And the Monkey Flips the Switch

Posted on Sat Jan 16th, 2021 @ 2:14am by Captain David Hawkins & Commander Liala Ziyal & Lieutenant Commander Mel Torma & Lieutenant Commander Timia Svidi & Lieutenant Lydia Whitlock M.D. & Lieutenant JG Evalyn Toral & Lieutenant JG Holly Swan

Mission: A New Legacy
Location: Bridge - Arcadia
1710 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

/// ON ///

Stepping out from his ready room, David took in the view of his bridge on the <>Arcadia. The day and time had arrived, as they all had expected, and it meant that they were going to be able to get their feet wet as a crew. So as the captain made his way to the center or the massive bridge, he nodded to the operations officer as he walked by. "Give me ship wide."

The operations officer waved her hands over the holographic interface before nodding back to him that he was on.

"All hands, this is your captain speaking. If you look out your left view port, you will see the Starbase in which we are about to depart from. I need all department heads to report their status to the bridge. Once we have confirmed green lights across the board, the Arcadia will be heading out. Hawkins out," David took in a deep breath before sitting down in his new captain's chair and watched as the crew started to move more quickly as though there was a fire fight pending. He made a mental note to meet all his crew over the next couple months. "Where is Commander Ziyal?"

"I'm not sure Captain, I've been a little too busy making sure my department is ready. Also Tactical standing by" Evalyn said, standing at her station.

Liala walked onto the bridge just as she heard the Captain ask where she was. Sitting down she looked over to the man she would now take her lead from and smiled. "I was just finalizing some of the last supply transfers on board sir. There had been a mix up with some items that I needed to rectify before we departed."

"Surprised we haven't stripped all the equipment, supplies and personnel from the station," David replied as he looked over at his executive officer. It was a new feel having a different person by his side. It was no doubt the same feel for her as well. "So what do you think so far with the crew and the ship?"

Liala smiled as the Captain made the remark about supplies. "We have tried sir. Sadly they started bolting things down when I walked in."

She noticed him glance over at her, the look on his face was one she recognised well. She too shared that little bit of anxiety of working alongside a new person but to her this was all much bigger. She imagined for the Captain he had been through this before, that she was not his first 'new' first officer and to her as she thought he was not her first Captain. He was however, her first Captain she was in a partnership with. There was a good feeling in the pit of her stomach, she was often a good judge of character.

"The ship is impressive sir. The Valkyrie was an older Akira class so in comparison this ship far exceeds all my expectations. She truly is beautiful. Her curves, her lines... all make her truly a sight to behold." Liala said as the artist in her came out.

The poetry of the moment was broken by an internal comm, "This is Verra. Shuttlebay and fighter wings secured and fully prepped for scramble."

The next voice was that of Mel Torma, the resident Dalacari and science officer. "Labs are stocked and databases secured. We're set for departure."

The comm opened up again, "Doctor Sviti reporting in. Medical department is fully stocked and reporting ready. I'm on my way to the bridge for observation." she reported.

Hearing Sviti's report to the bridge, Lydia opened up an internal department channel to reply to the chief medical officer. "Acknowledged, Doctor. I'll hold down the fort here." Whitlock understood it was relatively rare for a senior medical officer to spend time on the bridge, so she didn't blame her for wanting to take advantage of the opportunity. In the meantime, she notified the counseling department she was also available to be of service.

"This is Swan," the com sprung to life again. "Everything is set down here, we're ready for departure."

As his department heads rounded up their reporting in giving the green lights, David took it in as he took in the very breath. It was natural and smooth. There was nothing that was out of place. It was almost as though the group had been able to work together for years on end without even a second glimpse of new blood. The professionalism was abundantly clear to those that were to look down on them and see that they were more than capable of handling such endeavors as they were about to take a part of.

“Ops, inform the station that we have green lights across the board and are heading out. Also hail the Galveston and the Lennix know that we are wheels up. Have them prepare their slipstream drives brought online,” David ordered as he adjusted in his new chair before looking over at his XO. “Sorry, the Galveston and the Lennix were last minute additions to our mission. They are escorting the Arcadia and being assigned as attached ships to Obsidian Command.”

Evalyn turned to the Captain, “Excuse me sir, but why wasn’t I informed of this?”

Looking over at their tactical officer, David spoke up once again. "Again, it was a last minute addition right before I got on the bridge. This whole thing with Obsidian Command dropping out of the Void and back into our hands, they have our people on high alert."

Liala was more confused about the wheels up comment than anything. It was a strange expression given there were no wheels on the Arcadia but she shrugged it off as a Human expression she did not understand. "Are we to anticipate problems on our cruise Captain?" she asked.

"Problems? No, not planning on having problems, but we do know that they have been dealing with several raiders for the past couple weeks. Plus this is the single largest amount of personnel and supplies on one starship that they were going to be receiving. From a military man, I didn't turn down the extra coverage. Will this be normal, probably not. But if that is needed for missions, I'll make sure to have a couple escorts with us."

"No, I suppose your expertise in that area will keep us safe. Although I do believe we have enough about us to see off any raiders." She smiled as she glanced at the arm panel of the chair. "We are sufficiently clear of the station Captain." Liala announced to him. The bridge was vast and she would need to remember when addressing them to speak louder than usual.

"Very well," Hawkins nodded as he leaned forward in his chair and spoke up much louder to make sure he was clear in his orders. "All hand, this is the Captain, Prepare for Slipstream."

All around the bridge and the ship, the lighting of the ship shifted to a light blue. The crew were quick to adjust their seats as their was a jolt which was felt as they launched into the slipstream corridor. It was nothing that this ship couldn't handle.

"Helm, set course for the Loki System," David ordered as he pondered the idea of actually taking over the helm station and doing it himself. But that was not his place or time.

"Aye sir, Loki system set in."

"Quantum Slipstream is online," engineering called out from the side of the bridge.

"Helm, take us in," the captain nodded to the lieutenant as he nodded.

The starship shifted at his command, along with the two additional exports leading the way. Before them on the view screen, they saw the exterior glow a teal blue before them as the ship started to pick up speed. He looked up above him from the chair he sat to see the moon roof like ceiling of the bridge show the very same teal blue glow of the shields shifting to the proper frequency before the jolt took place. Within seconds, they found themselves on the interior of the slipstream corridor.

"How long will it take us to arrive at our destination?"

"Approximately three hours, Captain," the operations officer replied as the helm officer was now fully focused on keeping the massive ship in one piece and in lines with the corridor.

"Would have taken us a couple weeks to travel by warp," David thought out loud to himself as he leaned back. Impressive to say the least.

"This must be how the Borg made their way across the entire galaxy" Evalyn commented

Mel spoke up from her science terminal, "They used what you refer to as Transwarp Corridors. Slightly different, but the same effect. Get to a place, fast as you can." she offered as insight, a smile on each face. "Either way..." and she stopped talking. Done. Conversation, over.

Her twin took up the mantle of speaker, picking up almost exactly where her twin left off, "... I'm excited to see what awaits us out there."

Liala recoiled at the mention of the Borg. She remembered with perfect clarity the day of The Exodus, the day they lost their world. Every El Aurian was forever marked that day, the ones that survived. Smiling politely she said, "So am I. Never know what is just around the next star."

"Well hopefully it's less damaging to subspace than warp drive. Last thing the federation needs is a hole in subspace to open up again" Evalyn said as she sat back in her chair .

That gave Mel a bit of a pause. "Damaging to sub... oh, OH.. sorry, just, found it curious. Some of our earlier designs for warp travel ran the risk of damaging the fabric of the subspace membrane, but..."

"... we came up with a few designs quickly that mitigated the damage. I mean, if you can't safely travel at warp, then you're stuck." she posed. "I know the Ts'usugi never had an issue..."

"... like that, but their methods of high-warp travel are still considered non-topics to outsiders."

"Well, let's see how well this goes, shall we?"