Hi all,
Sorry for the long delay in posting the final section, but getting a new job kinda got in the way.
Anyhoo, here's the final section of my not-quite merry tale, so feel free to deluge me with your thoughts on the story as a whole and on the conclusion. Thanks for your patronage, donations are welcome.
Chapter Eleven, Pt II
I step onto the bridge at 0755 hours the next morning, feeling refreshed, relaxed, and more like a Starfleet officer than I have done for the last four months. The Alpha shift are already in place and getting final updates from the Gamma shift. After briefing them on the non-events of our last night in orbit of the starbase they all head for the turbolift, presumably going below for some breakfast.
I manage to tour the bridge stations once, getting friendly/respectful nods of acknowledgement from everyone and a grin from Urrih, before the captain appears at exactly 0800 and our morning begins. I head over to her and she acknowledges me with a nod.
"Good morning, Captain," I greet her evenly, unsure of how happy to be in case she has used last night to think things over and decide she hates me all over again.
Everything seems okay for the moment though, as she returns my cautious approach. "Good morning, Mr. Brown. Ship’s status?" she asks, even though she’s probably already went over the Gamma shift reports.
"We are fully operational, Captain," I reply. "There are no ‘casualties’ from the Christmas festivities on the base, and even Chief Talbain managed to avoid becoming a guest of starbase security."
Karen looks at me, surprised, before gracing me with a slight smile.
It looks like our crew was on their best behaviour while ashore because of the trouble between us, even down to the rowdier elements like Abukar and his buddies. It seemed to me that they didn’t want to complicate matters for us by getting involved in brawls or scams, possibly thinking that their own lack of discipline would reflect badly on us. I may be wrong and we were just lucky this time, but if not I am once again touched by our crew’s regard.
"Will wonders never cease," she finally replies, then asks, "Status of the warp drive? How did the conduit integrity checks go?"
"The warp engines are fully back online and running within expected parameters, all systems check out," I tell her. "Conduits 261-Alpha and 578-Gamma were found to have stress fractures and had to be replaced. Computer simulations and static power tests have confirmed that the new conduits are up to scratch and properly integrated into existing systems," I finish, though I know she has already read up on these matters too. It’s just her way of making sure we both know all the latest information about our ship.
"Very good," she acknowledges. "Anything else?"
"No sir. All systems read green, all departments are up to speed and ready for departure."
"Very good. Thank you, Lieutenant," she tells me--another good indication--then turns to our comm. officer. "Lieutenant Lathena, contact the base operations division and give our current readiness status, and request our new mission orders."
"Aye sir," she replies as both of us step onto the bridge proper, Karen heading for her command chair and me to the navigation databanks.
A few minutes later Lathena reports, "Captain, Base Operations acknowledges our status, but informs us they have no orders for us at present. We are instructed to maintain position until contacted again."
That’s annoying, I observe, and see my thought echoed in the captain’s face. There is no trace of it in her reply, though.
"Very well, Lieutenant. Acknowledge those orders and confirm our compliance."
"Aye, Captain."
And once again, all we can do is wait. Surely they won’t keep us in the dark for too long, I hope to myself.
There’s no point having a fully crewed ship ready to go just hanging about in orbit doing nothing all day. For lack of anything else to do at present, I check up on a detail from our last mission that I’m curious about. However, a quick search of the computer records tells me nothing more than I learned a few days ago. Puzzled now, I decide to ask the captain if she knows anything new.
"Captain, do you know the current whereabouts and status of the Klingons we captured?" I ask in a quiet voice. "The Starfleet updates make no mention of them..."
I trail off on seeing the expression coming over her face. She glares at me for a few seconds, apparently searching my face for something. I feel myself start to get angry back at her, thinking,
was this truce between us just for show? Is she going to start it all over again? She relents, however, her anger slowly sinking back beneath the surface, leaving me puzzled as hell.
What was that all about? She looked ready to rip my head off, but seemed to decide she didn’t need to. Forcing most of the anger from her voice, she pushes out, "I’m sorry, Mr. Brown, but that information has been restricted to CO’s Eyes Only. I can’t tell you anything."
Not even why merely asking you about it lit off your fury again, Captain? I don’t ask. Instead, I acknowledge that my curiosity won’t be satisfied, on any level. "Very well, Captain," I reply briskly, then return to "my" station.
Before I was just curious about what was happening to them, when and where their trial would be so that I could watch it via subspace or whatever. When I discovered that there was no information about them at all, I became curious about that, too. Now I had an unholy itch in my brain to find out what was going on, and why it was now classified above my head.
I shake my head ruefully, as if trying to gently dislodge my curiosity.
Nothing worse than an itch you can’t scratch. *****
It took another couple of hours, but our new orders finally come in. To our surprise, Tandara himself delivers them.
"Captain, I’m receiving a hail for you from the base commander’s office," Lathena informs us. If it had been private she’d have mentioned that too, so Karen orders it on the main screen. The Andorian woman nods and our view of the planet is replaced by an image of the commodore behind his desk.
"Commander McCafferty, I have your new orders for you," he begins, his deep voice resonating onto the bridge.
"The Kusanagi
is being transferred to the Romulan border to counter the increased incursions into the Neutral Zone. Starfleet Command has determined that the threat from the Klingons is at its lowest point for many years, so experienced personnel are being redeployed." I feel my eyebrows rise in surprise at that. Although I agree with Starfleet’s assessment of the current threat levels, the Klingons are cunning and sneaky and the Organians are not all-powerful. It’s not a situation to inspire neither confidence nor a lax attitude to border security. However, not being an admiral myself, I have to go where they tell me.
"Understood sir. What are our new orders?" McCafferty asks.
"You are to report to Commodore Sanek on Starbase 23 for anti-piracy patrols in Sector 19-L, no later than stardate 4300. Apparently, the Penzance Cartel has been taking advantage of Starfleet’s preoccupation with the Klingons to enrich their own coffers and are trying to improve their overall position in the pirate hierarchy. You will receive a full briefing from Commodore Sanek upon your arrival, but for now current data is being transmitted to you so that you may become familiar with the situation before you get there." "Transmission received, Captain," Lathena states quietly.
"Received and understood, Commodore," McCafferty tells him. "Is there anything else?"
"Actually, yes. We have several personnel needing transport to Deep Space Station K-7, so we have them assembling in the transporter room. They should be ready to beam up in ten minutes." Tandara pauses to consult a clipboard, then resumes his briefing.
"I realise that K-7 is somewhat out of your way to your next assignment, so you are authorised to drop these people off at Cygnia Minor if it interferes with your own schedule for Starbase 23. If necessary they can take a transport from there to complete their own journey." Ah, good. I was beginning to worry about our timetable but that solves it neatly. Taking a detour to K-7 would cut it very close for us arriving on time at our new posting, and no one wants to be late for their first day at a new job.
"Aye sir. We are ready to beam them aboard at any time."
"Very good, Commander." Changing gears now that our new orders had been given, the Deltan informs us,
"You are cleared for departure at 1030 hours FBT. The transporter room will contact you shortly. May fortune favour you in your new mission, Commander. Tandara, out." Karen swings her chair around to view all the bridge stations as she speaks. "You heard the man, people. Departure stations. Ensign Salok, plot a course to the outer system markers and transfer to Helm. Lathena, contact Starbase Traffic Control with our flight plan once our navigator has completed his calculations. Mr. Enax, make sure our way out is clear of traffic."
The acknowledgements echo back and minutes later Salok confirms, "Course plotted, Captain. Transferring to Helm and Communications."
"Contacting Traffic Control now, Captain," Lathena states. Moments later, she has them online.
"Frigate Kusanagi,
this is Starbase 22 Traffic Control, we have your flight plan," the unseen person drawls onto our bridge with a heavy Arkansas accent. With a voice like that, it’s not the same person we dealt with on our way in, that’s for sure.
"We confirm that you’re cleared for departure from 1030 hours to the outer markers. There’s no immediate interplanetary traffic, although be advised that two cargo ships are due at the transfer station at 1045 hours. We’ve no interstellar arrivals for the next solar day, and the threat boards are still clear. There are no known storm fronts or adverse conditions reported for the sectors you’ll be passing through, so y’all have a nice flight, y’heah?" "Thank you, Traffic Control," Karen acknowledges with a smile in her voice. "
Kusanagi acknowledges."
Switching channels, Lathena has another report for the captain. "Sir, transporter room acknowledges receipt of beam up request from the starbase."
"Have them brought aboard, Lieutenant." Turning to me she orders, "Mr. Brown, see to our guests and make sure that they’re settled comfortably."
"Aye sir," I reply and head for the turbolift. Before the doors close on the busy bridge, I hear us set off.
"All departments report ready for departure, and the transporter room reports that our guests have arrived safely."
"Thank you, Lathena. Mr. Maknal, break orbit. Ahead, full impulse."
"Full impulse, aye sir. Estimating system boundary in 25 minutes."
*****
I manage to have our guests and their luggage installed in their new quarters on Deck 3 within twenty minutes. The three scientists and an administrator are heading to K-7 to help in the development of Sherman’s Planet. Peaceful competition to show who is better at developing a planet successfully is one of the more positive things to come out of the Organian Treaty, but apparently the Klingons are beating us on Sherman’s. The Federation is transporting in a huge shipment of the new wonder-grain quadrotriticale from Deneva to regain the edge, and these four people are experts on it.
I look forward to going over the details of this and the background data for our new assignment on the long trip to sector 19-L, but for now I want to be on the bridge for the transition to warp speed.
I step back into the command centre in time to hear Salok state, "Outer system markers ahead, Captain."
"Thank you, Ensign. Plot a course to Cygnia Minor at maximum cruise speed and transfer to Helm."
"Aye sir," he replies as I step down beside the captain’s chair.
"Our guests all taken care of, Mr. Brown?" she inquires.
"Yes sir, the four of them are sharing our two VIP quarters and seem quite pleased by them." I pause to consider extending another olive branch, then decide to go through with it. "Their assignment seems quite interesting, sir. If you like, I can have them brief you on it once we’re on our way."
"What’s it about?"
"A new strategy for Sherman’s Planet, Captain."
Karen raises her eyebrows. "Really? I think I’ll take you up on that, Lieutenant."
"Very good sir," I nod amiably.
"Course plotted and laid in, Captain," Salok updates.
Urrih adds, "Passing outer markers now, sir."
A ripple of excitement passes around the bridge, and Karen leans forward in her chair. It seems to me that the whole ship is poised like that, eager to be out there again. "Engage, Mr. Maknal. Warp five!" she commands.
"Warp five, aye. We’re on our way!" Urrih replies, eyes shining.
The screen breaks up with the transition to warp speed and settles into the familiar star-bow effect as the
Kusanagi leaves the Einsteinian universe behind for Cochrane’s one.
At peace once again, we all look to the future and what it may hold.
The mission continues.
The End
Topic: Aftermath (Read 19878 times)