A Fresh Start

Posted on Fri Jan 5th, 2018 @ 9:57am by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Commander K'Niras Sh'howul & Ensign Charles Bartowski
Edited on on Fri Jan 5th, 2018 @ 9:58am

Mission: S01E02 D-8 With the Devil
Location: USS Perry/USS Musashi
Timeline: After the Elba II Meeting

ON:

Cadet First Class Charles Bartowski stood on the bridge of the USS Perry and clad in a jumpsuit that could only be described as 'Safety Orange'. His fingers were beating a swift tattoo against his leg as he stared out of the viewport.

The captain, one Reed Maxwell- an older man with a ruddy complexion, was sitting with his legs crossed. Swiveling the chair around, he addressed Charles. "Chuck, my boy. You tap any harder and that jumpsuit's gonna catch fire. Take a breath or maybe ask the doc for a sedative."

The tapping stopped and Chuck balled his hands into a tight fist and releasing it, slowing down his breathing. He had been called up by the Captain to observe this particular evolution and have a final chance to say a bittersweet goodbye before departing for his new duty station. The sight of the quiet bridge was breathtaking- everyone was at their station and watching every development with an unwavering eye. Something inside of him yearned to be there on the bridge instead of down in Engineering but reality hit him hard when he realized that that dream was not to be.

A Lieutenant at the Operations station snapped Chuck out of his reverie. "Captain, the [i]Musashi[\i] is approaching, 5000 meters off of our port bow."

Reed nodded. "Understood. Helm, full stop. Operations, let them know we've got crew and supplies to transfer and pass Captain Figueroa my regards."

Chuck squirmed a bit. His time was approaching closer and he was in no hurry to leave.

Captain Reed turned to face him "It's time for you to go, Cadet." Chuck gave him a slight nod.

Coming to attention, Chuck delivered his final reporting statement. "Sir, Cadet First Class Bartowski respectfully requests permission to leave the ship."

Captain Maxwell nodded. "Permission granted. Ops, pass the word- Cadet Bartowski is leaving the ship."

As he executed an about-face and entered the lift, he heard the low tone of the boatswain's whistle and the voice of the Ops officer.

=A= Attention all hands. Attention all hands. Cadet Charles Bartowski is leaving the ship. Godspeed. =A=

======= Twenty Minutes Later =======

Chuck stepped off of the transporter pad aboard the Musashi and rendered a quick salute to the Chief manning the console. "Any idea where I can find the Captain, Chief?"

The Chief made an offhand gesture. "She should be on the bridge at this time."

Chuck took his duffel in hand and made his way out into the passageway, noting that everything seemed to be shinier here, indicating that this was a slightly newer ship than the Perry. Finally locating a turbolift, he stepped inside and tapped the button for the bridge.

Commodore Cartwright's 'movement' was beginning to take off after Donatella was able to cast some light onto the truths and validity of Kelvar Garth's claims that the Klingons were in fact constructing the prototype for a D-8 battlecruiser, a fiercely fast and furious battlecruiser as murmuring around the fleet put it. It was supposed to be the Klingons crowned prince of war, a harbinger of death, and the chariot on which the Emperor would ride into the blazes of glorious battles and lead the Empire to victory. Some within the Klingon Empire were gunning for another war with the Federation and the D-8 was supposed to mark the final days of the Federation.

Not if anything to say about that I have, thought Fig as she sat in her chair on the Bridge of the Musashi. She was more than willing and quite prepared to take the Musashi alone to the Klingon shipyard and see to it that the D-8 prototype never saw the light of day. However, Commodore Cartwright was slowly yet surely beginning to convince more and more of the Admiralty that they needed to act swiftly and act now. The USS Musashi was ready to go, but without a Chief Engineer and a proper Engineering Department, she was going absolutely nowhere.

The Musashi was given coordinates to proceed to, a detour before heading for the Klingon shipyard. Here, the starship Musashi would be met with starships with personnel transferring aboard. The USS Musashi had dropped out of warp at the corrdinates and found themself nearly bow to bow with another Federation Starship: The USS Perry. The ambient noise of the Bridge was slightly altered with the easily identifiable sound of an incomming message from the Communications stattion. Captain Figueroa awaited the report from her Chief Communications Officer.

K'Niras was listening intently to his earpiece. He tipped his chin up and then turned his face toward the Captain. "Sir, the USS Perry is hailing. They wish to inform us that they are sending over an Engineer."

"Good," replied the Captain. "We could use one of those" she added. Their Chief Engineer and several other engineers had volunteered to remain behind on the transit facility, holding the fort down until a Federation repair ship could arrive to relieve them. The Chief Engineer, Lieutenant JG McGowan was going to be remaining permanently to head the repair efforts. This had left the starship once again without a Chief Engineer and a deprived department. Though Fig was giving it some thought to promote Lieutenant Garcia to Chief Engineer. Regardless, the department was still in dire need.

The sound of the turbolift racing upward towards the Bridge had triggered the Captain to arise from her Captain's chair and greet the first of these arrivals. The USS Perry was indeed sending over a transfer. She proceeded over towards the lift before it came to a stop and the doors opened. The bright safety orange jumpsuit startled her a bit. It reminded her of the color than many starship Bridges were painting their railings. "Welcome aboard the USS Musashi," the Captain said to the young man.

Fig turned to her Chief Communications Officer looking for a tablet with the man's personnel file on it. It was undoubtedly following close behind the young engineer.

K'Niras nodded. "Personnel file should be on your PaDD now, Captain," the Caitian replied. He also stood from his station. As the second officer, as well as communications, it was also his job to see to it that new arrivals to the crew got everything they needed to have a smooth start. His long tail bounced up behind him before it began to lazily sway back and forth.

The Captain began reading the PaDD. Had she been drinking coffee, she would have spat it across the Bridge once she saw the details of the man standing before her. She was anticipating a Lieutenant junior grade or an Ensign. Heck, even a crewmen with some experience under his belt would have been nice. "WHAT?" she said aloud. "They sent me a... Cadet?" the words left a soured taste in her mouth.

Chuck let an virtually imperceptible smirk cross his face at this. This wasn’t the first time he experienced this type of reaction, so he was more amused than anything at this point. This particular Captain didn’t seem like someone that stood on ceremony and seemed to speak her mind, judging by her initial reaction to his service jacket. He assumed a position of parade rest and waited to be addressed.

She took a deep breath and looked through the PaDD and then up at the man. "Cadet, I am sure you will be a fine officer in a few months time, but this starship is not an Academy training vessel. I do not even have a full Engineering Department nor a Chief Engineer at the moment," she said shaking her head. "Do you have any specialities in the Engineering field?" she inquired.

Snapping to attention, he could hear his heels click together almost automatically. Chuck spoke clearly with a tinge of his Alabama accent showing through with a hint of regret. “Ma’am, this cadet specializes in Propulsion Systems and Theoretical Physics.”

Captain Figueroa looked down at the PaDD and then back at the young man. "This Captain prefers to be addressed by Sir, Cadet," replied Fig, crossing her arms, still holding the PaDD. "But you will learn my nuances quickly. Propulsion Systems and Theoretical Physics?" she said repeating the man's specialties aloud. She looked around the Bridge. "Looks like we have ourselves another smart one," commented Fig.

She examined the young man, looking him up and down. "Newt," she said shaking her head. "Newt, you look an orange safety cone in that damn thing. Nobody is serving aboard my starship dressed in that. I do not want to see you wearing that unless you are being punished with maintenance detail in the maintenance chutes," she said. The Captain snapped her fingers. She was 'signaling' for the Second Officer.

"Aye aye, [i]sir[\i]," Chuck said, wincing as the indignity of the nickname stung him. This woman was trying to get under his skin and see a visible reaction. She seemed to be direct to the point of rudeness but that appeared to be a Captain's prerogative.

"Lieutenant Sh'howul," the Captain said addressing the Caitian. "Assign Newt to some quarters, see to it he has the proper uniform on next time I see him on my Bridge, and give him the basic tour of the ship," she ordered.

K'Niras stepped forward in preparation to do just as the Captain requested. "Yes, sir," he replied with a little grin, just showing his front teeth. His tail flicked from side to side as he turned his gaze to the Cadet.

The Captain looked at the young man in the saftey orange jumpsuit once again. "Newt, Lieutenant Sh'howul is the ship's Chief Communications Officer and my Second Officer. He will get you settled in. When you make it to Engineering, you will report to Lieutenant Garcia, the Assistant Chief Engineer. Do you have any questions?"

The cadet looked straight ahead, staring phaser bursts into the Captain's face. "No, sir. Will that be all, sir?" he asked, eager to get out of this incredibly uncomfortable situation.

"Yes, Cadet that will be all," replied the Captain. "I have a meeting with my Executive Officer later. I will be sure to discuss your arrival and transfer aboard with him. After which, he will undoubtedly be seeing you shortly," added Fig. "Deck eight. The crew lounge is called the Roosevelt. See to it that you socialize with the crew and please have something eat... you look like you've been living off of emergency rations."

Chuck tightened up. "Aye, sir." Executing a sharp about-face, he walked towards the lift, holding his breath as he did to keep the feeling of nervous nausea from overcoming his senses and causing him to vomit on the deck, which would only make this situation worse. This was going to be rocky, he could feel it but there was only 5 months until he received his commission and he'd be damned if he'd scuttle his career before it started.


Fig watched as the Cadet was escorted into the lift by her Second Officer. A fine officer in the making she thought to herself. Though he did not know it at the time, the Cadet had made a positive impression.