It didn't dawn on him just how big this ship was until he and Tompson were standing in an absolutely enormous Transporter room. The Germany's lone transporter room consisted of a wall console and three pads. James looked around in awe as he noticed that there were six pads, room at the dedicated console for two people, and what appeared to be a Food Slot. The Food Slots were rumored to be just as good as standard cooking, the way meals were prepared on Germany, but without the need for a dedicated chef. On Germany, you ate what the Cook made, or you didn't eat at all, but these Food Slots were supposed to provide a wide selection of meals. Standing behind the Transporter console was a young, junior officer, James didn't have much time to say anything to him when the older man, probably mid-fifties, standing beside the console spoke up. "Lieutenant Atkinson, welcome aboard the Enterprise. You and Chief Tompson were the last people we beamed off your ship. We'll take your ship in tow, but I'm afraid that it won't be salvaged. We're just glad you we're able to recover the Constellation's event recorder, it saves us a trip to the Klingon Border. I'm sure the Klingons would love to get some sensor scans of this beauty. I have a few things to discuss with you, but I can see that you two could use a shower and a hot meal, so I'll let you get to that. Find me when your done, Ensign Nichols will escort you to the guest quarters." Captain April nodded to the young officer behind the Transporter Console, then turned and left the room. The door opening without a button being pressed and shutting itself behind him.
Ensign Nichols motioned to the door, and Atkinson and Tompson finally stepped off the Transporter Pads, following him out the door and into the almost empty corridor. "You realize that just by being aboard Enterprise your security clearance just went up to Level Nine. No one on this ship has any less than level ten security clearance, as guests you'll be locked in at nine, unless the Captain deems you reliable enough to raise it. We had to take such precautions, and as a result, we're confident that no one in the Klingon Empire knows anything more than that we've commissioned a new Heavy Cruiser, we put out enough chaff and misinformation that should keep them guessing as to our abilities for months." Nichols stopped in front of a turbolift and waited for the lift to stop at this level.
Tompson spoke up first, "Motion sensors on all the doors?"
Nichols nodded, "Dr. Daystrom's breakthrough, the Duotronic circuit controls this entire ship. That is, of course, not classified, it's well known that Duotronics will revolutionize Starship operations. The Computer locates every lift on the ship, and sends the closest one to where there are people waiting. It cuts down on lift waits considerably, because as you know, on your ship, there could only be one lift for every tube. With Duotronics, we could have five, six, even ten lifts for every tube, although it doesn't work like that on Enterprise. There are actually no seperate tubes, the tube that takes you to the Bridge, will take you to the shuttle bay." The lift doors opened and they walked in, grasping one of the three handles in the turbo-lift, he twisted it slightly, "Deck Four, Port." The Turbolift hummed into action. "It makes trips to Engineering, Sickbay, Hydroponics, the Bowling Alley, very quick, no more getting off at one level, walking down the corridor and then getting into another lift."
Atkinson's interest was peaked, "You have a bowling alley?" Bowling was one of his childhood loves, he gave it up for a career in Starfleet, another childhood fantasy. The turbolift came to stop, the doors opened and the three of them entered the corridor.
"Deck Seventeen, the main recreational facilities are down there. I can't get into specifics because they're classified, but Starfleet wanted to make sure this ship could stay away from port for a long time. Here are your quarters gentleman, Cheif Tompson, this one is yours, Lieutenant Atkinson, yours are the next one down. The Mess Hall is further down the hall and to the left, just opposite of the Turboshaft." Ensign Nichols smiled, and then turned back into the Turbolift, which hadn't moved since their arrival. James nodded to Tompson, who stepped into his Quarters, while James strolled down the corridor and enter his.
Everything on this ship is big, James thought as he stepped into the main area. An acutal desk with a computer, the terminal seemed to be disabled, but what James wouldn't give to be posted on one of these ships. Stepping into the side area he noted a sleeping area and then hidden in the back, the lavatory. He stripped off his dirt and grime encrusted uniform and stepped into the shower, fully expecting some new and strange way of cleaning himself, he was shocked when water began squirting out of the nozzle. The events of the past day and half washed off of him along with the dirt, grease, sweat and blood. Grasping the towel hanging from the shower door he did a quick dry of everything but his hair, and then wrapped the towel around his waist, as he was so used to the Community Bathrooms where anyone, even a female crewman, could walk in unexpectedly. He strode out into the main area and opened up the drawer on the vanity set. Inside he found a couple pair of coveralls that fit him quite well, donning one of them, he noted the name on the coverall was Enterprise, but other than that almost the same as the ones he had back in his quarters on Germany. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair, making sure that it wasn't a mess, turned off the light in the vanity and strolled out into the corridor. It didn't take him long to find the Mess Hall, and when he did, he found Captain April waiting for him. Beside April, the Mess Hall was empty, Tompson was obviously still back in his Quarters. April motioned that he should get something to eat first before sitting down with him. James picked up the disks that were neatly stacked in a tray in front of the food slots, each disk had six choices on it, each choice corresponded with a button underneath the slot. Two of the disks had nothing but beverages on it. Making his choice he fed one disk into the drive, pressed a button, the slot made some noise, and then the door opened and produced a steaming hot roast beef sandwich. Pulling the first disk and the sandwich out he fed a second disk into drive and pressed another button. A tall glass of Root Beer appeared when the door opened again. He placed the disks back into the tray, grabbed his tray and drink, and walked carefully over to where Captain April was sitting. James sat down unfurled the napkin and placed it over his lap, grasped the fork and cut into the sandwich. The gravy oozed towards his fork as he finished the cut and lifted the fork full into his mouth. He slowly chewed the sandwich, tasting it, testing it. Finally he nodded and swallowed. "Very good, much better than I was expecting."
"That was my reaction when I ate out of that thing for the first time. Out of all the things on this ship, that's the one thing I have the hardest time getting used to. It used to be you could tell what kind of Captain you were by the quality of the Cook you had on board. If someone had a better cook than you, then he was a better Captain. Now, its some programmer back on Earth, and we all have, or rather, will have the same one."
"But how does it work? I mean, it just cant make this stuff out of thin air can it?"
"No, it can't. Theoretically it can make almost anything, if it has the stuff on board to do it. The ship stores now are one big stasis field, stuff like fruit, vegtables, meat, and breads are stored there and when an order is placed its cut, prepared and sent via a special turbolift. The gravy is made from the meat itself, a process I can't even begin to understand, let alone explain. The food is then zapped with a modified phaser beam, if you want it hot, the door opens up and there's the food you ordered. On a more complicated order, like say a Lasanga or a Casserole, the selector can take up to a couple minutes to deliver the food, most of the time though, the wait is about fifteen to thirty seconds."
Tompson entered the Mess Hall wearing a similar coverall, he noticed James and Captain April, nodded and went over to the food slot, a moment later he was sitting right beside James with a Chicken Sandwich, with Mayo. Tompson took a cautious bite, and swallowed. "Wow."
April smiled, "To business, We're twenty-seven hours out from starbase twelve. I'm sure you'll do the math in your head, but I'll save you the trouble, we're cruising at Warp Six. I've already been informed by Admiral Mayweather that the Germany is to be decommissioned after you have retrieved your personal belongings from her. Most of your crew has already been selected for their new posts, after their six week R&R. That leaves me to the two of you. Chief Tompson, you have not at this time submitted your re-enlistment request. I have to ask, do you intend to re-enlist or retire? You only have four weeks left on your current enlistment tour."
"At this time, Captain, I think I'd like to go off active duty, for the time being, sir."
"Understood, then I will officially put you on the reserve duty roster. You should find plenty of work back on Earth, heck you might find a spot on the team putting the third ship of this class together."
"Yes sir, thank you sir."
"Lieutenant Atkinson, Admiral Mayweather has authorized me to issue you and Cheif Tompson with the Johnathan Archer Medal of Valor for your actions. Together the two of you saved what was left of your crew, and you managed to, although inadvertantly, prevent the Klingons from obtaining knowledge of our latest starship design. You have Starfleet's thanks."
"Thank you sir."
"With that, you have been put forth for a promotion, I expect it to go through, quite possibly before we arrive at Starbase Twelve. Your next duty assignment, while not on Enterprise or the Constitution, will be on another until now classified design. The Saladin, a new destroyer. Slightly more compact than Enterprise, but she's still a luxury yacht compared to the design of the Germany, you're to be her first officer. She will be launching from the McKinley shipyards at the end of August. Unfortunately that means you're R&R will be cut a couple of weeks short, but I'm confident that you can handle it."
"Aye sir."
"Now, I've heard you've taken interest in the ship's bowling alley. Care for a game or two? I carry a one-sixty-two average."
"Yes sir. It's been a few years since I've bowled, but I did carry a one-forty-three in my last youth league."
"How about you Cheif?"
"No thank you sir, I'm more of a soccer person."
"Suit yourself. Lieutenant?" April motioned for James to take the lead and headed out into the corridor.
Topic: Sword and the Targ (Read 13136 times)