Post by Karl on Mar 19, 2010 13:55:31 GMT -5
The shuttle drifted under computer control out from the spacedock shuttle bay and curved gently to starboard as its small maneuvering jets corrected the roll and the impulse engines took over the job of guiding the shuttle clear of the bay entrance. The small spacecraft didn't have a name, simply SB 04, but 04 was affectionately known as Wilbur. Its not clear why, maybe a name from a captain or crewman who did something special, said something memorable. Or it was simply a womans' pet name for it. But Wilbur flew proud and true. Onward toward the dry-docks situated near the Support Station, and the Europa A.
Karl was seated in the Primary chair, with Rathra Shel, his Tactical officer and Chief of Security in the secondary chair. Behind Rathra sat Alvin T Spille, Chief Engineer. Alvin had been on board the Europa to over see various checks, but came back to the Spacedock to make the handover flight.
Drock, 2nd Engineering Officer and soon to be communications specialist was on the Europa, finalizing the handover ceremony. All would be in their best attire, the smart uniforms of the Daedalus Omega Fleet. Each in their divisional colors. Karl made course corrections and settled back, his hand gently scratching the scar on his right cheek.
"I'm convinced this damn thing itches specifically on these occasions." he said.
Alvin, always one for a classy answer, simply said, "I'm just glad your butt don't itch too. These damn pants don't give much room to make adjustments."
"Thanks Alvin... " Rathra said through a grimace. "Mental image firmly imprinted."
"I choose not to focus on Mr Spilles' undergarment dilemmas. Its much safer." said the Vulcan Drock. He just sat twiddling his beard. "Captain, I understand the Europa is almost ready for departure."
Karl turned, "Yes I believe so Mr Drock, she has been under preparation for a few days now. The crew have been spending a few days getting their gear squared away. Ensign Barnett told me the communications systems were still being calibrated, but would be ready before departure. No problems reported with the power systems and propulsion was check as 100%. Her stress tests using holodeck simulations were reported to be above expectations. She's definitely in good shape."
Rathra, checking their approach and vector said, "Captain, approach on vector 2 delta 5 - bearing 250 mark 45. Down the pipe Sir." she paused. "Shame Lt Siro won't be there."
"Yes.. she will be picked up a little later after the Europa gets underway. She was still with her relatives when I left for the shuttle bay. As they were not on Spacedock for long I told her she could stay with them until they left." Karl said. "I think I owed her that much."
"Her parents are great. Really friendly folks. And her father is a tech nut.. man he just wants to ask questions all damn day." Alvin chuckled. "Siro just gets a little embarrassed, but I told her not to worry... " his words were stopped as the image of the Europa came into view. "Oh my..."
They all just looked. The beautiful image of the new Europa glittered with all her running lights shining brightly. Her deflector was glowing and her hull lights showed her crew were aboard. Karl began to program a flyby course as they approached the dry-dock. Rathra turned and smiled at Karl and whispered, "I'm in love already."
They flew along her port side, her saucer section clearly larger than the Excalibur class before. Her phaser arrays looked huge for a relatively small cruiser. They were above the mid line of the saucer and her registration came into view. The bridge was clearly smaller, and the paint scheme really looked impressive. No one spoke, they just took the view in.
Her access panels were open on the upper hull, as they passed around and slowly drifted down and aft. Her secondary hull gleamed with a bright blue deflector dish, smaller than the previous Europa.
The underside of the saucer section had numerous lines linking her to the dock systems, and her sensor array was being calibrated. Secondary sensor systems were built into her neck section, above her torpedo bay. Alvin pointed out that the rear of the neck had a small shuttle bay, and inside they could see movement and shuttles being unloaded, the blue glow of the forcefield shining gently.
Her smooth lines were lovely, and her warp nacelles followed the lines beautifully. Her main cargo/shuttle bay was opened with her main complement of shuttles in their bays. And there, stood in line, were the rest of the senior staff and a majority of the crew. Karls heart lifted. This was the moment he realized he was back in space. He also realized his fear of facing his crew after the event was nowhere to be seen. He felt so proud.
"Talos should have seen this." Alvin said, and the others nodded. He would have loved the ship.
They approached the docking bay and slowed as the shuttle slipped through the field over the door and glided to a stop over the landing marker. Rathra secured the shuttle and the whine of the power systems fell away. He could feel the hum of the Europa around him, she was alive. Rathra turned to Karl and said, "Captain arriving."
Karl got up and headed for the rear door. He keyed the door control and the door hissed as it fell away gently to the surface of the docking bay. He ducked and stood as the familiar pipes 'ooo weee oooo' sounded his arrival. To his surprise, a familiar face came walking up to the read door and stood to attention, still with a limp but she stood as straight as she could. "Captain Hart on deck ... Atten- hut!" and her hand, as all the other hands did raised in a salute. He looked around and stood to salute the crew. Siros' arm remained in salute as the others fell. The she said, "Sir, I hearby handover command of the Europa to my commanding officer, Captain Hart." she then lowered her hand and offered it to Karl.
"I stand to and receive command 1st Officer Lt Siro. You stand relieved." He then took Siros hand and firmly shook it, to a rapturous cheer and applause from every member on the deck of the cargo bay. Sir beamed her pride with a dazzling smile.
"How did you get on board before me?" Karl asked over the din of the applause.
"I boarded a shuttle with my parents as soon as you were on board yours. They're stood over there.. I.. hope you don't mind them being on board." Siro said.
"Not at all.. I'm glad you brought them. Your father is gonna love a tour of the ship right?" Karl replied.
"Oh .. your not gonna be able to get him off the ship. I'll take mother and we'll have a look at the galley, she's got some excellent ideas for recipes." she paused. "Sir... Karl... its good to have you back. I wanted to ask you about the evaluation but... it can wait."
The cheers began to die down and the applause was rippling to a close. People were coming over to greet the captain. "Yeah.. we'll take some lunch later, we'll have time before we depart." Karl spoke in her ear. Siro nodded and shook his hand again before heading off to her parents.
A few moments later, Karl addressed his crew on the deck and via comm throughout the ship.
"This is the captain. You've done a spectacular job in preparing our new ship for her maiden voyage. I will admit I was very anxious to get on board and get my hands dirty myself, and I will as soon as I get this dress uniform off.... "he paused, his eyes looking around the large cargo bay, all eyes and ears attentive, "... Your professionalism at the memorial to our fallen shipmates was stunning. Many people saw you and many hearts were galvanized by your resolve. Fleet Daedalus is very lucky to have a band of brothers like you all. Those new crew members who join us will feel a special kinship envelope them. We will traverse the stars with pride in this spectacular vessel. We will continue to do our part to restore peace. We will be strong in our stand against those who fear peace.
So... lets kick the tires and light the fires! Crew dismissed!" Karl ended to another cheer and applause. He stood and looked at as many faces as possible. 'I will stand by these brave souls', he thought.
He walked off toward Siro and her parents, eager to get a tour of the ship, and as he promised to take Siros' father, Beramin, on the tour with him. The crew fell out and went to their various tasks getting the Europa ready for her departure.
The pulse of life, growing stronger and stronger, was finally beating again.
Karl was seated in the Primary chair, with Rathra Shel, his Tactical officer and Chief of Security in the secondary chair. Behind Rathra sat Alvin T Spille, Chief Engineer. Alvin had been on board the Europa to over see various checks, but came back to the Spacedock to make the handover flight.
Drock, 2nd Engineering Officer and soon to be communications specialist was on the Europa, finalizing the handover ceremony. All would be in their best attire, the smart uniforms of the Daedalus Omega Fleet. Each in their divisional colors. Karl made course corrections and settled back, his hand gently scratching the scar on his right cheek.
"I'm convinced this damn thing itches specifically on these occasions." he said.
Alvin, always one for a classy answer, simply said, "I'm just glad your butt don't itch too. These damn pants don't give much room to make adjustments."
"Thanks Alvin... " Rathra said through a grimace. "Mental image firmly imprinted."
"I choose not to focus on Mr Spilles' undergarment dilemmas. Its much safer." said the Vulcan Drock. He just sat twiddling his beard. "Captain, I understand the Europa is almost ready for departure."
Karl turned, "Yes I believe so Mr Drock, she has been under preparation for a few days now. The crew have been spending a few days getting their gear squared away. Ensign Barnett told me the communications systems were still being calibrated, but would be ready before departure. No problems reported with the power systems and propulsion was check as 100%. Her stress tests using holodeck simulations were reported to be above expectations. She's definitely in good shape."
Rathra, checking their approach and vector said, "Captain, approach on vector 2 delta 5 - bearing 250 mark 45. Down the pipe Sir." she paused. "Shame Lt Siro won't be there."
"Yes.. she will be picked up a little later after the Europa gets underway. She was still with her relatives when I left for the shuttle bay. As they were not on Spacedock for long I told her she could stay with them until they left." Karl said. "I think I owed her that much."
"Her parents are great. Really friendly folks. And her father is a tech nut.. man he just wants to ask questions all damn day." Alvin chuckled. "Siro just gets a little embarrassed, but I told her not to worry... " his words were stopped as the image of the Europa came into view. "Oh my..."
They all just looked. The beautiful image of the new Europa glittered with all her running lights shining brightly. Her deflector was glowing and her hull lights showed her crew were aboard. Karl began to program a flyby course as they approached the dry-dock. Rathra turned and smiled at Karl and whispered, "I'm in love already."
They flew along her port side, her saucer section clearly larger than the Excalibur class before. Her phaser arrays looked huge for a relatively small cruiser. They were above the mid line of the saucer and her registration came into view. The bridge was clearly smaller, and the paint scheme really looked impressive. No one spoke, they just took the view in.
Her access panels were open on the upper hull, as they passed around and slowly drifted down and aft. Her secondary hull gleamed with a bright blue deflector dish, smaller than the previous Europa.
The underside of the saucer section had numerous lines linking her to the dock systems, and her sensor array was being calibrated. Secondary sensor systems were built into her neck section, above her torpedo bay. Alvin pointed out that the rear of the neck had a small shuttle bay, and inside they could see movement and shuttles being unloaded, the blue glow of the forcefield shining gently.
Her smooth lines were lovely, and her warp nacelles followed the lines beautifully. Her main cargo/shuttle bay was opened with her main complement of shuttles in their bays. And there, stood in line, were the rest of the senior staff and a majority of the crew. Karls heart lifted. This was the moment he realized he was back in space. He also realized his fear of facing his crew after the event was nowhere to be seen. He felt so proud.
"Talos should have seen this." Alvin said, and the others nodded. He would have loved the ship.
They approached the docking bay and slowed as the shuttle slipped through the field over the door and glided to a stop over the landing marker. Rathra secured the shuttle and the whine of the power systems fell away. He could feel the hum of the Europa around him, she was alive. Rathra turned to Karl and said, "Captain arriving."
Karl got up and headed for the rear door. He keyed the door control and the door hissed as it fell away gently to the surface of the docking bay. He ducked and stood as the familiar pipes 'ooo weee oooo' sounded his arrival. To his surprise, a familiar face came walking up to the read door and stood to attention, still with a limp but she stood as straight as she could. "Captain Hart on deck ... Atten- hut!" and her hand, as all the other hands did raised in a salute. He looked around and stood to salute the crew. Siros' arm remained in salute as the others fell. The she said, "Sir, I hearby handover command of the Europa to my commanding officer, Captain Hart." she then lowered her hand and offered it to Karl.
"I stand to and receive command 1st Officer Lt Siro. You stand relieved." He then took Siros hand and firmly shook it, to a rapturous cheer and applause from every member on the deck of the cargo bay. Sir beamed her pride with a dazzling smile.
"How did you get on board before me?" Karl asked over the din of the applause.
"I boarded a shuttle with my parents as soon as you were on board yours. They're stood over there.. I.. hope you don't mind them being on board." Siro said.
"Not at all.. I'm glad you brought them. Your father is gonna love a tour of the ship right?" Karl replied.
"Oh .. your not gonna be able to get him off the ship. I'll take mother and we'll have a look at the galley, she's got some excellent ideas for recipes." she paused. "Sir... Karl... its good to have you back. I wanted to ask you about the evaluation but... it can wait."
The cheers began to die down and the applause was rippling to a close. People were coming over to greet the captain. "Yeah.. we'll take some lunch later, we'll have time before we depart." Karl spoke in her ear. Siro nodded and shook his hand again before heading off to her parents.
A few moments later, Karl addressed his crew on the deck and via comm throughout the ship.
"This is the captain. You've done a spectacular job in preparing our new ship for her maiden voyage. I will admit I was very anxious to get on board and get my hands dirty myself, and I will as soon as I get this dress uniform off.... "he paused, his eyes looking around the large cargo bay, all eyes and ears attentive, "... Your professionalism at the memorial to our fallen shipmates was stunning. Many people saw you and many hearts were galvanized by your resolve. Fleet Daedalus is very lucky to have a band of brothers like you all. Those new crew members who join us will feel a special kinship envelope them. We will traverse the stars with pride in this spectacular vessel. We will continue to do our part to restore peace. We will be strong in our stand against those who fear peace.
So... lets kick the tires and light the fires! Crew dismissed!" Karl ended to another cheer and applause. He stood and looked at as many faces as possible. 'I will stand by these brave souls', he thought.
He walked off toward Siro and her parents, eager to get a tour of the ship, and as he promised to take Siros' father, Beramin, on the tour with him. The crew fell out and went to their various tasks getting the Europa ready for her departure.
The pulse of life, growing stronger and stronger, was finally beating again.