Duty Log: Space Depot - More Savings Less Replicating

[Tae'Lynn Dran 0]

Sky-Harbor Aegis was not attached directly to any planetary system so it was understandable the Life Science section might not be the most active of sub-departments. Most of the science was reports feeding in from starships on the frontier. They were then handed on to Star Fleet for analysis. The large lab Ensign Dran stood in therefore had more the feel of a secretarial pool than the research hub it was designed for. The outer walls were filled with data terminals. Only half were in use. Their occupants showed little life except for rapid moving fingers shifting data from one generic IN category to another equally generic OUT.

In the middle of the room was a single circular holographic display table. It's only use however seemed to be as a resting place for a box of donuts. Anything else expected in a science lab was absent. The smaller labs down the attached corridor were even more vacant. Even the supply closet was only half full and what was in there looked to be untouched since it was first stocked.

It was an odd feeling. Daunting potential might be the best way to describe it. There was plenty of room to work with but also a lot that was needed. And apparently she could have the run of the place. Her question to one of the other officers there about which area was hers was answered with a disinterested "wherever". That was all she needed to know and plans were set in motion. But first she needed tools, especially if she was about to go visit the Dahlem's vessel.

The typical Star Fleet officer at this point would head straight to the replicator stations and start spitting out all the gear and furniture and supplies they could ever want. Few Federation species seemed to stop and think how much power was needed to do this. Tae'Lynn couldn't fathom the need to set off a nuclear explosion, use massive magnetic constrictors channeling energy around, then use equally complex and energy hungry force modulators and matter converts to shove the energy back into a bound stable form... because she needed an office chair. There were better ways to get what you needed even if it didn't seem the easy way.

This way of thinking had brought Ensign Dran to the opposite end of the station from science. She was off the map, literally. Past deck 106 the cargo modules lost any sense of distinct levels and any attempt to quantify them as such. A small storage room filled with tricorders might be right beside a 5 story tall liquid container vat. Various cargo modules neatly filling in any open gap. Completed equipment, modular components, and raw materials alike could be found if you knew where to look. Dran didn't, at least not yet.

There was a certain order to it all. The threads of the logistical web seemed to lead to a specific compartment currently situated near the primary space doors of the Alpha Cargo Module. Inside here Dran found walls covered with monitors showing nearly every meter of this half of the station. Short locked racks with a variety of hand tools and equipment spread out in the middle of the room. At the far end was another cage except this one contained what looked like a sentient being in a Star Fleet uniform.

As Dran approached she could not see any indication she had been noticed. With all the monitors it was unlikely she was sneaking up on anyone. Dran was getting the feeling though that this person was quite possibly sound asleep. It was hard to tell. Whatever species this was it's compound eyes seemed to lack eyelids. All she could see was her own reflection in their glassy surface. Was it even alive?

"Um, hello?" Dran quietly asked. "Hello?" A little louder. There didn't seem to be any reaction.

Worried, Dran's thoughts were somewhere between panic and pondering where you'd even check for a pulse on this creature. Then slowly it's third hand lifted up. It's movements seemed labored and painfully slow as it moved up and up until reaching just below it's face. Then a single appendage of it's hand tapped a device hanging around it's neck.

"SORRY ABOUT THAT," it blared. "TRANSLATOR RIG KEEPS TURNING ITSELF OFF."

A moment of silence. 

"HELLO?"

Tae'Lynn was on the floor huddled behind one of the racks. It felt like her heart had jumped straight from her side and the kickback sent her sprawling to the floor. And the ringing in her ears set the room spinning. With trepidation she finally poked her head up. Eyes wide and hands firmly over her ears, "Could...could you turn down the volume please?"

The beings single appendage fiddled with the device again. "Is that better?"

"Yes." Tae'Lynn sighed, lowering her hands.

"We're usually talking over movers and lifts down here. There's hearing protectors in rack A-A-3-6 right behind you. Very useful." The being spoke with a lively gate even if it's body still seemed as lifeless as when Dran came in. The one arm was still slowly lowering itself after adjusting the volume on it's speaking device. 

"Um, thanks." Dran reached over and took one. Though, she only gripped it in her hand, still somewhat in a daze.

"What can I do for you?" The words were spoken with a bit of concern though the being was totally devoid of any type of body language.

Trying to compose herself, "I'm looking for supplies."

"Replicator stations down?"

"Um, no. I just need science equipment, sample cases, umm..." she looked over at the list on her PADD.

"Wait." The figure finally moved, lifting itself slightly up in it's seat. "You want actual supplies? Stock items?"

Dran finally smiled a little. "Yes, real honest physical objects of simple unreplicated mater."

An hour and a half later the doors of the Life Science labs opened and a parade of hover carts entered loaded with all they could bare. Dran followed in the middle of the caravan, a satchel swung over each shoulder. "Put that first cart in the storage room. I'll sort it out later. Then put one sample analyzer, sterilizer, and specimen pod in each empty lab down that way. Anything that still needs to be assembled just put it against the wall." The cargo bay crewmen quickly darted along with their carts to the designated drop zones.

The occupants of the lab sat there in momentary shock. One moved through the flood of activity and looked at Dran dizzily. "What's going on?"

"Dritz found a whole cargo pod of supplies that never got delivered. The Benwaza have a remarkable memory of where they leave things but a kinda iffy sense of linear time. Seems the supply ship arrived late and the equipment never got rescheduled for delivery. Funny, huh." Dran smiled.

"Who? What? WHAT?!" The confused officer was interrupted as another wave of cargo sleds came through the doorway.

"Ah good, that goes right here and put the cryo-units in the last lab on the right." Dran turned to the others. "I need someone who can hook those up. Anyone else who knows how to use a screwdriver let's get to work on the specimen racks. And this..." she lifted the box of donuts from the center display table, "goes over here." She dropped the box onto a long table already loaded with an assortment of break room accessories just as the crewmen pushed it against the wall by the doorway.

It was a long shift that day. Even by the end some of her co-workers still weren't sure what had happened. Most though had suddenly realized the life of a Life Science officer was more than reading and relaying reports. Even the mundane chores of stocking shelves and assembling racks brought a little purpose back into their lives. There might actually be a little science to be done too.