Preparing for Departure

Posted on Fri Nov 1st, 2024 @ 3:03pm by Captain Mitsu Sato & Lieutenant Vesper Wolfe & Commander Karl Rogers & Commander Eva Grey & Lieutenant Kev Walker & Lieutenant Jaina Zalla & Lieutenant Commander T'Mara

1,499 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Beginnings

Mitsu had called for a meeting with the senior officers, something that hadn't been necessary but she had thought that such an event might be helpful for her to meet and settle in with her officers before the Eclipse launched. She arrived at the briefing room early, taking note of the elegant design of the room and the conference table before she walked over to stand before the view port, taking in the view.

Having little to do, Eva managed to arrive to the meeting a bit early. She had been surprised to hear a call for a senior officers' meeting, which was normally reserved for mission briefings or to discuss critical points during a mission. However, she had yet to meet the majority of the other senior officers and it seemed that now would be a good time when all was calm rather than later during a critical moment in the middle of a mission. Arriving at the conference room, Eva walked in and smiled towards the captain as she took a seat at the table. "Good afternoon, Captain," she said.

Mitsu turned and returned Eva's smile with one of her own. "And to you as well, Commander," she said as she finally stepped towards her own chair at the head of the table and sat down. "I hope the science department is settling in without any further problems."

"That remains to be seen," Eva replied as the doors opened once more.

Kev entered the room and nodded stiffly to the two women already seated. He recognized them from reading through the ship's manifest as the captain and chief science officer and so wasn't too surprised to see them already present and ready for the meeting. Finding a chair, he sat down and leaned back in it, trying to relax.

Karl walked in a few moments behind Walker and instantly sat down in an empty chair. Yawning, he rubbed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair and thought about attacking the replicator for a double coffee.

Mitsu noticed her first officer and raised her eyebrows towards him. "Did I interrupt a mid-afternoon nap, Commander?" she asked with a humorous tone in her voice.

"Not really captain, but I did get an early start today at about 0300 since I wanted to observe the third shift rotation and get a feel for how the ship is manned during that time," Karl replied. "Although a nap would be nice right about now."

Jaina Zalla entered the briefing room and instantly scanned the room before she made her way to an empty chair and sat down. She kept her movements short and professional, her eyes constantly darting about seeking out and potential threat even though she knew there was a slim to none chance that there would be such a threat. After a few moments, she finally allowed herself to relax a little before she turned her head to focus her attention towards the captain.

The doors opened to reveal a tall and attractive woman of mixed human and Vulcan heritage with a slightly dusky complexion and her hair in an older Vulcan style. Walking into the conference room, she offered a hint of a friendly smile and a nod towards the other officers before she made her way to an empty seat and sat down.

Before the doors could close, Vesper managed to slide sideways through them and quickly made her way to an empty chair. She hadn't expected to be called into a senior officer meeting, but she was grateful for a break in what had been an otherwise dull day.

"I believe we're all here, so I'll go ahead and get us started," Mitsu said as she smiled and leaned forward in her chair. Resting her forearms on the table, she glanced around the table at the faces of the gathered officers. "I realize that we're all unfamiliar with each other, and some of us are new to being department heads and we're all here on a brand new ship. We've also been flagged to Admiral Shaw's command, and given one of the admiral's infamous research teams to babysit for a while. To that end, we've already received our first mission."

Tapping a control on the command panel built into the table, she activated the wall mounted view screen. It displayed a localized regional map, complete with identification text and markers.

"There is a Starfleet research station near the outer edge of the Adelphous System, located just inside the star's Oort cloud. Our mission is simply to head to the station and collect any data that may be useful to Commander Harrington's mysterious science project. Once that has been completed, we'll receive further orders and proceed from there."

"What exactly is this Commander Harrington's project, Captain?" Jaina asked.

"I'm afraid that I don't know," Mitsu replied unhappily. "It's classified, and that leads me to another point. I need at least two security officers stationed outside her science lab at all times while she's no board the Eclipse. Commander Grey has the details."

"That sounds like it's possibly something important," Kev commented out loud.

"The fact that the project is classified and has Admiral Shaw's support indicates that Starfleet has earmarked this mysterious project as something of great importance," T'Mara said. Turning to the captain, she added. "Has it been noted or mentioned if any of this research require any specialized protection for the crew?"

"I haven't been informed of any potential danger to the crew or the ship, but then again I'm afraid I don't know anything about the project at all," Eva admitted. "The captain and I are both in the dark on what the project involves."

"I hate to add in onto the problems that seem to be involved in this, and I feel like I'm shortening the stick that someone is using to swing at a hornets nest, but I need some idea of what the project is in case there are specialized power requirements that are required," Kev chimed in. He had taken a moment to think, and usually on a larger ship it most likely wouldn't be a problem but Eclipse was small, and even with the new and advanced power reactor the ship had power was still something that had to be monitored.

Mitsu nodded in agreement, although she doubted that even that argument would prove to be very effective against Harrington's brick wall of privacy. "That is a very good argument, Lieutenant, and I'll see what I can do to get some answers. That might even open the door a little in order to get us some answers."

"The security arrangements shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I don't have a very large staff," Jaina said. "I'll have to create a rotation schedule just for that lab, and it'll cut the internal security patrols down."

"I'm not really worried about internal patrols right now," Mitsu said. "But do what you can for now."

"Captain, I have to add in that the demands of the ship's safety are paramount," Karl spoke up. "Security officers on board are required to so many hours of drills and security department related training. Requiring officers that will have to be diverted from their mandated duties may pose an unacceptable risk to the safety of the ship and its crew. Certainly, this has to be considered into the scope of things when it comes to us being able to meet all of these demands."

"I don't see why they couldn't put this entire problem onto another ship," Vesper spoke up. She had been keeping quiet, but she felt that she needed to add her own opinion as well. "The Eclipse is a brand new ship and we have our own issues to work out and honestly this Harrington is going to be nothing more than a problem that needs to be placed on a star ship that can accommodate her requirements."

"These are all concerns that have been noted and I will do my best to get answers for everyone," Mitsu said, knowing that she needed to redirect the meeting or else it was going to deteriorate quickly. "We'll have a better idea of what's going on once we reach the research station, and to be honest I'm hoping that Harrington and her research team are only going to be here temporarily. That's our current situation, and we will meet this challenge head on and beat it. Are there any questions?"

Mitsu nodded as the gathered officers kept quiet, their agitated silence speaking volumes. She knew the reasons behind their feelings, but they were Starfleet officers with a job to do. Fortunately, they would soon be rid of the special assignment and be free to do what science ships were designed to do.

"Alright. All departments are to have a final readiness report by end of shift this afternoon. We'll depart tomorrow at 0900. Dismissed," she said, bringing their first briefing to an uneasy end.

 

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