"Coming Aboard"
Lt. Cmdr. Shirik Lektar - Ops Manager
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith - First Officer
Location: Transporter Room 1, USS Vanguard
Stardate: 58806.28, 08h00
***
Shirik had just finished breakfast and was waiting at the turbolift to begin her shift when she got the notification from Utopia Planitia that the new XO was ready to beam aboard. As the doors opened she turned away to instead head down the hall to Transporter Room 1.
It had been a year since she had last seen Greggory, or anyone from the Constellation crew, but it seemed much longer. She'd been engrossed in helping the Engineering crew with the refit, and had seen places on the ship she'd never thought to see. She knew the ship inside and out, knew all the upgrades, where and how they'd been installed and how they were supposed to work. It had always been easier for her to work with machines and equipment than people.
As she moved to stand at the console and activate the controls, she thought about the new arrival. He was coming on board now not as her equal, but as her boss. She wasn't sure how to feel about seeing him again. She focused her attention on the controls in front of her as she signalled readiness to the planet, and the platform shimmered with the materialization, then suddenly there he was.
'I've spent too much time planet-side,' Greggory thought to himself as he walked through the halls of Utopia Planitia, readjusting to the smell of recycled air and the feel of artificial gravity. 'I'm going to have to spend time in the zero-g gym. And if the ship doesn't have one, well, I can always set aside some corner of the Jeffries' tubes.' His new position was something he'd have to get used to, as well. He may be used to leading teams, but being XO of a starship, even a small one, would take some adjustment. 'I know how every part of a ship functions, but communicating what I need to various department heads has a learning curve.'
He readjusted the satchel on his shoulder as he walked into the transporter room, letting the operator on duty know where he was headed. 'Hopefully, doing my job well will finally allow me to drop the Lieutenant from my rank. That's tedium I can do without.'
He had, of course, reviewed the crew manifest, such as it was, on his way over from Earth. One name stood out. He hadn't seen her in a year, though there had been some brief correspondence in the first few months. He looked back fondly on their burgeoning friendship and hoped they could pick up where they left off, new position dynamic notwithstanding. Not like he needed to keep a close eye on her to run her department. He knew how capable and professional she was.
As the transport completed, he blinked his eyes and looked around, quickly finding the target of his thoughts standing at the control station.
"Shirik. Lieutenant Commander Greggory Griffith, reporting for duty." He gave her a small smile. "It's good to see you."
She inclined her head in greeting, the barest hint of a smile finding her lips. "Welcome aboard, Commander," she said. "Would you like me to show you to your new quarters? They're not far."
He nodded, gesturing toward the door. "Certainly. I appreciate the courtesy."
As they walked down the corridor he asked, "How have you been these last months? Did you ever get the opportunity to meet with Voren and try some 'real food' again?"
"No, I've as yet heard no word from my sister. But knowing her, it may be decades before she chooses to respond. I've been quite busy for the last year, I worked with the Engineering team on the refit of this ship. I look forward to seeing how it performs."
"Likewise. Always fun to play around with a new engine. Can't wait to see what our Chief can get out of it.
"Sorry to hear that he hasn't been able to come by. Maybe our meandering course will take us close enough to Drokari space to justify the visit from Drokar."
"I'm not sure she will even allow it. She's no doubt calculating whether she can derive some advantage from it." They stopped at a turbolift and the doors opened. There was a moment's hesitation, barely noticeable, before she stepped inside and waited for Greggory to join her before saying, "Deck 1." As the lift began to move, she added, "I doubt it would matter to her where we were located, if she decides to send a ship it will come, no matter how far."
The lift smoothly rose one deck and the doors opened once more. She led the way out to the right and a short distance down the hall. "Your office is to the right," she gestured, "and your quarters are right next door to the left. Just across the hall from your quarters is one of the entrances to the bridge. All very conveniently located."
Greggory stood next to her in the turbolift, occasionally glancing her way. "Perhaps, between the two of us, we can come up with a way to phrase the request so it sounds like something she'd benefit from."
Once they got to Deck 1, Greggory stepped out reading the room descriptions as they passed. "Convenient, indeed. Where's the Captain located? On this end or the far side of the bridge?"
"Oh, I already made my request, which is why she's considering it at all. It would be best not to make any further contact until she's decided."
She pointed down the corridor. "The next door down next to your quarters is the briefing room. The captain's ready room and quarters are on the other side of the bridge. You can continue around down this hall or go back past the turbolift or through the bridge itself to get there. There's also a turbolift directly to the bridge, so if you ask for bridge that's where you'll be taken rather than the one we came from."
"A logical approach for such a tight ship. Going to be a lot of long walks through the corridors, if only for an excuse to put some distance between me and the bridge when I'm off-shift." Greggory headed toward the door to his quarters. "Thank you for the tour. You're welcome to come in if you don't have any other duties at the moment."
She considered for a moment. "I can join you for a short time, but won't you be simply unpacking? And about your walks, the ship is small but it does have a gymnasium and two holodecks. But unfortunately for me, no arboretum."
"I can unpack and talk at the same time," he said with a grin, walking into the (relatively) spacious quarters. "I'm sure we can find space in the Science lab, if you need a place to grow Tasmos."
She followed him inside and the doors closed behind her. She looked around the room curiously, having never been in this particular room before. "That's what I was thinking. There are two configurable science labs aboard, not yet assigned. I could perhaps at least set up a small enclosure in one of them to grow it. It doesn't need much, just a dark space similar to a cave. For that matter, I could probably just set aside a space in my own quarters." Her long braid swayed behind her as she moved, and her kemla was in plain view strapped to her thigh. She had her ever-present PADD in her hands.
"I'm sure we can come up with a reason for a low-light environment ecological study," Greggory said with a laugh. As he pulled out some of his own mementos, he placed them around the room. "I'll probably have to convince one of our biochemists to help me come up with a way for me to join you for a cup safely."
He reached into his bag and pulled out a felt exocomp with exaggerated ursine features, placing it at the head of the bed.
"If it's safe for you to drink, it's not klaas," she smirked. "But I can probably program the replicator to make a coffee or raktajino that smells like klaas...." Her attention was drawn to the stuffed creature. "What is that?"
Greggory rolled his eyes at the familiar argument. When she asked about the stuffed exocomp, he laughed. "A souvenir from the Constellation. I had utilized a number of exocomps, modified so they didn't have the adaptive programming that gave them sentience, to take care of janitorial duties and routine maintenance. It freed up my engineering teams to put more training into damage control exercises. One of our fellow officers suggested that I treated them like pets, hence the animal features on this one."
"What became of them? Are they still on the Constellation?" she asked. "Who owns them?" She considered the devices. She knew that some of them had been declared sentient, which raised a whole slew of questions.
"I left them aboard the Constellation. They had been part of the routine for so many of the crew, it seemed a shame to take that away, especially on such a large ship. The next Chief could decide to get rid of them, of course, but that's their prerogative."
She considered for some time in silence before speaking again. "If the exocomps were deemed sentient... how is it ethical to use them at all in that way? You said these had no adaptive programming, but if they are considered sentient like humans, isn't doing that sort of like... using lobotomized humans as servants?" she asked carefully.
"These were never sentient and didn't have the capacity to be. It isn't like I used the standard model and stripped them of that autonomy if they got too advanced. At worst, it'd be like using a lower primate as a beast of burden. I suppose it depends on just how fine a line you want to put on it, but I tried to navigate the ethical issues." He understood where she was coming from, given her own culture.
"So you used... prototypes? The earlier forms?" she nodded, that made sense. She felt relieved for some odd reason. "That's good."
"The Constellation is a much bigger ship, likely they wouldn't be needed here anyway."
"Smaller ship, smaller crew. If I feel like Engineering is underperforming, I'll bring it up with our Chief, but I'm going to try not to micromanage, since it's not MY department." Greggory sat on the edge of the bed as he finished unpacking. "What about Ops? Anything you need approved or requisitioned before we set off?"
"No, now they're ALL your department," she said with a small smile. "No, well one thing... but I really need to take it up with our Security Chief first, when we get one." She patted the kemla at her thigh. "It's the same discussion every time I board a new ship."
"Well, if you need it, I can put a good word in for you. I know you're responsible with that thing. As long as you don't go anywhere for shore leave," Greggory joked with a wink.
That actually elicited a smile from her. "Nowhere with other people, anyway," she agreed.
"I personally have no problem with senior staff being authorized to carry self-defense gear, rather than relying on Security for anything they can't handle unarmed. Even if it doesn't have a stun setting," he joked.
She nodded. "We'll see what our security chief says when he or she comes on board. While you can override them, I dislike going over people's heads to get something I want. It's unprofessional."
"Shakedown Cruise"
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea - Chief Engineer
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith - First Officer
Location: Shuttle Bay, Main Engineering
Stardate: 58806.29, 08h30
***
Raikon stepped out of the shuttle, the last shuttle that needed to be delivered so he decided to hand deliver it himself. The Vanguard was becoming a very familiar place. The last few months him and his engineering team have been busy refitting her and prepping for her shakedown. Pinching the bridge of his nose Raikon was trying to shake the tiredness. It had been long days as well. Picking up his bags he decided to go to engineering first...
Greggory was crawling along the inactive warp core, running a detailed scanner over the surfaces. Given his experience, he was pulling double duty, directing the engineering teams until the CEO arrived. Currently, he was in the middle of a level 2 diagnostic, making sure the core was intact and wasn't inadvertently damaged during installation. Wouldn't do to have the system break down mid-flight. His red collar certainly stood out among all the other engineers, but he moved with a familiar assurance.
Raikon dropped his duffel bags off in the engineering mess hall near his "desk". During the refit he used one of the tables as his unofficial desk. It was stacked with PADDs of various sizes and used coffee cups.
Grabbing a fresh cup from the replicator he walked over to the main engineering deck. The hallways were quiet at the moment but would soon be busy with various engineers from the Vanguard and Utopia Planitia getting the ship ready for her launch.
Walking in through the main doors of engineering he saw a lone figure and a flash of red shoulder of command near the warp core doing some scanning. Curious he walked over to the figure.
"Sir?"
Poking his head over the railing to answer another engineer that came up to him with an update, Greggory spotted a new figure walking into engineering. With a smile, he recognized his new CEO from the officer files he had been reviewing. "Commander Achaea, right? Welcome aboard." He shimmied his narrow frame out of the space and stepped onto the deck. "Just getting a head start on final checks."
Raikon nodded to the engineer as he walked past.
"That's right Sir, Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea." He extended a hand towards the XO. "I hope she's passing your inspection Sir, me and the team put in some hard work to get her ready."
"Oh, you were part of the refit crew? Sorry, I was too focused on remembering everyone we were taking with us." Greggory firmly clasped the other engineer's hand. "The diagnostic hasn't revealed any major issues with either the hardware or the installation. I already made sure a copy of our findings was sent to your official account."
He gave Raikon a grin that carried a slight apology. "No doubts about your team's work, I just always prefer to have a second set of eyes review any major work. That, and I get a little anxious when I have too much down time, such as waiting for launch. I promise, once we're out there, Engineering is all yours, as long as you continue to maintain performance. I wouldn't want an overbearing XO scrutinizing every detail of my department, either."
Raikon smiled, releasing the commander's hand. "That's alright Sir. It's been so hectic down here I barely had the time to get to know most of my own team myself. But they are a solid bunch."
"I'll go over your reports as soon as possible." Looking around main engineering before returning his gaze to the commander. "We've got a few more diagnostics to run but she'll be ready, don't you worry Sir."
"Of that, Commander, I have no doubt. I can already tell she's got a lot of gumption. Just let me know if there's anything you need before we launch." Greggory smiled warmly as he looked around the bustling engineering. "Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair now that you're here to run everything. Just don't be surprised if I prefer to come down here for our regular check-ins, rather than have you come up to my office."
While they were chatting engineers were pouring in going about their day and getting the ship ready. He saw the commander looking around — there was almost a hint of something.
"Do you miss it Sir?" Raikon asked.
Greggory couldn't help the laugh that briefly escaped him. "Of course," he said, turning to Raikon, "but I also want to move on to bigger things. I did good work as a Chief Engineer, but I discovered I really enjoyed working on projects from the ground up." Greggory gave Raikon an amused smirk. "Catch me in the lounge sometime and remind me to tell you about the Wayfarer." His eyes again drifted over engineering, both the equipment and the staff. "I want my own ship where I can explore my own projects, not just those given to me. I've learned a lot about integrating and maintaining the equipment, now I'm learning how to do that with a crew."
"I can understand where you are coming from, Sir. I've been tempted a few times but I always return back here." He gestured around main engineering with his coffee cup. He finally remembered he actually made himself a cup and took a sip of it. "Where are you off to next, Sir?"
"Oh, I'll probably grab a bite to eat before my next department head meeting. Now that you're here, don't forget to schedule one so we can go over any department issues before launch." He held out his hand to Raikon. "Once again, welcome aboard."
Grabbing the commander's hand, "Thank you Sir, I will." Raikon watched the commander leave and took a sip of his coffee. Counting a few seconds in his head he finally broke the silence.
"Computer, who was the commander that just left engineering?"
The computer chimed. "The person who just left main engineering was second in command Greggory Griffith."
Raikon felt a bit embarrassed. "Shhhhhiiiiiittttttt," he cursed under his breath. He'd totally forgotten.....
An engineer nearby was shaking their head and giving him a look. Raikon looked at them seriously. "Tell anyone and I'll make you scrub the Jefferies tubes for a month with nothing but a toothbrush." The engineer turned away, suddenly very interested in their PADD.
Raikon gave a slight nod before raising his voice. "Right people, let's get to work and get this ship ready to sail!!"
"Maiden Voyage"
Captain Varissa sh'Orthamu, Commanding Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith, First Officer
Lt. Korn Zaje, Chief Tactical Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Shirik Lektar, Chief Ops Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer
Lt. Cerys Rowan, Chief Science Officer
Crewman 1st Class Dagh bim Braffin, Pilot
(Other characters as needed)
Stardate: 58807.11, 08h00
Location: Bridge, USS Vanguard
***
The time had finally arrived. The warp engines had been brought online and run through a series of tests, all the supplies and equipment for the ship's launch was in place, and her crew was mostly complete. Everyone was at their posts on the bridge preparing to leave Utopia Planitia.
Shirik sat at her console monitoring systems as the ship prepared to launch. She was a bit nervous as she'd not spent much time on a bridge position except during Gamma shift. This was her first launch. "Captain, we have received final clearance from Launch Control to leave drydock." she reported.
Raikon chirped in after her "All systems nominal, main power is online, engines are ready and warp drive is ready to go."
He was proud of his team. The last few weeks they put in some hardwork to get the ship ready and now everything was running perfectly. He looked over his shoulder to see what the rest were doing while keeping an eye on his own console.
Cerys rested one hand on the edge of the science console, more to remind herself she was standing still as the Vanguard prepared to move out of dry dock. She always got motion sickness.
This was it.
For years, she had imagined this moment on the bridge while buried in xenobotany texts. Somehow the real thing was quieter than she'd expected.
Except, of course, inside her own head.
In her head, an orchestra had decided today required a full overture. French horns swelled. Strings climbed. Percussion waited just behind the curtain, ready for the instant the ship cleared the dock. If someone had opened her skull, they might have found an entire symphony packed between her ears.
She glanced around the bridge at her new colleagues. Everyone carrying their own mixture of excitement and responsibility. Soon these strangers would become like family.
Cerys drew one slow breath, fingers dancing lightly over the science controls as the sensors fed out information.
Let's go find something wonderful, she thought.
The imaginary timpani rolled.
The familiar hum of a starship readying for departure is a strange familiar comfort for Zaje. He watches the bridge closely, reminding himself to keep calm. "Deep breaths Zaje" he whispers to himself.
Watching the tactical console, reports flood in.
"Tactical systems are green Captain. All stations report ready for departure"
The familiar rumble of the warp engine that had become such a calming, centering vibration for Varissa was humming -- the pitch, the cadence all new -- but the familiarity was there. This was a Federation vessel like all the others she'd served with. This one was just hers. Hers and her crews. This was the USS Vanguard. They needed a bit of pomp and circumstance; this was her coming out party and the galaxy was watching.
Captain sh'Orthamu ran a finger down her control panel before standing from her seat and looking to each of her senior staff members and tapping the comm on the left chest of her uniform.
"Computer -- patch me through shipwide comms, please. I'd like to address the entire crew for a moment..."
The artificial voice of the ship confirmed her order before she took a deep breath and continued.
"This is your captain speaking. I want all of you to remember this moment as we pull away from the shipyard and Mars and everything familiar. Not every crew gets to christen a ship, so this is one of those times you'll be telling future generations as they look at you with awe in their eyes and adventure in their hearts. We are the USS Vanguard. Our ongoing mission? To explore places known and unknown -- to conduct science to better understand this existence -- to meet new beings and discover new wonders the likes of which we do not yet comprehend. That's our job, people -- to define the undefineable. To explain the inexplicable. To chart the unknown. To find logic in the illogical. I am not a scientist -- but I'm in charge of making sure each and every one of you is given the space, resources and security to do your science -- stuff. I will be with you every step of the way as your personal cheerleader and ringleader, so do not hesitate to come to me with ideas and suggestions and whatever else you are cooking up in those brains of yours. I welcome it! I'm a fighter pilot that just has the experience to make a ship run the way it needs to. I'm your captain and you're my crew. I work for you and you work for me -- and we're going to have a hell of a lot of fun doing what we do. We are the Vanguard; we lead the way where others only dream to follow."
Another deep breath -- and the Andorian sat down, letting the shipwide comm halt.
"Alright, team -- let's let those ample nacelles breathe a little bit. Slow and steady away from the dock. Once we get far enough out, it'll be warp nine on my mark towards Alpha Centauri. We have a little delivery quest with some supplies before we get into the meat and potatoes."
Shirik looked up in surprise. Warp 9? Already? She glanced at Raikon, she hoped the new engines were up to it. They were about to find out.
Greggory sat upright, a small smile on his face as he listened to the captain's speech. As she finished, however, he crooked an eyebrow at her orders.
"Helm, take us out, 1/4 impulse. Once we're clear of Mars' gravity well, full impulse to the Oort Cloud."
Buying a few minutes to execute the next stage of her orders, he leaned over slightly as he spoke softly to Varissa. "Captain, I don't recall anything in the mission report that said this was an emergency situation. I understand you're used to going as fast as a fighter will carry you, but is Warp 9 warranted?"
Braffin had the same sour expression dragging at his tusks since he sat down at the helm. During the Captain's speech he gave a curt glance back over his shoulder, parting his jaw like he might say something, but turned back to his station grumbling inaudibly.
Initially he made no acknowledgement of Griffith's order. As if suffering from time dilation, he suddenly perked up several seconds late. "Aye, sir," he grunted, fingers racing from button to button as if to make up for lost time. A flurry of beeps later and he added: "One quarter impulse." Already the Red Planet was dwindling, the shipyards becoming a remote blemish across his face.
Raikon caught Shirik's glance after listening to the captain's speech. He gave her a "it's alright" nod. Turning towards his console he started sending messages down to his team in engineering. "Prepare yourself going warp 9, keep an eye out on the field integrity" a few seconds later a beep from his console let him know the team received and acknowledged the message.
A wry grin grew on her lips as her right antenna bobbed towards Greggory.
"Just making sure you're paying attention, numero uno. Don't want any of you to be sleepwalking through important moments. Quite right, Lieutenant Commander -- let's adjust that warp to a more modest three-point-seven so that we don't get our wrists smacked by brass straight out of the gate."
Shirik kept all her opinions to herself. The captain made an unusual order to test her crew. That's something she's never experienced before. She focused on monitoring ship's systems as the impulse engines came online and the Vanguard began to move smoothly out of drydock.
As Dagh accelerated to full impulse, Mars faded into just one star of many on the viewscreen, only notable for its red hue and relative brightness. After a few minutes he turned in his chair to the Captain, still wearing the same scowl.
"We're clear of the planet's gravity well, sir. Standing by for warp speed."
Greggory nodded to the Captain's remarks. He checked his own side panel to monitor the ship's systems as they crossed the outer planets. "Everyone, remember that this is a shakedown cruise. Let's make sure everything is working before we stress-test her. All departments, status report before we clear the system."
Shirik studied her console and spoke softly into the commlink to her department before reporting, "Operations reports all ready. Computer core standing by for warp."
A deep breath in --
-- and out.
"Time to see how she purrs." Varissa called out, leaning forward with a fingergun towards open space on that brand new viewscreen. "Helm: engage the core."
"Aye, sir." Braffin grunted.
He turned back to the helm and with another flurry of beeps keyed in their heading. Mars, already just a red smudge on the view screen, fell even further from the Vanguard until finally submerging into the sea of passing starlight.
"Warp one... warp two... warp three... warp three point seven." Grimacing at the console, he hesitantly looked back over his shoulder. "Our ETA at Alpha Centauri is... fifteen days at current velocity, Captain." He added to himself in a barely audible grumble, "Human space. So much for exploring..."
"Delivery quest," Cerys thought with an amused smile.
It was an unexpected way to describe their first mission. And she was curious.
She looked up from her science station toward the captain.
"Captain -- if I may, what exactly are we delivering? I'd love to know whether Science should be preparing for anything beyond enjoying the ride."
Zaje is surprised to hear the Captain's description of the mission. He and the security team haven't had any information passed to them regarding any cargo.
It's also the first time Zaje has noticed the Captain and Ops Chief are carrying blades on the bridge. He makes a mental note to discuss this with the Captain later.
Hearing Lt Rowan's query, Zaje chips in.
"It would be also useful from a security point of view to understand the cargo we're carrying. Do we need to make any special arrangements?"
Raikon was half listening to the chatter on the bridge, the warp 9 bit was a bit weird. He was looking at all the data that was coming in from engineering and the current performance of the ship. It was all looking good.
"Engineering, Tactical, Science. I'm still waiting on those status reports," Greggory said, holding back all but a hint of frustration. He was trying not to make an ass of himself on this first collective shift of the command crew, but he didn't appreciate being ignored. "Helm, you were specifically ordered to wait until we had left the Sol system before going beyond Warp 1, no matter how eager you are to get out of 'human space,'" he emphasized, indicating he had overheard the Tellarite's grumbling.
With his side panel, he sent off a quick acknowledgement of Ops, with an extra "Thank you" to Shirik for being the only one to not ignore his commands.
Distracted by the mysterious cargo, Zaje snapped out of it when hearing the Commander's tone. After a few presses of his console, he sent the tactical report to Lt Cmdr Griffith. Status report showing all green.
"Apologies Commander. Tactical reports all green. Deflector shields at the ready, phaser banks calibrated and photon torpedo launchers prepped."
Cerys felt her cheeks warm. She had let herself get distracted by the excitement of the launch.
First impressions matter, Rowan.
"My apologies, Commander. Science is fully mission capable. Long-range sensors, internal sensor arrays, stellar cartography, and laboratory support systems are all operating within normal parameters. We're ready for departure."
As she returned to her console, her gaze drifted briefly across the bridge.
She'd caught herself earlier thinking that these officers might one day become family. Perhaps they would. But families weren't built during stirring speeches or maiden voyages. They were built in long nights, impossible problems, shared victories, and the quiet moments in between. And all that is still yet to come.
Raikon looked up from his console and gave a side glance towards the commander. A little bit surprised as he gave a status report not long ago, but an order is an order.
"All systems nominal, main power holding steady, the matter-antimatter reaction is balanced and operating at peak efficiency. Warp field is holding and cruising at 3.7, Sir."
Dismissing the typical Tellarite rudeness -- the only way in her experience to deal with Tellarites -- she turned to the science station with a smile.
"Typical supplies, nothing we should be too worried about." She hummed to Cerys, then looking to Zaje with a quirked brow. "Not sure how this slipped by you and your team, Chief, but from now on I don't want a single piece of cargo entering this ship without being inspected. We're still working the bugs out of our system here so I'll accept this oversight at present, but have a team inspect the supplies and make sure everything is above board. Our new motto for security is 'better safer than sorrier', am I clear?"
She let out a sigh before addressing helm once more.
"Helm, once we've stress tested at three-dot-seven please coordinate with engineering to get us up to a smooth cruising pace of warp six. I think we would all appreciate getting finished with working out the kinks so that we can actually get to the science and exploration that this vessel was built for."
Rissa then turned to her XO and nodded. More firm than she would be, but they would need to work out those bugs not only in the system but with the crew, as well.
"I have the full manifest of the supplies, for any who may need to see it," Shirik offers. "I did a cursory inspection when they were brought aboard, but I'm sure not as thorough as our Security Chief would have."
She tapped a silent "You're welcome." to Griffith's panel but stayed otherwise focused on her console.
"Thank you Captain. I can assure you it won't happen again."
Zaje looks towards Commander Lektar and nods. It felt like she was helping Zaje's blushes. He quickly sends a message to one of the security teams to check the manifest and complete a security check.
Shirik caught Korn's look, and his blush, but her expression didn't change. She tapped on her console and sent the manifest to the security console for his review.
Greggory acknowledged the Captain's nod with a slight smile. "Agreed. I'll coordinate with Engineering to set up a proper stress-test after we finish our delivery." He looked over his shoulder at Raikon as he spoke, his gaze a little warmer as he made eye contact.
Good -- very good. Rissa felt a swell of pride in her chest for being able to delegate all of those responsibilities. With a flick of her fingers and wrist, she was pulling up star charts for their journey on the view screen, estimating arrival times and a course that would avoid any stellar bodies or debris.
"Steady on." She quietly said aloud, turning to her number one. "Griffith -- my apologies that we weren't able to rendezvous on Utopia Planitia. I would've liked to have a bit more time to coordinate before we took off, but -- I suppose it is what it is. Let's plan a meeting where we can outline my game plan for the crew and go over the brass tacks. Would you prefer talking after our shift tonight or before our shift tomorrow? I'm happy to remain flexible while we're taking care of mundane tasks and I prefer a slightly lax relationship with my first and second officers unless we're in go-mode."
Raikon gave a slight nod to the commander. The team will get it done no worries. This was the Vanguard's shakedown cruise. Stress testing and encountering teething problems were bound to happen. Looking back at his console no apparent issues were there.
"She's looking good at warp 3.7. Ready when you are helm."
Braffin huffed at the First Officer's backseat piloting but managed to hold his tongue for once, albeit with a restless tapping of his foot.
At the Lieutenant Commander's report he snapped his head back, answering brusquely, "Heard."
...after a beat he turned more sheepishly and, clearing his throat, added, "Err, sir."
Foot at ease, he took the reins of the helm and glided one finger across the console, a satisfying chirp from the computer confirming the input. The stars dragging across the viewscreen began to fly past, as if each was a ship like Vanguard. Ironically, they were moving faster as they fell around the galactic core, unlike Vanguard trapped in its own warped bubble of space.
"We've reached warp six," Braffin said, glancing uncertainly between the Captain and Chief Engineer. Eventually, he settled on the Chief. "How's the core looking?"
Raikon smiled as the crewman corrected himself. Tellarites can be abrasive sometimes but he does appreciate the directness -- they don't like faffing around. The Vanguard sped up to warp 6 and Raikon's display and graphs on his console were starting to go up a few notches.
"She's purring like a kitten. All systems are still nominal and working within parameters. Warp six confirmed."
"Love it. LOVE that communication! Familiarize yourselves with your shipmates, as far as the superior officer is comfortable. I want this ship to be tightly knit... we're far too small to get lost in a numbers game. I'm gonna be working with the senior staff to be shuffling shifts every month or so so that nobody is a stranger and we can all work together at all times, especially at red alert. We're going to be a well oiled force when the going gets tough, and you all aren't here on accident. I hand-picked this crew because I see something special in each of you... and I'm going to drag that success out of everyone. Helm, Engineering, please keep comms open with each other while on shift so that we're Johnny-on-the-spot. Comms, let HQ know that we're -- what was that you said, ECO? 'Purring like a kitten'? I like that... she does have a handsome little rumble to her, doesn't she?"
Greggory offered the captain a soft smile. "We've got plenty of time to get to know each other's command priorities. This is still a bit new to me, so I had my hands full coordinating with all the department heads. After shift tonight would be great, so I can include anything that comes up in my morning announcements."
Greggory had to focus on his console and take a deep breath to avoid reacting to the captain's enthusiasm as she spoke to the deck. He agreed with the sentiment, especially the idea of making sure any arrangement of crew were prepared for emergencies, but there was a bit too much energy for his taste. "I'm sure Ops will be on top of coordinating between Control's inputs and Engineering's performance." He gestured to the main viewer, showing the captain's course. "Might I suggest reaching out to fleet coordination to find us an open bit of space after we leave Centauri to do some tactical drills." Normally, he'd have just used the holodeck for drills, but with the ship's systems needing stress testing, might as well take care of both at once.
Shirik's eyes were on her console, watching everything. "All systems nominal, power usage normal," she reported. "ETA to Alpha Centauri at current speed 2 days, 19 hours."
"First Mission"
Captain Lea Adele Chevalier, Commanding Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith, First Officer
Lt. Korn Zaje, Chief Tactical Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Shirik Lektar, Chief Ops Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer
Lt. Cerys Rowan, Chief Science Officer
Crewman 1st Class Dagh bim Braffin, Pilot
Lt. T'Lol, Chief Flight Control Officer
Lt. Iryna Nakhimova, Asst. Chief Flight Control Officer
(Other characters as needed)
Stardate: 58807.14, 08h00
Location: Bridge, USS Vanguard
***
Alpha Shift had just begun the morning after arrival at Alpha Centauri. The ship had arrived at 0300 and the Gamma shift crews had begun offloading cargo.
As Shirik took her position at Ops she went about checking on the ship's status and the cargo unloading progress. "Captain, the cargo teams report they're almost done offloading. Two Flight Control Officers should be coming on board as well."
Cerys glanced up from the science station with a faint, curious smile.
"Do we actually know what we've been hauling around all this time, or is it one of those things I'm better off not asking about?" She tilted her head slightly. "And has anyone heard when we're getting a mission briefing? Alpha Centauri is far too interesting a place to arrive without at least a little mystery attached."
"I did offer the full manifest to those who needed it," Shirik points out. "It was nothing out of the ordinary, equipment and materials for the University and its labs, and replacement parts for the colony infrastructure."
The turbolift doors swooshed open to unload the red-clad Tellarite. Even by Tellarite standards his eye bags were sunken, as if his eyes were hiding in the caverns of wrinkled skin. Braffin sat down at his station with a barely concealed yawn, taking a moment to blink in the marble on the viewscreen.
"Wonder what these flight controllers are gonna be like." He had shown a habit of doing that over the past few days: thinking aloud. Thankfully nothing rude came out this time. "Hopefully not like that weasel on the Firesword," he grumbled a moment later. Well, nothing too rude...
Shirik raised an eyebrow at the sleepy Tellarite arriving late for his shift. She expected Griffin may have words with him about it. Luckily for him, she was not his boss.
Raikon sat at his duty station, tapping away a report on the ships first endurance warp 6 run while keeping a eye on the live readings.
Nothing exciting is happening at the moment as they were in orbit around the planet.
Greggory walked onto the bridge, looking around at those coming on shift and those waiting for their relief. He nodded to the person sitting in the command chair, relieving them and taking over until the captain arrived. On his way over to his seat, he made eye contact with Shirik, giving her a faint smile.
"How'd the ship do on her first prolonged run, Cmdr Achaea?" he asked, looking towards that end of the bridge.
Shirik met Greggory's gaze when he entered the bridge, acknowledging his faint smile with a small nod of her head before turning her attention back to her console.
Stopping mid sentence in his report Raikon turned towards the XO.
"We had to do some tweaking along the way, minor adjustment nothing to worry about. Something to be expected after a major refit."
Turning back to his console he continued filling in his report. "You'll have my report within the hour Sir."
Regarding the full manifest of items the Vanguard had been transporting, Iryna answered Commander Lektar seated to her left without looking up from her console.
"Da, da. Lots of tings. Big tings. Smoll tings."
The words came out absently, almost automatic. A moment later a yawn escaped her before she could stop it. She tapped at the flight controls with no real urgency, just enough to confirm the attitude control thrusters were still holding Vanguard steady in position.
The soft hiss of the turbolift drew her attention. Crewman Dagh stepped onto the bridge—her Tellarite counterpart in the flight control department.
"No. Not like furry leetle veasel," she replied in a flat, deadpan tone, her thick Russo-Ukrainian accent blurring the edges of the words until they nearly ran together. She spun the chair just far enough to give him a brief nod of acknowledgment. The gesture was polite enough, but the heavy blink that followed made the sleep deprivation obvious.
Gamma shift—her first aboard Vanguard since transferring from one of the Alpha Centauri outposts—had been long and relentlessly dull. A handful of minor course corrections. A few adjustments to the reaction control thrusters. Mostly just reading through the endless engine-maintenance reports. The quiet had drained what little energy she had left.
Mercifully, it was almost over. Lieutenant T'lol would be along any minute to relieve her.
Then the turbolift opened again and Commander Griffith stepped onto the bridge.
Iryna's hazel eyes flicked toward him for a quick, appraising glance. A second later she spun back to face her console, suddenly very busy with the controls, determined not to give him any reason to comment on her wandering attention.
"Good morneeng, Comandeer." she said over her shoulder to the moderately-tall XO.
A beep sounded on Shirik's console. "Commander, there's an incoming message from Admiral Calloway at Starfleet Command. He wants to speak to you." She looked mildly surprised and looked up to see how Griffith wanted the call handled.
"Glad to hear she's holding up, Commander. I'll be eager to read the full report." He warmly nodded at Raikon as he turned back to the Engineering console.
As he approached the front of the room, he glanced down, looking longer once he noticed who was currently at the helm. "Lieutenant Nakhimova, welcome aboard. I'm glad to see our additional crew made it over already."
Upon hearing the chime of the intraship comm, he turned and made eye-contact with Shirik. "To me? If the Captain hasn't already reported to the bridge this morning, I suppose I'll take it in the ready-room," he concluded, striding toward the door.
"Yes, sir." She tapped in the commands to transfer the call there.
Upon entering the room, and sparing a quick glance to make sure the captain wasn't lying in wait, he approached the desk and turned the monitor around, accessing the admiral's message.
"Commander Griffith," Admiral Calloway began, "I regret to inform you that Captain sh'Orthamu was called away on a family emergency. As this is not an emergency situation for your ship, your record doesn't warrant a field promotion. Another captain has already been dispatched from Alpha Centauri. You'll find the transfer orders and command authorization attached to this message. Starfleet Command, out."
Greggory stood there, reading the orders. He took a deep breath, understanding how things looked from Starfleet's perspective.
"Griffith to Bridge. We're going to be in orbit a bit longer than expected. Shirik, notify me when our latest transfer comes aboard." Taking the seat at the desk, he quickly began reading his new captain's official record, preparing himself.
After a few minutes Griffith's message came back. Shirik nodded even though he couldn't see her. "Aye, sir." she acknowledged.
Shortly behind the Commander's arrival, the turbo lift once again whooshed open quietly. Stepping onto the bridge; One green haired, Vulcan Lieutenant, hands clasped behind the small of her back. T'lol paused for a moment, taking in the bridge. Personally she thought the sudden transfer from Starfleet HQ had been slightly rushed, they'd had plenty of time to inform her of her new orders long before Vanguard had actually reached the station after all, which would have allowed her to report to the commanding officer ahead of her first shift. Orders, however, were orders. In her brief scan of the bridge, her eyes alighted upon the highest ranking officer present and moved to the Ops Officer.
"Lieutenant Commander Lektar? Lieutenant T'lol, Chief Flight Control Officer, reporting for duty." The Vulcan spoke softly, but clearly, standing ready at attention. There was an undeniable catch in her accent, specifically the way she pronounced the rank. LEF-tentant, not LIEU-tenant.
Shirik raised a very Vulcan-like eyebrow in response, her violet gaze taking in this Vulcan with odd-colored hair before flicking to the blonde currently at the helm and the sleepy Tellarite still on the bridge. "It seems there has been some miscommunication as to the shift assignments for flight crew," she muttered, looking down at her console and tapping keys. "Lt. Nakhimova, you are relieved until Gamma shift. Crewman Dagh, you have been reassigned to Beta Shift as of now. Please report back to the bridge then, and do try to be more awake. Lt. T'Lol... welcome to the bridge."
Then tapped her commbadge. "Commander Griffith. Our Chief Flight Control Officer has just arrived, if that's the transfer you were waiting for..."
It'd been little more than four hours since the emergency subspace communication from Admiral Calloway had come in. Lea's orders had changed, and she now found herself assigned to take command of an entirely different vessel than the one she'd originally set out for. Circumstances, as Admiral Calloway had explained, were of such an extraordinary sort that the situation demanded a certain degree of adaptation on his part, and more importantly, on hers. Of course, it had frustrated Lea, as she'd spent the previous two weeks getting properly acquainted with the personnel files and schematics of the Intrepid-class USS Ticonderoga, only to be given command of the Nova-class USS Vanguard and its personnel instead.
A part of her thought to refuse the orders, not because she didn't appreciate the opportunity to command the Vanguard, or that she felt slighted by missing out on the Ticonderoga, but rather because she wondered if this was the Universe's cosmic way of telling her to delay accepting command just a bit longer.
After all, she'd refused several previous offers.
But then a little voice at the back of her mind convinced her otherwise. Alexandre always had a way of finding the silver lining whenever things seemed dour, and she could imagine him trying to spin the 'cosmic interference' narrative on its head; after all, what if this had been the Universe's way of making sure she ended up in the right place?
Lea stifled a laugh, smiling a bit broader as she glanced at the crewman standing beside her in the turbolift cabin. "How long have you served aboard the Vanguard, Crewman Finley?" she asked him politely, the soft lilt of her French accent lingering in her voice. He had been assigned by the on-duty transporter chief as an escort.
"Not long, Ma'am," he replied.
Lea nodded appreciatively, affording him a generous smile as the whirring sound of the lift came to a halt. "Thank you." She stepped forward as the doors parted at the seam and, with a confident stride, emerged onto the bridge of the Vanguard. The scarlet-red of her uniform shoulders and the four golden pips on her collar caught the light, easily identifying her as Captain. With a wry smirk, Lea caught the tail end of something being said by the dark-skinned woman seated at the Chief Operations station. "I don't believe that to be the case, Commander," she responded, her crystal-blue eyes gazing across the bridge to gauge at least some of her crew.
"Commander Shirik! This is Captain Chevalier," the crewman explained as he followed after the Captain, a small PADD in hand that contained transfer orders for the newest Captain of the Vanguard. He briskly moved past Lea and approached Shirik.
Lea once again afforded a courteous nod, this time at Commander Shirik.
Iryna had all but checked out of the repartee going on around her among the other officers, catching something about an incoming message from the Admiral, and the subsequent arrival of a Vulcan Lieutenant.
Her eyes felt dry, her head throbbed, and she ached for bed.
But at the mention of her name, she blinked back to focus, spun a quarter-turn to her left, and glanced at Commander Lektar, then to the aforementioned Vulcan. Two and two suddenly clicked; Lieutenant T'lol had arrived, and Iryna's first Gamma-shift aboard the Vanguard could indeed come to a merciful end. "Ura, nareshti!" she exclaimed energetically, her Russo-Ukrainian upbringing sneaking through once more — or rather, "Hooray! Finally!" in Federation Standard. Pushing up from her station, she stood and brushed her skirted uniform down once with both hands before she made way for her superior to take over the conn.
"Good morning, Lieutenant," she said, affording T'lol an appreciative smile.
An instant later, her gaze shifted to the turbolift at the aft-starboard position as an officer she'd not yet met emerged, followed by a crewman she also hadn't met. The woman seemed to have an air of confidence about her.
Another Captain? Iryna raised an eyebrow before she glanced to the Vulcan.
Shirik looked up, her expression an odd mixture of surprise and annoyance. "That's Commander Lektar," she corrected. Her expression went neutral once more as she accepted the offered PADD, and even while looking it over was already calling the ready room. "Commander Griffith, Captain Chevalier is here..." she said. She couldn't help but wonder what happened to Captain sh'Orthamu, whose absence this morning she had noticed.
Raikon finished the last bit of his report and sent it off to the appropriate channels. He had added a addendum for Commander Griffith knowing he would appreciate a more in depth technical brief. Running his hands over his face to get the sleep out and refresh himself after typing the report he turned around in his seat on time seeing a unfamiliar face striding into the bridge and introducing herself as the captain.
"Captain on deck!!" Raikon called out getting out of his seat and standing at attention.
Shirik managed to refrain from rolling her eyes as Achaea jumped to his feet.
Greggory stood up from the desk when Shirik sent her first message. He closed out the personnel files before heading towards the door. He hadn't made it five steps before her update came through. He nodded to himself and strode purposefully onto the bridge.
A quick glance at the collected group of flight officers gave him a moment of pause, but he turned and walked up to the newest CO, offering a handshake. "Captain Chevalier, welcome aboard. May I presume that Admiral Calloway already gave you our first assignment?"
He looked around at the assembled officers, in various states of attention. "Did you want to address the elephant in the room, or should I?"
"Thank you Commander." T'lol replied to Lt. Commander Lektar before giving a nod to Lieutenant Nakhimova as she made space at the Conn and settled in. "Good morning Lieutenant." she replied formally. Taking in a moment to acquaint herself with the ship's position and attitude, T'lol immediately set about changing the controls to her own preference with a few quick, experienced inputs, setting them up as a preset she could freely change for the default at the end of her shift.
She was interrupted however at the announcement of a captain on the bridge. Stopping, T'lol looked up from her station towards the turbolift, with the aforementioned typical Vulcan arch of an eyebrow. It was unlikely anyone would recognize surprise on her face, but she was.
As the brief scramble of shift change went on for a few seconds, her Vulcan Chief Flight Officer taking the place of a blonde she assumed to be the assistant, Lea was trying to put names to faces using what little she'd managed to learn of the crew so far.
Lektar at Ops. T'lol taking the conn. Nakhimova coming off duty. Achaea at the Engineering station? It would take time to know for sure.
Gently, she then cocked one eyebrow higher than the other as she observed Commander Lektar's reaction to the crewman, who'd just committed the faux pas of getting the woman's rank and preferred name wrong. A small curl soon appeared at the corner of her lips as she sensed the relative annoyance displayed by the Chief of Operations, a recollection of the brief perusal of her personnel file that Lea had managed to sneak in; indeed, she was living up to her reputation already. Lea knew she'd have to keep an eye on that and, if necessary, clamp down, but as it was, the firm correction was far from overboard compared with what she might have permitted.
An instant later, her focus shifted to a bearded man who stood and called the bridge to attention in recognition of a Commanding Officer's arrival on deck. Word seemed to travel fast, Lea surmised, as she realized the proverbial cat was out of the bag.
"That's quite all right, Commander. At ease." She afforded him an appreciative nod.
Simultaneously, she caught the stifled sarcastic roll of a pair of lilac-tinted eyes from the corner of her own azure ones. Her gaze returned to the woman with obsidian-dark skin seated at the port side of the forward console.
Yet as the portside-aft doors slid open once more, Lea heard sure-footed steps approaching her with a steadfastness quite heavily tinged with authority. "Commander Griffith, thank you!" She accepted the offered hand politely, and though she sensed a masculine, if also pensive, firmness to his grip, she reciprocated a bit more gently, acknowledging his strength without feeling the need to match it. "Indeed, the Admiral has informed me of our situation, and our orders. Please..." The soft lilt of her accent lingered in her voice as she released his hand and motioned for him to take his station at the XO's position.
"Commander Lektar, if you would please open a ship-wide channel, that I might address the crew regarding Captain sh'Orthamu, and our orders." Her eyelids narrowed ever so slightly, as though to further gauge the Chief's reaction.
Iryna, painfully aware of the siren call of her bed all the way down on Deck 4, blinked her heavy eyelids as she took up a position near the aft-starboard turbolift, content to linger just a moment to see what this was all about.
Though an instant later, at the call to attention from Commander Achaea, Iryna found herself similarly inclined, like Lektar, and about to roll her eyes at the overt formality. She thought better of it, and instead pushed off the bulkhead with her shoulder to stand a bit straighter rather than keep slouching. Yet when Commander Griffith returned, and this time she'd actually noticed him, she found herself a bit more interested in observing due protocol. She cleared her throat and adjusted her stance, hands at her sides.
By this time Shirik's expression was back to the neutral one she usually wore, her attention now on her console as the Captain addressed her. "Yes, Captain," she said, her ebony fingers deftly tapping in commands. The console beeped in response. "Channel open."
Cerys had been studying her science console for long enough that she was beginning to resent it for having nothing interesting to report. But she kept noticing the empty space at the center of the Bridge. Where exactly is Captain sh'Orthamu?
She still hadn't decided what she thought of the Captain. There had always been something about her that left Cerys vaguely unsettled, though she had never managed to identify anything more concrete than a feeling, which was terribly inconvenient for a scientist.
Then the bridge snapped to attention as someone announced "Captain in the bridge!" Cerys looked up as an unfamiliar woman entered. Oh. The way everyone reacted answered at least one question. Well. That's new.
And, rather embarrassingly, Cerys felt herself relax. She immediately frowned at herself. Don't look relieved. You don't even know where the woman went. Transferred, perhaps. Reassigned. Something perfectly mundane. Possibly eaten by a spatial anomaly, but we're not rooting for that. Still, the relief remained.
Then came mention of an Admiral, new orders, and apparently a ship-wide announcement concerning Captain sh'Orthamu. Cerys abandoned all pretense of working. Right. So not a routine personnel shuffle, then.
Her attention shifted fully toward the unfamiliar Captain, curiosity rapidly overtaking everything else. Who are you? And, perhaps more importantly: What happened to the last one?
Raikon gave her a quick nod and "Ma'am" before sitting down again behind his console. He didn't care about the looks or eye rolls he elicited. He found sometimes discipline a bit lax in Starfleet but found it was always up to the captain to enforce or not.
A little show of respect to a newly arrived Captain is one of them...
Lea's hand went to the Starfleet delta pinned to the left side of her uniform, a faintly audible chirp sounding as it activated and connected to the ship-wide channel Commander Lektar had just opened.
"Attention, all officers and crew of the USS Vanguard, NCC-76381. I am Captain Lea Chevalier. Effective immediately, I am assuming command of this vessel by order of Admiral Calloway. I cannot speak to the specific details regarding the absence of Captain sh'Orthamu, only that she has been relieved of duty for a personal matter, at her request." Pausing a moment to let what she had just revealed sink in, Lea cast a wide gaze across the bridge to the various officers at their respective stations. "My expectations are that you will continue to serve this ship, your fellow crew, and the Federation with the same professionalism you showed during your brief time under her command. Thank you. Chevalier out."
With that, Lea tapped her commbadge once more to close the channel. Her gaze once more went to Griffith. "Commander, our orders state that we are to travel to the last known position of the USS Kepler, an Oberth-class vessel that has gone missing while en route to chart a nebula near the Bandari system. Please see to it that we are ready to be underway within the hour, and notify me accordingly. You have the bridge." A short nod later, Lea stepped past her XO and through the aft port-side door which led out into the access corridor, her intent to retreat to her new ready room so she might report to Admiral Calloway, and perhaps settle in just a bit.
Once the doors parted and Lea stepped into what was now her ready room, she let out a deep exhale and glanced about, feeling a sense of ease, excitement, and wonder at what lay ahead of her and her crew at the start of this journey together.
T'lol blinked as she processed what their new Captain had said, watching her head to the ready room, before T'lol gave herself a slight shake and returned her attentions on her console. A few more inputs and a mental note to contact Varissa at the end of her shift were made. Brushing a few strands of green hair from her eyes, she glanced up at Commander Griffith "Course laid in for the Bandari System, Commander, helm standing by." The Vulcan then returned to her console, adjusting attitude thrusters as needed.
Shirik closed the channel once the Captain finished her announcement. She was no stranger to last-minute reassignments so thought nothing of it. But she wondered what had happened to Capt. sh'Orthamu that she had to leave so suddenly, and that left her with an issue she would have to address soon. She would have to find the Security Chief after shift.
Greggory shook the captain's hand, the gentle but confident grip reassuring. At her gesture, he walked over to his chair, though he didn't actually sit, yet. Looking around the bridge crew, he couldn't help a small smile when he saw Iryna waiting by the turbolift, curiosity warring with her obvious fatigue.
As he listened to Captain Chevalier's address, he nodded along at the information he already knew, meeting the captain's eye with a firmer nod. "Orders received, Captain. I'll see to it." He waited until she had left the bridge, then turned to Shirik. "Commander Lektar, do one last check with the quartermaster, make sure all the supplies and personnel we're expecting have been transported up from planetside. Once that's complete, we'll set out. Commander Achaea, I believe you already said Engineering is ready for whatever we ask of the engines?"
After getting helm's report, he nodded. "Good to hear. Take us into a high orbit in preparation for departure until Ops gives the all-clear, then engage at Warp 7. Lieutenant Rowan, work with astrometrics to give us likely locations the Kepler may have drifted to, or any marginally hospitable planets between their last reported location and the Bandari system where they may have sought shelter. I want your report by the time we arrive," he finished, turning from the Science station to finally take his seat.
"Aye sir." Shirik started tapping at her console, asking for status reports from her crew and checking manifests herself. "Coordinates of the Kepler's last known location have been transmitted to us," she reported. "Sending them to Helm. The last of the cargo is being offloaded now. We should be ready shortly."
Seated comfortably at what was now her desk, Lea had already logged into the computer terminal with her credentials, and as the databases updated, she sipped at a tiny cup of espresso.
"Computer, shipboard time, please?" she inquired.
"The shipboard time is oh-eight-twenty-two," the computer answered.
With a succinct nod, she took another sip to finish the last of her much-needed caffeine boost, and after setting the cup back onto its saucer, she snatched the accompanying bit of chocolate biscotti and popped it into her mouth to munch on as she scrolled through the list of files that had so far been transferred. She worked quickly, highlighting those the Admiralty had forwarded with regard to their mission, and began sending them out to their respective department heads as additional briefing material. Simultaneously, she began making requests for status updates from each of them, wanting to ensure their departments were ready for whatever lay ahead.
When she resumed scrolling through the other information that had been forwarded, one file in particular — marked Captain's Eyes Only and sent by Admiral Hargrove at Starfleet Intelligence — elicited a sigh from her.
She'd read it once already, recalling the concerns voiced regarding a particular member of her new senior staff, but truth be told, Lea wasn't sure how much stock she could put in everything it warned of. Lea had dealt with Starfleet Intelligence at times during her career, especially during the Dominion War, and knew well how oversensitive and suspicious they could sometimes prove to be. Sure, there had been times when that suspicion was warranted, but she couldn't help but wonder if this was truly one of those times. In a way, the brief from the Admiral read as though it had been tinged with a heavy sense of xenophobia, and that troubled her immensely.
Regardless, she knew she would have to make her own assessments, and swore to herself that she would not let her sense of impartiality be tainted by what she'd read, no matter how potentially distressing some of it appeared to be.
The captain of a starship had to be fair in her judgments.
Raikon turned slightly in his seat and responded to Commander Griffith. "Yes Sir, she's ready to go on your command." Turning back to his console Raikon resumed his work. There wasn't much to prepare — the engineering team were ready to be underway.
T'lol nodded wordlessly, adjusting their position for departure. "Updating projected course," the Vulcan stated after a moment, her console pinging as it received the coordinates from Ops while Vanguard settled into her new, higher orbit smoothly. "Course plotted," T'lol said, glancing at Lt. Commander Lektar. "Standing by for Warp 7."
Cerys remained at the science station while the new Captain addressed the ship, doing her best impression of an officer who had absolutely not spent the previous several seconds wondering who the hell this woman was. Lea Chevalier. There. Mystery solved. One mystery, anyway.
Captain sh'Orthamu's absence was apparently due to a personal matter, and she had been relieved at her own request, which was an impressively efficient way of using several words to convey almost no information whatsoever. Cerys raised an eyebrow. Excellent. Glad we cleared that up.
Still, sh'Orthamu was apparently all right. And it made Cerys feel considerably less guilty about the small, undeniable sense of relief she'd experienced upon learning someone else was sitting in the command chair. Then Chevalier mentioned the USS Kepler. Missing. Cerys turned immediately back to her console. Oh.
An Oberth-class science vessel had stopped communicating en route to a nebula survey. This was, objectively, terrible. It was also the most interesting thing Cerys had heard in several days, which was an uncomfortable occupational hazard of being in Starfleet.
Commander Griffith began issuing orders. When he reached Science, Cerys turned toward him and nodded. "Aye, Commander. I'll have Science ready for departure and a preliminary assessment of the Kepler's last known position before we arrive."
She turned back to her console and pulled up the available astrometric data. The first thing she discovered was... Nothing. Cerys frowned. She widened the display. Still nothing. The Kepler had stopped communicating in an apparently empty region of space, roughly two light-years short of the nebula it had been traveling to study. No star. No planet. No conveniently enormous spatial phenomenon sitting at the coordinates with a little sign reading MYSTERY HERE. Well. That's inconsiderate.
She pulled the map farther out. The nearest stellar system was NXT-3002, the Bandari system, a G-class star with seven planets and two moons. It lay well away from the Kepler's last known position, and roughly seven light-years from the nebula itself. Cerys opened the system record. Then paused. The most recent sensor chart had been conducted by the USS Bangalore. Seventy-five years ago. She stared at the date. Oh, good. Archaeology.
Cerys began pulling up the Bangalore's original survey data anyway. Seventy-five years wasn't terribly long on an astronomical scale. On a Starfleet-charting scale, however, it was long enough for the universe to have developed several new and exciting ways of being unpredictable.
She returned to the Kepler's last known coordinates. Empty space. That bothered her. Not because empty space was unusual. Most of space was empty. It was arguably space's most defining characteristic. But starships generally did not stop communicating because they had encountered an especially aggressive patch of nothing.
Cerys brought up the Kepler's intended course and traced it toward the nebula, then across toward Bandari. Perhaps there was a connection. Perhaps there wasn't. At this distance, she had no justification for inventing one simply because it made the map more interesting. Very tempting, though.
That familiar spark of scientific excitement had already begun, and seeing the names cooled it immediately. She looked at the Kepler's crew manifest sitting quietly beside the telemetry. Names. Departments. Scientists who had probably been sitting at consoles much like hers when whatever happened had happened. The puzzle suddenly felt rather less abstract.
Cerys returned to the Kepler's final coordinates and began assembling her preliminary report. The curiosity was still there. Of course it was. She couldn't switch that part of herself off. But now it had somewhere useful to go. She stared at the little marker representing the Kepler's last known position.
All right. Where did you go?
Zaje met eyes with his new colleagues after the new captain's announcement. Whilst he hadn't had time to engage with Captain sh'Orthamu, he liked how she had conducted herself, albeit slightly unorthodox.
His ears pricked up further at the mention of the USS Kepler. It's never a good sign when a Starfleet vessel fails to report in on what should be a routine mission. There were too many variables to factor in to make an assumption about what had happened.
"Captain, if I may, I'd like to run some battle and defensive drills whilst en route. I would rather be prepared in case we encounter any less than friendly contacts."
Zaje quickly sent a message to his security teams to compile dossiers on the Kepler crew.
Once the cargo transfer was completed, Greggory straightened in his seat. "Alright, Helm. Take us out. Warp 7, engage."
"Captain Chevalier," he called over the comm, "we have left the Alpha Centauri system. We should arrive within 48 hours."
Turning to his tactical officer, he made eye contact. "I trust that will be enough time for some drills in the holodeck? Work with Engineering for a systems check. We'll have to push the live-fire drills until after this mission, assuming we don't end up doing a trial-under-fire. But I'll make sure that's in the schedule the next time we're not short on time."
"36 hours, Commander," Shirik said from her console. "We should arrive at approximately 2000 hours tomorrow."
Inside her ready room, Léa had just returned the empty espresso cup and saucer to the replicator housing for recycling when the stars beyond the viewport blue-shifted and began to streak past.
They had gone to warp.
"Captain Chevalier, we have left the Alpha Centauri system. We should arrive within forty-eight hours," came her XO's voice over the comm.
"Yes. Understood, Number One. Thank you." Léa replied after tapping the commbadge pinned beneath her left shoulder. She closed the channel with a similar gesture, then turned to take in the ready room once more, wondering how she might give the space more of her own personality. She recalled Captain Halladay explaining that a few mementos from one's past could make subordinates feel less threatened when reporting there—and, at the same time, make an irate admiral feel a little less intimidating. A two-fold defense, he had teased.
The memory of her former CO brought a smile as she exhaled softly.
Pleasant as the distraction was, Léa knew she had more pressing matters to attend to. Most notably, she still needed to name the Vanguard's Second Officer, a role that had gone unfilled under Captain sh'Orthamu. She had gone over her senior staff a number of times, and three names stood out as candidates for 2XO. First was Lieutenant Commander Achaea. He was experienced and seemed poised to make a jump to the command track, but Léa disliked the idea of depriving the Vanguard of her chief engineer so early in a mission. Second was Lieutenant Korn, another experienced candidate. His tactical expertise and service as security chief made him a natural leader, though he would need a promotion if selected.
Léa took her seat and activated the terminal on her desk, bringing up the dossier of the third candidate she had in mind: Lieutenant Commander Lektar. Like the others, she had experience, and as chief operations officer, naming her 2XO was a natural fit.
With a deep sigh, Léa shook her head, dismissing something still nagging at her.
Knowing she did not have all the answers—and recalling how often Captain Halladay had relied on her advice for difficult decisions—she decided to follow in his footsteps.
She tapped her commbadge. "Commander Griffith, please report to my ready room."
Zaje met Cmdr. Griffith's eye. "Of course sir, there will be ample time, thank you. I will work with engineering as you suggest. She'll be ready for a fight...should the need arise."
He didn't like leaving things unprepared. It's always been drilled into him to be ready for the unexpected and he'd made it his duty to try and cover all eventualities. "Not this time Zaje, not this time" he thought to himself.
Greggory sat in his chair as Alpha Centauri fell away behind them, looking over department reports and shipboard incident reports.
A short time later, he got a call from the captain. "On my way, Captain." Standing up, he quickly swept his eyes over the bridge crew. He tried, to varying degrees of success, not to linger on any particular face as he reviewed what he had read in personnel files.
"Commander Achaea, you have the Conn." After receiving acknowledgment, he headed towards the ready room.
Stopping just inside the door, he announced himself. "You wanted to see me, Captain?"
"Aye, Sir. I have the conn." Raikon replied leaving the engineering station and sitting down in the captain's chair.
He noted the change of command in the logs. He relaxed in the chair, there wasn't anything to do at the moment but keep the current heading and wait to arrive.
At the sound of the doors opening, Lea looked up from the reports she had been reading at her desk. "Yes. Please, have a seat." She motioned toward either of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk.
"Commander..." She paused a moment, leaning back in her chair, her eyes shifting to the viewport and the stars streaming by outside. "...I wanted to make something clear to you about my expectations for you as my Executive Officer." She knew better than to obfuscate the sort of guidance and advice she would want from her Number One, and she decided against mincing words with Griffith. She needed to be forthright about any concerns she had, and in turn trust him to act with the confidence she would expect of her right hand. Her own experience as an XO shaped her decision-making here.
"I have read your files. I have seen the mission reports from Captain sh'Orthamu. They were, of course, satisfactory - but I want to avoid the mistake of making assumptions." Her gaze returned to him. "You should know that I intend to count on you for your honest opinions, because I will in turn share my own, whether or not they ruffle feathers. If we are going to be successful in this mission, and in any future missions, then we must ensure that the command relationship between captain and executive officer is one of trust, and a willingness to embrace that honesty. I am not looking for a yes-man when decisions need to be made. I will want your input."
After a short pause, she allowed her expression to lighten slightly. "Of course, I am not asking you to be obstinate either. There is a balance a Number One has to find in the role, and I am sure you will find it."
"But for the time being, can I count on your due diligence with regard to the honesty I am seeking from you?"
At the captain's address, he walked across the room to stand across the desk. Stoically, he listened to her concerns. "I understand the difference between time for debate and time for unification, Sir. In the spirit of honesty, permission to speak freely?"
"I have always heard that a captain's first obligation is to the mission and a first officer's obligation is to the ship and crew. I intend to offer advice and question your orders on that principle. Once your orders are final, however, I will carry them out to the best of my abilities, in the best method available to me. If there's a way through a tough situation, we'll find it together."
"When we're in this room, you're always free to speak, Commander." Léa answered, giving her full attention to her new Number One, her crystal-blue eyes intent on his mannerisms as he began.
He could—and would—speak his mind, she realized immediately.
Good, she thought.
A moment later, when he had finished his carefully measured declaration, in which Léa found more than a little common ground, she offered him a modest smile of affirmation. "I'm glad to hear it, Commander. And indeed, if you can abide such an arrangement—as you have outlined, and as I have put forth—then I don't see why we wouldn't find success together." She laced her fingers together, set her hands atop her desk, and leaned forward a little, seemingly pleased by this early exchange with the man she would have to rely on more closely than anyone else in the weeks and months ahead, however long her assignment to the Vanguard lasted.
"Now, I understand Captain sh'Orthamu had not yet named her second officer, and I would be remiss if I allowed our ship to enter circumstances that might threaten the chain of command without completing that task. We do not know what awaits us in our search for the missing Kepler." For a moment she glanced right again, at the stars streaming past the ready-room viewport. "And as I am to rely on you as my first, you—should something happen to me—would have to rely on someone else among our senior staff to act as yours. Which is why I would like your input in naming them."
She leaned back a little, her hands parting as she reached for a particular PADD among several on her desk. "There are three names that immediately stand out to me as suitable candidates: Commander Achaea, Commander Lektar, and lastly Lieutenant Korn."
She set the PADD at the front of her desk for Griffith to review. "All three have potential, but each comes with drawbacks. Commander Achaea is our chief engineer, and may already have his hands full. Lieutenant Korn would need to be promoted if we named him, though that is a minor issue. And Commander Lektar..." Her voice trailed off for a moment as her thoughts returned to the warnings she had read in the private communiqué from Admiral Hargrove at Starfleet Intelligence. "...as chief of operations, naming her second officer is a natural thought, though I'm not sure how familiar you are with her history. Suffice it to say, some concerns have been raised."
Léa leaned back once more, crossing one thigh over the other as her hands came to rest in her lap. "Can I assume Captain sh'Orthamu approached you with this dilemma before her resignation, and have you had time to consider these options?"
She tilted her head slightly, inviting a response.
Raikon sat quietly in the Captain's chair, looking over the latest engineering reports on his PADD. He was glad to see that the months of work refitting her had paid off and that everything was operating within parameters. The last hour had been quite uneventful.
In the meantime, someone from the engineering team had replaced him at his station monitoring Engineering.
After a few moments, he rested the PADD on his lap and looked to his left toward the operations station. He felt it was time to have the various stations report in.
"Commander Lektar, anything to report?"
"One bioneural gelpack has gone offline on Deck 6, but the new automatic systems rerouted as expected," Shirik reported to Achaea. "The affected pack is being replaced now. I'll begin analysis on why it malfunctioned once it's available. Other than that, all systems seem to be functioning normally."
As the conversation moved to a more lengthy topic, Greggory took the seat in front of the captain's desk. "Fortunately, Captain sh'Orthamu had already requested such a discussion before her untimely departure." Pulling out his own PADD from a pocket along his thigh, he called up his prepared report, syncing it with Lea's PADD.
"Raikon Achaea certainly has the experience to be the 2XO, but I know personally how busy being Chief Engineer can be. He's a fine bridge officer and can handle the CONN, but in an emergency, I wouldn't want to take his focus away from coordinating engineering teams. Korn Zaje has a similar problem, although his command experience seems rather recent."
Greggory shifted in his seat as he read the final report on the captain's PADD. Finally, he pushed it back towards Lea and looked at her confidently. "Honestly, no one knows this ship as well as Commander Achaea and myself EXCEPT Shirik Lektar, probably better if you include personnel alongside technical systems. She's just as capable of coordinating departments as she is balancing systems, so adding the duties of XO wouldn't distract her from her position at Ops. She IS a bit abrasive, but she stays calm under pressure and is capable of making the hard decisions.
"I'm aware of her history, both before joining Starfleet and the disciplinary actions in her record. We worked together for a while aboard the Constellation and I can attest that, while she might react strongly to personal threats, she doesn't use violence without provocation. I've never even seen her draw her Kemla unless training or fighting off a boarding action."
He offered a bit of a smile to Lea. "She's a strong-willed, no-nonsense officer who isn't afraid to speak her mind, just like what you asked of me. There's no one on this ship I'd rather have backing me up as my XO."
As her Number One finally took the offered seat, Léa leaned back in order to give him the attention his diligence seemed to demand. She listened closely to his summary of each of the three candidates she had mentioned, his analysis apparently in line with her own as he read from a report that had been prepared for her predecessor.
It was safe to say that Léa was already feeling comfortable with her new XO.
Naturally, when he reached the last of the three, one eyebrow lifted slightly higher than the other as she found herself relieved to hear some positive feedback that could counterbalance the more cautionary warnings. When he finished, Léa allowed an approving smile to tug once more at the corners of her lips. "It sounds to me, then, that you have a preference in mind—and, generally speaking, it is in alignment with my own. I have no doubt that Commander Achaea and Lieutenant Korn could prove themselves capable second officers, but given the circumstances, it would seem that Commander Lektar is the favored choice."
She paused a moment, letting a beat of silence settle before her crystal-blue eyes shifted toward the viewport, then back to Griffith. "I will take some time to consider all factors, after which I will make my decision. Soon. Thank you for your input, Number One. That will be all."
Léa leaned back, her smile genuinely appreciative as she looked at him.
Greggory sat in silence as Lea quickly processed his report. When she began to talk about their analysis being in general agreement, he caught the use of "could prove themselves." Probably not the kind of split responsibilities that could be trusted with the ship.
"As an addendum, I would recommend Achaea and Korn for Away Missions, would give them more experience taking the command lead and getting crew from different departments to work together.
"I am grateful you put such trust in my opinions, Captain. She is indeed, my favorite choice," he said with a straight face but a slight twinkle. "I'll help get any other information you require." Pushing himself up from the chair, he turned toward the door that would release him onto the bridge, but stopped just outside of its trigger range. "Captain, please don't share this brief when she talks to you. Thank you for your understanding. If there's ever anything you want to share, you know (or the ship) where to find me. Maybe we can decompress over a meal."
As the door opened, he stopped again. "I'll let you know when we arrive, or whenever something decides to interpose themselves in our narrow stretch of vastness." With that, he returned to his place on the bridge, settling in for a long flight.
"Valued Voices"
Capt. Léa Chevalier, CO
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith, XO
Stardate: 58807.17, 18h00
Location: Captain's Ready Room, USS Vanguard
***
The night was young, yet to Léa it had felt anything but.
About an hour earlier, she had surrendered her usual evening green tea in exchange for something with a bit more kick—in this case, coffee. Or rather, three of them. As she sipped, her weary eyes scanning the lines of text across the computer terminal on her desk, she felt as though she were fighting a losing war of attrition. Insomnia had been a common bedfellow these last few years, and she knew well that her insistence on familiarizing herself with the Vanguard, its systems, and, more importantly, its crew before giving in to the need for rest would only hasten its return.
Yet she was committed. Her sudden reassignment from the Ticonderoga had left her at a decided disadvantage, which in turn meant the crew of the Vanguard was just as disadvantaged.
Simply put, she felt she owed them her best, even if it meant a day or two without sleep.
With a resigned sigh, Léa blinked heavy lids and leaned back in her chair. She took one more sip, then set the small gold-rimmed cup back on its matching saucer. A pair of fingers came up to pinch the bridge of her nose. For a moment she considered upping the ante further to an espresso, but thought better of it. Instead she stood and moved to the viewport. The stars streaming by were a constant reminder that the ship was at warp, that the last known location of the Kepler awaited them—and perhaps also an idea as to what had happened to it.
"The time is eighteen hundred hours," the computer's cold voice announced.
Glancing back over her shoulder, Léa expected a chime at the door at any moment. The scheduled meeting with her new executive officer was waiting. So far she had been impressed by Commander Griffith, but she knew it would take more time to truly get a gauge of him.
And vice versa, she realized, recalling her own experiences as an executive officer.
At 18h00, Greggory walked across the bridge, PADD in hand, and pressed the announcer on the door. After getting the acknowledgment, he walked through the doorway and waited for it to hiss shut behind him before he walked over to stand on the other side of the desk. "Good evening, Captain. I see you're settling in well."
"I had some scheduling changes I wanted to run by you, for after this business with the Kepler is resolved. I also wanted to give you the chance to ask any questions you didn't want to pose in front of everyone on the bridge."
Léa turned from the viewport as the door hissed shut behind him. "Good evening, Commander. Please—sit." She gestured to one of the chairs opposite her desk. "Can I offer you something from the replicator? Tea, coffee—whatever you prefer." She returned to her own seat, accepted the PADD he had brought, and let her eyes travel the first lines while she took an idle sip of coffee. The warmth did little for the fatigue, but it gave her hands something honest to do.
"After the Kepler, then," she said, glancing up. "Tell me what you have in mind for the schedule. I would rather hear it in your words." Even as she opened that door, a quieter set of questions gathered behind it: how the crew had taken her arrival, what he had not said on the bridge, whether these changes were practical or political. She kept them to herself for now, and waited.
Greggory took the offered chair. "Nothing at the moment, Captain," he said as he handed over the PADD. Letting her read the plan, he took a deep breath to steady himself. "There aren't any assignments I think need changing at this time, other than Lt Cmdr Lektar's lead of Gamma shift. I've noticed something on previous assignments, both in drills and practical events." He paused to let the premise sink in.
"When incidents occur in the last couple hours of a shift, the on-duty officers are tired, just from being alert for so many hours. When incidents occur in the first hours of a shift and All-Hands is called, the crew that just finished their shift are more-so distracted, often pulled from meals or just getting ready to sleep. This increases response times and leads to more mistakes, remaining a consistent drag even as crew's gain experience."
He paused again, giving Lea the opportunity to request clarification before he moved on to his proposed solution.
Reclaiming the small cup from the saucer on her desk, Léa took a sip of coffee as she continued to read, and to listen. The switch of Commander Lektar from alpha to gamma made sense, given that she had been named second officer.
When he paused, she sensed a reservation and looked up from the PADD.
She let it settle in her lap, crossed one leg over the other, and tilted her head just a little, one eyebrow higher than its companion. She listened closely, wondering what her first officer had in mind. "There is some fall-off in diligence as a shift winds down, yes. I have seen the same." She understood the cause well enough. To put it simply—and perhaps a little unfairly, speaking as a human—it was entirely human to lose focus on mundane tasks as the hours wore on.
"I take it you have a proposed solution to go with this analysis?" she asked, a serene, appreciative smile crossing her lips. "Let me hear it," she said, taking another sip of coffee and feeling a little more awake.
He sat up a bit taller as Lea acknowledged his observations, justifying his proposal.
"I want to change the schedule from three 8-hour shifts to six 4-hour shifts. Without changing who is working each shift, we can simply have each shift go through two rotations in a 24 hour period. Basically, an Alpha, Beta, and Gamma-1 followed by an Alpha, Beta, and Gamma-2. Alpha 1 would be at 08h00 as normal, and Alpha 2 would start at 20h00.
"It would still provide two 8-hour periods for off-duty crew to eat, rest, and get in some recreation," he confirmed, "it just wouldn't be a continuous 16-hours. The simulations I ran, including starfleet medical reports on morale and sleep requirements, show a not-insignificant increase in response times with a negligible chance of crew strain."
He tried to reassure the captain, "If either of us suspect that, after an adjustment period, the crew is suffering from the change, we can go back to the previous arrangement."
"That's…" Léa hesitated a moment, then smiled and nodded. "…quite a proposal."
She leaned back again, tilting her head just a little as Griffith went on with further explanation, clarification, and justification for the change. It did seem an ingenious, if simple, solution to the problems he had outlined. "I have not served on a ship that ran a shift system quite like that one, but I can see the benefits. Of course, there may be drawbacks. Breaking up the shifts also breaks up off-duty time. It could disrupt sleep to some degree."
"The crew would have two eight-hour periods off, with a four-hour shift in between to contend with." It could be a minor issue, or a major one, depending on how quickly some of them could find rest after one shift and before the next.
"Did your testing account for this possibility?" she asked.
Greggory nodded along with Lea's points. "Neither have I, which is why I'm proposing a trial run before we commit long term. Especially before our mission drags us too far from support."
He acknowledged considering the sleep issue. "My models did account for that. Some of them suggested medically supervised chemical assistance until the new routine is settled; some models said the crew would split a full sleep cycle between the two recovery periods, which decreased the gain of the schedule change to a minor degree, assuming that everyone gets their uninterrupted species-recommended sleep equivalent right now.
"How many of us really get a continuous 8-hours on a starship," he added with a slight smirk. "Just look at how much coffee we consume.
"Speaking of, some models suggested that the crew would adjust their dining habits around two separate rest periods, while others suggested wide-spread adoption of meals designed to be eaten quickly or on the go.
"Ultimately, it seems to create a short-term disruption for long-term gain, which is why I suggested waiting until the Kepler situation is dealt with, while we are in transit to the next stage of our mission." He sat patiently in his chair, although his insides were twisting into knots, a career of high-pressure situations where unintentional movements could be disastrous paying off.
Léa's head shifted ever so slightly from side to side, wary at the mention of chemical stimulants to regulate sleep. She would much prefer to avoid them, given the effect on natural circadian rhythms.
They were not universal, as Griffith had succinctly clarified.
With a smile, and as if to underline the point, she motioned to the cup of coffee on her desk—her third of the evening. A chemical stimulant, yes, but there was a hard line between that and something taken under a doctor's supervision. Her reservations aside, the shift-change idea seemed at least worth a trial. If the crew could adjust and make it work, the benefits would be noticeable. If they could not, they could fall back to a more traditional system. After a moment of consideration, she nodded and clasped one hand over the other in her lap.
"Very well, Commander. Please begin drawing up plans to implement the new schedule. We'll give it a go after the Kepler mission, and if it proves its merit, continue with it for the foreseeable future."
"What else would you like to discuss?" she asked.
Greggory relaxed slightly as the captain approved his proposal. He accepted his PADD back from Lea before standing up. "I think that was all I wanted to take time for, Captain. I should probably get back to the bridge, unless you had anything you wanted to discuss?"
"Not at the moment. No." Léa nodded to Griffith appreciatively and settled back a little in the chair behind her desk. "You may return to the bridge. Thank you." She was about to return to a report from the astrometrics officer when something sprang to mind, and she looked up. "Actually, Commander. This Saturday evening, would you care to have dinner with Commander Lektar and me?" She raised an eyebrow. "It was something of a tradition under my previous commanding officer, Captain Halladay, and I would like to see if I can continue it now that I am in the chair."
Greggory turned from his exit at the captain's invitation. "That sounds nice, Captain. I'll see you there."
Offering a brief smile, he turned and stepped onto the bridge, resuming his duties.
"Familiar Company"
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith, XO
Lt. Cmdr Shirik Lektar, COO and 2XO
Stardate 58807.15 16h30
Location: Deck 1 XO Suite
***
Greggory had no reason to be nervous. This was just a meal between two old friends to congratulate one of them on their promotion. Of course, they hadn't had time to sit down together since the launch, and even that had only involved a quick bit of small-talk to catch up. It had been a while since they had taken the opportunity to set aside time for a more in-depth conversation.
He scanned his quarters one last time to make sure he had everything neatly packed away. Right on schedule, he heard the chime of his door as he crossed the space.
"Enter."
The door slid open and there she stood. Shirik was dressed casually, in black slacks and a deep purple sweater, one of her favorites. Her hair was out of its braid and in a loose ponytail instead. Her Kemla was sheathed at her thigh. She had resisted the urge to bring her PADD with her, which went with her nearly everywhere all the time. Instead in one hand she carried a small fabric pouch of some kind.
As she stepped inside, her gaze automatically swept the room, taking in every detail and filing it away before coming to rest on him. "Hi," she greeted him, her expression, like her dress, a bit more casual than normal.
Greggory quickly looked Shirik over and welcomed her in. "Have a seat." He walked over to the replicator. "Computer: One cocoa and one water, both 45 Celsius." When the two drinks appeared, he carried them both over to the table, setting the water in front of her. "For your Klaas. I figured you'd prefer that to something more... festive," he said, gesturing to the fabric pouch.
She moved into the room, her movements precise and efficient while at the same time unconsciously graceful, and settled into a chair, placing the bag on the table in front of her. She smiled a bit at his thoughtfulness. "Thank you." She reached into her pouch for a fuzzy black pinch of Tasmos and sprinkled into the hot water. The acrid bitter smell began to waft from the mug. "I usually have some to wind down after shift."
He smiled at her, as well as the familiar acrid scent. "Can't wind down too much, unfortunately. Who knows what we're going to find when we get to the Kepler. But I thought it was important to take what time we can get to celebrate your promotion." He raised his mug and held it over the table. "A toast, to finally climbing beyond a department head. I know it's been a rough journey."
She smiled and raised hers in mirror. "Truth be known, this is my third appointment to Second Officer, but the others were so short lived I never really got to take the position and do anything. Hopefully that will be different here." She took a deep sip from the mug and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the hot brew searing down her throat to settle into her stomach. "I've been ready for it, preparation-wise, for a while. But I wasn't sure I'd ever get to make it AND keep it."
He savored the rich cocoa and let the warmth relax his shoulders. "I'm confident you can do the job, and I think you've shown you're capable of avoiding your previous transgressions. Obviously, the captain agreed." He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table as he smiled at Shirik. "Ur k'dum mila panelt. Ur k'chiv mila, kroshar."
She raised an eyebrow as she inclined her head. "An interesting way to say it. The phrasing does sound very Rennari. 'To having more power'...." she smiled a bit. "You've been practicing. Technically correct, but the k's are not necessary in this context, it makes it sound formal, or like you're a beginner." Her smile grew a bit at that. "But you're improving. I am curious, though, as to what 'previous transgressions' you're referring to."
He nodded gratefully at her compliment on his progress. "The problems that kept this position from you and the incident on DS9 that resulted in your, fortunately temporary, demotion. I haven't heard of you getting 'disproportionately aggressive' in a while," he said with a wink.
Her smile faded. "That unfortunate incident was a result of my experiences in the Mirror Universe. As long as I never see that man again there won't be a problem." She sighed and took another sip. "My aggression is never disproportionate to the situation. Except in that case, and even then... I had no way to know he wasn't *that* Hadek."
"You've gotten much better at socializing since you came aboard the Constellation, making more of a positive impression with your fellow officers. Don't get me wrong, I doubt many would call you 'friendly,' but you aren't as harsh, even with your juniors in Ops." He gave a bit of a smirk. "Still the perfectionist I remember working with, though, which has served you quite well. You're looking as fit as ever."
"I have been told many times in the past that if I want to move up I need to learn how to interact with my crew and earn their loyalty and respect. I'm still working on it. Back home respect was simply expected by your title. You didn't really need to earn it. At least I hope they're not calling me a bitch behind my back any more. Not that it matters to me, as long as they do their jobs well." She nodded. "That has been work as well, but I'm satisfied with my fitness level now. I am also working on my mental discipline and expanding my weapons training."
"I'm sure you're excelling at those, too, or pushing yourself until you do." He took another sip of his cocoa, more than half the mug drained, and set it down on the table. "So, we're celebrating your promotion: what do you want to eat? I'll follow your lead."
She considered as she sipped from her mug, cradled in both hands. "I've always wanted to try pizza. Everyone talks about it so highly, and there seem to be so many variations of it..."
Greggory actually paused, blinking slowly as her words sunk in. "Do... do you have a flavor profile you want to try? That's one of the delights of pizza, you can do just about anything with it."
"I think, for my first time, I should go with something simple. Just the base pizza, maybe with some mushrooms?"
Greggory turned and, due to the complex specificity involved, manually entered the order. The replicator seemed to take a little longer than normal, but it soon finished producing a single-serve pizza, topped with three different mushrooms and a milder cheese profile. After Greggory transferred hers to the table, the replicator powered up again, producing a heavier pizza with a variety of meats and vegetables. He placed both pizzas in the middle of the table and then turned as the replicator made a couple of smaller plates and utensils, which he set in front of Shirik and his own seat.
He nodded at the other pizza on the table. "If you feel adventurous after your first piece, we can have some of each."
She eyed both pizzas and sniffed the aromas they gave off. "It does smell good," she said, gingerly removing a slice of the mushroom pizza and placing it on her plate. She then cut the corner off and stabbed it with her fork before popping it into her mouth. She chewed, experiencing the flavors. "I like it," she said. "What's on yours? Is it spicy?"
He transferred a piece of the combination pizza to his own plate, slicing a bite off and using his fork to keep any loose toppings from falling off. After swallowing his mouthful, he shook his head. "It's rich. The peppers are mild and give it a crispness that compliments the savory sauce. The meats have a little bit of a kick to them, but certainly not anything acrid enough to offend your palate."
"Klaas is more acidic than spicy I think," she said. "I seem to have a low tolerance for spice in foods. Maybe that's something else to work on," she mused as she cut off another piece of her pizza to eat.
"Well, there's plenty of varieties of pizza we could try, at all levels of spice. I'll be happy to escort you through that culinary adventure. We can trade pizza for linguistic lessons," he said with a soft smile.
She laughed softly at that. "There are many other foods I have not tried. I tend to stick to simple boring foods. I can't really eat what I would at home since I have no way to make it yet. But many of our foods are quite boring compared to the variety I've seen since joining Starfleet. But I'm willing to give you more lessons either way."
She took another bite of pizza and washed it down with bitter klaas. "Am I correct in assuming that you put in a good word with the captain about me?"
Greggory smiled at Shirik and ate a few bites in comfortable silence before she broached a new topic. "Yeah. Captain Chevalier asked for my input. She had already narrowed it down to a few candidates among the senior officers, so I gave her my impressions of each and what I saw as the pros and cons." He avoided eye-contact as he spoke, focused on transferring another slice of pizza, and tried to minimize his influence on the decision.
She studied his face as she listened to his answer and chewed. "Does she know we're friends?" she asked.
Greggory shrugged as he took another bite to avoid answering immediately. After he swallowed, he responded, "She knows we served together. I spoke of being familiar with your methods and performance."
She sipped her klaas, her gaze never leaving him. She noted his apparent discomfort. "Is there something you're not telling me?" she asked.
He sighed, using a sip of cocoa to clear his throat. "I admit that I may have argued more strongly for you because of our friendship, but nothing I said to her was inaccurate or misleading. I think you are the most prepared when it comes to knowing how to utilize both ship and crew. I think you're able to be brutally honest and cut through all niceties when the situation calls for it. From me, the captain wanted open communication and trust with regards to the time to debate and the time to follow orders, and I said she could expect the same things from you." He looked up and made eye contact, gazing back with a warm smirk.
She considered as she took another long sip. "That may be true, but you may have done yourself and the captain a disservice by not disclosing a potential conflict of interest. I hope it doesn't cause any problems in the future. I don't know exactly who the other candidates were, but I agree with your assessment. I was the best choice. And I don't say that with ego, but with fact." She gave him a small smile in return.
That got a genuine laugh out of Greggory, turning his smirk into a large grin. "I didn't want to do you a disservice by associating a presumed bias. That shouldn't be used as justification to deny you the position. Glad to know you objectively agree with my assessment, however."
"I have found that if someone wants to deny me a position, they need little justification," she mused. "But now, here I am, and I intend to do my best now that I can actually BE a Second Officer hopefully for more than a few days. I won't let your confidence in me be unjustified." She raised her mug in a salute.
He matched her salute. "You've never yet given me a reason to doubt you." A smile settled over his face as he dug in to wrap up their meal.
After he had returned all the dishware to the replicator, he gestured to the couch under the window. "Do we have time for a bit of a lesson? I'll even refresh our cups."
"All right, I can stay a bit longer, then I have to get prepared for duty. This is the first time I've been on a mission to find a missing ship." She slid her now empty mug over to him and rose gracefully to her feet to cross the room and settle once more onto the couch. While he got the drinks she looked out the window, watching the stars streak past.
As the replicator hummed, Greggory watched Shirik cross the room. Once complete, he joined her on the couch, leaning against the arm. "Do you have somewhere you'd like to start, or should I give you another demonstration of my practice."
She took the mug into her hands with a smile. "Go ahead, show me what you've learned," she said, blowing in the mug before taking a sip of the acrid liquid.
He set his mug down and leaned forward, throwing an arm over the back of the couch. Focusing on her face, he softly spoke. "Nims nara sa mila vav, lin choth. I think it is that lovely sweater you're wearing."
She laughed softly. "I nims sa mila uth," she grinned. "That was very good, if an odd compliment."
Greggory smiled, leaning back again. "Like I said, the color just seemed to pop more tonight. Uth," he repeated. "I'm guessing that means 'blue.' I still need orange, green, and brown and I think we'll have covered the basics."
"Lalir, stin, and sam," she smiled. "Although I've never seen anyone with orange eyes. My peoples' eyes are either purple like mine or red, ren."
"At least now, if I want to know the Drokari for a particular object, I can indicate it with colors," Greggory said with a soft laugh. "Lalir. Stin. Sam," he repeated softly to himself a few times.
"Yes. Rennari like me have those two colors, they indicate our social status. Only those of Noble Houses like me have the purple eyes. The other races can also have violet or red eyes, but other colors as well. And the colors do not have any social meaning beyond their value because of rarity." She took another sip.
"Value," he repeated, realizing the implications. "Was there ever fashion around having specific eye color of... servants of the other races, given rarities?" He shrugged, "I honestly don't know how far into the minutiae your planet's system went, but I've read of other cultural examples."
She shifted on her seat a bit and took another sip. "The status of any House is reflected in its... possessions. Servants with rarer physical traits are more highly sought after, and more valuable. The Royal House, of course, would have all the most valuable things." She paused for a moment. "Selective breeding is done these days, to enhance desirable traits among the offspring."
"Naturally," he said sarcastically, taking a deep sip.
It wasn't an easy topic between them, but he also knew Shirik didn't exactly approve of it, either. It's just sometimes difficult to discuss someone's culture without saying something judgmental.
He shook his head. "Let's try something else. What words would you use to describe our new ship, especially compared to the Constellation?"
She turned her gaze out the window once more, letting the flowing stars settle her as she took another sip of the hot drink. "Kem.. mav.. ni'krika... Small... fast... brave.." she mused.
"Ni'krika," he sat with it longer than the other words. "Not afraid? How else could 'krika' be used? What about the antonyms: large and slow (which I object to as a description of the Constellation, as Chief Engineer)?" He asked, adopting a mock-offended gesture at the suggestion.
"Krika means coward," she said. "It's an insult on my world." She smiled a bit then. "I never said the Constellation was the opposite. It was much larger than this ship, though. Ni'kem... ni'mav... sed... strong."
He smiled back at her. "Well, I did say, 'in comparison to the Constellation,' so forgive me to think you were calling my ship slow." He blinked. "Wait, you did call her slow. Ni'mav. Not fast. I'll have you know the Constellation could go faster and longer than the Vanguard. And we had some of the best damage-control teams in the fleet," he said with a bit of pride.
She rolled her eyes with a smile. "You misinterpreted what I was saying. You asked about the antonyms, so I gave them to you. I can see the confusion. Sed was meant of the Constellation, not the rest. Touchy engineers..."
Greggory had his head turned away, nose pointed towards the ceiling as he listened to her explanation, but he couldn't keep the smile from his face. "Very well. Apology accepted," he said, facing her again, knowing full well that she wasn't apologizing.
He looked at the chronometer nearby. "It's nearly 18h00. If there's any prep you want to take care of before we arrive at the Kepler's location, you'll probably be wanting to head out." He finished off his mug and set it on the table to clean up later.
She gave him a teasing poke in the ribs while his nose was in the air, and got to her feet with a smile. "Yes, I have things to take care of. Thanks for dinner. I'll see you on the bridge." She turned to make her way out of the room.
He stood with her, walking her to the door. "I really do appreciate your smile, by the way. I know how momentous that is." He stood in the doorway, giving her his warm smile. "Let's try to make these dinners a semi-regular event, even without the celebratory air."
"Indeed it is," she teased. "That sounds good." She flashed him one more small smile before slipping back into the neutral Shirik everyone knew, before anyone else in the hall might see her, and continued on her way.
"Arrival"
Capt. Léa Chevalier, CO
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith, XO
Lt. T'Lol, Chief FCO
Lt. Zaje Korn, Chief of Security
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer
Lt. Cerys Rowan, CSO
Lt. Cmdr. Shirik Lektar, Ops Chief
Stardate: 58807.15, 20h00
Location: Bridge, USS Vanguard
***
As the Vanguard came out of warp at the specified coordinates, Shirik powered up the viewscreen to have a look at the space around them. It looked empty and ordinary. "Nothing on sensors at the moment, Captain," she reported. "I'll continue scanning and increase the range." This could prove a good first test for the upgraded sensors, she thought.
As the hum of the warp drive cooled, Zaje watched his tactical monitor closely. He'd be damn sure nothing was going to sneak up on them. He sent a message to Lt. Bennett to ensure everyone knew their duties should the need arise.
Zaje struggled to shake the unease he was feeling. The events leading up to his on field promotion on the USS Zeus burned into his mind. Zaje has since felt that this gave him an edge, not being caught off guard, but it also lead to a slight sense of anxiety when approaching the unknown.
"Nothing on tactical, Captain. Defensive systems primed and ready on your command."
As the warp core wound down more power became available.
"I can boost power to the sensors if you need it Commander Shirik." Raikon called out from his station.
Shirik closed her eyes momentarily in annoyance. "Lektar." she muttered. "Any additional power would be welcome."
Raikon became aware of his mistake and felt embarrassed.
"My apologies Commander Lektar, I meant no offense."
He transferred her the power she needed to boost the sensors.
"I know," Shirik said, her expression relaxing a tad. "None taken."
Zaje raised an eyebrow at Achaea's mistake. Thankfully, the Commander let it go.
As the Commander adjusted the sensors, Zaje's console pinged an alert.
"Captain, sensors are picking up an ion trail. Heading away from our location…bearing…043 mark 5, towards the Bandari system. Looking at the dispersion of the trail, I'd estimate it was left no more than a week ago."
Léa, who had arrived on the bridge only a minute or so earlier, leaned forward in her starboard-offset seat, just adjacent to Commander Griffith's on the port side. "Understood, Number Two," she answered Commander Lektar, her decision to appoint the Drokari as second officer now apparent and all but finalized in the Vanguard's command computer infrastructure a few hours before. Of course, Léa had delayed sending any reports to Starfleet on the matter until the last possible minute—not out of procrastination, but as a deliberate way of closing the window in which they might try to interfere.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," she acknowledged Korn at tactical.
"I'd say we have our trail of cookie crumbs," she said softly upon hearing Lieutenant Korn's sensor analysis, one eyebrow rising higher than the other as she looked to Griffith on her left.
"What's our distance to the Bandari system?" she asked, her attention shifting to the conn.
Shirik's confused look lasted only a moment as her eyebrow raised before she set about finding the requested information. "At previous speed of warp 7, approximately 36 hours, Captain." she said.
Greggory stood on the bridge, looking at the expanse of void broken only by pinpoints of light and the amorphous swirl. "Captain, I believe Yellow Alert is warranted, since we don't know if there was an external threat to the Kepler.
"What is our distance from the nebula? I recommend sending a Class-4 or Class-8 probe, depending on distance. At best, we get some of the data the Kepler came here for. At worst, we trigger a response like what happened to the Kepler, while we maintain our distance." He turned to Lt. Zaje, knowing tactical would be responsible for launching the probes out the torpedo tubes if the captain agreed with his recommendation.
"Science: Let's get a full analysis of that trail. Figure out how reasonably sure that's from the Kepler. Scan for debris or any fainter, older trails. Meanwhile, narrow down the list of habitable worlds between here and Bandari, using the trail as a filter."
"We're two light years from the nebula," Shirik reported.
At the science station, Lt. Jason Tanner looked up. "The trail matches the engine profile we have on file for an Oberth class vessel, sir, that's as close as I can get to an identification. I'm not picking up any debris. Long range scanners show no other systems between here and Bandari."
Through the main viewscreen, Léa saw the glowing haze of the Lilac Nebula in the distance. It was the same one she had seen nearly three nights earlier aboard the Hypatia, as she was being brought to Alpha Centauri to take command of a different vessel.
In another life, or another universe, perhaps she still had.
As Commander Lektar reported from her console that at warp seven the Bandari system was about thirty-six hours away, Léa knew intuitively that put them at roughly two and a half light-years. She let her crystal-blue eyes gaze into the gaseous anomaly ahead, marveling at how it looked like an amethyst held aloft in the heavens, lit from within with a promise of wonders. It was beautiful, and for a moment she envied the Kepler and its crew for having been chosen to map such a stunning celestial body.
At least, she might have, had the Kepler been able to complete its mission.
Snapping back from that private thought, Léa raised a curious eyebrow in appraisal as her Number One so suddenly called for the crew to be beaten to quarters. Then again, perhaps the situation warranted that immediate sense of precaution, given the uncertainties surrounding it. She knew as well as anyone that an executive officer's instincts could prove invaluable, and that ignoring them was a mistake some captains made far too often.
"Very well. Take us to yellow alert, if you would, please." She affirmed Griffith with a nod.
A moment later she listened as Lieutenant Tanner at the sciences station confirmed the source of the detected ion trail. It matched that of an Oberth-class vessel, which almost certainly meant it belonged to the missing Kepler.
"A good lead, but we should still cover all bases, as the Commander suggests. Lieutenant Tanner, please see that a Class-4 probe is launched in the local vicinity, and that a Class-8 probe is sent on a trajectory toward the nebula. You may need assistance from Engineering…" she paused, glancing to Commander Achaea. "…in order to ensure both are set to transmit their scans via subspace; I intend for us to get to warp as soon as possible, and we cannot wait for them to be completed. Caution is admirable, but too much caution could be fatal for the crew of the Kepler." Her gaze shifted to the Vulcan at the conn. "Lieutenant T'lol, please set a course for the Bandari system. Warp seven." She ordered, rising from her seat.
From there, Léa allowed herself a moment to weigh the information as it had been relayed, making certain her decisions were ones she would have stood behind even if she were not the one in command.
Once she felt sure, and after a brief beat of silence, she resumed. "Commander Lektar, please coordinate with Sciences to keep our lateral sensor arrays attuned and powered as we get underway. I want to be certain we do not pass the Kepler if it never made it all the way to the Bandari system, or if something else happened to it. If we detect any shift in the ion trail, or any debris, we will drop out of warp and investigate." She glanced at Griffith once more before looking again to the viewport and the wonder beyond it.
"Lieutenant Korn." She addressed him next, spinning on her heel. "Continue to drill your security and tactical staff. Commander Griffith, coordinate with Lieutenant Korn if necessary. I want this ship fully prepared to defend itself if need be. If the Kepler was forced off course, or from its mission, by aggressors, we may find ourselves similarly harassed." She drew a breath, narrowed her eyes, and adopted an almost defiant look that spoke of her determination. "Just because we are small doesn't mean we won't bloody a bully's nose if they come looking for a fight."
"Yes, ma'am," Tanner nodded, and looked to Achaea. "Engineering has to do the conversion work before I can launch anything." He knew that since the Vanguard's photon torpedoes doubled as probe casings, unless there were already some set aside for probe duty a few conversions would need to take place first. "Ready to launch on your word, Commander," he nodded to Achaea.
"Aye, Captain," Shirik acknowledged. The extra power Achaea had provided was now focused into the lateral sensor array, picking up any little speck of a clue in their immediate vicinity.
Greggory turned in his seat to look at Shirik and Lt Tanner. "And make sure to watch for the absence of anything, too. Gravitational lensing, disturbances in the Kepler's ion trail, even a drop in the CMBR. We don't know whether what caused the Kepler's distress was mundane or a more exotic phenomenon, so let's keep our minds open."
Turning to Lt. Korn, he nodded with the captain's suggestion. "You've done good work putting your people through combat drills the last 36 hours. Make sure everyone who isn't on shift puts in some mandatory rest. We might need them fresh and sharp."
Shirik nodded, paying more attention to the actual readings now in case Tanner missed anything.
"Aye Aye Captain, setting course Bandari system, Warp Seven." T'lol replied automatically, as her hands danced across her console with its characteristic chimes and beeps as she input the flight profile, when she was finished the console chirped. "Helm Standing By to Engage."
Raikon turned towards Tanner.
"Due to the size of the Vanguard, our capacity to carry probes is limited. Our torpedoes can double as probes when modified. We've got a few of Types 1 through 4. We'll have to convert one to a Class Eight."
Standing up from his console, he faced Commander Griffith.
"Permission to leave the bridge, sir."
"Permission granted. Don't need to rush it. The type 8 will be able to cover whatever backtracking it needs to do, but let's get that type 4 out now."
Raikon nodded and walked towards the turbolift. As the doors opened, he stepped inside, tapping his comm badge.
"Wryn, Leblanc. Meet me on Deck 3, torpedo magazine."
The doors closed in front of him. He summoned Wryn as well. Although she wasn't experienced, it would be a good lesson for her to shadow Leblanc.
A few minutes after Raikon left the bridge, a Japanese man stepped out of the lift and took up the Engineering station. The Assistant Chief Engineer, Taro Kimura. He looked over the current status of the Engineering console and prepared for anything he might need to see to in Raikon's absence.
Zaje looked up from his console and met the Captain's eyes. "Yes Captain. The team will be ready and alert should the need arise."
Zaje punched commands into his tactical console, messaging the security personnel to carry out battle station drills. It'd been all his team had done for several days, but he knew they were keen to impress the new Captain.
Zaje looked towards Commander Griffith. "Yes sir. We'll also run battle simulations as an extra precaution. We might need to 'bloody some noses' as the Captain mentioned and I want to be sure we're ready."
Léa regarded Lieutenant Tanner with a simple nod as he confirmed her orders, and offered the same to Commander Lektar at the Ops station. The addendum from Commander Griffith a moment later seemed only to complete her orders and the steps necessary for the mission ahead. Lieutenant Korn's account of the work he and his teams had done over the previous two days was a reassurance. Léa knew that while a Nova-class could hold its own against some opponents, it was not exactly a Sovereign among the stars, and they would need to be prepared—and crafty—should things go awry.
"I expect your best, Lieutenant Korn," she told the Bajoran chief of security.
"Lieutenant T'lol, once Engineering has completed modifications of the two probes and they have been set underway, you may take us to warp." Léa ordered the Vulcan at the conn.
She then retook her seat and, retrieving a PADD, began reviewing reports.
"Understood Captain, awaiting Engineering's go-ahead for Warp." T'lol replied smoothly, and continued monitoring their position for any navigational anomalies, they still didn't know what had actually happened to the other ship after all. She also took a moment to prepare in case engineering needed them to reposition before launching the modified probes. While she worked, her console chimed obediently in its usual cheerfulness, somewhat in contrast to the businesslike and formal Vulcan, despite the green hair.
Greggory nodded to the Captain's orders. "Lt. Korn, go ahead and launch the type-4. Commander Achaea is already on his way to produce the type-8, so Lt. T'lol, take us to warp as soon as the first probe is away. Remember that when they report in that the type-8 is ready for launch, we'll need to accelerate to an appropriate speed so the probe will reach the nebula just as its warp field collapses. If you need any help with the calculations, I'm sure Lt. Commander Lektar can tell you what speed we need, based on whenever Engineering finishes."
He walked over to the Science station. "You'll be responsible for making sure the connection with the probes is solid and getting that telemetry to the labs. While your priority should be the Kepler's ion trail, tell them to have fun with the up close scans of the nebula." He put a reassuring hand on the younger officer's shoulder and nodded at him.
"Lt. Korn, make sure you or another tactical officer are observing the readings from the type-4 we're leaving behind. Report any disturbances you can't immediately identify to Science for detailed analysis. If something's following us as we follow the Kepler, I want to know about it."
Tanner nodded. "Yes, sir." He called down to the Astrometrics lab. "Tanner to Kestal. Prepare for incoming probe data, class 4 and class 8."
"Kestal here, all ready." was the reply.
Shirik was already running the calculations as soon as Greggory spoke.
Zaje nodded at the Commander. "Aye Sir. Type-4 probe launched."
Zaje watched the console as the probe's readouts filled the screen. "Probe data should be coming through now Commander. I'll keep an eye on the data. I'll also assign a security officer to attend Astrometrics as a back-up. Should anything want to surprise us, we'll be ready."
Zaje tapped his comm badge. "Korn to Lt Sheva, please make your way to Astrometrics. Keep an eye on the telemetry data from the probe as a second set of eyes."
After a second, Lt Sheva responded. "Aye Sir, on my way."
"Telemetry is coming in now," reported Tanner. "The probe is picking up the ion trail clearly, as well as our own. Nothing out of the ordinary showing, the standard amount of particles and radiation."
Léa listened without interrupting as the bridge settled into the work she had set in motion. T'lol's quiet confirmation at the conn, Griffith's clean division of labor, the Type-4 leaving the ship at last, Astrometrics standing by, Korn putting a second pair of eyes on the telemetry—it all landed as it should. When Tanner reported that the probe had the ion trail clearly, and nothing else of note beyond the ordinary scatter of particles and radiation, she allowed herself a small, private measure of relief. No surprise in their wake. Not yet. She set the PADD against her thigh and looked toward Griffith.
"The ion trail still looks like our best chance at the Kepler, Number One. We stay on it." Her gaze shifted to the Ops station. "Commander Lektar, continue to monitor whatever Sciences sends up from the Type-4. If the trail changes—or if that probe sees anything that is not ordinary—I want it at once."
"Aye, Captain," Shirik nodded, her eyes on the data pouring in from the probe.
"Aye Aye Commander." T'lol replied, running the numbers herself to get an idea of any course changes they would need to make on the fly for the class-8 probe's launch. Her console chimed again shortly after engineering confirmed the first probe's launch. "Helm confirming type-4 probe launch, engaging warp engines." She announced and after a moment, the characteristic hum of the warp engines coming online could be heard, before the star scape stretched out as the Vanguard leapt forward at a leisurely pace while the type 8 probe was prepared. T'lol continued to run updates on their projected route for when the next probe was ready to launch, and also took a moment to absorb the data from navigational sensors, before announcing "Navigation reports nothing unusual in range, helm standing by for type-8 probe launch." the Vulcan concluded.
The brief silence of the bridge was broken when a message came off the intercom.
"Lieutenant Tanner, this is Chief Raikon. Probe type 8 is loaded into the tube ready on your command."
The channel was closed after that.
"Acknowledged," Tanner said, looking over to Griffith. "Type 8 probe ready for launch, sir."
"Still receiving telemetry from the Type 4. All data normal."
Greggory shifted in his chair. "T'lol, adjust speed for the type-8 delivery and launch when ready, then resume search speed."
"Should we try signaling the Kepler?" he asked Léa. "On the one hand, maybe their long-range communication is disabled, but they'll still be able to respond if we're within the same system. On the other hand, if something intercepted them, our hail may draw it to us."
Zaje nodded at Tanner and pushed the launch key for the probe on his console.
"Probe away. We should receive data imminently."
Zaje looked towards Griffith. He struggled to combat his cautiousness, worried about giving any potential adversary the jump on the ship.
"If I may sir, I'd suggest keeping a low profile until we can get a visual on the Kepler. I don't want to give anyone any advantage. Should there be anyone that is."
Old habits died hard for Léa as she instinctively braced for the jump to warp. Of course there was no perceptible shift in momentum as the Vanguard accelerated—the inertial dampers saw to that—but some reactions won out anyway. When the viewscreen settled into a steady stream of stars, she let the muscles in her thighs and back ease. A slight exhale escaped her as she breathed more comfortably, her eyes moving across the bridge while reports continued to come in.
Her attention shifted overhead when Commander Achaea reported that the Type-8 probe was ready for launch. The order was given promptly by her executive officer, with the addendum that they compensate for speed.
Then came Griffith's suggestion that they attempt communication, and Zaje's caution against it.
Léa nodded to both of them, weighing the recommendations against one another and finding that they complemented as much as they contrasted. There was room to check whether the Kepler had been disabled and was simply in need of a call—but given the uncertainty, caution was warranted. Both officers were playing their parts well, and for a moment it settled her. She felt a little more at ease in the chair. After a beat of consideration, she had a compromise.
"Caution is indeed warranted, Lieutenant Korn. But we also want to be sure that whatever has befallen the Kepler and her crew is not missed simply because we never even attempted contact." She glanced at Griffith, then back to the forward viewer. "We can send a message on official Starfleet frequencies only, which should limit our exposure. No broadband emissions. If you would be so kind as to open a channel, Lieutenant Korn." She stood, offering him a glance that made clear she appreciated the prudence.
Risk is sometimes part of the job if you want to wear the uniform, she thought.
When the channel opened, she began. "To the officers and crew of the USS Kepler, this is Captain Léa Chevalier of the USS Vanguard. We have been dispatched to locate and retrieve you. Please respond if you are able. Standard Starfleet security verification is requested. Code Delta." She nodded to Zaje to end the transmission and close the channel.
The precautions were twofold. Starfleet frequencies reduced the chance of interception, and a security verification would tell them if the reply was genuine—unless those frequencies or codes had already been compromised.
At her console, Shirik studied the probe telemetry as well as kept a lookout for any response to their communication. The moments ticked by. "No response, Captain," she said.
Léa allowed a moment of quiet to settle over the bridge after Commander Lektar reported no response to the transmission. "Understood, Commander," she answered. "Please retransmit my message every quarter-hour until further notice."
She glanced at Commander Griffith for an instant, then back to Lieutenant Korn.
"Just because we did not receive an immediate answer does not mean they are not out there listening." She knew there might be reasons the Kepler and her crew could not reply so quickly. They could have been disabled. Their communications could have been damaged, or left inoperable. Or they might not have heard the first transmission at all. With the message set to repeat, that window would stay open as long as possible. Internally, though, she imagined they would not find the wayward ship—or learn what had happened to it—until they had finished homing in on the ion trail.
With an exhale, she stood. "Number One, you have the bridge. Please inform me of any new information, or if the Kepler responds to our transmission. I'll be in my ready room." She nodded to Griffith, then made for the port-side doors and the corridor beyond. Once inside, she crossed to the replicator. "Green tea with honey. Hot." As the cup materialized, she looked to the viewport and the stars streaming past, and wondered for a moment.
Cup and saucer in hand, she went behind her desk and sat.
"Are you out there?" she asked no one in particular, still watching the stars. "Where are you?"