Just A Jump To The Left
Posted on Tue Jan 22nd, 2013 @ 4:35pm by Lieutenant Riley Sukotav & Commander Anthony Davis & Commander Sakkath & Commander Patrick Leroy & Lieutenant Commander Terrell Kona & Lieutenant Ito Tsuki & Lieutenant Bryce Kendrick & Ensign Reva Madhava & Ensign Ian Bren
Mission:
The Struggle Within
Location: SB900/SB900 Alternate Universe
* * * USS Hammond * * *
It had been a bad day or so for Bryce as he got the full run-down on what had happened to Rick. Others were involved, sure, but he was worried more about his uncle than anyone else. But, as promised, he'd returned to the Hammond and ensured that it was ready for anything from a security standpoint. He was at his console on the bridge when Commander Davis and several other personnel Bryce didn't recognize arrived.
Like Bryce, Riley had arrived at the Hammond early with Ensign Bren in tow. They'd gone over every last bit of equipment down to the circuits and finally, satisfied, had taken a short break. Returning now, Riley noted the increased activity with more than a little excitement. Once Commander Sakkath had given the order, things got moving and fast.
"Break in your new stations, we depart in fifteen minutes," Anthony said as he made his way to the center chair. He had to stand strong in the fact that this was the best choice for his crew and the admiral. With a few clicks on the consul of his chair Anthony pulled up a ship wide broadcast, "All hands, this is the Captain. You have all been briefed in what is about to happen. You know the risk. Today no one is to be a hero. If you feel you want to be a hero today, then find the nearest transporter pad or airlock and leave. Departure in fifteen minutes, all hands prepare."
Once the announcement finished, Terrell laid his single travel bag down on the couch in the quarters he had been issued on deck three of the Hammond. This was his first time on a Diligent class starship and he was very pleased with the crew quarters at the very least. They were much better than what he remembered from the Defiant class, which had been the base class used to design the Diligent class starships. Terrell didn't linger long in his more than adequate quarters though, as he wanted to get down to the medical bay on deck five to check in and see what the facilities were like, just in case he needed to appropriate any equipment from the station prior to departure. Arriving in sick bay he found that not only the crew quarters were a pleasant upgrade from the Defiant class. Sick Bay had much more modern equipment than the station had, including some bio-neural circuitry. At least they were traveling to this alternate universe in style. "Doctor Kona to the bridge. Everything in Sick bay is in order Captain and ready for departure."
"Very well, lets hope that we won't need to use it to much," Anthony said with a smirk on his face.
"I don't like this," Eric said as he followed Norval through the Deck 3 corridor of the Hammond, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder, shaking his head. "Not at all."
"I know," the Trill admitted as he stepped into the quarters he'd been assigned and took his bag from Edwards. "But consider what's happening here. Leroy needs Sakkath to manage the power distribution for a small fleet just to get us there. If we're going to get back, they'll need me. I'm the best qualified person we have."
"I need you," Eric managed with a frown. "Here. You're the acting Ops Chief. And I don't want to consider what happens if you can't come back."
"Don't think like that," Norval said as he wrapped Eric in an embrace. "We will get back." The Trill had his characteristic grin pasted on his face as he looked into the Security officer's eyes. "You could always come with us."
It made him chuckle. "And face Oz's wrath? No thank you. She already wants to kill Darwin for disappearing. Besides, I need to be here to deal with the Hazari." He paused, his nose wrinkled in thought. "You know, if they manage to bring Chance back like they think they can, what do I charge this guy with? How can you be tried for murder if the victim is alive again?"
"You'll think of something. Or Oz will. Or Jackson will fabricate it... you know, par for the course," Norval said as he planted a kiss on Eric's lips. "But listen, there's not a lot of time, you should get back. I will see you soon," he promised.
"Right," Eric replied, lingering in the kiss for a moment before the pair exchanged 'I love you's and Edwards made for the transporter room while Tigan set off to the bridge.
As Ito rushed through the halls of the Hammond she almost had to chuckle. She had no more gotten herself introduced to the second in command when the order had come for her to report aboard as the senior helm officer. Now here she was, about to enter the bridge of a type of starship she hadn't flown before. This should be interesting.
The door slid open in front of her, giving her access to the bridge. As she took her station at Helm she noticed that most of the other positions were already manned. She took a moment to look over the default configuration of the board, then nodded to herself. She took a second to load her own over it, then scanned the readouts.
"Engineering reports both impulse and warp drives are online, Captain." Ito swiveled around in the chair to look directly at the man in the center chair. She realized that she didn't have a clue who he was. Nor did she know anyone else on the bridge.
"Lieutenant Tsuki reporting, Captain. I am your helm officer." He nodded to her, acknowledging her. She returned her attention to the controls in front of her.
Bryce smiled and nodded at the small woman. It seemed that they were getting all kinds of help now on this potentially dangerous mission. And since it was a volunteer-only mission, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pride to be working with people that would risk their lives on a mission like this.
Down in what some called the 'bowels' of the ship, Reva Madhava was getting accustomed to the Hammond's engines and little quirks. Already, she'd discovered that the engines preferred running on a slightly sweeter mix than the last ship she'd been engineer on. As she worked, she looked up and noticed one of her two companions from the Wormhole coming down a ladder. Nice, she thought, smiling at the view. "Coming to check up on me?", she called to him.
"Actually, ensign, I'll be down here with you for the launch, coordinating with Commanders Leroy and Davis from here. Once we are approaching the wormhole, we'll engage the chroniton beam. The adjusted shield frequencies should be in place already."
"Excellent!" She beamed a dazzling smile at him. "I'm just feeling out the ship's soft spots. And, yeah, those frequencies are in place."
After reporting the readiness of her station to the captain, Ito turned her attention to running through the specifications of the Hammond. That did not take long, and to say she was impressed would be an understatement. Then she keyed in a search, looking for a particular file, and found it right where she thought it would be. There was nothing in the official manuals about the file, but she had found out early in her career as a helmsman that there were files left like this on every ship. Files that contained the various helmsmen's thoughts about the ship, how she handled in various situations, what they liked and did not like about her, that sort of thing. What she read said good things about the ship. Handled well, though had a little bit of an issue with high speed warp turns. Nothing that couldn't be compensated for, and it was good to know about it before she actually experienced it.
Then she turned to the mission file and began reading, having only gotten a brief idea of where the Hammond was going. A rescue mission, eh? she thought as she started to read. Her eyes widened briefly as she read where they were going, and then widened a bit more when she saw how the crossing was to be attempted. That's going to make for some interesting flying. This should be fun!
A grin crossed her face as she brought her console back to flight configuration and settled down in her chair to await whatever happened next.
Several minutes later, a call came in to the Bridge.
=^= Lt. Sukotav to Commander Davis. Commander Leroy and Commander Sakkath are patched in to this channel as well. Everything's all set in science and engineering. All systems read normal. Once we approach the wormhole, we can hold position and the power linkup will begin. Once it's at full, we'll engage the beam and get the shields up. Leaving this channel open. =^=
"Very well, we will bring the ship to independent power and leave dock. I want to give her a quick once around the station to ensure everything is still working properly in actuality instead of theoretically," Anthony said ending his side of the conversation, but not closing out the channel.
"Helm, lets leave the dock and do a quick test-drive. I want to hear her purr before we drag her across time and space," Anthony said to Ito.
"Aye, sir," Ito replied. She tapped the console in front of her, taking in all the indicators as she did. Green across the board. "Internal systems functioning," she stated, then tapped another switch. A distant shiver could be felt through their feet, gone in an instant. "Umbilicals detached. Ship is on independent power." She tapped a few more controls, then brought the impulse engines online. The Hammond slid out of the docking bay as gentle as a breeze.
"We are free to navigate, Captain," Ito said as the ship edged out from the shadow of station free and clear.
"Prepare a course around the station. Get a feel for the controls and lets make sure everything has switched over fine," Anthony said. He then opened his channel to engineering, "We are doing a quick jog around the park to test out the ship, report any abnormalities with engines."
"Will do, Sir!", came the eager reply from Reva. It was obvious the part-Orion was grinning madly, thrilled with the technicalities of what they were about to try.
Leroy walked down the main room of Galileo Center checking the battery of stations committed to the operation personally. Each one was manned by an expert ensign or Jr. Lieutenant he had previously selected. He had stopped other projects and required the necessary staff, opting for precise management of every single aspect involved in opening the controlled rift needed.
=^= I’m copying Lieutenant. =^= Patrick responded to Riley’s comment =^= You’re going to be monitored during all of your test run around the base and we will inform you real time on any peculiar difference about the chroniton beam behaviour compared to the established plan. Engineering and Ops will do the same with the rest of your systems. =^=
"Acknowledged," Riley answered. "Starting the initialization sequence for the beam now."
=^= The fleet is standing by, =^= Sakkath reported from Command and Control on 900. =^= Power generation is nominal. You are free to begin your test. Mister Tigan, transmit shipboard data to my Operations console here, =^= he ordered.
"Aye aye," the Trill Lieutenant responded from the bridge of the Hammond, sending yet another perspective on the dry-run for Sakkath to analyze and interpret. "Now, let's just hope this works..." Norval added under his breath.
*************
Commander Sakkath
Commander Anthony Davis
Lt. Commander Patrick Leroy
Lt. Commander Terrell Kona
Lt. Riley Sukotav
Lt. Bryce Kendrick
Lt. Ito Tsuki
Ensign Reva Madhava
Ensign Ian Bren
