The Departure to the Unknown

Posted on Monday February 24th, 2020 @ 5:58am by Commodore Gregory Paladin & Captain Franklin Johnson & Staff Warrant Officer Kendall Williams & Commander Kanaka Shakura & Lieutenant Colonel Phoebe Graydon & Lieutenant Commander Freya Mannerheim & Lieutenant Commander Karn Karn & Lieutenant Commander Nivora T'vek & Lieutenant Commander T'Pri & Lieutenant Commander Canaan Serine & Lieutenant J'Loni Mo'Bri Daughter House L'Keth & Master Chief Petty Officer Charles Payne & Lieutenant JG Sydney Allen
Edited on on Monday February 24th, 2020 @ 5:59am

2,670 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Shakedown Cruise
Location: U.S.S. Poseidon; Bridge
Timeline: Day 004 - 0530 Hours

[BEGIN]

Commander Franklin Johnson sat in his Command Chair on the bridge, the atmosphere energetic and tense as they awaited permission from the Starbase to begin their departure again. This time around, there would be no shakedown cruise. There wasn't any needed. Any and every problem had been addressed, and any new problems would be dealt with accordingly. They had a mission to undertake now, to deliver the critical supplies, to start their three week journey or face the possibility that they'd never make it in time.

A few hours prior, their sensitive cargo had been reloaded; medical equipment and various supplies bound for the Cardassian border colony facing collapse. Franklin intended to get this show on the road today, hell or high water.

When Freya arrived on the bridge, she was a stark contrast to her appearance on the previous launch attempt. She was comfortably on time, and she was impeccably dressed. As she stepped out of the turbolift, she paused and looked around the bridge. Hopefully, this time everything would go smoothly, she thought to herself, as she made her way to her station and signed in to the console, with the display immediately dimming down to her preference.

Smiling, she turned to face the Commander. "Good morning, sir," she said cheerfully. "I'm just running one last diagnostic on the navigation systems. Better be safe than sorry, should take no longer than a minute or two."

Franklin gave a smile, raising a PADD in his hand to show he was busy as well. Things had progressed amicably between Freya and himself after the "incident" on their first shakedown. Of course during that incident, they had lost a professional and veteran fighter pilot, and the ramifications were still settling in even now. Thankfully, after the last Senior Officer's meeting, Franklin had the impression that the road would be far smoother than before.

That and he had a new First Officer, his Chief Counsellor. Changes had undergone on the Poseidon in what felt like an impossibly short amount of time. Right now he was glimpsing over the data, observing reports from all decks, and rubbing his temple as he adjusted to the new information.

"Glad to see you Lieutenant," Franklin gave a smirk to Freya. "You look good."

The Conn officer grinned. "Thank you, sir. I feel good, too." She turned back to her console and checked the results of the diagnostic. "Happy to report all systems nominal, sir. We are good to go as far as the conn is concerned."

Master Chief Payne was at one of the science stations co-ordinating the final preps for getting under way. “ 20 minutes? Negative. I want it done in 5. Payne out. “. Chief Payne closed that com channel then opened another. “ This is Master Chief Payne to all departments, I want level 3 diagnostics preformed on all major equipment before we depart. “. Then he closed that comm channel and looked over at the Captain.

“ We will be ready to go on time Sir, If the Good lord is willing, and the creek don’t rise Sir “. He said.

Franklin nodded at his Chief of the Boat, a reassuring presence of discipline and dedication. "Very good, Mr. Payne," the Commander replied as he adjusted his uniform quaintly, "I know with you on station we'll be on the move in no time."

Phoebe walked onto the bridge in her new green uniform. "Good morning all. Everything ready?" She asked Franklin.

Franklin nodded, seeing the report from Lieutenant T'Pri concerning her check-in. He casually responded via text on his PADD that he appreciated her watch, and looked forward to working closely with her. Keep me updated on anything, he would casually add to the inter-ship comms before sending it. Looking to Phoebe proper, he almost greeted her as Number One. He caught himself in time.

"Number...two! Fantastic to see you," the Commander greeted, saving himself at the last moment. "You look very wonderful today, Major. I think we got everything in order, just waiting for a few minor check-ins and Number One and we'll be on our way!"

"Engineering reports warp drive and impulse available at your discretion. All moorings are ready to be retracted and ship os on internal power", J'Loni said looking at the captain.

"Exactly what I wanted to hear, J'Loni," Franklin said with a smile. He made sure to show that smile her way, before glancing back at his PADD. Kendall, his Yeoman, was quick to approach and take it once he handed it her way.

"Thank you Ms. Williams," he made sure to say. She gave a polite nod back, with a, "Of course sir," before quickly taking herself off the bridge and returning to her station. She'd likely be back after the departure was over to hand in further reports, but not until after.

Satisfied that all of his attention was on the game, he glanced around.

"Anyone seen Number One and Mr. Karn?" he asked, possibly overlooking them, forgetting then their previous meeting where he had given her instructions for other matters.

Just then, the doors to the turboshaft opened and Karn swaggered in wearing his Royal Lurian dress uniform.

"My apologies Mon Capitan, but a day like today requires a bit more...pizzazz no?

He took his position behind the tactical console and clicked a few keys.

"Ship is secure and all tactical systems ready for action sir."

The Commander's expression lightened as he swivelled in his chair to greet the Lurian. His Chief of Security sure was a personality. "Welcome to the bridge, Mr. Karn. Thank you for the update."

Swivelling back, he began to count down in his mind the time to departure. He wouldn't order departure just yet. Waiting a few more moments for his First Officer, he finally deduced that moving out of the berth wouldn't violate any special occasion.

"Lieutenant Mannerheim, please unberth us from the Starbase," Franklin ordered, gazing at the view-screen. "Slow on propulsion jets to move us away, then one-quarter impulse towards the exit."

As the Commander gave the order for his Chief Flight Control Officer to take the Poseidon away, the doors to the turbolift opened and out stepped Lieutenant Commander Kanaka Shakura. She had just managed to get away from the hangar after that mornings address in time to take a quick sonic shower before getting dressed in a fresh and sharply pressed uniform. She hadn't been to bed since receiving her promotion that night - which most crewmen would've heard about in the early hours as they awoke through a pre-recorded announcement from her herself - and was still slowly processing it even now. Fortunately the adrenaline of the moment hid any and all signs of fatigue.

Kana took a moment to absorb the sight of the bridge in full swing. She had only ever passed through here before in the evening, but this was different. Now she had responsibilities here, a role to play in this intricate ritual which had been practiced by multiple generations of her forebears and those of the multitude of other Federation races. She was part of it now, and that really hit home, even for the usually quite measured person that she was.

Scanning the room, her eyes met the Commander's, and she seemed to snap back into the moment. Smiling confidently, she strode onto the bridge and toward the XO's chair. "All Main Departments are operating optimally and the crew's spirits are high, Commander." Prior to her arrival on the bridge, Kana had done a lightning-quick round across the main departments of the bridge, gauging the feelings of the crew. In the wake of the Pavan Incident a few days prior, she had been closely monitoring morale; things did seem to be on the up, though there was still a great deal of anxiety in everyone right now. To be expected, for sure.

Taking her seat, she straightened herself and crossed one leg as she swivelled her chair to look directly at the view-screen as the delicate procedure of leaving the berth of Starbase Ninety-Nine unfolded.

Matching eyes with his new First Officer, Franklin outwardly expressed happiness, but inwardly felt guilt. He had forgotten how busy she was since the meeting, and understanding hit him. She had been doing her job, admirably, as First Officer checking the decks. He had even previously requested that, and here he had been having the gall to even ask why she had been missing. He made a mental note to never make that same mistake again and rush things as he had.

"It's very good to have you with us, Number One," Franklin said to Kanaka. "Thank you for checking all the decks as I requested, I appreciate your candor and discipline."

Kana gave him a polite and warm smile, grateful for his kind words. She could sense that he was still deeply worried over the things that had happened over the previous days, and as such was still trying to find his feet, but there was definitely already a measurable improvement on where he had been before. She had no doubt that within a few more missions time, he would be a completely changed man.

----[BELOW DECKS]----

Below decks in her office Lt T'Pri tied her console into the bridge surveillance system. She monitored operations and how business was being done on the bridge. She was basically reduced to a spectator as she didn't have a bridge station. Although if something did go wrong she could switch to any station on the ship. and get first hand information to the Captain. So far all systems were nominal as the Poseidon made ready for her relaunch.

Neteri had her pilots on standby in their rec room while she had her fighter and another as Alert Five just incase anything popped up. You never can be sure things will go smoothly so better safe than sorry was her motto.

In sickbay T'vek surveyed his domain, he had finally managed to bring order to the chaos that had been sickbay upon his arrival, it had been no small feat but now everything was organised and more importantly properly secured in more ways than one, glowering slightly as the pomp and circumstance he could hear over comms was ongoing he stalked into his office to continue his analyses of his current project, glad to have some peace, at least at the moment from any mishap from incompetence on behalf of the crew.

Someone had put the forward view on one of the screens and those clustered around the holo-display, Ronan included, could see what was going on. "Imagine" someone said, "being on the Bridge all the time. Knowing what was going on the minute it happened." Ronan smiled at the notion, so far removed from his own reality, even as he was shaking his head. "I would rather be here," he said as he lifted his coffee mug in salute, "bet they don't get coffee served to the duty stations on the Bridge." There was a clinking of mugs and comments about how much space Diplomacy took up. Ronan spoke, as the comments slowed and attention begin to drift back toward the work, one hand running through already tousled blond hair while the other remained firmly wrapped around his coffee mug, "didn't I read something about red being the color death?"

----[BRIDGE]----

With that high compliment stated, he swivelled and faced the viewscreen again, watching the Poseidon slowly move.

Freya nodded a greeting as the newly-promoted XO arrived, before turning back to the conn. "Let's do this by the books, then, we are in no hurry, are we, sir? Wouldn't want to scratch the paint," she remarked with a smirk as she fired up the maneuvering thrusters and slowly moved the ship away. "All moorings reporting decoupled, we are free and ready to move out," she added after a quick scan of her displays. Finally, the Poseidon was beginning to move away from her docking berth.

Thinking quietly to herself that if they scratch the paint!!! someone is going to go out and repaint the hull. However, the commander did not scratch the hull and J'Loni relaxed and smiled knowing that things had been finally been made right.

After a few tense moments, Freya nodded to herself in satisfaction. "There we are," she reported. "We have cleared the berth and are ready to head out." With her right hand holding the ship steady on course, she gradually moved the throttle up on the touch display of her LCARS console, until the ship had reached one quarter impulse. And within a blink of an eye, the Poseidon was in open space. With a deep breath, Freya relaxed in her chair. "Commander Johnson, happy to report that we have left spacedock and are in the clear." She smiled. "And she handles beautifully, may I add. Where shall we go now?"

Franklin watched with a sense of trepidation the events as they unfolded, moments in memories replaying from their prior attempt at formally taking off. There was a sense of completion in these events, the sense that what had been originally stolen from them in that freak accident would now be righted. There would be no fancy maneuvers, no complex shakedown protocols, just simply moving the Poseidon underway. His face bore a smile, one hidden from days of pain and stress, that showed the relief his body felt.

"Excellent job, Lieutenant Mannerheim," the Commander praised openly. "Keep us under one-half impulse until we are formally away from Starbase 99's transporter range. I want to give us some time just in case we have any 'late arrivals'."

He gave a soft chuckle, referencing in particular the bad habit of Academy cadets - much like he himself had been at one time - to be late to a class. Relaxing back, there seemed to a difference in his posture; a significant change that told of something ending and something beginning - like a page turning to a fresh, empty page. He let out a sigh, noting behind him the Commodore who stood respectfully near the door to the Foyer. They exchanged a nod to one another, before Franklin returned his concentration to his duties.

He watched as the ship moved forward, now transfixed again on the viewscreen. Despite being quite relaxed, he enjoyed the small respite this new revelation of command gave him; no one breathing down his neck, the experience of loss and gain under his belt, more appreciation for the efforts of his crew. Franklin tensed a moment as he sensed, and saw, a presence familiar beside him.

"It's a beautiful sight when things run smooth, eh, Captain?" softly remarked the Commodore. Franklin maintained his composure, giving a polite smile up at his superior.

"It is," he replied, and left it at that. Giving no room for a conversation, he observed and appreciated the candor displayed by Gregory as he retook his position elsewhere. It was indeed a very changing moment in his command, to have it respected, acknowledged, and a distance established and honored. There was one last thing that needed to be addressed, however. His gaze fell on Lieutenant Freya.

"Ms. Mannerheim, let's keep this course and speed till 2000 hours this evening," he ordered, standing from his seat and adjusting his uniform. "Give everyone some appreciation of this event, shall we?"

Freya tapped a few commands and set the course on her console. "Course set in and holding, sir." She turned around and grinned. "May I voice a request, sir? Don't let one of the other shifts take her to warp."

Franklin gave a wink down to Freya, "Wouldn't think of it for the world."

The Lieutenant extended her right arm in a mockery of the Terran salute. "As you command, my captain." With a laugh, she turned her seat back to her console to monitor the ship's course.

[END]

RSS Feed