Where no man has gone before

Posted on Sat Dec 16th, 2017 @ 2:16pm by Captain Remas McDonald

978 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: S1:2: Rubicon
Location: Bridge
Timeline: Mission Day 2, 23.55

Tolkath was bent over the science panel on the Traveller's Bridge. The ship had dropped out of phase space travel some four minutes before and he was attempting to gather as much data on the transition as possible.

He had the sensors working on all bands and had slaved in those on the freighters and downloaded the recorders on what was left of the fairing before it was collected and reclaimed.

He was so intent on ensuring nothing was lost that he almost forgot his own personal experience of the launch and their arrival in, well, uncharted space.

He would strongly deny any form of unseemly emotion such as excitement but he would possibly concede to a mild form of ...anticipation at what was to come.

"Lieutenant Zhuri" He called over to the Chief Engineer, a few minutes later. "I have completed my preliminary scans. You may have the sensor suite for ship and flotilla structural integrity checks"

Arivek didn't look away from the large panel he was looking at, "I intiated such scans almost ten minutes ago," he said, matter of factly.

Tolkath raised an eyebrow, he wondered how the Engineer was claiming such a thing when the sensors had been under the sole control of the science division and calibrated for maximum range and distance. The man seemed to have a proclivity for concealing factual information, such as not reporting an obstruction on one of the alternative flight plans earlier.

Tolkath turned to Remas "Captain, may I report we have clear space around us, in all directions. I believe this is the furthest any Federation vessel has ever been into uncharted space."

"Perhaps it's not the time to celebrate just yet," Arivek said, not giving time for the CO to respond. "We've had a lot of stress on the hull, mostly minor. We've had a major hull breach on deck four, but repair crews are handling it." Arivek looked up, "And our warp core took damage. That's going to take me some time. We'll only have up to warp 6 available to us until it is repaired."

"But given some of the theoretical models had the Traveller arriving here as a cloud of disassociating plasma, I'll call it a win," Remas, as he signed off on a padd and handed it to a crewman. He turned to his Chief Engineer and Science Officer. "We're going to be doing a lot of firsts out here Tolkath. But this is just the next shore. A century or so down the line some other hot heads will be pointing the nose of their ship towards Andromeda or the Large Magellanic Cloud."

With a nod, as Vulcany an idiom as their signature salute, Tolkath departed to his put his head together with the other scientists.

"Far be it from me Ari to say that, given we've just broken a half dozen rules of conventional physics to get here, a few dents in the hull are to be expected," Remas rubbed a finger against the side of his jaw. "Would going on the float and giving you cold engines for a day or so speed up repairs? I'd rather give you the time to get things up and running than have them blow out mid fix at warp 6."

Arivek looked up at Remas. "Had I determined that such measures would be assistive to me, I would have told you so from the beginning," he said before looking back down to his console. "Deterring from our mission would not help our repair efforts. No sense in delaying."

"I bow to your expertise in these matters," Remas nodded, turning back to the rest of the bridge and nodding his head at the helmsman on duty. "Mr Beck, set course for the primary investigatory zone, warp 6. And pass along the same to the Archeron and her colonists."

A corresponding chorus of acceptance followed, and soon the ships gentle hum grew an octave louder as she broke the speed of light. No stars stretched past as she flew. It was all of the ships sensory input that even said she was flying at all.

"Whilst doing your repairs, have a care to check in with your team. They've been through an ordeal, losing Lt Daton like that. They'll be looking to you for guidance and leadership," Remas said quietly, standing beside the shoulder of his friend.

Arivek looked at the man, his brow scrunched in confusion, "If the staff requires emotional support, I feel the Counselor's office would be a more appealing venue. I'm here to give them orders, not a hug."

“Moral is to manpower, as three is to one. The department heads are the examples of our merry bands, we set the bar high but we also lift up our weakest members,” Remas said, looking at Ari with a flicker of concern in his eyes. “We are all that we have out here now, old friend. The crew needs to know we are here for them as much as anyone else.”

"Captain, I know we have worked together for the past couple of years, but at what point did you decide our relationship ever developed past that of colleagues?" Arivek asked, turning away from the man without waiting for an answer. "I will take care of the Engineering staff," he said over his shoulder as he entered the turbolift and the doors closed behind him.

Remas hummed thoughtfully to himself for a moment. They were all that they had out here, at least until Starfleet got around to building a second Accelerator and (maybe) sending reinforcements. His upbringing had all been on ships and stations, where the fellowship and comradery of your neighbour weren't just expected but required for survival.

Five years was time enough to rub off any rough edges. Hopefully, fate would not conspire to throw them to many curveballs.

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