Katie Krieg sat in her laboratory on Seaquest. She'd been hiding out there for the past month. It isn't hiding. I'm supposed to be here she thought. That was at least partially true. Her role on Seaquest was to provide scientific intelligence when the occasion called for it. The perks of being assigned to Seaquest was access to all the labs and equipment as well as the bridge and things like WSKRS when she needed/wanted them. Just as long as they weren't required to help save the world.
So while the lab was hers to work in, she didn't have to be there. It just seemed like the better option.
After the confrontation with Lucas, Katie had gone back through his personnel file and his science background to try and find a way to help him get his job back. She knew if he earned a PhD he could take her place when she chose to leave. She thought that if she found a project he'd like, she could supervise and once he had his degree she would resign. It would mean giving up the ideal job on Seaquest, but she thought that it was worth it if it would help mend the rift between them.
That was her plan at least until she read through all of Seaquest's science files. And then the ships logs. What she'd found in them had made her see red. The incident in the Sargasso Sea had been caused Seaquest. Some twelve years earlier, Seaquest had used Firma21 to clean up a Dioxin spill in the Bermuda Rise. The synthetic microbe had drifted and mutated until it reached the Sargasso Sea where it began killing marine life.
That incident was the reason for the UEO's new policy. Not many details had been given out except that a microbe had destroyed marine life and that the UEO treated it with an enzyme resulting in a total breakdown of the local ecosystem. The science community had demanded an inquest which revealed that the UEO had done two treatments. The first had mutated the microbe further and caused more damage, the second had repaired the damages caused by the microbe and the enzyme. What also came out in the inquest was that the first enzyme was created by a science personnel whose expertise was in technology not biology and that the second was also created by the same science officer- only under the supervision of a semi-credible scientist. Their names were kept secret, as they were military but the science community still demanded retribution. The success of their second enzyme was deemed dumb luck. So it was decided on, and new policy enacted, that all ships which were engaged in any science research were to have an expert on board – someone with a minimum of a PhD in marine life, biology or any relevant discipline.
She understood now why the secretary-general was so eager to place her on Seaquest. Because of Seaquest's role as the UEO flagship, and her ability to go deeper than any other sub she dealt with more science than any other military submarine. In addition to her PhD in marine veterinary medicine she also had master's degrees in marine biology and biophysics. Katie had read through every incident Seaquest had encountered since they returned from cryo-stasis. The incident with the iceberg, and the Sargasso Sea were just the beginning. Lucas had been acting the expert on all things science when he had absolutely no expertise at all.
It made Katie angrier than she'd ever been. She was angry at Hudson for his arrogance- removing all non-military personnel had left the ship with some of the worst scientists on the planet, and yet they were still expected to maintain the science standard from before the stasis.
And Lucas. She couldn't even think about him without wanting to punch something. How dare he act so injured over this when it was his fault! He wasn't qualified to do half the things he'd done and an entire ecosystem had failed because of it! She'd felt bad about telling him he didn't belong as a science officer. Now she just wanted to go up and scream it at him over and over again until it sunk in. She hadn't really seen him since their encounter, they occasionally ended up in the mess hall at the same time but when they did she just grabbed her food and returned to the lab.
She was avoiding him like the plague, trying to reign her emotions in. She just couldn't believe his arrogance! He should never have created that enzyme- he should have contacted someone who knew what they were doing! Just looking at the data made her wince. She now had access to information that the inquest hadn't released and she had seen right away the flaws in the first enzyme.
"Humph" she let out an exasperated breathe. "Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid and more stupid."
"Aww come on now Katie, nothing's that stupid-well except maybe lemmings, that whole mass suicide thing is just ridiculous."