Supernova (Part 1 of 5)

Posted on 20 Sep 2018 @ 12:40pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Manuel Lucero & Ensign Miraj Derani & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant & Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri & Ensign Mimi & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Azra Ghoc & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen & Master Chief Petty Officer Kai Mazen & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Crewman Draia Thero & Petty Officer 1st Class Heinu Reteif
Edited on on 20 Sep 2018 @ 12:52pm

2,734 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Rigel II - Avondale Shipyards, USS Galileo-A
Timeline: MD 146, 1730 hrs

[ON]

"ATTENTION. USS Galileo departing in T minus two hours," blared Avondale Shipyard's internal comm system, echoing through each corridor and office. Starfleet's large shipyard production complex was on alert for the evening to oversee the departure of several new vessels from their temporary berths. Transport shuttles were plentiful and abuzz with activity to deliver final shipments of stores, munitions and personnel to their final destinations.

"All personnel report to stations," continued the station's familiar female computer voice before repeating the message. "ATTENTION. USS Galileo departing in T minus two hours. All personnel report to stations."

Heinu hurried across the boarding ramp that led into Galileo from the starbase. He had made it barely in time, as usual. He carried his personal effects in a bag slung over his shoulder. All of his plants had already been cleared and taken aboard. He hoped he'd find them in the botany lab. There were only a couple of other crew in the lift with him. He smiled at them, towering above most.

A grin spread from ear to ear as Matthew walked the length of the port side access way leading to Deck 2 port entry. He stepped through the airlock and set foot on his new ship. Duffle over his left shoulder and trumpet case in his right hand, he handed the completed transfer orders to a security officer who verified the information. With no time to waste he went to check in with his department head, the Chief Science Officer for a duty assignment.


USS Galileo-A, Bridge

From within the new Nova-class' bridge and corridors, the same departure notification came through on the ship-wide comm system. "ATTENTION. USS Galileo departing in T minus two hours. All personnel report to stations."

Captain Lirha Saalm suddenly tensed up and accidentally slammed her elbow into the bridge console when the loud alert blared and startled her. The green-skinned Orion cursed under her breath in her native tongue then sighed and rolled over onto her back before crawling out from under the mission operations console.

"ODN link verified, try it now," she said to the Operations officer who was at the adjacent console. She'd been working with the ensign for several hours to fix a series of faulty internal sensor readings, and she hoped she'd finally solved the problem.

"That is better Captain, every thing looks stable." Mimi replied, this sensor issue was one of several problems that had cropped up as more and more systems were powered up to full. The ops console pinged every few minutes with a new report and her teams were working flat out to check everything, she was anxious itching to get going as was the rest of the crew if the banter across the bridge was anything to go by.

The computer announcement hadn't even died away when Miraj was through the bridge door and sliding into her seat at the conn. She couldn't wait to slide the new Galileo off the mornings and take him for a spin. The same size as his older brother, the little Nova-2 had a substantial engine upgrade. Full impulse was now three-quarters lightspeed - a 200% increase! 200%!!! - and whilst its warp capability hadn't seen as obviously big a leap, cruise speed was now warp 6, which was technically a whole 100 times faster, but it didn't feel as big in her mind. And since you rarely did anything fun at warp, the impulse increase was far more interesting anyway. But now emergency max warp was 9.1. Her lifetime goal of a slingshot time jump had just got 6 percentage points more likely.

She wiggled her bum in the new seat. The leather was replicated, not real, thank goodness, but still had that lovely new smell. "Hey baby." she whispered, running her fingers lovingly along the sleek panels in front of her. The conn still had the frankly pointless area dividers. They were just guaranteed to slow things down by making you move further, in her opinion. But the designers had got rid of the vertical dividers, thank god. They just left you with bruised knuckles. She slid her boots off surreptitiously and dug her toes into the carpet under the conn. She could feel the sleeping purr of the new ship, a barely perceptible hum, the breath of a sleeping leopard. "Ready to wake up and have some fun?"

Constantin Vansen looked around the second he set his foot on the bridge. He hadn't...well. It was an honour he hadn't had before. But he moved to his station, placing his hands on the console for a brief moment. A blessing. A promise to the ship to take care of her.

Lucero walked onto the bridge whilst everyone was bustling around. The wave of familiarity that he expected from their time on the old Galileo didn't wash over him, much to his initial disappointment. But, once he thought about it as he greeted the crew near the lift, he reasoned that they'd all been through so much and that there were so many individuals that were lost and even more amazing individuals that were gained in that time, that it was nothing to be disappointed about. It was something different. Like a rebirth. Or... even better... an evolution. He swiveled into Science II with a smile on his face as he prepared the station for pre-flight checks.

Sitting in the chair in front of her station Ullswater, taking in each of the new faces that arrived on the bridge, watched as the Conn officer took her seat and an operations officer moved up to the station that the Captain had just been fixing and Ullswater momentarily worried that she was going to end up being the shortest person on this ship. It wasn't a worry that kept her for long though. As she began to began input the final codes to run the last tests on science station III it began to dawn on her that she'd made it - this was a Starfleet starship with a crew of experienced officers and now she was one of them.

She began to smile, a real genuine not put on for anybody smile - that short girl from a backwater mining colony had finally found herself as part of something bigger. It was exciting.

A few moments later, Scarlet Blake moved through the doors, heading straight for her seat...but she stole more than just a few glances of their new bridge on the way. She could have grinned when she saw Lirha on the bridge, where she belonged, however her features remained professional and cool in her usual expression when working. She couldn't quite keep the shine from her eyes though.

Jeysa stood off to one side on the bridge, she did not really have a station here, but keeping within shouting distance of the Captain seemed the best thing to do right now. She was looking forward to getting out into space, after graduating she'd come almost straight to the Rigel system and never had much space time.

Master Chief Hospital Corpsman Kai Mazen stepped out of the turbolift and onto the bridge. Standing off to the side and out of the way, Kai took in the sights and sounds of the hustle and bustle as the ship prepared for launch. The excitement in the air was palpable, like electrical current running throuhg everyone on the bridge. Kai nodded once, then went to take the station Captain Saalm had assigned to him, one of the auxiliary science stations. Sitting down, he altered the console to give him up to the minute status on pre-launch operations.

Marisa took a couple minutes to finish what she was reading, then she headed for the bridge. Over the last few days she'd gone over every lab and storage unit assigned to science and felt that she was beginning to get familiar with the Galileo-A's personality.

She walked onto the bridge. She'd been here several times, but it had been different then. Now, the bridge was practically humming as everyone prepared for launch. It made her smile.

Then she saw Blake in the First Officer's chair and her smile vanished. She was pleased to hear of Commander Ban's promotion, but she had looked forward to working with him on the aquaponics section of the arboretum. But, she reminded herself, this was the nature of Starfleet. You never had time to really get used to a ship before you were sent somewhere else.

She focused again on the bridge and the familiar faces. She was quite pleased to see Miraj. Then it was time to switch her attention back to the task at hand. She nodded to Kai, went to the primary science station, logged in, and ran a quick diagnostic.

Riding the turbolift, Matthew closed his eyes. Somewhat of a tradition he supposed inwardly. First time on the bridge of his new posting and already having a duty station. The lift slowed, he imagined the sounds and then the doors opened. It was busy but not chaotic here. He took alook around and a sense of excitement filled him. The door closed behind him and he looked for 'Science IV' station. Seeing it, he walked over to his station and greeted the other science crew that were there. He logged into his terminal and the first diagnostic of his first time on the bridge began. When it completed a few seconds later, he was logged in and the astrometrics map initialized. He tapped the panel and got a synchronous time and distance fix from the Ad-Bhoumann pulsar and everything was just fine.

Saalm's own diagnostic check was now complete thanks to the help of Ensign Mimi, and the Orion captain clipped her hyperspanner to her belt then got back to her feet. Looking around at all the new and familiar faces who were now present, she briefly observed her bridge crew tending to their stations before pushing several stray locks of her dark hair from her cheeks and back behind her ears.

"Not quite like our old home but she'll get us there," she remarked, addressing all of them. "We can remodel along the way to our new AO," she reassured.

Marisa was glad to hear that. While science was mostly ready and all her personnel accounted for as of that morning, she knew there would be hiccups before too long. And juggling of positions until she had everyone working at their best.

Manuel glanced behind him and nodded at the Captain's statement. It was like she'd read his mind. The eerie 'similar but dissimilar' feeling unsettled him. But he'd warm up to their new home; he was sure of it.


Below Decks

"ATTENTION. USS Galileo departing in T minus two hours. All personnel report to stations," the ship's intercom suddenly announced throughout all decks and corridors before repeating again, "ATTENTION. USS Galileo departing in T minus two hours. All personnel report to stations."


Deck 4, Botany Lab

Heinu entered the lab that belonged almost exclusively to him. It was larger than he could have hoped. Sure, he'd had labs on other ships, but here it was filled with his plants. The ones he'd spent weeks, months, and sometimes even years growing. He'd have to report to the quartermaster and Chief Science Officer soon, but he decided to spend a few minutes caring for the plants in his lab.


Deck 3, Corridors

Azra tugged at the bottom of her uniform jacket, ensuring that it was straight and snug. As much as Starfleet uniforms had gotten better, even in the last 5 years, they still had a tendency to creep up above the waist of her slacks. She walked briskly through the corridors of her new home.

The Cardassian woman didn't have a strictly assigned duty station. It was both one of the benefits and burdens of holding the position of Boatswain. When things were running smoothly, she wasn't needed anywhere. When they weren't running smoothly, on the other hand, she was needed everywhere. Right now it seemed like the former situation was winning out. For now, at least.


Deck 3, Counselor’s Office

She looked small in the widely spaced compartment. The Cardassian’s build would be characterized as statuesque if she were sashaying through her home-court of main engineering. By nature her scaly, grey hide was tall and broad and heavier than she looked. She wasn’t small. Not really. In this space, though, Crewman Draia Thero was sat with her head tilted down, her arms folded over her breasts and her legs crossed at the ankle.

Without looking up, Draia said, “I feel like you can’t see me.”

At Draia’s request, Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant was sat behind his desk. His desk was stationed behind Draia, well outside her field of vision. She had asked not to look at Galileo-A’s Chief Counselor when she agreed to this session. It would make it easier for her to talk, she believed, if she didn’t have to look him in the eyes.

As a result, Lake made no effort to keep an open or empathetic expression on the angular features of his face. He leaned back in his desk chair, crossing his hands behind his head. Lake’s black Starfleet uniform had been replicated to hug his biceps and triceps as tightly as as a lover’s embrace. Lake asked, “Is it your metaphorical armour you’re speaking of?” Most people, he knew, would rather correct a mistaken assumption than answer a direct question. So he didn’t ask a direct question. “You think all I can see are the personality defences you put up with your sharp tongue, and so I can’t see your truth?” is what he chose to ask.

Speaking softly, Draia answered with a stark, “No.” She shook her head from side to side and she didn’t look up. “I think I mean I’m dressed like your new decor,” she said simply. To look at Draia, her tights were a similar subdued shade of green as the chaise longue she was laying upon. Similarly, her deep purple sweater looked awfully similar to the accent panels styled around the counselling office. Then, she said, “And I heard Romulans can’t see you unless you move.”

Lake winced at that. “Oh,” he said. “…Huh,” he said.

Animated for the first time this session, Draia said, “Mind you, now that you say it, it does sound like you get hung up on my choice of words, rather than what I’m actually trying to say. I’m still waiting for you to--”

The familiar female voice of the ship’s computer interjected with, “ATTENTION. USS Galileo departing in T minus two hours. All personnel report to stations," interrupting Draia crisply.

“…Doesn’t look like you’ll be making that breakthrough today,” Lake said hurriedly. To listen to his voice, he sounded genuinely dejected at that thought. Back behind Draia's field of vision, Lake was already pouncing to his feet and scrambling to the door. “Sickbay beckons,” he said, by the time the doors to the corridor were sliding apart for him. “Gotta go.”

He was already in the corridor, by the time Draia finished with, “…Hear me.”

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

ENS Miraj Derani
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

PO3 Jeysa Zeror
Yeoman
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

Ensign Sofie Ullswater
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

MCPO Kai Mazen
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo-A

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

Crewman Constantin Vansen
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo-A

Crewman Draia Thero
Engineer's Mate
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC ir-Llantrisant]

CWO3 Azra Ghoc
Boatswain
USS Galileo-A

LT (j.g.) Manuel Lucero
Asst. Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG. Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

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