Star Trek Falcon - Episode one: Spread your wings

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction' started by Xip, Aug 22, 2013.

  1. Xip

    Xip Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Title: Star Trek Falcon – Episode one: Spread your wings
    Rating: Fiction K+
    Chapter: 1 of 10
    Disclaimer: The Star Trek universe belongs to paramount pictures, I’m just borrowing it and using it as a playground.

    Summary:
    Captain Danielle Dolch has just received her first command, the newly upgraded USS Falcon. While the last few updates and tests are being conducted she and her crew arrive at the space doc for their mission of exploration near the Neutral zone.


    Author Note:
    This is really just a hobby project that I work on because I like doing it. I plan to write 15 to 20 episodes to complete a full season. It is based on a story that I wrote almost 10 years ago. Characters and plotline have been improved and I promise that this time around, I will do a spelling and grammar check.



    Chapter one - The appearance of favoritism

    There was an uncomfortable silence. Nervously Danielle pulled on the sleeve of her uniform. At first she had been unsure whether this whole thing was a good idea. After all, people were going to say Mick only had gotten the position she had just offered him because he was her brother, or that she had only offered him the job because she didn’t want him to end up on a war vessel patrolling the neutral zone, which had been everything but neutral lately.

    On the other hand, she couldn’t think of anybody more qualified for the job, even though she had given it some serious thought. “So, what do you say?” She didn’t bother to try to smile, he would see right through her anyway.

    “You want me as your Chief Engineer?” Mick paused for a moment. “Are you sure that’s even going to work? No offence but aren’t we kind of familiar and stuff? I can’t say I can see myself following your orders.” He clearly had the same concerns she had. She couldn’t help but to smile now. “Can’t you just see past the fact that I’m your sister?”

    “Do pigs fly?”

    “Depends, do they have wings?” He smiled back at her. “Unlikely, but not impossible.” Slowly the smile faded from his face. She let him think for a moment. She couldn’t expect him to immediately say yes to something she had spent weeks thinking about before reaching her final conclusion. She wanted the best, and if that just happened to be her brother that didn’t change a thing. She still found herself unwilling to settle for second best. “Who did you have in mind for the rest of your senior staff?”

    She handed him the data pad that had been sitting on the table the whole time. He picked it up and started reading while he took a sip of his coffee. “That’s actually a pretty impressive list you got there.” He said as he looked up. “But why the hell haven’t you selected a science officer. This is a mission of exploration right?”

    “I had selected Lieutenant Turek, but he declined. He had also been offered a spot at a research facility that he found, I quote, ‘quite challenging’.” Mick rolled his eyes. “Am I out of line saying that the pointy eared idiot actually did you a favor saying no?” She gave him a look and he smiled. “Aw, come on, you know I’m right here.”

    “And you still wonder why I made it to starship captain and you didn’t?” He took another sip of his coffee and lay down the pad. “I never said I did, politics just aren’t my thing I guess.” He paused as he glanced back at the pad. “Aren’t you going to request another science officer?” She sighed. “No, I don’t know anybody else who stands out in the field. Any random officer will do as far as I’m concerned.”

    “You want a suggestion?” He leaned back into his chair. She gave him a questioning look. “Since when do you even know any science officers?” He shrugged. “I worked with her on my last assignment. She’s sort of young but I think she really has potential.” He paused and studied her face. “You like potential right?”

    She picked up the pad from the table. “What’s her name?”

    “Ensign Emma Zinck.” He replied and she entered the name in the database. As the file loaded on the pad her attention was drawn to the picture of the ensign in question. Emma Zinck turned out to be quite handsome with her long blond hair, bright blue eyes and wide smile. As a matter of fact, she exactly fitted Mick’s taste in women. She threw her brother a look. “Are you sure you don’t just like her to be a part of the decor?” She asked as she took another good look at the picture. “Just read her file. If that doesn’t convince you I don’t know what will. It’s better than mine for crying out loud.”

    “It’s not like that is impressive.” Danielle mumbled as she quickly scanned the file. It wasn’t bad, far from actually. It wasn’t the best she had come across selecting a science officer, but overall it was better than average. Ensign Zinck had not only been accepted into Starfleet academy at her first application, but also managed to graduate in the top 10 of her class 4 years later. She was inexperienced though, ensign Zinck had never been assigned to a starship before. Her previous assignments were mostly temporary assignments on outposts or star bases. Which only left her with one question, “Where did you meet her anyway? Wasn’t your last assignment on the USS something?”

    “The USS Unicorn. Yeah, I was. I met Emma when the outpost she was assigned to needed our assistance. It was some sort of engineering problem that I won’t bore you with. I was part of the away team.”

    “So you two are on a first name basis?”

    He rolled his eyes. “And that is what you got from what I just said?” there was a silence. “I don’t know Mick. This might not be a good idea.”

    “Why wouldn’t it be a good idea?”

    “It might not be a good idea because you obviously have a personal connection to Ensign Zinck.” Danielle felt as if she couldn’t stress the word not enough in this sentence. Mick threw her a skeptic look. “So? It’s not like you are avoiding the appearance of favoritism seeing the fact that you asked me as your chief engineer. I don’t see the problem.” He paused for a moment to study his sister’s face. “You wanted the best right? Well, this is it.”

    Danielle sighed. She knew her brother was stubborn. It had been one of many reasons why he never made it to command, but she knew he wasn’t stupid and having to spell everything out to him was becoming somewhat tiresome. “It’s a problem Mick, because I already asked you. One staff member I can explain using the term ‘coincidence’, but for some reason, that doesn’t work the second time around.”

    “You’re talented, I’m sure you’ll find a way to explain.” He smiled at her as she shook her head. “Flattery will get you nowhere Mick. So what will it be?” She put down the pad on the table as she looked at her brother. He leaned towards her a little.

    “I’ll be your chief engineer if Ensign Zinck will be your science officer.” He got out of his chair and looked down at his sister. “Let me know when you’ve figured it out okay?” Without saying another word, he walked off. Danielle cursed herself. He hadn’t set foot on the ship, or even accepted his new position as Chief Engineer, but he had already done exactly what she had been afraid he’d do. She rubbed her forehead and glanced over at the pad on the table. How bad could it be really?

    Getting up Danielle checked her coffee cup, it was empty. She got her coat of the back of the chair and picked up the empty cup. While she walked off to her next meeting she made a mental note to herself to at least make her brother sweat for a couple of days before letting him know she accepted his terms.


    ***
    Author Note: Thank you for reading. I'll be very interested to hear what you think about this first chapter. If you're interested, I have the second chapter already posted on my blog: http://betahero.blogspot.nl/
     
  2. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2013
    Location:
    USA
    I like it. So far, so good. I hope you go someplace "interesting" with it.

    One question on the story, or rather on the background of you universe: How long does a person stay as an Ensign before getting promoted? The last person I asked that of said he allows someone to remain at the same rank for a full twenty-year career. Personally, I go by modern US / NATO standards: automatic promotion at two years from Ensign to Lieutenant-junior grade, and again at the four year mark to full Lieutenant. The reason I ask is because you wrote: "Her previous assignments were mostly temporary assignments on outposts or star bases." That made me wonder how many assignments and how long each lasted. depending on how things work in your world, she might be coming due for a promotion soon.

    These are things you need to think about. You don't need to explain it all in the story, but you do need to makes some notes to yourself about your world. Things like: How big is the ship? How many officers and enlisted does it have? In my story, there are about 100 crew on board (including a dozen officers and five chiefs), and I've begun a list naming each person. If you're planning any combat scenes, you need to define what the ship has for weapons.


    A few comments about the writing style. Punctuation is not perfect (who's is?), but it's far better than most fan-fic I've read. Bonus points for that. ;-)

    The mix of simple vs, compound / complex / compound-complex sentences is much like my own style, so I found it very readable. Funny story: I had one critic who didn't like my style and kept asking for more simple sentences and less complexity. I sent him a private copy that I edited to read pretty much equal to "See Spot. See Spot run."

    However, comma, when writing dialog, the normal rule is to switch to a new paragraph for each speaker. Now, you can pretty much break any rule you want. I don't care. For the most part, it was not hard to follow who said what. There were a couple places where the reader might get lost.
     
  3. Xip

    Xip Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    First of all, thank you for your comments. They're very helpful and very much appreciated. :D I am aiming to become a professional writer someday so I really appreciate people who take the time to share what they're thinking of the story and/or my writing.

    Just like you, I have a document on my computer with more details on the characters I use in the story. I have to admit though, some characters need some more work. I couldn't resist starting to write yet. The overall story of the season I already have and I'm still working on the episode planning. The questions you asked are very helpful, especially the one about the promotion system. I didn't think of that yet. The ships weapons are a good point too, I do know what the Falcon has for weaponry, but I didn't write it down yet. I guess I'll have enough to do tonight. ;)

    Ouch, the punctuation should really be in order. I'm one of those writers who thinks that not being a native speaker is no excuse to make grammar and or spelling errors in writing. Thank you for pointing it out, I'll reread my pieces more carefully. I think I know what goes wrong there though. I tend to write dialogue first, then add thought and after that actions. Sometimes I rewrite pieces of the dialogue later, but I get lazy and only erase half of the sentence. I'm trying to stop doing that, but old habits die hard.

    The comment about starting a new paragraph with a new speaker was really helpful too. I sometimes feel like my story doesn't have enough body, that's why I usually don't go on to the next paragraph. I'll see if I can work on that.
     
  4. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jul 5, 2013
    Location:
    USA
    For the most part, it is. I'd have to go thru it with a fine-tooth comb to find errors. As I recall, I only noticed two or three, and only because I had to re-read something. Nobody is perfect. I'd hate to have someone pick mine apart. Most stories I read, the errors jump out so often it distracts from the story itself. Like I said, you get bonus points for getting it right. Too many authors don't seem to try at all.
     
  5. CeJay

    CeJay Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2006
    Read the first two chapters and I'm intrigued.

    The brother/sister dynamic on a starship is interesting and I can't help but like the bright-eyed, fresh-faced science officer. Let's see if she can keep up that high spirit and naiveté once out in space.

    You haven't given us many clues yet as of the setting of this story. If feels a bit like Alternative timeline Trek but I could be wrong.

    Also agree with Sgt_G. It would help to have paragraph breaks to distinguish the dialogue. As it is I got a little confused on who was talking. Don't worry about short paragraphs. I personally prefer reading less blocky writing as it makes things flow better, in my view.
     
  6. Xip

    Xip Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    @Sgt_G: yeah, I know. Some stories are unreadable because of the errors. It's really too bad there are so few fanfiction writers who care, it gives fanfiction a bad name. (that and weird pairings... -_- ) I hate it when people give me strange looks when I say I write fanfiction and I have to spend about an hour explaining I don't do weird pairings.

    @CeJay: Thanks for the comment. Emma is one of my favorite characters from this story as well and I plan on keeping her just as clumsy, cheerful and happy as she is. There will be more on the plot for the rest of the season in later scenes of this episode. There also will be more technical details on the USS Falcon later on. ;)

    I've almost finished chapter three and in that chapter I used paragraph breaks to distinguish dialogue. I'll also go back and change the other two chapters when I have the third up.
     
  7. jespah

    jespah Taller than a Hobbit Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 21, 2011
    Location:
    Boston, the Gateway to the Galaxy
    @Xip - FYI there's a limited time for editing on the board (I don't know the specifics, sorry), so you might want to edit the older posts sooner rather than later.
     
  8. Xip

    Xip Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    @jespah: Yeah, I know, it had already expired I think. I'll see if I can find a nice moderator or something who wants to replace the first chapter for me.

    For now: I have the second chapter in the new format (which in this chapter, doesn't make much of a difference I think, but still.)

    ***

    Title: Star Trek Falcon – Episode one: Spread your wings
    Rating: Fiction K+
    Chapter: 2 of 10
    Summary:
    Captain Danielle Dolch has just received her first command, the newly upgraded USS Falcon. While the last few updates and tests are being conducted she and her crew arrive at the space doc for their mission of exploration near the Neutral zone.

    Disclaimer: The Star Trek universe belongs to paramount pictures; I’m just borrowing it and using it as a playground.

    Author Note:
    Wow, it’s been a while since I had time for my fanfictions. I’ve been so busy lately I didn’t have any time to be at my computer, let alone write anything. Thankfully I have more spare time now so I’ll be picking up where I left off. As always I’d really appreciate it if you left a comment after you’re done reading. Constructive criticism is always welcome as well as ideas for later chapters and episodes.


    Chapter two- Flight to the Falcon


    Emma still couldn’t believe she had been selected to serve aboard a vessel of exploration like the USS Falcon, let alone she’d be selected to be the Science Officer. An inexperienced Ensign like herself on the senior staff, wow, she just didn’t have words for it.

    She had read the message over and over again, not quite believing what it said. She had always wanted to serve on a starship. As a matter of fact, it had been the main reason why she had joined Starfleet after she graduated from high school. But she had imagined starting out as a member of the science department, not as the head of it. When she had called Captain Dolch she still half expected it to be a prank pulled on her by one of her friends, but it wasn’t. She accepted her assignment shortly after meeting with the Captain.

    For weeks she felt like she was walking on sunshine. She had told anybody who would or wouldn’t listen about her new assignment. She was quite sure she had driven her roommate mad as well as her colleagues, but shutting up about it had proven to be too much for her. So she had happily rambled on. It even became worse after she received details on her assignment. She was to investigate a small M-class planet near the Neutral Zone. The goal was to determine whether it would be suitable for establishing a colony. She couldn’t have been more pleased, Geology was her field of expertise after all.

    Another pleasant surprise presented itself later that week when she received the list of crewmembers who were assigned to the USS Falcon. When she scanned the list for familiar names she discovered Mick Dolch was the newly appointed Chief Engineer. She had worked with the handsome engineer when she was temporary assigned to a research expedition. They had required assistance from a nearby Starfleet vessel when the cold had affected their systems. Mick had been part of the away team that came to their rescue. The two of them had immediately hit it off and she had felt sorry when he had to leave. She hadn’t expected to ever see him again. After all, the universe was a big place.

    Now she found herself waiting for the shuttle that would bring her to the USS Falcon. Due to upgrades to the ship the transporters would be off line the whole week prior to departure, giving the crew the rare opportunity to take a shuttle to board the ship. Emma had been told the view was amazing so she hoped for a window seat. She smiled briefly at a flight attendant who passed her on his way to the gate. It probably wouldn’t be much longer now.

    “Attention please, this is a call for Ensign Zinck of the USS Falcon. Please report to gate four immediately. I repeat, Ensign Zinck, please report to gate four.”

    It took a few seconds for the message to sink in, but when it finally hit her she bolted to her feet. “Oh shoot!” The flight attendant who had just passed her looked up. Emma threw him a hasty look as she collected her things. “Wrong gate!” She exclaimed before she hurried off to the other side of the space station.

    As she tried to speed up her pace she wondered what she had been thinking when she decided to wear heels that morning. With every few steps she took she tripped over her own feet. It wasn’t exactly contributing to the elegant image she had been aiming for. After a near collision with a plant she decided it had been enough and she stopped to take off her heels. At least she could actually run now.

    When gate four finally came into view the man who made the final boarding call was getting ready to close the doors. Emma quickened her pace again. “Please wait!” She called out to him from the end of the hall. He looked up and watched with amusement as she came closer. Emma felt slightly embarrassed but did her best not to be too obvious about it. She slowed down and straightened her back. “Thank you.” She tried to brush her hair away from her sticky forehead but it didn’t really make any difference.

    “Ensign Zinck I assume?”

    Emma studied the man closely. He had vivid blue eyes and half long curly blond hair. He was kind of short. Even on bare foot Emma easily had a few inches on him. She extended her hand. “I’m so sorry.” She apologized, “I was at the wrong gate.”

    “No problem, could happen to anybody.” His handshake was firm, but not too much. “I’m Ensign Spinn, Helm Officer.” Emma smiled as she let go of Spinns hand.

    “I’m pleased to meet you.” She paused to look around. “Am I the only one who’s late?”

    “I wouldn’t worry about that really, I waited half an hour for the Captain and the First Officer when they were boarding the Falcon. Fortunately they came to the right gate, otherwise it could’ve easily been hours.” Emma was unsure whether he was joking or not but laughed anyway, it was something about the way he described the scene. She could totally picture the captain running around the space station with her First Officer right behind her, just like Emma had done just moments ago. For some reason though, she pictured them still wearing their shoes. Speaking of which, Emma still wasn’t wearing any. She put her bags down and steadied herself to put her right shoe back on.

    “All things considered” Spinn continued as Emma sought support of the wall while she stepped back into her other shoe. “I’ll be happy when Commander Dolch gets the transporters back online. I’m sick of being a bus driver.” Spinn held open the door to the gate. Emma picked up her bags again and nodded her thanks as she entered the gate. Spinn closed the doors behind her and followed her to the shuttle.

    The shuttle was a slightly older model belonging to the USS Falcon. The interior was a little worn down, but for some reason it seemed fitting. It added character to the shuttle. Spinn closed the shuttle door behind her. “Just find a seat.” He told her before he sat down at the controls. Emma thanked him again and made her way past the occupied seats. Many of the crewmembers were talking to each other and Emma greeted some familiar faces as she passed. All the way in the back she found an empty seat by the window.

    As she sat down the engines roared to life. She could hear Spinn checking in with the board computer and contacting flight control for further instructions. The flight to the Falcon would only take a couple of minutes since space dock was right next to the space station. Emma leaned over to her window to see if she could catch a glimpse of the space dock, but it was nowhere in sight. Instead she had a gorgeous view of Earth. She smiled to herself. It didn’t matter how many other amazing planets she saw, Earth would always be the most beautiful.

    As the shuttle started moving Emma did her best to catch a last glimpse of home before it went out of view. For a while she only saw stars. Finally space dock came into view. “For anyone interested, we’re approaching space dock. If you look at your right you should have a pretty good view of the Falcon.” Spinn called over his shoulder. The voices went quiet as everybody turned their attention to the windows. Emma suppressed the urge to press her nose against the cool glass.

    It was just as pretty as anybody had said it would be. There was a certain sense of peace to the ship as it just sat there. The Falcon wasn’t as big as most other ships going on similar missions. Captain Dolch had told her the Falcon had been build years ago to test whether smaller exploration vessels would be more efficient. Emma guessed it wasn’t, seeing the newer ships were all bigger.

    “USS Falcon, this is shuttle one requesting permission to land.” Spinn sounded a little bored but Emma didn’t really pay any attention to him. Now that they came closer she could see a team of engineers working on the hull of the ship. She found herself briefly wondering whether Mick would be amongst them but quickly dismissed the thought. As Chief Engineer he probably had better things to do.

    “Shuttle one, you have permission to land.” The shuttle turned and for a while the stars were all Emma saw through her window. When she straightened her back a little she could catch a glimpse of the front viewing screen. The shuttle was approaching the open doors of the Falcon’s shuttle bay. She looked out of her window again. That was going to be all she would see for a while, lots and lots of stars, slowly moving away from her. She could think of worse things.

    The landing was so smooth Emma barely noticed the shuttle had set down at all. Spinn turned around to face his passengers. “Welcome aboard.” He said as he got up to open the shuttle doors. Emma got to her feet and gathered her things. Her adventure was about to begin.

    ***
    As always, thank you for reading and feedback will be much appreciated!

    Curious for the next chapter? It's already up at my blog as always: http://betahero.blogspot.nl/
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2013
  9. CeJay

    CeJay Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2006
    Okay, I've read the third chapter and I'm still liking this story. Plenty of light and entertaining banter as you'd expect from people comfortable with each other. I'm not sure I'm buying Mick's line about Emma just being a friend. Well, at least it's clear he'd like there to be more, judging by how much effort he put in getting her on board.
     
  10. Xip

    Xip Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Thanks for the comment! I really enjoy writing the scenes between Mick and Emma. They're just so much fun to write and come up with dialogue and everything because their relationship is unique. I have great plans for them to grow later on in the season.

    btw, I've been meaning to ask you CeJay. I noticed you wrote a lot of fics and I'd like to read them, but you have any recommendations as of where to start? Same goes for Sgt_G, if he still reads here. ;)
     
  11. Xip

    Xip Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Title: Star Trek Falcon – Episode one: Spread your wings
    Rating: Fiction K+
    Chapter: 3 of 10
    Summary:
    Captain Danielle Dolch has just received her first command, the newly upgraded USS Falcon. While the last few updates and tests are being conducted she and her crew arrive at the space doc for their mission of exploration near the Neutral zone.

    Disclaimer: The Star Trek universe belongs to paramount pictures; I’m just borrowing it and using it as a playground.

    Author Note:
    This chapter took me a while to write. I kept getting stuck with the interaction between characters. It just wasn't quite what I had in mind, but I'm happy with what I got down. There was also some delay because halfway through this chapter I realized I hadn't really thought about the ships layout just yet. Over all I'm quite happy with this chapter. I hope you enjoy. As always: feedback, corrections (in spelling/grammar or consistency of the story) and any other thoughts on this chapter are more than welcome. Thank you for reading and don't forget to leave me a comment!



    Chapter three – Hello there stranger

    Unlike the rest of the ship the Engineering deck was already buzzing with life. The last 4 weeks Mick had spend most of his time on the Falcon supervising the upgrades carried out by the engineers from space dock. Although his presence on the ship wasn’t required yet, and often thought of as a little nosy, Mick rather spend his time getting familiar with the ships systems than going down to earth to visit home. Technically he was allowed to go on shore leave between his assignments but other than the 4 days he spend with his parents and sisters he hadn’t taken any days off. Earth simply had nothing to offer for him.

    “Hey Mick, got a minute?”

    Mick closed the panel he had been working on and looked up at his second in command. “What is it Kevin?”

    Kevin folded his hands behind his back. It reminded Mick of the time he taught at the academy. Thank god those days were behind them now, if anything it had only damaged their friendship. “I was just wondering if you were on a schedule with the upgrades and diagnostics and if so, where I could find a copy of that schedule.”

    “Right, schedule.” Mick hated to admit he didn’t have one. Or at least, he hadn’t the taken the time to formally write it down. So far it hadn’t been a problem. The engineering crew of the Falcon was still on leave for the most part and formally speaking he didn’t have anything to do with the crew from space dock. So the schedule hadn’t been needed, until now. “You can request a schedule for the upgrades from Lieutenant Commander Lauer. He’s responsible for the upgrades to the ship.” Mick paused. “Don’t forget to check your authorization code though. Apparently everything concerning upgrades to the Falcon is classified.” Kevin threw him a questioning look. Mick shook his head. “Don’t ask.”

    Kevin raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask about what happened. Mick was thankful he didn’t, it was a long story and he figured the less people knew the better. “So how about the schedule for the diagnostics?” Kevin inquired.

    “I’ll get that to you as soon as I wrote it down.” Mick ignored the look Kevin was giving him, he knew he’d disapprove but he didn’t particularly care. “Anything else Lieutenant?” He picked up the data pad he left next to the control panel to see what was next on his to do list.

    “Yeah, there’s a pretty lady waiting for you in your office.”

    Mick looked up from his pad. He wasn’t sure if he had heard Kevin correctly. “There’s a pretty lady waiting for me in my office?” Mick repeated what he thought he had heard. He couldn’t think of anybody wanting to visit him right now, let alone a woman who could be described as a pretty lady. Unless of course Kevin was just being funny and was referring to Dani, although Mick really couldn’t think of a reason why she’d come down to see him. As far as he knew, he hadn’t done anything that could get him into trouble the last couple of days. Of course, experience told him he didn’t always see trouble coming.

    “Yeah, I didn’t really get it either.” Kevin grinned at his own joke. “But all joking aside, she asked if you had time to see her.”

    Mick nodded. Although he had enough to do until the upgrades would be finished in a few hours he was pretty sure he could take a few minutes to talk to whoever came to see him. “Did you catch a name?”

    Kevin shrugged. “I think it was Zinn or something like that.”

    “Zinck maybe? Emma Zinck?”

    Kevin thought for a moment and then he nodded slowly. “Yeah, Zinck, I think that was it.” Mick smiled, he was really looking forward to see Emma again. It really had been too long since they spoke. “So who’s she?”

    Mick looked at Kevin. “Emma is a friend of mine. She’s been assigned as Science Officer. We haven’t seen each other in a while.”

    Kevin grinned at him. “Well you friend is very pretty.” Mick didn’t miss the emphasis Kevin put on the word friend. It was kind of annoying how everybody seemed to think there was something going on between them. Emma really was just a friend. Of course, when they had just met Mick had hoped it could be something more, but since nothing happened he had settled for being friends.

    “Well Kev, I’ve got a friend who is waiting for me in my office so if you’ll excuse me.” Mick couldn’t resist stressing the word friend as well as he waited for Kevin to move out of his way. Kevin stepped aside with an amused grin on his face.

    “You two have fun!” He called after his commanding officer as he walked away.

    “Shut up Kev!” Mick called over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs to the upper deck of Engineering.

    Engineering was divided over decks D and E. Mick’s office was located on the upper deck of the engineering department, near the turbo lifts with a great view of the lower Engineering deck. Mick hadn’t used his office all that much yet but he figured that once he had reports to write, read and sign he’d be thankful for a quiet place to work. He didn’t usually admit to it but he was horribly easy to distract, especially from mind dulling activities such as writing, reading or signing reports. Mick considered himself a hands on engineer, with no ambitious whatsoever to move any further up the chain of command.

    He found Emma already waiting inside his office. Her face lit up as he closed the door behind him. He simply smiled back. “Hello there stranger!” She greeted him before giving him a hug.

    “Has it been that long?”

    “Yes! I was so excited when I found out you were assigned to the USS Falcon too!” She beamed at him. Mick instantly remembered why he liked her so much, she was the most cheery and happy person he had ever come across. It was really quite a contrast with his gloomy and sarcastic personality, but it worked and he didn’t complain.

    “Yeah, it was a great surprise.” That really was a lie. He basically bullied his sister into giving Emma the job, but that was something she didn’t really need to know. “And now look at you, the Science Officer. Congratulations.”

    “I know! Can you believe it?”

    “As a matter of fact I can, you’re very talented. I still don’t get why you didn’t get an assignment on a starship before.”

    “Flattery will get you anywhere, Commander.” She gently touched the stripes on his uniform. Mick had received his promotion with his new assignment as Chief Engineer. He wasn’t quite sure what to think of it. The next promotion would force him out of Engineering and onto the Bridge, which was his least favorite part of the ship. He liked his new paycheck though and for now, Engineering was his personal playground. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”

    Mick nodded in agreement. “How about we have dinner together after I get off?”

    She smiled. “I’d like that. What time do you get off?”

    “Somewhere around six. I can pick you up around 6:30.”

    “That will be a huge detour to the mess hall. I propose we meet here, or at your quarters, or errr, the mess hall. Wherever is convenient for you.” She looked away as brushed her hair out of her face. Mick looked at her in amusement.

    “Convenient would be my quarters. It’s basically around the corner from here.”

    “Oh, that is convenient! Is it a coincidence?”

    “Actually, it is.” Emma threw him a look. “What? It really was. I didn’t even fill in any requests. I figured that after my last assigned quarters, I could get used to anything.” On the Unicorn his quarters had been the worst ever. It was almost like it was far away from everything else on the ship. It had taken Mick months to get used to the time it took to get to Engineering.

    Emma smiled at him. “Well, glad to hear you have better quarters this time.”

    There was a loud and fast knock on the door. Before Mick could even look up the door slid open. “Commander Dolch, Lieutenant Wildt told me you’d be in here and...” The blue eyed whirlwind who just entered the office stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Emma. There was an awkward silence. “Am I interrupting something?” He finally asked, looking from Mick to Emma and back as he lowered the pad he was holding. “I could come in later if this isn’t a good time.”

    Mick did his best not to laugh. In the doorway was Paul Duval, one of the engineers he had requested for the Falcon. He was a young and brilliant engineer, but he really was a hand full most of the time. “No, Emma was about to leave, right Emma?”

    She threw him a quick look and then smiled. “Yes, I was. I’ll see you tonight.” Paul quickly stepped aside so she could leave the office. In the door opening she turned around. “What were your quarters again?”

    “Oh right, D226.” He smiled at her. “See you tonight.”

    She flashed a quick smile over her shoulder as she headed down the hall towards the crew quarters. Paul cleared his throat. “Do you want me to come back later Sir?”

    Mick turned his attention back to the engineer. “No, that’s fine. What is it?”

    “I was wondering if you could use a hand for the rest of the shift. I just arrived today, I even think I was on the same shuttle as she was.” Paul seemed to think for a moment before continuing. “Anyway, I don’t feel like doing nothing the rest of the day so I came here. Lieutenant Wildt said you were in your office, he didn’t mention you had company though.”

    Of course Kevin didn’t. “Well, Paul. Next time you go through the trouble of knocking, you might as well wait for an answer.”

    Paul threw Mick a sheepish look. “Yeah, that makes sense.” He played with the pad he was holding for a moment.

    “I’d appreciate that. Now, something for you to do.” Mick trailed off as he carefully considered his options. He had some routine performance checks that needed to be done, but it probably wasn’t a good idea to give Paul a routine task. Paul was easily distracted from anything that wasn’t challenging enough and Mick didn’t feel like double checking everything. “You know what, go see if Lieutenant Lauer can use your help with the upgrades. He’s down stairs with his crew. I can handle the rest with Lieutenant Wildt.” Paul seemed to be a little disappointed. “Thanks anyway Paul, I appreciate you coming to help.”

    Paul just nodded and without saying another word he took off again, almost slamming into the door when it wouldn’t open fast enough. Mick shook his head as he watched Paul bounce down the stairs to the lower engineering deck.

    The door slid close again and Mick sat down at his desk. He took a fast look at his pad. “Right, schedules.” He mumbled to himself as he got ready to start his first paperwork for this mission.

    ***

    As usual: The next chapter of this fanfiction is up on my blog: http://betahero.blogspot.nl/

    Thank you for reading!
     
  12. CeJay

    CeJay Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2006
    Read chapter three.

    Good to have a bit of friction between the crew and it makes particular sense between the the tactical and the armory officer. It's something for these guys to work through and clearly the captain is happy to keep her hands mostly off that for now.

    Still trying to figure out the time frame for this. The armory officer makes me think this may be set during the early Starfleet days, i.e. Enterprise.

    As for what of my work to read, it's really just a matter of what you're in the mood for. If you're looking for novel-length fiction, start with Tempus Fugit. If you want something shorter, check out the Lower Deck Tales. These are not chronological and as they hardly feature any of the main characters, you can just jump in and read whichever you like. Or, if you are really ambitious, you could read the entire series in chronological order.
     
  13. Xip

    Xip Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2012
    Location:
    The Netherlands
    Thanks for the comment CeJay. I really appreciate it. It made sense to me too that there would be friction between these two characters. I always imagine Caranore to be very American and Marchant to be very British. They're just very evenly matched and both have a strong opinion on how things should go. There will be more of these types of situations in the upcoming scenes and episodes.

    As for the place in the timeline, this story takes place about 40 years after Archer's Enterprise. I think I mentioned that the Falcon was an old vessel of exploration build as an experiment. I haven't really gotten into telling the history of the Falcon just yet, but it was build about 20 years after the NX-01 and is also and NX ship. I promise there will be more about the history of the ship later on in the story. (I'm kind of excited about the ship and it's history and how it ties in with some of the characters on board.)

    Last but not least: Thanks CeJay, for the recommendations. I'm going to check it out later today. First I have to tackle procrastination problem I'm having with my math homework.