Well friends,
Due to the overwhelming number of people who voted for continuing the series
, I thought I would at least get the first chapter of the new story out for your enjoyment.
Comments are always welcome, of course, and if you are new to the series, just look for the threads with the same title on them. I think your will enjoy the work.
It is a Significant Assignment; All In
Chapter One
St. Ann was a harmless merchant ship, just rolling out of Starbase 62 with a cargo of grain for a small colony world named Ecccho. It got to the end of the Starbase control area where speed and course were limited by the starbase’s traffic center, and jumped to Warp 2. At the same time, a small warp powered package flew off in a different direction.
A red light flashed on the desk panel, and a human hand pushed three toggle switches in response.
“No uniform yet, Lieutenant?”
“No, sir, I just came on board and wanted to meet with you first. The security chief told me that you were waiting to speak with me when I boarded.”
“Good. I’ll get Lange to put your uniforms in your quarters. But first, let’s put the cards on the table. I’m glad to have you Lieutenant, though I was surprised when Commodore Iveco told me he sent you over. You know by now this is not how things are done.”
“It doesn’t matter sir,” Lt. Mack King said, interrupting as Captain Alaine Louis finished the sentence. “You go where you are assigned, and do what you are ordered. And frankly sir, you are a good salesman. I may have just headed over here and snuck on board anyway.” The same smile Mack had worn all day just kept leaking out. Having the Starfleet Medal of Honor put around your neck can do that to some people.
“Good to hear, Lieutenant. If you had stowed away, we could’ve used you to glue Le Bourget back together. Now, here is your staff and duty roster…”
The unspoken conversation between the two weeded its way through the rest of the meeting. The Captain needed to know if Mack was serious about being part of the team as he knew he was being “Shanghaied” from Enterprise. Mack had to let the Captain know that he would do his job, as mad as he was about being here. Time would tell if either heard or believed the other.
Truth be told, Mack had no choice in the matter. He was assigned to Valiant by someone up the chain of command, who wanted him there to do a job. Captain Louis had a choice; he could bury Mack somewhere in the crew of the ship until it was convenient to get rid of him. Or he could find out that Mack King was an asset to his ship and crew, no matter how he got there. Then how Mack got there would not matter to anyone.
When Mack had loaded up his access to the ship’s command codes, it was departure time from Starbase 62. “Mack, it’s time to get out of here. The tactical station is empty; and since you are not scheduled for Alpha shift until 36 hours from now, I’d like you to get the feel of the place.”
“Aye, sir, I’m ready to see it.”
Yeoman Lange would get his gear, so he left it in the “ready room.”
It was strange to look on a different set of uniforms, but Mack was chomping at the chance to see Bridge duty again. The ride up the lift to the Bridge got his stomach churning, even though it was just a routine departure from a station. It was a starship bridge, and it was Mack’s new home.
The Tactical station on Valiant was to the left of the Bridge lift entrance, just behind and above the Helm station, opposite the Sensor/Science station. Unlike Enterprise, Valiant was designed with a larger tactical station, one that faced out to the main screen on the Bridge. The alcove formed by this new station allowed a decent sized tactical screen to run at all times, and further allowed a lot of specialized gear lockers and access points to the bridge to be placed in one spot. The environmental station on Enterprise’s bridge did not exist on Valiant; it merged into the Engineering station between the Tactical station and the lift. There were two chairs at the Engineering station for monitoring the extra readouts when needed, but more often then not, the First Officer claimed the unused seat.
Mack darted to his new post as Captain Louis entered the Bridge and settled in the Captain’s seat, powering up and checking his boards as the rest of the Bridge crew handled the exit from Starbase 62.
“Helm, full impulse until we reach the station limit, then Warp 2 on our course home.”
“Aye sir, course plotted and laid in, will execute jump to Warp 2 in 3 minutes.”
“Very good.”
Mack then interrupted; “Tactical up and running, all systems nominal.”
“Very good Lieutenant. Like the view?”
“Aye sir, it is a great improvement over what I have used in the past.”
“You can thank Commander Mamoru for the design and layout. Let’s hope we never have to use it in combat.”
“I second that, sir.”
Lieutenant Joe Bowmeister had just come on shift as the Sensor officer on Starbase 62, and to his mind it was the worst job in Operations at the station. All he did was look at a Sensor screen for hours at a time, looking for the next vile attacker to shoot evil things at the intrepid starbase.
It sounded like a great job when he first took it, until he found out that everyone who got within phaser range of the station had already been identified by Traffic Control. His job was to warn the station defense officer of anything “out of the ordinary” coming to the station from a long distance away.
“Out of the ordinary” had happened once in six months, and the drunk captain of a one man freighter who did not contact the station before entering the station limit was still sitting in the station brig.
So when he saw a quick flash on his screen that went away as fast as it came, he ignored it. Traffic control had its hands full anyway….
Assistant Science Officer Carol Cartwright saw the blip at the same time Mack did. “Captain, sensors indicate a small ship of some kind on an intercept course at Warp 3.”
“What kind of ship, CC? “
“Unknown, sir.”
“Captain,” spoke up Mack, I recommend Red Alert. It is an unknown vessel of some kind making a firing run in my opinion.”
“CC, do you concur?”
“It is not a natural phenomenon, but I am not sure Action Stations are necessary.”
“Neither am I Lieutenant, but a drill won’t hurt. Action Stations gentlemen”, as Captain Louis pushed the alert button on his chair.
As the ship burst into action, Mack saw the phaser controls flash green, the Photon torpedo launchers signal ready (all in good time), then he saw the launch.
“It launched something sir! Looks like a warp-capable missile, estimated time to impact, 1 minute.” Mack manipulated his board controls, and to his surprise got a target lock on the incoming ordinance.
“Target lock on the missile.”
“Fire phasers, Lieutenant.”
“Firing”.
As soon as Mack fired one phaser bank, he set the targeting computer to the mother ship, which Lieutenant Cartwright had kept a lock on with the sensors.
The missile exploded as Mack announced, “Target lock, sir”.
“Fire.”
The second phaser battery got busy, and the ship exploded into fragments moments later.
Commander Ron-all Elion had just cleared the lift doors and hustled over to the sensor station. Taking over for Lt. Cartwright, he scanned the debris field.
“Captain, the threat vessel has been destroyed. The mass of the vessel was very small, I doubt if it was even crewed. There are no other vessels in scanning range other than those around Starbase 62. All clear sir.”
“Thank you Commander. Mr. Cartwright, well done on the sensors, keeping the threat vessel locked made our tactical officer’s work easy. Secure from Action Stations, Chief Ei-Barodi. Red, it looks like you and CC have some sleuthing to do. Find out what that thing was who attacked us.”
The communications officer turned to her boards, and all hands stood down. She then turned back around and spoke to her Captain.
“Sir, I have a message from Starbase 62, it is Commodore Iveco.”
“On screen, Chief.”
Commodore Constantine Iveco’s face lit up the main screen, somewhat like a supernova going off in a nearby system.
“Captain, well done by your crew. You remember the old I-80 ordinance carrier don’t you.”
“Sure Commodore. Sneaky little things, until sensors got too good.”
“Well, that’s what hit you. I thought your crew needed a little “going away” present, and my Operations people needed some excitement. Seems like you had all the fun, and my people stood around and watched your handiwork. Smooth sailing Lion, enjoy the ride. Starbase 62 out.”
“Well, well. The Commodore is full of surprises today, isn’t he Lt. King?”
“Aye, sir, he is. Maybe he just didn’t want us to leave so soon.”
Captain Louis smiled at that thought. “Maybe Mack, but from what I saw on the viewscreen a second ago, he will have lots of people to chew on for the next couple of weeks. Let’s just be glad it’s not us.”
“Aye sir.”
“Helm, resume our original course and speed. Commander, enjoy your evening.”
“Thank you sir, I will.” Commander Elion left the bridge, since his “enjoyment period” would end in 90 minutes or so when he took the late shift commander watch.
Captain Louis sat back in his seat, broke out his report viewer, and started on his duties, while his bridge crew settled back into their normal routine. For the evening, all was well on Valiant as she headed home to a very uncertain future.
Meanwhile, on Starbase 62, a young Lieutenant named Joe Bowmeister stood outside the door of Commodore Iveco’s office, about to experience something he had not experienced before. But unlike most Starfleet officers, this was one time where “to boldly go where no man had gone before” did not quite fit. That is why he was sweating furiously, with a rapid pulse, and very little color in his face. Opening the doors of the Commodore’s office his stomach turned even tighter when he saw both the Starbase Commander and Chief of Operations standing next to the Commodore, all looking at him.
“Mr. Bowmeister, sit down,” commanded Commodore Iveco, “I have a few questions for you.”
Due to the overwhelming number of people who voted for continuing the series
, I thought I would at least get the first chapter of the new story out for your enjoyment. Comments are always welcome, of course, and if you are new to the series, just look for the threads with the same title on them. I think your will enjoy the work.
It is a Significant Assignment; All In
Chapter One
St. Ann was a harmless merchant ship, just rolling out of Starbase 62 with a cargo of grain for a small colony world named Ecccho. It got to the end of the Starbase control area where speed and course were limited by the starbase’s traffic center, and jumped to Warp 2. At the same time, a small warp powered package flew off in a different direction.
A red light flashed on the desk panel, and a human hand pushed three toggle switches in response.
“No uniform yet, Lieutenant?”
“No, sir, I just came on board and wanted to meet with you first. The security chief told me that you were waiting to speak with me when I boarded.”
“Good. I’ll get Lange to put your uniforms in your quarters. But first, let’s put the cards on the table. I’m glad to have you Lieutenant, though I was surprised when Commodore Iveco told me he sent you over. You know by now this is not how things are done.”
“It doesn’t matter sir,” Lt. Mack King said, interrupting as Captain Alaine Louis finished the sentence. “You go where you are assigned, and do what you are ordered. And frankly sir, you are a good salesman. I may have just headed over here and snuck on board anyway.” The same smile Mack had worn all day just kept leaking out. Having the Starfleet Medal of Honor put around your neck can do that to some people.
“Good to hear, Lieutenant. If you had stowed away, we could’ve used you to glue Le Bourget back together. Now, here is your staff and duty roster…”
The unspoken conversation between the two weeded its way through the rest of the meeting. The Captain needed to know if Mack was serious about being part of the team as he knew he was being “Shanghaied” from Enterprise. Mack had to let the Captain know that he would do his job, as mad as he was about being here. Time would tell if either heard or believed the other.
Truth be told, Mack had no choice in the matter. He was assigned to Valiant by someone up the chain of command, who wanted him there to do a job. Captain Louis had a choice; he could bury Mack somewhere in the crew of the ship until it was convenient to get rid of him. Or he could find out that Mack King was an asset to his ship and crew, no matter how he got there. Then how Mack got there would not matter to anyone.
When Mack had loaded up his access to the ship’s command codes, it was departure time from Starbase 62. “Mack, it’s time to get out of here. The tactical station is empty; and since you are not scheduled for Alpha shift until 36 hours from now, I’d like you to get the feel of the place.”
“Aye, sir, I’m ready to see it.”
Yeoman Lange would get his gear, so he left it in the “ready room.”
It was strange to look on a different set of uniforms, but Mack was chomping at the chance to see Bridge duty again. The ride up the lift to the Bridge got his stomach churning, even though it was just a routine departure from a station. It was a starship bridge, and it was Mack’s new home.
The Tactical station on Valiant was to the left of the Bridge lift entrance, just behind and above the Helm station, opposite the Sensor/Science station. Unlike Enterprise, Valiant was designed with a larger tactical station, one that faced out to the main screen on the Bridge. The alcove formed by this new station allowed a decent sized tactical screen to run at all times, and further allowed a lot of specialized gear lockers and access points to the bridge to be placed in one spot. The environmental station on Enterprise’s bridge did not exist on Valiant; it merged into the Engineering station between the Tactical station and the lift. There were two chairs at the Engineering station for monitoring the extra readouts when needed, but more often then not, the First Officer claimed the unused seat.
Mack darted to his new post as Captain Louis entered the Bridge and settled in the Captain’s seat, powering up and checking his boards as the rest of the Bridge crew handled the exit from Starbase 62.
“Helm, full impulse until we reach the station limit, then Warp 2 on our course home.”
“Aye sir, course plotted and laid in, will execute jump to Warp 2 in 3 minutes.”
“Very good.”
Mack then interrupted; “Tactical up and running, all systems nominal.”
“Very good Lieutenant. Like the view?”
“Aye sir, it is a great improvement over what I have used in the past.”
“You can thank Commander Mamoru for the design and layout. Let’s hope we never have to use it in combat.”
“I second that, sir.”
Lieutenant Joe Bowmeister had just come on shift as the Sensor officer on Starbase 62, and to his mind it was the worst job in Operations at the station. All he did was look at a Sensor screen for hours at a time, looking for the next vile attacker to shoot evil things at the intrepid starbase.
It sounded like a great job when he first took it, until he found out that everyone who got within phaser range of the station had already been identified by Traffic Control. His job was to warn the station defense officer of anything “out of the ordinary” coming to the station from a long distance away.
“Out of the ordinary” had happened once in six months, and the drunk captain of a one man freighter who did not contact the station before entering the station limit was still sitting in the station brig.
So when he saw a quick flash on his screen that went away as fast as it came, he ignored it. Traffic control had its hands full anyway….
Assistant Science Officer Carol Cartwright saw the blip at the same time Mack did. “Captain, sensors indicate a small ship of some kind on an intercept course at Warp 3.”
“What kind of ship, CC? “
“Unknown, sir.”
“Captain,” spoke up Mack, I recommend Red Alert. It is an unknown vessel of some kind making a firing run in my opinion.”
“CC, do you concur?”
“It is not a natural phenomenon, but I am not sure Action Stations are necessary.”
“Neither am I Lieutenant, but a drill won’t hurt. Action Stations gentlemen”, as Captain Louis pushed the alert button on his chair.
As the ship burst into action, Mack saw the phaser controls flash green, the Photon torpedo launchers signal ready (all in good time), then he saw the launch.
“It launched something sir! Looks like a warp-capable missile, estimated time to impact, 1 minute.” Mack manipulated his board controls, and to his surprise got a target lock on the incoming ordinance.
“Target lock on the missile.”
“Fire phasers, Lieutenant.”
“Firing”.
As soon as Mack fired one phaser bank, he set the targeting computer to the mother ship, which Lieutenant Cartwright had kept a lock on with the sensors.
The missile exploded as Mack announced, “Target lock, sir”.
“Fire.”
The second phaser battery got busy, and the ship exploded into fragments moments later.
Commander Ron-all Elion had just cleared the lift doors and hustled over to the sensor station. Taking over for Lt. Cartwright, he scanned the debris field.
“Captain, the threat vessel has been destroyed. The mass of the vessel was very small, I doubt if it was even crewed. There are no other vessels in scanning range other than those around Starbase 62. All clear sir.”
“Thank you Commander. Mr. Cartwright, well done on the sensors, keeping the threat vessel locked made our tactical officer’s work easy. Secure from Action Stations, Chief Ei-Barodi. Red, it looks like you and CC have some sleuthing to do. Find out what that thing was who attacked us.”
The communications officer turned to her boards, and all hands stood down. She then turned back around and spoke to her Captain.
“Sir, I have a message from Starbase 62, it is Commodore Iveco.”
“On screen, Chief.”
Commodore Constantine Iveco’s face lit up the main screen, somewhat like a supernova going off in a nearby system.
“Captain, well done by your crew. You remember the old I-80 ordinance carrier don’t you.”
“Sure Commodore. Sneaky little things, until sensors got too good.”
“Well, that’s what hit you. I thought your crew needed a little “going away” present, and my Operations people needed some excitement. Seems like you had all the fun, and my people stood around and watched your handiwork. Smooth sailing Lion, enjoy the ride. Starbase 62 out.”
“Well, well. The Commodore is full of surprises today, isn’t he Lt. King?”
“Aye, sir, he is. Maybe he just didn’t want us to leave so soon.”
Captain Louis smiled at that thought. “Maybe Mack, but from what I saw on the viewscreen a second ago, he will have lots of people to chew on for the next couple of weeks. Let’s just be glad it’s not us.”
“Aye sir.”
“Helm, resume our original course and speed. Commander, enjoy your evening.”
“Thank you sir, I will.” Commander Elion left the bridge, since his “enjoyment period” would end in 90 minutes or so when he took the late shift commander watch.
Captain Louis sat back in his seat, broke out his report viewer, and started on his duties, while his bridge crew settled back into their normal routine. For the evening, all was well on Valiant as she headed home to a very uncertain future.
Meanwhile, on Starbase 62, a young Lieutenant named Joe Bowmeister stood outside the door of Commodore Iveco’s office, about to experience something he had not experienced before. But unlike most Starfleet officers, this was one time where “to boldly go where no man had gone before” did not quite fit. That is why he was sweating furiously, with a rapid pulse, and very little color in his face. Opening the doors of the Commodore’s office his stomach turned even tighter when he saw both the Starbase Commander and Chief of Operations standing next to the Commodore, all looking at him.
“Mr. Bowmeister, sit down,” commanded Commodore Iveco, “I have a few questions for you.”
