Situations In Motion - Part 1

Posted on Fri Oct 15th, 2021 @ 10:11am by Commodore Keiben Haistro & Lieutenant Commander Melanie D’BrooNi- Haistro & Admiral David Jackson

1,438 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 3 - Fear Is Fear Itself
Location: Upper Pylon 3/Ward Room
Timeline: Mission Day 5 @ 0730 Hours

ON

"Lillian, you have Ops. Commander, Doctor, let's go greet the Admiral"

Things were starting to look positive and they would be away from the station promptly, or so he hoped. It would give them chance to get Copernicus the refit and repair she truly deserved but something in the Admiral tone on the Comm had told of something different about to come their way.

He crossed Ops, ascending the small stairs around the science station and boarded the Turbolift.

"Upper Pylon 3" he ordered and gave a few seconds pause before he turned to his officers. "Did either of you get a feeling from the Admiral that something was amiss?"

Amiss was the wrong word and he could instantly tell that, but something was off or as the Humans would say, "Something tells me we may be here a while!"

"And why would you say this Captain?" though Tam's skin prickled up when Keiben made his comment. Tam shivered feeling like someone had just crossed her grave.

"There are mysteries to unsolve here," Mel said a little dreamily. "Starfleet's going to appoint someone."

The turbolift finished its journey through the central core, along one of the transfer bridges past the habitat ring and finally into the docking ring and its ascent up the third docking pylon. He could only assume the lift had been moving at immense speed and that each turbolift was fitting with its own inertial dampener.

He allowed Mel and Tam to proceed him from the lift and they all came to a standing position in front of the rolling airlock door.

"Admiral, a pleasure as always... My First Officer, Commander Tamaska Holt and second officer, Doctor Mel D'BrooNi!"

David stepped out of the airlock and extended his hand to Keiben. "Captain. This is quite a find you've made here." He turned to acknowledge the other officers "Commander, Doctor." He turned back to Keiben "Is there somewhere we can talk?"

"We could go to the Commander's Office in Ops or I believe there is a wardroom not far from the Promenade?" Keiben offered, starting to walk back towards the turbolift.

“Let’s go to the wardroom to begin with then when we’ve talked you can show me Ops.” David replied

"Computer, take us to the Promenade!" he called as he stepped through as the last person into the compartment.

The Admiral continued as they walked "Strangely enough I was contacted by a representative of the Cardassian Union, a Legate Gent. He said they had no evidence of a space station in their records. He offered this information before I'd had a chance to say anything and he didn't put up any resistance when I offered that Starfleet takes control of this facility. Reading between the lines, it sounds like their damn cloak and dagger games again." He sighed "And I thought after the collapse of the Obsidian Order and the end of the Dominion war that we were finally past all this."

"I think my question would lean more towards why and how did this Legate Gent know to contact you about the station when we still needed to report of its existence... Whoever ends up commanding this thing may want to do a complete diagnostic on the internal surveillance systems!"

Keiben joked but his amusement soon turned to a lower heat when he sensed what the Admiral had coming next!"

David nodded thoughtfully as they entered the wardroom. “Sounds like you’ve just volunteered for the job, Captain. Good. I’m hereby giving you command of this station as of this date. Now fill me in on your current situation.”

Keiben stopped in the doorway his mouth flapping like a fish as he attempted to form the words that seemed stubbornly unforming.

"Admiral... I have Copernicus to get back to a dry dock facility so we can repair and refit her. We still have so many planets to visit in the area to continue our standing orders!"

He was grasping now, hoping that Mel or Tam would jump in to rescue him before he made a fool of himself.

Tam was in shock, feeling the goosebumps rise once again. "Wait what? You are now recycling this place and asking, no, not asking us but giving us a command that we will be making this our base camp. Are you certain about this sir?" Tam looking at the Admiral.

David sat at the head of the table. “Everyone calm down. Starfleet needs an active presence in the Briar patch. This has been in discussion for some time now and I think we’re lucky this opportunity has presented itself. Don’t worry we’re not taking the Copernicus away.” He said, trying to reassure Keiben

“As we’ve learnt from our experiences with Deep space nine, a station like this needs independent vessels as well. This station will act as the command hub for this sector. I’m going to make arrangements to have a dry dock and a fleet of work bees dispatched and put into work as soon as possible. This is so we have somewhere to repair our ships out here, as well as Starbase 308. You will be in overall command of the station, dry dock and any ships posted here. You may assign crews to these as you see fit. I know it’s a big responsibility but, I know you’re up to it Captain.”

"Admiral, I am honoured but four months ago I was a Commander stepping up from being a Science Officer... Are you sure that I am ready for this? And what about the crew... Eighty Officers and Crew won't be enough to man a station of this size... If memory serves we should have a compliment four times that... and then we will have a civilian population!"

He was concerned but at the same time bolstered by the Admirals faith in not only him but his crew as well.

The Admiral smiled. "I've been watching your missions over the last couple of months and I've been very impressed how you've handled things. And besides, as the Klingon proverb tells us. 'Great men do not seek power; it is thrust upon them.' Trust me..." He added, "You'll do just fine."

The Admiral continued. "Don't worry about personnel. Things might be a bit tight for a couple of days but I can get plenty on standby at Starbase 308 who are looking for a challenge and I think this qualifies. Also, I might be able to get you some additional personnel from the USS Merlin. Her Captain owes me a favour as I'll be taking command while she's on extended leave in a month or two. Now then, how about a look at Ops?"

"Before that sir... Could I ask a personal favour?"

The Captains tone turning sombre as he turned his attention to Mel. He reached out a hand, breaching protocol even by showing this level of intimacy with a fellow officer. "I have learnt one thing over the last few weeks... What is it you Humans say, seize the moment... Would you marry us before you depart Admiral!"

David clasped his hands together. "Of course Captain. That's one of the nicer jobs of being an Admiral, and Congratulations."

"Thank you sir," Mel smiled. This news wasn't a shock to her. With over 900 years of existence and several hosts, nothing much shocked her anymore. Not where Starfleet was concerned certainly. She dearly wished Paddy and Tay could be here to see her get married but hopefully, they could get the view screens working and them be present that way.

"You're not expecting a Betaziod wedding are you captain?" Jackson asked, suddenly a little trepidatious.

"I'll get back to you on that Admiral... I think Mel and I may need to discuss that!"
Knowing full well that this would have significant meaning to Mel... if she was even concerned about that given how many weddings she would have attended over the life of D'BrooNi but also the guests.

Tam's eyes lit up when she heard about the upcoming wedding of Keiben and Mel. "I am excited for this event. It will be lovely to have a happy event." a broad grin appearing. She was definitely rather happy about this.

The Captain smiled at his intended wanting to kiss her but knowing it would full well be inappropriate to do so on duty. Instead, he turned his attention back to the Admiral.
"With that out of the way sir, would you care for a tour of the facilities... what there is of them at present!"

TO BE CONTINUED....

 

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