Chapter 3.3

Posted on Wed Jun 8th, 2022 @ 11:48am by Admiral Janule Tua & Willian Targaryen & Captain Nathan Bishop & Commander Ash Randall & Commander Nathan Hawkins & Lieutenant Cyrus Marner & Lieutenant R'relle
Edited on on Wed Jun 8th, 2022 @ 11:48am

2,968 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Waiting for the End
Location: USS Stargazer
Timeline: 3189-03-15, 17:30

The Officer's Lounge aboard the Stargazer was a bit smaller than Captain Willian Targaryen had expected it to be, but that did not bely its impressiveness. Willian had learned during the brief time that he had been here meeting privately with Admiral Tua that most of the Stargazer was holographic in origin, just as the scans they had ran supported. He would have been contented to have used the Lounge aboard the Enterprise for this meeting, but with the ship in its current state it certainly would have been a bit less fancy than it was yesterday.

Standing at the window he looked out and saw his ship hovering not far away as the stars glimmered passed them. It still had the same beautiful outline that he had always loved, but the beautiful woman had been reborn since they came to this time. The forced upgrades that the programmable matter had made gave it a more robust profile. With the additional changes that Admiral Tua was proposing he wondered what exactly it would look like when all was said and done.

And what it would mean for those still aboard.

As he waited for Admiral Tua's arrival, Willian wondered which of his crew would accept the invitation.

Cyrus managed to cobble together a nice enough uniform for the dinner tonight, and the invitation was something he couldn't resist accepting. The door opened with a soft swoosh, and he entered in. He moved to where he could get a better view of the dining area, which was beautiful. Then his gaze went over to where Willian stood, and he made his way there, and then caught the view of the ship, and its new wardrobe being added. "Beautiful." he said quietly. "I wonder what she will be like once all is said and done..." he turned to the man who he stood by, "How are you feeling?"

Nathan Bishop entered next and noticed he was among the first to arrive the Admiral of course was already here and so was Cyrus. He walked to where the pair stood looking out a large window. He noticed the object of their attention was the Enterprise. As he strolled over he spoke. "She's as beautiful as ever." He then added, "Good evening Admiral, Cyrus."

"Evening," Willian answered before realizing he'd tried to duck the Chief Medical Officer's question long enough, "I'm doing well all things considered, Doc. Weird seeing her like this though. She's had a lot of appearances over the years but this one, this one makes her the most alien to me."

"A times, both men and women want to have a make over so... guess it is her time. And in her heart she is still the same ship that you love so very much. Just... treat her gently." Cyrus giving a low chuckle. "All those Enterprises through out history pass the torch and the heart from ship to ship. She may look different on the outside but, she is still there."

"It makes me wonder though," the former Admiral said as he looked at the ship through the portal, "just what letter were they on when the Burn happened? Morbid curiosity," he said with a chuckle.

"It makes me wonder as well. All the things we have to catch up on. Has there been any breakthroughs in medical such as a cure for the common cold?" giving a grin. "Or is that one that still is a difficult one to cure as there are so many factors involved."

The Captain smiled, "One can certainly dream, Doctor."

Commander Randall paused, for several seconds, outside the entrance to the Officers Lounge and shuddered, in an involuntary fashion, before regaining her composure once more. The ship, she found herself on, gave Ash the creeps. The Stargazer, while an amazing vessel, just felt wonky to the Tuansee Engineer, like it was there, and not there, at the same time. After a few seconds of steeling herself, Ash entered the Officers Lounge and spent a few seconds just standing inside the main doors looking around her and then wandered over to the observation port to stare at Star Fleet One.

R'elle came in in very poised and feeling confident. She was looking forward to the dinner. Her dress seemed to hug every curve. She had even put on a splash of Caitian perfume. Her tail flicked back and forth as she walked into the room. She was feeling good tonight. She saw ash and made her way over to her. The Tuansee seemed nervous. "Hello Ash. You look lovely tonight." She said. It was a way of opening conversation. She would like to put the Tuansee female at ease if she could.

Ash managed a smile and graced R'elle with a sidelong glance and a chuckle. "Thank you. You're looking, particularly, stunning this evening, yourself." Ash replied. "Personally, I feel like I've been pulled through a knothole, backward, but I couldn't miss visiting this ship even if it does give me the creeps to be on board." She mused, and subtly, sniffed the air, ever so lightly. "Star Dust..." She mused, using the Federation Standard name for the perfume R'elle was wearing.

"Yes it is. Do you like it Ash?" she asked in a sultry tone.

"Why does the ship give you the creeps?" R'elle asked in a more serious voice.

Ash nodded in response to R'elle. "It has, olfactory, depth that shifts and changes...kind of like jazz for the nose." Ash said, with a little smile and then looked around them, for a couple seconds. "Everything has a vibration...a resonance that's it's voice in the greater scheme of things and that voice is tuned to be harmonic with the universe of its origin. You, me, Starfleet One and all aboard her, form a harmonic and, sometimes, it is not very harmonious but it is still there. The harmonics of this ship, while there, are unsettling." Ash explained. "Not wrong, just...off, to my senses." She added.

"Jazz for the nose. What a wonderful description Ash!" she was enjoying the company of the lovely engineer. After Ash gave her the explanation of her unease. "I understand. It is different than the enterprise. Very different. The technology has advanced so much beyond what was available in our time. It will take us a while to get used to!" She took Ash's hand in hers.

Ash closed her eyes when R'elle took her hand in hers, and R'elle could feel the sense of unease coming from Ash through that touch. The Tuansee Engineer took a slow, deep, breath and exhaled, just as slowly, the unease melting away to a pleasant calmness as she did so. "Sorry." She said, quietly.

"No need to apologize. It's quite alright. It is perfectly acceptable to feel like you do. Perhaps you are feeling better now?" she flashed a flirtatious smile to ash. R'elle was liking this so far. They were getting a little closer. She wasn't sure if she wanted to just ask Ash if she wanted to date her, at least not yet but she could wait until the time was right.

Ash managed a smile in return to R'elle and a little nod in answer to her question. With R'elle holding her hand, Ash was forced to push her unease to the side so that she was not passing that unease onto R'elle through their contact so, in a way, she was feeling better. The engineer, usually, wore gloves and avoided casual contact, but gloves would have been inappropriate for the occasion. "Have you ever had an empath for a patient, Lieutenant?" Ash asked, R'elle, curios if she had and intrigued by a sense of anticipation she was getting from the councilor, even though she was trying not to be receptive.

"I have had a few Ash. yes. I find them very interesting." Of course none were as beautiful as Ash. R'elle wondered if Ash could sense that she was attracted to her? This could be interesting!

Ash lightly squeezed the hand of R'elle. "I am, generally, pretty boring but I do have my moments." The Chief Engineer replied, with a little smile.

Outside in the corridor Lieutenant Dylan Blake smoothed down his formal tunic: "This thing looks like a dress even more than before," he complained to the Commander walking alongside him.

"That's properly from the months of rationing," Hawkins glanced over at the younger man as he tried to make himself look presentable to the senior staff and guests they'd soon be among. "You've lost some of your body condition like we all have. There's no need to feel ashamed."

"Add on an extra couple of meters to this thing and you could call it a wedding gown," Dylan replied trying to tuck his tunic into his pants before giving up with a heavy sigh.

"I'll make sure we have enough juice to replicate you a lovely bouquet and tiara," Nathan chuckled.

Blake's groan continued as they entered the ships lounge. It was smaller than either had expected and was already occupied with some familiar faces.

"Am I officiating a wedding?" The Captain asked after overhearing.

Hawkins chuckled lowly at the question, alongside him Blake's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Unless Dylan has been hiding someone special below decks the champagne won't be needed just yet."

"It's my attire sir," Blake replied finding his voice in the Captain's presence. "It doesn't fit as well as it used to, I feel like I'm wearing a ball gown to cocktail party."

"With our reconnecting with Starfleet perhaps you could splurge upon yourself and replicate a new uniform," the Enterprise's CO offered politely. "It really would have limited impact upon our systems."

"Thank you sir," Blake replied humbly. "Though compared to our other more pressing needs following our turbulent arrival my appearance is at the bottom of the the priority list."

"Not if it compromises your safety," Hawkins injected. "Excess fabric could lead to accidents depending on the work you're carrying our or your location on the ship. We can't afford to suffer further losses, especially through silly mistakes."

The Lieutenant nodded mutely feeling more embarrassed than before having understood the Commander's hidden message regarding Dylan's clumsy tendencies.

The door behind them slid open revealed the statuesque Trill Admiral standing in the hallway. Dressed in a form fitting grey uniform, the Admiral had a broad smile as she stepped inside to join the crew from Starfleet One. She tugged on the trim of her uniform, "Sorry to keep you all waiting. I was conversing with the Starship Ghee P'Trell about a medical emergency they are tending to in a nearby system. Is this everyone?"

Willian nodded, "I made tonight optional, Admiral. With so few crew aboard our ship we're far from the safety limits of even a skeleton crew."

She nodded, "Indeed. Perhaps we can fix that somewhat over the coming days. I know from the Captain's Logs that you have been mainly living on supply rations so I thought we would have something a bit more real. My chef has whipped up a fresh Edosian Sea Bass for each of us. I hope no one objects."

---

The dinner was relatively uneventful. The chef had prepared a real Edosian Sea Bass for each of those attending. They could tell that the meal was real and not replicated from the diverse, robust tastes and textures that the meal provided. Everyone knew that replicated foods never tasted exactly like they were supposed to and it was probably from the recycled matter that was used in the replicator matrix. At least that was what everyone assumed, and shuddered to think about.

When the meal was over was the time that they started to get into the meat and potatoes of the visit. Willian normally would have been contented to allow Captain Bishop to go on the offensive on his behalf, but instead decided to fire the opening volley himself. "Admiral, how exactly did Galatea find us?"

Admiral Tua wiped her mouth with her kerchief and carefully replaced it on her lap, "We had heard a lot of rumors about the Emerald Chain transporting a Starfleet Admiral through the outpost on Svian, just as I'm sure you had as well. Starfleet and Federation Security agreed to send someone in because we had long ago confirmed that the Admiral they referenced had actually been killed during the Burn itself. We also had heard rumors about a Federation vessel operating in this region that the Chain was eager to find. So we knew it was a trap. I won't lie, I was hoping you were just a rumor."

"I can understand why," Willian answered as he thought about the last six months of their lives. Had he been in Admiral Tua's shoes he probably would've hoped that it was all rumor too. A centuries old starship loose in the modern era sounded like an impossibility, yet here they were. He was about to ask another question when the Stargazer's lights started to flicker around them. "Admiral?" Willian asked questioningly.

"Excuse me," the Admiral answered as she rose from her seat. With a double tap of her TriCOMM the Trill was gone, beamed away to another location. Meanwhile, the ship continued its mysterious reaction. Lights continued to flicker, consolers powered down, and the world around them seemed lighter than before. The ship had not rocked from any weapon impacts or encountered any subspace turbulence that would explain what was going on.

Targaryen pushed aside his plate, "Well things just seem to be going from bad to worse."

Commander Randall, her food barely touched, looked around her, wide eyed. "The emperor has no clothes." She said, quietly, and looked to the others at the table. "I don't know that a transporter will be able to get us out." She added, apparently expecting things to go, very, sideways. "Did anyone else bring an EVA suit with them?" She asked.

Cyrus had just taken the last bite of his food, and slowly lowered his fork to the plate. "What is going on?" a bit agog at the happenings on the ship. "I don't think having an EVA suit was part of the festivities now I am thinking I should have taken this into account." Looking towards Commander Randall. Cyrus turned his gaze towards Willian. "I will say this sir, this dinner is definitely far from being boring." rising up from his place at the table. He pulled out his medical tricorder and began scanning the air inside the room, and getting a reading. "He glanced over to anyone who might be watching him. "What? I tend to carry a tricorder. Always best to do so I feel." Though in his mind, Cyrus was wishing he had his medical bag with him as well.

"Just in case one of us chokes on a fish bone?" Blake heard himself chuckle despite the changing situation.

Willian, having known their new Chief Medical Officer (and having promoted him to the role over the doctor's objections), wasn't really surprised that he carried a tricorder around everywhere. Willian himself was known to always have a phaser with him, except for right now since they were visiting a Federation ship. "Nothing surprises me about you, Doctor."

"Oh come now, I am just who I am, Doctor Marner. A simple country doctor upon a great ship." giving a warm chuckle as he looked over at Willian. "There are some crazy readings and I sure would love to find out what the matter is."

Sitting opposite the Fleet Admiral's empty chair, he tapped his communicator, "Enterprise, are you receiving?"

"Yes Captain," it was Rrawran the Rorworr Tactical Officer. "Are you all alright over there?"

"We're fine, Lieutenant, but we'd like to know what's going on with the Stargazer if you could enlighten us," the Captain explained as he looked at the gathered members of his crew.

The mechanized voice of the alien officer - who resembled a werewolf of ancient literature - answered, "We don't know much ourselves. Both Stargazer and Daystrom are experiencing extreme energy fluctuations. Now a shuttle has departed from the Stargazer. We're trying to get a lock, but it's pretty slippery."

"That is strange," the Captain commented. "Any indications that the Stargazer is in more distress than power fluctuations? Could the shuttle..."

There was an angry alarm on the other end. "Sir, the shuttle just went to warp."

Willian sighed as he looked out the window at the Enterprise, "Prepare to bring the Senior Staff back over. I will remain here to speak with Admiral Tua."

"Acknowledged."

"Anyone want to stay with me?" The Captain asked as he set his napkin aside.

"I would be delighted to stay with you." Captain. This is something I would like to find out about." Cyrus was bound and determined to do so. What if this were a health threat, he'd rather find out in person and not second hand.

"I'll stay." Ash announced, quietly.

"I'd like to stay as well Admiral. I'm not sure what I can do but if I can help in anyway, let em know!" R'elle said. She may be the ship's councilor but she was also a starfleet officer and wanted to help.

"I'll stay with you Captain," Hawkins nodded. "I still have some questions for the Admiral. Blake," he turned to the younger man. "I'd like you to return to the ship and work with Rrawran to learn more about these fluctuations."

Willian couldn't help but smile at the dedication of his Senior Staff. He tapped his communicator, "Enterprise, cancel transport. We'll be staying."

"Understood," Rrawran answered with the mechanical monotone of the translator. There was a pause, "Are you certain?"

Willian gave a simple answer, "Indeed."

 

RSS Feed