Lost and Found

Posted on Wed May 24th, 2023 @ 8:05am by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Ensign Quinn Alka-Sutton

Mission: Character Development
Location: Halls of the Athena
Timeline: MD5 :: Before 'You Do Your Job And I'll Do Mine!'
1566 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Lost again, Quinn sighed as they looked down at the PADD in their hand as it currently displayed the deckplan of the Athena. Somehow they had managed for years at the Academy without ever getting lost - and even grown up in the darkend and cramped confines of Deep Space Nine without and issue. But put them on a starship, it seemed, and it was inevitable that Quinn would make a wrong turn and get lost; the more decks, the easier it would happen. They glanced up and looked at the labelling on a nearby door, "No, I definitely took a wrong turn somewhere."

With the news of a new mission under a new commanding officer, Zade finally had something worthwhile to do... until her department's pre-departure checks were completed in about a half hour. There was still some time before the ship actually left, so the Trill decided to drag her attention away from reading through ship files and do some security rounds. She noticed a few new faces in the personnel files and made a note to say hi whenever she ran into one. Aside from a new chief of engineering --which Zade was slightly disappointed by because she had plans with Finn-- there were two new science officers.

Turning a corner, Zade noticed one of the new arrivals looking quite confused between the PaDD in their hand and a nearby door. She knew that struggle, having experienced it herself when she came aboard. "Can I help you find something, Ensign?" She asked, spotting the single pip on the collar.

Quinn's eyes widened at the sudden voice and the young ensign jumped. Letting out a large breath, they spotted the approaching security officer, "Prophets, you scared me." They lightly touched their right ear, taking a moment to catch their breath, "Sorry uhh... - " eyes glanced to collar - "lieutenant, I'm actually just looking for my quarters. They're supposed to be somewhere around here but I think I took a wrong turn." They held up the PADD, showing the room designation - a room that was clearly nowhere near where the two officers now stood.

The Trill gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to startle you." Zade turned her attention to the PaDD and stepped a little closer to read it. "Well, you're on the correct half of the ship, at least. I can show you to your quarters if you'd like."

"I'm just a little jumpy, sir," the Bajoran said quietly. "I... wasn't expecting someone to sneak up on me. I think I just got turned around... I'd love some help to get in the right direction. Lieutenant Ryan told me I should take the day to go to my quarters and settle in but... well, I've never been on anything larger than a Nova before and even then I rarely set foot below deck three."

"I know that feeling. I got lost a few times when I first transferred, too," Zade said, in a hope to help ease the ensign's nerves. "It looks like we need to go up three decks. The turbolift is in this direction." The Trill led the way, considering it a detour in her rounds. "So, you're working for Lieutenant Ryan?"

Three whole decks? Quinn remained quiet at that, afraid their embarassment at being that far off. Well, they decided - at least they were on the right ship? They followed after the Trill, glad for the change in subject, "Y-yes... yes, sir. Or I guess I will be once my duty shifts start, at least. I'm looking forward to it, of course - and working with everyone else as well, of course." They gave a slight sheepish smile up reaching the turbolift, glancing away and raising their hand to their ear again.

"In the handful of times we've done something together, she seems nice." Out of the corner of her eye, Zade picked up on the fidgeting of the earring but didn't say anything about it. The officer was nervous, she could tell that much. "Do you have a specialty?" She asked conversationally, hoping to help ease the officer's nerves as they waited for the turbolift.

"Y-yeah," the ensign smiled again, "she seemed nice enough, though I think I caught her a little off guard. I don't think she was expecting me when I reported. She seemed a little... distracted I guess? Sorry, I shouldn't be talking about my superior officer like that." A frown touched their face and - glad for the change of subject again - they carried on, "I'm a biologist - I was aiming to specialize specifically in alien species but there's more demand for generalized officers in the field... plus I have a bit of a background with languages as well. I was originally training to be a doctor but one of my professors recommended the career change when she saw how anxious I was to get out into space."

For the most part, Zade dismissed the apology with a slight shrug. The response from the officer sounded more like a description than anything. "That's quite interesting." The turbolift doors opened, and Zade gave the officer a smile and a gesture to enter. "Deck five," she told the computer. "I almost forgot-- I'm Zade, the ship's chief of security."

Quinn stepped in ahead of the security officer, making a face while turned away at Zade's response to their rambling. They'd often had some problems knowing exactly when to stop talking. Luckily, the lieutenant gave them a quick out as the turbolift started moving. "I'm Quinn. Quinn Alka-Sutton. Sorry, I probably should have introduced myself first, sir. Just uhh... just nerves."

"It's alright." It wasn't common to see timid security officers, so Zade wasn't used to interacting with someone so... apologetic. "So... biology and languages. That's an interesting mix. You'll find a handful of officers here with an affinity for learning languages." Despite the convenience of the universal translator, it seemed everyone knew at least two languages nowadays, if not to respect other cultures, then to prepare for when the universal translator inevitably malfunctioned.

The ensign seemed to brighten up at the idea of speaking with others about languages, "I uhh... I grew up on and around Bajor so there was always a lot of traffic coming through and..." There was a long pause after the ensign trailed off, but they soon spoke again, sounding far more cheerful, "Well, it guess it just sort of became a habit of mine to try out other languages and it stuck?"

The turbolift came to a stop, and Zade led the way out before waiting just long enough for the Ensign to follow. She then fell into step beside them and set a casual pace so they could continue the conversation. "That's quite useful. Do you have a favorite language? Perhaps something that was fun or intriguing to learn?"

"Hmm... that's a good question." The Bajoran ensign thought as they walked down the corridor, answering just as the pair took a right turn, "I'm not sure if I'd say it was my favourite but Ferengi was definitely interesting. Do you know they have over three dozen different ways of saying 'profit'?"

The Trill gave a smile. "I didn't know that, but I'm also not that surprised, given their society is so centered around profit." As much as she liked to hope that the different ways to say 'profit' were synonyms of the word, it was more believable to Zade that the Ferengi literally had twelve words that all translated to 'profit.' Glancing at a wall display in passing, she realized that it was only two more turns and they'd arrive to their destination. "If you ever want to learn or practice Trill, I could always use someone to chat with. It's been a while since I've conversed with someone without the universal translator."

"Oh!" The half-Bajoran's face lit up at the mention of another language, "I've never worked with it since I never had a lot of personal experience with Trill - but I'd love to! I've read that verb conjugation can be a bit of a challenge since it takes into account both the host and the symbiote." Quinn gave a little smile, starting to realize they were near to their quarters, "As long as it's not boring you, anyways."

Zade shook her head with a smile. "I may not understand all the nuances of linguistics, but it wouldn't bore me, Ensign. I can send some literature recommendations that explain the rules of the Trill language pretty well." They rounded the second turn, and Zade could see the Ensign's quarters down the hall.

"I'd love that!" There was a tone of genuine enthusiasm in the ensign's voice by now; they definitely were in a better mood than when the security chief had found them. Quinn glanced up as they came to a stop, noting the familiar numbers of the door they now stood near, "Well, I guess this is me. Thanks, Lieutenant. For taking the time to help and everything."

"Anytime. If you get lost again, I'm a comm call away," Zade responded with a smile. She made a mental note of the young officer's quarters so she could pass along that literature before leaving Quinn at their quarters to continue her rounds.