Through the Paces (Part 1 of 5)

Posted on 16 Nov 2023 @ 8:40pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & EMH Mark X-C "Shirley" & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant JG Rafe Caradec & Lieutenant JG Zara Ghemora & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Lieutenant JG Montgomery Vala & Ensign Mimi & Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor & Ensign Amanda Turell & Chief Petty Officer Afthinam Naime & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Petty Officer 2nd Class Donald Andrews & Petty Officer 2nd Class Leon Inaros & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hollenday & Petty Officer 3rd Class Helliun 'Hel' Inant & Marcus Mulder & Lia Quil & Master Chief Petty Officer Toren Vral

4,582 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Various
Timeline: MD 19, 1158 hrs

[ON]

The port-side entrance to USS Galileo's bridge hissed open and in stepped the vessel's new commanding officer, Commander Morgan Tarin. Her red-collared uniform appeared immaculate and conformed tightly to her tall and athletic frame, yet within her hazel eyes was a distinct sharpness and inkling of annoyance. Not at the bridge crew or any of the ship's personnel, but instead because administering the entirety of a Federation starship - and all that came with it - had consumed most of her morning and now left her behind schedule with several unresolved reports and updates Starfleet Command would surely harass her for before the end of the day. Fortunately, prioritization was a sagacious trait which the captain valued. As the door hissed shut behind her, she focused her attention on the task at hand which superseded her secondary and tertiary duties.

A quick glance at a nearby console's chronometer revealed the time to be approximately 1200 hours. The interior of the Nova-class' bridge was well-lit and its bulkheads devoid of all scorch marks sustained during previous combat operations with the Ferengi marauder almost a full week prior. A robust compliment of personnel currently occupied their various stations including two of their newest officers, Lieutenant JG Vala and Ensign M'Lyr'Zor. Soft computer chirps and their accompanying notifications from the surrounding consoles provided a welcome sense of familiarity. Galileo was a fine ship and she was their home; their tool with which to accomplish their exploration of the known galaxy. And its occupants seemed to have done an exceptional job taking care of her thus far.

"Captain on the bridge." Jeysa called out from an auxiliary station as she saw Tarin come onto the bridge, since leaving the meeting with the new Cob she had been scurrying around like a mad woman going from department to department gathering reports.

Rafe immediately stood up to the left of his chair on the main floor of the bridge and faced the Captain, at attention, waiting for any commands. This was the moment he had been waiting for, above all other moments. This was a clean slate, not that he needed one, but it felt like it, unlike any time before. This was his opportunity to bond with a great ship, a savvy captain, perceptive and clever. It wasn't often he came across people of her caliber, but this one had it. And dang it if her XO wasn't cut from the same cloth.

Rafe had called his two conn officers up to the bridge to be part of this test, not only to experience the test, but to see, hear, and feel how the new captain put the ship through its paces as well as to see him work. It was going to take a while for them to bond, so the sooner they started to see how he worked, the sooner they would know what was expected of them.

He still hadn't made up his mind on Blake, not that she wasn't skilled and ready. She was all of that. But you better be on the top of your game or she just might enjoy taking your head off and like it! Darn it if he didn't like that too! He thought to himself, 'What a freaking great ship!' He almost smirked to himself but pulled himself out of his daydream just as the Captain looked at him straight in the eyes.

Vala glanced over to the captain as she arrived on deck and gave his standard polite nod. It hadn't yet been two days since first walking aboard the Galileo and now he was already standing at his station on the bridge. His arrival had been a whirlwind of meetings and experiences, both strange and mundane. But this was what he was familiar with. His fingers skittered like spiders across his console with exacting precision. He had some of the finest sensors in the quadrant at his fingertips and he was itching to see what he could find. He was ready to begin.

The door hissed open and a woman she had yet to be formally introduced through strode through the door. Commander Tarin's expression appeared determined, but Sera was uncertain. It took time for her to accurately 'translate' others non-verbal communication ques. The commanding officer would be no exception. As she was already standing, Sera did not have to do much more than place her arms to her sides, and stand at attention.

From where Ullswater sat she did the barest necessary to acknowledge the captain. Arrayed in front of her were the readouts for all the systems her station was responsible for and they consumed her. This was going to go perfectly, she needed it to be perfect, so her attention remained devoted to checking and rechecking each system in pursuit of that perfection.

Mimi's ears twitched at Jeysa's announcement but she didn't turn away from the ops station console. There was too much to do right now to decide her attention, as the biggest department on the ship bar the science department her teams had so much more to do than anyone else.

Blake moved lithely to one side, coming to a stop in front of her own seat, her hands clasped behind her back. Her morning had been non-stop since the moment she'd woken up, but no one would know it to look at her. Her features were calm, her uniform neat, her dark hair twisted up and pinned precisely. "All hands have reported to their posts, Captain."

"Good. Let's get this over with so we can all get back to Regula I within the next few hours," Tarin quietly spoke to her blue-eyed first officer. "I have a conference with Rear Admirals Vollv and Skas later today." The new captain was feeling overwhelmed by administrative stress but did her best to hide her agitation behind a veneer of authority.

Tarin walked just past Blake then sat down in the CO's chair at the center of the bridge. It wasn't the New York City-born woman's first time occupying the captain's chair, but before now it had always been temporary; a substitution for a commander or captain who was either off-shift or deployed elsewhere in a temporary situation. For the first time in her career, however, Morgan was in command of her own starship. And despite some of her previous emotions and hesitancy to accept her new position aboard a science vessel, she'd come to accept this new home and status as a permanent one. She sank into her station's seat with a recent familiarity for the padded chair then began to tap at the center console to visually confirm operational readings throughout the vessel's systems.

The doors to the bridge slid open with a low hiss, revealing the buzzing activity within. Toren took a moment to stand in the entrance, letting his antennae feel the room's energy, adjusting to the ambient light and the murmur of officers attending to their stations.

He entered with the casual confidence of a seasoned observer. The bridge had its unique song, a rhythm and melody that peaked during a systems test. It was a tune he found himself drawn to, even if he was an infrequent visitor.

His gaze wandered, settling on Commander Tarin, looking every bit the leader as she managed the bridge's operations. With a half-grin and a gleam in his eyes, he approached, "Commander, thought I'd swing by and get a front-row seat to the orchestra. After all, isn't it said that a ship's soul is best felt during a systems test?" He leaned against a nearby console, folding his arms, looking every inch ready to enjoy the performance.

The captain craned her head sideways to observe the newest entry within the bridge. The blue-skinned Andorian and his prominent antennae were a welcome sight which she quickly affirmed. "Good of you to make it, master chief." She noticed he'd taken up position near the vacant Science IV auxiliary console. She pointed to the chair several meters from where he was lounging. "Take your station."

Raising an eyebrow, Toren's grin grew a touch wider. "Ah, captain, you certainly know how to make a fellow feel right at home." With a respectful nod and a playful twirl, he moved gracefully to the indicated chair, settling into it ready for the show.

Sera heard what the unnamed Andorian said to the Captain. What was it with ascribing inanimate objects with traits that only living beings possessed? Utterly Illogical. She focused her attention back to her station's readouts.

"Captain. Ships systems are reading 'green' across the board."

The engineer's report was privately acknowledged. Tarin returned her attention to the console situated between she and her first officer then continued to tap several commands into the compact LCARS interface. Finally, she thumbed the button controlling the internal comm system. "All hands, this is the captain." The distinctive dry inflection in her voice's tonality was accompanied by an authoritative ambience which echoed throughout all decks and compartments. "We have a lot of work to do today over the next four hours. I intend to take Galileo through the solar system to test our primary and secondary systems, followed by a short warp jump to the nearest star. New orders from Command will come soon and we need to verify our operational readiness during the interim. Secure your stations and prepare for departure from Regula I. We'll be escorting IKS Praxis away from Regula I as they continue to their other destinations. Department heads, maintain current alert readiness. Tarin out."

Tarin then looked over her shoulder to the furry-headed Nekomi. "Ensign Mimi, open a dual channel to Administrator Frost and Captain Kuran."

"Aye Sir." Mimi replied, she tapped at the console hailing the Klingon vessel and the station commander. After a few moments both responded to the request. "Channel is open."

Rafe turned around and sat down at the order to secure stations and he began prepping maneuvers he had tested in the holodeck to see how the ship responded. Based on those that showed stresses of around 30 - 45% of the designed stress limits, he would see what the actual readings showed, and then go harder, but only up to 60%, or peel back if necessary. These were pretty safe percentages with which to see if the ship was responding appropriately, or showed early signs of weakness, and if so, where. His fingers moved steadily and with accuracy over his station. It was quickly becoming his, he was becoming comfortable with his space. His fingers then stopped and remained motionless, waiting for orders.


Deck 3, Security Office/Brig

With the system test, the two scientists had been moved from their quarters to the brig. Aria watched them for a moment, the man and the woman. He seemed calm. Detached, almost, but observing them. When he saw her looking he smiled and Aria swallowed, wondering exactly what had happened to land these two survivors here.

She turned her head to look over at her team. "We have everything we need prepped?" she asked, with a small smile. Security didn't have that much, luckily. Although she'd feel better if one of them had been on the bridge.

"All set Lieutenant." Amanda replied, she stood by the entrance to the brig section of the office hands clasped behind her back.

Finding it off that there were prisoners aboard, especially after the resupply, Ghemora had secured one of the Type-IIIc's from the armory and was standing guard just on the other side of the forcefield. Having her gaze locked onto the two, especially the male, the deputy answered without turning away from her watch, "Yes, chief, though it seems odd the captain didn't request a check of the tactical systems from the bridge."

"Ours is not to question why, ours is but to press the buttons we get told to," Aria said lightly, looking at the Cardassian's back. "The Captain will call for one of us if needed." And she was getting a bit fed up being called Chief but kept it back. Small steps. Baby steps. Start with just getting through the day.

"Aye aye, chief," Ghemora replied, unable to find no fault in Aria's reasoning, though it was yet another thing that clashed with everything she'd been taught previously during her service in Starfleet.

"Shall we make bets on which system goes wrong first?" Gabriel chuckled from the other side of the hub, leaning against the bulkhead with a padd in his hand. "I fancy winning a few credits for when we finally get to a real bar..."

Letting out a grunted chuckle, "With my luck, it'll be the brig force fields," Ghemora muttered as she kept watch over the two prisoners, seemingly ready to engage should such a fault happen.

From her place in one of the cells, Lia Quil sat, motionless, on the bench. Her long blonde hair was loose on her shoulders and she wore a simple tea dress in lilac. The sleeves were short and she was regretting not bringing something to cover them. She looked out at the security team, her youthful features still and her blue eyes watching, taking everything in that played out in front of her, as if it were some distant panorama. She couldn't see Mulder in the other cell, but she could feel him there.

Within the joint security office and brig complex, the overhead internal comm channel chirped and echoed throughout the room followed by the distinctive dry voice of Galileo's new commanding officer. "All hands, this is the captain. We have a lot of work to do today over the next four hours. I intend to take Galileo through the solar system to test our primary and secondary systems, followed by a short warp jump to the nearest star. New orders from Command will come soon and we need to verify our operational readiness during the interim. Secure your stations and prepare for departure from Regula I. We'll be escorting IKS Praxis away from Regula I as they continue to their other destinations. Department heads, maintain current alert readiness. Tarin out."

Mulder stood, moving closer to the forcefield. His hand went out, almost touching it, as if he could feel the energy from it. He eye not hidden by an eyepatch remained on the Cardassian. "A system test alongside a Klingon warbird?" he said, aloud, his gaze flickering to Stark for a moment, then Turell and finally Rice. "What could possibly go wrong?"

Aria looked at him for a moment, letting out a breath. "This will be extremely boring for you two," she told the two...what were they? Prisoners? Guests? She wasn't clear on what they were, only that the Away Team had taken them with them back. "Okay, let's get this show on the road. I suspect we will be asked a lot of fun questions from the bridge."

"May I have something to write with?" Lia asked from her cell, but she wasn't actually looking at anyone in particular. Mulder was right, of course, but it was barely registering as a point of interest for her.

Turning to glance back at the woman in the opposite cell, Ghemora replied, "No. Should everything go as expected, you will be escorted back to your quarters once the tests are over." But as her attention turned back to Mulder, "And, for your sake, you better hope 'nothing.' I wasn't expecting us to have detainees, but I have no qualms about stunning you should you try to escape." The Cardassian emphasized her point by turning the setting on her phaser rifle up one level.

Mulder watched her, a small smile curling his lips. It looked friendly. "Threatening with violence already? We're mere scientists...and simply bored. How much damage can Dr Quil do with something to write with?" he tutted and took a step back. "You must know how it is, you're from an intelligent species. One only contemplates escape if one has something to escape from..." he looked over at Stark for a moment, studying him before looking at Turell. He knew her, from their interactions.

"Seeing as I learned about your...unusual status less than an hour ago, it will have to be 'by the book' for now," Ghemora replied. "I have yet to be briefed on the specifics of your status, or why you are still being detained aboard this ship, but now is not the time for that. You will just have to wait like I do."

Lia tilted her head as she looked out of her cell with confusion. She didn't understand how a writing implement translated to an escape. She looked across to the wall of her cell, the wall between Mulder and herself. 'The Forlorn Hope...' she used her telepathic skill to send to him.

Mulder cocked his head at 'hearing' what Lia sent him, suddenly laughing. He laughed, unable to stop it, taking a few steps back from the forcefield to sit down. "Oh indeed," he said, out loud, taking a slow breath.

Aria frowned, looking over at them before she let out a breath. "Once we are underway, we will see if we can give you two something to entertain yourselves with," she said, meaning it. Or else this system test might be the end of everyone's patience. She didn't need these distractions, none of them did.


Deck 7, Main Engineering

This was it, the culmination of the work the engineering team had sunk all their hours into these last few days. The atmosphere in main engineering had been electric with anticipation and as the system test drew closer there was an excited tension in the air.

On the display in front of Chief Naime she had pulled up the telemetry from the plasma injection system, PTCs and flow conversion system: all possible points of failure that she wanted to keep a close eye on. She was confident in their work, but if anything was to break it would likely be one of these. "Hel, status of the warp core?" She called out from the other far side of the room, hoping for one of Hel's lyrical but suitably informative descriptions of the situation.

"She's ready to sing her favourite song, which may or may not involve increased radiation levels if we missed something up!" Hel called out before she grinned. "All within expected range, Chief," she added, which was the official and expected answer.

Naime tilted her head, on a whim she listened to the hum of the warp core, trying to pick out the overlapping tones that came together to form that background noise, the individual singers joining together into the song that Hel heard. It was the sound of Galileo, not just her heart pumping energy through the EPS capillaries but also her soul: singing out in joy at the thought of the coming chase. "Make sure it stays that way." she replied, quietly pulling up the radiation logs as the side of her screen.

"Andrews, keep an eye on structural integrity in five-six and five-seven." The location of the hole they'd had to patch up. The chief had no doubt that Donald's plasma torch work was top notch, but it was due diligence to keep an eye as they powered up again. "You are sure you closed up all the gaps, right?" This was a celebratory occasion, levity was definitely on the menu.

"I didn't nearly drain my suits oxygen tank out there for nothing Chief." Donald replied. "You won't find a single molecule of atmosphere leaking out of that hole."

"All right everyone, hold onto your butt." John quipped winking at Donald and the rest.

"We worked hard for this, team." Content that everyone was ready Naime turned to look over her people, she couldn't hide the pride in her face. "Lot of hours went into this moment, let's savour it."

A sudden new overhead internal comm message chirped followed by the distinctive dry voice of Galileo's new commanding officer. "All hands, this is the captain. We have a lot of work to do today over the next four hours. I intend to take Galileo through the solar system to test our primary and secondary systems, followed by a short warp jump to the nearest star. New orders from Command will come soon and we need to verify our operational readiness during the interim. Secure your stations and prepare for departure from Regula I. We'll be escorting IKS Praxis away from Regula I as they continue to their other destinations. Department heads, maintain current alert readiness. Tarin out."

Hel grinned from her position, her eyes going to Fynn before her nails gently taped the sides of her console. "Oh, we're ready," she breathed...more to the warp core than anything or anyone else.

John adjusted his engineering pack with tools. "If you get anything other than solid green, let me know. I'll be on it."

"Hey John, I'm betting Tarin doesn't take it easy on the ship straight away. 'a short warp jump' at least at warp 7 probably more." Donald remarked as he moved over to the structural integrity generator panel.

"Yeah, probably right. You know should be a part of the training that all captains have to take a stint in engineering to see what they mess up."


Deck 3, Sickbay

Nurse Inaros stood by the biobed, his eyes on it. Sickbay had been scrubbed, restocked and organised. Everything was back where it belonged and for this system test...well, he wasn't sure what to expect. He had never done one before. He looked over at the doctors, feeling very much in the minority when it came to knowledge. "Should we have a patient to scan during this or...?" he asked, lightly, so it could be taken as a joke if he was saying something incredibly stupid.

"Whatever for?" Allyndra asked standing in the office doorway. "We don't have any patients currently, and I'm hoping we won't for quite a while." She made an odd rolling shrug. "If it makes you feel useful, you can scan me."

"Well, it may be the only way to properly test the systems that matter to us," Ember smiled weakly from her place next to one of the beds. She would rather be in Sickbay than the bridge though. The atmosphere throughout the morning had seemed thick enough to cut with a knife.

"Very well." Allyndra hopped onto the nearest biobed. "Give me a full verbal readout, please."

Inaros looked at her for a moment before he moved to the biobed. He took the medical tricorder as well, because why not, as he started to scan her. "All three hearts are good, oxygenation excellent..." he said, watching the stats come up. He listed them off easily, using the medical tricorder as a double check. When he finished he looked at the Chief Medical Officer, giving her a quick smile. "Healthy female Akkadian."

"Good enough," She replied as she slipped off the bed.

The atmosphere within Galileo's sterile and serene medical bay was suddenly interrupted when a new overhead internal comm message chirped followed by the distinctive dry voice of Galileo's new commanding officer. "All hands, this is the captain. We have a lot of work to do today over the next four hours. I intend to take Galileo through the solar system to test our primary and secondary systems, followed by a short warp jump to the nearest star. New orders from Command will come soon and we need to verify our operational readiness during the interim. Secure your stations and prepare for departure from Regula I. We'll be escorting IKS Praxis away from Regula I as they continue to their other destinations. Department heads, maintain current alert readiness. Tarin out."

"Very well," Allyndra called out. "Hopefully unless something goes wrong we should have little to do. Just in case, computer please activate the EMH."

A holographic shimmer manifested within the middle of the medical bay and a photonic red-haired woman quickly materialized. Her green eyes and ginger skin complexion scanned the sickbay, noting the presence of several other familiar medical officers. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"System test," Inaros said aloud, to the EMH. He still was not a fan of them, especially considering that everyone seemed to change their appearance nowadays.

Allyndra waited a moment. "If you could Doctor Shirley, could you please ascertain the holodecks are ready to be used as emergency overflow." She continued but it was more for the rest of the staff, "With only three beds available an dire emergency we can easily get overwhelmed."

The ginger EMH folded her photonic arms across her chest then huffed at both the chief medical officer and the nurse. "I'm a doctor, not a laboratory specimen," she chided to the two with uncanny Human emotions. "Isn't this a starship function better suited for the Operations department? My talents far supersede theirs."

"Operations only certified that the holodecks are working. They do not have the expertise to determine if the emergency filed hospital programme is working to full specifications. You do. Now if you don't want to then you can stay here and I'll go."

Shirley sulked for a fraction of a second with pre-programmed facial expressions before her green eyes quickly brightened. A chance to explore more of the ship outside of the confines of sickbay? To achieve what she knew her programming could accomplish?. "Very well. Computer, transfer the EMH...me, to Holodeck 1." Her lithe figure shimmered away and dematerialized.

"Very good, everyone. One more run through with beds and think we're ready."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

EMH Mark X-C "Shirley"
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Tarin]

Lieutenant Aria Rice
Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant JG Rafe Caradec
Senior Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

Nurse Leon Inaros
Nurse
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

PO3 Helliun Inant
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

Marcus Mulder
Civilian Scientist
Cold Station 31
[PNPC Rice]

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO3 John Hollenday
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

Lieutenant (JG) Montgomery Vala
Deputy Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

Master Chief Petty Officer Toren Vral
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vala]

Petty Officer 1st Class Lysander Octavio
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vala]

LTJG Zara Ghemora
Deputy Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Sofie Ullswater
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

CPO Afthinam Naime
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Ullswater]

ENS Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

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

ENS S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor
Deputy Engineer
USS Galileo-A

ENS Amanda Turell
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

PO2 Donald Andrews
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

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