Departure stations

Posted on 17 Jun 2019 @ 6:04pm by Captain Jonathan Reynolds & Commander Amelia Fox & Lieutenant Mitchell Graham & Lieutenant Commander Aidan Datari & Lieutenant Commander True Keading & Lieutenant JG J Haulval & Lieutenant JG Lilura Karakalakss & Lieutenant JG Naiya Hope Dr

Mission: Mission 1 - In the pale moonlight ...
Location: Bridge
Timeline: MD1 09:00
1707 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Jon sat down in the command chair and looked around. He could empathically sense the crews excitement that this moment was finally upon them. "Status - all departments," he asked.

True slipped onto the bridge just as the captain finished his sentence. Because she wasn't technically the head of a department she didn't feel the need to speak up as she found herself a seat and waited for everything to begin.

Lilura was at the Engineering repeater station and glanced over the telltales. Reactors, Engines, Shielding, transporters, power grid, and structural support all showed good. Operations handled the other tasks of shipboard equipment operations. She called out, "Engineering reporting, Green across the board, Engines, power, and shielding at your discretion."

Aidan took his time to study his new controls before turning around. "Science is go sir," he reported, "sensors and scanners are all operational and ready for use."

"Tactical is full readiness, Commander," Haulval replied in turn from his standing station directly behind the command chairs.

Ensign Derek Han reported from the ops console. "Umbilical disconnected. All exterior hatches read closed and secured. We're on internal power. Docking pylon reports all clamps retracted."

Lieutenant Fox was monitoring from her chair. She studies the readout on her panel. Satisfied she turned to Jon. "The board shows green Captain. Ready for departure."

"Patch me through to Station command" Jon ordered.

The viewscreen revealed a balding Bajoran, "Commander Reynolds,"

"Captain Elego. Request permission to depart,"

"Granted Commander and good luck. We look forward to hearing about what you find out there. You are cleared for port gates in 30 seconds."

"Thank you Sir. Reynolds out."

Jon turned his attention to Helm. "Lieutenant Graham clear all moorings. Aft thrusters ahead one half, port and starboard at station keeping. Take us out."

Graham's fingers went to work at his console. "Aye, Captain. Moorings are cleared. Thrusters ahead one half. Space doors in thirty seconds." He looked up to see his handiwork on the viewscreen. The ship began moving slowly and gracefully towards open space.

Naiya was only on the Bridge just because it was such a momentous moment and Sickbay was inactive at the time anyway. She marvelled at the skill with which Mitchell guided the huge starship out of what appeared to be the tightest space imaginable. She realised she was holding her breath and let it out with a roll of her large green eyes internally scolding herself for being such a child. She cast an embarrassed glance at the Pilot and hoped he hadn't noticed her staring like a kid in a sweet shop. Her cheeks flushed a little at the thought that she'd been obvious with her awe. She'd seen a lot of space and stars and all kinds of bizarre wonders but this was new in that it was so clear to see and at the same time so unreal as the ship, huge as she was, seemed just be floating gracefully and seemingly relaxed. It felt almost hypnotic to watch on the huge monitors that took up such a large percentage of the Bridge.

Lilura's tail wrapped around the base of her seat for something to do. She was intent on the readouts and their correlation between tasks ordered and power used by those tasks. So far, everything was looking just as it should.

Amelia looked around the bridge with satisfaction as the huge vessel slipped from its birth and headed toward the space doors. Once the ship was cleared, Amelia spoke "Helm, lay in a course for the site of the comm relay drop, warp 5."

Using the manual input, Graham came about to the new heading. The Andromeda's nose swung around, pointing away from orbital traffic and towards the unknown depths of space. "Course laid in. Warp five."

Jon smiled. "Lieutenant Graham, punch it."

Graham nodded and advanced the throttle quadrant on his console. The ship's engine nacelles glowed momentarily as drive plasma was injected into the field coils. Then in a blink the Andromeda was on her way.

Naiya was unprepared for the lurch. It wasn't just the ship being here one moment and gone the next, scooping her along with it at lightspeeds, it was also the disorientation that looking out through the screen played on her eyes and balance. She had travelled on Starships many times before but somehow being on the Bridge was different and this was something she had always done from down in Sickbay where they were blind to the acceleration and the spinning, streaking blots, stripes and blurs of light down there. This was a totally new way of experiencing launch. It was amazing and it took her breath away. She gripped the rail nearest her to keep herself steady and shot an unsure glance at Jon, hoping he hadn't seen what an overwhelmed look she must have been wearing. She began to pinken at the idea that the whole crew might have seen her reaction too. She looked around and hoped they had all been too busy.

Lilura was intently looking at the engine room repeater reading as the ship jumped into warp. So far, all tell-tales were in nominal range, which was good. With the refit, there was always a chance of imbalance, but she had done a lot to help tune the warp nacelles for the ship structure and energy signature. It looked like it was holding. Her tail, which had flicked over to be near the doctor for 'just in case' when the doc had swayed from the jump into warp, now moved back to wrap around the chair rod as it was not needed. She called out, "Captain, Engines holding steady, no anomalies to report."

Aidan watched the doctor, sensing her unease. Used to the jump himself, he got up and touched the doctor's arm. "Perhaps you should sit ma'am," he suggested gently,. "it might be a little less daunting then."

Mitchell typed in the flight profile for the first leg of their journey. As long as engineering maintained a stable warp field, the ship would essentially fly itself. All he had to do was monitor it. He glanced over his shoulder to see who Mr. Datari was talking to. Seeing it was the Doctor, his brow furrowed in concern. What had happened? Had she become disoriented? "The light-bending illusion caused by the warp field. It gets me too sometimes, if I stare directly at it," he assured her.

Jon stood up and went to his second officer, "Are you okay doctor?" he asked concern evident. "You have a seat here," he indicated the smaller one next to the couselor. "Lieutenant Datari is right you would probably be more comfortable sat down."

Naiya blinked and focussed on first Aidan, then Mitchell, then the Commander. She blushed. "Oh dear. I am sorry!" she muttered. "Yes I think I should just get my bearings. It's not usual for me to get to be on the bridge for something like that. It was quite profound wasn't it?" she said, still looking a little distant. "Thank you all for your concern and support. I'm sorry to be a nuisance. It never occurred to me that it would affect me in that way and I do feel a little bit disorientated, to be honest. But ..... it was the most amazing, beautiful experience... " she was now obediently sitting down, still embarrassed.

The science chief cast her an empathic smile. "You're hardly a nuisance doctor," he spoke softly, "it just takes som getting used to. You'll be less daunted by it next time."

"Good job everyone," Jon said proudly. "Lieutenant Graham, as soon as you deem it safe up speed to warp 8 and calculate how long it will take for us to reach our destination."

"About four days, sir," Graham replied, doing the math in his head. He began tapping in the new flight plan. "Increasing to warp factor eight."

"Counselor," Jon asked taking his seat again his eyes darting to Naiya to check her again before sitting. He decided to take her mind off things and pull on the social skills of his counselor. He lowered his voice as the day to day operation of the bridge kicked in now the momentous moment of setting off had passed, " and Doctor perhaps you can aid me in something. This is not a professional request so please speak up. I am not a party planner in any shape or form, but I was considering getting a cake for this evening. My son says it is the done thing. What do we think? and more importantly what do we consider an appropriate cake?"

"Cake? oh.... oh yes. Well Eddie is right of course." Naiya's smile was weak but it was there. "What about a Terran madeira.... or a Mars Colony apple and raisin hightower... those are tall with lots of layers so they're great for parties." she offered, distracted from her earlier situation.

True smiled. "I don't think it matters what kind. Anything sweet will do for most people. They will appreciate the gesture. Not all ships are as relaxed in their functions."

The ship reached warp 8. Lilura scanned the telltales and found every one working in nominal range. Making sure her crew and she had tuned, balanced, and simulated every scenario they had time for. That extra work was paying off. The ship was 'purring' like a tiger. She called out, "Captain, Warp Eight, green across engineering."

"Course and speed steady. Trimmed for cruise," Graham reported from the helm.

OFF:

●○ Lieutenant JG Lilura Siana Karakalakss
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Andromeda

●● Lieutenant Mitchell Graham
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Andromeda

○● Lieutenant JG J Haulval
Chief Security / Tactical Officer / Intelligence Officer
USS Andromeda


●● Lieutenant True Keading
Chief Counselor
USS Andromeda


●● Lieutenant Aidan Datari
Chief Science Officer
USS Andromeda

●●● Commander Jonathan Reynolds
Commanding Officer
USS Andromeda


●● Lieutenant Amelia Fox
Executive Officer
USS Andromeda


●○ Lieutenant JG Naiya Hope
Chief Medical Officer
USS Andromeda