"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."
"Nuts and Bolts"
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer
Lt. Tyzur, Chief Medical Officer
Crewman Andrea Guilder, Nurse
Stardate: 58807.11, 12h15
Location: Deck 2 - Mess hall, USS Vanguard
***
Raikon was in the mess hall enjoying his lunch, a simple soup and sandwich arrangement; he never cared for fancy food. He spent the first half of his shift on the bridge interacting with helm before leaving for lunch. He chuckled to himself about the Captain's enthusiasm about the collaboration. He decided he was going to spend the rest of the shift down in engineering. While cruising he felt there wasn't a need for him to be on the bridge....
Tyzur carried a plate with food that looked like the contents of a xenobiology lab. Other crew members gave it a wide berth. He spotted the lone chief engineer and approached.
"Ah, Lt. Cmdr. Achaea. May I?"
Without waiting for an answer he eased himself into the opposite seat.
"I've been trying to find you. Not socially, although that is an acceptable secondary objective." He smiled faintly. "According to my records, you have somehow managed to avoid your initial medical examination."
He speared one of the wriggling morsels with surprising precision.
"I'm curious how an engineer who insists every plasma conduit be inspected has been content to leave his own physiology unexamined."
"Wow...." Raikon thought as he was midway putting a spoonful of soup in his mouth. "This guy just word vomited a lot on a first meet."
But the Doctor did have a point as he put the spoon back into the bowl. He was avoiding the examinations. For a second he was watching the doctor unalive his.... lunch before finally answering.
"You are correct.... My apologies....." Raikon said, shifting himself a bit in his seat, speaking softly. "It's just..... I'm not human and when people find out what I am they have a certain expectation of me, like I have sage knowledge or know answers to their questions."
Looking down a bit he finished "To be honest I know very little about what I am or where I'm from....". Raikon surprised himself a little being so open to someone he'd just met.
Tyzur lifted his cybernetic arm.
"I know a thing or two about other people's expectations. You're a fellow El-Aurian according to your medical records, right?"
His gaze shifted downward.
"I was only a child when the Borg invaded. I don't remember much of that time. But I've reconnected with some of our people since. I can certainly share some knowledge if you're interested."
He put on a smile and continued stabbing his live Ktarian sand eels marinated in citrus.
Raikon recoiled a bit when he finally noticed the Doctor's Borg cybernetic arm. The movement was involuntary and totally caught him off guard. Flashes of anger and grief washed over him as he stared at it.
Composing himself quickly he finally took the whole man in entirely. The arm, the face....ex-Borg....
His demeanor softened. "It seems we both suffered at the hands of the Borg one way or the other...... I was born on the way to the Alpha Quadrant. I lost my parents along the way no idea what happened to them but anything you can share with me would be appreciated".
Showing off his arm might not have been the best idea. A lot of Starfleet officers have Borg-related trauma.
"Apologies for the jump scare, commander. You're right, the Borg have taken a lot from both of us."
Tyzur shifted gears.
"El-Aurians are medically quite fascinating. We have this hormone called chronitin. It accumulates chroniton particles and... You're probably not that interested in the medical details. The point is it allows us to feel the effects of nearby temporal events, like humans that can feel the weather in their bones. It also affects the rate at which we're aging. This is why the Borg invaded our homeworld, they wanted drones with trans-temporal awareness."
He looked thoughtful into the distance.
"Our people also have a reputation for being good listeners. People tend to open up very easily. It can be quite handy when diagnosing patients. I've never figured out why that is."
Tyzur smiled to himself.
"Identity is a strange thing. We spend centuries trying to understand where we came from, only to discover the more interesting question is who we've become."
His eyes returned to Raikon.
"So... would you be willing to let me schedule that examination? We can talk about El-Aurian history while I confirm you're as healthy as you seem to think you are. I promise not to keep you away from engineering any longer than necessary."
Raikon was regretting now the huge amount of coffee he had and long days he worked while retrofitting the Vanguard.
"I've got the time now till 16:00, there's nothing down in engineering that needs my immediate attention." he looked down at his food for a second before adding. "Sorry for my reaction to your arm....its not your fault and I shouldn't hold it against you...."
Tyzur gave a small, understanding nod.
"Apology accepted. You're hardly the first person to react that way, and I doubt you'll be the last."
He flexed the fingers of his cybernetic hand almost absentmindedly.
"This arm is a reminder of what the Borg took from me. It's also a reminder that they didn't get to keep all of me."
He stood, collecting his tray.
"Since you're free until sixteen hundred, we might as well make good use of the opportunity. The examination won't take long."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"And if you decide halfway through that you'd rather hear about El-Aurian history than endure my lecture on chronitin levels, I can accommodate that."
He gestured toward the exit.
"Shall we?"
Raikon shoved in the last of his sandwich as he and Tyzur walked to the exit of the mess hall.
"I always wondered." he said. "That people sometimes annoyingly tell me everything, somehow they feel really comfortable around me to open up. Is this part of being an El-Aurian? Is it something physical or something we emit?"
Walking through the double doors of the mess hall Raikon seemed to get a bit more eager to learn from Tyzur.
In a bit more hushed tone of voice he looked at Tyzur. "How old do we age....?" it was something that worried him. He already outlived his adoptive parents, he'd been really hesitant to start a relationship with his wife Mira....
Tyzur matched Raikon's pace as they made their way through the corridor, his expression thoughtful.
"I've wondered the same thing."
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"There are plenty of theories. Some of our physicians believe chronitin subtly influences the way other people perceive us. Others insist it's entirely cultural, that our people simply learn to listen before we learn to speak."
He gave a small shrug.
"Personally, I suspect it's a little of both. Whatever the cause, people often seem to feel... heard. Once that happens, they usually do the rest themselves."
Raikon's second question lingered between them for a moment before Tyzur answered.
"As for our lifespan..." His voice softened. "The honest answer is that no one really knows the upper limit. Our people have lost too many records, too many elders. We know we live for centuries under ordinary circumstances. Beyond that, certainty gives way to educated guesses."
He glanced sideways at the engineer.
"I find that when people ask about our lifespan, they're rarely asking about the number of years. They're usually wondering what those years will mean."
"People think only of the upside of it.....rarely do they think of what the down side of long life will bring." his face grew a bit darker. "I had to make some tough choices...."
In the meantime they'd arrived at the entrance of main sickbay. Raikon snapped out of his gloominess "Any allergies or food I need to watch out for? I'm lactose intolerant but that's not uncommon," he gestured for Tyzur to go first.
He always wondered if El-Aurians had any, it was a strange curiosity of his.
Tyzur regarded him for a moment, catching the shift in Raikon's expression. There was clearly a story behind those words, but he wasn't about to pry. Not here, and certainly not during a routine examination. He made a mental note to come back to it another time.
At the mention of allergies, however, Tyzur's expression lightened.
"There's nothing inherent to El-Aurian physiology that makes us universally susceptible or immune to particular foods. At least, nothing I'm aware of. I'd imagine individual tolerances vary just as much as they do among humans."
He let Raikon settle on the biobed.
"But don't worry, that's something we can establish for you. Let's find out what you do need to worry about, if anything."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"And if we discover an unexpected intolerance along the way, I'll consider it a successful first appointment."
Raikon chuckled as he laid down on the biobed. From the corner of his eye he saw Tyzur getting things ready for his examination.
"Have you met many other El-Aurians?" he asked while staring up at the ceiling. "I have met less than a handful and not all were willing to have a chat with me about.....us".
A puzzled look crossed his face.
"It always seemed they were too busy with something or going somewhere. Or when it comes to our own species we don't listen that well?" he shrugged.
Tyzur considered the question as he moved around the biobed, preparing the diagnostic equipment.
"My mentor on my first posting was El-Aurian. We've built up a close relationship. He taught me what I know about our people."
He gave a small shrug.
"Other El-Aurians I've encountered have been rather private about our shared history. Some seem to have decided that surviving the destruction of our homeworld means they have little patience for dwelling on it."
He glanced toward Raikon.
"And perhaps you're right. Being a good listener doesn't necessarily mean we're good at listening to each other."
Before he could elaborate, the doors to the main medical bay opened and Tyzur looked up.
"Nurse Guilder."
He stepped aside from the biobed, giving the nurse a clear view of their new patient.
"Could you take our Commander's initial vitals while I pull up his medical records? He's overdue for his examination, so I'd like to establish a baseline. I'll leave the routine measurements to you. Try not to frighten him. He's already discovered that doctors can be surprisingly talkative."
"Keep the chit-chat minimal, got it." She nodded to Tyzur and turned her attention to Achaea.
With the speed and precision of a gunslinger, she drew her tricorder and began scanning. Elevated readings, but they'd have negligible effect on the baseline. Elevated chroniton particle levels... Ah, chronitin.
She folded the tricorder and gave the Lt. Cmdr. a small smile, "You're as healthy as a Rigellian ox." She said before stowing away the tricorder.
Raikon was relieved a bit, running on coffee, few hours of sleep and sheer will he was worried that he might have been the one that needed a refit.
"Thank you." he smiled.
She turned her attention to Tyzur and, with a beep, sent the bio-data to Achaea's file.
"Doctor, with Achaea's exam done, I think that's the last of the intake exams. If you'd like, I can begin scheduling follow-up exams?"
"Thank you Nurse Guilder! Please do schedule follow-ups for the crew."
Tyzur glanced at the readings again.
"Your vitals are within nominal ranges Commander, but you have elevated stimulant levels and show some signs of fatigue. Nurse Guilder, do you think there might be some correlation between fatigue and the elevated chronitin levels?"
"Federation records on El-Aurian biology are sparse, almost as scant as that of Trill Symbionts. You two are the closest the Federation would have on experts in this matter," she said almost apologetically. "But given that homeostasis," she paused, and she considered her words, "is impaired by fatigue, it wouldn't surprise me."
She said the following with Achaea in mind: "It'd be like running a warp core with half the amount of dilithium required for the intermix chamber. It won't cause a warp core breach, but it will, eventually, do damage to other systems, EPS, in particular. As for the implications of elevated chronitin levels, I couldn't tell you. Maybe it's related to fatigue, maybe it's analogous to a normal bodily change. In either case, rest would help with both."
"I get it, I get it." he said, holding his hands up. "Less coffee more sleep," he smiled.
"The last few weeks were a bit hectic for me and the engineering staff. But now we are underway I'm expecting it to be a little calmer for us....unless the warp core drops out or something."
Tyzur recognized that point of view.
"I used to have a similar relationship with sleep. My posting on Starbase 327 was... demanding. I thought sleep was a waste of time, all those precious hours I'm never getting back."
He gave a small, thoughtful smile.
"I suppose I had the wrong perspective. I was treating time as though there were never enough of it, despite being an El-Aurian and having considerably more of it than most species."
His expression became a little more distant.
"Having centuries ahead of you doesn't necessarily make each moment less precious. If anything, I think it can make us more conscious of time. We don't just accumulate years. We accumulate experiences, relationships... and eventually, losses."
He glanced back toward Raikon.
"I think that's something our people don't talk about enough. The advantage of a long life is easy to appreciate. The other side of it is rather harder to explain to someone who hasn't lived it."
Tyzur paused, letting the thought sit for a moment rather than pressing the point.
"So I'm curious, Commander. Is there something you're trying to accomplish with all those hours you're saving?"
His tone remained gentle, almost conversational.
"Or is it simply difficult to stop once you've convinced yourself that there's still something that needs doing?"
"I......." Raikon stopped himself for a minute trying to collect his thoughts. He stared up towards the ceiling before answering.
"I like to occupy my mind, trying to look forward because I'm afraid what I would think about if I'd stop." His face showed no emotion. It was a statement of fact, he knew what he was doing and he accepted it a long time ago.
He's always managed to hide it for this long. Previous doctors were never this inquisitive but maybe because he's kin that made him open up a little...
Tyzur was quiet for a moment, studying Raikon rather than the readings.
"Then perhaps the problem isn't that you don't have enough time. Perhaps you're afraid of what happens when you have it."
He glanced at the tricorder.
"Your fatigue, stimulant levels, and chronitin readings suggest you've been pushing yourself too hard. I recommend taking the rest of the day off. No engineering, and preferably less coffee."
His expression softened.
"I won't pry. But you should know you don't have to carry everything alone."
He gave Raikon a small smile.
"So, when you're not working, what do you do for fun?"
"I won't pry. But you should know you don't have to carry everything alone."
Raikon just gave a small nod. He wasn't willing to go that far yet, not down that rabbit hole. As to taking rest.... he wasn't sure, there were still bits to do and check.
"Reading up on technical journals, latest improvements to engineering systems. Keeping fit by trail running, gym or hiking" he answered the doctor's last question. "The occasional woodworking but it's not the same on a holodeck as working on real wood."
Turning his head slightly. "So what's keeping you busy then doctor?"
Tyzur gave a small smile at Raikon's question.
"Outside of medicine? I play the Risian lute when I have the time. I also enjoy reading science-fiction novels from different cultures. It's fascinating seeing how different species imagine the future."
He glanced toward Nurse Guilder as she continued with the medical equipment.
"But enough about me. Nurse Guilder, what about you? What do you get up to when you're not working?"
He smiled faintly.
"After a while, I've learned it's nice to have something that isn't Starfleet."
His gaze briefly returned to Raikon.
"Especially when Starfleet starts becoming your entire life."
Guilder paused mid-entry as her name cut through the noise. A hand slid into a pocket, and her ears turned red.
"Well -- um, sir, I think it's best if I show you." She retrieved her hand and handed Tyzur a string of beads that made a bracelet. It consisted mostly of jet spheres. However, there was a series of beads that stood out.
The first was the largest and yellow. The second was small and brown. The third was green and bigger than the second. The fourth was blue and only slightly bigger than the third. The fifth was smaller than the fourth and red. The sixth shared the distinction of being the smallest among the colored beads, and they were gray. The seventh was the second largest, with orange bands. The eighth was yellow, though not nearly as large as the seventh, and had a ring encircling it. The ninth was smaller than the eighth; it was pale blue and possessed a ring. The tenth bead was the last colored bead, a second blue bead, smaller than the ninth. The last four beads were gray.
"I make replicas of solar systems I've visited. Whenever I can, I try to get minerals native to each planet. Though for these four," she pointed to four beads, before the last gray four. "That was impossible. This is Sol. The star, the eight planets, and the five dwarf planets in their orbit. This one is sort of a good luck charm."
"That's quite a nice sentiment and hobby." Raikon said as he propped himself up on his elbows.
Looking at them both. "What's the verdict Doctor? Did I pass my medical?"
He didn't want to take more of their time than he already had. He'd just have to pick up the El-Aurian history with Tyzur off shift.
Tyzur glanced over the readings, then nodded.
"Medically speaking, you passed with flying colors. Your vitals are good, your baseline is established, and aside from the fatigue Nurse Guilder identified, I don't see anything that requires further investigation today."
He looked toward Guilder.
"And good catch on the chronitin. Given how little Federation medicine knows about El-Aurian physiology, another set of eyes is always useful."
His attention shifted to the bracelet.
"I have to admit, I didn't expect that answer when I asked what you do outside Starfleet. It's rather beautiful. And very El-Aurian, in a way. You preserve places you've encountered rather than simply recording them."
He regarded the bracelet for another moment.
"I'd be interested to hear about some of the worlds you've represented. Especially the minerals you chose for them. Objects like that can tell you things a database doesn't."
Turning back to Raikon, he smiled.
"Otherwise, you're officially cleared. Though I'm putting 'less coffee, more sleep' in your recommendations."
He picked up his PADD.
"And if you're still interested in that history conversation, come find me when you're off duty. We have centuries to catch up on."
"Thank you, sir." She said as she pocketed the bracelet. "Glad to be of help." She stepped toward the computer and paused.
Smiling, "You should see my 40 Eridani replica. I made Vulcan out of a solid piece of Surak's Tear -- atomsite, though you'd be pleased to hear that it's barely radioactive: 0.1 microsieverts; most of the isotope decayed in the millennia since their Time of the Awakening. I had to go to the Forge for it."
She collected herself, allowing professional decorum to drape back over herself. "If there's nothing else, sir, I'll get back to scheduling appointments."
Raikon got up and hopped off the bio bed. "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." He made his goodbyes to both the doctor and the nurse and walked out the med bay.
Making his way all the way down to deck 6 he stood in front of his quarters. After a brief moment he walked on to go down to engineering.
"I'll start tomorrow...."
"And All That Remains"
Lt. Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer
Location: Captain's office, USS Hoagland
Stardate: 56701.22, 11h30
***
Raikon walked into the captain's office. He had been urgently summoned only a few minutes earlier. Already there, waiting for him, were the captain and the XO. Both wore grim expressions, their faces pale.
"Well, this can't be good. Who died?" Raikon quipped. Neither officer laughed.
Captain van Berkel looked up from his personal console. He was a man of average build, his expression unusually grim. Standing beside him was the ship's second-in-command, Lieutenant Commander Zharen, an Andorian of slight build.
"We called you in because we received an emergency communique from Admiral Hanson," the captain finally managed to say, his voice tinged with worry. "We're to rendezvous at Wolf 359. He's assembling a fleet there."
"For what?" Raikon asked. He was getting uneasy with the way both of them were acting.
Zharen finally spoke up. "The Borg...."
Blood drained away from his face. The ancient enemy of his people. The ones who had destroyed their home planet and scattered what remained across the galaxy. He had never encountered them himself — he had been too young. But from the few surviving El-Aurians he had spoken to, he had heard nothing but horror.
Raikon stared at the two officers. "Do we know what we're up against?"
Zharen exchanged a glance with the captain. "Reports are slim at best. But we are facing one cube." He grew quiet for a moment. "And they've got Captain Picard, highly likely that he's been assimilated."
Raikon let out a nervous laugh. "F*** sake....."
He had heard about Picard and the Enterprise. A very able tactician and a decorated Captain of many years. All of which were now incorporated into the Borg. This fight had just become a whole lot harder.
"Whatever the case, regardless how dire the situation is, we have been called upon to join the fleet and the fight. There is no choice in the matter." The Captain spoke up, breaking the silence in the room.
Raikon looked down at the deck for a moment before raising his eyes again. "Then we'd better get the ship ready."
***
Half an hour later, Raikon stood in main engineering amidst a group of engineers. He'd just briefed them on the situation. The emotions were a mixed batch — many had only heard rumors, while others knew nothing at all. Only through Raikon's briefing and grim face had they gotten a brief inkling of the dire situation they were going into.
Off to the side was Mira, his wife, her hand in front of her mouth in disbelief. She'd heard the stories through Raikon. She knew what was coming.
"You've got your orders. Get the ship ready as best as you can and shore up her defenses. We are going to need everyone at their best to get through this. I have confidence in you, and you need to have confidence in each other. Only this way can we get through this. Dismissed."
He nodded to the team as they scattered to their posts and assignments.
Raikon walked over to Mira, who placed her hand on his chest. He used his frame to block the view as she tried to compose herself.
"Less than a day?" she whispered.
Raikon's heart broke. Mira, who was always so confident and strong, seemed so fragile now. "Hanson is assembling a ragtag fleet, anyone who's close. The captain even said we might get some help from the Klingons."
"What about Emily? What about the other families?" she asked. Their seven-year-old daughter was in class today, oblivious to the situation they were finding themselves in.
Raikon sighed heavily. "There's no time to drop them off anywhere, but the captain and admiral are confident that with the numbers we are gathering, it would swing the odds in our favor."
Raikon's faith in that last bit was flimsy. According to the reports he'd read and the briefing he received from the captain, the Enterprise had engaged the cube again with about as much success as the first time — now compounded with the capture of Picard. The Enterprise would join the battle as soon as possible, but their engagement with the cube had bought them time.
Raikon held Mira by her upper arms and placed his forehead against hers. "You're the best damage control engineer I know. If anybody can keep this ship together, it's you."
She looked up at him, rolling her eyes. "Kiss ass," she replied as she balled her hand into a fist and thumped his chest. Raikon smirked as they shared a brief kiss.
"Get to work," Mira said as she pushed him away. "I'm sure you've got something to break on the ship."
Raikon laughed as he walked away. "Why do you think they made me the Chief?"
***
Stardate: 56701.23, 10h00
"Resistance is futile. You will disarm your weapons and escort us to Sector 001. If you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you."
The multi-phased voice sounded over the intercom. Chilling, cold, deadly. Not long after, the red alert alarm was ringing all over the ship, with the captain briefly sounding over the intercom.
"Prepare for battle."
Raikon was in main engineering. The team had prepared the ship as best they could in the circumstances. "Keep an eye on the warp core readings. Get auxiliary power spun up in case they need it. Damage control, get your teams to their stations," he barked. Engineers scurried about around him, hastening to their posts or carrying out their assigned tasks.
In the end, Admiral Hanson had managed to gather roughly forty ships to join the fleet. Raikon wondered if that was going to be enough.
Before the cube's arrival, Mira and Raikon collected Emily and made sure she joined the other families in the more secure sections of the ship. She was crying, angry and afraid, not understanding what was going on or why she had to stay locked away. In situations like these, both parents serving was a bane — but it was something they couldn't solve now. They had their duties.
A large explosion rocked the ship. People were knocked over or thrown into things. It was not something he'd ever experienced before. Raikon was just able to catch himself before falling over when the captain's voice shouted over the intercom.
"Chief! I need all the power you can give me!"
He looked at his console. Most systems were redlining already. Shields were barely there, and loads of systems on the starboard dorsal side of the ship were showing damage. "Sir, I'll give you all she's got, but we won't be able to take another hit like that!"
Everything went black.
***
When Raikon came to, he was on the floor, alarms blaring in the background, a metallic taste of blood in his mouth and a pounding headache. Sitting himself upright against a wall, he tried to get his bearings. Looking around with his blurred vision slowly clearing, he saw fires, blown-out conduits, partially collapsed support structures, the dead and the living.
He tried to speak but only managed to cough. A crewman ran over, looking dishevelled but relatively uninjured.
"Chief!" he yelled as he tried to lift Raikon off the ground.
Extending his hand towards the crewman and using the other to push himself off the ground, Raikon managed to get himself upright. Spitting the blood from his mouth, he finally managed: "Status!"
The crewman looked around the chaos of engineering, then back at the chief. "Main power is down, backups are intermittent, no comms or main computer. We haven't been able to diagnose more. There's a lot going on, plus this..." He gestured at what remained of engineering.
Steadying himself, Raikon looked around and processed the information. They were still alive. That was the important thing. Either the battle was still raging outside, or the Borg didn't bother with ships that had been damaged beyond a certain point.
"You've done well so far." When he finally looked at the crewman, he recognized him. "Peter, wasn't it? Peter Davies?"
The engineer nodded, brushing himself off, trying to make himself more presentable. Behind him, a few more engineers started to gather, all in various states.
"Right. We need to get main power back online, that or the auxiliary. Then we'll work ourselves up from there." Pointing at two engineers standing behind Davies, he continued. "You two, look after the wounded. Move them away to a safer location and treat them as best you can." In a more grim and reluctant tone, he added, "Leave the dead where they are for now. We've got more pressing matters to attend to."
Returning his gaze to Davies: "I want you on getting the auxiliary back online and stable. I'll look after the primary."
Davies looked confused for a second. "Sir?"
"We don't know what's happening inside, and we sure don't know what's happening outside. We need to get power back so we can do damage control and assess the situation. Then comms and the main computer." Davies nodded and went to work. "Yes, sir."
Raikon walked over to his console. Wiping the debris off his screen, he started querying the system, trying to find out why main power had gone offline. He didn't have to search long. The starboard nacelle was gone. The ship was hemorrhaging fuel and, as a safety precaution, the ship had automatically shut down the warp core. Taking a deep breath, he steeled his emotions. "Let's get going," he mumbled to himself.
***
37 minutes later:
Raikon managed to stem the loss and bring main power back online, but at severely reduced capacity. Davies, on his side, had some success as well, bringing the auxiliary power back to a stable position and, as a bonus, restoring the ship's internal communications.
The console in front of him was filling with information, painting a picture of the overall status of the ship. Tapping his combadge, he called in to the bridge.
"Bridge, this is Engineering. We've got partial main power. What's your status? I repeat… no…."
Raikon stopped mid-sentence as the computer finished its task. The display in front of him showed that a great chunk of the starboard side was gone — which explained the missing nacelle. But the bridge was gone as well. No readings at all were coming from that section, just emergency bulkheads shutting around the area as they detected vacuum on the other side.
Raikon held his hand in front of his face. He knew things were bad, but this made him sick to his stomach.
The silence was broken by a hail from the doctor. "Engineering, this is Doctor Volar. Anybody there?"
Raikon snapped back to reality. He guessed that the doctor assumed someone was alive in Engineering with the lights coming back on. "Doctor, this is Chief Achaea. We've got wounded down here and could sure use your help."
The doctor, a Vulcan, was brief. "Sorry, Chief. I've got my hands full. They'll have to come to us. Have you been able to contact the bridge? I'm not getting through to them."
Raikon grew quiet for a moment before replying. "Sorry, Doctor, if I'm reading this right, there's no bridge anymore. Assume all are lost."
The doctor took a few seconds before replying. "Until we know more, you're the most senior officer left." The comms channel closed. The doctor didn't mince words, but Raikon guessed he would have his hands full at the moment.
Turning to his right, he looked at the two engineers tending to the wounded. "Escort them to sickbay. When you're done, come back here and assist Davies." Turning back to Davies: "I need you to stay here and get the main computer online." Davies nodded and went to work. "Yes, sir."
Raikon tapped his combadge again, this time for a ship-wide communication. "This is Chief Engineer Raikon Achaea. I'm taking command of the Hoagland until further notice. I need two people with piloting skills and Ops to come meet me on the auxiliary bridge. Chief out."
It took him longer than expected to reach the secondary bridge. Due to the extensive damage done to the ship, he had to go around the long way. He was first to arrive, taking the opportunity to transfer controls from the main to the secondary bridge. With the current state of the ship, that might take a few minutes.
He sat down in the captain's chair — an unfamiliar feeling — as he waited for the others to arrive. Finally, a few minutes to collect his thoughts.
His heart was in his throat when he pressed the combadge. "Raikon to Mira." He spoke softly. "Ja'lat.... are you there?"
Tears started to well in his eyes the longer his words remained unanswered. "Computer.... locate Mira Achaea."
The computer acknowledged with a garbled chirp. A few tears fell down his face when it finally responded.
"Engi.... of...cer Mira.... Achaea... is... curr...y... not... on... shi..."
Raikon let out a painful groan as it hit him. "Nooo....." he whimpered, holding his head in his hands.
He was interrupted by two people entering the secondary bridge. Quickly wiping his face with his sleeve, he looked up. A Trill in a blue uniform was holding up a colleague — a male human — who was hobbling along.
"Talira Renn, science officer reporting in, sir, and this is...." The man hobbled further in, supported by Talira, who sat him down at the helm station. "James Talent, shuttle pilot. He looks a bit banged up, but I'm sure he can still fly. I was about to drop him off in sickbay when your call came in. It took us a bit to get here, especially with James's broken leg."
James just rolled his eyes at Talira's comment.
Raikon stood up, composing himself. He'd probably seen them in passing — the ship didn't have much crew, but it was good to be reminded who they were. "Thank you. Please take the helm and Ops." Both officers nodded and went to work.
"We're at drift, moving slowly away from the battlefield. We have impulse," James reported.
"Leave us to drift. Better to fool the Borg that we're still dead in the water." "Aye, sir," James responded.
"Battle's over," Talira said, her face in shock. Both Raikon and James turned to look at her. "Forty ships... gone," James managed to get out.
"What about the cube?" Raikon cut in.
"We suffered some extensive damage. Long range is barely working." Talira squinted at the readings. "But..... no cube." She let out a sigh of relief.
"Like flies," Raikon said solemnly. "We were swatted away like it was nothing."
Loads of things were going through his head, but they were alive, for now. "Send out a short-range distress signal. I want to know if there's anybody in the same situation as us and needs help." Looking over at James: "You can right the ship now."
He pressed his combadge. "Chief to engineering..." But he was cut off by Talira. "Captain..."
Raikon looked at her for a moment. "Right.... Captain to engineering." A moment later Davies replied. "Yes Chi—Captain." Even Davies was thrown by the situation.
"What's our status?" Raikon continued.
"We got partial main power. We should have impulse but I wouldn't go past half due to severe structural damage. Life support is clinging on by a thread, and one transporter — port side — works. No shields or weapons, not that we could produce the power for them anyway."
"Thank you, Davies. Keep me posted." "Yes sir," Davies replied and cut the channel.
Raikon stared at the viewscreen, contemplating what to do next, when Talira broke his train of thought. "We've got several escape pods responding to our distress call. No other ship has responded." There was no elation in her voice.
Raikon dreaded what would come next. "How many?"
"Seven...." she replied, trying not to make eye contact.
"Seven...." Raikon repeated. "Out of thirty-nine ships, only seven escape pods made it?"
He was having a hard time wrapping his brain around the numbers. One cube. Thirty-nine ships. This wasn't a battle. It was a slaughter.
Talira watched him for a moment before speaking. "Your orders, Captain?"
Raikon snapped back to reality. "Let's go get them...."
***
Some time later:
"How many are we on now?" Raikon asked Talira. Taking a moment to look at her console, she replied. "We are picking up number six now. One left to go." Raikon nodded solemnly. "Good."
Standing up from his chair, he looked at Talira. "You've got the conn. I'm going to check on the Doctor and see what he can do about this headache. Oh, and if we pick up number seven, set course for the nearest starbase." Talira nodded, noting the dried blood on the side of his face where he'd probably hit his head when the ship took its fatal shot. "We'll keep things together here, sir." "Thank you," Raikon said as he walked out.
He was numb from the ordeal, not sure what to do next, hoping he'd made the right decisions. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice he had arrived at sickbay.
Walking in, he saw nurses and the doctor busy with patients from the Hoagland, and with people they had rescued along the way. Doctor Volar spotted him standing in the doorway and walked over.
"How are we doing, Doctor?" Raikon asked.
"We are managing, but we still have more to do." Looking over Raikon's face, Volar saw the gash on the side of his head. "Let me look at that for you...."
"Why is he here?" Raikon said, cutting off the doctor and pointing at a man lying on a biobed. The man looked traumatized and badly burned. Raikon stared at him. "He was supposed to be in the secure section..... with Emily."
Raikon stared at the doctor, dread enveloping him.
"We didn't have the time to tell you...." The doctor hesitated. "There were several secondary explosions." He looked away. "She didn't make it."
"Where is she..." Raikon said, fighting back tears and anger.
"Around the corner. There is a temporary morgue we set up... she's there."
Raikon had already left sickbay.
It didn't take him long to find her. She was only little. A tuft of her hair was sticking out from under the tarp.
Raikon stopped. He knew before he even reached her. He knelt beside her body, taking her hand from under the tarp.
"Nooo..." he whimpered. But he finally let himself go.
"NOOOOO!"
***
Present time:
Stardate: 58807.14, 04:34
Location: Chief Engineer's Quarters, Deck 6, USS Vanguard
"OOOOOOOOO....."
Raikon bolted upright in his bed, panting, wiping the sweat and tears from his face. He'd been having the same dream of his past for the last twenty years. It always ended the same.
"Computer, time please." "04:34," the computer chirped. His shift would start at 8. "Less than four hours.... might as well do something."
In the end, Raikon decided to go to the gym before his shift — getting rid of the last traces of the dream, getting himself ready for the day.
"Between Heartbeats"
Petty Officer 2nd Class Wryn, Engineer
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer
Stardate: 58807.14, 10h30
Location: Various
***
Stardate: 58807.10, 11h30
From: Lt. Cmdr. Jalen Vos, Starfleet Corps of Engineers
To: Starfleet Personnel Command, Enlisted Assignments
Subject: Recommendation for Reassignment: PO2 Wryn
During a scheduled systems audit aboard the USS Kallistra, I observed Petty Officer 2nd Class Wryn performing maintenance on the ship's waste reclamation manifold. The issue in question was a micro-vibrational fault that had eluded both automated diagnostics and routine inspection. PO2 Wryn identified the anomaly by auditory assessment alone, isolating the fault within minutes and correcting it with minimal disruption to ship operations.
This is not the first time I have encountered technicians with strong environmental systems intuition, but PO2 Wryn's capability is exceptional. Her ability to detect system irregularities through non-instrumental means is a rare skill, particularly valuable aboard small-crew vessels where environmental stability is critical to mission readiness.
The Nova-class USS Vanguard is scheduled soon for deployment. Based on my assessment, PO2 Wryn's skill set aligns directly with the vessel's operational needs. Her presence would significantly enhance the ship's environmental stability. Her experience in damage control is an added benefit.
I formally recommend PO2 Wryn for reassignment to the USS Vanguard as Sanitation and Waste Management Specialist and Damage Control Technician. She is, in my professional judgment, uniquely suited to the demands of the posting.
Respectfully submitted,
Lt. Cmdr. Jalen Vos
Starfleet Corps of Engineers
Field Systems Audit Division
***
Main Engineering, USS Kallistra
***
Stardate: 58807.12, 15h00
"Wryn, can I see you for a moment?" Thavren asked. Wryn slipped the strap of her maintenance kit from her shoulder and returned it to the locker before acknowledging Thavren with a nod and a curious "Sir?"
They stepped into an alcove, offering the illusion of privacy while still surrounded by the chirps and purrs of the engine room. Thavren handed Wryn the transfer orders. He always suspected that she would be reassigned one day, heading off somewhere where her skills would matter more. But, still, he hated handing the orders over.
Wryn looked at the PADD. "You're getting rid of me?" she asked with surprise. "It wasn't my idea," Thavren protested. "You managed to get yourself noticed by one of those Corps guys. I looked it up… The Vanguard is newly refitted and is relaunching soon. You'll do good work there. You know how to listen to ships. But if they decide they don't want you after a month, you're welcome to come back here."
"I appreciate that, sir." Wryn answered. Though she couldn't actually absorb the information at the moment. This was not how she had planned her day and she was truly in shock.
She stared at the transfer orders for a moment longer, the words refusing to settle into meaning. "I wasn't expecting this," she admitted. "No one ever does," Thavren said gently. "But you're ready." His voice hitched slightly. He hoped Wryn didn't hear it, but she did. Of course she did, he scolded himself.
She took in a deep breath, willing her voice to stay steady. That wasn't going to happen though, and she took a step closer to Thavren. One arm hooked around his shoulder, half of a hug. "I'll make sure the reclamation manifold is stable before I go," she said. Thavren's stoic Bajoran countenance melted as he wrapped both arms around her small frame. "I know you will."
Thavren released her, and Wryn straightened, the PADD feeling like a live wire in her hand. She didn't trust herself to speak again. Instead, she nodded once — the same nod she gave when a repair was done right — and turned toward the corridor, feeling the Kallistra's heartbeat through the deck plating as she walked away. Or was that hers? For the first time in months, she wasn't sure.
***
Stardate: 58807.14, 05h00
Location: USS Kallistra, Orbiting Alpha Centauri
Captain's Log, Stardate 58807.14. We are currently in orbit of Alpha Centauri after completing our mission to transfer medical supplies from Benecia to Deneva. The crew will be granted a short rest period for shore leave while we restock the Kallistra for her next assignment. Sadly, we are also completing several crew transfers. Some departures are expected; others are less welcome. Even so, Starfleet's needs come first, and we will carry out the orders as directed. Engineering, in particular, will feel one of these losses.
***
Stardate: 58807.14, 06h00
Location: USS Vanguard, Transporter Room 2
The hum of the transporters activating sounded before the visual coalescence began. One moment, PO2 Wryn stood on the familiar deck plates of the Kallistra; the next, she was on the Vanguard. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the ship's air. It was different here — newer air filters, smaller crew.
She opened her eyes, stepped down from the transporter deck, and offered a smile to the transporter operator. "PO2 Wryn," she introduced herself. "Where do I put my bags?"
***
Stardate: 58807.14, 10h30
Location: Deck 7 — Main Engineering, USS Vanguard
Raikon stood in front of the doors of main engineering reading from a small PADD, flicking through the new crew member's service record and the attached recommendation letter while he waited for her to arrive. "Waste reclamation... really?" he mumbled to himself. Not the most glamorous side of engineering, and often passed over by many an engineer, but equally as important nonetheless. He had implemented a rotation schedule within the engineering team so everyone had a chance to work in the various positions within engineering — including waste reclamation.
After arrival processing, stowing her gear, and a brief walk through the Vanguard's maintenance corridors, Wryn's PADD chimed with her first assignment aboard the ship: Report to Main Engineering at 1030 hours for departmental introductions. She followed the directions through the narrow corridors, listening to the ship's hum, how it shifted the closer she was to Engineering. It would take time to learn the nuances of this particular ship, but she was a good student. Descending to Deck 7, the sound was louder and more alive, yet warm and welcoming.
She paused outside the doors to Main Engineering, smoothing the strap of her maintenance kit over her shoulder. The doors parted and she stepped inside. An El-Aurian lieutenant commander stood waiting, a PADD in his hand. Wryn had never worked under an El-Aurian before. Listeners, people called them. She wasn't sure whether that made her more nervous or more curious. He looked up as she entered.
Raikon lowered the PADD and shifted it to his left, extending his right hand toward her. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer here aboard the USS Vanguard. Welcome aboard." He offered a solid handshake — firm, but not overdone — and gave her a small but warm smile. "You can call me Chief or Chief Achaea, whatever suits you. I hope you've settled in all right?"
"PO2 Wryn, sir," she said, stepping forward to accept the handshake. He was a full head taller than her, and she wondered momentarily how uncomfortable he must be during crawls through the Jefferies Tubes. "I'm settled in. I took a walk through the maintenance corridors earlier — starting to acclimate to the ship." She could tell it had just been through a refit; the hum she'd heard then had been the steady pre-departure resonance, not the same as when a ship was on the move. Now, at warp, she was still processing new layers in its voice. "It feels like a good ship. I'm prepared to get to work whenever. Just say the word."
Raikon smiled. "That's good to hear." He stepped aside to give her a full view of Main Engineering, the warp core humming as the ship traveled at Warp 7. "As you found your way down here, you already know this is Main Engineering. I'll have to check the roster to see where you're currently assigned, but I rotate everyone through the various engineering stations — two weeks at each posting before moving on. I believe it helps keep people sharp and gives them a broader skill set. Any questions so far? We'll continue the tour and have a look at the rest of the ship."
"A rotation through the ship's systems would help me get oriented, Chief," she said. "But my certification track is waste management, environmental systems, and damage control. I'm not rated for warp operations or anything beyond standard diagnostics. Will the rotation stay within the systems I'm rated for, or should I expect cross-training outside my specialty?"
"For the first two weeks, you'll rotate every day to a new station, where you'll shadow one of our engineers," Raikon replied, giving her a warm smile. "It'll give you some insight into all the various stations on the ship, as well as a chance to meet the team. After that, you'll rotate between the stations you're certified for. And if you're really interested, you can always expand your skill set. I'm always open to people broadening their skills and taking on new challenges."
"Shadowing makes sense, Chief. I'm comfortable learning how the stations fit together, even if I'm not rated to run them myself." She glanced toward the warp core, watching the way the energy lit the room. "How long have you been aboard the Vanguard?"
Raikon followed her gaze and frowned slightly as he tried to remember — it had been a hectic time. "Six, seven months? I was here at the start of the refit. A few of the team were as well. The rest are quite new." He studied her face. "You've only been part of Starfleet for a short time. How are you finding it?"
"It's been a change," she answered, then clarified, "but a good one. Ardana has made a lot of advancements on environmental systems over the last century. Starfleet works on a scale I haven't seen back home." She paused, reflecting only for a moment. "I know how important it is to keep those systems running smoothly. When filtration or atmospheric balance slips, people feel it. They think less clearly. They regress. I've seen what happens when the environment turns against you, even a little. So I take the work seriously." Her gaze returned to him. "So far, Starfleet has been a good fit."
Raikon nodded. "I'm glad to hear you are fitting in. As for the other — I've heard about the Troglyte struggles and hardship. I'm sure your people would be proud to see where you are now." He gestured toward the doors out of engineering. "Would you like to continue the tour?" "Of course, Chief. Lead the way."
"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.