Ships, Shuttles, and Hovercraft, Chapter 2


 * Tom O'FlaghertyShips, Shuttles, and Hovercraft: EngatheringCork City, Ireland

Tom escorted Bet back to the table after taking her on a twirl around the dance floor, “Mr. O’Flagherty, I believe you’re the best dance partner I’ve ever had!” Bet said, taking a large gulp of water. “Let me catch my breath and we can take another go if you’d like.”

“How about we go for a walk...it’s getting warm in here.”

“Sure, a walk sounds great,” she answered as she collected her wrap. He helped her drape it over her bare shoulders as they made their way out of the restaurant. He’s nervous about something, but what could it be? The cool night air was soothing after all the dancing they had done. It was nice to be another couple out for a night on the town, rather than Starfleet officers. They held hands as they walked down the boulevard, enjoying the city lights.

A deep breath of the cool air filled his lungs as they walked. Tom had liked Cork. It was the largest city close to his small village, and there were a lot of memories in these streets. Tonight, he hoped he could add one to the list, and so he clutched the box on his left pocket as they walked. “Did you enjoy your time with mom? She didn’t bombard you with questions did she?”

“Only Motherly advice. If she bombarded me at all, it was with stories of you as a ‘wee lad’. She’s a dear Tom, I love her already...immediately actually. She is exactly how I imagined she’d be. I met Kereen, as well, in her little shop, and we chatted for a long while.” She laughed then as she remembered them sitting in the back room over tea, chatting.

“Oh, Kereen. I should see her if I get a chance.” As they made it down towards the end of the block, Tom guided them to the left. The music from the restaurant faded into the background, and they were left with just the sounds of their foot steps against the stone sidewalks of the old city. At the end of the street was a park, the lights along the walkway casting orange pools of soft light around, and they slowly continued to walk down the winding path, heading toward a small, duranium bridge over a quiet stream.

“Kereen is sweet too. Everyone here has been so nice.” Bet looked out over the park and the twinkling lights on the stream’s water, “Its so beautiful here. I’ll have to show you some of my favorite places on Betazed some day, but not many can rival what I’ve seen here.” They stopped at the top of the bridge’s arch and were silent, each with their own thoughts and enjoying simply being together.

Abruptly, Tom turned. He had screwed up his courage, and now he was going to do it. Nervously, he took both of Bet’s hands in his. “I want to ask you something...”

She was puzzled at his continued nervousness, but knew not to be worried. “Of course Tom, anything.”

All of a sudden, he froze...he didn’t know what to say. Instantly, a millions thoughts started to run through his head in an instant, and he didn’t know what to do first. Then, he took a deep breath and calmed himself before reaching into his left pocket before stepping forward, getting closer to Bet. “How long have we been together?”

“About a year and half I should think. Long enough that you should know that there’s nothing you could do or ask that I wouldn’t accept and understand. What’s going on Tom?”

He looked down in her dark eyes, and felt warm all over. Slowly, he brought the box up between them until it was just below chin-level. “I wanted to get you something for all this time you’ve spent with me.”

“...Oh my!...” she stammered as she took in the small jewelry box. His nervousness was becoming clear now, slowly becoming calm as she became increasingly nervous. Bet took the box from him and opened it. What she saw inside completely took her breath away, and Tom had to catch her before she fell in a heap at his feet, steadying her against the bridge railing. “This is beautiful Tom, just beautiful!”

“I got it because I want to ask you to marry me.” He took another breath when she didn’t immediately respond, “Will you?”

“Yes!! Of course I’ll marry you!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him furiously. “I love you, Thomas! YES, I WILL MARRY YOU!!” Bet yelled at the top of her lungs.

People looked at the couple as she clung to him and he held her close. The emotions roiling over him like a tidal wave threatened to overwhelm him. Tom clung to her for balance as the joy in him became larger than anything he had ever experienced. In his mind, he felt like now he understood what Imzadi meant. “I should have done this a long time ago. I just never felt like I deserved you...”

“Silly! Its me that doesn’t deserve you!” she said, still holding onto him.

That night they went back to Tom’s, but they never noticed anyone who passed. Both revelled in the love they shared between each other. The ride in the hover taxi passed in comfortable silence as they held each other in the back seat. Her head rested against his shoulder as she listened to the slow, rhythmic beat of his heart while Tom continued to take in how absolutely radiant she was.

Like teenagers, they tried to sneak into the house quietly, Moira having long since gone to bed, and slipped into his room on the other end of the house. As the door closed, they embraced, the kiss they shared filled with love and passion. Falling into the bed together, their passion continued to grow until they fell asleep together, still in each others arms.



The next morning Bet woke early. As she got out of bed she tucked the covers back under Tom and watched him sleeping for a moment, until the chill air on her skin reminded her she stood naked in his childhood home. She quietly got dressed in jeans and a sweater and made her way downstairs. She smelled bread baking and heard the sounds of pots rattling coming from the kitchen.

Entering the warm confines of the kitchen she was immediately greeted by Moira, “Good morning Darlin’! How are you?”

“Well thank you,” Bet said as she took a seat at the kitchen table. Moira brought over a cup of tea for her and the creamer and went back to her cooking. “You know, Mom, Tom gave me a really beautiful gift last night after dinner.”

“Did he? That’s nice dear, what was it?”

Bet stepped next to her busily stirring a pot on the stove and lifter her hand so that Moira could see it and said, “This engagement ring!”

Moira grabbed Bet in a tight embrace and danced with her around the room, laughing and crying at the same time. “Lisbet dear, I am so happy for da both of ya. And I’ll have the daughter I’ve always wanted!”

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean? ‘Daughter you always wanted...” But before Tom could even get entirely in the room, Moira grabbed him, too. Then they were all dancing around the room and laughing. It wasn’t until Moira remembered the food on the stove that they began to settle down.

“So, when is the day?”

“We haven’t gotten that far yet! Let me enjoy being engaged to the most promising young command officer in the Fleet. I don’t even want to think beyond this moment, right now,” Bet said happily.

Tom gazed at Bet, loving the way the morning light made her hair seem to shine. Before he realized it, there was a cup of coffee in front of him, and his mother’s beaming smile. The feeling around the breakfast table was like a family...a real family. The feelings of happiness from the night before seemed to carry on into the morning without missing a beat.

The steam that wafted from the porcelain cup, carried the flavorful aroma to his nostrils in the most comforting way. When Moira joined them at the table, they began to talk about all the things they were going to do once Tom and Bet arrived on the Atlas. Bet showed Tom some of the things she had gotten to decorate their new quarters.

When Bet pulled out the Cork City banner, she sprung it on him with a flourish, “Just a little reminder of home Darling. Mom said they were your favorite club when you were a boy.” She waited to see his reaction.

The woven fabric in his hands brought back a lot of memories. “Thanks!” He examined the banner, wide-eyed for a moment. “I haven’t seen a game in so long. What else did you ladies get?”

“I got a quilt, but lets save that for once we get aboard Atlas, and some other little things that will remind me of this magical place.” She thought for a moment of all the places she called home, and none quite felt like this place did. “Mmm, Moira those eggs were scrumptious! You must give me your recipe, if I can wrangle a full kitchen aboard Atlas that is...”

“I think I can make that happen,” Tom said as he finished cleaning his plate. As he got up from the table, he looked at the chronometer on the wall and realized they needed to get moving. “Hey, we need to get into uniform before we meet Chris. We are supposed to go to the ship today.”

“Oh, this is excitin’, my Boy gets a brand new ship right along with a bride! You two go, I’ll clean up...go, go,” Moira shooed them out of the kitchen.

Bet kissed her on the cheek, “Thank you for everything Mom!”, before heading upstairs to get dressed.

They ran up to the room and took turns running about the room getting ready. As Tom put on his uniform, he looked into the mirror to admire the pips on his shoulder. He was now the same rank his father was when he had died at Chintoka, but the irony wasn’t lost on him. For a moment he stared at his reflection with a pensive expression on his face, remembering his father the last time he had been at home and the young boy had quizzed him about being on the Crazy Horse. I wonder what he thought while I pestered him with all those questions....

“You’re not your Father Tom, you have an entirely different destiny. Now move over, I want to see us together,” Bet said as she crowded next to Tom to view their reflections in the mirror. “We look good,” she said simply.

“Damn good, I’d say.” And then he leaned in to kiss her soft lips, a tingle running through his body. “Now, let’s go...I’m sure Mom will want to take a look at us before we leave.” Grabbing a bag of the things Bet had bought the day before, he turned for the door. “Now, you will need to be prepared. She can get kind gushy about thing sometimes.”

'''A JP with the always incredible...Lisbet Ulrika. Featuring Moira O'Flagherty and another appearance by the ring!!!''' It's now official!!!!
 * 02-12-2011 21:36Joshua Castillo::Earth::
 * Starfleet Academy::

"So what were the Xul like?" asked a cadet as he stood up to ask the question, his chest was stuck out and his chin was lowered but forward...basically he was full of piss and pride; however one thing that knew about the experience in space is that it would humble you.

"The Xul....are a species of people that I had never would have thought about meeting before," said Joshua as he tapped a few buttons on the console and dimmed the lighting somewhat and dispalyed a picture behind him of a Xul warrior.

"Compared to a Klingon or a Nausicaan, I would choose those two before I would even do battle with a Xul warrior; they are more like butchers that take lambs to the slauter. They are driven purely by combat, and they are exteremly smart and adaptive to situations as they arrive and occur during battle; the Integrity during the final battle was borded," he said pausing for a moment remembering that day of pain...horror...and the hollow duty that kept his sanity together.

"Four teams of Xul warriors six in each team headed to different parts of the ship to destroy her and tip the balance of power in their favor, and sadly to say that main engineering was one of their goals. It took thirty two men and women and hold off twelve Xul warriors; fire a direct shot at there chest...and they would keep on coming and the only way that you would survive is if you were faster, smarter, and more adaptive than they were," he said pausing.

"I served as a nco during the Dominion War, and I can tell you the one thing about the Jem-Hadar is that they were controlled by the ketrace white....these Xul weren't controlled...and truth be told I doubt if a Jem-Hadar solider would last against a Xul warrior, and more questions?" asked Joshua as he had been standing up for the past two hours, the cadets were excited and jotting down notes on every single thing that he said to them.

"Lieutenant Castillo, I was wondering sir how were you able to over come the huge power consumption of the Sovereign class starship?" asked a cadet from the rear of the class, and for once Joshua was happy that the cadet changed the current flow of the converstation; as it was drawing up bad memories.

"What do you mean cadet?" asked Joshua.

"During our simulations lieutenant, the Sovereign demanded an extermely large amount of power that the warp core alone couldn't provide; how were you able to compensate for that disadvantage aboard the Integrity?" she asked.

"Excellent question cadet, the current warp core aboard the Sovereign class ship is the most power warp core that we have created up until this time, and if you were to place that warp core in a Galaxy class starship...she would have more than enough power to run that ship..and would have enough left over that she could power up the main systems on a Miranda class starship if they were connected together," he said to the group who's eyes grew large.

"However the Sovereign's power design systems in my opinion were flawed; the warp core is more than able to power the ship however the ODN lines and power couplings aren't strong enough to handle the massive amounts of raw power that travel through them...and so they either shut down and exploded. The goal to over come this problem is that you must install additional power couplings and ODN junctions across the ships that even out the raw power that is traveling through them that will keep them from blowing," he said as he looked across the audience.

"However in the simulation, you are being taught how to make do with what you have...the first Sovereign ships that were launched were launched with an under powered warp core...and so what it is teaching you is how to compensate for what you need right then and right there," he said to the cadet and watched as the others were jotting down notes.

Suddenly the bell rung, and you could hear sighs being let out across the class room from the cadets as they rose from their chairs and started walking out of the room heading to other classes and destinations that they had to go to, "Remember cadets next week is simulator week so be prepared to be heavily tested," he said outloud as the cadets pilled out of the room.

"So what do you think about teaching?" asked Frank as he stood in front of the pulpit.

"It was fun, I throughly enjoyed it; however it's not me anymore," said Joshua to his former teacher.

"What do you mean not anymore?" he said in puzzlement.

"Frank, the dreams that I had were to quickly rise through the ranks, become head of Starfleet Engineering for a few years and sit on the Starship Design crew and help develop future starships; but since the Xul war and my time aboard the Integrity it changed my focus," said Joshua as he stepped from behind the pulpit and stood in front of his friend.

"Joshua, I've already spoken with Admiral Colburn, and if you were to agree he would promote you to full lieutenant, and within a year to lieutenant commander and in five years make you the dean of the engineering department here at the academy," said Frank laying on the pressure.

"A promotion huh?" said Joshua as he had already made up his mind on the decision that he was making, however Frank kept pushing.

"Who knows Joshua, within ten to twenty years you could be the next Head of Starfleet Academy...and then that door would open so many more for you," said Frank.

"I know that Frank, but that's not for me any more...that part of my life has changed...and truth be told I do not want to be stuck behind some desk; while I was out there on the front lines it taught me one thing that the best experience that you can gain is in space(slight pause) and that is where I am needed. A desk job would kill me on the inside Frank, and as of right now I am not ready for a desk job...maybe in a hundred years are so..but at this moment in my life no thanks," he said as he extended his hand out to Frank.

"Are you sure I cannot keep you here Joshua?" he asked and Joshua looked at him once more, which indicated that he wasn't moving on the decision.

" Joshua, I had hoped that you took me up on this....however I am happy for you and the path that you are going to take..." he said as he took Joshua's hand and shook it.

"Remember to drop me a line every now and then," said Frank.

"I will, trust me I will," he said as he turned on his heels and walked out of the room...leaving behind the promising job of a desk job and into the future of exploration and drive.
 * 02-12-2011 21:57Lisbet UlrikaThe trip from Ireland was uneventful, but it was a miracle they got away. Moira, upon seeing the two dressed in their duty uniforms gushed enough that they almost missed the transport from the Isle. They arrived at Starfleet Headquarters, amid the usual hustle and bustle. A group of Academy cadets, probably in their first year, were posing for pictures at the steps, giggling and laughing. Bet remembered her first year at the Academy, not all that long ago, with fondness. Now, here she was, with a new fiance and a new ship. She took Tom’s hand for a moment, as they both watched the Cadets move off.

Tom looked down at their entwined fingers and smiled, as her new ring sparkled in the California sun. A few of the Cadets walked past and saluted the two officers as they passed, and Tom gave them a short, crisp response. It was good to be back at another place that felt like home, and it seemed like the place hadn’t changed a bit. “Man, it seems like it was only yesterday...”

Chris sat in a coffee shop off the main lobby of the Command Building sipping a latte and waiting for Tom and Lisbet to make an appearance. He wondered briefly if Tom had sprung the question already or if he was waiting. As much as he hated to admit how excited he was over the new assignment, he wished the happy couple would hurry up and get there so they could see their new ship. Watching the crowd he finally spotted them as they moved through the masses toward him. “And how was Ireland?”

“It was...home,” Tom said with a satisfied smile as they walked into the The Cappucino Maneuver. He looked around at the crowd, mostly cadets pouring over padds of notes from their different courses. There was a time, very recently, when he would have been one of them. The war and then the different duty stations made it seem like a lot longer. “What’s the deal? No cadre of hangers-on for His Eminence?”

“His Eminence...” he repeated. “I like it. As for the ‘escorts,’ no - I left them back at the penthouse.” He gave Lisbet a hug as she stepped up, “And how was your time? I hope Tom’s mother wasn’t too much.”

“Moira was perfect, as was Ireland! Hey, take a look at this,” she said as she showed Chris the ring Tom gave her. “He proposed!”

Chris raised his eyebrows and offered a startled look. “Wow! This is a absolutely beautiful ring. Congratulations you two. Nice work with the ring slugger.” he slapped Tom on the shoulder. “Any idea when the big day will be?”

“Ask the boss,” Tom offered with a wide grin.

“Oh gosh, hadn’t even thought that far ahead.” She looked at Tom, “When does the weather warm up enough to hold an outdoor wedding in Cork? I think that’s where I’d like to have the ceremony...if that’s okay with you.”

“Oh, I think that will be fine...if we are going to have a Betazed service though, we might want to do that in the summer. I’m sure we should talk with your parents before we make the final decision though.” Tom blushed a little at the thought of standing nude in front of a group of people while making his wedding vows.

“No!” Bet caught herself after her initial outburst, “Not a Betazed service, I’ll not subject anyone to such a spectacle. I’d rather a traditional Irish wedding...do you think your mother would mind helping me with that?”

Finishing is latte he frowned. “No Betazed service? Damn. I love Betazed weddings. Free advertising.”

Tom frowned at Chris, “I’m sure you will find some way to cope.” They all shared a light laugh as more cadets filed in and out of the coffeeshop. “What do you say we get moving? The transport isn’t going to wait forever.”

After Chris put away his things, the trio made their way to the transport facilities and boarded a shuttle bound for McKinley station. The small transport was empty, having been reserved for them, and so they were able to sit or stand wherever they wanted. Tom chose to stand where he can see out the front window as the little craft lifted off the pad and started climbing toward the sky. Anxiously tapping his foot, he watched as the sky changed from blue to the black of space. Then, the ship banked to the left and provided a beautiful view of Earth’s terminating horizon as the San Francisco Fleet Yards loomed large in front of them with a departing Galaxy-class vessel sliding gracefully past. Once it was clear, the group could see the graceful lines of their new ship within the scaffolding of the station, and Tom was caught breathless at the sight.

Her long, graceful lines filled the space, and the lights illuminating her hull brought out every detail. Small workbees and personnel in EVA suits with booster-packs buzzed around her, checking the structural components. Once Tom regained his composure, he turned to Chris, “Remember when you said she would be an Oberth-class?”

“Well....” he paused as he stood and looked out the viewport. “Good God...” After a moment of awe he gave a weak shrug, “Like you saw us getting a ship like that.”

“By all the gods, she’s beautiful! How many decks does she have? I mean, you could fit two or three Emissary’s in her.” Bet stood next to Tom and Chris and enjoyed the view of their new home.

Fishing for the padd he had picked up before leaving he pulled up the specs. “There are nineteen decks, 672 meters long, and 182 meters high. She’s definitely the largest ship I’ve ever served on.” A huge grin spread across his face the ship continued to grow in the window. “Think we will be able to handle her?”

Bet looked between the two men, “If not, we’ll have a damn fine time trying.”

Inspired awe brought to you by Tom, Chris and myself
 * 02-12-2011 23:43Joshua Castillo2 Attachment(s)::Earth::
 * Starfleet Headquarters::

After Joshua had left Starfleet Academy, he went back to his home in Michigan and packed up all of his clothes and things that he was going to take with him abord the Atlas; Joshua's mother was due home within the next week and would basically be on a one year shore leave before heading back into space...so the house wouldn't be empty for a while. However there was one thing that he wished the he could bring aboard the Atlas and that was his classic 2011 Ford Mustang...jet black with upgraded wheels and braking kit. His parents got it for him when he graduated from High School, and truth be told he enjoyed driving his car, and before he left he took one good long spin around the area in the car; and then parked it in the garage once again.

Forty minutes later, he arrived at Starfleet Headquarters along with his personal stuff which was transported their, and Jean who had at least three duffle bags on the ground next to her. Joshua looked at all that she was taking with her in amazement and he could not believe that a woman had that much stuff, and he actually wondered where she was going to put all of that.

"So what was it that you were going to tell me this morning?" asked Jean as she placed the duffle bag that was on her shoulder on to the floor, and watched as her bags were taken onto a departing shuttle.

"Nothing, but that I love you and that I am glad that you are going with me," said Joshua as he leaned in and kissed the woman that he had been running from for the past four and half years; and now she was in his arms again and he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

"Lier," she said to him as she kissed him on the cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked her.

"It isn't everyday that someone turns down a career path of promotions to follow his dreams," she said to him smiling at him.

"How did you?" he said as he was caught off guard as she kissed him once again, and then pulling away a few seconds later.

"Frank told me about it a week ago, he wanted me to push you...and I told him that you were just going to have to make that decision for yourself and that whatever you came up with that I would support you in it one hundred percent," she said to him as she warped her hand around his waist.

"Nothing slips past you does it," he said to her and she shook her head allowing the air to flow in to her face back and forth, but when she stopped moving her head...her hand pushed away the few stray strands that remained rebellious to the way the rest of the hair was laying.

As the couple walked past the main building of Starfleet Headquarters, they looked out into the bay and watched the crystal clear water make small waves in the bay, and a pod of Orcas playing in the distance as a few on-lookers in a nearby boat stopped to watch them.

"Are you sure you want to leave all of this?" Jean asked him.

"I don't know, I could go back to school and become a marine biologist," he said with a laugh, and they viewed the scenary one more time before walking over to the shuttlebay which contained three different large shuttles and one of them was bound for the Atlas. Joshua noticed that a few junior officers were stowing away his bags and Jeans were right behind his, he remembered what it was like to do that kind of work and he hated it especially due to the fact that the supervisor he had over him was an ass hole.

The couple boarded the shuttlecraft Van Buren named after the United States eight president, and took a seat within the shuttle that was filled with personal belongings and about seven other individuals that were heading to the Atlas. The pilot's fingers moved over the console, and within moments the shuttle lifted up off of the tarmat and retracted the landed padds and activated it's thrusters and started accelerating in a upward motion towards space.

After a few minutes in space, the shuttle turned towards the space station in orbit of Earth, and after listening to the back and forth back and forth communique of the shuttle, starship, and freighter traffic he knew the shuttle was clear for entrance, as they entered into the main space doors Joshua looked in awe at the USS Atlas.

"The Integrity is bigger," said Jean.

"That true but look at the bright side, she doesn't have as many decks and therefore we can get everywhere we need quickly," said Joshua as the shuttle contacted the Atlas notying them of their cargo and destination, and when Joshua heard his name being called as one of the cargo that they were bringing it made him feel good about his current decision that he made.


 * USS Atlas::
 * Main Shuttlebay::

A few minutes later the shuttle touched down within the shuttlebay of the Atlas, and the rear hatch opened up, and Joshua was the first person in the rear so he quickly stepped out and noticed a detail of two security officers standing at attention.

"Lieutenant Joshua Castillo, welcome aboard the Atlas sir," said young ensign as he saluted Joshua just as if he graduated from the academy.

"Thank you ensign....?" said Joshua in a puzzled tone, in the young officer's excitement he forgot to mention his name and rank first.

"Ensign Charles Copeland sir," he said again with the super pride in his voice.

"Tell me ensign, did you just recently graduate from the academy?" asked Joshua.

"That I did sir, that I did," he said.

"Well you might want to tone it down, the way your acting can rub people the wrong way," replied Joshua.

"Aye sir," said Charlie, as if what Joshua said to him didn't even affect him one bit.

"Ensign, I want you to call a meeting with all of the tactical officers and have them meet me in my office within the next hour; I have some proceedures that I want to go over and some plesantries," he said to them.

"Yes sirrrr, Lieutenant," he said as he saluted once more and walked off with the other officer in tow.

"I might as well work with cadets," said Joshua as he rolled his eyes.

"Well at least he is energetic," replied Jean.

"Great, a hyper active ensign...just what this ship needs," said Joshua as he and Jean walked out of the main shuttlebay and into the corridors.
 * 02-13-2011 18:10Gerhardt Rahner“I can’t believe that layout for the bridge! I mean, to have the room buried into the ship’s structure is one thing that should have been done a long time ago, but just size of the place...” Tom and Chris had walked through most of the ship examining the different departments and the layouts of their new station. *Amazed would have been an understatement in describing Tom’s perspective on everything.

Chris nodded in agreement. “I still don’t understand how exactly we managed to score this ship. I didn’t pay anyone off in command...did you?”

“What? You don’t think my ability to lead people warrants a posting like this?”

The XO gave an indignant snort, “Ok, Picard. Let’s just get a grip. Your a lieutenant commander.”

Tom smiled a little to himself as he thought about Chris’s comment. “Well, we need to head to Engineering for a preliminary inspection.” He lowered the tone of his voice and continued, “Make it so....Number One.”

Chris shook his head with a smile as they stepped into the turbolift. “Main Engineering.” he commanded. The computer chirped affirmatively and the lift began to move. Looking over at Tom with a serious expression, “By your command.”

'''USS Atlas Main Engineering'''

The distinct stench of B.O. smacked the commanders’ unsuspecting nostrils upon exiting the turbolift. Someone had been in this room for far too long, and judging by the smell, their current vital condition was questionable. This sensory overload was immediately followed by the sight of a disaster area where the bulk of Main Engineering should have been. Wires hung from panel to panel, conduits lay uncovered, and various, brand-new components were stacked along the port wall. Several surfaces, including the central console, were being used as makeshift coffee tables as evidenced by the many empty coffee mugs sitting upon them with grounds in various states of drying.

As the commanders gazed about the room in abject shock, their eyes fell on a lone humanoid’s lower half kneeling in front of a console, its upper half hidden from view. Various movements from the ass-end and mutterings from the head suggested this man was busy with some irritating work.

“''Nien... nicht... was ist das? Was Bürokrat schrieb diese Pläne? Nien... nien... nutzlosen Plunder... was ist... Was! Ernsthaft?''” The quiet, muffled mumbles briefly preceded yet another bundle of wires and an oddly shiny bit that looked strikingly expensive.

“What in the name of James - fucking - Kirk is going on down here?!?!?!?” Chris shouted as they stepped into engineering. Both men’s face’s awash with disgust. A middle-aged head pulled out of the console. In another setting, he might have had a couple cigarettes hanging out of his mouth in various stages of being smoked; they were replaced instead with a few lengths of wire and a small flashlight. He looked at the two in consternation before spitting the wires and light from his lips.

“You are more of these McKinley Dummkopfen, perhaps?” Gerhardt demanded. “And you are here to tell me that I am destroying months of what passes for decent engineering on this station?”

Chris stormed up to Gerhardt and grabbed the front of his uniform. Nodding back towards Tom, he shouted, “That is Lt. Commander Tom O’Flagherty, CO of this vessel, and I am Lt. Commander Chris Vaughn, XO of this vessel, and who the hell are you, Lieutenant Junior Grade?!” He gave a little shake to emphasize the question.

Gerhardt nearly spit out his answer as his arm shot into a salute. “Sirs, I apologize! I am Lt. Gerhardt Rahner, your Chief Engineer. I am terribly sorry for my rude introduction, but there has been a line of Arschlochen coming here from the construction crew.”

Tom stepped forward and took in the sight of main engineering. Accept for all of the modifications that had given birth to a host of extraneous wiring protruding from a smattering of open panes throughout the room, it was an impressive site. Even though it was currently dormant, the enormous intermix chamber dominated the room. *Still, he wondered what the man’s goal had been. *“Lieutenant, exactly what are you doing? *We were supposed to be ready to launch soon, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case.”

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Gerhardt asked. Tom nodded, so Gerhardt continued. “Sir, this ship has faced a massive herfallen in its planning stage. Not the Vesta class, but this ship in particular. It appears that someone had input into the design who had never been on a ship, but only had a vague idea of what one should do. There are so many unnecessary components here, I have decided to collect them all in the workshop. I think perhaps they will be useful at some point.”

Gerhardt indicated the growing stack of components along the port wall. Tom sighed, “While I’m not exactly happy to hear this, when will we be able to launch?”

The engineer’s head cocked slightly to the right. He turned to an active panel, pressed two buttons, and the warp core began to hum as its initialization process kicked in. Panels all over Main Engineering lit up and the computer’s voice rang out =/\= Hello World. USS Atlas is online. =/\=

Gerhardt turned back to his commanders. “The Atlas is ready to launch, Captain. We will be warp-capable in 9.34 minutes, down from 20 minutes before my... Reassessment of the ship’s capabilities.”

A look of relief washed over his features as Tom watched the pulsing reactor do its work. “What about the ship’s other systems, Lieutenant? While the engines are functional, can we see where we are going, or defend ourselves? Have your upgrades affected other areas of the ship?”

Gerhardt smiled as he held back a laugh. “Sir, I have clearly not made myself well understood. The ship is fully functional. Every damn thing I have removed was unnecessary, completely and utterly. If you command it, we can take this ship right into Xul territory and blast a hole through their planet. Of course, we would be court-martialed after the war that would inevitably start, so I would advise against it.”

“Then I only have one more question, Mr. Rahner. Do you have quarters of your own?”

“Of course, sir. Fully functional, I presume. I, uh... have not seen them yet.”

“Then I suggest you use them, and soon. You’re starting to smell like ass, and it’s stinking up my engine room,” Tom said with a smirk to his new engineer. I think I’m going to like this guy.

Gerhardt sniffed his armpit uncouthly and made a face. The exhaustion of the previous days of little sleep, lots of work, and too much coffee hit him square in the face. His hands rose up to his face and felt the bags under his eyes. “Er, perhaps you are right, sir. If you have no objection, I will take care of that immediately.”

He saluted his new captain and walked toward the turbolift. He stopped short, snapped his fingers, and went back to grab the shiny component he’d just removed. “Sorry, sir. This does not belong and I want to study it further, though perhaps after a shower and sleep.” With that, he exited Main Engineering for the first time since boarding the Atlas.

Chris watched the Chief Engineer depart shaking his head. “Well, what a mess down here.” He took a couple of steps closer to the still activating warp core and turned back toward Tom. “And why the hell don’t our universal translators understand German exactly?”

A JP with me and the Commanders...
 * 02-13-2011 21:22Joshua Castillo::USS Atlas::
 * Quarters::

Joshua spent the last hour and half addressing his tactical officers, and giving them what his expectations were and they seemed like they accepted what he had to say to them. He introduced Jean who would be serving as his Asst. Chief Tactical Officer, she was well qualified for the job and was sure that she would handle the duties that would be assigned to her.

After the meeting had concluded he recieved a message that he and Jean's items had arrived in their enlarged quarters, he figured it would be a better time as any to settle within their quarters. After riding the turbolift for a few minutes, the lift doors opened up when the lift stopped at their assigned deck; and they stepped out and started heading to their quarters.

As the doors to their quarters opened up the two officers stepped inside the well lit and furnished room, and saw that their items had been stacked in the middle of the room and they did what any other person would do start un-packing.

"Well looks like this will be our home for a while," said Jean as she pulled out her extra uniforms and hung them up on the other side of the room in the walk in closet.

"Its amazing how the quarters look the same on every single starship," said Joshua as he started un-packing his clothes in a dresser that was a good foot away from the bed.

"Let's see if the replicator works," said Jean as she hung up her last duty uniform and walked over to the replicator and asked for a ice cold glass of water. The computer tried to give her what she wanted, but when the lights started flickering on and off she knew that it wasn't getting enough power to finish the order that she requested.

"Hmmm, looks like there a few bugs to work out here," said Jean, as she walked over to one of her bags and pulled out a tool kit, that she took from the Integrity and pulled off the wall panel.

"Jean, remember we aren't engineers," said Joshua as he was putting away the duffle bag that he had just unloaded, and then started unpacking another one of his bags.

"Joshua, these engineers have their hands full with the rest of the ship...I don't think we would offend anyone by keeping them from running up to our quarters to fix a simple matter as this," said Jean as she scanned the power source and took out a tool and turned a small screw.

"That should do it," she said as she put the wall panel back in it's former place "Computer, ice water cold," she said and the replicator wirled to life and the glass of water appeared on the glass plate within the replicator.

"Ah, now that's refreshing," she said as she downed the water and then started getting back to work un-loading her clothes.

=/\=Ensign Colburn to Lieutenant Castillo=/\= came the voice over the interal intercom.

"Castillo here."

=/\=Sir, I was just making sure if your items had been brought to your room from the shuttle?=/\=

"Yes ensign they have."

=/\=Very well lieutenant, Colburn out.=/\=

"Awww that was sweet," said Jean.

"Kissing ass doesn't get you anywhere with me," he said as he rolled his eyes and tossed the second duffle bag he un packed into the closet.

"Well they wil learn that in time," said Jean as she walked up to him and rested her head against his shoulder.

"I promote good officers who do their job and there work beyond the best of their ability," he said to her as he kissed her slightly on the forehead.

"Don't worry sweetie, these officers are going to work out just fine," he said to Joshua as she took her head off her shoulder and finished un packing her very last bag.

"Well I'm heading back to my office, I've got some paper work that I must fill out," he said to her with a kiss and walked out of their quarters heading to his office. Ready Room'''
 * 02-14-2011 17:07Tom O'Flagherty'''USS Atlas

“What do you mean ‘understaffed?’ I was under the impression, sir, that the Atlas would be ready to weigh anchor when we arrived. Admiral Frost gave us orders to return to the Gamma Quadrant A-S-A-P.” Tom had been sitting at his desk the rest of the morning, after he and Chris had toured the ship, trying to speak with someone who could tell him what was going on. Since they had arrived on board, there were too many panels missing in too many junctions for this ship to have received her final fitting-out.

After moving through five chiefs, a gaggle of commanders, and a couple of captains, he was finally speaking with the commanding officer of the San Francisco Fleet Yard, a rather cantankerous Tellarite named Rear Admiral Gan. At least, he was cantankerous for a Tellarite. Most of the ones Tom had gone to the Academy with were downright genteel in comparison with this particular admiral. It most have come with the rank.

“Listen, you, we are working short-staffed, and this new vessel of yours is just going to have to get in line. I have ten other ships awaiting those crews. That, plus all of the new technology onboard is mostly untested, you will just have to take care of all in-flight maintenance yourself.” His heavy breathing made the the single Admiral’s pip on his collar pulse.

Remembering his Tellarite courtesies, Tom tried to maintain his edge, when he really wanted to just shut off the comlink and go back to work. “I guess you just don’t have the information I require. I will have to find someone more informed that yourself, Admiral. I’m sorry to have disturbed you.”

“You should be sorry, Commander. I don’t have time to jabber with a whelp like you.” And with that, the Admiral closed the link. Tom picked up the padd on his desk, and was just about to go through the list of required maintenance when the console on his desk beeped again...this time the message was from Starfleet Headquarters.

When the Starfleet faded, it revealed the soft, dark skin of a human female Ensign, smiling at Tom with a welcoming greeting. “Commander O’Flagherty, I’m Ensign Landon from the office of the Commander of Starfleet Operations. Hold for the Admiral please.”

Tom straightened his jacket as the image changed to an older human man whom Tom had never met. “Commander O’Flagherty...so you’re the young officer who has been raising a fuss around here. I’m Vice Admiral Young. What is all the hub-bub?”

He smiled at the Admiral’s quip. After the day he had been having, it was a nice change of pace to speak with an officer who had a sense of humor about things. “Well, sir, I’ve been trying to get a crew for this ship. I was told when ordered to report here that the Atlas would be ready for launch, but right now, there are sensor pallets to be installed, not to mention the fact that I currently only have a skeleton crew.”

A frown creased the man’s face as he thought about how to respond to Tom. “Unfortunately, the Atlas has some necessities for personnel that we just aren’t able to accommodate at the present time. Everyone stationed to that particular ship is supposed to be read-in on all classified systems due to the nature of your particular set-up. I’m afraid there just aren’t that many trained personnel on Earth at the moment to fill all of those needs. That’s why you had to travel to Earth, and that is why you will be leaving with a skeleton crew.”

“I understand, sir.” Tom wasn’t happy to hear that. In truth, he had hoped that the situation would be resolved rather quickly.

“The new systems have been something of a pain in the ass for the boys in the Fleetyard. The initial tests of the engines were done with the sensor pallet from an Excelsior-class ship currently in mothballs. The Quantum-slipstream drive, and the multi-dimensional sensor pallet haven’t been activated at all. You will just have to do the shakedown from the keel up.” His face was apologetic, but his tone was stern. From the display Tom could tell that there was no way around this.

“I guess we will just have to make due, Admiral. I will inform my staff of the developing situation and we will proceed accordingly.” Resigning himself to the unwanted situation, Tom slumped back in his chair. “I guess we will need to requisition some extra padds for data storage, seeing as how you want us to write the book on this boat.”

“No need, Commander. I’m going to send you a coded uplink to use for weekly reports from all departments. Make sure to send all new technological updates, changes in operation or what needs to be fixed there. It will help the ASDB in building the rest of the Mk. II Vestas. Any other questions for me, Commander?” Just as Tom had done, Young slouched in his chair. Apparently, the recent hours of fielding complaints about Tom had been just as tiring on the Admiral as it had been on Tom for pushing so hard.

“I think that covers it, sir. We will do our level best to get out of your hair and on our way.”

“Very good, Commander. Good luck,...and know I’m going to keep an eye on you. You sure can raise a cane around this place. Young out.” And with a wink and a smile, the Admiral closed the connection, putting the Starfleet logo on Tom’s screen.

Turning off the console, he leaned back in his chair and stare at the ceiling for relief. Unfortunately, the ceiling yielded no relief. ''Just great! A skeleton crew, and not all of the systems have been tested. Fantastic!''

Tapping the control console on his desk, Tom used the comms to contact all of the senior staff. =/\=This is the Captain. There will be a briefing of the senior staff in the Ward Room in two hours.=/\=
 * 02-15-2011 09:21Joshua Castillo::USS Atlas::
 * CTO's Office::

"I swear if I get one more piece of bad news I'm going to run out of here stark raving mad," said Joshua as he slammed his fist on his desk, causing the screen to flicker on and off for a while before returning back to normal again.

A message was sent up from Ensign Rademaker from the forward torpedo room, and the count of photon and quantum torpedoes were way off, only a tenth of their order from each arrived aboard the Atlas; which meant that if something happened he would have to restrict the use of torpedoes until more of the shipment arried.

As he tapped a few buttons on the console trying to find the requestion forms for the photon and quantum torpedoes, when the door to his office chimed. Taking the palm of his hand he slid it from the right side of his forehead to the right side of his head, which indicated he really didn't want to answer the door for what might be behind it.

"Enter!" yelled Joshua out of frustration, basically it was a threat that who ever entered his office would choose his words carefully as he was in no mood of hearing anything short of something positive. As the doors slid open he looked forward and there he saw the one person that he didn't want to see right now.

"Lieutenant Castillo, I've done the reporting that you asked for," replied Ensign Colburn as he walked in with a pep in his step and a smile on his face. Joshua was going to have to teach the young ensign that he was going to have to take it easy and to not be so up tight.

"What have you found?" asked Joshua as he stood up from behind his desk and walked over to the replicator "Coffee triple strength, double cream, double sweet," said Joshua as the replicator wirled to life brining his order to life.

"The primary forward tractor beam is fully operational, however the secondary tractor beam assembly was never installed...and neither were the aft primary...but the secondary was install," he said as he handed the padd over to Joshua who was sipping his cup of coffee.

"When it rains it pours," said Castillo as he took the padd in one hand and pressed his thumb over a few buttons activating it and reading the data while he drank his coffee with the other hand. The one thing that he did like about this raw ensign is that he kept his information short, detailed enough and to the point where it didn't take a matter of hours to find out the bottomline of the situation.

"Maybe when we arrive at Megiddo the station will have what we need to bring us fully up and running," he said as he took another sip of his coffee and said "In the meantime, increase the power to the forward and aft tractor beams that should compensate for the loss of the two," he said to charlie has he handed the padd back to him.

"Aye sir," he said as he turned on his heels and walked out of the door, Joshua was glad that the young ensign had listened to him and started to learn to relax; even though his body language was tell him something totally different.

Joshua allowed the smell of the coffee to fill his nose and the smell awakened his senses and he was totally whisked away to the small coffee shop in Michigan that he went to every morning when he was at the academy. As he took another sip of coffee he was about to enter into a peaceful bliss when his comm on his panel beeped, and it snapped him out of his nervana and he placed the cup down and tapped the console.

"Castillo here," he replied as he leaned forward in his chair.

=/\=Sorry to disturb you lieutenant, but I figured that you wanted an update on the torpedo componets that you asked about eariler,=/\= said Ensign Rademaker

"Yes I did, what did you discover ensign?" asked Joshua as he took another sip of his cup of coffee.

=/\=We only have enough parts to construct fifteen additional photon torpedoes and only five quantum torpedoes=/\=

"Which would bring our torpedo count to forty torpedoes twenty photons and twenty quantums," he said.

=/\=Yes sir, we could have the twenty torpedoes completed within the next five hours, but that would be with the current shift pulling a double duty=/\=

"That's the best news that I've heard in our department so far, I'll notify operations of your crew pulling a double shift; keep up the good work ensign, Castillo out." he said as he closed the channel and entered the new extended duty and orders of Ensign Rademaker. After he finished inputing the data the captain came over the intercomm announcing that there was going to be a senior meeting within two hours.

"Let's see what kind of a report I can give the captain in two hours, " he said as he tapped the comm badge on his chest.

=/\=Lieutenant Castillo to Lieutenant Harrison, I need a report on your division within the next ten minutes.=/\= His eyes fluttered open lazily. Head turning left and right, Gerhardt seemed lost. Where he'd become accustomed to consoles and conduits, his waking view now contained tan walls curving up, a comfortable bed, and a decidely empty space where he was sure a warp core had been the previous morning. His head raised off the pillow, leaving his shoulders behind. Someone... stole my warp core? His head flopped back on the pillow.
 * 02-17-2011 01:28Gerhardt RahnerGerhardt's Quarters

The shock of that thought shook him from sleep and threw his body upright. Gerhardt shot his gaze around the room. He was in his quarters, the delirium of sleep falling away enough for Gerhardt to realize what a ridiculous thought that was. Who would dare to steal a warp core?

As his mind focused more, he remembered walking to his quarters in a fog, stumbling into the shower, and finally falling into the deepest sleep of his life. He shook his head again, trying to dislodge the more disturbing images from his dreams, and rolled out of the bed. After three nights sleeping on the floor of Main Engineering, this soft bed had been so heavenly he considered staying in it. But there was too much work to be done.

"Coffee, Greek, one sugar," Gerhardt commanded as he stood and stretched. The replicator, surprisingly, made the coffee in true Greek style, with a puck of grounds on the bottom of a cup and steaming water shot in under pressure. The smell alone was strong enough to wake Gerhardt completely. He stumbled over and grabbed the delicate-looking cup. He savored the strong bitterness and the light sweetness, all the way down to the chewing. Coffee’s just not coffee if you don’t have to chew. O’Flagherty’s voice came over the intercom. =/\=This is the Captain. There will be a briefing of the senior staff in the Ward Room in two hours.=/\=

''Two hours? Hmm... just enough time to visit my office.'' Gerhardt went to a cabinet, pulled a fresh uniform out, and enjoyed the feeling of clean clothes after three days without hygiene. He fitted his pips to the collar and his commbadge to his chest before stepping out of his room.

Main Engineering Gerhardt stepped off the turbolift into the jumble he had created. He looked around at the various signs of his Reassessment: an open panel with wires twisted together, a stack of components against the port wall, two consoles that had been moved together and hardwired to each other. The warp core was still thrumming quietly; Gerhardt hadn’t meant to start it when he did, but the Captain needed to see that they were ready to fly. The MSD was active, and Gerhardt was exasperated to see red all across the ship map being displayed from all the secondary systems that were inactive, almost entirely from incomplete installation. He finally noticed the blonde woman standing in front of the MSD, her hands clinched tight behind her back. She seemed young, from what Gerhardt could see, perhaps late twenties, and stood about 5’ 6” with a slender frame. She didn’t make a move to acknowledge Gerhardt’s approach towards her until he was standing beside her, matching her stance. When she did move, her face snapped toward him, her left eyebrow raised and her mouth tight.

As though they were continuing a conversation, or possibly an argument, she said gruffly, “Sir, was it absolutely necessary to leave Main Engineering in such a damn mess?”

“Um... Hello, I am Lieutenant Gerhardt Rahner, Chief Engineer,” Gerhardt said tentatively.

“Lieutenant Ayla Cressida. I’m your Assistant Chief,” she snapped impatiently before continuing as though the conversation hadn’t changed. “This ship hasn’t even left port and her Chief Engineer has come dangerously close to violating several Starfleet engineering codes. ‘13425: Main Engineering must be kept clear of obstructions at all times during ship operations.’ We aren’t technically operating until we leave drydock, but we must address this problem quickly. ‘13567: Shipboard Starfleet property must be maintained by the Engineering Department, under supervision of the Chief Engineer.’ Your pile on the port wall appears to be composed of undamaged components, though it’s a stretch to say they are currently being maintained. ‘13498-B: Major deviations from the ship’s original plans must be cleared with the Captain, Executive Officer, or Acting Captain.’ Technically, you were the highest ranking officer on-board during your dismantling of this department. Sir, I must confess, if I hadn’t examined all of your, removals, and found them unnecessary, I would even now be executing my duty as Assistant Chief and relieving you of duty as Chief Engineer.”

Gerhardt’s eyebrows scrunched together as he thought through her angry words. “So... you agree with my Reassessment, but you are unhappy with my methods?”

Ayla huffed, “I suppose that would be a succinct summary of my concerns.”

Gerhardt seemed to think over this diatribe. “Hmm... Concerns noted, Lieutenant. I am certain you will include them in your daily report, but in case you were not, I request a full report of your concerns. Now, will you accompany to my office? I have a meeting with the captain soon and I would like to handle some administrative matters before then.” He went to the small lift near the reactor, careful to step around his carnage, trying to hide a smile. Lt. Cressida’s militaristic style would be helpful as he grew into his new role on the Atlas. For now, it would provide some amusement.
 * 02-18-2011 02:32Adina Wolfe'''::USS Atlas::
 * Earth’s Orbit::'''

Gabriel glanced once more up and down the hallway, bewildered as to what exactly to do with himself. This wasn’t how he imagined his first experience aboard his first assigned ship would be. After a few more moments of thought, he heard a few voices at one end of the corridor. Readjusting his duffel bag, he walked toward them. Within a few moments, he rounded a corner and saw two NCO engineers, presumably McKinley shipyard workers. Gabe approached them.

“Gentlemen, I’m Cadet Holt, a trauma surgeon assigned to the ship. I wonder if you could point me in the direction of the Cadet quarters?”

One of the two spoke up first, “Absolutely, Cadet. You’ll find the quarters you’re looking for on Deck 9.”

Gabriel nodded to them, “Thanks very much. Do either of you know if the XO or CO are aboard yet?”

“No, they aren’t yet, Cadet,” spoke the other one. “They aren’t due aboard for some time.”

“Alright, thanks again.” Gabriel turned and made his way to the elevator. The door slid open and Gabe spoke, “Deck 9.” There was a beep, and off he went to Deck 9. A few moments later, the elevator door slid open and out stepped Gabriel. He made his way along a corridor until he reached a sign that said “Cadet Quarters - Section II.” Entering inside, Gabriel found quarters similar to the kind he had stayed in during ship training while at Starfleet Academy. He walked over to the first bunk he could find and set his stuff down on it. Gabriel took a few moments and glanced around the slightly cramped quarters - he couldn’t help the smile that came across his face. It may not have been th quarters aboard the USS Monarch, but these were his first official quarters aboard his first official Ship’s posting. Suddenly, the door to the quarters slid open and Gabriel spun around to see whom it was.

Adina peeked her head inside the open door, “Hello? Anyone home?”

Gabriel saw a shirt-haired blond woman poke her head into the quarters. He smiled at the cute girl an said, “You bet!” He extended his hand and walked toward her. “I’m Medical Cadet Gabriel Holt. And you are...?”

“Adina Wolfe.” The Cadet smiled as she took the offered hand, “I’ve just been reassigned from McKinley station.”

“Don’t I get an introduction?” A voice from Adina’s back questioned.

Adina winced slightly and motioned to her rucksack, “The mystery voice is my pet project, Rube.”

He looked over the Cadet’s shoulder as he smiled at her. “Nice to meet you. I just came from McKinley, looked real busy. This’ll be my first assignment.” He turned his glance at her rucksack. “Interesting. Mind if I take a look?” asked Gabriel motioning to her rucksack.

“Hmm? Oh she’s nothing much to see how she is at the moment, I just made the mistake last week of giving her an external audio unit...”

“Who you calling a mistake?” Rube quickly retorted.

“Okay...two seconds.” Adina offered as she dropped the rucksack to the deck and rummaged around inside. A moment later the Cadet had fished out a small silver oval, with apparent practice she flung it upwards causing it to stick with a solid click to the ceiling. A moment later a leggy red head shimmered into view with the familiar fuzz sound of photons aligning. “Cadet Holt...” Adina started, motioning to the figure.”Meet Rube. She’s a modified EMH Mk II.”

“Heavily modified deary.” Rube offered, “I’m barely even alike to that upstart pipsqueak nowadays.”

Gabriel smiled at the holographic figure in front of him and then over to Adina. “Well, Rube, I am very pleased to meet you as well. Great work, Cadet Wolfe. I think that it’s safe to say that you’re an engineer?” Gabriel looked again at Rube. He looked back towards the bunk he had placed his duffel bag on and spoke to Adina and Rube.”Oh, I just put my things down when you just came in. Do you mind if I take that bunk?”

“That’s fine.” Adina smiled, “I’m not picky. So-” The Cadet picked up her bag and flung her bag onto the lower bed on the opposite bunk, “-what brought you in Cadet?”

Gabriel smiled to her and then turned to his own bags, opening the zippers of the bags, he began to slowly unpack the contents. “Well..I was growing a bit restless at Starfleet Medical,” Gabriel slowly spoke. “So, I decided to seek a posting. I just want to help people. Do some good for other people with what I am good at. You know?” Gabriel unpacked his books and laid them on the bed in front of him, and then began to unpack his uniforms and place them in their storage spaces. Looking up from his work, he smiled at her again. She was cute, beautiful in fact, but Gabriel knew to tread carefully. He continued to unpack.

“I can understand that.” Adina smiled back as she rather unceremoniously emptied her clothes from her bag into one of the bunks drawers, “Though I have to admit I didn’t join for anything quite so... noble.” The Cadet nodded towards Rube, who was slowly pacing around, apparently taking in all the details of the bunk room. “I like playing with tech...A lot. New, old, it doesn’t matter, I just like to open it up and see how it works, maybe make it work better, and the Fleet not only has the best tech but goes out exploring for more all the time, just seemed the best way...”

Gabriel laughed slightly as Adina spilled her clothes into the bunk’s drawers. “I wouldn’t call it noble as much as it’s what I do best..” Rube continued to pace the small quarters seemingly oblivious to Gabe’s and Adina’s conversation. “I’ve always tried to be good with technology, but my knowledge tends to be limited to the Sick Bay.” Gabe laughed again. “I’ll know where to come when I have a problem with something, though.”

By now, Gabe had unpacked his duffel bag of its contents, and grabbed his PADD from within on of the outside zipped sections. He quickly typed a message off to his father explaining that he was now settled into the ship, and that he would be alright. Gabriel ended the message reassuring his parents that he would see them first chance he got. After sending the message, Gabriel turned back to Adina.

“Do you know if the CO or XO are aboard yet? I’d like to report in. I’d also like to see some more of the ship; have you, yet?” Gabe asked to her? He then pulled up the tab he had created for the basic information for the USS Atlas. With another movement of his finger, he pulled up a separate section that was just on the Sick Bay’s Medical Equipment and Supplies.

“Reported in?” Adina asked, squeezing the last of her clothes into the drawer with her foot. “Not yet, I just got my transfer orders, went home to pack and....unpack. “The Cadet chuckled. “Last I heard the brass were on their way but I dunno if they’ve turned up yet.”

Gabriel laughed with her at the little quip she had made. “Well, I had meant, have you seen some of the ship, but that’s a good answer too.” Gabe laughed again, and continued to look at the specs of the ship. After a few moments, he set the PADD on the bed, and began to place his books in a stack on the floor next to his bunk. For now, Gabe had decided that the Medical Equipment he had picked up from the shipyard could wait before he found a good place for them in his quarters with Adina. He had always liked to carry his own basic first aid equipment on himself where he could get at it in a moment’s notice. Satisfied with where his belongings were at the moment, Gabe stretched out on his bunk with the PADD and continued to look over the ship’s specs and Sick Bay’s medical equipment.

“Ah, yeah I’ve been in, around and through this puppy since she was a little more then a padded space frame.” Adina smiled, “I can tell you for example, that next door may suffer from sleepless nights as a main EPS coolant line runs straight under their floor...”

Gabriel looked up at her from his posture on the bunk and raised his eyebrows. Shaking his head, he showed the look of being impressed on his face as best he could. “Very nice,” he said trying to carrying the look from his face to the tone in his voice. Rube continued to look around the quarters, and it amused Gabriel. There was something about having a holographic roommate and a real one that made him smile. He looked forward to living with the both of them. “Hopefully I can get to the Sick Bay sometime today to check everything out. I’m a trauma surgeon, by the way.”

“Oh, you get all the super messy cases then?” Adina offered as she flung the now empty rucksack into a corner. “I’m mainly a power specialist girl myself, Warp Cores, EPS, Plasma that kinda thing. Rube, do me a favour, stop pacing and go introduce yourself to the main computer...I don’t want you flagged a s evil first time we run into something.”

“Oh sweetie? Now?” The red headed hologram asked.

“Yes now, go on, scoot.”

With a sigh the hologram walked across the room, plucked the silver disk of the ceiling, placed it atop a comm panel at the back of the room, and vanished. “That’ll keep her busy for about three minutes.” Adina chuckled, “Wanna see if the mess halls been built yet?”

Gabriel smiled as the hologram vanished. It was amazing how casually Adina and the hologram had interacted with one another. Gabriel looked down at his stomach. “I think that’d be a good idea. In all the excitement of getting aboard, I haven’t really eaten anything yet.” He stood, his full six-foot-two-inch height and 175 pound frame seemed a bit imposing. With a smile he stretched his arms and back. “Shall we?”

The door to the room slid open as the two of them stepped out into the corridor of the ship. Being himself, Gabe stepped to one side and allowed Adina to exit before him. He soon followed her and they started on their way...

A tale of holograms, bunks and a want for food brought to you by Gabe Holt and Adina Wolfe!
 * 02-18-2011 13:04Christopher Vaughn''':::XO’s Quarters:::
 * USS Atlas:::'''

Chris stood in his quarters looking at the arrangement with a callous eye. “That’s going to go.” He pointed to the dinning table. “There is where I want the full bar installed.” He pointed against the back wall of the dinning area of his quarters where the offending table was. “I want the safe wall mounted behind my desk.” He gestured to the wall near the desk in his quarters; the interior designer nodded noting the request in his PADD. “Actually,” Chris said shaking his head. “All this furniture is going to have to be replaced; the bed, desk, chairs –all of it. Use the same styling as my penthouse.” The decorator nodded again as he tapped his PADD vigorously. Giving his new quarters another quick glance he smiled and looked back over to the decorator. “Ok, get it done.”

''':::XO’s Office::: ''' Like his quarters his office was starting to take shape. The standard issue chairs in his office replaced with more comfortable high end and expensive imported chairs from Betazed. A few pieces of artwork hung on the walls and a small wet bar on one of the shelves built into the wall behind his desk. He sat comfortably behind his desk skimming through the notes Tom sent him regarding his conversation with Admiralty. Evidently the ship was going to be running on a skeleton crew for a few months. Not exactly great news.

So far the chief engineer has turned main engineering upside-down, the chief tactical officer reported there were photon torpedoes in the inventory and the ships manifest stated it should only have quantum torpedoes and to top it all off some cadet had arrive aboard and was looking for him or the captain. '' Well, I'm the way the truth and the XO. No one comes unto the Captain – except through me.'' It was practically scripture, Chris mused.

“Computer,” it chirped in response. “Place send a text notification to Cadet Holt that I will be available for a face to face after the staff meeting.”

//Acknowledged\\ the computer replied.

Taking a seat behind his desk he pulled up a sizable list of meetings he was required to attend dealing with pre-launch issues and supply requisitions. Letting out a slight sigh of annoyance he checked his watch and realized he still had an hour until the staff meeting. Deciding it was time to get to work he swiveled in his chair to the self next to the small wet bar and withdrew a cigar from the humidor. Clipping the end and lighting it he turned back to his stack of PADD’s. Deck 6 Ward Room'''
 * 02-23-2011 19:23Tom O'Flagherty'''USS Atlas

As the door opened, Tom noted at the no-nonsense atmosphere of the room. The lighting was mostly subdued and the horseshoe shaped table focused all the attention to the lectern on the small raised platform in front of the holographic projector. It was unlike the observation lounges on other ships where he had served. There was no breathtaking view, no decoration, save for the Megiddo Fleet seal, and very few comforts. It was an intimidating place, indeed.

A couple of technicians from McKinley station were fussing with some controls on the lectern as Tom set down his padd full of notes for the meeting. They both stopped and snapped to attention before he told them they had five minutes to get to a stopping point, and then clear the room. There was no need for the lectern or the projector in this meeting, and so he wasn’t all that concerned with their work schedule. Quietly, they finished replacing the controls, and cleaned up their tools before departing hastily.

Now, it was just Tom in the massive room. He shuffled the notes around on his padd as he tried to organize his thoughts. He tried to look calm, but his palms were sweating on the sides of the device, so he nervously wiped them on his trousers as he waited.

The ship seemed to be totally empty as Joshua walked down the empty hallway, he was going over two of the pads that he hand in his hand when he turned a corner and noticed that this area of the ship was totally dark. Truthfully he wasn’t scared of the dark, but he was however worried about tripping over things and making a trip down to sickbay, which he already was trying to avoid; mostly because he hated physicals and he was in tip top condition so why go.

Joshua looked down the dark hallway once more, and walked over to a wall panel and activated the emergency lighting which light the bottom of the floor in a light bluish light. “Seems pretty clear,” he said as he started walking, but he spoke too soon as he nearly lost his balance when his foot struck something metal in the floor. Quickly taking his hand he held his weight up against the side of a wall keeping him from toppling to the floor; he was going to have a talk with the chief engineer when the meeting was done.

A few minutes passed and Joshua walked out of the dark hallway into an area that was well lit, and made a left as he approached the doors of the observation lounge. As he stood in front of the doors, they opened when the sensors detected his body mass and Joshua saw that the captain had already arrived within the room.

“Captain O’Flagherty,” said Joshua as he walked over to the Irish man with his hand extended out, “Lieutenant Joshua Castillo,” he said.

“Lieutenant Castillo, nice to meet you,” Tom said as he took the offered hand in a firm grip. The man looked a couple of years older than him, which always gave Tom a pause as he thought about it. “I’m glad you could make it to Earth so quickly. I know my own trip trying to get here from the Gamma Quadrant was rather...colorful. Did all of your belongings arrive to the correct place?”

“Yes they did, in fact I had been on Earth for couple of months; I had to take additional classes when I found out I had been accepted as the Chief Tactical Officer,” he said as he placed the pads next to the chair where the XO would be sitting.

“It’s difficult when you go from engineering to tactical, you would have thought that the transition would be swifter,” he said to the captain as he moved over to his chair and sat down in the seat.

“By the way captain, Admiral Maddigan highly recommended you,” he said.

Tom’s eyes widened a bit at the compliment. “In truth, I didn’t know the Admiral knew who I was. That’s good to hear though...I hope I don’t disappoint.”

The doors to the Wardroom parted as Chris stepped in. He had only poked his head in the wardroom during his tour of the ship prior but now seeing it in full view he found the room to be ominous and the air weighted with authority. Taking his seat next to Tom he noticed the stack of PADD’s from the tactical officer whom he assumed was the other man in the room. Sliding the PADD’s so he could see their display more clearly it looked like a series of progress reports indicating each divisions various level of preparedness. As none of the other department heads had arrive he turned to the tactical officer and Chris offered a pleasant smile. “Lt. Castillo, I presume? So, what are you doing about this photon torpedo problem?”

Gerhardt stepped off the turbolift on deck six with a mean look in his eye. His meeting with Lt. Cressida had produced less than optimal results. Ship-wide, systems remained partially complete, and his engineering staff hadn't arrived onboard yet. Only a few dozen had arrived and there was far too much to be done. Gerhardt paused to let two young McKinley workers pass. ''What are you, 12 years old? God they're letting children build my damn boat'' he thought angrily at the workers.

He walked through the sliding doors briskly, barely allowing them time to open fully. With a brief salute to the captain, he found his chair at the imposing desk and nodded to the other officers present before burying himself in his notes. Perhaps he could resolve some of engineering's issues before this con-fab got started.

“The problem commander is the number of torpedoes that were suppose to be aboard the Atlas,” he said as he tapped the pad that sat in front of him, and scrolled down to the torpedo issue.

“So far the shipyard only supplied the Atlas with twenty quantum torpedoes, and so we have the materials to only build five more; so for the meantime sir I ordered my officers to construct photon torpedoes until we reach Megiddo...which would give us a larger supply of torpedoes as we can make fifteen photon torpedoes to every five quantum torpedoes,” he said as he pulled up other things about the defense weapons of the ship.

“Our second torpedo tube is out of commission, the loading lift broke when we were testing it out and also the console is missing a few firing algorithms that would allow us to engage the burst fire mechanism of the tube; also our aft torpedo tubes are off line due to the fact that these damn shipyard punks did not install the consoles that we need to fire the torpedoes out of them,” he said showing his frustration.

“I feel sorry for the chief engineer of this boat,” he said.

Chris pursed his lips slightly as he took in the run down from Castillo. “Ok, we will have to hammer the torpedo complement down the road then, I’ll start checking some of the forward munition reserves on the other side of the wormhole. In the mean time I want all of my tactical systems functional within the next 72 hours. After 72 hours I’m starting surprise inspections of the departments starting with tactical and I want to be impressed.”

“That’s not a problem for me commander, however to get the torpedo tubes up and running we are going to need the supplies to repair them; and let’s just say the quartermaster would listen to you or the captain rather than myself,” he said as Joshua smiled on the inside, it was a good thing that he was an engineer as well or he really would have been put into a bind.

“Also sir, there is another situation....the tractor beams are another problem,” he said as he hated being the bearer of bad news again but continued on “The secondary forward tractor beam seems to never have been installed, maybe the engineers from the shipyard are behind schedule, and the primary aft tractor beam was not install either,” he said as that basically finished his report, anything else that went wrong with the tactical systems would have to be found out during the shake down cruise.

“I’ll talk to the yard workers about getting supplies and workers but understand lieutenant, everyone is in the same boat. Literally and figuratively.” Chris sat the PADD down. “By weeks end this ship sets sail - period. So lie, cheat, steal or kill that tactical department - all departments- will be ready.”

“Tractor beam will not be a problem,” Gerhardt’s gruff voice came from behind the padd he was hunched over. “Tractor beam is an easy fix. They are not installed, but they are readily available on the ship. I believe they were deposited on deck 16. It has already been added to the list of other problems we have. Torpedoes are still a problem.”

He hardly looked away from his notes for this whole speech. His fingers and eyes worked feverishly over the padd, trying to allocate resources and manpower. The problem wasn’t the size or number of issues on the ship; the problem was that he couldn’t assume to have any more manpower or resources than what he could confirm immediately. He glanced at the Captain to see if he was ready to start the meeting, shot a glance around the mostly empty table, and turned his full focus back to the padd.

Tom waited until Lisbet and the other two department heads came in and took their seats. Everyone looked uncomfortable in the ward room, and he felt much the same. As he took a deep breath, he cleared his throat loud enough for the small side conversations to cease so they could get down to business. “Alright. Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m Lieutenant Commander Thomas O’Flagherty, the commanding officer of the ship. It’s nice to meet you, and I’m sure we will all get better acquainted in the next few days.”

“I called you here to give you an update on the current status of our ship and crew. I’m afraid the situation does not look good.” Tom paused to let a few groans and mumbles filter through the room before he continued. “It seems our ship is part of a long line of new vessels set to roll off the line in the coming months. That means that some threads were left hanging such as sensors, weapons, and secondary systems. We have one week to get them finished before we are scheduled to depart for Megiddo, with a skeleton crew.”

Some eyes grew wider at the realization that they would be working short-handed, accept for Lt. P’Rim. The Vulcan just looked on placidly, which made Tom a little uncomfortable. “In the coming days, I would like to have meetings with all of you to discuss the status of your progress on top of your daily report logs. We have a new ship with new systems, and that means we are literally writing the book on how this thing works. I need you all to be extremely thorough in your repair logs, because they are all going back to Starfleet Operations. Are there any questions?”

Gerhardt set his padd down for the first time since entering the room. “Sir, I have a question,” he said with a slight hand raise. He gave a slight wave and self-introduction before continuing, “Lt. Gerhardt Rahner, Chief Engineering Officer. I wonder, sir, if we can tap the manpower on McKinley station? Perhaps they will have some engineers who could work double shifts to help us finish the more important systems?”

Bet was a bit worried at hearing this news...new systems meant the possibility of failures and that meant the possibility of injury. She’d have to carefully brief her medical staff so that they were aware of the potential problems. They’d also need to be on the lookout for failures within Sickbay that could jeopardize the health and safety of staff. She offered Tom a reassuring look as he made a pass around the table, a flicker of a smile the only evidence he displayed of their exchange.

“I’ll make a point to talk with the harbormaster about that as soon as we adjourn here. The main difficulty is going to be finding engineers who have the certifications to work on all of our systems.” Taking another look around the room, satisfied that there were no other points of discussion, and then gave a slight nod to Chris.

Chris stood, “Alright everyone. Dismissed.” The senior staff stood and filed out fo the wardroom as Chris gestured to Tom and Lisbet to hold back. Once the room was clear Chris gave them a stern look. “I want you both to understand - I didn’t want to have to do this but...” he sighed heavily. “Vaughn Industries is having their Annual Shareholders Bunch and I am supposed to be in attendance with guests. So, congratulations - your both now guests.”

Tom looked at Lisbet, who looked back with as much confusion as he felt. “Chris, what is a shareholders brunch, and what are we going to do there?”

Chris shook his head in annoyance. “Lunch and breakfast food will be served. Just be there, in dress uniforms and look pretty. If any reporters ask about me tell them I am the best XO you ever had, a damn fine officer, a credit to the Federation and a saint.”

“So...you want me to lie is what you’re saying.”

“I would never ask you to do that.” he assured his friend. “But yes.”

Tom nodded his head in mock approval. “Good. As long as we are on the same page, but do we really have to wear dress uniforms? That stupid thing is uncomfortable.”

“Unless you or Lisbet own some Saville Row, then yes.” he replied.

“Seeing as how I am a lowly Lieutenant Commander, I guess I shall wear my dress uniform. What time do we need to be where?”

“Remember where the law firm offices are in downtown San Fran?” Tom nodded, “Meet me there at 0900 and the limo will take us to the brunch.”

Bet wrapped both of her arms around Tom’s and squeezed as she smiled at the both of them. “Fantastic! This should be fun.”

“Yeah,” Tom thought as Chris left them in the wardroom. “About as fun as sticking a needle in your eye.”

'''A JP with the ENTIRE command staff. Whew!!!''' Gerhardt stormed off the turbolift into his domain. Lt. Cressida had begun organizing and moving the component stack on the port wall with two of the Atlas engineering crewmen. Gerhardt had explained during their first meeting that he intended to send all the excess components to the engineering workshop where they may provide inspiration or, at the very least, spare parts for any experiments and modifications going on there. Gerhardt didn’t break his stride as he stalked to the reactor-side lift on his way to his office, weakly answering the crewmen's salutes, but barked orders as he went.
 * 02-24-2011 03:45Gerhardt RahnerMain Engineering

“Lt. Cressida, that project can wait. Gather all the division heads in my office, now. If they are not on board, get them here. We have too much to do and not enough time to do it in.” He mounted the lift and it started to rise.

“Sir, we’re almost done here,” Ayla informed him. “Should these crewmen continue?”

“If they can complete the task in the next half-hour, so be it,” Gerhardt said, speaking louder as the lift rose away from her. “Otherwise, put them immediately to work on the tractor beam emitters. Prime aft and second fore assemblies are incomplete. They were deposited on deck 16, need to go to deck 17. Do not bother trying to use transporters, just skip to manual hauling. If they can get at least that done before I am done with the division heads, I will medal them. If they can get both done, I will personally medal them.”

“Aye, sir.”

The lift reached the top as he finished speaking. He immediately entered his office, called for a coffee, and grabbed on his way to the seat behind his desk. A long sip of the scalding coffee gave him an extra boost as he pulled a padd in front of him. The information on it divided the engineers expected in the crew among the division heads; he deleted the information and started again, this time with roughly a third of the manpower. When this was done, he pulled another padd to him and started doling out assignments to the various teams, all of which had to be completed before the Atlas left the station. If McKinley could spare a few dozen engineers, that would be fantastic, but Gerhardt was planning for the bleakest situation he could imagine in which they actually succeeded. A thought struck hard enough to bring him to a pause: Perhaps this should become his frame of mind permanently as Chief Engineer, the bleakest situation that can actually succeed. I can get a damn wood-carving and hang it on the headrest of my chair, that way it’s handy to bash my head against when things get too hectic, he thought with a dark humor. It was just a momentary pause, time enough for a thought and a sip, then back to work. Too much work, too little time.
 * 02-24-2011 15:26Gabriel HoltReporting InAfter a brief but pleasant meal with Cadet Wolfe in the unfinished Mess Hall, Gabriel returned back to his quarters in order to finish settling in. Adina had told him she was going to take another look around the ship, as she wanted to get a better idea of it from an engineering stand point. With a smile on his face, Gabriel continued to organize his possessions.

As he continued his organizing, there was a beep from his PADD. Gabriel reached into his bag and retrieved the device. There was a new text message from the ship’s computer to him. Gabriel was slightly confused as to what it could be concerning. Opening the message, Gabriel’s eyes became wide and his heart beat a little faster. The ship’s Executive Officer, Christopher Vaughn was requesting a meeting with him after the Ship’s Staff meeting. Gabriel quickly typed off a reply saying that he understood and would be there, all in the correct and formal manner of course. He then put the PADD back into his bag and dashed to the mirror.

Gabriel inspected himself, and his uniform to make sure that everything was in its right place. He brushed off the uniform,and gave it a few tugs and adjustments before smiling an nodding to himself for reassurance.This was it! He was going to meet the ship’s XO, and this was an important meeting! First impressions can sometimes be the last impressions, Gabriel could hear his father say in his mind. He turned back to his things and quickly put them away before wheeling around an heading out of the quarters to the XO’s office.

Chris returned to his office after the staff meeting making notes of which departments he would be putting on the inspection schedule. Setting the scheduling PADD on his desk he poured a bourbon before taking his seat and checking the crew report in roster. For a skeleton crew there were still a few stragglers that had yet to make it to the ship. The paperwork requirements for being XO were already proving more considerable then his time running the Tactical Department on Emissary, but less than the average civil litigation. Once he had figured a system he imagined it would consume less of his time. His thoughts were interrupted by the door chime.

“Enter.” he said. Checking his watch. Given the timing it was either that cadet or some mechanical crisis which had brewed up in another part of the ship. Frankly he hoped it was the cadet. The staff meeting had outlined enough problems for the command staff to overcome and he was in no mood for more.

Gabriel walked in through the door after the XO’s permission to enter was granted. Gabe walked in with his back straight, stood at rigid attention and spoke firmly. “Cadet Holt reported as ordered,sir!” His eyes were focused forward, not wandering. His uniform was immaculate, and his posture superb. Time to make a good impression.

“Have a seat Cadet Holt.” Chris said gesturing to the chair on the other side of his desk. “Welcome aboard the Atlas. Although it seems you made it here a few days before we did. I trust your settling into place nicely?”

Gabriel broke his stony attention and moved to the seat. As he sat, he kept his back straight and now made eye contact with the XO. “Thank you, sir. I am settling in quite nicely, as a matter of fact, sir, though I have yet been able to inspect more of the sip, let alone the Sick Bay.”

“Well we will be launching soon and beginning the shakedown cruise to Gamma Quadrant which isn’t a short trip.” Sliding the PADD’s with the staff meeting notes aside and relaxing in his chair with the bourbon, Chris focused his attention on the cadet. “So, what brings you into the Fleet?”

Gabriel straightened his back again at the question, as if it could be any more straight. “Sir, I’m here to help people and do my part. I’ve always wanted to be a part of Starfleet and help people with all of the knowledge I have learned in the medical field.” Gabriel almost felt silly answering the question that way, but he was going to tell the truth, no matter what it was. His body tensed slightly as he awaited the XO’s response.

Chris restrained from a smile at the energetic response. “Well, certainly glad to have you. We need all the manpower we can get at this point. Have you talked to your department head yet?” Speaking of, I need to get to the sickbay myself and see how Lisbet is enjoying her new play-pin. Finishing the last of the bourbon he set it aside as the cadet spoke.

“No, sir. Not as of yet. I was not aware that she was aboard?” Gabriel could feel his heart still pounding. He hoped his response did not give the impression that Gabe did not know what was going on around the ship. He slightly shifted in his chair as he awaited his XO’s answer.

“Well, she is.” Chris assured. “She arrived with the Captain and myself.” Chris noticed the stiffness in the cadet. “Cadet, try to relax, I’m not going to keel-haul you for not being aware the CMO is on the ship yet.”

Gabriel grew a little self conscious and relaxed his body a little. “Sorry, sir. If she is aboard now, then I will report into her after our meeting.” Gabriel noticed the bottle that the XO had for the first time. Looking back to Vaughn, he spoke again. “And would it also be a good idea to introduce myself to the Captain whenever it is convenient for him?”

“The captain is going to be very busy for the next several days getting the ship ready to launch.” Chris pointed to the edge of his desk where a stack of pended work orders sat. “His stack is twice as large.”

Gabe looked over at the stack and raised his eyebrows and sighed. “Well, Sir, I don’t want to take up any more of your time then. Nor will I bother the Captain. I suppose he will call me if and when he needs me. Thank you very much for your time, Sir. I plan on introducing myself to the CMO next.” Gabriel looked at the stack once more and then back to the XO. He didn’t want to make the first move to leave and insult the XO. Gabe simply kept his posture and respectful demeanor.

Standing Chris offered a pleasant smile and extended his hand. “Very good to have you aboard then. I’m sure you’ll make a fine addition to the medical staff. If you need anything I always have an open door.”

Gabriel politely stood and took the offered hand, shaking it firmly. “Thank you very much, Sir. I hope to be an asset while aboard.” Returning the smile, Gabriel stood at attention once more, saluted and briskly about-faced and headed out of the door. The door slid open and Gabriel exited the room. Once outside, he smiled to himself. Well, that went well, Gabe thought to himself. He began to make his way back to his quarters with a bit of a spring in his step...

This JP has been brought to you by none other than Chris Vaughn and Gabriel Holt!!
 * 03-01-2011 05:24Adina WolfeChief Engineer’s Office

Gerhardt set his last padd down on his desk and slumped back into his chair. The meeting with his division leads had gone as expected: lots of pissed off officers and more paperwork. When the meeting had ended, Ayla had suggested disciplinary actions against Ensign York, the Auxillary head, for insulting several superior officers in an official capacity. Gerhardt had shut down that idea; York was just letting off steam, and Gerhardt couldn’t help agreeing with most of it.

He hadn’t had much good news to give anyone. Each of the six heads would have 12 crewmen in each of their departments, instead of the expected 40 combined enlisted and officers for the ship’s full compliment. This left three crewmen available for Gerhardt and Ayla to help their various executive operations, one cadet and two enlisted. They had a mountain of work to do in a few days and the captain hadn’t heard back from the dockmaster about the possibility of having more help from McKinley. Which reminded him, =/\=Rahner to Cadet Wolfe. Report to Chief Engineer’s office A.S.A.P.=/\=

Adina had been having a peek at an exposed piece of EPS junction on Deck 9 when the Chief Engineer’s voice had come across the comm and she quickly made her way through the ship to Engineering, stopping neatly at the threshold of the German’s office. “You rang sir?”

Gerhardt looked up sharply from his desk. Having finished most of his paperwork, he was working on his new office’s decor, but this was more important. “Ah, Cadet Wolfe, please enter, make yourself comfortable.” He leaned back in his chair, first trying a formal pose before giving up on that and resting his arms on the desk comfortably.

“I trust you’ve made the transition to the Atlas smoothly? I was most pleased to see you accepted the transfer. I know you will make an excellent officer on this ship,” Gerhardt commented, somewhat shyly. For nearly three decades, he’d worked as an engineer on various ships, solving all manner of technical problems. The captain of a commercial liner Gerhardt once worked on liked to claim that Gerhardt could practically talk a warp core out of breach. That was before Gerhardt jumped ship unexpectedly at a random port and never looked back. He had always had a problem accepting recognition, but had never experienced the other side of the transaction and didn’t want to over do it. Something I’ll have to work on if I am to remain in a position of responsibility.

Before she could respond, he got down to business, “Cadet, do you have any contacts here on McKinley who might owe you a favor?”

Adina looked like she was about to answer then paused for a moment, a list of names running through her head. “I have... a few outstanding debts sir, but I’m not sure if they’re the kind you’re after...”

Gerhardt considered this for a moment, then saw the stack of padds he’d just completed as though it was for the first time. They needed help, he couldn’t imagine finishing all the work on the ship in time without it, and he was getting desperate. He made a decision, hoping it was right. “Cadet, everything said from this point on is to be withheld from your logs. We need to get this ship finished and we do not have much time. Our maiden voyage will be with a skeleton crew, and not all of them have boarded yet. We need hands, and McKinley station has several. I do not know if what I am asking of you is moral or immoral; that will depend entirely on what you have to do to complete the assignment. Use whatever contacts you have on McKinley, and whatever pressure you have in reserve on them, to encourage those workers to help us, whether by pulling double shifts or working off the clock. That at least should not be a problem, but if it is I no longer give a damn. Someone is screwing us by giving us an incomplete ship and a skeleton crew. I do not know who or why, but speculation on that will have to wait until we are done with this job. Do you accept, Cadet... do you accept this voluntary and unofficial task, Adina?”

The young Cadet blinked, “I could try sir but frankly I think your rank will have more pull then mine or any favours I have to collect.”

Gerhardt smiled grimly. "Rank has nothing to do with this assignment. The human element is what matters here. You have worked alongside these people; they know you. For many of them, they know me only as the crazed German who tore apart Engineering. Whether they receive clearance to do extra work on this ship is out of our control and out of the scope of your task. I only ask that you convince some of your contacts to give us whatever aid they can."

“Aye sir.” Adina saluted smartly, “I’ll try my best.” With a curt nod from Gerhardt, The Cadet turned neatly and left the Chiefs office, her mind already twirling, trying to work out who’d want to work extra hours, and how she could wrangle them out of them...

Asking the favour for favours: Brought to you my Gerhardt and Adina!
 * 03-01-2011 22:39Christopher Vaughn''':::Rose Pistola:::
 * Vaughn Industries Annual Shareholder Brunch:::
 * San Francisco, Earth:::'''

After picking up Tom and Lisbet they made the relatively short drive in the limo from the firms main office on California to Rose Pistola on Columbus Avenue. Chris wore a grey pin striped suit with contrasting blue shirt, tie and pocket square. The other in the dress whites of Starfleet, Tom fidgeted uncomfortably and the massive diamond on Lisbet’s ring gleamed in the light as if preparing to pull nearby worlds into it’s orbit.

As the limo pulled up to the restaurant the driver immediately walked around to open the door for them. The doorman of the restaurant stood at attention until all three where out off the car at which point he crisply opened the door to Rose Pistrola. Chris had planned for the three to arrive late, at least fifteen minutes after everyone else should have been there. Arrive late and leave early. The company had rented the entire restaurant for the brunch but it was clearly full to the brim. Mostly shareholders of either Vaughn Holdings or Industries with several of the equity partners from the law firm thrown in the mix. Also he spotted a few reporters working the group: Forbes, Wall Street Journal, The Vulcan Financial Report, and from Ferenginar the Latinum Ear. As a waiter walked by Chris took a half champagne, half orange juice mimosa from the tray he carried glancing back to Tom and Bet. “I advise you two start early today, this is going to be Godawful boring.”

Richard Archibald moved through the crowd to greet them, “Christoper, I’m glad you made it, honestly I had concerns.” his old friend joked.

Chris offered a feint smile, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He turned to the others, “This is Tom O’Flagherty -the commanding officer of the ship I’m assigned to and his fiancee, the ravishing, Lisbet Ulrika. Our Chief Medical Officer.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Archibald said as he shook there hands. “And thank you for your service in the Fleet.”

Sensing a moment were he wasn’t being observed by Archibald he slipped from the group to the buffet table to pluck a few grapes and a croissant from the display. He offered the obligatory small talk when ever approached by one of the shareholders as he milled about the crowd.

Gabriel had been mingling with all of the business people at the brunch since it had first been opened. Very few people in the room he actually knew. Dressed in his Starfleet Dress Whites with all of his ribbons and such made him a bit conspicuous, but it was never something that bothered him. He was part of Starfleet and he beamed with the pride of such a distinction as that. He made his rounds past the buffet table, politely taking only a small cup of orange juice from one of the waiters. He was here for business, and that meant he couldn't be confronted by someone who could be a potential client or buyer and him have his mouth full of food. He had picked a quiet table that had a few fruit assortments placed on it, and looked around the in crowd for one of the managers he had spoken with at least a few times. He had only talked to two so far, but he knew that he needed to talk to more at the very least, or at best, some Department Heads. Hopefully this brunch wouldn’t turn out to be a bust.

Tom looked around the room, noticing all the suits stuffed into the restaurant. A passing waiter offered the couple mimosas, and he took two, handing one to Bet. Even in the stiff white uniform, she looked absolutely amazing. “Well, I’m glad we could come to be show pieces. How’s your drink?”

“Mmm, its really good. What is it called again... a mimosa, its delicious.” Bet looked around at the people there and knew by the quantity of wait staff that more were expected. She knew that Chris was wealthy and successful, but watching him weave his way through the crowd was an all new level of impressive.

As Chris sipped his drink and listened to one of his shareholders babble on about his new golf handicap Chris offered the occasional chuckle or nod. While he knew how to play, and he wasn’t completely horrible, he found golf intensely boring. A detail he never would admit to these people, who seemed to think golfing was better than sex.

“...and those new irons I just had custom fitted...you know I think having them fitted took at least three strokes off my game...” one of the directors said.

Chris laughed and smiled as pleasantly as he could as he responded, “Pretty soon you won’t even need to swing the club.” the director and other near by shareholders laughed. His genuine sounding - and fake - laugh was interrupted as he caught sight of another person in Starfleet dress whites moving about the room. “Excuse me just a moment.” he said politely to the small crowed as he detached himself and bee-lined for the freshly spotted cadet.

As he got closer he was able to verify what he initially thought he saw, ''You’ve got to be kidding me. '' He cleared his through sharply from behind the cadet. “Cadet Holt, what the hell are you doing here? And if you say ‘lost on your way to sickbay’ we are going to have a serious problem.”

Gabriel turned around to see his XO standing right in front of him. Immediately, Gabe’s eyes went wide, he back stiffened and he came to attention. “No, Sir. I, um..” Gab stumbled over his words, trying to figure out just what exactly to say to explain himself. “Sir, I’m here to speak with some managers of whom invited me.” He slowly trembled throughout his body, but tried his best to hide it and stay confident.

Chris gave the cadet a skeptical look, “Is that so? Some of my managers invited you...If your trying to be cute cadet...”

“Ahh, Chris I see you’ve met Mr. Holt.” Archibald interrupted obliviously.

Giving the older attorney a quick glance he raised his eyebrow, “Yes, Cadet Holt was recently assigned to the Atlas. Exactly why is he here?”

“He was invited by one of the hedge fund managers, I believe.” Archibald replied pleasantly. “Mr. Holt’s father recently transferred the controlling stake in a small family medical supply company to Gabriel here. My understanding was that he was looking for a buyer.”

Vaughn’s expression changed from annoyance to interest. “Well now, that changes things, cadet. Give me the highlights.” he said as he sipped his drink.

Gabriel’s nervousness began to subside slightly. “Well, Sir. My father founded a Medical Company a few years back so that he could experiment and try new things with medicine along with running his private practice and pharmacy.” Gabriel slowly began to realize that he was pretty much speaking to someone who could help his dream become more real. “He decided to retire not too long ago and was simply going to also retire the company, as I am now in Starfleet. However, I told him that I would take it over.” Suddenly it clicked. His XO’s name was Vaughn!! It was the very same Vaughn from Vaughn Industries and same one he was trying to sell or market his company too! Slowly, Gabriel became more enthusiastic about his explanation. “I have been working for quite some time now on several advancements in the medical field. Advancements, which I believe, could change the Medical Field. That is the goal of Holt Medical Technologies. To lead the Medical Field in cutting edge advancements to Medical Technologies. It will be a slow process, but I am very confident in it. I’ve assembled a small team of people from my dad’s company and we already have several prototypes and other things to present.”

Chris listened as the cadet spoke, taking in the information and carefully noting in his mind the points he wanted to research further and what questions would come up down the road.

“So you think your company can change the entire medical field? That is a bold statement.” Chris said as one of the passing waiters replaced his mimosa. “I’ll tell you what; get me the cash flow, balance sheet and financials for the past five years with a business plan and prospectus with terms for any acquisition you’re interested in. Once I’ve reviewed it we have a formal meeting.”

As he finished speaking he noticed a new couple enter the restaurant. A tall blond he recognized at once, “Just when I thought things were getting boring…” he mumbled out loud to no one in particular. Bridget Hamilton had arrived arm in arm with a much older man Chris recognized as one of the major shareholders and unlike the previous encounter with her the other night she now wore a massive diamond wedding ring.

That’s not good. As the couple walked up there was a brief flurry of eye contact with Bridget. Chris rarely found himself speechless but now was once of those times.

Michael Arredondo strode across the room with a smile and offered his hand to Chris, “Good to see you again Mr. Vaughn. I was sorry to hear about your dad.” Notice the exchange of looks between Bridget and Chris, his eyebrow rose slightly. “Do you two know each other?”

“No.” Bridget said at the same time Chris replied “Yes.”

There was a slight pause, “Right, how could I forget,” Bridge interjected suddenly. “We went to high school together. I’m surprised you would remember.” She finished, looking back at Chris sharply.

“Well…” Michael said slightly taken aback by the exchange. “How exciting for the two of you. We have only been married for the past six months now. I was surprised I could find so much happiness – being almost 78 now.”

“What a wonderful surprise that must be.” Chris said with a half-smile, shifting his attention to Bridget only briefly. “And I’ll bet you’ve found the perfect young woman - full of surprises herself.”

“Oh...” Michael looked at Bridget confused.

“Nothing,” she replied, focused squarely on Chris. “Just an old school joke Chris used to tell...” the excuse sounded weak and she knew it. Turning back toward her husband she gave a sympathetic pout. “Do you think you could grab be a mimosa from the bar? I’m parched.” He nodded, giving them each a quick look before kissing her on the cheek and heading to the bar.

Bridget turned to Chris, her eyes cold enough to freeze a small star, “Are you out of your mind?!”

“Me!” Chris exclaimed, barely able to keep is tone subdued. “I’m not the trophy wife who’s been sleeping around on her senior citizen husband.”

“You didn’t seem to mind. And if I told you I was married would it have made a difference?” she hissed.

“Well....” he began. “If I new you were married to a shareholder...probably.”

“Your unbelievable.” Bridget glanced toward the bar again and saw Michael returning. “His coming back. Just keep your mouth shut ...”

“Only if you do the same for your legs.”

She started to rattle off a reply but her husband was already back holding two glasses, his eyes shifting between them. “Did I miss anything?”

Chris glanced over to Tom and Lisbet who stood only a few feet away. Tom was making stilted small talk with one of the corporate VP’s. The expression on his face was that of pained nervousness.

“Commander, I want to personally express my thanks for your service to the Federation. My name is Tucker Kavanagh, I’m the Vice-President of Marketing for Vaughn Computer Systems.” The well-coiffed older executive extended a very well-tanned hand to Tom which he took in a solid grip.

“Mr. Kavanagh, it’s nice to meet you. You will have to excuse me, but these sort of social functions are not my element,” Tom said as he turned toward Lisbet with a “save me” look in his eyes. “This is my fiancee, Dr. Lisbet Ulrika.”

Kavanagh took her hand gently as he gave Bet a thorough look from head to toe. “Commander, I’m sure this is not the first social function you have attended in your Starfleet career. For which Admiral do you serve as an adjutant?”

“Actually, sir, I don’t serve as an adjutant. I’ve just been given my first starship command.” Tom smiled broadly, feeling proud to announce his new command.

“It’s okay, Commander. Everyone wants to be Jean-Luc Picard, but Starfleet needs well qualified clerical work as well. Whose office do you serve in? I may know the admiral.”

The light left Tom’s face fairly quickly; only to be replaced by a growing anger, but he was able to keep his polite tact as looked down on the shorter man. “I’m the commanding officer of the newly minted USS Atlas, Dr. Ulrika is my Chief Medical Officer, and Lieutenant Commander Vaughn is my Executive Officer.”

Tom could see the Tucker Kavanagh’s face go a bit colder which made him want to push the knife a bit deeper. “In a way,...I’m your boss’s boss.”

To say the odious little man oozed pretentiousness was an understatement. At Tom’s declaration his demeanor immediately changed, “Pleased to make your acquaintance, I must be excusing myself, I see...some people I have to talk to.” He made a hasty exit and Bet watched as he scurried away. Then she saw a flash of red hair and pearls and then her mother was walking directly toward her, her father in tow.

Bet gave a squeeze to Tom’s hand, which she found she had grabbed when she spied her mother, “Incoming barrage, prepare to duck and cover,” she said before intercepting her mother.

“Mother! What are you doing here?” she said as she was swept into Dunja’s embrace.

“Your father dabbles in Earth stocks, we own shares of Vaughn Industries. You look too thin Dear, don’t they feed you in Starfleet?”

“Lisbet honey,” her father said as her mother let go of her finally. Bet moved into his arms and felt safe, the shelter all too brief however. “Thomas,” he said, offering his hand to Tom with genuine warmth. Bet watched their interaction with great affection, her mother’s dislike for anything NOT Betazed overshadowing everything.

“Sir. How was your trip to Earth? I wish we had known you were coming.” Tom tried to play it cool, but his stomach was filled with butterflies dive-bombing in every direction. A chill ran down his spine as he could feel Dunja eyeing him fiercely.

“It was a quiet trip. We only just arrived, but perhaps we can get together and see your ship later.” Serken’s eyes gleamed in reflection of the smile that covered his face. I can see where she gets that from.

“We’d love to show you around, she’s beautiful! You should see how big she is...”

Dunja interrupted suddenly, “That’s a large ring on your finger Lisbet...wouldn’t you rather show us that?” Her words barely masked the venom her glance conveyed. “I think its charming to have asked her father for permission to marry her, but on Betazed we do things differently,” she said to Tom. Bet could see him starting to sweat under the heat of her gaze.

“Mother, we’ve had this discussion before. We are not on Betazed, nor are our customs those of the rest of the universe. Thomas is from Earth, Ireland to be exact, and those are the customs I would expect him to follow.

“Well, I was only saying...”

Bet interrupted her, “Yes, you were saying how happy you are to know that your youngest daughter has found a man that loves her, and whom she loves as well. You were going to say how excited you are to be a part of our wedding.” Bet matched her mother’s stance and it looked as if they had reached a stalemate, until Dunja looked around at Serken and Tom and realized she was outnumbered.

“I am very happy for you both. If you’ll excuse me, I need some air.” The Ulrika Matriarch turned suddenly and stormed away.

Tom stood agape. He had never seen Bet quiet that angry before, and it surprised him. He and Serken shared a quiet look that conveyed that they both felt the same way before Tom finally regained his composure. He motioned to the table and pulled out her chair. As she sat, he whispered in her ear, “Well, that went well, I think.”

“Better than I expected, actually.” Bet turned to her father and saw the haggard look he carried. “Father, she’s been very hard on you hasn’t she? I am sorry...”

“Don’t be sorry Dearness. Your mother is who she is, and she’s not about to change now. She loves you, you have to know that. But she loves her Betazed too, and she’s under a great deal of pressure from House dealings. She always hoped your sister and you would take that from her. She pushes Ealisaid more than she does you,” Serken said, surprising Bet.

“But Ealisaid loves House politics! Why would Mother need to push her?” Bet asked, knowing the answer already. Because she doesn’t have us both with her, that’s why. “Father, you should know that we will not be having a traditional Betazed wedding. I’ve done some research...”

“I do hope you’ll let me walk you down the aisle,” Serken said, knowing where Bet was headed. “I’d be honored to escort you down and hand you over to Thomas.” The emotions of the moment threatened to overcome Bet. She took her father’s hand in hers and they sat quietly like this for a moment, until loud laughter at a nearby table broke the moment.

“I should see about your mother,” Serken said. “We’ll be in town for several days, we’ll be in touch I’m sure. Your mother will want another stab at you, both.” He smiled, shook Tom’s hand and followed the direction Dunja stormed off in.

Tom leaned over and brushed his lips, softly, on Bet’s cheek. “I’m sorry. I didn’t do much to back you up with your mother.”

“Nothing you could do. She’s a force that I’ve battled all my life. Just knowing you were beside me helped. I could use a drink, something stronger than champagne.”

As the last of the RSVP’ed shareholders arrived Richard Archibald stood and spoke into the microphone at the hosts station. “All right...it looks like everyone has arrived so the if everybody will take their seats we will be begin serving brunch.”

Slowly everyone made there way too their assigned chairs. Chris, Tom, Lisbet and Gabriel had all been given seats at the main table with Archibald and several of the chief directors. Directly across from Chris the two empty seats were occupied by Michael Arredondo and Bridget Hamilton.

The next two seats on the opposite end of the table across from Tom and Bet were promptly taken by Dunja and Serken Ulrika. As the foursome took their seats Chris caught eyes with Bridget before seeing Michael lock eyes with him, the wheels where clearly turning.... Chris offered a weak smile before looking down the table at Tom and Bet.bThey each mirrored the same look of exasperation and discomfort.

Looking down the table and completely unaware of the massive tangle of complicated history and familial hostility Archibald gave everyone a grandfatherly smile, “I’m so glad to have everyone here today. This should be a lot of fun.”

The Wild Brunch...Part I: featuring Christopher Vaughn, Tom O'Flagherty, Lisbet Ulrika, Gabriel Holt.

as well as NPC's Dunja Ulrika Serken Ulrika

Adina had come through. An extra fifteen engineers were mixed in with the Atlas crew standing around the main console, in the area Gerhardt had come to call "The Pit." Even with all of the Atlas engineers having finally boarded, this wasn't a vast improvement on their numbers, but it would have to do. Gerhardt looked about himself, trying to decide how to begin. This would be his first time to address a large group of engineers as their boss, and he had no intention of screwing it up. He turned off part of the main console and climbed on top of it. The warp core was visible through the transparent, electronic plotboard MSD, which hung from the ceiling like a giant flag behind the more inspirationally-minded generals in old war movies. All eyes turned to him and the chatter quieted. Well, that's one way to get started.
 * 03-03-2011 14:44Gerhardt RahnerMain Engineering

"Um," Gerhardt began in the grand tradition of poor public speakers everywhere. "Thank you, first of all, for your willingness to help us. I do not know why you decided to help, but I am grateful nonetheless. Um, as you can see, there is a great deal of work we have left and not much time left in which, um, to do it."

No one seemed particularly roused one way or another by this, so he continued. "On the MSD, we have marked the sections of the ship in red which require our most immediate attention to achieve mission readiness. These are the secondary aft thrusters which are installed but currently offline, primary aft thruster assembly, main transporter buffer array, port and aft shield emitters, and the multi-dimensional sensor pallet."

Someone let out a low whistle. Another added skeptically, "Shit, is anything functional on this ship?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Gerhardt quickly rushed to start a geek-heavy defense. Ayla coughed loudly and shook her head tersely. "Hm? Oh, yes, you were of course being sarcastic. Please forgive me. I have been flooded with work and am not as perseptive of such things as I normally am."

"Too busy tearing down the ship, eh?" This garnered soft laughter from the crowd and a light blush from the German's cheek.

Trying to keep things light-hearted, he fired back, "Well, I am sure the ship would be completely finished if your CO hadn't ordered you to install the damn training wheels. Now then, you will receive your assignments from the department leads. How do you say, Hop to!"

They were scheduled to disembark in two days. With the added hands from McKinley, they could keep working around the clock. For the first time in days, Gerhardt felt a surge of hope. Two weeks after the launch of USS Atlas'''
 * 03-19-2011 02:00Gerhardt Rahner'''McKinley Station

''The delta shift had been off-duty for seventy minutes and Jerry was already down 35 gpl to Carla in the engineers' poker game. The other three veterans always enjoyed watching their exchanges, and the rookie looked like he was about to shit a diamond. '' Carla looked over at the Bolian rookie, Mor, and laughed. "Relax, rookie. You'll get your chance to give me your money, as soon as Jerry man's up and plays."

Jerry made a face and melodramatically cried, "I fold. Take it, you evil, evil woman! Take it!"

This brought another peal of laughter from the engineers around the table. Tortnol, the Talaxian, took this pause in the game to freshen his drink and offer more to everyone else. Mor gratefully accepted some, but almost spilled it as he brought the drink back to his coaster.

“Seriously, Mor,” Carla said, lighting a fresh cigar, “you really need to relax. What’s got you so worked up?”

Mor grinned sheepishly, “I don’t know. I guess I just keep expecting someone to come along and reprimand us for this, the gambling, the drinking, the smoking, so close to the shipyard main floor.”

The engineers each looked around them. They weren’t just close to the main construction floor; they were on it. Looming above them was the skeleton of their current project, a new Akira-class Mk. III. It was set to launch in three weeks and they were ahead of schedule. When the decks had been built and the hull attached, they would float it into the vacuum to complete it, but at this stage, all the work was done inside. They were the last shift of the day, so at the end of their shift, they had basically stopped working, set down their tools, and picked up their drinks and cards.

“Hmm, I suppose that might be a bit intimidating,” Jerry said quietly. “But it’s never been a problem before.”

“I doubt anyone will mind us having a bit of downtime here,” Tortnol reassured the rookie. Mor had been on the job for two days, but the previous night he had left the yard so quickly, no one could invite him to the game. Tortnol had made a point of inviting him first thing at the start of their ship.

Mor seemed to calm down with this reassurance. “So, does it ever get busy or hectic here? I’ve been on McKinley Station two days now and it seems like this Akira Mk. III is the only ship larger than a runabout being worked on. Do we ever get any really strenuous projects?”

The veterans looked at each other meaningfully. Jerry said, “We get some rough jobs occasionally. We had a lot more during the Xul war, but fortunately, they’ve been fewer and farther between during peacetime.”

“Although,” Tortnol recalled, “there was that job a few weeks ago. The big Vesta-class, you remember?”

“Oh my GOD don’t remind me of that!” Carla threw her head back in disgust before letting her chin roll back to her chest. She bobbed her head over to Tortnol and grabbed the bottle of whiskey they’d been sharing. “Do you know what I got from Wolfe for doing that extra work? This bottle we’ve been tearing through. Stayed up all night working on that damn ship, and all I got was a bottle of whiskey.”

“What Vesta? Who’s Wolfe?” Mor seemed to relax as his curiosity got the better of him.

Jerry sighed heavily before beginning, “About a month and a half ago, we get this new assignment, Vesta Mk. II, top-of-the-line ship. Dual-stage intermix core, type-XIII phaser banks, multi-layer shields... this thing was designed to go from standard warp, any warp factor, to quantum slipstream without any human involvement whatsoever. Anyway, two weeks into the build, we’re sailing through the project and it’s time to float her out so we can start working on installing the systems. Not two days after we float her, this crazy ass, what was he, Russian?”

“German,” Tortnol corrected.

“Right, right, this crazy ass German comes on board as the new Chief Engineer, his first assignment as a CEO. While Lieutenant Caltan is giving him the tour, this guy starts tearing apart Main Engineering. Yanks the EHU right off its moorings right in front of Caltan, then proceeds to tear apart the intermix actuator gauge. By this point, a crowd was gathering around him just to watch. He spent something like three days in Main Engineering, never left, just pulling components out because he felt it was inefficient. He finally stopped, but only after the CO and XO gave him a direct order to go to his bunk.”

Mor looked stunned by this, but before he could react, Carla jumped in, “Oh, but that’s not the worst part. A few days later, Cadet Wolfe starts going around to all of us here at McKinley (don’t worry, you haven’t met her and probably never will... she actually transferred to that ship) asking us all for favors, bribing people, all sorts of stuff, trying to get some extra hands to help finish the ship. Somehow, it went from being on schedule to being nearly two weeks off its launch date. Mystery of mysteries, right? Clearly that crazy chief engineer screwed up all our hard work.”

“How many people did she get? Did you all go?” Mor asked expectantly.

“Our whole shift ended up helping them, for our various reasons,” Tortnol answered, “but don’t be so quick to judge that man as Carla here. I can’t say I agree with his all of his decisions, but things did seem stacked against him, maybe even against the whole ship and crew. Didn’t any of you think there was something odd about those designs? Nothing I could put a finger on, but something was definitely out of sorts. Besides, I find it hard to believe he screwed up anything we did. Why, when we were working together on the aft thruster assembly, he was knew exactly what he was doing, finished his tasks faster than anyone else, and spoke as though he knew every component on that ship inside and out. I find it hard to believe that a man that bright could mess things up that bad.”

Carla sneered, “Well, it’s clear to me that Tortnol here has had too much to drink. First, he’s clearly having delusions of grandeur on behalf of that chief, and second, the crazed German was working with me on the port and aft shield emitters, so you must have been talking to someone else.”

“Bullshit,” Jerry said. “There’s no way he was working on the shield emitters.”

“I think I can remember him, Jerry,” Carla snapped back. “It’s not everyday the damn translator shorts out so that I kept hearing German because a chief engineer emphasizes a point.”

“Yeah, I asked him about that,” Jerry responded with an added veneer of cool. “He said something about when he was in the Academy, he rerouted his commbadge to allow certain untranslatable phrases and curse words slip through in German. He told me about, while we were working on the multi-dimensional sensor pallet together, so there’s no way he was working with you on the shields or with Tortnol on the thrusters.”

Everyone at the table except the rookie all insisted that he had been working with them at their station, none of which were anywhere near the others. It almost broke out into a brawl before Tortnol was able to break it up and calm everyone.

“So,” Mor said timidly, “did he clone himself?” No one found this particularly funny. They were all staring each other down and wondering if they had imagined working side-by-side with the crazy ass German man.

'''USS Atlas One day before launch'''

Gerhardt gazed dazedly at the MSD. All systems were glowing green. They had done it. He wasn’t sure how, and he wasn’t even exactly sure of where all he’d been, but the systems were green and they were ready for launch. There were still some bugs to work out, but they were all minor compared the mountain of catastrophe he had just breached. His office was closer than his room, so he dragged his exhausted body to the lift, fell through the door of his office, and collapsed in the chair. A weary hand slapped twice before hitting his commbadge. =/\=Rahner to Ops. Inform the Captain when he returns to the ship that we are ready for launch.=/\= There must have been a response, but Gerhardt was already asleep. Forward Torpedo Room
 * 03-21-2011 21:41Joshua CastilloUSS Atlas

"It's still not lowering into place," Jean as the arm lowered halfway, but then stopped with a loud sound, and a few sparks flew.

"Hmmm, do we have any lubricant around?" he asked to any of the of the six assembled non and commissioned tactical officers that were helping them out.

"We have some heavy duty grease in the storage locker," replied one of his tactical petty officers as she quickly dashed off to the locker on the far side of the room and pulled out a green metalic can that had a very thick grease on it.

"Looks like axle grease," said Joshua as she handed the small can to him and he pulled off the lid looking at the black thick like substance.

"What is an axle sir?" asked Ensign Copeland.

"Look up the automobile in the ship's computer," said Joshua as he got down on his knees and then on his back and slid underneath the arm and started greasing up the joints and the entire loading arm.

"Alright let's try it now," said Joshua as he crawled from underneth the loading arm covered in grease, dust and dirt that allowed the equipment to properly work. Jean tossed him his a small hand towel as he wipped the gunk off of his hands and then took the clean side of the towel and cleared the sweat that had formed on his forehead. Moments later the loading arm came to life and lowered directly into place, and watched as one of the torpedoes was loaded into the loading bay, and the tube door closed quickly and smoothly behind it.

"It works," cried one of the non-commissioned officers who was stationed in the secondary forward torpedo room.

"One day before inspection," said Jean as she walked around the area, to a console on the wall and pressed a few buttons running a small diagonstic on the entire torpedo assembly unit.

"Well let's hope that holds," he said as he wipped his face again clearing some of the dirt and grind away, as he beathed deeply in the air around him and exhaled through his mouth deflating his lungs.

=/\=Castillo to team alpha and gamma.=/\=

"Alpha and gamma here, go ahead sir," came the quick reply.

=/\=Have you finished installing those consoles for the aft torpedo bays.=/\=

"Aye sir, we just brought the last of them on-line and we are running a level two diagonstic on all the equipment."

=/\=Very well, once the diagonstic has been completed download the results of it and bring it directly to my office.=/\=

"Aye lieutenant." came the quick reply and the comm channel went dead between the two of them, and for once in the past two days a smile formed on his face.

"What's that all about?" Jean asked in puzzlement as the rest of the tactical officers and cleared out of the bay leaving on the two of them.

"We finally get to enjoy a shower together," he said to her as he kissed her on her cheek.

"I can think of something else that we can enjoy together Mister Castillo," she said as she pulled him in closer and kissed him on his lips with the full weight of passion put behind it.

"I think so to," he said as he warpped his arm around her waist and the two of them walked out of the torpedo room heading to the turbolift towards their quarters. '''
 * 03-28-2011 19:55Tom O'Flagherty'''The Wild Brunch...Part II
 * Rose Pistola:::
 * Vaughn Industries Annual Shareholder Brunch:::
 * San Francisco, Earth:::

Richard Archibald took the podium near the head table where Tom, Lisbet, Chris, The Ulrikas, Michael Arrendondo, Bridget Hamilton, and Gabriel Holt, the innocent bystander in the potential social chaos that could ensue. Tapping his knife against the crystal water glass, the room fell silent, and the managing partner of Vaughn Industries began. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m glad you could all make it to this year’s shareholders brunch. I know some of you feel very uncertain about the future of the company with Bill’s recent passing, but I’m glad to say, business has been good for Vaughn Industries.”

A rolling applause rumbled through the dining room in response to Archibald’s spirited report. Once it began to die, he continued, “In the name of tradition, I would like to start our brunch with a story Bill used to tell every year...”

Dunja Ulrika sat across from her daughter, and though her eyes were directed towards Mr. Archibald, her mind was directing her thoughts towards her daughter. ''I can’t believe you would throw your life away with him. I mean he is a complete ruffian with no sense of manners or education. You are a doctor, and you shouldn't throw your life away over a little fling with a dim-witted simpleton.''

At her initial intrusion Bet was stunned, but then she grudgingly felt some gratitude that her mother chose to ‘silently’ have her say. ''Mother, you have no idea what you are talking about. Thomas is a Starship Captain! And by no means a simpleton! He may not hail from royalty, but he’s a fine and decent man. Can you not see/feel how much he loves me and I him? This is not a fling, as you call it...'' Should she use that word, imzadi? It would force the issue to Dunja’s true worry, as Bet suspected, that Tom was human and therefore unworthy. He is my imzadi, I’ve named him so in my heart and will proclaim him so when we are wed.

Bet’s voice vibrated through his mind as clearly as speech. He had “heard” what she had said about him, but part of Tom’s mind still thought he was imagining things. So, he quietly leaned back in his chair, bringing his mouth closer to Bet’s ear. “Did you just say that you will proclaim me as your Imzadi when we wed?”

Their connection being deep enough Tom was picking up her thoughts and she loved him all the more for his confusion. She whispered back to him, “Yes Dearest. Mother and I are having a ‘discussion’ right now...she’s voicing her concerns and I am addressing them. Hold steady, we’re not done yet, not by far. I love you by the way, don’t ever forget that, no matter what you might ‘hear’.” And then she tenderly kissed his earlobe, knowing how crazy it could drive him, hoping to distract him a bit.

Unfortunately, the buzzing in his ear kept him from relaxing into the reverie of her touch, but he put on a smile and said, "I love you, too," then, sat himself straight in his chair again to attempt to listen to Archibald.

''Imzadi?!? I don’t think you know what that word means. You have no concept of the import naming anyone that has for your future...''

Bet interrupted her mother, ''My future is in Starfleet and with Thomas. I am NOT going to tethered to Betazed and petty House politics. You and Ealisaid are better suited to that life. Do not force me to choose between you or Thomas!!''

Bet saw Dunja’s head snap her way, but remained aloof herself. She could sense her mother fuming and felt a not uncharacteristic satisfaction in that. Then she heard her father’s thoughts enter the conversation, ''Both of you ought to be ashamed! Dunja, I adore you, truly...but you’re behaving badly. It is bad enough to loose you and Saidy to House Council, but now you would drive my other daughter away too. Bet’s amazement at her father standing up to her mother was cut short when he turned his attention her way, And you Bet, are you eleven years old again and stomping your foot to get your way? Why in all the heavens would you take such a stand? Stop being so dramatic.''

Bet was ‘speechless’ until she saw the twinkle in Serken’s eyes and her mother’s flushed face. She could never remember a time that he stood up to Dunja, but she could recall moments when you mother was quiet...no that wasn’t the right word, peaceful... like now.

Emotions flooded over Tom in waves. First anger, then embarrassment, and finally peace. It was almost overwhelming. He couldn't tell where they were coming from and didn't know how to control them. It was like he was having some severe mood swings. What is going on?

“...and then Bill said, ‘well - you’re fired.’...” Archibald finished the story to an awkwardly silent table. “Or did he say ‘you’re hired’...?” Several seconds passed as the elderly man attempted to recall the jokes punchline. “Well, never mind. No one could really tell it like William anyway....um...let’s eat everyone.” Archibald finished with with a slightly mournful smile.

Chris hardly noticed a word of the speech Archibald had given, his attention so focused on Bridget and Michael Arredondo. He had equally managed to avoid noticing the increasingly stiff situation with the Ulrika clan. The conversation was awkward as each time he and Bridget made eye contact there was a pause. Chris tried to avoid her crystal blue eyes knowing that her husband was watching them closely.

One of the other directors a few chairs down must have noticed the situation at the table was increasingly tense and chose to try and break the ice, “So, Christopher, I understand the hotel on Megiddo was warmly received. I have to say, such a distant expansion was a fairly aggressive move. The sort of stuff your father was known for. I imagine a lot of the local real estate developers wont like you moving in on their territory.”

Chris glanced at Bridget quickly then down at the director who had spoken. “Well there is always someone who thinks they have exclusive rights to a resource and sometimes you have to be willing to pounce on an opportunity.”

“Here, here” another director said raising his glass.

Michael Arredondo’s cold gaze slid over toward Chris. “Really? And you know all about pouncing on resources and exploiting them wouldn’t you?”

Chris’s mimosa caught in his throat at the sharpness of the remark. “Excuse me?” his tone was hushed. At this point several directors, Archibald and the Ulrika clan had taken an interest in the conversation.

“How can you just sit there and make jokes?!” the old man hissed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know you’ve been fucking my wife!” Arredondo snapped. “Well?” his cheeks tightened in anger as he waited for Chris to speak. “I think you have something to say to me.”

“I think your tie is bland.” he retorted nonchalantly.

“You son of a bitch!” Michael almost shouted.

“Please” Bridget said putting her arm on her husbands. “It’s not what you think.”

“Don’t touch me slut.” Michael pushed her away as he stood, allowing the chair to fall backward against the floor. “As for you Vaughn, I’ll be dumping my shares, I promise you that.”

Chris stood and immediately started around the table. “I didn’t know she was married and I sure as hell didn’t know she was married to you.”

“You’re just like that scumbag father of yours.” Michael rasped. “I’m glad he’s dead and hope you get to join him on one of your little Starfleet adventures.”

Chris’s face flushed with rage as he stepped over to the older man, “Big words for an old man who married a trophy wife one-third his age. You shouldn’t be upset with her, women in their twenties don't dig men with colostomy bags.”

The impact of the punch surprised Chris more than it hurt him. In hindsight he might have guessed the response would have provoked a violent reaction. Chris’s anger and instincts took over almost at once as he regained his balance and returned the blow with one of his own. Arredondo fell backward against several still seated patrons, security was instantly on the spot.

“Get him the hell out of my brunch.” Chris snapped at the security guards. “And restrict his access to all Vaughn Industries property.” The guards quickly helped Michael up and and insured he wasn’t injured before escorting him out.

A moment later Bridget brushed past him, “I hope you’re happy.” she hissed before exiting the restaurant.

Chris took a moment to look around the stunned gathering of people. “The show’s over.” he shouted to the crowd as he left the main dinning room.

“Rather like a House function,” Dunja said from her seat at the table. “I like his spirit, that Vaughn, he’s a...what was that phrase Serken? A pistol! He’s a pistol!! Are all Starfleet officers like this, Thomas?”

Tom's face flushed with embarrassment at Chris's sudden outburst. Reacting to Dunja, all he could say was,"No, he is one of a kind."

Before Dunja could offer a retort, Tom told them good-bye as he rushed after Chris. Once he had caught his friend, who was almost running to get out of the building, Tom tried to slow him up. “Wanna explain that, Chris?”

“I think the situation speaks for itself.” he replied tersely. “Clearly it was my misunderstanding. I had no idea she was married to one of my shareholders. Or married at all for that matter.”

“You know, there is an easy way to fix that...” He cast a sideways look at his friend as he let the statement trail-off. Eventually, Chris stopped his hurried pace and turned to face Tom. “You’re just going to have to start performing background checks on all your partners from here on out.”

Chris let out a laugh despite his best efforts to maintain a straight face. “Background checks indeed.” Cocking his head slightly he heard Archibald from the main room start to wrap up the brunch. “Well, it seems things are winding down. As your executive officer and attorney, I advise you to get us off this planet as soon as possible, between your future in-laws and my...recent unpleasantness we might have overstayed our welcome on Earth.”

Bet approached the pair, “No chance of that Chris. Eventful would be an understatement though, I can’t tell you when I’ve had a more interesting brunch, complete with a floor show.” She looked at Chris to see if you joke fell correctly.

'''::::1300 Hours::::
 * USS Atlas::::
 * Transporter Room 3::::'''

As the confinement beam released the four officers onto the pad, Tom ripped the zipper down on his dress uniform and then glared at the operator behind the console, “Petty Officer, you are relieved.” The young Deltan woman seemed confused for a moment and then hurriedly rushed for the door as Chris added his glare to Tom’s.

Once the doors had hissed closed, Tom finally voiced his frustration that he had, until that point, held in check. “Make a note in the official log...there will never be brunch on this ship!!!”

“Damn right.” Chris agreed.

“Ditto!” Bet answered, also unzipping her dress uniform. “Why, oh why, must they make these things SO uncomfortable?” She shrugged off her jacket, revealing a lace tank top underneath.

Tom stopped for a moment at the sight of the lace tank top Bet was wearing. He had never seen it out of their bedroom before. Then he looked over at the Cadet who was equally as dumbstruck, “I think you are dismissed as well, Mr. Holt.”

“I think you might have shocked the lad, dear,” he said as soon as Holt was gone. “That could have been embarrassing.”

“I’m completely covered, what are you talking about? Honestly, I will never understand Human modesty. Would you rather I put the jacket back on until we get to our quarters?” Bet didn’t wait for his affirmation, but put the stiff jacket on again, giving Tom a wink as she exited the transporter room.

Tom looked back at his friend and rolled his eyes. “We better get this damned ship moving before something else happens.”

A JP that took way too long...featuring Christopher Vaughan, Lisbet Ulrika, and Gabriel Holt
 * 03-28-2011 21:51Joshua Castillo::USS Atlas::
 * Crew Lounge::

"Here's to a hard two days of work," said Ensign Colburn who raised his glass of lemon vodka and a touch of watermelon juice. A few of the tactical NCO's raised their glasses as well took long sips from them, and then placed the glasses back onto the table at nearly the same time.

"Looks like your going to fit in yet Ensign Colburn," said Chief Warrant Officer Stewart as she kept his glass in his hand and took another small sip from it and then rest it on the table in front of him.

"Well, the one thing that they never teach you in the academy is how to treat the non comissioned officers, that experience is left for the field," he said.

"Well I will tell you this ensign, that real life issues are the best teaching experiences than anything you learn out of a book or from a simulator," said Beverly to the ensign as she raised her glass and took a sip. In the distances the crew lounge doors opened and Joshua and Jean stepped in through the plain doors exposed to the mass of different officers that were no doubt off duty; for ship that was lightly crewed it seemed that the crew lounge always managed to remain full.

"Now I thought that we were going to enjoy an evening to ourselfs," said Jean as she nudged Joshua in his shoulder with her fist.

"We shared a shower together for well over thrity minutes," he said as he looked into her eyes, and noticed that her cheeks flushed with pride, that she had gotten several compliments during those thrity minutes. "Which is why we are here, to replentish our energy so that we may go again," added Joshua.

"That is a piss poor excuse as to why you wanted to just hang out here," she said her eyes scanned the entire room looking for an empty table, as nearly every single bar stool and table was full except for a table near the window which had a view of the dry-dock that surrounded the Atlas, and the picture of the Earth in the window with the city of London in view.

"Quick let's move before we lose our perfect table," said Jean as she grabbed Joshua by the hand and pulled him directly towards the empty table, and her quick manuevering blocked another group of science and medical officers from grabbing the table. No sooner had they sat down that a waiter came over to them with a padd in her hand, her blonde long hair drapped over her shoulders with a small part of his blocking her right eye.

"What can I get the two of you," said Sheila as she waited for an answer.

"Let me have a grilled chicken salad with a bowl of your loaded bake potatoe soup," said Joshua, and Jean shook her head and said "I'll have a double thich cheeseburger with four strips of bacon, double american cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, girlled onions, mayo, and mustard with a order of waffle fries extra crispy," she said as Joshua's mouth started watering at her order.

"You know what, scratch the salad and let me have her burger and fries, and bring me the soup first," he said as she put down the order, the look on Sheila's face was that of horrid as she hated cheeseburgers, but she wasn't going to allow her emotions to change her facial expressions.

"I'll be back with your soup in a few minutes," she said to the couple and walked off...sticking her tonuge out in discuss at the recent order.

"How did we get in this position Joshua," said Jean as she looked at Earth from the confines of the crew lounge.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a puzzling look on his face.

"How did we end up in the tactical department in a newly created ship to be tested in the gamma quadrant, we could have easily taken that engineering position on Caloris station," she said.

"I hate stations, nothing ever happens on stations; truthfully there would be no adventure," he said to her as she agreed with his assesment of their current situatuion. I think what feared Jean more was operating in the tactical department rather than in engineering, she wasn't sure that she was ready for this, but somehow Joshua seemed to jump right into the roll.

"How do you do it?" she said to him as Sheila brought Joshua his soup with a soup spoon next to it.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Adapt to your surroundings so fast," she said.

"Sometimes a strong face hides a deep fear within, and then everything is scary the first time out...however given what we've been through within the last year we can achieve anything," he said with a smile as he leaned over and kissed Jean on the cheek and then started eating his soup. Bridge'''
 * 03-29-2011 18:42Tom O'Flagherty'''USS Atlas

“Thank you, Petty Officer,” Tom said as he took the padd and pressed his thumb to the signature plate and then handed it back. “Make sure Lt. Solari gets these numbers. He’ll want to have the sensors calibrated before we reach the wormhole.”

The female Benzite Petty Officer smiled up at Tom, whose chair was much higher than the rest of the bridge officers, before she turned to walk away. The crew was busying themselves at each of the different stations while others moved in and out of the bridge taking reports and performing various business. It was the living and breathing that was normal to any ship, but it was noticeably lacking in volume. The skeleton crew of the ship was doing a great job of filling in all of the holes, but there were some decks that remained almost completely deserted.

Regardless, Tom’s pulse was beginning to quicken, and it wasn’t just because he was sitting so much higher than the other positions on the bridge. The Atlas was about to pull out of the spacedock for her first voyage under her own power. There had been some testing of the propulsion systems, but the majority of the ship’s abilities, including her new dual-stage intermix chamber, remained largely unexplored. Unfortunately, the crew wouldn’t really get to put the hammer down on her speed this trip, but nonetheless, Tom was anxious to be under way.

Lt. Johanna Mari, the Chief of Operations, was the one who broke Tom from his reverie, “All departments and all divisions report ready for departure, Captain. McKinley station says, ‘Safe journeys.’”

“That really means, ‘Get the hell out.’” Chris quipped softly as he moved to stand next to Tom’s chair.

“You’re probably right, Commander.” Chris and Tom had decided to try and remain professional in front of the crew, for now. In truth, there was no telling when the real Chris and Tom came out and started bickering, lightheartedly in front of the rest of the crew. “Mr. P’Rim, lay in a 177 mark 23.”

The Vulcan Flight Control Chief immediately began entering the commands into his console, the mask of complete control. “Course laid in, aye.”

Instantly, the large room went quiet. Tom had begun to stare at the empty place on the bulkhead near the main entrance where the dedication plaque would rest as soon as the shakedown cruise had ended. In his mind, possible quotes began to run through his head as he tried to discern how each of them sounded. It took a couple of seconds for him to realize that everyone was waiting on him to give the order that would send one of the newest ships in the fleet on her maiden voyage.

“Well, what are we all waiting for? Mr. P’Rim, you have the wheel.”