Work Text:
Dimitri Komorov wasn’t sure whether to be amazed by his boss, or extremely terrified. How someone as completely brilliant and inventive as Dr. Ryland Grace had been pulled into the Petrova Task Force and the Hail Mary Project was clear - as the Americans would say - to anyone with eyes.
The reason Eva Stratt had pulled the American onboard was obvious. The man was a genius.
That he was also easy to look at, as far as most of the hot blooded people onboard the Vat were concerned, was a bonus. Even when he was giving a demonstration to a new batch of biologists and chemists as if they were his young students.
The newest editions to the science collection onboard the Vat were all watching the crazy American speak with faces that ranged from genuine awe, disquiet, distracted attraction, and, in some cases, mild disgust.
Dimitri focused his attention back to the faces standing around the lab that Ryland had been assigned and mentally began taking note of which ones were likely to be assigned elsewhere. Disgust was not something accepted anywhere around Dr. Grace, and the engineers did not take kindly to anyone who would aim such an ugly emotion at their favorite molecular biologist.
A gental tap and an extended box of the red American candy strings Ryland always seemed to have on his person alerted Dimitri to the man now standing next to him. He met Carl’s eye when he took one of the twizzlers from the offered box. While he would much prefer the sour skittles he was sure the security agent had in an inner pocket, the Russian also knew that his favorite American was the only person that would ever receive them from the stoic agent.
With a quick nod of appreciation, Dimitri used the twizzler to point out those he was keeping under watch. The other man nodded in return and returned his attention to his principle.
Dr. Grace had shifted half his attention to the whiteboard behind him and was now explaining the part of this project that would include the newest scientists.
”…and that is where you all come in.” The cheerful, lighthearted voice of his favorite American continued. “Roughly half of you brilliant people will be staying on in this lab and assisting with the development of a number of post-launch projects. The other half will be stepping into roles around the Vat as a support to other departments.”
The cheerful demeanor and enthusiasm for both these much needed roles was clear to the senior staff that had been asked to attend this introduction.
Dr. Lokken was standing against another wall, scanning the newcomers with a weary eye. She had likely already chosen who would be working with her on the centrifuge, but might be keeping an eye out for anyone else she knew. Dimitri himself had already chosen which of the chemists would be joining his team of engineers on the Hail Mary’s fuel needs, but he was required to attend this meeting as the next part was a demonstration of the spin drives and he was not going to allow Ryland to have all the fun exploding the metal block by himself.
The American would just have to deal with sharing the explosion.
Movement in by the door pulled almost everyone’s attention from where Ryland was distracted by the latest astrophage discovery he had somehow had right before this meeting began. How the man had any experiments left to run the black dots through, Dimitri would pay his contraband supply of vodka to know.
Like he said, crazy American man was genius.
The seven people who entered and filed along the back wall were led into the lab by Director Stratt. These must be the Astronauts, both primary and secondary teams. None looked entirely familiar to the Russian man, but the young woman between the stern Chinese man and straightbacked Black man was clearly Russian. Good. It would be nice to have another to share some vodka with. These foreigners just didn’t appreciate a good drink.
At the head of the lab, Dr Grace continued to explain the assignments and who the head of each department was before he looked up and Director Stratt caught his eye.
*******
Carl watched as Grace nodded to Stratt and pulled the rooms attention back to himself effortlessly. Once a teacher, always a teacher, it seemed.
”All right. Now that the boring introduction and initial welcome details are out of the way - And thank you all for baring with me through all that - it’s time for our first Astrophage demonstration.” Carl’s eyes tracked the man as he traversed the lab, shifting through the dozen or so scientists before coming to rest at Stratt’s side. He naturally stood a half step behind her to the left as she scanned the room and then turned to him.
”Dr. Grace, these are the Astronauts and their back ups for redundancy. Commander Yao, Engineer Ilyuhkina, and Dr. Dubois. Backup science officer is Dr. Shapiro. You will be working with them to impart as much knowledge of Astrophage as you can before launch.” Stratt’s stern voice cut above the side conversations that were beginning to break out amongst the newbies. Carl kept a ready eye on them. He wasn’t sure he liked half of them. Stratt turned to the astronauts standing along the back of the lab before continuing.
”This is Dr. Ryland Grace, leading expert in Astrophage biology, Head of the biology department, and Chief Science officer. You will be learning from him.” She turned her attention to Grace as she spoke and he immediately focused on the astronauts before him, his back half turned to the lab behind him, though Carl noticed the constant flick of his eye towards a couple of the scientists now standing behind him.
”Welcome Aboard. I’m excited to share all the discoveries we’ve been ….” Grace’s words trailed off as Yao spoke to Stratt. Carl may not know which dialect of Chinese the man was speaking but Stratt’s face and response told him it was probably about why Grace was using his teacher's voice. Her face only ever got that half amused look when he unknowingly slipped into it. Usually when whichever government official was being an idiot that day was speaking and Grace was correcting the plethora of inaccuracies that person happen to be spouting.
Carl’s suspicions were confirmed when one of the other security personnel caught his eye and nodded. That was two for Carl. Someone owed him a drink.
Grace had tracked the interaction the same way he did most of Stratt’s discussions, with half his attention on whatever else was going on in his immediate surroundings.
”Apologies. The “teacher voice” is hard to break out of….” Grace shifted his weight, arm lifting to run the back of his neck in a familiar nervous tick when it shot into the air and Grace spun on his heel in a movement that was far too fluid to have come from the normally clumsy man. “CLASS, MY HAND IS UP, ALL HANDS UP NOW! DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING!”
The flurry of movement in the room almost synconised as almost every person’s dominant hand shot into the air a second after Grace’s voice boomed through the space. Even Stratt jumped slightly at the sudden movement from the Task Force’s First Officer.
“EVERYONE IN THIS LAB, MOVE TO THIS BACK WALL. I WILL NOT ASK TWICE.” The newbies shuffled quickly to the back wall until they all squished in to stand before Grace, two or three shifting slightly guiltily. Carl tracked the movement, eyes narrowing. Had they….?
”Congratulations, you will be the first class for my newest lecture.” Grace’s voice had gained a slightly colder edge than normal, his usual sunshine smile now hardened on his face. He observed the scientists cooly for less than a second before his eyes settled on one of the biologists who had been observing his earlier introduction with disgust. “Class 101: How Not to Kill Yourself, Your Coworkers, and Everyone Else Onboard with the Dangerous Alien Microbe for Staggering Wastes of Carbon.”
Carl reached into his pocket for the pack of sour skittles he kept there as he observed Dr. Ryland Grace explain to the newest scientists exactly why touching the astrophage without the proper permission or training to handle it was one of the most idiotic things you could do. The best part was the extremely polite and educational way he was doing it. While no profanity left his mouth and his tone had settled into something much more pleasant than its initial harshness, the message was still blatantly clear.
He opened the bag without taking his eyes off his principle and offered the mouth of the bag to the Russian engineer struggling to stand beside him. The man’s extended hand missed the first few times he attempted to scoop up a few pieces, he was laughing too hard. When he finally swiped a small handful, his eyes were glistening and he was stuggling for breath. He flashed a grin at Carl before returning his attention to the verbal destruction happening before them.
Watching newbies realize the power and knowledge this silly American School Teacher had never failed to amuse him. Especially when Dimitri finally quit laughing and started prompting Grace with more fuel for his mounting lecture series.
Carl absolutely enjoyed this job.