"The First Command"

“The First Command”

Captain Lea Chevalier.

Stardate: 58807.13, 11h25 Location: Guest Quarters, USS Hypatia NCC-92601

***

A soft sigh escaped Lea Adele Chevalier as she looked up from the old book in her lap, which she’d been lost in for the last ten or so minutes. Journey to the Centre of the Earth. It was one of her favorites from when she was a child. She must’ve read it a hundred times by now, and yet she always found herself drawn back to it whenever the insomnia hit, like it was tonight. In her other hand was a hot cup of green tea, which she then brought to her lips for a sip, and immediately she found herself acutely aware of just how mediocre the replicator could be with regard to certain beverages. Beside her rested a trio of stacked PADDs containing mission-relevant documents, messages from the Admiralty, and personnel files which she’d yet to finish reviewing, but truth be told, there was only so much she could go over in one night. For now it would all have to wait, at least until Lidenbrock and Axel found their giant.

Taking another sip, she almost managed to convince herself that the tea wasn’t quite so bad after all. Almost. Yet before she could return to the distraction of her book, her attention was caught by the sudden shifting of visible light outside of the expansive viewport afforded her in these luxurious quarters aboard the Vesta-class USS Hypatia. The alacritous stream of stars as they zipped on by had suddenly slowed and become stationary in the dark expanse of space. The ship had exited the slipstream, which meant they were nearing their destination, or rather hers.

Indeed, as she looked over her left shoulder, she could see the distant bloom of the Lilac Nebula, so named for the violet coloring of its gaseous plumage. With regard to the Alpha Centauri system, it was little more than a hop, skip, and a jaunt away.

“Bridge to Captain Chevalier, this is Lieutenant Briere. We’ve dropped out of slipstream and are about to transition to warp for the rest of the journey to Alpha Centauri. We should arrive within the next hour.”

Lieutenant Briere, an Operations Officer, Lea recalled; he must’ve been the Gamma-shift bridge commander. She’d met him only briefly the day before when they’d set out from Spacedock One, as he’d been acting as quartermaster and shown her to her stateroom during the journey. The Hypatia was due to pick up a few transferees out of Outpost Sierra in-system before moving on to the next leg of their greater mission.

As for Lea, she’d be departing at Outpost Sierra, the USS Ticonderoga awaiting her there.

“Understood, Lieutenant. Thank you,” she answered softly, the soft lilt of her lingering French accent still evident in her voice.

Gently, she set the cup down on the side table before she glanced back down to her book, ready to once more disappear into the comfort of the known, at least for a little while longer. After that, it was back to the unknown.

Her orders. Her crew. Her first command. (Image Note: Lea Chevalier relaxing in her guest quarters aboard the Hypatia en route to Alpha Centauri.) (OOC Notes: This thread is to serve as a character introduction of the Lea Chevalier character and her sudden re-assignment to command the USS Vanguard at Alpha Centauri.)