Originally posted on fanfiction.net - Link.
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There Be Whales Here
“This is so exciting!” Tendi chirped as she and Boimler strode through the Cerritos’ many carpeted corridors. “I’ve never met any cetaceans before, much less served side-by-side with them.”
“Yep, having a team of whales and dolphins aboard is pretty sweet,” Boimler agreed. “Only a few select starships are designed and equipped to provide for their long-term environmental and biological accommodations. I read that Galaxy-class ships were initially supposed to have launched with the necessary facilities on board, but I’ve never actually seen any visual proof of their existence…”
“Then I guess it’s really lucky we get to see them in person,” Tendi’s smile was brighter than a supernova. “Just one more reason I’m grateful to be serving aboard the Cerritos.”
“Yeah, it’s nice. Though I hear the new Vesta-class ships are supposed to be very cool too,” Boimler mused. “Ah, here we are.” He gestured Tendi to enter through a distinctive set of automatic double doors. “Welcome to Cetacean Ops.”
“Wow!” Tendi gazed in awe at the sight of a large operations center boasting over a dozen dedicated work stations. A convex wall of transparent aluminum divided the shuttle bay-sized space into two distinct parts: a smaller, standard starship environment and a significantly larger area filled with clear saline water reaching three-quarters of the way to the ceiling. Various humanoids and large aquatic individuals alike could be seen working, swimming and surfacing in the area they were most comfortable operating in. “It’s beautiful!”
“I know, right,” Boimler smiled following after her. “Walking through these doors and seeing all this never gets old.”
“Greetings,” A dark-haired, junior grade lieutenant noticed their arrival. “Can I help you?”
“Hi. Are you Lieutenant Yuna?” Tendi asked.
“No, she’s over there,” The lieutenant indicated the aquatic part of the room.
“Okay, thanks,” Boimler and Tendi walked over to a computer console near the transparent divide and tapped their combadges. “Lieutenant Yuna?”
“Yes?” A fully-grown female orca swam up opposite to them. She had a sleek, snug, operations-gold band encircling her body evenly aligned with the base of her broad flippers. Two streamlined full pips were attached to the band along with a larger-than-standard combadge which could be activated with a simple move of a flipper.
“Hi!” Tendi chirped waving at her. “Ensign Tendi reporting to perform standard physicals on all present cetacean personnel for the crew’s annual health report.”
“Physicals?” Lieutenant Yuna repeated. “Can’t they wait until we are off duty?”
“Well, I suppose,” Tendi considered. “But Doctor T’Ana wanted them done as soon as possible. Her report is due at Starfleet Medical next week.”
“Sounds like she has been procrastinating again,” Yuna commented. “T’Ana hates coming anywhere near water.”
“She has been pretty busy lately,” Tendi defended her Caitian department head. “The physicals will only take a few minutes each.”
“Very well. I shall go first,” Yuna turned to address a large male orca wearing a petty officer’s insignia. “Dulae, take over revising the specifications for the class-six hydrospheric probe.”
“Yes, sir,” Dulae acknowledged.
“And I’m here to collect the latest sensor analysis on that weird Class K nebula that suddenly popped up,” Boimler said.
“Ensign Matao is working on it,” Yuna indicated a bottlenose dolphin wearing a band of science-blue. “Go check with him.”
“I am almost finished, sir,” Ensign Matao casually swam around while working a customized holographic interface. “There are indications the nebula contains several rogue asteroids comprising high amounts of dilithium and pergium.”
“Wow, you guys are assigned to interpret sensor data?” Tendi asked in surprise as she began scanning Yuna with her tricorder.
“Oh yeah. They do it all the time,” Boimler explained. “Cetaceans are experts when it comes to analyzing sensor information, handling guidance systems and of course: three-dimensional piloting and navigation.”
“Do not forget oceanographic exploration and operations,” Yuna added.
“Obviously,” Boimler rolled his eyes. “Starfleet experimented working with sharks for a while, but that didn’t end so well…”
“Though such attempts did result in various breakthroughs in the fields of tissue regeneration and biosynthetic limb development,” Yuna pointed out. “There are plenty of situations and ecosystems where cetaceans are better suited to operating than the average humanoid wearing an awkward environmental suit. Places like Risa, Pacifica, Ichthos…”
“Sounds amazing,” Tendi smiled while watching Ensign Matao. “I love the way you’re able to swim around while using a display. I can’t even read a padd in a moving shuttlecraft without getting queasy.”
“It is an evolutionary trait,” Matao explained. “Cetaceans tend to think better when in motion. Remaining motionless is associated with vulnerability and usually results in one drifting off to sleep.”
“A trait that’s also common among humans,” Boimler commented. “Which explains why I can’t remember half the classes I sat through at the Academy.”
“That’s really neat,” Tendi gushed. “And so are your equipment harnesses. At least you don’t have to wear a tight, scratchy Starfleet uniform all the time.”
“Ah yes, the Taylor rigs. They are a little uncomfortable,” Yuna smiled spyhopping for a breath. “Doctor Gillian Taylor worked with a team of linguists, telepaths, biologists and communication engineers during the late 23rd century to adapt the universal translator for cetacean use. They take getting used to, but are mostly able to convert the less complex forms of cetacean communication into the simple languages favored by most humanoids.”
“I don’t know. I think Starfleet uniforms are pretty…wait a minute,” Boimler did a take. “What do you mean ‘simple languages’? Humanoid communications are plenty complex!”
“Maybe to you,” Matao said absently. “Most humanoid languages are conveyed through a narrow range of audio frequencies and the recipients are only capable of processing one distinct transmission at a time. No individual thermal or pressure indicators. No electroreciprocal exchange. They do not even take into account the spatial orientation or magnetosignature of the sender.”
“Well…I…um…uh,” Boimler stuttered, flummoxed.
“It is nothing to be ashamed about,” Yuna stated factually. “Humans have only been developing open, complex languages for the past two hundred thousand years or so. Cetaceans have been communicating in hundreds of diverse, complex languages of various dictions and dialects for over ten million years.”
“Well okay, that may be true,” Boimler scrambled to defend humanity’s linguistic pride. “But humans eventually found a way to learn cetacean languages.”
“No, humans found a way for cetaceans to learn and translate your languages,” Matao corrected. “Humans are not capable of processing or understanding the basic forms of cetacean communications. They have not even learned the languages of species of relatively simple intelligence such as birds or chimpanzees.”
“Okay, that’s going too far!” Boimler protested indignantly. “Humans are an intelligent, highly developed species with plenty of accomplishments to our credit.”
“Really?” Yuna fixed Boimler with a look. “Such as polluting Earth to an appalling degree during the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries?”
“That really happened?” Tendi looked at Boimler in surprise.
“Uh,” Boimler stuttered. “Well, yes…”
“Or engaging in multiple world wars against members of their own species which nearly led to the annihilation of the entire planet?” Matao added.
“Um,” Boimler gulped.
“Or failing to answer an alien probe which almost wiped out all human life on Earth?” Dulae spoke up. “Which only happened because humans had caused humpback whales to go extinct over two centuries before?”
“That is one of the real reasons Starfleet began equipping certain starships with Cetaceans Ops,” Matao informed Tendi. “They did not want to be unable to answer any more potential probes sent by a significantly greater cetacean-like intelligence.”
“Good thing Specialist Paikea is a certified linguist,” Yuna indicated a female dolphin crewperson. “She is fluent in many languages including humpback in case humanity needs to be saved from itself again.”
“Oh, come on!” Boimler threw up his hands. “Humans have saved Earth and the Federation from threats cetaceans never could have fended off on their own! Like the Borg, Romulans, Klingons, the Dominion.”
“You have a point,” Yuna nodded surfacing for air again. “I lost several old podmates when Earth was attacked by the Breen during the Dominion War.”
“The Dominion tried to establish an undersea observation post on a Selkie colony during the war. Dulae was part of the team that helped drive them off,” Matao commented proudly. “Jem’Hadar may be frightening combatants on land, but they are horrible in water.”
“And they tasted pretty good,” Dulae smiled. “Lots of muscle on those guys.”
“I see,” Tendi blinked.
“Vorta tended to be kind of stringy, though,” Dulae commented. “But their hearts and livers were delicious…”
“Okay, that’s enough war stories,” Boimler gulped looking even greener than Tendi. “Can I please have the sensor analysis on the nebula? Or do I have to dive in there and get it myself?”
“If you insist,” Matao’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “Dulae, could you please initiate a site-to-site transport for the ensign?”
“Yes, sir,” Dulae grinned. “Energizing.”
“WHAT?! WAIT, NO…!” Boimler yelped as he suddenly dematerialized. He quickly reappeared in mid-air on the other side of the transparent aluminum divide where he immediately did a spectacular belly-flop.
SMACK!
“Ouch,” Tendi winced. “That has to hurt.”
“Na, it’s fun,” Dulae smiled. “You should try breaching yourself sometime.”
“Ohhh,” Boimler gagged while struggling to stay afloat. “My bones…ugh…salt water…bleah!”
“Here, Ensign. Let me demonstrate parts of my sensor report for you,” Matao grinned carefully grabbing Boimler’s foot with his mouth. “This is the kind of tumbling action I believe certain asteroids experience while in the nebula.”
“AAAGGGHHHHHH!” Boimler screamed as Matao shot off like a torpedo while dragging him along. “GET ME OUT OF HERE! MY COMBADGE FLEW OFF! I HAVE WATER UP MY NOSE! WAAAHHHHHH!”
“Uh, is he going to be okay?” Tendi blinked at Boimler in concern.
“Yes, he will be just fine,” Yuna assured her. “Matao can just be a little enthusiastic in his demonstrations.”
“BLUBBURUBBURUUUB!” Boimler gasped as Matao porpoised with him in tow.
“Wheee! Isn’t this fun?” Matao cackled happily. “Bet you have never experienced anything like this on your own!”
“AND HOPEFULLY I NEVER WILL AGAIN!” Boimler yelled frantically. “YAAAHHHHHH, LEGGO! I GOTTA DELIVER THAT REPORT…BLURUUUB!” He bubbled before being submerged.
“Do not worry. I allocated myself plenty of buffer time,” Matao grinned taking a dive. “Whoever helped inspire the captain to institute the Boimler Effect is a genius!”
“Uh, is there a problem here?” The dark-haired, junior grade lieutenant from earlier asked coming over to the partition.
“No, Matao is just demonstrating part of his report and showing how fit he is,” Yuna said casually as Matao spun Boimler around in a series of underwater corkscrews. “It will be noted as part of his physical.”
“Oh, okay,” The lieutenant nodded and walked away.
“NO! DON’T LEAVE ME…AAAHHHHHH!” Boimler sputtered as Matao lunged out of the water.
“Excuse me, may I join you?” Dulae asked swimming up to them. “I finished revising the probe modifications and could use a little break.”
“Sure! Go ahead!” Matao clicked cheerfully.
“Thank you,” Dulae grinned and increased his speed in preparation for a breach. “Here, let me show you a move I used against the Jem’Hadar!”
“WHAT?!” Boimler shrieked as Matao finally let go and left him floundering to face Dulae’s approach by himself. “AAAHHHHHH! COME BACK! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE! HELP! SAVE ME! NOOOOOOOOO!”
“Wow, Cetacean Ops sure is fascinating,” Tendi smiled as she finished examining Yuna and reset her equipment for the next physical. “I hope I get assigned to work here more often!”
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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Lower Decks.
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There Be Whales Here
“This is so exciting!” Tendi chirped as she and Boimler strode through the Cerritos’ many carpeted corridors. “I’ve never met any cetaceans before, much less served side-by-side with them.”
“Yep, having a team of whales and dolphins aboard is pretty sweet,” Boimler agreed. “Only a few select starships are designed and equipped to provide for their long-term environmental and biological accommodations. I read that Galaxy-class ships were initially supposed to have launched with the necessary facilities on board, but I’ve never actually seen any visual proof of their existence…”
“Then I guess it’s really lucky we get to see them in person,” Tendi’s smile was brighter than a supernova. “Just one more reason I’m grateful to be serving aboard the Cerritos.”
“Yeah, it’s nice. Though I hear the new Vesta-class ships are supposed to be very cool too,” Boimler mused. “Ah, here we are.” He gestured Tendi to enter through a distinctive set of automatic double doors. “Welcome to Cetacean Ops.”
“Wow!” Tendi gazed in awe at the sight of a large operations center boasting over a dozen dedicated work stations. A convex wall of transparent aluminum divided the shuttle bay-sized space into two distinct parts: a smaller, standard starship environment and a significantly larger area filled with clear saline water reaching three-quarters of the way to the ceiling. Various humanoids and large aquatic individuals alike could be seen working, swimming and surfacing in the area they were most comfortable operating in. “It’s beautiful!”
“I know, right,” Boimler smiled following after her. “Walking through these doors and seeing all this never gets old.”
“Greetings,” A dark-haired, junior grade lieutenant noticed their arrival. “Can I help you?”
“Hi. Are you Lieutenant Yuna?” Tendi asked.
“No, she’s over there,” The lieutenant indicated the aquatic part of the room.
“Okay, thanks,” Boimler and Tendi walked over to a computer console near the transparent divide and tapped their combadges. “Lieutenant Yuna?”
“Yes?” A fully-grown female orca swam up opposite to them. She had a sleek, snug, operations-gold band encircling her body evenly aligned with the base of her broad flippers. Two streamlined full pips were attached to the band along with a larger-than-standard combadge which could be activated with a simple move of a flipper.
“Hi!” Tendi chirped waving at her. “Ensign Tendi reporting to perform standard physicals on all present cetacean personnel for the crew’s annual health report.”
“Physicals?” Lieutenant Yuna repeated. “Can’t they wait until we are off duty?”
“Well, I suppose,” Tendi considered. “But Doctor T’Ana wanted them done as soon as possible. Her report is due at Starfleet Medical next week.”
“Sounds like she has been procrastinating again,” Yuna commented. “T’Ana hates coming anywhere near water.”
“She has been pretty busy lately,” Tendi defended her Caitian department head. “The physicals will only take a few minutes each.”
“Very well. I shall go first,” Yuna turned to address a large male orca wearing a petty officer’s insignia. “Dulae, take over revising the specifications for the class-six hydrospheric probe.”
“Yes, sir,” Dulae acknowledged.
“And I’m here to collect the latest sensor analysis on that weird Class K nebula that suddenly popped up,” Boimler said.
“Ensign Matao is working on it,” Yuna indicated a bottlenose dolphin wearing a band of science-blue. “Go check with him.”
“I am almost finished, sir,” Ensign Matao casually swam around while working a customized holographic interface. “There are indications the nebula contains several rogue asteroids comprising high amounts of dilithium and pergium.”
“Wow, you guys are assigned to interpret sensor data?” Tendi asked in surprise as she began scanning Yuna with her tricorder.
“Oh yeah. They do it all the time,” Boimler explained. “Cetaceans are experts when it comes to analyzing sensor information, handling guidance systems and of course: three-dimensional piloting and navigation.”
“Do not forget oceanographic exploration and operations,” Yuna added.
“Obviously,” Boimler rolled his eyes. “Starfleet experimented working with sharks for a while, but that didn’t end so well…”
“Though such attempts did result in various breakthroughs in the fields of tissue regeneration and biosynthetic limb development,” Yuna pointed out. “There are plenty of situations and ecosystems where cetaceans are better suited to operating than the average humanoid wearing an awkward environmental suit. Places like Risa, Pacifica, Ichthos…”
“Sounds amazing,” Tendi smiled while watching Ensign Matao. “I love the way you’re able to swim around while using a display. I can’t even read a padd in a moving shuttlecraft without getting queasy.”
“It is an evolutionary trait,” Matao explained. “Cetaceans tend to think better when in motion. Remaining motionless is associated with vulnerability and usually results in one drifting off to sleep.”
“A trait that’s also common among humans,” Boimler commented. “Which explains why I can’t remember half the classes I sat through at the Academy.”
“That’s really neat,” Tendi gushed. “And so are your equipment harnesses. At least you don’t have to wear a tight, scratchy Starfleet uniform all the time.”
“Ah yes, the Taylor rigs. They are a little uncomfortable,” Yuna smiled spyhopping for a breath. “Doctor Gillian Taylor worked with a team of linguists, telepaths, biologists and communication engineers during the late 23rd century to adapt the universal translator for cetacean use. They take getting used to, but are mostly able to convert the less complex forms of cetacean communication into the simple languages favored by most humanoids.”
“I don’t know. I think Starfleet uniforms are pretty…wait a minute,” Boimler did a take. “What do you mean ‘simple languages’? Humanoid communications are plenty complex!”
“Maybe to you,” Matao said absently. “Most humanoid languages are conveyed through a narrow range of audio frequencies and the recipients are only capable of processing one distinct transmission at a time. No individual thermal or pressure indicators. No electroreciprocal exchange. They do not even take into account the spatial orientation or magnetosignature of the sender.”
“Well…I…um…uh,” Boimler stuttered, flummoxed.
“It is nothing to be ashamed about,” Yuna stated factually. “Humans have only been developing open, complex languages for the past two hundred thousand years or so. Cetaceans have been communicating in hundreds of diverse, complex languages of various dictions and dialects for over ten million years.”
“Well okay, that may be true,” Boimler scrambled to defend humanity’s linguistic pride. “But humans eventually found a way to learn cetacean languages.”
“No, humans found a way for cetaceans to learn and translate your languages,” Matao corrected. “Humans are not capable of processing or understanding the basic forms of cetacean communications. They have not even learned the languages of species of relatively simple intelligence such as birds or chimpanzees.”
“Okay, that’s going too far!” Boimler protested indignantly. “Humans are an intelligent, highly developed species with plenty of accomplishments to our credit.”
“Really?” Yuna fixed Boimler with a look. “Such as polluting Earth to an appalling degree during the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries?”
“That really happened?” Tendi looked at Boimler in surprise.
“Uh,” Boimler stuttered. “Well, yes…”
“Or engaging in multiple world wars against members of their own species which nearly led to the annihilation of the entire planet?” Matao added.
“Um,” Boimler gulped.
“Or failing to answer an alien probe which almost wiped out all human life on Earth?” Dulae spoke up. “Which only happened because humans had caused humpback whales to go extinct over two centuries before?”
“That is one of the real reasons Starfleet began equipping certain starships with Cetaceans Ops,” Matao informed Tendi. “They did not want to be unable to answer any more potential probes sent by a significantly greater cetacean-like intelligence.”
“Good thing Specialist Paikea is a certified linguist,” Yuna indicated a female dolphin crewperson. “She is fluent in many languages including humpback in case humanity needs to be saved from itself again.”
“Oh, come on!” Boimler threw up his hands. “Humans have saved Earth and the Federation from threats cetaceans never could have fended off on their own! Like the Borg, Romulans, Klingons, the Dominion.”
“You have a point,” Yuna nodded surfacing for air again. “I lost several old podmates when Earth was attacked by the Breen during the Dominion War.”
“The Dominion tried to establish an undersea observation post on a Selkie colony during the war. Dulae was part of the team that helped drive them off,” Matao commented proudly. “Jem’Hadar may be frightening combatants on land, but they are horrible in water.”
“And they tasted pretty good,” Dulae smiled. “Lots of muscle on those guys.”
“I see,” Tendi blinked.
“Vorta tended to be kind of stringy, though,” Dulae commented. “But their hearts and livers were delicious…”
“Okay, that’s enough war stories,” Boimler gulped looking even greener than Tendi. “Can I please have the sensor analysis on the nebula? Or do I have to dive in there and get it myself?”
“If you insist,” Matao’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “Dulae, could you please initiate a site-to-site transport for the ensign?”
“Yes, sir,” Dulae grinned. “Energizing.”
“WHAT?! WAIT, NO…!” Boimler yelped as he suddenly dematerialized. He quickly reappeared in mid-air on the other side of the transparent aluminum divide where he immediately did a spectacular belly-flop.
SMACK!
“Ouch,” Tendi winced. “That has to hurt.”
“Na, it’s fun,” Dulae smiled. “You should try breaching yourself sometime.”
“Ohhh,” Boimler gagged while struggling to stay afloat. “My bones…ugh…salt water…bleah!”
“Here, Ensign. Let me demonstrate parts of my sensor report for you,” Matao grinned carefully grabbing Boimler’s foot with his mouth. “This is the kind of tumbling action I believe certain asteroids experience while in the nebula.”
“AAAGGGHHHHHH!” Boimler screamed as Matao shot off like a torpedo while dragging him along. “GET ME OUT OF HERE! MY COMBADGE FLEW OFF! I HAVE WATER UP MY NOSE! WAAAHHHHHH!”
“Uh, is he going to be okay?” Tendi blinked at Boimler in concern.
“Yes, he will be just fine,” Yuna assured her. “Matao can just be a little enthusiastic in his demonstrations.”
“BLUBBURUBBURUUUB!” Boimler gasped as Matao porpoised with him in tow.
“Wheee! Isn’t this fun?” Matao cackled happily. “Bet you have never experienced anything like this on your own!”
“AND HOPEFULLY I NEVER WILL AGAIN!” Boimler yelled frantically. “YAAAHHHHHH, LEGGO! I GOTTA DELIVER THAT REPORT…BLURUUUB!” He bubbled before being submerged.
“Do not worry. I allocated myself plenty of buffer time,” Matao grinned taking a dive. “Whoever helped inspire the captain to institute the Boimler Effect is a genius!”
“Uh, is there a problem here?” The dark-haired, junior grade lieutenant from earlier asked coming over to the partition.
“No, Matao is just demonstrating part of his report and showing how fit he is,” Yuna said casually as Matao spun Boimler around in a series of underwater corkscrews. “It will be noted as part of his physical.”
“Oh, okay,” The lieutenant nodded and walked away.
“NO! DON’T LEAVE ME…AAAHHHHHH!” Boimler sputtered as Matao lunged out of the water.
“Excuse me, may I join you?” Dulae asked swimming up to them. “I finished revising the probe modifications and could use a little break.”
“Sure! Go ahead!” Matao clicked cheerfully.
“Thank you,” Dulae grinned and increased his speed in preparation for a breach. “Here, let me show you a move I used against the Jem’Hadar!”
“WHAT?!” Boimler shrieked as Matao finally let go and left him floundering to face Dulae’s approach by himself. “AAAHHHHHH! COME BACK! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE! HELP! SAVE ME! NOOOOOOOOO!”
“Wow, Cetacean Ops sure is fascinating,” Tendi smiled as she finished examining Yuna and reset her equipment for the next physical. “I hope I get assigned to work here more often!”
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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek: Lower Decks.
