The Adventure Begins

Posted on Sun Jun 25th, 2023 @ 10:07pm by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & Lieutenant Paul Michael & Lieutenant Ja'sol H'ros & Lieutenant Elen Diari & Lieutenant Junior Grade Thex sh'Zoarhi & Captain Edmund Merrick & Sergeant Major Lachlan Barr
Edited on on Mon Jun 26th, 2023 @ 4:41am

3,622 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 14 - The Poseidon Adventure
Location: USS Pioneer & Poseidon Docking Ring
Timeline: MD004 0900 hrs

Tyler sat in the command chair of the Pioneer. The Bridge looked interesting to the Captain with the myriad of colored uniforms, red, green and gold were the primary colors with a smattering of blue mixed in. Most of the crew that had been involved with the business on Igion had healed although Tyler knew that the emotional scars would run deep. He was pleased to see his senior officers at their posts and all smiles. There was a quiet anticipation of the shore leave ahead, and to make things somewhat better it was a new port for them. The USS Pioneer slowed to impulse as Lieutenant Michael alerted him that they had entered the Aquil Sector. “Thank you Lieutenant set a course for Poseidon station full impulse.”

Tyler leaned over to his first officer. “Tell me, Major I am sure you and your men are looking for some R&R. What are considering on your time off?”

At the question, Tremble’s contact HUD collapsed the files he’d been reviewing and said, “There’s time off and then there’s time off, sir. But I do plan to bar hop some and see if the Kingsmen live up to their reputation.”

“From what I read, Colonel Patton and his people can give you all a run for your money. But I know the Cure and the Kingsmen are no Cure.” Tyler smiled broadly. “I think after everything that happened on Igion we all deserve a vacation. Speaking of, reports say that Poseidon was just attacked by the Breen. So I would like to keep a bridge crew on duty at all times. Please see to creating a schedule so everyone gets appropriate time off. Myself included I am not immune.” It would be the last bit of work that Tyler would request of Tremble before the time off.

“Aye, Aye, Commodore,” Tremble said with a grin. “Already processing it. I plan to let a few officers get bridge qualification credits while we’re at it. Spread it around so that no one draws more than a few hours. I’ll run overwatch, sir. You won’t need to set foot on the bridge until we depart.”

Tyler smiled there was certainly something to be said about Marine efficiency as an XO. “Major don’t make me order you to take a vacation. But I do appreciate you getting it done. Having some people cleared for the big chair would be prudent. The ole Kobyashi Maru is in our databanks. Lets try to separate the men from the boys as it were.” He gave a good laugh at the idea of the training exercise that reeked havoc with equipment and people.

Thex finished her tapping the last few items off on her operations consul. The operation chief had a few items to follow up on the station one of them being were parts of the Pioneers supplies had ended up. Then she had to make sure the supplies they’d been sent were correctly sent whomever they were actually supposed to go to.

When ordered by the captain, Michael had set a course to Poseidon at impulse as ordered.

El looked up from the engineering station “Anybody know who to talk to about getting some time in drydock ? Starboard nacelle’s Bussard is blocked, want to poke it clear with a stick”

Ja’sol turned towards El. ” With the Captains permission I can send a request for the Pioneer to use the drydock facility for maintenance to speed up the process. “ He stated.

“Get er done Lieutenants. Lieutenant Jezka is in charge of Engineering on Poseidon Station. I am sure that he can arrange to getting the ship fixed up. While we are at it Ja’sol contact whoever is Strategic Operations over there and let them know of our impending arrival. I am sure that they would like to know what resources they have should they need it.”

“Approaching Poseidon Station, captain.” On the screen, the station came into view. Michael piloted the Pioneer towards the station’s main docking ring. “Shall I hail the station, captain?”

Hermia stood at the back of the Bridge, staying out of the way as the ship entered the system and made its way to Poseidon Station.

The CMO was no poet, but to her it appeared like a shining diamond against the spread black satin blanket of space.

Lachlan grumbled to himself. Not only did he have to deal with the requests of enlisted marines, which to be honest were fine as there were not that many but had he known the true amount of naval enlisted was over 100 then he’d have considered the position more carefully. All these moans and groans. He’d definitely be disembarking the Pioneer in search of the Fugazi bar. It was run by one of his old Sergeants, Alden Powell.

Alyssa was curious about the anomaly, but she told herself that the station had a competent science team that would no doubt look into the rift. She watched from the science station as they approached. She knew she needed to take a break, but all she had planned was to spend time in the arboretum and get some ideas for her vertical garden. She might spend some time catching up on the latest archaeological news as well, but there wasn’t much. She wondered if Jayna had any plans. They’d worked together a little in astrometrics, and Alyssa had worked a bit with intel in the past. But that wasn’t anything set in stone. She had no idea if the other woman was doing anything.

“Lieutenant sh’Zoarhi hail the station.” Tyler said as he leaned to the side of his chair and sipped his ever present coffee. In this moment though he was reminded of Janeway’s love for the greatest suspension devised by man. He smiled and swallowed the brew.

The andorian nodded as she opened up the communications. She paused. Unlike how it normally went when she opened up the comms, something seemed to interfering with the communication signal.

“ Captain something is interfering with the coms. Give me a moment to run a scan.” She replied as her fingers got to work.

Tyler stood and turned toward the Ops station. Comm interference in clear Federation space usually meant something was amiss. He wanted to know and in hurry. However, he had faith in his Ops Chief’s abilities and awaited her response with some eagerness.

“ I have it.” Thex responded after a minute. “ We have a large stream of quantum fluctuations coming from what looks like a subspace rift. It’s not marked on any charts. Slight gravimetric sheering coming from it as well. “

Well that is new and different. Tyler took a mental note to check in with the Station Ops to see what if anything that is and if he could help. “Helm make the appropriate corrects to keep the ship on course to the station. Avoid any of the temporal disturbances. I would rather not wake up in medieval times. Thank you very much.”

El looked at the distortion on the screen, and her head fell into her hands “Oh great. Just what we need. Thought this was all over” She sighed deeply ”Captain, remember your jaunt into another reality last year ? Well, that’s what brought you back’s bigger brother.“

Tyler smiled and turned toward the engineering station before he spoke into the now open comm channel. “Poseidon Station this is Commodore Tyler Malbrooke of the USS Pioneer. Requesting permission to dock, resupply, and shore leave.” Tyler was sure that it would all be granted. He already had a meeting scheduled for Admiral Rice. However, the formalities would have to be observed.

Poseidon Station

Cara was in operations looking out of the window towards Aquil and at the work being done to clear out the rest of the debris from the battle with the Breen. Ships had returned to the station, and it looked like things were going back to what could be termed normal.

Neil walked up behind Cara, as he placed a hand on her shoulder, “I promise you just staring at it isn’t going to clean up that debris.” He smirked, “no matter how hard you try.” He looked out the window as he folded his hands behind his back, “any updates on our arrivals?”

Cara chuckled, “And neither will a snap of two fingers will clean that mess either.” turning to regard Neil. “No word yet sir, but probably soon enough. Have you met Commodore Malbrooke before?”

“I know I haven’t.” Joah said as he walked up beside his superiors. “Though I have heard a thing or two about his ship.”

In the distance a little ways beyond Aquil a small flash of grayish white light could be seen. There was a dot that seemed to emerge from the light. The flash was quick but noticeable to anyone looking in that direction. This was the USS Pioneer dropping from slipstream. That little dot would get bigger and bigger as it drew closer to Poseidon station.

“It would seem that our Ops Chief has perfect timing,” the Captain gestured to the window, “well, Commander, contact the ship and have them dock.” Neil did enjoy putting people on the spot, perhaps a little too much.

“Hmmn.. .what?” Cara had been caught up in watching the arrival of the Pioneer, this was actually the first time she had witnessed the slipstream in action. “Oh yes of course, right away sir.” she called out, “On screen!”

“It never gets boring seeing a ship coming out of slipstream.” Joah mentioned before he turned around and walked back into Ops.

“Alright you two,” Neil gestured to both Letsul and the Chief of Operations, “I suppose our guests are going to expect some form of a greeting,” he motioned to the nearby turbolift, “care to join me?”

Cara gave a nod, “I would love to meet them.

“Aye, sir.” Joah kept his answer short and simple. Once he was near the computer console he needed he activated it and started monitoring the Pioneer’s approach.

Over comms

"Commodore Malbrooke and USS Pioneer, welcome to SB50 otherwise known as Poseidon Station. You have permission to land on Platform Three where you can get a good view of Aquil. as you disembark." Cara gave a welcoming smile. “I hope your stay will be a good one.”

“Thank you Commander. I have to ask… This rift… Should we approach with caution? My helmsman tells me this is not on any star charts.” The swirling anomaly of greens and purples loomed out the Pioneer’s windows. It was enough to make anyone nervous and Tyler wanted to know what went on before he docked.

Joah kept his attention on one one the large view screens in Operations and on the display of the computer console he used. Both showed the trajectory of the Pioneer. “It is best to steer well clear of that, sir. It’s not your run-of-the-mill kind of rift.”

Cara shook her head, “ As Commander Jezka had said, be careful, and avoid it. I am certain you will be able to maneuver around it. It is a recent development and we’re already investigating it.”

“Very well. Lieutenant Michael. Follow the approach plan from station Ops. Commander Letsul we will see you on the station. Pioneer out.” The viewscreen went dark again and Tyler sat back down in the center seat. “Thoughts on that thing out there.” he said to no one in particular. As they approached the station he wanted to hear his crew’s opinions.

El sighed “ Plenty of thoughts, Captain. It’s a large trans-dimensional rift, like the ones we encountered last year, and as I said, brought you back. Alyssa, there should be a particle spike between 10 and 12 gigahertz, telling us where it's from. Once we’re docked I’ll get in touch with the experts at Daystrom to see what to do with it.”

Tyler smiled at the enthusiasm of his Chief Engineer. “El, listen, once we are docked you are on leave. Let the team on Poseidon deal with it. I am sure that if there is a danger to the ship they will let you or I know. Unless you really want to spend your vacation investigating this thing. If so go for it, who am I to stop you.”

“I’m taking the leave. Just letting the experts know, so they can send over the specialist over to tape it up” Elen answered “Spent a year dealing with that sort of thing, enough for even Trill multiple lifetimes.”

When Lieutenant Michael indicated that they were on final approach Tyler smiled and opened a shipwide channel. “All hands this is the Captain. Sound Blue Alert throughout the ship. Prepare to land the Pioneer. Bridge out.” He leaned toward Tremble. “Well Number One this will certainly be something new. Paul take us down, the ship is yours.”

“Aye sir.” Paul Michael piloted the ship towards the Poseidon landing pads.

There was a deep and resounding thud as the landing struts touched down on the docking pad. “Thex coordinate with station Operations to get the umbilical secure. Paul engage docking clamps and secure all moorings.” Tyler said with a smirk on his face, then he triggered a shipwide message. “This is the Captain speaking. My friends, my family welcome to Poseidon Station. As soon as the ship is secure an put into station keeping you are all free to go enjoy the station on shore leave. The Gods know you have all earned it. So go live it up! Bridge out.”

The channel closed and Tyler leaned in to Neil once more. “Well Number One it seems in a few short minutes we will get to shut down the bridge for a time.”

Tremble wasn’t sure how he felt about shutting the ship down like this. It felt just…odd. Still, Tyler seemed keen on it and they’d already went over this. “Aye aye,” Commodore. “I just hope she’ll start back up again: Newton’s Law of Productivity, and all that.”

“Docking clamps engaged and all moorings secured. We are now on standby mode.” Michael reported.

Paisley ran about the aft airlock, tricorder and decoupler at the ready, just in case, and EV suit on. She manually disconnected the airlock hose, reattaching it to the docking pad’s connector. She put her whole weight against it, ensuring it was as secure as possible. Hearing no sounds and feeling no breezes, she felt satisfied, and radioed the Bridge. ==/\==Ens. P’Rar to Bridge. We’re connected to the Station, carry us through,” she said, pulling off the stupid, hot helmet, and rubbing her eyes with a gloved hand. Launches and landings were hairy.

About five to ten minutes later. Word came up that the ship was secure and all was as it should. Tyler had dismissed the bridge crew as departments were clear and the only two on the Bridge at the moment were Tyler and Corneliu. “I guess we have one final duty.” He began with a smirk. “Computer lockout all Bridge functions and secure the Bridge for station keeping. Authorization Alpha-Tango-327.” The computer’s all too familiar chime could be heard, and then it spoke. “Secondary authorization from command level officer required to execute this order.” Tyler turned to Neal. “Well my friend it seems that you are up.”

Without preamble or comment, Tremble repeated, “Computer. Lockout all bridge functions and secure Bridge for station keeping. Authorization Omega-Tango-914.” Then he murmured, “Get some rest, old girl.”

Cara went with Neil to greet the incoming crew of the USS Pioneer. She wondered who they would meet and greet first. She looked over to Harrington. “So, will we meet the commanding officer, Tyler Malbrooke first?” Cara watched out the view port to see the landing of the USS Pioneer as she waited for the answer from Captain Harrington.

“I guess he’ll be with his XO and a few other officers.” Joah tugged at his duty uniform to make sure he looked presentable.

“I am sure the shops are going to be welcoming more of an influx of possible new customers coming in. It will definitely give a boost to the economy of the station.” Cara also adjusting her uniform, and definitely curious about the crew coming in for shore leave.

Paul returned to the quarters he shared with his fiance Auba Lyna, part of the ship’s security detail. After some discussion, it was decided that the two of them would take advantage of this opportunity to visit the station and take shore leave.

Paul and Lyna each packed one bag, a carryall that they swung over their shoulders, and headed to the loading dock to visit the station. They were looking forward to some off duty time, away from the ship.

The Pioneer had been put to bed. Tyler walked through the umbilical as one of the last off the ship. He paused to look at the stars and the rift. That rift looked violent and yet there was something beautiful about it as well. When he finally made through the hatch he saw a few officers standing there. He smiled broadly and warmly. “Morning, nice place you got here.”

“We like to think so, sir.” Joah started, forgetting protocol for a moment in letting Captain Harrington go first. “Though you have to excuse us for the mess here and there. The Breen didn’t play nice.”

“At least we got some warning.” Cara responded, “So we were able to make some preparations. The people here certainly came through and I am very glad of the help that was sent to us.” giving a nod towards Tyler. She then looked at Harrington, to see if he had something to say.

Tyler smiled broadly at the welcome he and his crew received. He turned to Harrington as he felt one more piece of business needed to be attended to. It was something Tyler would have wanted if roles were reversed. “Captain Harrington… Permission to board Poseidon Station and for the crew of the USS Pioneer to take shore leave.”

"Permission granted, Commodore," Neil smiled warmly. "You and your crew are most welcome to enjoy all the amenities available on our station." With a gracious gesture, Neil stepped aside. "Allow me to introduce Commander Cara Letsul, our Operations Commander," he pointed towards her, "and Lieutenant Commander Jezka Joah, our Chief of Operations."

“Commander Letsul, Commander Jeska pleased to meet you. The Pioneer is going to need some minor work. But I will let our Chief Engineer make that formal request. For the time being I am just glad to see a station that is not Cardassian. That architecture could wear a person down.” Tyler paused to look around briefly. “I hope you don’t mind me saying so but I hope the next two weeks are the most uneventful weeks I have ever seen. It seems that you all could do with something like that as well. I mean that rift out there does not look happy.”

“Famous last words here, Commodore,” Neil replied with a hint of smile. “That rift,” Neil paused not sure where to even start, “it’s different, and I will leave it at that.”

“Well then different is certainly something I want to hear about. Care to take a stroll and fill me in.” Tyler smiled he loved exchanging war stories as the old adage went. “Now I hope I don’t have to make that an order.”

“I am afraid, Sir,” Neil smiled, “you don’t have enough brass on your collar for to be a standing order. If you wanna know more, you’ll have to see the good Admiral for that.” Neil motioned down the corridor, “however I am sure there is some wiggle room.”

Cara had a bit of a smile as she listened to the back and forth between the two men.

A Joint Post By

Commodore Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer