Cold Spin-up (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 05 Feb 2022 @ 5:37pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant JG Tris Shizn & Ensign Mimi & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kala Marika & Senior Chief Petty Officer Goldie Brown & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror

2,925 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 4, Deck 1
Timeline: MD 05, 0401 hrs

[ON]

Deck 4 - Corridor

The crew of USS Galileo had just been dismissed from the main shuttlebay and now hustled towards their duty stations. Each department had filed out through the double doors one after another in sequence, while the two senior-most officers remained behind to ensure they were the last out. When the flight deck was finally empty, Commander Morgan Tarin began her own trek towards the bridge of her new command. She'd never served aboard a Nova-class before but in the short time she'd been aboard, she'd taken notice of the vessel's claustrophobic nature. The corridors were narrow and Jeffries tubes cramped. The average junior officer quarters were no bigger than her dining room back on Lexington.

With her head down looking at her PADD, Tarin exited the shuttlebay. She walked down the curved corridor toward the closest turbolift with lengthy strides from her long legs.

"Excuse me, Commander." Jeysa called out trying her best to catch up to the woman through the throng of people also leaving through the same few small doorways.

Morgan heard a voice from somewhere nearby and looked up from her PADD, slowing her pace. Her hazel eyes quickly settled on a comparatively tall blonde woman wearing a similar red-collared uniform. "Yes?"

"Petty Officer Zeror, I'm Captain Saalm's yeoman." Jeysa said introducing herself.

The acting captain noticed distinctive Trill spots lining the woman's forehead, cheeks and neck. She looked young and possessed a lithe physical frame with bright blue eyes. She recalled the Galileo's crew manifest from memory and suddenly matched the petty officer to her personnel file. "Zeror...Jeysa? From Trill?"

"Yes Ma'am." Jeysa replied, somewhat surprised that given the haste of their sudden assignment the Commander had taken the time check the files of more than just the senior officers.

"Good. I'm glad you're here," said Tarin with subtle relief in her voice. It was hard enough taking orders to command a new starship on short notice; even harder to administrate the affairs without an assistant. "You're working for me, now. Saalm's on assignment. Walk with me." She continued her original pace towards the turbolift then stopped in front of the door while they waited for the car to return back to Deck 4.

"The Captain did inform me that she was being sent on some special assignment, none of the specifics though." Jeysa said as she followed Morgan.

Tarin looked away from Jeysa and back to the PADD in her hand. "I'm not at liberty to discuss it," she flatly remarked. The turbolift door finally hissed open in front of them and she stepped forward into the cabin. She waited for Jeysa to enter and the door to swish shut. "Deck 1."

The turbolift lights started to pulse and their short trip towards the ship's bridge began. "I have new sensor configurations and inspection protocols I need you to transfer. Do you have your PADD with you?"

"Always." Jeysa said reaching into her pocket to retrieve a Padd.

Morgan linked their two devices together with a LCARS proximity handshake then started to transfer the relevant administrative procedures in one file. The new lateral sensor configurations were next to queue and soon came across the yeoman's PADD with a clearance lock.

"Are there any specific duties you require me for or just the typical duties?" Jeysa asked wanting to get a feel of just what Morgan wanted from her.

She looked at the young petty officer from the corner of her eye. "I don't know how Saalm ran this ship but you'll be at my side whenever I'm on duty. You know where my quarters are. If you need to wake me up for anything urgent, I'll make sure you have authorization. Your other duties are to assist the XO - Blake - with anything she needs."

"Understood." Jeysa replied glad there wasn't anything special Morgan needed, though 'being at my side whenever I'm on duty' potentially meant getting woken up at crazy times.

"Good." A short silence manifested between the two before Morgan spoke again. This time, the tone of her voice was less authoritative and more curious. "How long did you serve with Saalm? Did you know her well?" she inquired.

"I only became her yeoman just before we left to come here. I was assistant to one of the Federation ambassadors at Rigel, asked for a transfer for a change of scenery." Jeysa started. "I know a lot about Orions and can speak it fluently so we got on quite well."

The turbolift started to slow and the outboard lights pulsed with decreasing frequently. "What was she like?"

"She's a naturally gifted talker and has the patience of a saint. She could probably talk down an entire room of angry Nausicaans if she wanted to." Jeysa said after a few moments, she didn't want to come across as a suck up but wanted to answer Morgan's question truthfully.

Tarin listened and compared the yeoman's description to her own brief experience with the captain at her recent debriefing. She then contrasted that comparison against Saalm's service record which she'd studied in depth. "Did you trust her? Was she a good captain?"

"The crew trusts her although she does seem to have some eccentric moments like leaving the ship without telling anyone to talk with the Tholians, from what I have heard that was not the first time she has done something.... unusual like that." Jeysa assumed Morgan knew about everything that had happened with the Tholians.

The commander stayed silent. The turbolift came to a stop then the door hissed open on Deck 1, presenting the two with a small corridor on the ship's top deck. Tarin stepped out and turned towards the bridge. She was aware of Saalm's controversial actions in the face of uncertainty. It was outside of the yeoman's purview to hear her personal opinions of the Orion's actions. Secretly, she hoped that whatever circumstances had led Saalm to feel so compelled, she would never encounter.


Deck 1

The door to the bridge hissed open and both Tarin and Zeror entered Galileo's primary command center.

"Captain on the bridge." Jeysa announced fairly loudly.

The large room was brightly lit and almost fully-manned. The dark gray carpeting reflected the overhead bulkhead luminescence to appear softer in coloration. The multitude of LCARS consoles lining the walls contributed to the spacial aura, each emitting their own soft audible chirps according to their special configuration. Six personnel were already present. A light blue-skinned Andorian manned the conn station at the front of the bridge not too far from a Vulcan and Human at the forward science stations. A Bajoran engineer stood at her aft bridge station next to a dark-haired, furry feline operations officer. And at the center of the bridge was the familiar face of a blue-eyed former Marine.

The Vulcan science officer was already standing. She turned to calmly watch the temporary Captain, still not sure what to make of the woman. So far her two encounters were not favorable--the first being more an interrogation than a meeting. Still, she knew very little of her temporary commanding officer and hoped to learn more over the next days and weeks.

Tris turned in his seat at the Conn to look upon the Commander that was now in charge of the Galileo. She seemed tall for a human female, but he found she gave off an aura of confidence. Yet, he raised a questioning eyebrow as his antenna widened slightly. This was definitely what he would classify as an uncertain situation. He changed his expression to one with an accepting smile. He knew his place and not to outwardly question the situation. Shizn turned back to his Helm, ready to follow through with any orders given by his current Captain.

Aria Rice looked at the Captain, straightening her back the moment the words had been uttered as she stood at her station. She recalled what the woman had said earlier, not that much earlier actually, which basically had been a nice little resume for her. And she was clearly from Earth, something that Aria never held against people. It was strange though, this particular ship with another Captain, but Aria had at least experience with serving under different COs. And right now she took the 'speak when spoken to' approach that she never really did usually.

Hearing Jeysa's loud call Mimi looked up from the mission ops console for a moment before resting her head back against the seat and unsuccessfully tried to keep her eyes open.

Blake had stood the moment the call had been given, looking across to Tarin with steely-blue eyes, her hands clasped behind her back. In all, she was satisfied with how they'd managed to rally, especially considering the circumstances. She just hoped her misgivings over what was ahead proved to be wrong.

Having met the new captain a handful of time during her work on the station Ullswater started to give a smile in response, but seeing the rather stern expression on Tarin's face quickly morphed it into a more of a perfunctory nod of acknowledgement before turning back to her station hoping that the expression she had just made wasn't too much of a contorted mess.

The main engineering console on the bridge was a standing console already so when the new captain stepped onto the bridge Kala turned to face the women, a respectful pose as she entered.

Galileo's new acting captain looked across each face of her new bridge crew. Some of them appeared tired despite their best appearances...she could tell from the subtle shadows ringing their eyes. It was understandable and she, too, couldn't deny the inconvenience of mustering in the middle of the night to deploy. She couldn't promise any immediate respite in the coming days but hopefully when they finished their mission, they would all be able to sleep to their hearts' content.

"As you were," said Tarin to the group, then glanced around at the different consoles. The bridge was small - even more cramped than she'd imagined for a Starfleet vessel. She knew of a couple new runabout classes which had comparable floor space in their main cabins. It certainly wasn't anything resembling what she'd become accustomed to on Lexington over seven years.

Tarin slowly walked down the small steps into the bridge's central command chamber where she and Commander Blake's stations were located. She took a deep breath and regarded her first officer. "Commander," she acknowledged. "What's our status?"

"We're in good shape," Blake nodded firmly, glancing across the bridge to the crew that were poised and ready for their orders. "The resupply is almost complete, as are the repairs. The warp core is online and the primary systems are ready. The ship is ready when you are."

The first officer's ship readiness report was surprising even if it was expected. Morgan had given the commander four hours to do a six-hour job on short notice and was impressed with the results. "Good work," she replied to Blake before lowering her voice. "Science vessels aren't usually this punctual, in my experience."

"The heading out isn't usually the problem, it's the distractions once we're out there that tends to slow us down," Blake replied dryly, quirking an eyebrow. Keeping scientists on time when they had an immense spacescape as a playground was no easy task.

Tarin looked at Galileo's command chair which was situated to the starboard side of the XO's. It was the first time in her career she'd eve been presented with her own command - even a temporary one. Perhaps if it was any other time of day than 0420 hours, she'd have been able to appreciate the sentimentality of the situation. But prominent thoughts of the mission they were about to embark upon smothered any pride or joy she might have otherwise experienced.

Methodically, she ran a hand over the armrest console then the top of the headrest before turning her body and lowering herself down into the seat. The posture and cushioning felt...strange. Unfamiliar. The padding beneath her bottom had been stretched by someone with larger thighs and a bigger backside. Yet her trivial observations vanished when she looked ahead at the large forward viewscreen and realized that now, she was in command. For better or worse.

Morgan looked down at her chair's armrest consoles and quickly familiarized herself with the LCARS layout. Her long slender digits started to tap at various indicators until she brought up the ship-wide comm system. A loud chirp sounded on the overhead speakers. "This is the captain," she said. "We're set for departure from Regula One in five minutes. Retract the gangway and disconnect all umbilicals. Set green alert throughout the ship. All hands remain at stations. Department heads, report status." Her flat voice was forceful and authoritative despite any private trepidation she secretly harbored.

"Engineering is green across the board Captain. Warp and primary impulse reactors at flight idle, secondaries on hot standby." Kala finished her report, turning her head to stifle a yawn, hoping the captain didn't notice.

Shizn knew it was his turn to report, and spoke with confidence, “Sir, Helm acknowledges all umbilicals detached, and Galileo currently at station keeping. Confirming active impulse engines and thrusters, available at your command.” With another glance at the flight deck display, “All support craft are secure.” He then hesitated remembering about his own forgetfulness, then added, “The Galileo does not currently have the Waverider, . . per specs.” He grimaced, a bit uncertain how to explain.

Science wanted to be on Regula I. "Science reports all systems functional. Sensors are online."

"All labs report that transfer to onboard power has been successful." Ullswater reported after glancing down the list of green reports from each of the ships' many scientists and their labs. All the experiments and data surviving once again the delicate process of power transfer "All probes are accounted for and ready for use."

Aria looked at the display in front of her before she looked over at the Acting Captain (acting because Aria did not have the heart to even contemplate for a second that Lirha's green backside wasn't going to be in that chair again, so in her head she would remain 'acting' for as long as it took Aria Rice to get to terms with this change) and gave a nod. "Tactical ready, full phaser banks and torpedoes are restocked, Captain."

Mimi didn't respond to the departmental 'go around', her body was limp in her chair and her head hung down to the side and her breathing shallow as she surrendered to sleep.

The bridge reports were coming in promptly at the captain's order. All except one remained. "Ops, report," said Tarin. She turned her body and head to look over at the operations enclave. It shocked her to suddenly observe the hairy feline officer slumped forward in her chair with her head hanging down. Morgan's eyes narrowed. A medical emergency?

Blake moved quickly to the young officer, frowning with concern as she reached out to touch her shoulder. "Mimi," her voice was clipped as she leant in to try and see her face.

Kala Marika noticed Mimi asleep at her console, and even as Blake went over to Mimi, Kala came over as well. "She was exhausted commander, her kind need more sleep and the late muster earlier didn't help. I know protocol but her kind are more sensitive to sleep deprivation then most."

Mimi's ears twitched and she bolted back awake with a start, she looked up in mild horror at the XO's face.

Blake folded her arms firmly, running her eyes over her in clear scrutiny. She'd never seen it happen before, and that still concerned her more than anything else. "Call your relief; I think you should report to Sickbay, now."

"Aye Sir." Mimi said and tapped her combadge =/\= Petty Officer Brown to the bridge=/\= then quite sheepishly got up and quickly left the bridge knowing that she'd probably get hauled in front of Scarlet or Morgan later but also glad she was going to be able to get some sleep.

"On my way." Goldie was surprised to get the summons. She hoped that Mimi was okay. She liked the Nekomi and felt that the only reason she'd been called to the bridge was because there was something wrong.

She walked onto the bridge two minutes later. "Goldie Brown reporting for duty." She went over to mission ops and logged in.

Blake turned back to Morgan, arms still folded as she gave her a slight nod of assurance that everything was resolved...even if they were off to a somewhat irregular start.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Commander Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO1 Goldie Brown
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

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

CWO2 Kala Marika
Deputy Chief Engineer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Tris Shizn
Helmsman
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Sofie Ullswater
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

LT Aria Rice
Chief of Security
USS Galileo-A

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