To the Katasterismoi

Posted on Mon Sep 4th, 2023 @ 3:30am by Captain Robert Burke & Commander Khiane Mau & Lieutenant Haruka Amami & Lieutenant Ryssa Dari & Lieutenant JG Austin Faust

1,973 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Timeline: Mission Day 1

::ON::

Closing the medicine cabinet, Burke looked at himself critically in the mirror above his washstand. Flexing his face this way and that he checked that his casual stubble was as ordered as he liked, and ran a hand across his close-shaven skull. He shrugged. It'll do, he thought, reckoning he had developed new bags under his eyes since taking the command. That or they were already there and got bigger. Rubbing some cream under his eyes he reckoned that would have to do for today.

Making his way back to his bedroom through his sumptuous quarters, Burke felt a flutter in his heart as he saw his uniform, and his newly-minted Captain's rank displayed on it. It still didn't feel quite real. He regarded the uniform critically, looking it up and down for any flaw, a thread out of place or a wayward crease. There were none. It seemed the support staff aboard the vessel took their jobs seriously. It was a good thing.

Tugging his uniform over his wide frame, he reflected how much he preferred the newer maroon uniform and polo neck combination, much less garish than the mid-2260s uniforms. Much more me. Burke twisted this way and that in front of the mirror after closing the jacket clasp, checking to see it draped on him appropriately. Eventually he was satisfied.

'Computer, time.'

'Time is oh-six-hundred hours. T-minus three hours to launch.'

Burke felt a lightness in his stomach, a feeling almost of levitation. It was almost time for launch. A chime sounded at the door. He looked over and grinned.

'Ah, breakfast!'

Lt. Faust had trouble sleeping that night, due to the sheer excitement of the pending launch. He kept waking up wondering if he forgot anything, any check, requisition or if the ship's sensors were calibrated correctly. By 0500 he gave up sleeping and made it to the bridge, with coffee cup and saucer in hand. The bridge was barely staffed as he arrived.

"Oh good morning sir," said the startled fresh faced Ensign.

"Good morning Mr. Malone," Austin said as the doors closed behind him, "I got it, if you want to turn in early."

"Of course sir," the young man responded as he stood up out of the command chair.

"Watch it," Austin responded as he moved his coffee cup out of harm's way, "We don't want to stain the Captain's brand new chair..."

The jittery ensign nodded and made his way off the bridge.

Everyone was jumpy this morning... He sat down in the chair and set down the coffee cup and saucer onto the small coffee table. He chuckled at the small podium, it was his Dad's suggestion as a joke... Said the only thing the Captain's chair was missing were cupholders.

Ryssa was excited for launch. She'd checked the science labs and equipment twice and ordered everything she thought they'd need. Last night she did one final check to make sure all supplies had been delivered and were in their place. Still, she woke before her alarm.

She was not going to arrive early. science had nothing much to do for launch, so she'd be an observer only. She made herself eat and dress. Then she went over any new messages before making her way to the bridge.

Khiane was up, showered and dressed before the alarm went off though that was more habit than anything else. She was just retrieving the reports she wanted to read when the chime sounded announcing the arrival of her breakfast. She accepted the tray and tried not to notice the way the steward craned his neck, trying to see into the room. She thanked him and stepped back, allowing the door to shut off his view, and reminded herself that it was a new ship and to be expected at least until they understood that she wasn't sleeping in a pile of straw or something. She settled down to eat and read, at least until the computer reminded her it was time to leave for the Bridge.

[* * *]

With fifteen minutes to go before launch, Burke had finished his preliminary checks, and was sat in the center chair, leg crossed over one knee casually as he keyed the internal comms. 'All shift personnel to their stations. Launch in T-minus fifteen minutes.'

"Acknowledgements coming in sir," Lt. Faust said from the CONN as he turned around, "The last set of orders, reports and acknowledgements are coming in for you sir, routed to your Yeoman. I guess they want you to sign the Terms of Service and liability forms before we can leave dock."

Burke looked over at the Operations Chief and flashed a grin, 'let's make sure we get out of here with all speed then - I'm not signing for every ding we'll take out there in space or I'll not have a pension left.' His expression took on a more serious aspect as he flicked through the reports coming through, 'it looks all in order, Lieutenant. Once the departments have signed in we can prepare to detach from the station.

The lieutenant tried not to laugh and he nodded, "Aye sir," he responded before turning to face his half of the CONN once again.

Khiane entered the Bridge, her dark brown gaze taking in the crew, the hum of activity and anticipation, and smiled. At 5'8", she was considered on the tall side of average though she moved with sinuous grace, a trait she shared with her other half. Her dark brown hair fell to just below her shoulders, with a bit of bang across the forehead, and while she hated the restrictive nature of her uniform, she always made sure that it was immaculate. Her first captain had taught her that early on. She stopped near the captain's chair and nodded respectfully. "Good morning, Captain," she said. "Ready to go out and scrape the newness off the ship?"

'Just that, and not a layer of the azteking paint,' Burke replied with a wide smile as he swiveled the center chair around to face the newcomer. Getting up from the seat, he leant his hands, and his weight against the center rail, 'I trust your accomodation is to your satisfaction, Commander Khiane?'

"Delightful, Captain," Khiane said and then couldn't help but adding with a mischievous smile, "course, if the paint did get scraped, we could always form a detail, say, a bunch of miscreants in EVA suits, to fix it right up."

'I'm sure you can keep a note of that particular duty if the situation ever arises for it,' Burke replied with a smile, 'though I doubt the eventuality will come to it, even if we scrape the paint.'

"I do like to a bit of creativity in miscreant punishment," Khiane said, her voice dropping to a low purr.

Down in Engineering, Haruka was inspecting the ship's warp core and drive systems. She was ticking off various items on the checklist as she prepared to take the ship out it was essential that the Hecate was in prime condition for its maiden voyage.

Ryssa slipped onto the bridge and went over to science. She took a quick check to be sure everything was working properly, then turned to the main viewscreen.

The internal comm whistled and the neutral baritone of Doctor Setek came across it after Burke's acknowledgement. 'Sickbay reports ready for launch - all systems optimal, and inventory accounted for.'

'Thank you Doctor. Hopefully once we're launched our crew won't have too many places to hide from their mandatory certifications,' Burke replied with a smile.

'Hope is illogical, Captain. It is a requirement of their duties,' Setek replied. Burke imagining his raised eyebrow chuckled. He'd not known the duty officer for the shift long, but he was looking forward to getting to know the Vulcan better over the course of their time aboard.

Ensign Plumzezii advanced from the turbolift at a rapid pace. There was little point for the Saurian to try and sneak through to his duty station. The Saurian was too tall for one. For another, his incredibly pale, blue-tinged hide, and striking orange eyes made him hard to blend in.

'Helm reports ready,' he hissed after a few moments of adjusting his console.

As the last of the stations reported in, Burke luxuriated in the busy quiet of the Bridge for a moment. His crew attended their tasks around him, concentrating, with nothing but the whirrs, clicks and beeps of confirmation from the consoles to punctuate their work. Lacing his fingers together and resting his arms on the shoulders of his command chair, Burke broke the silence.

'Lieutenant Faust, please hail Utopia Station One.'

"Aye aye sir," Austin responded as he keyed in the sequence, "Hailing frequencies open."

'This is Captain Burke of the USS Hecate,' he intoned formally, and quite unnecessary as Hecate was one the only Excelsior-class vessel docked at the facility. 'Requesting permission to depart.'

The viewscreen winked to life, a bronze-furred Caitian nodded in response to Burke's request. 'This is Harboumaster M'iri,' they purred. 'Perrrmission granted. Umbilicals detaching. Godspeed Hecate. Utopia Station One, out.'

Looking at the readouts, Burke saw the umbilicals greying out as they detached, and Hecate finally came into her own power. 'Engineering, bring the warp core to one-hundred-percent,' Burke instructed, mentally going through the list needed before they could depart.'

"Warp core online. Power is rising, we should have full power in a few moments," Haruka's voice replied over the comm from down in the depths of the engineering hull.

'Mister Faust, monitor ship's systems in case of fluctuations outside the norm,' Burke continued officiously.

"Aye aye Captain," Austin responded. It was an odd request since that was his job anyway, but he shrugged off the feeling.

'Helm, take us out of range of the station with thrusters, one-quarter impulse until we clear Martian space,' Burke declared, checking a readout on his arm console.

The ship's inertia changed quicker than the dampers could compensate for momentarily as Plumzezii's fingers danced across the console in front of him, swinging the Hecate around and above Utopia Station One. Smoothly maneuvering the ship around the burgeoning manufacturing center Utopia Planitia was becoming, Plum let his jaw hang loose in the Saurian approximation of a smile as he leaned in towards his console.

Ryssa grabbed her console for a moment, then chuckled. This was definitely going to be an interesting tour. She looked forward to it.

The operations officer grimaced at the unexpected change. He would need to speak with engineering about getting that system adjusted. The last thing anyone needed was the crew losing their lunch every time the ship changed direction.

For his part, Burke grinned, and tightened his grip on the arms of the center chair as the ship made her way out of Mars orbit, heading out into the great unknown. Once they had broken free of the planet's orbit, Burke ordered them to warp speed, heading out towards the border and their rendezvous with the convoy to Qon'oS.

Turning to a Yeoman with an oversized PADD, Burke accepted it gratefully as the ship settled down into her routine. With an immense sense of satisfaction, Burke set about his work. His ship - his was finally underway, and nothing lay between her and the stars any more.

::OFF::

Captain Robert Burke
Commanding Officer
USS Hecate

Commander Khiane Mau
Executive and Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Commander Lachlan Lamont
Chief Security Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Haruka Amami
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Ryssa Dari
Chief Science Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant (JG) Austin Faust
Chief Operations Officer
USS Hecate

 

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