Back on the Calypso (part 1)
Posted on Sat Aug 11th, 2012 @ 7:07am by Senior Chief Petty Officer Helga (Hel) Lowe & Lieutenant Commander Leanne Bowen & Major Leroy Mangalia & Lieutenant Cassandra Levue
Edited on on Sun Aug 12th, 2012 @ 2:12pm
1,037 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Subjugation
Timeline: Day 45
ON
It had been six weeks since Captain York and several members of the crew left to search for Commander Raine. Six weeks without a word from the Captain, the crwe or the Von Braun. Subsequent ships were sent to find out what happened. All failed. One didn't return at all. The area began to be called "The Devil's Nebula" as so many ships had gone missing.
The Calypso's repairs were complete. IT even had a full cargo and a shiny hull. But still there was no Captain.
Admiral Burke paced the bridge. She'd delayed things as long as she could, preferring to be optimistic, but Headquarters kept asking her when she was going to assign a new Captain and send the ship out again. They'd long assumed the Von Braun and all its crew lost.
Just a little bit longer, she promised the absent Commander. But hurry.
"Attention, USS Calypso. This is Athena control, would all staff aboard, please prepare for a testing of various emergency power systems. During these tests, replicators, and some non-emergency equipment may be briefly off-line, for less than one half hour." Came the voice of one of the Engineering members on the ship-yards. The tone was clipped, and calm, collected. The accent, clearly Vulcan. If anyone knew of the staff, of the ship-yards, they would suspect the commanding officer, Skylar, to be the culprit, and rightly so.
Burke had been around the shipyards enough to recognize the Vulcan's voice. "Thank you, Commander." She tapped the ship's comm system. "All crew, Athena Shipyards will be testing various systems. They should only be down for a half hour or so. Burke out."
She got up and wandered into the Captain's ready room to check the status of the ship.
Helga Lowe stepped off the transporter pad and smiled happily at the transporter chief. She'd spent the lat month on a tropical island enjoying the solitude. As she was Scandinavian she spent most of her time out of the sun, but she still enjoyed herself.
She was not happy to find that Doctor Bowen and the rest of the away team -- as she preferred to call them -- was still missing.
"No word yet?" she asked the Chief.
He shook his head. "Nothing. Admiral Burke's on board. She hasnt' said anything, either."
Helga frowned. "That is too bad. I hope there will be good news soon" She picked up her bag and headed for her quarters. At least there would be much to do in sickbay to keep her from worrying.
A Junior science officer had heard the light chatter and moved over. "There have been no communications from the Von Braun in over a month," the Vulcan said looking at the nurse. "Why do you still hold false hope that they are alive?"
"Because I believe in miracles. Don't you? Surely youv'e seen things that defy logic? I have. And for that reason I will not lose hope until we hear proof that they are gone," Helga assured him. "If there were no hope, would the Admiral be here? No."
An Ensign sat at tactical. Some would think he was bored, others, simply having nothing to do. But Ensign Jacob Ongaku-Chi was neither. He was steamed, despite his slightly pointed ears. Someone had promised him a promotion, and an assistant, or even a chief position. Someone had promised him he wouldn't have to put up with so many blasted marines. Someone had promised him that things would be different this time. Damn it, mum. What the hell did you do, to piss off Command, anyways? The Ensign thought to himself. The console, which he was starring at, held no answers. It simply blinked, with blue lights, indicating Athena Control was still caring for the ship's systems. The rest of the bridge didn't seem especially well staffed, now that he noticed it. He called up the personnel files, on the rest of the security team, and absent-mindedly flipped through them, unaware of anyone else on the bridge.
A science officer watched him silently. She didn't say anything. There wasn't anything TO say. The ship waited for a Captain who was AWOL. Or was it MIA? Either way, she was gone. How long would they sit here, doing nothing, waiting for word? How long until a new Captain was assigned?
She sighed. The brass probably knew something she didn't. They usually did. So, now, she waited. And, like the Ensign, watched the lights flash across the various consoles.
"You know, with the shipyards controlling the ship, why are we sitting here?" she asked the bored Ensign.
"Because it is better than staring at the ceiling of my quarters, which I would otherwise be confined to?" The young man asked. "Besides, the bridge consoles call up information for homework better."
"I thought they all had the same access to the computer?" She shrugged. "Just be glad the Admiral isn't here right now to catch you at it. I don't think she'd appreciate you doing homework on the bridge."
"Actually, when I'm logged in at the bridge terminal, I have a higher clearance level, at the moment, than when I'm off duty. Some rude Commodore has my access levels restricted." The man noted.
It was probably with good reason. The science officer smiled sympathetically. "Sorry to hear that."
The science officer kept one eye on the clock and one on the displays. While they were at the shipyards, there wasn't much to do. And with no Captain, there was even less.
Finally, her relief showed up. "Hi!" she said, her voice overly cheerful. "Glad you're here. I'm off to get a drink."
The other officer nodded. "Bar's pretty busy tonight."
She grinned. "Well, at least it won't be boring!" She looked to the tactical officer and made a mental note to talk to someone about him. Then, with a cheerful wave she practically skipped to the turbolift.
(To be continued...)
Admiral Kathryn Burke
Commander, Theta Fleet
Master Chief Petty Officer Helga Lowe
Nurse
Science Officer
NPC
Ensign Jacob Ongaku-Chi
Tactical Officer
Commander Skylar
Chief Engineer
Starbase Typhon
Transporter Officer
NPC
RSS Feed