersections as well."

"A vertical garden, that's a nice touch. Lead the way" Izzy said though she knew the general layout of Bellwether. Muscle memory she thought.

 

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