Settling In

Posted on Sun Jun 11th, 2023 @ 8:40pm by Commander Naois Mercy MD & Lieutenant Kod'ar & Lieutenant Chexor Vonn & Lieutenant Amara Naidoo & Lieutenant Faith Hawkins

2,275 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Prelude: Getting Ready to Depart
Location: Bridge
Timeline: Pre-launch

ON

The bridge was quiet, only a few on duty while the vessel waited for the green light to depart. Amara for her part was using the auxiliary station of to the side of the bridge, using the time to start pursuing the personnel files for her own teams of security officers. The gentle lighting of the early evening shift almost soothing as she rubbed the back of her neck and leaned back, forcing a knot in her lower back to pop free releasing the discomfort.

She picked up the hot tea by the side of the interface, sipping it slowly as she continued to review her Beta shift bridge duty stand in.

"Not much to scan for while we are in dock," Naois teased as he strolled across the bridge, glancing this way and that.

Lieutenant Chexor Vonn's ears perked up at the comment. He swivelled his seat towards the ship's executive officer to provide an alternate perspective. "Actually, there is plenty to scan. The data simply wouldn't be of much use to us." The Bolian turned back towards his console as he began to search for an example to use. He punched at the controls with his fingers and within a few moments... "Ah-ha!" he exclaimed. The image on the viewscreen changed from the edge of the construction frame the Britannic was connected to, to a viewport window from a nearby ship where two people appeared to be doing... well, Chex didn't really know what. "The entertainment value, however..." He leaned back in his seat and folded his hands behind his head to watch the developing comedy.

"Can we put something else on please?" Oh dear. That wasn't something Faith wanted to see. She was at the engineering station, keeping an eye on her domain from a distance. Or, she was, until Chex changed the channel.

"Well, I think it's beautiful," the Bolian said while gesturing with a 'chef's kiss' using his fingers and thumb. The two individuals in question appeared to be convulsing in a strange way; they were furiously headbanging and moving their arms erratically. "I wonder if they are listening to... death metal?" As a musician, he'd heard of it and seen people react/dance to it before. It was either that or perhaps they'd ingested an illicit substance?

"I'm sure from a regulations stand point this is in breach of a number of them" Amara announced from her vantage point, still sipping at her tea as she stood and moved back across the bridge to her usual station, the horseshoe that ran behind the command chairs. "Although from an anthropological point of view, you can see why cultural observation teams employ these techniques!"

That gave Chex an idea. "Oh! Perhaps we could get a hold of some isolation suits to get a closer look." Regulations be damned! Whatever those two were up to required further investigation! Okay. Not really. It was just a fleeting thought.

The Vulcan XO narrowed his eyes. "Negative lieutenant, please refrain from tuning in on people's private time."

But was such a thing as privacy actually real? It was well documented in Starfleet's records that some beings in the galaxy had the power to do anything on a whim. They could appear out of thin air without warning, force others perform acts against their will and even transform them into all kinds of things. It was completely probable that they were being watched... at. this. very. moment. How boring... Chex mused to himself at the thought. He couldn't imagine anyone enjoying the dreary work that was being conducted on the bridge right now. He shrugged to himself and then returned the image on the viewscreen to what it had been previously. Back to work, I guess.

Glancing at the others in turn, Naois stood and slowly walked down to the OPS station. "I sense disappointment," he asked, while casually leaning lightly against the side of the console. "Why?"

Amara smiled as the XO started the line of questioning just as another report landed on her console. This time it was positive news that the final delivery of the new Photon Torpedoes would be on site within a few hours.

It took a moment or so for Chex to realize that the question had been aimed in his direction; not to mention that the Commander had suddenly appeared at his side. "AAAGH!" the Bolian cried out. He clutched at his chest and partly slid off of his chair in a dramatic manner as if he'd just been shot. "For the love of the First Mother..." he decried.

Perplexed, the Vulcan just stared for a moment. "You have more than one mother?" He queried, somewhat curiously.

"No..." Chex slowly collected himself and returned to his seat. "Well... yes. Or no... It's complicated." Truthfully it wasn't, but the bridge wasn't exactly the place to bring up matters of the spiritual kind.

Her focus on her console, Faith's eyebrow raised. This conversation was getting interesting. More interesting than watching the people on the other ship dancing to music Faith considered awful.

Lt Kod'ar exited the turbolift at the front of the bridge. He had yet to meet many of his fellow crew members, but had had the opportunity to review their service files before commencing his first duty shift. He nodded to the Executive Officer, a fellow Vulcan, and then proceeded to relieve the duty Helmsman from his station. As Kod'ar settled into the chair, the console - having read his combadge - automatically logged him in and pulled up his preferred layout for Starship navigation. "It has been sometime since I've used a console this ..." he looked for the correct word in his head, "compact."

Curious about the comment from the one person he was due to be spending much time with at the front of the bridge, Chex hoped that he would elaborate. "Oh? Newer starships are being outfitted with this sleeker design," he explained to the helmsman. "Given the Britannic isn't new, I'm actually surprised that it was even considered for an upgrade. Luck of the draw, I guess." He shrugged lightly.

"Hmmm... yes, they do say design is cyclical. I was first introduced to this layout during my cadet cruise on the Enterprise - B, it wasn't new then either. However, back when humanity first ventured into deep space flight control was a single expansive console at the front of the bridge. Which came back into style on the Intrepid, Defiant and the Norway era of ships." he turned his chair slightly to face his colleague, "That being said, the Britannic might not be a new ship. But given the losses mounted during our recent conflict with the Dominion, Starfleet has evidently decided that refitting existing ships for extended service is more efficient that decommissioning them and replacing them with newer models."

"We've lost a lot, resources are scarce." began Faith. Now, this conversation was interesting. "We'll be seeing a lot of old, even obsolete, ships upgraded to fill the gaps. From an engineer's point of view, it's good use of resources. Or it can be a pain making new tech work in old ships. Britannic seems to be behaving. Thankfully."

Kod'ar raised an eyebrow. "I have never understood the human inclination to anthropomorphise Starships. The Britannic cannot misbehave." He turned back towards his console, which for the most part showed the ship as idle due to its berthing in the construction frame.

Of course it was a human thing. They referred to inanimate moving objects as "she". But, it was an engineer thing, too. Chiefs often bonded with their ship. Deeply. They became more than a jigsaw of components. "Oh, it could if it wanted to. Transplanting new technology into a ship which wasn't designed for it is a challenge. Sometimes it works. Others, computer says no." She then paused.

"I should say, starships are more than a massive jigsaw of components to most of the people who maintain them. We're rather protective." finished Faith. To her, Britannic's warp core was its heart. Its computer, the brain. Definitely an engineer thing.

Amara listened but said nothing as her thoughts returned to two of her previous assignments. The USS Saratoga, her first assignment. It had been her home right after the academy until the Borg took that away from her. Later it had been the Hood... this one taken from her by the Dominion. Each one had been a character in and off themselves, each one a living being that had taken their all to make sure its crew could survive before they gave their lives.

Britannic was new to her but already she was feeling that same sense of individuality from her. "She certainly has her own character!"

"That she does," Naois agreed, arching an eyebrow towards the helmsman. "And yes, starships can actually misbehave but usually that does have a traceable cause. Fortunately so."

Gary. That miscreant was always the cause. They'd be lucky to leave the shipyard without a sudden malfunction. The OPS officer made a mental note to put his pet's collar on before the ship got under way. That way his movements could be monitored. Hopefully he wouldn't find the sloth in Ensign M'Nerr's wardrobe again. There was no way to get the image of scantily clad sloth out of his head. Chex closed his eyes and shuddered.

Sensing rather than seeing the shudder, Naois turned his head towards the Bolian. "Something wrong lieutenant?" He asked curiously.

"What?" the Bolian asked aloud, caught off guard at the continuous probing. Realistically he shouldn't have been surprised, Mercy was a counselor after all. "Just a bad memory..." Chex offered to give him. "Here's hoping for the best..."

A counselor and an empath, who gave a brief nod despite the arched eyebrow. "Of course," he answered as he returned to the command chair. "Are we almost ready for departure? The captain is likely wanting to depart in the morning."

"Engineering is good to go." confirmed Faith, examining her department's personnel files. It put faces to names, names to faces. A productive use of time, she thought.

"Flight Control is currently in station keeping. If required, we can depart with as little as 30 minutes notice. However, it would be best to give as much notice to the Engine room as possible. The Impulse Reactors are currently in idle status and they will need to spin them up." Kod'ar spun his chair 90 degree in order to look back towards the Executive Officer sitting in the command well.

"Offensive and defensive systems are going through final operations checks and all security teams are in place." Amara smiled down to Commander Mercy. "Good to go on my end sir!"

"All sensor systems are undergoing their final diagnostic checks but should be fully operational once we launch," Vonn added from OPS. "The particle emitter of the navigational deflector is in midst of coming online; charge is at forty-seven percent. All personnel, shuttlecraft and supplies are accounted for. We have our full complement of torpedoes and probes too. There was an issue with pad one in transporter room three today so it's been taken offline temporarily. I have a team working with engineering to correct the problem. No ETA as of yet, but the other three transporter rooms are up and running. Oh, and lastly, time-slot reservations for the holodecks is now open. Get 'em while they're hot, people!" After all of the work he'd done recently to get the Britannic ready, a trip to the holodeck probably wasn't a bad idea. Chex opened up the booking program on his console and put his name for a date and time: Thursday at 2000 hours.

The first officer nodded in approval. "Sounds like the ship is ready to go as soon as the captain gives the order. You all go enjoy your free time until such orders come in. You deserve some leisure."

"Free time?" ...but they were on duty. Chex swivelled his chair to the right. "Now?" he sought clarification from Mercy.

"Yes lieutenant, now," the Vulcan clarified, "page your relief and enjoy."

Faith wasn't going to argue. She'd left Meredith with her sister, Britannic's new bartender. Keira's arrival was a surprise, a welcome one. Meredith finally got to meet her auntie and two of her three cousins. Keira lost her husband to the war, so she and Faith needed each other. Now more than ever.

"See you all tomorrow." said Faith. A crowded turbolift awaited her. Oh joy.

Amara wasn't going to turn down the extra free time but in truth the tactical systems had not been spooled up and her Security Teams were completing the finishing touches to everything else. She didn't need relief on the bridge, simply to turn off the Tactical console and go find something relaxing to do. "I had best head for my physical in that case!" she added as she made her way to the turbolift off to the side of the bridge.

It would have made completely acceptable for Chex to return to his quarters to engage in some meaningless activity. Perhaps he'd entertain Gary for a while. No. This was his free time. He quickly corrected his holodeck booking, changing it to fifteen minutes from now. Sod Gary. Like Lieutenant Naidoo, Chex had a physical... of a sort. A date with a holonovel named 'Trapped in Silk'.

"I shall remain on duty Commander. I have a number of check to complete before signing the navigational systems off for departure." he tapped the console a number of times.

 

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