Unexpected Changes

Posted on Sun Jun 2nd, 2024 @ 12:02pm by Captain Mitsu Sato & Admiral Eleanor Shaw

1,115 words; about a 6 minute read

The busy concourse of a shipyard was usually a barely controlled area of contained chaos, with officers, engineers, crewmen and civilian contractors all moving about on their way to one area or another. One usually had to figure out how to navigate their way safely through, but there were a few exceptions. One was in the form of a tall, older gray haired woman who wore the rank of a full admiral and the expression of someone who clearly wasn't to be crossed or messed with. She walked directly to her destination, and the activity around her stopped and made way until after she had passed. More than a few wondered where she was heading, and some winced when they saw her entering the docking slip access that led to the USS Eclipse.

Mitsu was stepping out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her body when the communications panel built into the desk in her quarters chimed. With a sigh, she stepped over and tapped the audio button. "Yes?" she asked, trying to hide the weariness in her voice.

"Um, Captain, there's an admiral who just boarded. She paused long enough for me to check her I.D. and ask where you were. I told her I thought you would be in your ready room, but she said she was heading there anyway," the security officer on the other end reported.

Mitsu's eyes widened and she hurriedly grabbed the towel and finished drying off quickly. "Thank you," she said before she tapped the button again and killed the channel. Turning towards the closet, she opened it and grabbed one of her best duty uniforms. Dressing quickly, she hurried out of her quarters and down the corridor, sealing her uniform jacket as she reached the turbo-lift. Slapping the control panel, she tapped the override button and hoped that would be enough for her to arrive before whichever admiral had just boarded her ship. She arrived in her ready room and barely had time to step over to the replicator before the door chime rang. With a breath of relief, she called "Enter" and turned towards the door.

The admiral she had been warned about stepped through the doors and waited until they had slid closed before she studied the captain for a moment and nodded. "I apologize for interrupting your down time, Captain. I'm Admiral Eleanor Shaw. As of this afternoon, the Eclipse has been assigned to my sector," the admiral said.

Mitsu's eyes betrayed her attempt to hide her surprise. Every Starfleet captain knew, and quite a few feared, the dreaded Admiral Shaw. She had a reputation for begin ruthless, cutthroat and easily offended. She was also one of the admirals in charge of Starfleet's special operations division, which covered everything from special operations to cutting edge technological advancement testing and scientific advancements in addition to the usual patrol and exploration missions that star-ships were issued. Only a handful of admirals were in charge, and each had their own carefully hand-selected groups of star-ships and crews under their command.

"I have to ask why you're apologizing to me, Admiral," Mitsu said as she waved her hand to the replicator in a questioning gesture.

"No thank you to the drink," Admiral Shaw said. "I noticed that your hair was still wet. Judging from the late hour, I figured I interrupted a bath. To which, I apologize and commend you for making here before me. Most captains meet me in the turbo-lift."

"I see," Mitsu said as she stepped towards her desk. "Please have a seat, Admiral. And I must ask, why are you here? The Eclipse is scheduled to depart tomorrow and head out to the Romulan Neutral Zone."

"That schedule has been changed," Shaw said as she sat down. "By now, transfer orders are being written up. A number of your current crew are being reassigned, and new officers are being assigned to the Eclipse along with new orders. I trust that you can make accommodations for the additional personnel I'm assigning you."

"Additional personnel?" Mitsu asked, managing not to blink.

"You'll find out soon enough, I suppose," Shaw said. "I'm assigning one of our best scientific research teams to the Eclipse. It's a mixture of Starfleet officers and civilian specialists, headed by Commander Alesia Harrington. She's been informed that she will report to your current chief science officer in all things and act as her deputy assistant. Commander Grey will be stepping down to second officer to make room for your new executive officer, and the rest of the transfers will be transmitted to you by Zero-Six-Hundred hours tomorrow."

"Admiral, with all due respect, this sounds like a lot of changes to a crew that hasn't even been fully assembled on a star-ship that hasn't even launched yet," Mitsu said.

"That's exactly the reason the Eclipse was selected," Shaw replied. "Not only for the reasons you listed, but also because of the advanced scientific systems on board. If I'm not mistaken, the Eclipse is the most advanced science ship of her listed classification. You'll still perform the duties that the Eclipse was designed for, but at her heart and core this ship is a science vessel. We're simply going to utilize that capability at the same time you're going to be proving the Eclipse's other capabilities."

"I see. And I suppose I don't really have any other option but to accept these orders without question," Mitsu said, suppressing a heavy sigh.

"Not really," Shaw said softly. "I do understand that this comes out of nowhere, Captain, and again I apologize. You just happen to be the ship we need at the time we need it. The research team is to fully support the Eclipse's primary mandate of exploration, but they will also be conducting their own research at the same time. You're new orders will be in the transmission along with the list of transfers."

Standing, Shaw offered a smile. "I do hope the best for your ship and crew, Captain. Once everything settles down, I'm sure you and your crew will be able to do wonderful things for Starfleet."

Without further ceremony, the admiral turned and stepped towards the door. Mitsu stood quickly and waited just long enough for the doors to slide closed behind Shaw before she sighed and practically fell back into her chair. She had suspected that something like this might happen, but the suddenness of it had surprised her. Reaching out, she tapped the controls built into her desk and checked her schedule for the morning before reaching out to the keyboard. She had a feeling that there would be a lot of meetings in the foreseeable future.

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