Pleasant Surprise
Posted on 05 Mar 2015 @ 4:41am by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal & Commander Johnathan Pike & Commander Travis Stone
1,304 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission: M13-A: From the Old to the New
[Days Earlier]
Lance stood there as have brought the PADD to his friend and superior...knowing what it meant, his heart as heavy as he know Da`nal's would be.
Da`nal sank into the chair in his ready room as he looked over that PADD. The contents of the PADD was simply a list of those ships that had been selected and offered the opportunity to serve as escorts vessels to the Achilles. At first Da`nal had been delighted to see the name of his first command on the list but when he saw that the class was different he knew it was not good.
Setting the PADD aside he pulled up the fate of Majestic class USS Freedom. The ship had been lost during a survey mission. The ships assigned to the search had discovered remains of the ship after what appeared to be a warp core breach. The search vessels also discovered Borg wreckage and remains in the debris. It was determined that the Freedom had encountered a Borg vessel and during the battle the ship warp core had been detonated. Whether that detonation had been accidental are deliberate was unknown.
Da`nal chose to believe the later. He knew that if face with such a fate he would choose death over assimilation. Deactivating the holo-monitor he looked up to his yeoman, "I'm sure when she went she took a lot of the Borg with her."
Da'nal nodded, "Of that I have know doubt...an honorable fate. Better to die in battle than waste away in a shipyard years from now."
[Current]
Johnathan was sitting in his ready room when he private computer terminal beeped. It caught his attention as the only other sound in the room was classical music. He set down the PADD containing crew records and looked at the message. He read the message twice it was a offer to join the USS Achilles as one of there escort vessels on a 70 year journey to uncharted space.
This would be the biggest exploration in years and he had a chance to join it. Most commanding officers would take more time to think about the decision then he was. It was going to be a honor to do it, what better way to get acquainted with his new crew and new ship. It also allowed him to add another tail to his family's history.
He tapped a few keys on his computer opened a channel to Commodore Da'nal of the USS Achilles. He knew it might take a few minutes before the Commodore might be able to answer.
It was not the Commodore's visage that lit up the display, but a rather human looking one, and one that could have been mistaken for a Marine if not for the red of command visible. Travis kept his tone pleasant for the time being. "Commander Pike. the Commodore is in the middle of a report, but I'm taking some of the calls regarding personnel and ships. Did you call with an answer by chance?"
Johnathan was a little surprised to see a mans figure but knew that Commodore would be a busy man getting ready for a mission like this. "I was calling to let you know that the USS Freedom will be accepting the mission to be a escort vessel for the USS Achilles" said Johnathan with a smile on his face.
Off screen Travis made a check-mark and a notation on the console, which would notify the Commodore. "Good to hear Commander. We're glad to have you along. The current plan is to meet up at DS9 before heading out. If your crew has items that will not fit aboard the Freedom, let us know and we can store them here and transfer as needed. Did you have any questions or concerns I can address?"
"Thank you sir, I don't have any questions or concerns" replied Johnathan as he looked at the screen he was excited for the mission and could not wait to start. "We will set course for DS9 right away" he added with a smile.
Da`nal stepped out onto the bridge during the conversation and stepped up next to Travis. "Crew transfers?"
"Commodore, we have the Commanding Officer of the USS Freedom, Commander Jonathan Pike on the line. He was notifying of the acceptance for the mission. Did you want to talk to him in your ready room?" Travis summarized and offered, sometimes CO's needed to discuss things in private.
Da`nal didn't even blink at the mention of the USS Freedom and that the name had been passed on but he was surprised that it had been reused so soon. "No need. So Commander Pike what is your current location?"
"We are about 5 days away from Deep space nine Commodore" replied Pike as he looked at the man. He knew this would be his new Boss for the years to come and did not want to start off on his bad side.
"Understood. We should be under way in a few days. Once you arrive and complete any final provisioning I see no reason why you can't extend shore leave to your crew. Be sure they understand that if they are having any second thoughts about going on this mission that they need to decide one way or another."
"Understood sir" Replied Pike not knowing how many of his crew would have second thoughts.
"Excellent, that last thing we need is a bunch of people that can't do there job because they are to busy regretting their decision. That aside, what is your status? Anything you need us to pick up before we leave Earth?"
"No sir, we are all set. I will have a final roster for you when you arrive at DS9" replied pike as thought about the journey and the members who would be under his command. He hoped that none of them would want to change there mind but that is a choice for each person to make. He looked at the screen waiting to see if there was anything else.
"Very good. I look forward to meeting with you on our arrival. In the mean time; enjoy the time off."
"That's one down Commodore." Travis noted wryly to Da'nal. DS9 was going to be a long trip, and probably the last of the 'fun' stops for a good, long while.
After the channel had been closed and the view screen returned to the view of the forward edge of the docking frame with the Earth spinning below them Da`nal looked to Stone. "Accelerate the departure preparations. I want us ready to go in 48 hrs."
"Notices are going out as soon as we're done. We'll be ready to go before 48 hours are up Commodore. DS9 the intended destination, or did we have a stop or two to make first?" Travis was already typing into his padd to send the notices out. He was definitely ready to get this moving.
The last of our crew transfers should have all been diverted to DS9 as well as the various ambassadorial delegations. Any stops on the way would be unscheduled. You have the bridge." With that he moved to one of the turbo lifts and headed get a look at the ships cetacean labs.
"Aye, Commodore." Switching chairs, Travis called out for a status report and started in on the usual procedures to get the ship cleared. While not quite a routine yet, at least the ship was starting to feel familiar. Part of him wondered why Da'nal didn't just transport himself, but maybe he wasn't the only one that enjoyed walking and learning a new environment first hand.
Commodore Da`nal
CO - USS Achilles
Commander Johnathan Pike
CO - USS Freedom
Commander Travis Stone
XO - USS Achilles
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