Digging The Dirt

Posted on Sat Jun 13th, 2015 @ 10:46pm by Niall Sala Ph.D. & Lani Gellar

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: CoronaTech Offices

CoronaTech Offices

The doors of CoronaTech parted and Niall breezed in, briefcase full of padds in hand as usual. He was dressed in his ever-present suit and looked much the same though a hint of a smile lit his face. He nodded to the three assistants.

“Good morning everyone. Lani?” Without breaking stride, he motioned to her and continued on down the hall to his office without another word.

Malcolm watched him go, then shook his head. “Another day in the salt mines,” he joked.

“Was that a smile I saw?” JL turned his attention to Lani. “You got summoned, dig, woman. We want to know what’s up.”

"Dig this, JL," Lani shot him a hand gesture as she snatched up a padd and hurried after Niall. Once in his office, she looked for that slight smile and dug a little bit, "What's up, boss?"

He looked up from the first of the day’s padds, waiting for her to sit as usual. “Well, it’s business hours so I thought we might do a little of that?” Her question amused him. “Unless there’s something you’d rather we do?”

Taking a seat, Lani beamed at him and suggested, "We could gossip. I know a ton of dirt on JL and Mal. And you could tell me about... the Arboretum and Swift."

Niall froze as if lightning had struck him, his hand halfway to another padd. His mind raced as he processed what she said but his expression was unreadable. The fact that his hand still hovered in mid-air was not good, he realized. It was a reaction and he rarely displayed such things. He took hold of the padd and pulled it over in front of him.

“The Arboretum?”

She noticed it - the hand. Something was there, some sort of story. "Yeah. Big place with trees and grass and flowers? I know you know what it is." She smiled, eyes twinkling.

“I am aware of what the word means, Lani.” His tone was even and he met her gaze, his usual inscrutable demeanor back in place. “And Counselor Swift you met here yesterday. We had a lunch meeting as you will recall.”

"Yes, you did. And then you had me deliver some pricey whiskey to his quarters."

“I did, yes.” He watched her as he debated what to tell her. In the end he decided to toss her a bone in hopes that would alleviate her curiosity. “That was a gift to an old acquaintance. Counselor Swift was married but he lost his spouse ten years ago. We were all friends, though I didn’t see them all that often. When I learned he was here, I thought I would stop in and say hello. The last time I saw him was at the funeral. We were simply catching up.” He stopped there, watching her to see if she would be satisfied.”

Nodding once, Lani bowed her head to look at the padd in her lap. She had just heard more about Niall's personal life than ever before. "And taking a stroll through the grass. That's a good way to catch up with an old friend," she said, smiling.

“It was and it gave me a wonderful idea for the colony. Given they are on actual ground, they need green space, a park but of the natural sort, don’t you think? It will be far easier to landscape since the grass will grow on its own without constant technical attention as is required here. Trees can be planted and native plants introduced.” And just like that, Niall had steered them back to business. He tapped the console on his desk and the view screen lit up. Moments later, a rough sketch appeared. “I was playing with the idea last night.”

She looked over the sketch. "Is that a pond? What are those blue streaks going into it? A waterfall? Engineers would need to install a pump for that."

Niall nodded. “And I’ve included some native river rock that can be moved in from an area south of the colony. Given the size of the colony however, and the fact that all the land is ours, I’ve debated expanding this to a small lake. Large enough for canoes and such. It won’t be for swimming, there will be facilities for that within the colony that can be used any season.” He looked from the sketch back to Lani. “So, you and ...someone...can have your moonlit foray in a boat out on the lake.”

"Sounds lovely and romantic, Niall." This was a new side of him: creative and romantic. It seemed his time with Counselor Swift had done him some good. "We'll need the approval of the CO and to run these by Engineering and Ops. Want me to get on that?"

“I do. The colony CO, Commander Gunnar, is scheduled for a conference in three hours. You can take that call and present the idea to her. JL and Malcolm can start working on the technical details with the construction crew. And one other thing, that Malcolm may know off the top of his head. The landscaping. There’s a flower there that caused some problems for the initial exploration team. It induced severe delusions and from what I understand, some of them ended up facing off with phasers. We need to know its habitat area and how to either counteract it or remove it.” He looked up from the list he was perusing. “Got all that?”

Nodding, she finished writing her notes. "Severe delusions.... Habitat.... Yup, got it. Gunnar. She's calling in? She isn't here yet? Hey, you know she has a dog? She'll love this."

Niall nodded. “I considered that as well. I had the occasion to meet that dog when our paths crossed previously. He is...well-traveled, let’s put it that way. If you need my input, let me know. I’m getting to work on some structural calculations that I want done today.” It was a polite dismissal.

"Okay," Lani said, standing. "I'll get them to work on it." She left his office and went out to her desk. "Okay, you two," she passed on Niall's plans and orders, but none of the information about Robin.

“So?” JL asked. “Why’s he so happy today?” In Niall’s world, a half-smile counted as almost delirious.

"Perhaps he's simply happy about this garden plan," Lani replied, suddenly cagey about telling them anything.

Mal looked up from the screen, swiveling his chair to face Lani. “You know something. Is it good? Don’t keep us in suspense.”

"Well, he went for a walk in the Arboretum with Counselor Swift," she shrugged. "They're old friends."

“Is that all?” JL frowned. “So no counseling, no nothing. Hmph.”

Mal shook his head. “Oh well. I have to say I am not surprised though. But at least we know the Doc has a friend. That’s something new.” He turned back to his research on the Charu flower. “If this flower has no name, maybe I’ll name it after me.”

"The Malfeasance flower?" Lani teased. "It causes delusions, Mal. Do you really want that as your namesake? You could name it after one of the first victims to discover its properties."

“I’ve been known to cause a delusion or two...just saying.” Malcolm smirked, then went back to his research. “Are you ever going to tell us what he really said?”

"He said to work on this plan," Lani said.

JL regarded them both for a moment, then went back to the technical specs. He suspected there was more but Lani could be as unmovable as Niall when she wanted to be. Another thought occurred to him but he dismissed it. That was certainly a line Niall would never cross.

“I’ll go get lunch today,” he volunteered.

"Oh, good! I've heard that Lao's is awesome. Or there's a French bistro," Lani, who had just finished breakfast before Niall showed up, listed some options. "Or just burgers from Gabby's. Allegedly, she serves the best burgers on the Station."

“Allegedly? You’ve been talking to the Doc too long, dear,” Malcolm stated. “And no lunch for me, I have a dinner date tonight.”

JL raised an eyebrow.”Really? How much are you paying her?”

"Oo! A dinner date!" Lani laughed at JL's joke.

“Smartass,” Malcolm muttered, but he was smiling. “Now leave me alone, I have a scientific discovery to make.” He turned back to his research, falling silent. Across from him JL got down to business also.

Lani looked at both of them, smiled and went to work on her tasks as well.

********
Dr. Niall Sala
Talking A Lot, Saying Little

Malcolm Trent
JL Axin
Curious Cats

Lani Gellar
Getting A Peek Behind The Curtain