Star Trek: Eventide 777 - ╰uss-t′shar

On schedule, a Vulcan science vessel docked at the base. The ship was full of Vulcan scientists who were eager to share their research with some of other scientists on the base. The ship was outfitted with only the most up to date equipment and an astrometrics lab.

The Hybrid walked in awe as she started at the highly advanced vessel. She held her PADD and a small science bag in her right arm, shuddering as she spots the various Vulcan scientists walking around. "I can't do this..." She muttered. She counted mentally in her mind and slowly walked to the Science vessel

K'laan, head of the science team aboard this vessel, raised an eyebrow as they heard the Lt. JG. pass. "Oh? To what are you referring to, Lieutenant Junior Grade T'Zan?" K'laan asked, approaching the Romulan-Vulcan with their hands clasped behind their back. They were well aware that this officer would be arriving, and they were prepared to show the woman around the ship...if she would be logical, of course.

She jumped back in slight shock. She didn't know she spoke that loud, or maybe it was Vulcan hearing. She straightened herself out and spoke. "N-nothing! I'm just talking to myself. You already know my name, what's yours?" She stuck out her hand

"I am K'laan. Welcome to the USS T'Shar." K'laan introduced, not impressed by this officer's emotional display. She resembled neither Vulcan nor Romulan, emotionally. They looked down at the outstretched hand and wrinkled their nose, just ever so slightly, not visible unless you were staring at their nose. "You are aware of the significance of hand contact between Vulcanoids, are you not, Lieutenant Junior Grade?" They said, their voice cold.

T'Zan stared at her confused, it has been a while since she was around a Vulcan. She knew that she offended her, so she retracted her hand back and gave her a Vulcan greeting. "Right, I'm sorry. Is the ship ready?"

"It is. I will take you to your quarters now," K'laan told T'Zan, moving forward down the corridor, hands still clasped firmly behind their back. Their paces were quick and steady, not pausing at all as they moved naturally through a semi-crowded hallway of their co-workers. They reached a door and stopped, waiting for the hybrid to follow.

T'Zan followed K'laan to her quarters. She wondered what her quarters are going to be like. "Thank you."

K'laan said nothing as they walked off. They could already tell that this assignment would be exhausting...this officer was a sore thumb in Vulcan society, she clearly had no idea how to behave.

The hybrid entered her quarters as she spots the Vulcan walk off. Great...they hate her already. She sat on her bed and started to unpack. She couldn't wait to start investigating temporal anomalies in an advanced starship. She smiled to herself. T'Zan finished unpacking and started to do some research on the incoming anomaly.

The hybrid started to get hungry, she walked out of her quarters to the eating area of the ship. She looks around at the various Vulcans in fear.

The mess hall was quiet, as most Vulcan eating establishments were. There was a couple open seats though, but if T'zan wanted to sit anywhere it would have to be across from a stranger.

The hybrid looked around for any friendly Vulcans, she wanted to at least sit by someone that wouldn't judge her for who she is. But where would she sit?

There was an empty spot not too far from where T'Zan was standing. One Vulcan man sat alone eating some Kreyla bread with some water. He looked like any other Vulcan, black bowl cut, slanted eye brows, but he wasn't nearly as stiff looking as the others.

She walked over to the Vulcan nervously. " H-hey, is it ok if I sit here?"

The serious looking Vulcan man nodded slowly, taking another piece of his Kreyla bread to eat slowly. This was the Starfleet officer who was visiting their ship, right? He was not interested in engaging in superfluous conversation, however from the looks of it she was quite nervous. "You are the Starfleet Officer visiting, right?"

"I am, yes. I'm very pleased to be working with a crew on a science vessel." The hybrid sat down and scratched her neck nervously

"We appreciate your help. Is there anything specifically you wanted to do while with us? Any questions?" That was a logical question, right? He was curious to know more about the officer, but speaking about anything other than what was necessary for work was illogical. This Vulcan was also a reunificationist who wanted to see this officer do well.

"I do have one, why is everyone so...stiff?"

“We are Vulcan, we follow Surak," The man replied, voice steady and monotone. Surely this officer knew about the teachings of Surak and emotional suppression. "However as I am aware, you are half Romulan, correct? I know a few other hybrids from Vulcan, there are many Romulans working on Vulcan these days. As I see it, it is certainly a step forward."

* The hybrid smiled slightly, at least one of the Vulcans here isn't so traditional as the others.* "Oh, I didn't know that, it's been a while since I've been to Vulcan. Years..."

"Where did you grow up, Lieutenant?" The Vulcan asked, looking at T'Zan now with a bit of curiosity. Perhaps he should have expected she did not grow up on Vulcan seeing as she was much more open about her emotions. A colony, perhaps? He waited for her answer as he sipped his water.

"Well, that's a bit complicated. I lived on Vulcan until I was fifteen. I tried following Surak's teachings, but it didn't work out for me. So, I made a deal with my father, to leave Vulcan with my 'volatile' emotions and live on Earth with a guardian. I spent the rest of my teenage years in Atlanta, Georgia."

"Earth, fascinating," The older Vulcan man was intrigued that someone would want to leave Vulcan and live on earth, but it would not be the first Vulcan to have chosen to do so. After all this officer was mixed and it wasn't like it was very safe on her Romulan side, or at least not post-Supernova. "What made you want to go into science? It is an obvious choice for a Vulcan, but not an easy field for one who cannot control their emotions."

"Well, I like to study and understand new things very well. In my opinion, science always depends on your emotions. Whether it's lacking them or having them, emotions play a big part in our lives. I've loved science since I was a kid, I didn't want to stop because I wasn't on Vulcan anymore."

"That is a noble cause," The man said with an emotionless gaze as he ate another piece of his Kreyla. He did not say anything for a few seconds, wanting to create some comfortable silence as he ate. He took another sip of water before resting his elbows on the table. "You seem nervous. Is there something on your mind, Lieutenant?"

"No..." The Hybrid looked around. "Yes, I'm scared of Vulcans, I haven't been around Vulcans in a long time...I sometimes feel like an outcast. Even more than usual, I'm scared that one day someone would convict me to change myself just to make me feel better."

"I do not believe anyone on this ship is looking to do that," The man said slowly and calmly. It seemed liked all the other Vulcans in the room were minding their own business, completely unaware to the officer's anxieties. "You are here to work alongside us. For as far as we are concerned, for this assignment you part of our team. I have seen your record and believe you are a fine officer and I have no doubts you will contribute positively to our research; emotions or not."

The hybrid smiled slightly at the man's words. She started to feel better about herself, maybe it won't be a bad trip after all.

Just then an announcement came over the intercom announcing that the ship was leaving the station. "We need to head to our stations now. Perhaps we will cross paths again. My name is Sulak, by the way," The man said as he stood up with his trey and headed to the replicator to recycle the materials.

The hybrid nodded and T'Zan ran out of the mess hall to the bridge.

As T'Zan stepped onto the bridge the other Vulcans were preparing to leave. Through the viewscreen one could see the station. There was a final call for everyone to get in positions and soon the ship had left the station.

The hybrid moved around in her seat in excitement, she couldn't wait to see what this science vessel has in store for her.

The ship set off from the station and the scientists all looked at their consoles, ready to analyse some cool science stuff around the station. Mostly ion particles and scanning for any abnormalities. Just up head a small cloud of dust became visible, it seemed like the ship was heading towards and ion storm.

The hybrid looked at her console and saw the Ion storm up ahead. T'Zan always hated Ion storms, they're too unpredictable.

"T'Zan," Said K'laan, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. "I would like to discuss something with you," They said in an even, unwavering tone.

"Hmm?" The hybrid turned around to see the Vulcan, they seemed irritated about something. "Yes, what would you like to discuss about?"

"You have no doubt noticed the ion storm. I would like to inquire what your course of action would be in this situation. How would Starfleet deal with this obstacle?" K'laan said. They were anything but irritated. T'Zan's interpretation was false.

"We should keep a steady course and try not to escape it. Ion storms are fast and are well known for messing up warp engines and navigation systems."

"We were considering an all-stop, to wait out the storm. Do you concur?" K'laan asked, tilting their head ever so slightly.

The hybrid stared at the Vulcan for a short moment. "Yes, I do."

"Very well. Thank you, Lt. JG. T'Zan," K'laan moved to make the order, but at that moment, the entire ship shook, throwing them off.

As the ship grew closer to the storm, tiny explosions could be seen rippling through the cloud of smoke. The ship shook after one explosion occurred a little too close. "The storm is unusually strong and I can't get a reading on the size. Shields are holding, but I am not sure if they can last the whole storm, we should come up with a way to dissipate the storm, it would be illogical to wait it out and risk a hull breech," The Vulcan helmsman said as the hum from the engines stopped and the ship sat still in the storm. There was still shaking from the explosions as well.

She held onto her console as the ship shook violently from getting closer to the Ion storm.

Green blood trickling from their forehead, K'laan stood up. "Agreed. Take us forward, half impulse," They told the helmsman. "T'Zan. Work on the shields," They told the scientist. Surely she could come up with some equation to boost the shields.

The helmsman did just that and the ship flew head first into the storm. Unfortunately the explosions only got stronger as the got deeper in and the lights began to flicker. "Rerouting auxiliary power, the storm seems to be getting stronger sensors are detecting power fluctuations in the labs, we can't afford to have any of our data damaged. We need to disperse this storm as soon as possible."

The hybrid started to press multiple buttons on her console, she tried to keep the shields ul as long as possible to ride out the storm. "I need more power to the shields."

K'laan took a random console and redirected a small amount of power to shields, drawing it from the replicators. "Is it possible to disperse an ion storm?" Asked the captain.

"It is, we will need to create a device that can disperse the storm and all of the equipment is in the science labs" The helmsman said, looking towards T'Zan. She was here for a science mission, right? Perhaps she could go to the labs and help.

* The hybrid looked at the Vulcan Captain and nodded * "I need someone to help me with the equipment though."

"I will go," K'laan decided. "L'kleio, you have the bridge," They said to another Vulcan on the bridge.

In the labs was a familiar face! The Vulcan man that T'Zan was speaking to in the mess hall. He was at one of the consoles trying to analyse the readings from ion storm. "Captain. Lieutenant T'Zan. I have the readings we were able to gather before we hit the storm. That should be enough information to start working on a device to disperse it. That is the only data we have as external sensors have gone offline.*

"We should start working in the device as fast as we can. I don't think the ship can handle another collision with the Ion storm."

"Well, then, get on it, Lieutenant," K'laan nodded.

The tall Vulcan scientist approached T'Zan with a PADD with all the readings and began to explain how he proposed they deploy the device. He spoke slowly and carefully. "I will prepare the deployment mechanism and you can create the capsule that will disperse the storm. Can you do it under 30 minutes?" The man asked as he ship was shook by yet another explosion. Shields were weakening quickly also.

"Yes I can." The hybrid said in confidence and she instantly started to get to work.

After 30 minutes had passed the older Vulcan was setting the deployment mechanism into place. They were going to release a capsule filled with gas that could disperse the dorm. The man approached T'Zan, his stare stoic but he was simply Vulcan. "I can help you get the capsule into the deployment mechanism," He offered, his voice monotone and flat as always.

The hybrid nodded and she grabbed one side of the mechanism and started to lift.

The Vulcan helpe and the capsule was succesfully placed in the diployment device. Not too long after, the Vulcan scientist gave the command and the device was deployed. "You and K'laan can return to the bridge to keep a look at the ion storm."

"Right, stay safe Sulak." * The hybrid patted the older Vulcan on his shoulder in comfort and then ran back to the bridge. She felt the ship shake and quake with each attack the Ion storm managed to take against the ship.

On the bridge it looked like the ion storm was being dispersed as planned. The gas from the capsule was beginning to clear up the storm and the shaking of the ship lessened.

The hybrid laughed in triumph. "It's working! The device is working!"

The Ion storm had been dispersed and the cloud was disappearing. "Sensors are back online, we have warp and navigation as well as a lot of data from this anomaly. Ready for orders, Captain," The Vulcan helmsman said, trying to ignore how emotional their guest was. They were out of the storm, that was the most important thing.

The hybrid sighed happily, she went over to give K'laan a high five, but after she realized what she was doing, she pulled back and stopped.

As it was time to return to the station the helmsman began plotting a course.

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