Office Hours, Astronomy

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Office Hours
Professor Jadzia Dax, Astronomy
MW 3-6 PM or by Appointment

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Dax hung the sign outside of her office, then rearranged yet another pile of papers, determined to make the space more presentable. It was going about as well as one would expect.

She was wearing her uniform, for the first time in over two months. That morning, rooting through her closet, Dax had come to two realizations: First, that so much time had passed since wearing said uniform, and second, that she hadn’t noticed. No one could blame her, certainly. There were classes to plan, teas to host, and roommates to bother. She was settling into her new role as a professor, and that was perfectly understandable.

And somewhat terrifying. Still, she could mull over all of those things outside of work. She sat down, awaiting any students who  would care to learn.

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Dax had her back to the door, rooting through a shelf, using her chin to balance a towering stack of volumes. Blasted paper-based system. When she turned around and saw what the young man was wearing, she nearly dropped everything she was carrying.

Starfleet. Mid-22nd century, perhaps, but Starfleet all the same.

"You’re..." She paused a second, to regain a semblance of composure. "Yes? How can I help you?"

[tactical-alert.livejournal.com]

It wasn't quite the reaction he was anticipating (actually, he wasn't anticipating much reaction at all). He stiffened slightly. "You're the astronomy professor? I was...hoping you could help me, somehow, if at all--"

What she was wearing had been of little concern to him, of course, but the pips caught his attention. "--possible. You wouldn't happen to be military, would you? Ma'am?" he added retroactively. It looked like she was a Lieutenant Commander, just a rank above, but of course, he couldn't be certain. Different Earth time, or perhaps she was from another culture, another world. Better safe than sorry, though.

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"Yes. Yes I am." She straightened up, and put the books down. "Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax. First Science Officer aboard Deep Space Nine, a Bajoran space station presided over by The United Federation of Planets."

Translation: I'm Starfleet.

"And you are?"

[tactical-alert.livejournal.com]

He didn't know what a Bajoran was, nor Deep Space nine, nor this Federation--wait. Hadn't the Captain mentioned that once? About one of his little trips with Daniels? A Federation of planets...well, the name and idea behind it was admirable, even if he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, senior armoury officer aboard Enterprise. Just Human, I'm afraid." Of course he had to run into someone one rank higher than him, here, of all places. That only made him more nervous.

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She grinned. "Well, I won't hold that against you. I'm Trill, but-" wait a moment. The Enterprise? The Enterprise? The first ship in Starfleet. Cue Dax's mouth practically hitting the floor. Oh, drat. What was the Captain's name? Archie?

"Archer." That was the one! "Did you serve under Captain Jonathan Archer?"

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He gave her a curt nod. "The very same. Of course...she's only had one Captain so far, so it's not very likely that one would confuse him another member of the crew."

...Whoa, hey, wait, this woman, this Dax, she knew about the Captain? She knew about--he would never quite come to grips with time travel, not ever. "Might I ask what year you came from before dropping in rather unceremoniously here?"

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"'So far' being the key term." She was absolutely grinning. "2371. I was running a few experiments on some-" bah, there would be time for that later. "I'm a Starfleet officer, Lieutenant. From your future, it would seem."

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"...Yes, it would seem." It was good to know that he was around a friend of sorts. He relaxed his stance slightly and sighed. "Then I suppose you can't help me, Commander. Professor. Er...ma'am." Right, that'll have to do for now. "I had hoped--some small hope--that if there was any knowledge of how to get back, it'd be through astronomy. I don't know, some spacial, temporal anomalies or anything of the sort. I was just hoping for a way back to my crew and my Captain, but I suppose if you haven't gone back, then you wouldn't know how."

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"Dax is just fine, Malcolm. We're hardly on the job." She sighed. Having only recently resigned herself to the truth, she wasn't sure how to break it to someone else. If Malcolm wanted to get back even half as badly as she did...

"Nothing that I've seen so far. I've run all manner of tests, searched for any signs of a temporal disruption. I've looked for sub-space signals, trying to find out what might have brought me here in the first place. I've come up wholly empty handed. If there's a way back, I've been unable to find it." She hesitated, not sure how he’d take the news. "I’m so sorry. I wish I had better information for you."

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Another nod. He had said it was a small hope. Sometimes it was best to keep them small. It made any disappointment shrink along with it.

"With all due respect, you are a superior officer. ...Even if Starfleet hasn't been created yet." All right, maybe they could drop the formalities. (It was more or less a foreign concept to Malcolm--it had taken at least a year or more to get on a comfortable first-name basis with Trip and the Captain, and they were his closest friends.)

"It's fine. It's very possible this all happened for a reason." Despite the fact that he had hoped that they'd stop being involved in that bloody Temporal Cold War. "And it's also very possible that a temporal agent will come walking around the corner saying this is all some mistake." Now, see, that was said with a little more sarcasm. "What bothers me," he continued, crossing his arms, "is all of this magic business."

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"Whichever you're more comfortable with." If titles helped the young lieutenant adjust, she certainly wouldn't deny him that small comfort. "If anything, it's nice to have someone around who knows what a Lt. Commander actually does!"

She sighed. Temporal agents. Utterly useless, regardless of the century. "Unfortunately, I think if anyone from the department of temporal investigations was going to intervene, they'd have done so long ago. My sorting alone violated several established ordinances of the Temporal Prime Directive." She smiled. "Of course, I thought I was in a holo-simulation at the time. It could hardly be helped."

"Have a seat, lieutenant." She reached for a notebook, and got out a quill. "Could you describe the circumstances cumulating in your arrival at the castle? There might be a common thread worth analyzing."

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"It was always more Captain Archer's problem, dealing with suddenly finding himself in another era," he commented, sitting stiffly in a chair. "Though we've all had more than our fair share of this sort of thing. I was hoping to never deal with it again. Ah, but...I really don't know what I can tell you. Shortly after the Terra Prime incident, Enterprise was let loose, continuing our mission of exploration. There wasn't anything unusual that I was made aware of. Sensors had picked up a Minshara-class planet not far off our course, and we were on our way there when it happened. I was heading to the mess. I was just entering a turbolift, and I wound up here. Like I said, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary."

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"Hmm." A dictaquill jotted down Malcolm's retelling of the events, while Jadzia scribbled her theories into a notebook. "Did the ship's sensors register anything about the planet that could be considered unusual? Do you have any idea how close the Enterprise was to the planet, before you found yourself here?"

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He shook his head. "Only close enough to detect it. It was going to take us a day and a half to reach it."

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Drat. No common link there. "And your ship was clearly in warp-ready condition. Any recent upgrades? Repairs, introduction of new materials?"

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"Not recently--not since we got back to Earth after dealing with the Xindi, anyway. Just the usual repairwork before we went out." He let out a frustrated sigh. "Perhaps the crew has already worked something out. But that's 150 years in the future."

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"I'm afraid not. The exploits of the first Enterprise are covered quite thoroughly at the academy, and there's no record of loosing a member of the crew to a temporal disturbance. Something like that would at least warrant a footnote." Another dead end. "And you're certain there were no...mold outbreaks on the ship? Given the chance, mold can do its fair share of destruction to the time/space continuum."

She may have been reaching. Just a bit.

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Something he realized all too quickly. It was obvious from his look that the answer was 'no'. "I'm not surprised we're in the history books, but...it just sounds odd. Almost tempting to ask what happens to us, but I've already gone through that, even if it was a sort of...alternate timeline. Best not to damage time more than we already have, yes? Maybe you have no record of it because I get back, and quickly. You never know with time. The Captain and T'Pol had gone back to 2004 once, and Commander Tucker had informed me that they were only gone for two seconds. It's...a possibility, anyway."

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"It certainly is. Of course, then there's always the danger that we'll have aged decades while mere minutes have passed for our loved ones." And that was certainly not something poor Malcolm needed to hear! Dax cleared her throat. "Of course, that's only one of many potential outcomes."

[tactical-alert.livejournal.com]

Decades? He didn't want to be stuck here for decades! He'd be useless by then! He'd be older than his father! (Oh, and if the bloody man ever found out about that, there would be no end to the heckling...)

No. Wait. Calm down. Cool-headedness was key, like in any situation. "And we can only hope that that's not the outcome we're forced to arrive at."

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"Time travel is a very touchy thing. I wouldn't concern yourself with that particular possibility, if you can help it." Oh dear. She was not helping.

She put on her best 'everything is just fine' smile, usually reserved for new recruits and wayward Tongo sessions. "I think that's enough about time travel, for now. I'm interested to know how you've been settling in since arriving at the school. Do you need anything? Supplies? Books, perhaps?"

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"Er...well I...can't say I've done much, to be honest. I'd kept on expecting to be out of here by now. I'm only really just letting it sink in that I could be here for quite some time, so I might as well something with myself while I'm here. I feel a bit useless, really. I haven't been the student in years." Oh, this was bloody ridiculous. "It's difficult to downgrade your way of thinking while at the same time expanding it. 21st century technology and magic. I mean, flying broomsticks, hocus pocus wand-waving...I'm a tactical officer, not a wizard."

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"I know precisely how you feel. I'm still a science officer, at heart." Or so she hoped. "And things happen here that constantly force me to revaluate my norms."

She leaned forward, and rested her elbows on the desk with a smile. "But you know what, lieutenant? If I can be a science officer and a Professor, perhaps you can be a tactical officer and a student. I think we both know that stranger things have happened."

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He scoffed and smirked. "Like Andorians and Vulcans working together. I'm not sure how much my expertice is going to come in handy here...and I'd really not like to relive my schoolboy days."

He leaned back in his chair and considered his options. "I suppose...for the time being, I could...start again? I'm not saying this is like a second chance, because it's a bloody awful one, but...ah, well, it's just a learning experience. Yes, a learning experience, that's probably the best way to put it. It is a school, afterall."

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"Oh, Andorians." There was someone at the school who knew about Andorians and Vulcans! Dax couldn't help but be pleased, albeit selfishly so. "Lousy to drink with. There's always a chance of violating that intricate honor code. Lovely potters, though!" Yes, she was rambling.

"It certainly is. And you're never too old to learn something new. Besides, if you make it back home an adept wizard, there's bound to be a promotion waiting for you!"