Earth Departure (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 22 Mar 2014 @ 10:30am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Lieutenant Teth Miir & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley & Commander Luke Wyatt & Petty Officer 1st Class Taryn Galepsie & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes & Lieutenant Elijah Williams IV, M.Sc. & Vincent Kramer Ph.D. & Alethea Coleman Ph.D & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Min Zhao & Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Ensign K'os Beaumont & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn

2,411 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: San Francisco Fleet Yards - Dock 34, USS Galileo
Timeline: MD 60 - 1910 hrs

[CONTINUED]

Sickbay, Deck 3

Allyndra was still getting used to the final changes in sickbay. It was not quite like the old one and while the medlab had disappeared as a down the hall entity, the new lab space was now nearby the office.

She had pulled the panel around from her office open and the large surgical monitor she had rigged up to display the departure, so any of her staff along with herself could watch.

The only thing she needed to do was simple and leaning back on her new desk, she pressed a comm button.

=^=Bridge, Lieutenant Commander Allyndra reporting, medical secured and ready=^=. That was it her only duty for now and it was time to watch the departure.

Dr. Olsam Mott hovered over her shoulder, trying to find a balance between seeing the monitor and feeling like he was too close and would crush her. He hadn't quite figured out how they were going to work side-by-side in Sickbay, because he constantly felt like he was going to bump the poor Akkadian and snap off a wing or something; she seemed dangerously delicate.

"Who's at the helm, do you know? I hope they know what they're doing. Atmospheric flight makes me nervous," Olsam said, staring at the monitor.

Allyndra smiled at that, "Oh I agree, the first thing I learned," she moved her wings slightly, "is the old saying on my world: 'The Ground is a Harsh Mistress'." Allyndra shared a laugh and then added.

"Not sure, but I would guess since start of a mission and departure from the shipyards that our lead helmsman or should that be helmswoman?" Allyndra smiled, "is Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin. Have you met her? A Betazoid/Trill?"

"Oh, yes, I did meet her," he said, suddenly turning a paler shade of blue. Didn't she say she was a fighter pilot? Oh... Oh no. They were always such show offs. He imagined the ship spinning as it rocketed out of the upper atmosphere, and his stomach lurched. His hand went out to the side to grab a medcart for balance, although there was nothing wrong with the grav-plating or the intertial dampeners. "I hope she doesn't try anything fancy. You might have to drug me.

"I doubt it, not with a flag officer and the Captain looking over her shoulder." Allyndra smiled. "Oh, that reminds me, I would like to keep gamma shift and wanted to ask you to take on alpha if that is alright?"

"Sure, that works just fine for me," Olsam said, nodding in agreement.

Teth listened to the conversation between Mott and Warraquim, wondering why his duty station was in sickbay. He didn't feel he would be very useful there. He did have that field medic training, but it had been a couple of years and he felt his skills would be shaky at best.

Alexion was seated at a workbench, looking down a scope at the cells he was studying of a patient. He held his breath, remaining silent and at work amongst the excitement. To him, it was just another working day, and as always with the scratchy doctor, he didn't get distracted from the task at hand.

Victoria stood near the LCARS, getting more and more excited by the second. This was always her favorite part of the trip. She wasn't sure why, but it was. Ignoring the frenetic chaos around her, she stood stock-still, waiting for launch.


Security Department

Luke moved around with speed and a certain grace that came with experience and nobility. He loved the rush of a ship preparing to disembark after leave or for its first time. "Galypsie, what's the status of the weapons and security personnel?" He asked taking a PaDD from a nearby crewman gliding his hands across it quickly before nodding and handing it back.

Taryn tapped her fingers across the computer console as she pulled up the reports. "Eighty-nine percent of personnel have reported as ready. The ships weapon stores are at one hundred percent inventory and storage." She moved her fingers across the console. "Ninety-four percent of personnel report ready, sir."

"Good, keep me posted I don't want anything or anyone going missing whilst I'm in charge as quartermaster." He gave her a rash smile before tapping his badge, "Bridge, security is good to go standing by for your orders." He turned back to the crewman who were still jostling the last few things about in order to be ready for take-off. This was a new beginning for him and one he hoped to hit the ground running.

"Stupid, clunky boxes..." Gabriel Stark murmured to himself as he lugged a box across the room. Of course, his throbbing headache didn't help. He'd had one hell of a shoreleave....clubbing, drinking, dancing and the rest. But now, he was paying for it. If he'd have gotten away with wearing sunglasses, he would have. Instead, he moaned to himself from his hungover headache as he heaved the awkward box. "...supposed to carry a phaser, not stupid, clunky boxes," he muttered under his breath.


Bridge

Lt. Rhodes heard the report from the Security Depart. He was very pleased with the work that Chief Petty Officer Wyatt has done in his new role. Theron felt that Wyatt was even taking a personal interest in all facets of that responsibility.


Geology Lab, Deck 4

There were butterflies in his stomach as Elijah Williams took his station in the geology lab. He had already familiarized himself with the lab, which didn't take long to do. It still felt so odd being in such a confined space, but it would just take time to get used to it. Now that he was on an actual tour of duty, he would have nothing but time. He still couldn't believe he was actually here, to go out and explore and learn and encounter things he had never encountered before. The prospect was exciting, though his reserved nature had kept that excitation at bay.

He logged onto his station and began to go through the catalog of specimens currently on board, first things first was to take not of what was on hand. Everything seemed to be in order. He studied the readouts and then a smile spread on his lips, a smile that couldn't be helped. He reached up and tapped his combadge, "Williams to Lieutenant Stace, the geology lab is all set and ready to go. All equipment and specimens have been secured and accounted for."

Dr. Kramer walked in at the end of the report. Setting some PaDDs down, he glanced over to Williams, "I guess this is it." Kramer was glad that the new Captain had asked him to return to the Galileo and assist with her next mission.

Elijah looked to the other man, offered a bit of a smile and nodded. His stomach tightened as nerves sought to overcome rationalization. This was all new to him of course, his interstellar travel had been limited. But, it was a new adventure to be had. He knew his brothers would enjoy hearing his adventures. That was something at least. "I guess so," he replied simply.


Planetary Development Lab

Coleman, like many of her colleagues, was busy securing samples and finishing inventory lists in the different science labs. She wasn't nervous; this was pretty routine for her at this point. She did have a headache the size of a small planetoid, but she knew it would go away once she had coffee. When she had finished helping in one lab, she moved on to the next to find odd jobs and generally to help out.


Bridge

As the final status reports came in from below decks and each department finally signed off on the readiness status, John was confident that Galileo was ready to depart.

"Ops - contact the dockmaster and request permission to depart. Mr Kohl, what are the skies looking like today? Science stations - let's make sure we don't plough into an orbiting starship."

"Contacting them now." Min's fingers flew over her keyboard as she input the Galileo's departure orders and clearance request. A few seconds later the request came back. "Cleared for Departure Captain. We're cleared for a Pacific departure."

At the aft of the Bridge, Kohl swiped his fingertips across his LCARS panel to access the environmental sensor readings. "Sunny with cloudy periods, sir," Kohl called out. He turned his head to the left and spoke over his shoulder, with his peripheral vision on the science console. "Cloud ceiling at 250 metres. The wind is westerly at 20 kilometres an hour and atmospheric pressure is at one hundred and one kilopascals. No precipitation expected."

Min spoke up from her console where she was monitoring orbital traffic movement as part of their departure procedures. "Control reports light traffic over North America. Poles are closed owing to environmental research studies. They are recommending departure lane Charlie for all outbound Beta Quadrant traffic. We are being advised to watch for antimatter tanker traffic around Jupiter."

"Excellent. Helm, bring atmospheric thrusters online and take us out. Impulse power at your discretion as we clear the ionosphere. Engineering, keep an eye on primary systems, I don't want us blowing an EPS conduit before we get off the ground." John called out, secretly excited as his ship prepared to return to it's native environment. A starship didn't belong on the ground, and the Captain was pleased that their stay was finally over.

K'os had by this time focused his entire concentration on his role. It had taken him a few moments, but with the Captain now on the bridge he had used Vulcan techniques to disconnect himself from the excitement and anxiety he felt about his task. The change was noticeable in his demeanor. "Aye, Captain." He said with a passive expression. He had just sent different status reports to the departments that needed them. With a quick glance at his monitor he added, "All systems are a go, sir."

"Atmospheric thrusters online Captain," Dea reported as her fingers dance across the console. It felt good to be back at her station. "Impulse power ready once we're clear of the ionosphere. All systems are green." Since it was their first flight since Galileo's refit Dea kept a close eye on all Flight Control systems.

With all the dock's moorings now retracted and all personnel vacated from the departure area, Galileo's ventral thrusters came online and propelled the full weight of their thrust down towards the tarmac, sending a soft rumble echoing across the shipyard accompanied by a puffy cloud of compressed gas and debris from the nearby grass and dirt. The Nova Class began its ascent, slowly at first and only a couple inches at a time, then finally faster and faster until the climb rate was close to three meters per second and the starship was clear of the anchorage.

The launch of a large space craft was always a sight to behold, and many cadets and officers from the nearby Starfleet HQ facility stood outside to watch the ship depart. Over along the Golden Gate bridge, several civilians had assembled as well, and a few cheers erupted from the crowd as Galileo flew overhead then turned her nose up towards to the clouds to climb even higher. Six minutes later, the ship punched through the upper atmosphere and entered low Earth orbit.

Monitoring their current altitude, "Switching to impulse. We've cleared our ionosphere target."

"Very well. Lay in a course for starbase Deep Space 9, Warp 7. Engage when ready."

John gripped the arms of his chair even tighter as he gave the order to jump to Warp. It would be Galileo's first time at FTL velocity since her last refit, and the Martian had always felt nervous during the first launch after any period in spacedock.

Markum always loved atmospheric flight and the feel of the deckplates rattling under his boots. It was exhilarating, even still, after all the thousands of logged hours on a starship, it still made him feel like he was a young man again. He scanned over the MSD carefully and was glad to see that the warned thruster didn't slip, and made a mental check to give an at-a-boy to Beaumont .

Theron stood at the Tactical Station observing the captain and crew at their task. From this rear vantage point he was able to watch fully their interaction. The New Captain seemed relaxed and the crew were responding as expected. It was a good indication of the mission ahead.

Galileo cruised along at impulse for a few long minutes until she was clear of the inner solar system, then with inputs from the chief flight controller, her warp engines came online and the ship made a last-minute course correction to bring its nose on-target with its destination. The large nacelles began to glow exponentially until a bright flash consumed them, causing the Nova Class to stretch and elongate as it snapped into high warp.

[END OF EPISODE 05]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Theron Rhodes
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

CMCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

SCPO Luke Wyatt
Security Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Teth Miir
Counselor
USS Galileo

Lt j.g. Min Zhao
Asst Chief of Operations
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Asahi Kita
Asst. Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Jared Nicholas
Linguist
USS Galileo

CPO Keval Grayson
Operations
USS Galileo
{PNPC Nichaols}

Lieutenant JG Elijah Williams IV
Geologist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Victoria Crawley
Psychologist
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Olsam Mott, M.D.
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

PO1 Victarion Jaqen
Yeoman
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Markos]

Lieutenant Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

PO3 K'os Beaumont
Matter/Energy Systems Specialist
USS Galileo

PO1 Oliver Morris
Senior Yeoman
USS Galileo

Dr. Vincent Kramer, PhD.
Planetologist
USS <>Galileo
[PNPC - Rhodes]

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