TUE: Starship Excalibur - Welcome Aboard Redux

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction' started by mthompson1701, Jan 28, 2023.

  1. mthompson1701

    mthompson1701 Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2001
    Location:
    Out there, thataway
    This is a rewrite of an earlier story I posted for the TUE universe. It does introduce some of the characters, and there was a plot hole I wanted to fix. It is pretty much the same story, but I wanted to take another pass at it since I’m sort of rebooting the series. I hope you enjoy it, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of the Excalibur since there are more stories coming.

    STAR TREK: EXCALIBUR
    WELCOME ABOARD REDUX


    December 2320
    “The time is 0600.”

    ‘No,’ thought Alexander Marshall as the computer announced what time it was, and in the process waking him up from night of peaceful sleep he enjoyed. The captain sat up on the bed in his quarters, as he put his bare feet on the carpet. He then got up and went into the bathroom to take a sonic shower, and emerged moments later in a fresh red jacket, white undershirt, and black pants that was the uniform of the command division. Captain Marshall sat down at his desk, and activated the monitor as he began to review fleet status reports, and other communications as he had done almost every day since assuming command of the Excelsior-class starship five years earlier.

    His eyes glanced over the monitor as he began to read his messages. Seeing one from his wife, he read it three times. He had almost forgotten the last time he had seen her. Alex smiled as he took a moment to dictate a response, and have it transmitted. After that he shut the screen off, and then exited his quarters. The Captain began walking down the corridor as he headed for the turbolift. Upon the lift’s arrival he instructed it to take him to the Officers Mess, so that he could enjoy a quick breakfast before assuming command of the bridge. While he could’ve used the food replicator in his quarters, he preferred to dine with his crew.

    Marshall entered the Officers Mess, and immediately made his way to the food replicator. He decided on a bowl of oatmeal, a banana, two eggs scrambled, three buttermilk pancakes, and a cup of coffee. He knew it would be satisfying since he did not know when he would be able to have another meal. Looking around he found a quiet corner, and made his way over there. Sometimes he hated eating alone, but it was a custom he had gotten used to as a part of the burden of command. While he would have gladly allowed any officer that asked to sit with him, they usually preferred to keep their distance. He quickly finished his meal, and left the mess hall. Moments later, he again entered the turbolift, and instructed it to take him to the Bridge.

    Alex quickly straightened his red uniform jacket just as the turbolift doors opened with their usual whoosh sound as he stepped out onto the Bridge. One of the officers announced his presence for all those in the room to hear. He hated that formality, but his second-in-command insisted on it. He walked around the upper ring of stations along the port side as he made his way to his Ready Room.

    Upon entering he sat behind his desk, and took a quick look around the room. Alex turned his chair toward the viewport and got up to stand in front of it. He was expecting to see the blackness of space. Instead, he was greeted with the interior of Starbase 47 along with his reflection looking back at him. His once dark brown hair had started to thin and turn a little gray. His green eyes had lost some of the sparkle they once had. He was still in excellent shape, even at his age. For a moment he had almost forgotten that the Excalibur was still undergoing a crew rotation, and a refit upon seeing his reflection.

    A noise shook him from his reverie, one that was quite familiar, the door chime. He sat back down at his desk, and called out, “Enter,” in an accent that sounded like he was from the southern United States.

    He was greeted by a statuesque Andorian zhen with the commander’s insignia attached to her right shoulder. She was carrying a data slate under her left arm. “Commander Talra,” he said as she entered.

    “Captain,” said Talra Zha’Thaal as she waited for the doors to close before taking a seat across from him.

    “What have you got for me?” he asked. Their morning meetings were becoming a habit anytime there were urgent matters that they both needed to be aware of.

    She looked at the data slate before saying, “Doctor Sullivan tells me that the medical supplies she requested have not arrived yet. Apparently, there’s been some kind of mix up with the starbase.”

    “She requested those a week ago. What could be going on?” asked Alex.

    “I wish I knew,” replied Talra, “Commander Zarv is requesting to speak with you the first moment you were available. Last I knew he’s already in Engineering. He assures me that we will be able to depart on time.”

    “It wouldn’t be a normal day on this ship unless that old Tellarite engineer was upset about something,” said Alex with a slight smile.

    “That’s true,” said Talra with a slight nod. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take care of that?”

    “No, I can handle Zarv,” replied Alex, “He’s the best engineer this ship has ever had.”

    “I won’t argue with that,” said Talra. She then continued, “Ensign Parker says there is not a lot of comm traffic today, and Stavek is in one of the labs doing who knows what.”

    “Well, at least there’s some good news,” replied the captain.

    Talra pursed her lips together, and then said, “Also, Ensign Winslow has not reported on board yet. I checked with the starbase, and he is nowhere to be found.” The Andorian took a breath and said, “I also checked his most recent orders, and they are to report on board. However, he was piloting a shuttle on his own, and there has been no contact for the last nine hours. I checked the passenger manifests of any ships arriving within the last two days. He is also not registered to be arriving on any upcoming transports as well.”

    “That is concerning,” said Marshall. “You did a thorough job,” he added. He thought things over for a moment, and said, “Get Stavek out of the lab, and have him help you locate Ensign Winslow. You already seem to have a good start on that, and if you two can’t find him we’ll request another one from the starbase. I’m sure they have someone qualified available.”

    “You are right about that sir. We’ll have him located as soon as possible,” she said.

    “I’ll take charge of the situation in Sickbay. We can’t head out on a deep space exploration mission without medical supplies,” said Marshall.

    “Aye sir,” said Talra. Changing the subject, she said, “I will be glad to get out into deep space on a real exploration mission. It’s exactly what this ship, and crew need right now. Especially after the months of warp trials, and field tests.” She paused, “I don’t know about you, but I’ve been on this starbase too long.”

    “You and me both,” Marshall sighed.

    After talking for a few more minutes about various matters they both got up, and exited the Ready Room, bound for the nearest turbolift. After letting Talra out on one of the upper decks the captain instructed it to take him to Engineering. The turbolift doors opened allowing him to exit as he began walking toward Main Engineering. There was a lot of commotion, and yelling as Marshall rounded the last stretch of corridor leading him into the ship’s engine room.

    “By the hind end of a targ after a swim in a lake of mud on Thursday,” said Commander Hovesh Tol Zarv, the ship’s Tellarite Chief Engineer, as he emerged from the office he had nearby. “Captain,” barked the engineer upon seeing the superior officer, “I see you took my request to speak with you seriously this time.”

    “Of course, I would. What’s so important that it couldn’t wait Zarv? I’ve got other serious matters to deal with,” said Marshall as they entered the engineer’s office.

    After entering the cramped room, barely enough to hold a desk and a chair, the Tellarite said, “I want Lieutenant Dawes removed from the Engineering staff, and transferred somewhere else immediately. As I understand the regulations, that requires your approval.”

    The captain nodded, “Yes it does. For what reason should I approve the transfer?”

    “He did not complete a repair of the starboard power transfer conduit the way I would have done it,” stated Zarv.

    Alex asked, “Did he complete the repair within specs?”

    Zarv nodded, “Yes, yes he did.”

    He then asked, “If I, or better yet the yard superintendent were to inspect the conduit, would they find it satisfactory?”

    “I suppose so,” said the Chief Engineer.

    “Request denied,” said Marshall without hesitation.

    Zarv protested, “But Captain . . . “

    “I said request denied, and that’s the end of it. There’s no other place on this ship I can transfer him to. I suggest you keep your mouth shut if you want to continue being Chief Engineer on this ship. Is that clear?” said the captain with a slight inflection in his voice showing some annoyance at the engineer’s request.

    Resigned, Zarv replied, “Yes sir, it is.”

    “Good,” said Alex as he then asked, “How are the engines?”

    “To put it in terms you would understand, fit as a fiddle. As you already know the new warp core allows us to even faster than before. The Excalibur is much more maneuverable with the upgrades to the impulse engines, and thrusters.”

    Alex groaned internally as he thought, ‘Yes Zarv, I already know all that. I was there during the warp field tests.’ Instead, he replied, “Very good Commander Zarv. We’re going to be departing this starbase very soon.”

    Zarv stated, ”Captain, the ship will be ready. In fact, I already have more ideas on more improvements to a lot of the ship’s systems. I was an experimental engineer before being assigned . . .”

    “Submit them in writing Zarv. As I said I have other matters to attend to right now,” said the captain cutting the Tellarite off. He left the office, and began walking down the corridor back toward the turbolift.

    Upon entering Sickbay, the captain looked around trying to find Dr. Sullivan. After asking a nurse where the good doctor was, he walked over to a nearby biobed where the attractive doctor was tending to an injured crewman.

    “Whatever it is you ate, don’t ever eat it again. I don’t want to see you back here for this same problem,” said Dr. Harriet Sullivan, a petite older woman with gray hair.

    “Doctor,” said the captain gesturing to the crewman on the biobed, “is he going to be alright?”

    The doctor nodded, “Yes Captain, just a bad case of the chef in the enlisted mess hall not paying attention to the diet card.” After releasing the crewman, the doctor and the captain began walking past the rest of the biobeds lined against the bulkhead

    “So how are we on medical supplies?” asked the captain, “I hear there’s a problem.”

    “The truth is we are only about a quarter stocked of where we should be for a mission in deep space. I’ve filed all the appropriate requisitions after I took inventory, but the starbase quartermaster, a Lieutenant Janovek, tells me that they were incorrectly filed when I checked on it late last night. I’m not that stupid Captain, I know I filed them correctly,” replied Sullivan.

    ‘Caught in red tape. Figures,’ thought Alex. “I’ll talk to Admiral Blackwell, and get it straightened out for you. He owes me a favor. Actually, he owes me about two dozen, but that’s another story.”

    “I don’t doubt that,” said the doctor.

    “I’ll see what I can do,” said Alex. They were now standing at the door to the doctor’s private office. After getting permission to use it, the captain walked in and sat behind the desk. He then opened a comm channel to the bridge. “Lieutenant,” he said, “I want to speak with Admiral Blackwell. When you get him put him through to the CMO’s office.”

    A few minutes later Ensign Sloane Parker, the Excalibur’s Chief Communications Officer said, “Captain, I have Admiral Blackwell for you sir

    “Thank you, Ensign,” said the captain. He activated the desktop monitor in front of him.

    Displayed on the screen was the image of Admiral Harmon Blackwell, a man in his mid-fifties, and commander of the starbase. He was known throughout the fleet as ‘Battle Ax Blackwell’ because of his command style. “Captain Marshall,” he said.

    “Admiral,” said Marshall getting down to business, “I need a favor.”

    “Oh? What would that be?” he asked.

    “My Chief Medical Officer has requested some additional medical supplies, so that we can depart with a fully stocked Sickbay. Unfortunately, her request was denied by a Lieutenant Janovek saying that the requisitions were not filed correctly. She has looked them over, and assures me that they were. I was wondering if you could intercede in this situation,” requested the captain.

    The admiral’s brow furrowed as he let out a sigh. He nodded, and said, “We’ve had some issues with supplies turning up missing, and we do have a suspect that we are in the process of trying to apprehend. However, I can assure you Captain that you’ll have all the medical supplies you need within two hours. I’ll take them from another ship if I have to.”

    “Thank you, Admiral,” said the captain. He watched as the admiral looked off screen, and then said he had to go. Marshall breathed a sigh of relief as the screen blackened. Just as he was about to get up from the table, he heard a comm chime.

    “Stavek to Captain Marshall,” came the science officer’s voice over the comm system.

    The captain touched his combadge, and said, “Marshall here. Go ahead.”

    The Vulcan said, “Sir, Commander Talra and I have located Ensign Winslow.”

    “Well, where is he?” asked Alex utterly curious.

    “He’s on board the Renegade sir, and he’s in the brig,” replied Stavek.

    “In the brig? How the hell did he end up there?” said the captain with some inflection in his voice trying not to show any anger toward the Vulcan.

    “According to Captain Richards’ report they picked him up on sensors doing loops, and something called a barrel roll in a shuttlecraft that was meant to be delivered to the starbase. They put the shuttle in a tractor beam, and had him taken to their brig as soon as he was brought on board. The report also states that he was doing it dangerously close to an asteroid field,” he said.

    “Has the Renegade docked yet?” he asked.

    “It has,” replied Stavek, “as of an hour ago. They’ve been trying to figure out what to do with Ensign Winslow sir.”

    For a brief moment the captain considered leaving him there to rot, but quickly decided against it. “Have the Renegade beam him over, and keep him in the transporter room until I get there which shouldn’t be too long,” said Alex as the comm channel closed, and he then left the doctor’s office. He quickly located Dr. Sullivan, who had just finished speaking with one of the nurses. He then told her what the admiral had told him.

    She looked up at him, and gave him a warm smile. “Thank you, Captain,” she said.

    “You’re welcome, and it was no trouble. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a situation in the transporter room to deal with,” he said, and started to walk away toward the door.

    “Oh Captain, there’s one other thing. Ensign Winslow has not reported in for his physical yet,” said Dr. Sullivan.

    Marshall stopped, and turned back around to face the doctor, “I’ll have him here as soon as I finish dealing with him. He’s about to arrive on board, and I’m afraid he’s in some serious trouble. The kind of trouble that could get him put away for a very long time.” He then left Sickbay dreading the next conversation he was going to have to have as he walked through the corridor to the other side of the deck.

    Just as Marshall started to enter the transporter room a short time later, he heard, “You’re lucky I don’t kick your ass for what you did. This ship is about to being final preparations to leave dock, and you are taking me away from very important things that must be done to insure that.” He stood in the doorway watching what was going on. “Commander,” called out Alex as he saw Stavek standing near one of the control consoles.

    Talra, who was also the Excalibur’s security chief, kept the stern look on her face as the captain moved from in front of Winslow to stand behind him at attention. “Sorry sir,” she said.

    Marshall walked slowly into the transporter room. He was now standing directly in front of the most junior officer in the room. “You do not have to apologize Commander Zha’Thaal,” he said. He then pointed at the dark-skinned ensign. “This one on the other hand does.”

    “S-S-Sir, if you’ll just let me explain . . .” stuttered Winslow.

    “What’s to explain? Instead of following Starfleet protocol, and more importantly your orders, you took a shuttle out for a joyride,” replied the captain. He then asked, “Have you been drinking? I’m trying to figure out the justification for your actions Ensign.”

    “No sir. There was a problem with the guidance relays. I was trying to sort it out,” stammered the Ensign.

    “Doing loops and barrel rolls isn’t sorting it out. We do not take shuttles out for joyrides on my ship. No one pulls a stupid stunt like that on my ship. We do not act that way on my ship. We follow orders on my ship. We are also professionals first and foremost, and if you want to remain on my ship, I suggest you start acting like you belong on it. Is that clear?” said Alex, emphasizing the words on my ship every time he said them.

    “Yes sir,” replied Winslow, “I apologize for my actions.”

    “Now don’t you have anything else to say to me?” asked the captain.

    “No sir,” stated the Ensign.

    They stood there in silence for several seconds as Winslow began to get nervous. There was a bead of sweat running from his hair down his dark-skinned forehead.

    Stavek raised an eyebrow, and said, “The ensign has not asked for permission to come aboard.”

    Orson’s eyes got big as he said with some anger, “I didn’t think I needed to . . .” He then saw the way the captain was looking back at him. He couldn’t decide if he was glaring at him or at Talra. Resigned, the ensign said, “Permission to come aboard?”

    “Permission granted,” replied Alex almost through clenched teeth. He cleared his throat, “You will serve your regular duty shifts on the bridge for the next week, and then off duty you will be confined to quarters. Do anything that stupid ever again, and I’ll bounce your ass out of the service, or at least I’ll have you reassigned to piloting a trash heap. Now, report to Sickbay. You have a physical waiting for you. Once you’re done there go to your quarters until you’re next duty shift. You’re lucky I don’t have you put in our brig for this. Commander Zha’Thall, baby sit him until he’s in his quarters.”

    “Yes sir,” replied Talra.

    “I understand Captain,” said Orson, “and again I apologize. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do.”

    “You’re damned right it was. Oh, and Ensign, welcome aboard.”

    The End
     
  2. Gibraltar

    Gibraltar Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 25, 2005
    Location:
    US Pacific Northwest
    A great start, and a nice introduction to some of your key characters.

    "Oh, and Ensign, welcome aboard.” :lol:
     
  3. Robert Bruce Scott

    Robert Bruce Scott Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2021
    Human captain, Andorian XO, Tellarite Engineer - very interesting menagerie you have here.
    And agreed with Gibraltar!
     
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  4. mthompson1701

    mthompson1701 Commander Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2001
    Location:
    Out there, thataway
    Thanks for the comments.
    As I recall writing this originally, I wrote the last line first, and decided there's the title. I wrote everything else around it trying to figure out how to get there. I'll admit, it's probably the best line in the whole story.
     
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  5. Robert Bruce Scott

    Robert Bruce Scott Commodore Commodore

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2021
    Superb writing technique. I used it a lot and highly recommend it. Thanks!! rbs
     
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