Ships, Shuttles, and Hovercraft Chapter 1

=Ships, Shuttles, and Hovercraft= '''Caloris Station Command Module'''
 * 01-31-2011 16:06Tom O'Flagherty

With a freshly pressed uniform, and newly shined boots, Tom moved through the crowd of people all trying to get to their daily duties. When he stepped off the lift and started down the final corridor to the Admiral’s office, he noticed that there was considerably less traffic than in the lower levels. In truth it wasn’t surprising, the only people moving through these levels would be needed here, and not just passing through. The waiting area outside the Admiral’s office was comfortable, but Tom didn’t sit in any of the chairs. He was too anxious, but pushed those feelings down as best he could when the Admiral’s yeoman, a young junior NCO from Andoria, told him he could go in.

As he entered the office, Tom made straight for the Admiral’s desk and stood at attention, “Lieutenant Commander O’Flagherty, reporting as ordered, sir.”

“At ease, Tom.” Logan said as he finished a sentence he was reading, took a sip of his coffee, then pushed his chair away from his desk, taking a more relaxed position. “Your orders have finally come in. The USS Atlas is currently sitting in space dock in orbit of Earth, waiting for her new captain to take command. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to go to her. I’ve taken the liberty of securing your spot aboard a transport on it’s way to Earth. It’s a commercial transport, not the most comfortable of accommodations, but it’ll get you there. Once you’ve assumed command, use the journey back to Megiddo to run your crew and the ship through its paces and consider that your shakedown cruise.” Logan leaned forward, picking up a PADD and handed it to the new commander.

Tom chuckled to himself as he looked at the boarding passes. “Commander Vaughn is probably going to bitch about this. It should be interesting.”

“I apologize that we weren’t able to provide more adequate transport, but I’m sure you’ll manage.” Logan stood up walked around the desk. He shook Tom’s hand again. “Congratulations once again Commander. Report in when you get back to Megiddo.”

“Aye, aye, sir. We will hurry back as soon as possible.” He snapped back to attention, and when the Admiral dismissed him, stepped back and turned sharply before heading to the door with the PADD under his arm. The yeoman smiled at him as he walked past and back toward the transporter room. They would need to pack their bags in a hurry.

A JP with himself...Admiral Logan Frost Alpha Quandrant Bajoran Sector Approaching Deep Space 9
 * 02-01-2011 19:17Christopher Vaughn

The Bolian transport cleared the worm hole, and the enigma that is a stable wormhole closed with a flash. From his seat near the window, Tom could see the Cardassian station ahead, and its circular structure grew as the ship sped toward it at maximum impulse. Gently, Tom nudged the sleeping Bet, who had been resting against his shoulder since the moment they had gone to warp after leaving New Bajor; her dark hair spilling down and covering her face.

They had moved from their sleeper cabin to the main observation lounge with its rows of seats resembling a 20th century airliner for the shortest leg of their trip. After weeks of being couped up, they were going to have a couple of days at the station before making the final leg to Earth. It seemed that some of the passengers were more than kind of ready to get off the small ship.

“Never -fucking - again!” Chris snapped as he stood by the airlock waiting for the final docking clamps to connect and the airlock to open. It had been the most unpleasant few weeks of his life stuck on the transport. There was nothing to do, some kid never stopped crying the entire trip, the flight attendants were hideous and every time he tried to light a cigar someone told him to put it out.

“Sir,” one of the attendants called from near an empty seat. “Perhaps the flight would go faster if you sat down...”

“And maybe this transport would dock faster if I went to the cockpit and did it myself.” he snapped irritably. “Go pester some other member of the proletariat.” The attendant stormed off shaking her head in annoyance.

Bet heaved a heavy sigh...she was just as irritated as Chris, but she couldn’t understand his lashing out at the attendant. “How long do we have here before we leave for Earth, Tom? I’d love a chance to get to Bajor and see some sights, if only to breath un-canned air for a while.” That was the part of long voyages that she had never been used to, canned air. One would wonder why she entered Starfleet at all, given that’s where she spent all of her time.

Tom mouthed an apology to the flight attendant as he filed past her carrying their bags. "I'm afraid we only have fourteen hours until we are supposed to start the last leg for Earth.". He shifted the bags in his shoulder as he moved up near the hatch. "That's just enough time to stretch our legs and grab some sleep in the guest quarters."

“Fourteen hours, that should be enough time for me to procure us a more suitable mode of transportation.” Chris spoke as the last of the docking clamps connected and the airlock prepared to open. “I’ll be damned if I’m doing this public transportation bullshit again.”

"You people and your privileged upbringings. It wasn't that bad..."

Chris’ look was incredulous, “Are you high?! That trip was a nightmare. Lucky for you both a nightmare I won’t allow to happen again.” If it meant getting to Earth in something better than another ancient transport, Bet was all for it, the air was bound to be better.

“There’s no need in that. We already have transport to Earth on the...” Tom dug for the PADD with their travel info from their bags to find the name. “Rigellian transport, R.T.S. Gsvualan. That sounds like a nice ship.”

“It sounds like a run down hooker.” Chris took the PADD from Tom and looked it over quickly. “You’re not even pronouncing it correctly, the ‘g’ is silent.”

“And when did you become so fluent in Rigelian? On second thought, don’t answer that.” He looked around, trying to get his bearings before spotting the personnel office for the station where they were to get their temporary quarters. “Let’s just get a place to put our bags and then we can figure out what we want to do from there, OK?”

Bet watched the two officers with amusement, “If you want to acquire other transport Chris, I say go for it. Tom, I honestly don’t think I could take any more like the transport we just exited. Let’s find our temporary lodgings and relax some, maybe get some food.” She pressed her hand to her stomach, wondering if food was the best idea, but where there was food there was also drink, and they all could use a stiff one about now.

“I can agree to that,” Tom said. Bet’s presence always seemed to calm him, even when he was arguing with Chris in such a lighthearted fashion.

Picking up the bags again, they walked into the personnel office, where the Petty Officer behind the desk assigned the three officers, two rooms in the habitat ring. “I know it’s not the Imperial, but I think they shouldn’t be any smaller than the quarters you are going to have. What do you say we take an hour or two to relax, and then hit the promenade?”

“Hey, if Quark’s is still here we could try a holosuite or their various games of chance. I hear he’s very forward thinking, for a Ferengi. Or, you two can do that and I’ll do some shopping. I know the ear wear is a Bajoran thing, but some of those are so beautiful I’d love to try some. That settles it, I’m shopping...after I relax some first, maybe wash that transport off.”

Chris stopped at the Promenade directory and glanced over at the others, “I’ll catch up with you two later. I’m going to work on our transportation problem.”

As Chris walked away to his business, Tom turned to Bet and draped his free arm over her shoulders. “You know...I could help you wash that transport off.”

“And I’ll let you scrub my back...and front,” she looked at him a moment, “I love you Tom.”

'''A JP with Tom and Bet.  Caloris Station'''
 * 02-01-2011 22:52Gerhardt Rahner

Transportaion Hub 1300 hours

Gerhardt sat down at the first bar he saw. He’d been expecting shore leave from the Ark Royal, but the moment he materialized on the pad in one of Caloris Station’s transporter room, he was greeted by an administrative staff yeoman who immediately handed him a padd.

“Congratulations,” the yeoman said. He then grabbed Gerhardt’s empty hand, gave it two quick shakes, turned on his heel, and left. Gerhardt looked down at the padd.

“Lt. Rahner, You are effective immediately relieved of duty as an engineering officer on the USS Ark Royal-” the padd clattered to floor. One of the crewmen manning the transporter looked up at the sound, rose from his chair, retrieved the fallen padd and read over it.

“Congratulation, sir,” he said, handing the padd back to Gerhardt. Rahner didn’t seem to notice, so the crewman pressed the padd into his hand which seemed to rouse him. “Sir? Are you ok? I can’t imagine the shock of receiving such good news.”

“''Was? Warum zum Teufel halten Sie gratulierte mir?!''” Gerhardt yelled at the stunned crewman.

“Um.. uh, what... sir?” the poor man stuttered.

“What the HELL is so damn good about this news?!” Gerhardt roared. “I’ve been relieved of duty you, Eselhengste!”

“Sir, sir, please,” the crewman, “you didn’t finish the message.”

“Was?” Gerhardt deflated. He looked down at the padd again. “Lt. Rahner, You are effective immediately relieved of duty as an engineering officer on the USS Ark Royal. Our office has arranged public transportation for you to Earth, where you will report for duty as Chief Engineer aboard the newly commissioned Vesta-class starship, USS Atlas, under Lt. Commander Tom O’Flaugherty, Commanding Officer, and Lt. Commander Christopher Vaughn, Executive Officer.

Congratulations, Mr. Rahner. Your travel arrangements are outlined on this padd.

CPO Victoria Edison, Admin. Asst. to the Admiral, Office of Base Commander, Caloris Station”Gerhardt saw that his transport would be leaving Caloris for DS9 at 1425. “I need a beer,” he muttered before walking past the transporter crewman in a daze. And so he found himself at a bar, ordering a Rigelian stout, and staring at nothing as the realization of his new orders washed over him.

Public Transport Ship, Jeffery’s Tube

Docked at DS9 2335 hours The trip from Caloris Station to DS9 had passed without incident, and without much of Rahner’s notice. The excitement of his new posting kept him very much in a daze from the moment he left the bar at Caloris to the moment he hit a new bar just off the transport ship on DS9. He’d spent the remaining hours staring at the bottom of steins of stout, lost in his thoughts and ignoring everyone around him.

Part of his mind was working through an algorithm to explain trans-warp transportation anomalies; another part was reminiscing on the many ships and crews with which he’d worked in his long life as an engineer. No part of his mind was focused on the current transfer he was experiencing. When the bartender told him it was 2320 and his transport would be leaving soon, Gerhardt had nodded slightly at him and left silently to board the transport.

Not until he was sitting on the transport waiting for the other passengers to board did it occur to him that he had not been given the chance to say goodbye to his former crewmembers. He jumped out of his seat and barreled into a stewardess. “Oof, oh I am so sorry,” he stammered.

“Sir, if you’ll please sit down, we should be boarded and prepared to disembark shortly,” she said, smiling with full composure as though an older Starfleet officer making an ass of himself was perfectly natural.

“Please, miss,” Gerhardt said, sitting down again. “It is vital that I send a message out as soon as possible.”

The stewardess looked at Rahner’s uniform, then at the pips on his chest. She appeared to make a wrong impression which Rahner wasn’t about to correct. “I’ll get you a padd immediately, sir. Please wait here.”

Gerhardt settled into his seat as she went to the back of the transport and returned shortly thereafter. He thanked her for the padd, then opened a new text message. “Dear Ba’dat,

I apologize for my sudden departure from the Ark Royal. I have been given orders to report for duty on the USS Atlas as their Chief Engineer. I received my orders as soon as I arrived at Caloris Station, so I did not have a chance to say goodbye. I hope you have a wonderful future aboard the Ark Royal and wherever else life finds you. Give my love to the rest of the crew, especially those we transferred with from the Horizon. I will never forget all we went through together.

Gerhardt”He sent the message off into the void, then opened the Starfleet database. As the transport pulled away from the station and prepared to go to warp, he pulled up the specs on the Atlas and began to research as much as he could. The gravity of his new position was not lost on him; he would not be unprepared. DS9 Habitat Ring As the door closed behind them, Tom put their bags down next to the sofa in the sitting room and turned back to pull Bet into his arms. Her arms draped over his shoulders as he pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her with all the passion he could muster. As their kiss faded, he l kept holding her close, just enjoying the feel of her body near his. “I love you too, Bet.”
 * 02-02-2011 14:18Lisbet Ulrika

“Yeah? Well good! So, what do you want to do with the next couple of hours, besides shower?” She made no move to leave his embrace and just looked into his beautiful eyes, drowning in the love that showed there.

“Well, I was going to meet Chris for a drink on the promenade. You said you wanted to go shopping, and I can’t wait to see what you find.” As they stood, they started to sway gently, and he got an idea. “Computer, play musical selection, 21st century Earth. Artist: Melody Gardot. Track: Baby, I’m a Fool.” The beep of confirmation was followed instantly by the first chords of a beautiful song.

“Of course, I will never turn down the opportunity to dance with a beautiful lady.”

“You’re a romantic fool, and I love you the more for it,” she answered his steps, allowing him to lead her around the room. “You are also a wonderful dancer, so light on my toes,” she teased before he took her into a deep dip at the end of the song and kissed her neck.

As Tom helped her back to her feet, he lifted her from the floor into his arms and started toward the bedroom. “Enough dancing, I’m sick of smelling like that Bolian transport,” and a knowing smirk spread across his face as he sidestepped through the door. “Is that OK with you?”

“More than...I’ll wash your back if you’ll wash mine,” she said once he put her down in the small bedroom of their guest quarters. She started undoing his shirt, beaming a contented smile at him while he helped her with her own clothes.

First, his shirt slid up over his head and then he finished unbuttoning her shirt and as it fell to the floor, he kissed the skin on her left shoulder as he felt the warmth of the bodies pressed together causing her to sigh softly as she undid his pants. Once they were both undressed, they stepped into the shower and let the water run over their bodies as they moved around to both share the single head. Tom took the soap and softly scrubbed Lisbet’s back, washing between her shoulders and down her arms.

Bet let the stress of their trip to DS9 melt away with the bubbles from the soap, loving the feel of Tom’s hands on her back. The fact that he lingered longer than she needed added to her enjoyment, before he turned her back into the water to let it rinse the soap away. He handed her the bar and turned his back to her. Bet rubbed the soap bar over his back, feeling the muscles ripple under her hand. Using a light touch she used her nails over his skin, removing any grime from the transport as she went. She too lingered, enjoying the feel of him and the sighs that escaped from him. She turned him around, and worked the suds from his back with her arms wrapped around him.

As she rinsed his back, Tom took some more soap to wash her hair, gently working the suds into the long, wet locks of dark hair, making sure not to allow any of it to run down her face. She looked up at him, and he kissed her, loving the feel of her lips and the way her body leaned into his.

Looking down down into her eyes, he could feel her love, or thought he could. They shared a link to each other like nothing he could ever have experienced, and at times like these, it almost overwhelmed him. The emotions washed over him to the point that he realized he wasn’t washing her hair anymore, just holding her, his hands entangled in the wet locks as they draped down her back. “Tell me again what, Imzadi, means. I still don’t think I understand it.”

“It’s a term we use to describe our first true love. Betazoids feel love intensely, usually sharing a deep psychic connection. It’s rare for that connection to be experienced with others not from Betazed, but we’re special that way. You’re feeling that connection I suspect, most strongly when we’re intimate...like now, but it is always there. Only distance can diminish it, but it will exist as long as we both love.”

“Then, Imzadi, I believe you will have nothing to worry about.” They pulled each other together, again, as the water cascaded over their bodies. Their shared emotions swelled in Tom’s mind, and all lines of thought merged into one. He didn’t want to let her go, always wanting to feel her next to him. Lisbet turned the water off and they quickly grabbed towels to dry each other’s bodies. Then, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her back against his chest as they walked into the bedroom, cradling each other.

Sliding under the covers, he kept holding her back against his chest for a long time. The intimacy of their emotions and the way the flooded him, left him feeling completely content. Bet felt his breath on her neck while his arms held her close, carefully opening herself to share all her emotions with him as they lay there together...hopes for a future together, dreams of children and even thoughts of growing old together, every thing she felt she shared with him. He, in turn, released worries of difficulties they could face during life in Starfleet, which she smoothed over with the love they shared. Without further need for words they fell asleep, he holding her tightly.



Tom woke quietly and looked at the chronometer on the nightstand. It had been at least 4 hours since they had fallen asleep in each other’s arms. Bet was still in his arms, her breathing was deep and even, and so he gently eased his arm out from under her then kissed her head gently before sliding out of the bed and getting dressed. There was something he wanted to do, and he needed to do it while she wasn’t with him.

As he stepped quietly into the corridor of the habitat ring, he pressed his communicator. =/\=O’Flagerty to Vaughn.=/\=

=/\=Ahh...what do you need, Tom?=/\=

=/\=Can you meet me on the Promenade?=/\=

=/\=Yeah...Gimme some time, though. I’m finishing up a deal.=/\=

Tom smiled and shook his head as he thought about his friend wheeling and dealing, even when they were supposed to be relaxing. =/\=I’ll see you when I see you then, we can get that drink.=/\=

=/\=Alright. Vaughn, out.=/\=

Then the line was closed, and Tom started to thumb the credit chit in his pocket as he headed to the promenade. ''Now, I need to find a jeweler. '' A JP with my Imzadi, Tom! To enjoy the song we danced to, please visit this link.

DS9 Main Promenade People moved and surged like the tide of a Terran ocean and Tom tried to keep up with the flow. He hadn’t had the chance to spend much time on the station in the past, and so he was very interested at looking in the different shops that populated the main common area. There were the typical businesses peddling Bajoran memorabilia, a tailor’s shop, and a jewelery store that made Tom stop to look inside.
 * 02-02-2011 15:09Tom O'Flagherty

There were a collection of rings with gems he had never seen before. Some were beautiful with sparkling settings with large jewels. The prices were astronomical, and he thumbed the credit chit in his pocket wishing he had more money. Even with his promotion, it was looking more and more like he was going to have to go the sensible route. As he moved through the selection, he came to one that had a gannet stone one the center. It wasn't large, by any standard, but it was encrusted with diamonds. Tom had always liked the way the soft violet color had looked on Lisbet and was sure the ring would have the same effect. I just wish I could afford a bigger one.

Chris had spent the past several hours haggling with a starship peddler on Bajor before reaching a deal. It then took him another hour and a half at the bank shuffling funds around to cover the purchase of his own star-yacht. He had to break a few bonds and sell some stocks but the hardest part of coming up with the 40 million had been getting the bank to expedite the transactions for him. He might have been worth several billion but he rarely had more than a few million credits liquid at any given time. And the yacht was an abnormally large impulse buy - even for him. But it was all done now, he simply had to wait for another 6 hours while the ship was transported to DS9.

Heading to his small temporary quarters in the habitat ring he showered, dressed in a fresh suit and made his way to the Promenade to find Tom. It didn’t take long before he was strolling into the jeweler to see Tom pricing several gawdy looking rings. ''Oh for fuck sake. Surely he isn’t planning on getting Lisbet’s ring here.'' Chris almost let out an audible groan.

The Bajoran woman behind the counter leaned down to take the ring from the display, placing it on a board covered in black felt so Tom could take a closer look at it. “So, what’s her name? I’m sure it will look beautiful on her hand.”

He blushed slightly as the woman tried the “soft sell” on him, slightly embarrassed that he was standing in a jewelry store with no clue what to do. He really didn’t know what to be looking for, other than trying to get the right color.

“Her name is, Lisbet,” Tom said quietly to the woman as he picked up the ring to look at it from different angles.

“Seriously Tom, your looking at rings for Lisbet....right now?” Chris asked, with a raised eyebrow. “Are you thinking about buying one before we leave?”

“Well, I did like the color of the stone...”

Chris looked over at the Bajorian shopkeeper, “Could we have just a moment please.” he offered a pleasant smile. She nodded and moved to the other end of the store and attempted to look preoccupied. While Chris didn’t personally care if she heard him or not he didn’t want to embarrass his friend any more than necessary. “Why don’t you let me take you to a jewelry store on Earth. You might find a slightly more....diverse selection.”

Tom tried to keep the sweat from running across his brow by taking some deep breaths. He knew that the decision he was getting prepared to make would be a new step in his relationship with Bet, and in truth it scared him. While it was true that they were living together, and had for some time, it was different for her to be his wife. Then, there was the realization of his financial situation. “Chris, I don’t know if I will be able to afford much more than this. I wanted to ask her when we got back to Ireland, and this may be the only place in the quadrant where I can afford a ring.”

Chris offered a slightly self satisfied grin, “Well, sounds like you’ll need to take a second job. And as fate would have it Vaughn Industries needs a shuttle pilot - a temporary position of course.”

Tom rolled his eyes, “What did you do? Am I going to have run some kind of blockade?”

“What I did is solve our transport dilemma and evidently your financial one as well.” Chris leaned on the jewelry case casually. “I bought a star-yacht to transport us the rest of the way to Earth. And quite comfortably I might add.”

“A yacht?” Tom looked at his friend incredulously. “Are we going to get to Earth anytime soon? Or is this thing a solar job?”

“She can hit warp 9 in a pinch.” he offered. “Of course the trouble is I didn’t really fly shuttle or yachts myself and I didn’t have time to dig up a pilot. So, being a temporary position the benefits suck but the pay is outstanding. Know anyone interested in making a little extra Christmas money over the next few weeks?”

“You don’t know how to fly a small craft?”

“Do you want the job or not?” Chris asked raising an eyebrow. “I’m not here to discuss potential hypotheticals.”

“I want the job, but I also want to know how you passed the ‘Bridge Officer’s Exam’ without knowing how to pilot any kind of vessel?”

“Starfleet hired a helmsman for that and I’m trying to hire a pilot for this.”

Tom smiled and turned back to the woman who had been helping him. “I’m sorry, but I think I’m going to pass this time.” Before she could try to object, or show him anything else, Chris and Tom turned for the door and moved back onto the promenade.

“I think Captain Kirk would have been interested to know how you faked out everyone on that exam board.”

Chris shrugged, “Too bad I’m not here to discuss the past.”

A JP with the ever-helpful...Christopher Vaughn DS9 Docking Pylon Alpha They had finished their shopping and packed their things for the last leg of the trip, which Chris assured Tom would be much better than the transport they were going to take. Lisbet hadn’t let Tom see what she had bought while shopping, and teased him when he frowned disapprovingly. It seemed the universe was conspiring against him, and so he was hesitant about stepping on this ship of Chris’s.
 * 02-02-2011 17:03Christopher Vaughn

Chris met up with the other two at the airlock. Chris wore a blue and white striped tee-shirt with a navy blazer and an old fashioned white with black brim captain’s hat which rested on his head in a lopsidedly. He offered a smug grin as he strode into the room with a bottle of champagne in hand. “Ahoy there!”

“Well, it seems we are all here now. Would you like to show us your new boat?” Tom lifted the bags from the deck and back to his shoulders as he and Lisbet waited to get on with their travels. “I hope it makes it out of the sector before I have to fix something.”

“Oh please.” Chris said stepped over to the airlock window and pointed out to his docked ship. “There she is -in honor of the ridiculousness of this expense - the SS Indefensible.”

“Well, you definitely know how to give something a name.” As they stepped through the airlock, Tom looked around and was amazed at the size of the ship. He was surprised at how much ship he had, and didn’t want to know how much his friend had spent. “Damn, Chris. This is a lot of ship. Where did you get her?”

“There is a dealership on Bajor.” he explained as they boarded the ship. “Took a little wheeling and dealing but nothing outside my usual area of expertise.” He pointed to the MSD by the entrance. “The bridge is on deck 2 - forward. You and Lisbet’s stateroom is um...” he scanned the deckplan, “ah yes, there on deck 3 in the forward section. Most the the recreational areas seem to be on deck two.”

“Seem? You mean you haven’t been on this ship before?”

“I just bought the ship from a dealer on Bajor a few hours ago. I’m a billionaire not a magician so no, I haven’t been on it before.”

“Well, let’s get her cranked up and make sure you didn’t get a lemon.” Tom went to his stateroom and dropped off their bags before heading to the Bridge, where Chris was pouring the champagne into glasses. Tom slipped behind the helm and started the start-up sequence. “There’s been a lot of upgrades to this system. It says it will do warp 9 in a pinch, cruise at warp 6.5. That’s a pretty big upgrade.”

“It certainly should be.” Chris mused as he took a drink of champagne. “God knows it wasn’t cheap. Think you‘ll have any problems?”

Tom raised his eyebrows as he looked over the controls and started plotting their course. “It’s been awhile, but I think I can get this thing going.” Opening a channel to the harbormaster, Tom started the engines, which caused a soft vibration in the deck, almost imperceptible, and before they got moving, it would be forgotten.

“Harbormaster, this is S.S. Indefensible, requesting clearance for departure.”

The loud clicking of the clamps being released let Tom know the ship was now set adrift. “Indefensible, you are cleared to depart. Safe journey.”

“Thank you, harbormaster. Indefensible, out.” Engaging the starboard thrusters, the Aerie-class ship slid away from the docking pylon. A burst of aft thrusters moved the ship forward, and once it cleared the station, Tom engaged the impulse engines and pulled away from the station at ¼ speed. At a distance of 1,000 kilometers from the station, the ship jumped to warp, and was headed to earth at cruising speed.

“Does that answer your question, sir?”

“Excellent.” Chris said with a smile. “Now, I didn’t have time to get a chef but the galley is fully stocked....does Lisbet cook?”

“You can’t cook, either?”

“Only on special occasions.” he confessed. “And seeing as your not my type then the answer is no.”

Tom huffed in exasperation, “Working for you is going to be a real drag, isn’t it?”

As the ship cruised along at warp smoothly Chris withdrew a few cigars and offered one to Tom with a ridiculous grin. “Working for you is going to be a real drag, isn’t it...Mr. Vaughn.

“Yes, Mr. Vaughn. Would you like me to shine your shoes while I remodulate the navigational deflector?” They both chuckled while lighting the cigars on the bridge. The small room was going to fill quickly with smoke and so Tom turned up the air scrubbers to compensate. Reclining back in the chair, Tom took a long pull on the cigar before speaking, the smoke flowing out of his mouth, “Let’s not tell Bet I’m being paid for this, can we?”

“No idea what your talking about.”

“I didn’t think so.” Leaning back over the console, Tom programmed a set of subtle alarms to remind him about checking the ship’s status. “Well, a couple of hours of free-time. I guess I can whip up some food for us. Any requests?”

“I’m feeling nautical. Can you do some lobster or crab?” he requested.

“Yes sir, Mr. Vaughn. Cheeseburgers and beer it is,” Tom headed for the door with a smirk on his face, and turned back to look at his friend. He shrugged and left Chris sitting there with his cigar.

A Smokes and Drinks JP with Captain Vaughn and 1st Officer O'Flagherty Public Transport Ship, Jeffery’s Tube En Route from DS9 to Earth 1522
 * 02-02-2011 19:37Gerhardt Rahner

''The dual-stage intermix core thrummed softly, a soothing noise barely on the edge of hearing. All engineers, and some others who spent most of their time on board starships, but especially all engineers “listened” to that sound on a subconscious level whenever they were on board. It made being planet-side disconcerting for some career ship engineers, not being able to detect the mechanisms that moved them through the heavens. '' The thrumming noise wafted through the Chief Engineer’s office, permeating every surface, massaging a calm assurance that all was right with the world. “And all is right with the world,” Gerhardt said to himself as he gazed around his new office, slowly spinning the chair at his desk. The lights were somewhat dim in his office so that the glow from the reactor core pulsed steadily against the back wall.

“Congratulations, sir.” Ba’dat stood at attention in the office entrance, but her characteristic smirk off-set her feigned military attitude.

“Sir? What happened to Old Goat?” Gerhardt asked his old friend.

Ba’dat’s smirk became a sneer. “I think this occasion calls for more formality, sir.”

“What occasion would that be? My new office?”

“Your court-martial, sir.” Her reply sent chills through Gerhardt’s bones and froze his voice in his throat. “You’re the Chief Engineer and you let the engines fail, sir.”

“There is nothing wrong with the engines!” Gerhardt wasn’t sure if she was joking, but he sure as hell wasn’t laughing. “They are working perfectly!”

“But not for long, sir,” came her steady reply. “You can hear it, can’t you, sir? You can feel it. Sir.”

Gerhardt jerked awake. The nightmare faded slowly from his mind. Well, that was disturbing. he thought. The shock of his abrupt awakening had finally dissipated, but why did something still not feel right? The compartment trembled slightly as the passenger vessel dropped out of warp. Oh, that’s what that feeling was.

A voice came over the loudspeaker: “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are currently experiencing some technical difficulties and have just dropped out of warp. Please remain calm and seated while we address the problem. Your stewardess will be by shortly with the drink tray and we’ll be underway again shortly. Thank you.”

Gerhardt thought over the sensations he’d experienced just before dropping out of warp. There had been no tactile signs that something was wrong, but something had sparked his subconscious to sense a snag. The noise! That ever-pervasive sound on a warp-capable ship, the music that beats the drum-cadence of the engineer’s heart, had thrown a sour note just moments before the warp drive went down, and Gerhardt had picked up on it in his sleep.

He thought over the sounds he’d heard and came to a quick conclusion: this was barely a problem, one that could have been avoided easily. This conclusion led to another: if they didn’t bother with simple maintenance as would have avoided this problem, this was the last time he’d be on board any ship this company controlled. He looked around the cabin and noticed that the stewardesses were busy trying to lull the passengers with small bottles of drink. Trying to be as surreptitious as possible, Gerhardt rose from his seat and made his way to the most likely place for the engine room. There he found an argument.

“I told you,” a man Gerhardt could only describe as ‘scruffy’ yelled as he threw an isolinear spanner across the room. “I can’t find a damn thing wrong with the core.”

“And I told you, my boat ain’t flying!” roared back another man wearing an ostentatious white uniform. If he had written “I R CAPTAN” across the back in glowing letters, it might have made a more pathetic picture of a man clearly out of his league. He noticed Gerhardt standing in the doorway. “And just who the fuck do you think you are?!”

“I am Lieutenant Rahner of Starfleet,” Gerhardt replied with all the calm he could muster. “And I know what is wrong with your vessel. Not only that, but I can fix it with considerable ease.”

“Pfft. Fleet,” scoffed ‘Scruffy.’ “Some big damn fleet, has to send its men by civilian transport. What the hell do you know, asshole?”

The captain looked Gerhardt over with disdain. “You got any identification, Ranner?”

“Of course, and it’s Rahner,” he answered, showing the Captain his identification, which had been updated to show his new position on the Atlas.

“Hmph,” the captain muttered. “Chief engineer, huh? Alright, Mr. Chief Engineer. What’s wrong with my boat?”

“I believe your plasma intercooler is malfunctioning. If I am correct, it can be quickly patched, but you should acquire a new one at Earth, and again every 6 months. It is basic warp core maintenance that should not have been overlooked,” he added, purposefully not looking at ‘Scruffy.’

“You saying I don’t know how to keep my goddamn boat flying?” the would-be engineer threatened.

“Stow it,” the captain said. “This is coming out of your pay. Rahner, can you get us flying again?”

“Of course,” Gerhardt said. “Just power down the warp core. I should be done in... twenty minutes?”

Passenger’s Cabin, Jeffery’s Tube 1544 Gerhardt leaned back in his seat and took a long sip of stout. The ship was travelling again at Warp 4.3, smooth and steady. The thrumming of the warp core, just below the edge of hearing, hummed in Gerhardt’s subconscious. He smiled, remembering the sight of ‘Scruffy’ throwing his isolinear spanner across the engine room. Soon, he’d be on his new ship, his new home. Passenger’s Cabin, Jeffery’s Tube Nearing the Sol System 0630 hours ''A familiar figure ambled out of the shadows, but Gerhardt could never remember having looked the man directly face-to-face. As he drew nearer, Gerhardt quickly realized that he had seen the man every morning of his life while performing his daily ablutions. '' “Begrüßung, Gerhardt,” Gerhardt’s phantasm said. “Wie nett von dir, mich hier zu treffen.”
 * 02-06-2011 00:33Gerhardt Rahner

“You... you are my conscience?” Gerhardt proper asked.

“Diese Beschreibung wird für heute genügen,” the conscience replied.

“Huh. Then this is a dream?” Gerhardt asked no one in particular. “I do not suppose you could speak in Fleet Common? Only I do not want this to be a terrible strain on the readers.”

The apparition took its turn to be confused at this. “Die... Lesers? Was Lesers?”

“Well, if I ever write my memoirs, this dream sequence will undoubtedly be an important note I need to add,” Gerhardt replied to the apparition’s apprehensions. “I think it would be helpful if I can be true to the dream and write mostly in Fleet Common.”

“Oh. Well, that’s alright then,” said the relieved phantasm. “I was worried you were breaking the fourth wall.”

“Fourth wall?” Gerhardt looked about him at the empty nothingness stretched out around him. “Nevermind, let us move on. What epiphany do you have for me?”

“Epiphany?” the apparition seemed legitimately shocked. “Nothing like that, I’m afraid. I’m here in a more inquisitorial capacity. Have you noticed a lack of cut-and-run on your part as of late?”

“How do you mean?” Gerhardt asked.

“A quick review of your history, Gerhardt,” the conscience said, “will show obvious patterns of a man who doesn’t handle recognition well. In fact, from the time you were 17 and ran away from Earth when offered top honors, you have fled every position of leadership and status that has been offered to you. Why now, when you are on offered a position of Chief Engineer on the newest ship of the fleet, are you not running in terror?”

Gerhardt thought this over. “Perhaps... I have grown accustomed to the Starfleet way of life?”

“Perhaps,” mocked the phantasm, “you have grown accustomed to having your ideas partially understood and fully appreciated.”

“No,” scoffed Gerhardt. “I think that I have learned in my time aboard the Horizon and Ark Royal, my time serving in the Xul war, what it means to work with engineers who are not looking for the next paycheck. The people I have worked with are honorable people and...”

“Aaaand?”

“And, I love these people. I love this lifestyle. Every engineering problem, every experiment and crisis, has driven me closer to a place I can finally call...”

Gerhardt proper and his phantasmal conscience said simultaneously, “home.”

“Sir,” the stewardess shook Gerhardt’s shoulder. “You are Lt. Rahner, correct?”

“Ja, I am he,” Gerhardt answered groggily.

“We are docking with Spacedock. I understand you’ve been assigned to the USS Atlas?” she asked sweetly. Gerhardt nodded his affirmation, so she continued, “If you look out the porthole, you can see the Atlas now.”

Gerhardt turned to the window beside him and stared out. “Süßen, Untoten Christus! Who launched a damn city into orbit?” He declared as his eyes took in the awesome sight of the Vesta-class starship. The transport passed a kilometer off the starboard nacelle, and from this angle, the ship loomed. I have to keep that flying? SS Indefensible Earth Orbit
 * 02-07-2011 16:27Tom O'Flagherty

The soft blue-green glow of Earth slowly rotated on its axis, filling the window of the small luxury craft. Since Tom had joined Starfleet, he hadn’t seen that much of home, and so every time he did, there was a moment were he stopped to stare at the sight. Just below him, he could see their destination. The Emerald Isle shown clearly in the warm sunlight from their low orbit.

Normally, he would already be feeling the grass between his toes, but it seemed Chris had failed to complete the necessary paperwork required for a private citizen to own a transporter system. So, they were waiting, while Chris sent forms all over the planet to comply with Federation law. Normally a process like this would have taken days for any other private citizen, but when that private citizen was a lawyer, filling out forms came as second-nature. And after two hours, Tom and Bet were standing in the middle of Tom’s childhood town.

Youghal, County Cork, Ireland

Bet was immediately struck by how green everything was. The air smelled...sweet? She glanced over at Tom and immediately saw a twinkle in his eyes, he was home and it showed. “So, this is it? It’s beautiful Tom, more so than I imagined. Where’s your Mother’s house? Is it far?”

He beamed a proud smile at Lisbet. The sunlight always seamed to cast an aura about her that made him feel warm inside. “No, we should be able to hitch a ride in one of the hover taxis. Might take twenty minutes to get there”

Tom lifted their bags onto his shoulders and hailed a passing cab. It didn’t take nearly as long as he had guessed to make it across the small town to the home he had known from his youth. With its perch on top of a cliff, and an old lighthouse that was more decoration now than function, it looked exactly as he had remembered. Pulling their bags out of the trunk, he could hear the sea in the distance, carried to him by the constant breeze that had been a companion to his childhood.

Swiping his credit chit, he motioned for her to go ahead of him, but they hadn’t made it half-way up the walk before his mother came running out to them. “Tommy-boy,...Lisbet! I’m so glad you’re here.” And before Tom could even really introduce Lisbet, whom she’d only talked with over subspace messages, Moira O’Flagherty wrapped her in a hug.

To say Bet liked Moira immediately would be an understatement...she felt an affection for the Irish women that threatened to overwhelm her. Moira had the warm charm that Bet always wished her own mother had, she felt accepted just as she was, without judgements. “Hello Mum, how are you?”

“Ah, de Academy is out for summa. Ta tell ya da trute, I’m glad. I get ta see my boy,” and then she wrapped her arms around Tom and almost pulled him off balance. The bags hung from his shoulders making it difficult for him to react in her vise-like grip.

“Hey, mom. It’s good to be home.” The trio shuffled their way inside where Tom went to the guest bedroom, which had been his as a child, and deposited their bags on the floor before returning to the living room where his mother was already playing the gracious host.

“How do ya take yer tea, Lisbet?”

“With a splash of cream, please.” Bet looked around the living room, taking in the warmth of its simple decor. Family pictures were everywhere, and she made a mental note to look at Tom’s childhood photos in greater detail later. “You have a lovely home Moira, very welcoming, as are you. Thank you for making me feel so...loved. I see where Tom gets his gentle nature.” She couldn’t help but tease him a little, and Moira, upon hearing it, blushed deeply. “My Tommy Boy is a darlin’, he is."

"Stop it you two." Tom was embarrassed and Lisbet knew it. In truth, he liked her needling, but he didn't want to let her know that or she might stop. He sat next to Lisbet and returned his mother's beaming grin while sipping his tea.

"Look at da two of ya. My boy, and his beautiful girl; it reminds me of Johnny and myself when we were young." A reminiscent look crossed the woman's eyes as she continued to beam at the two of them.

Bet smiled at Tom then replied, “I imagine you and John were quite a couple.” She looked around the room again and a thought struck her, “Moira, would you take me around town and show me some of your favorite stores? Tom will have new lodging and I’d like to decorate the place for him, make him feel at home.”

“Of course, dear. I’m sure Tommy won’t wanna join us, girls.” Leaning forward over her cup, Moira flashed a mischievous smile at Lisbet. “He never was one for shoppin’. We can hae some time for us girls ta talk without him buttin’ in.”

“And you can tell me a few little secrets about Tom I should know,” Bet replied as she leaned forward conspiratorially with Moira. “Any bit of information you think I might need in my back pocket.”

Tom mocked annoyance as he listened in on the “conspiracy” being plotted in front of him. “I think you know enough as it is.” Then, he leaned in to join them, “Besides, I’m already in your ‘back pocket.’ You won’t need any secrets.” Then he kissed her on the cheek before leaning back to drink more of his tea.

Bet shared a knowing glance with Moira and leaned back again to enjoy the moment with the O’Flaghertys. “Thomas, have you told your Mum yet about our good news?”

He blushed, suddenly, as he realized he hadn’t told her. “Well, I’ve been made CO of a new ship. That’s why we’re here, to pick her up and take her back to the Gamma Quadrant.”

A rush of joy coursed through Moira as she grabbed both of Tom’s hands and squeezed them in hers. “Oh, your father would be so proud of ya. I can’t believe deir’s goin ta be a ‘Captain O’Flagherty’ stayin in my house!!!”

Bet watched this exchange with much joy, and a little sadness that her own mother couldn’t be as excited about her accomplishments in Starfleet as Moira obviously was, the two mothers had different priorities. Bet was more certain of one thing, Moira would be her “mother” from now forward, as much as she was willing to at least.

“Well, for now it is Lieutenant Commander O’Flagherty, but you also have a Chief Medical Officer staying in your house.”

“Oh, dat’s just fantastic!” Moira grabbed Bet’s hand with her left while still holding on to Tom’s. “De two of ya are gonna be great! I just know Starfleet couldn’t a found better officers.” She beamed from ear to ear as she looked at the two of them, who were both equally as excited. “Now, Bet, as a Chief Medic, da CO will be your worst patient, and dis one...”

“I am fully aware of how difficult Tom can be!” she gave a chuckle as she saw Tom squirm some more. “But I have ways of making him comply, and as you know, I’ll have certain privileges to order a certain CO to do as his doctor says. I’ll whip him into shape in no time.”

With a knowing smile, Moira added to the needling, “Oh, I have no doubt ya have him wrapped around yer little finger.” Tom continued to redden at the onslaught of the two women in his life. “Now, what are you embarrassed about? As yer Mother, I believe I know what tactics de woman in yer life will employ to get ya to cooperate.” She winked at Bet to drive home her little joke.

“Yer jus too modest, Tommy.”

“You bet I do, but I rarely have to pull that card...he’s quite malleable if I simply smile and flutter my eyes at him, you know how men can be.” The women exchanged knowing laughter, the moment made all the more humorous for Tom’s being so uncomfortable. “You know Moira, I’m as proud as I can be to serve with Tom, first on the Gettysburg and then on Emissary and now on Atlas. He is a fine officer, which speaks well of his upbringing. You and John did a fine job with him.”

“I jus wish Johnny could see him now, and I wish he coulda met you!” Moira reached to take the cups from the table. She became noticeably quieter as she thought of her late husband. “He would definitely have loved ta see dis.”

As she walked into the kitchen, Tom looked at his chornometer. It was nearing 1400 hours, and he was supposed to be meeting Chris in an hour to collect his ‘pay’ for flying the ship there. “Bet, I need to go here in a little while. Will you be okay here with, mom?”

“We’ll manage, probably do that shopping we were talking about. You go and I’ll be here when you get back.” Bet leaned in to speak quietly to Tom, “I adore your mother, she’s just as I dreamed she’d be...and I adore you!” she said as she leaned in closer to plant a kiss square on his lips.

Featuring NPC Moira O'Flagherty

A JP with the lovely, the talented...Lisbet Ulrika '''Earth Orbit Spacedock, Civilian Transport Docking Bay 1025 Hours'''
 * 02-08-2011 00:05Gerhardt Rahner

Gerhardt had been on Spacedock several hours longer than he’d expected. “Starfleet arranged my transportation to the USS Atlas, which is at McKinley Station. Why will you not transport me there?” Two hours off the transport, he sat in a waiting room in front of the rented office of the company that owned the Jeffery’s Tube, Gerhardt’s ride. When he finally made it into the CEO’s office, he was greeted with some terrible news.

“Starfleet arranged for your transportation to Earth,” the company representative said, her staunch voice unrelenting. Her emotionless, unaccented tone could have come from a Vulcan instead of a Human. She pointed out the window of her tiny office at the planet they orbited. “That, would be Earth. We are in orbit around Earth, in Earth’s space, therefore you have arrived at Earth. Our business is complete.”

“I have to report to my new ship in 2 hours,” Gerhardt enunciated each word to make himself clear. “Do you wish to face a tribunal for... impeding an officer in his duty?” He wasn’t exactly sure that was a punishable, civilian offense, but it sounded good. The company rep was not impressed.

She smiled a ruthless grin at him. “Sir, Starfleet entered into a contract with this company on your behalf. We have upheld our end of this contract. If our client, Starfleet, has any complaints about our service, then our client, Starfleet may contact our customer service call center. If any member of Starfleet wishes to claim we are in breach of our contract, the one with Starfleet, then our client may contact our legal department. If you, not our client, have a problem, you can shove it up your ass.”

Gerhardt stood back, shocked at the merciless, unprovoked disrespect. “You... Hündin! I fixed your gottverdammten Stück Scheiße you call a ship!”

She tapped a button on her desk. “Security,” she said with the same emotionless tone as before; she must have been a veteran of customer service. Two guards came into the office, but Gerhardt was already storming his way out.

“Nie wieder Fickerei!” he grumbled as he stalked down the corridor to the main walkway. He turned a corner and immediately rammed into the captain of the Jeffery’s Tube. “YOU!” he roared.

The poor captain looked absolutely stunned at the sudden appearance of the Teutonic ball of rage. Before he could stammer out a defense, Gerhardt grabbed him, shoved him against the wall, and yelled, “You work for evil bitches!”

The captain grinned worriedly, “You think I don’t know that? I was just headed to my boss’s office to try and get the rest of my wages.”

Gerhardt softened quickly. He blushed and lowered the man from the wall, “I apologize. I should not have lost my temper. Please forgive me.”

“No worries,” the captain said, straightening out his uniform. “How’d they screw you over?”

“They have abandoned me on Spacedock,” Gerhardt answered reluctantly. “They claim this is as far as my ticket takes me.”

“Hmph, sounds like them.” The captain sighed, “Look, you kept my boat flying, I feel like I owe you one. Let me go scream at this whore for a bit, then I’ll take you to your destination.”

Gerhardt brightened considerably. “Thank you, sir. Thank you!”

'''Earth Orbit [i]Jeffery’s Tube[i/], Approaching McKinley Station 1145 Hours''' “Civilian Transport, C-495, approaching McKinley Station. Permission to dock, McKinley?”

=/\=C-495, civilian transports are not authorized to dock with McKinley Station without prior arrangement with Starfleet.=/\=

“McKinley, C-495 is carrying a Starfleet Lieutenant bound for the USS Atlas,” the captain replied, exasperated.

A short pause followed. =/\=Starfleet personnel, please identify yourself.=/\=

“Lieutenant Gerhardt Rahner, authorization Ro-Sigma-Four-Four-Niner, reporting for duty aboard the USS Atlas as Chief Engineer.”

Another pause. =/\=C-495, proceed to docking bay 3. Lieutenant Rahner, welcome to McKinley Station.=/\=

'''USS Atlas Main Engineering 1230 Hours''' After thanking the captain of the Jeffery’s Tube and disembarking, Gerhardt met briefly with the dock-master of McKinley Station. He relayed the story behind his strange arrival and requested immediate access to the ship. The build team was applying minor finishing touches, including the registry numbers on the hull and a final inspection of all external lights, so the dock-master agreed with the stipulation that Gerhardt be escorted by one of his engineers. Gerhardt gladly agreed to this, but quickly changed his mind from the moment they entered Main Engineering.

“That’s the dual-stage intermix core,” the dock engineer gushed. “Top-of-the-line, ya know.”

“Ja, I have thoroughly reviewed the specification of the ship,” Gerhardt said, unenthusiastically.

“And that’s the MSD,” the younger engineer continued, unabashed. “Hi-res, fully interactive, and it has a back-up power supply, should the worst happen.”

“That is... wonderful?” Gerhardt murmured, “At least if the ship is without power and we are doomed, I will be able to see why we are doomed, how doomed we are, and how much longer we will remain doomed.”

“Er... what was that?” the younger man said.

“Nossing, nossing,” Gerhardt said slowly. His focus was drawn to an odd component with which he wasn’t familiar attached to the MSD. “What is that?” he asked, pointing.

“Oh, that’s the holographic emitter,” the dock engineer gushed again. “This MSD is equipped to utilize an engineering hologram unit, or EHU.”

“EHU? I was under the impression they were still in the alpha development stage on the software.”

“Oh, well, yes. But the designers of the Vesta-class want this ship to remain state of the art for quite some time.”

“Uh-huh...” Gerhardt’s eyebrow raised as he started calculating wasted gigawatt-hours. “And that component in between the dual-stages of the core?”

“That’s the intermix actuator gauge,” the younger man continued gushing. “It gauges the intermix core, allowing for automatic shift from warp to slipstream.”

Gerhardt stared at the dock engineer incredulously. “You would be referring to the algorithm which uses the relative velocity of the ship, the curvature of the warp bubble, Bernelli’s constant, and the ship’s converted relativistic mass to determine the proper shift to quantum slipstream from warp drive? The algorithm which has been required reading in the Academy’s advanced propulsion systems course since 2379?”

“Um... well, yes, but this does the calculation automatically,” the dock engineer said, becoming mildly defensive.

“And how many gigawatt-hours does it require to keep this gauge running?” Gerhardt demanded.

The dock engineer tapped at his padd. “Um... 12 terawatt-hours...”

Gerhardt’s jaw dropped. “That is more than the whole damn MSD system! Heilig Hölle, that is first to go. Right after this thing.” He reached up to the hologram emitter on the MSD and, with a quick lift and drop, yanked it off its moorings.

“What are you doing!” the dock engineer. “That’s Starfleet property!”

Gerhardt glared at him. “Perhaps. But I am Chief Engineer on this boat, I am responsible for maintaining and improving this boat, and I will be deciding what, and for that matter, who will stay in my Main Engineering. Get off my ship!”

The offended dock engineer huffed his way to the turbolift. He shot Gerhardt a nasty look before the doors closed. Gerhardt chuckled lightly as he rolled up his sleeves. The command staff was due on-board in a few days; he had a lot of work to do. '''::Earth:: 'The time is 1200 hours.”
 * 02-08-2011 03:49Adina Wolfe
 * Winchester, England::'''

….

“The time is 01200 hours and 10 seconds.”

“Don’t care.” a shape under the covers muttered.

“The time is 1200 hours and 20 seconds.”

….

“The time is 1200 hours and 30 seconds.”

“Oh...fine, if you’re going to be persistent.” the shape grumbled, shifting slowly towards the edge of the bed.

A few seconds later something resembling Adina Wolfe slid out from under the covers and thumped into the carpeted deck below. “Okay, I’m up....also ow.” she grumbled again as she pulled herself upright and scrapped her way over to the replicator. “S’ti’ach Coffee. Extra thin, triple sweet.” she managed, her voice tempered by an early morning gravel.

One empty mug later Adina was putting the finishing touches to her freshly replicated uniform, the mustard yellow and black uniform with a single bronze bar on the right of her collar marking her out as a Cadet assigned to Engineering, another smaller, round pin on the left indicating her current assignment to McKinley Station.

McKinley, since her reassignment from the Ark Royal six months ago had been a place of hard work and harder lessons, Adina had learnt very early on that the crew at McKinley expected nothing less then perfection in her work, something the Cadet had pinned down to an underlying desire by the station’s CO to outperform their sister shipyard, Utopia Planitia. Admittedly her somewhat rare experience of having worked with a working Slipstream core had given Adina a little bit of leeway in her work helping to construct a similar design in the yard above Earth, but that didn’t stop the officers in charge dropping down on her like a ton of bricks when it came to the more commonplace assembly and maintenance.

As Adina walked from her apartment in Winchester to the local transporter station, cradling another cup of purple coffee in her hands, she ran a quick mental checklist of the jobs she knew were to be done today; First she was due to help out with the Impulse Manifolds, the ones replicated the week before had somehow managed to fail the safety standards so the new ones still needed final recalibration to be up to standard.

Adina made an attached mental note to call dibs on not having to get suited up and help with the zero-g aspect of the recalibration, ever since the last time she’d been out in a suit she’d been practically terrified of doing it again. But then again no-one was blaming her for that, after all the last time had involved a rogue work bee and the loss of her right arm to a stray plasma torch. The memory of the torch cutting through her caused a sympathetic lance of pain down the still new bio-synthetic replacement, further causing her to dodge a splash of purple coffee down her uniform. “I need to get that checked on.” She murmured to herself, poking the offending arm lightly.

As she walked into the transporter station, offering a small nod to the Deltan attendant as she looked over the Cadet’s authorization/destination card Adina forced her mind back onto the matter of work. “Oh, need to finish connecting the EHU up in Engineering.” she mused, "then I think I’m supposed to be... ah, Holodeck Three, the emitters are still cross aligned.” Adina allowed herself a small chuckle as the transporter beam snatched her up from the small platform and deposited her in a still semi assembled transporter room two. “It’s always the finishing touches that cause the most hassle.”

A short walk and a turbolift later Adina walked into Main Engineering, quickly side stepping a rather irate looking McKinley engineer as he stormed out of the vast room, a short moment later Adina recognized that it was her supervisor, Lieutenant Caltan that had just stormed off. Understandably puzzled by the realization Adina quickly stepped over to a small gathering of McKinley engineers who appeared to be watching someone the Cadet had not seen aboard before, who was in the middle of ripping out large sections of what appeared to be the intermix actuator gauge.

“Uum, pardon the language,” Addina offered, “But who the hell is that and what the chu’ta’ka is he doing to the core?”

“Apparently.” Kheerop, a Saurian Ensign offered, “He’s this boat’s Chief Engineer and apparently,” she continued, “he is ‘removing’ components that are using up ‘too much’ power.”

“Riiight...” Adina started as she thought over her next words. “Is he aware that the new grade three Q/W core is capable of running all the ships new goodies and still have 13.7% additional power then standard remaining?”

“Presumably.” Kheerop chuckled, his forked tongue flicking around the edges of his lip-less mouth. “But you know how Chiefs are... new ones especially.”

“He’s a first timer?” A Bajoran crewman, rather unimaginatively named Bajor, offered.

“Yup, I heard they pulled him off the Ark Royal.” Kheerop offered, wincing slightly as a particularly heavy piece of ‘removed’ equipment hit the deck.

“The Ark?” Adina did a double-take, looking back at the engineer. “Oh crap!” She uttered, recognition finally settling in. “That’s Gerhardt!”

“You know him?” Bajor offered, looking surprised.

Adina simply nodded, “We worked together for a bit on the Ark Royal. Didn’t realise they’d made him a Chief...”

“Well.” Kheerop chuckled as she subtly positioned herself behind Adina, "Seeing as you know him... and that it’s the last two months of your work he’s ripping to pieces at the moment I hereby volunteer you to tell him to stop.” And with a surreptitious shove Kheerop sent Adina stumbling across engineering, eventually coming to rest alongside the now rather battered looking core assembly.

“Well crap.” Adina thought to herself as she attempted to grab Gerhardt’s attention, “This is not how I expected my day to start off...” Earth::
 * 02-09-2011 13:57Joshua Castillo
 * Starfleet Academy::

"So how are you adjusting to life back on Earth?" asked Commander Frank Johnson as the two officers walked down one of the corridors from the lunch hall.

"It's a bit difficult, when you've been stationed aboard a starship for the past two years," replied Joshua as he kept pace with his former instructor. "However these past two months have been enjoyable, as I have been visiting family members since I got here."

The two officers turned a corner and a few cadets walked passed them and saluted both them when coming at attention; a smile formed on Joshua's face as he remembered how he was when he just graduated. The Xul war taught him how to slow down and to appreciate life more, because in Starfleet it wasn't promised to you.

"How are your advanced classes going?" asked Frank.

"Pretty good, a bit difficult at times; however running a department back aboard the Integrity taught me a lot about how to command and lead officers...and with me being an engineer further helped me know about ship sub-systems and other things," said Joshua as he turned his head while walking and looked at the water fountain on the grounds of the academy.

"I am glad to hear that Joshua, I always said that you were one of my promising students," he said with a straight look on his face as he too turned and looked at the fountain, and then paused and took in the entire secnary.

"I thought you said that I was the one student that gave you the most problems," he said as he too stopped and looked at the fountain.

"That's why you were the most promising...and look where it got you a promotion to lieutenant junior grade and serving as second officer aboard the USS Integrity," he said as he was finished watching the fountain and started walking again, this time walking through the rose garden with Joshua next to him.

"That seems like a long time ago, and truth be told I was never expecting Andy to take that promotion," said Joshua as he looked at a few cadets sitting on the ground stuyding notes from previous classes.

"Sometimes, things knock on our door and depending on weither we answer or not determines if we advance or if we stay behind," said Frank as he paused a pink and silver rose among a dozen of pure red roses.

"Hmmm...I guess you are right," he said as he felt the wind blowing across his face cooling him down from the hot San Fransico heat.

"Speaking of knocks Joshua," he said as he paused folding his arms behind his back and looking around the area at the students and then turned back to Josh and said "I want to offer you a position here at the academy as a lecturer in the engineering classes."

"Huh?" he responded shocked by the question that was given to him, truthfully he had always considered returning to the academy and teach engineering; but he figured that he would be at a higher rank and have more experience underneath his belt. "Commander, I would figured that I would serve on board a ship for a while before moving to Earth and teaching at the academy," he said.

"Remember, knocks at the door determine what may happen in our future..and these are one of those knocks Joshua," he said as the two paused in the middle of the rose garden.

"Commander, I would need some time to think about this; I'm suppose to be transferred to the Atlas and take over as her chief tactical officer," he said to him.

"Why leave what you love Joshua, engineering is your passion and your life and I would hate to see you throw it all away," he said to him.

"I don't know about this commander," replied Joshua.

"Tomorrow is a free lecture day for my class and I want you to guest lecture for that day...at least for you to see what it is like to teach," he said.

"Just for that day?" asked Joshua.

"For the day and then afterwards we will talk about your future," he said as he faced Joshua and his hair blew into one of his eyes from the wind, which he moved with the quick shake of his head.

"Very well, I will try it out for tomorrow," he said.

"Glad to here that, see you tomorrow lieutenant," he said and then turned on his heals and walked out of the rose gardent leaving a guilt filled Castillo behind. New York City
 * 02-09-2011 20:13Tom O'Flagherty
 * 02-09-2011 20:13Tom O'Flagherty

Manhattan Island 5th Avenue

There are throngs of people and there are herds of people, but this was a stampede. Unfortunately, Tom was in the middle of it. He had slipped out of the house without his mother or Bet questioning his destination. Once, he had beamed to the Big Apple, he had wandered around outside of Grand Central Station until Chris had contacted him, giving him the directions to head north on the busy thoroughfare. The sound of the people and the vehicles was nearly deafening.

It was a long walk from Grand Central Station, to 57th street, and it if it wasn’t for Chris begging him, Tom wouldn’t have tried it. The plan had been to meet in San Francisco, at Chris’s penthouse, but as it was 0500 hours on the North American west coast, they agreed to meet in the middle. Unfortunately, this was the middle.

Chris stood outside the Tiffany’s flagship store leaning on his limo impatiently; he wore a navy blue double breasted suit with a paisley ascot. He had been waiting for about five minutes tapping his fingers as he waited for Tom to appear. I should have sent Raul to get him. Finally he saw Tom milling his way through the crowed with a confused and nervous expression across his face.

Noticing the gargantuan car parked in front of the store, Tom sighed in relief. A smile started to spread across his face as he approached his friend. “I was worried that when you said we were going to ‘Tiffany’s,’ you meant we were meeting...somewhere...else. I’m glad to see you meant a store.”

“I would never do anything to compromise your future marriage with Lisbet.” Chris said, slapping him on the shoulder. “Shall we?” he gestured toward the door.

Together they moved toward the door, and when they entered the store, Tom stopped. His mouth hung open in utter surprise. Whispering to Chris, he said, “I can’t afford anything in this place. What are we doing here?”

“You’re here to get Lisbet a ring worthy of her beauty.” he explained. reaching in his coat pocket he handed over an envelope with the payment for Tom flying the Indefensible. “And technically speaking you couldn’t afford anything here. You can now.”

Taking the envelope, his eyes grew even wider, if that were possible. “What the hell is this?!?”

Regaining his composure, he lowered his voice as the other customers in the store shot the duo annoyed looks. “I can’t take this. That’s way too much for just piloting the ship.”

“I’ll talk to the accounting department at Vaughn Industries about the company pay scale later.”

“Well, do I need to fill out a W-2?” His face, the picture of sarcasm, Tom turned to leave the store. “I can’t let you do this. I mean, I didn’t really earn money like this. I’ll just get the ring I saw at DS9 as we go back to Caloris Station.”

Hearing Tom mention buying the ring from DS9 Chris gave him a soft but sharp slap on the cheek, “Don’t talk such rot and take the money. Your causing a scene.”

The sharp heat on his cheek stopped him in his tracks, shock painted on his face. “I guess I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“No.” Chris replied in a dignified fashion. “You don’t. Now let’s find Lisbet’s ring before you offend my sensibilities further.” he finished with a smile.

Tom was just able to keep from rolling his eyes as an elegant, brunette, in a professional looking gray suit came up to them. “How may I help you this morning?” She gave Tom a scathing up and down evaluation as she turned to face Chris.

Chris pointed to Tom. “My friend here is in the market for an engagement ring, show him something nice.” he gave her his own scathing evaluation.

“Of course, sir.” She moved behind the closes counter and began to move down the display until she came to the first collection of rings. “I believe this will fit your budget quite nicely.” With a few simple moves, she opened the cabinet from the back and removed a selection of ½ to 2 carat rings for Tom to peruse.

Chris stepped forward with a feint smile. “Perhaps I wasn’t succinct enough before.” he glanced to Tom, “This is Thomas O’Flagherty. That would be of the County Cork O’Flagherty’s. If you admit you haven’t heard of them then you are simply conceding your own ignorance. Now stop treating him like a pauper and show him something worthy of his time and my considerably diminished patience.”

Tom blushed in embarrassment, but didn’t look up at the salesperson. “Chris...please.”

“Please nothing.” Chris scowled at the saleswoman. “We’re here because Tiffany’s is suppose to be the premier jeweler in this city. And now you’ve gone and embarrassed Mr. O’Flagherty. Say your sorry.”

The brunette was completely taken aback, “I’m...I’m sorry, sir. I do, sincerely apologize.”

“It’s okay,” Tom said sheepishly while he continued to keep from meeting the woman’s gaze. “My friend, Mr. Vaughn, is a little over-protective.”

“Come this way.” And she quickly moved down to the farthest display from the door. The tags on all of the merchandise in that particular case were noticeably devoid of pricing which made Tom very uncomfortable. “I believe these would be more to your tastes, sir.”

“Finally.” Vaughn growled. “I only hope Mr. O’Flagherty will be as impressed as I am temporarily pacified.”

Noticeably nervous now, the woman laid a black velvet board on the display case and then removed a selection of rings for him to view. The first one that caught his eye had a round diamond with a smaller diamonds surrounding the main gem, all set in a platinum band. “That is a nice one, sir. I believe the price marking on it is 1.9 million credits.”

“Oh, that is lovely.” Chris commented. “I can get your accountant on the line if you want to move some funds from the account on Betazed.” he said covering for Tom.

Picking up on the hint, Tom set the ring back on the board, calmly as he replied, “I don’t have that much time unfortunately.”

The ring next to it also looked like something Lisbet would like. It was more oval than the first, and had a smaller main gem. The small stones that wrapped around the band glistened sharply in the lighting of the store. It did cause the salesperson to frown slightly as she made her pitch. “That one is also lovely,” she said, in a much less enthusiastic tone than before. “It is 210 thousand credits. Are you sure it is too your tastes.”

“Well I like it.” Chris said as he gazed down the different cases. “Think Lisbet would care for it?”

“I believe she would.” Reaching into his pocket, Tom removed his “pay” that Chris had given him, and counted the money. As he handed it to the woman, he smiled warmly and said, “Box it up, and thank you for all your help.”

A JP with the ever-helpful Chris Vaughn...featuring...

THE RING!!!!!! Earth::
 * 02-09-2011 21:54Joshua Castillo
 * Michigan::

The transporter beam disapated, and there was Joshua standing in front of his family home in Flint, Michigan...the ranch style house had been in their family since the twenty first century. As he walked along the concrete path way, he pulled out his house keys and un-locked the front door and walked in; it had been a long day of testing for him, and on tomorrow he was due in the simulator.

"Man, I am tired...computer play anything with smooth jazz," a few moments later the notes of smooth jazz filled the hallways and rooms of the home; placing the keys on the small chest in the hallway he walked into the front room and sat down in the recliner and drifted off to sleep.


 * Three hours later::

"Incoming transmition," replied the computer over and over again now for at least a full minute, and it was the last time that the two words jared Joshua from his sleep. Stiring from his long nap he stretched in the recliner awaking his stiffing muscles and when he opened his eyes, he saw two Robins and a Cardinal and a Blue Jay perched on the mini cherry tree that was in the front of the massive window.

"Incoming transmition," replied the computer.

"Patch it through," replied Joshua as he moved over to his mother's desk and activated the console inside the solid oak desk and watched it raise with the UFP symbol on the front of it before turning into the familar face of his friend Jean.

"Someone enjoyed their nap," replied Jean as she smiled and chuckled.

"It was very wonderful, thanks for asking," he said in a sarcastic tone as he leaned back in the massive leather chair and continued looking at Jean.

"Hey since your up, I was wondering if you wanted to join me for dinner at the Warp Core?" she asked, as she knew that it was only an engineers bar; but since he was a former Chief Engineer he would always have access no matter what career choice he choose.

"We went there two days ago," he said as he stretched once again.

"I know we did but, I wanted to go again as there is this Andorian band that is supposed to be playing there; and they call themself's Warp Plasma," she said.

"I don't know Jean, the last time we went there we were caught up in that massive bar fight," he said as he felt the back of his head from where that bottle was shattered over it just two days ago.

"Hey, that fight wouldn't have happened if you would have just left that idiot alone," she said in a pissy tone.

"He hit on you!" he cried out.

"He wasn't anything that I couldn't handle," she said.

"If I recall when you turned him down he nearly ripped your arm off..and so I decked him," he said as he cracked the knuckles on his right hand.

"Then his four buddies joined in...but we sure did have fun wipping the floor with them," she said.

"Fine, I'll go with you...just meet me here and we will go together..I've got to shower up first," he said and she nooded at his request and the screen went dark; and Joshua rose from the chair and walked into the basement to take his shower. '''::USS Atlas::
 * 02-10-2011 03:39Adina Wolfe
 * 02-10-2011 03:39Adina Wolfe
 * Main Engineering::'''

A clanging noise could be heard coming from within the junction of the intermix core. The position of two legs hanging out of the compartment with the knees pointing up suggested that Lt. Rahner was laying on his back, performing whatever destructive task his clearly deranged mind had produced. A soft Ahem from the cadet standing outside the core was greeted with a loud, annoyed grunt.

The German’s voice rang out, slightly muffled from the confined space, “I have already spoken with whoever sent you and the three others before them. I know this core will provide 13.7% additional power over the requirements for all these additions; I have known that since I first read the specifications while I was on that gottverlassen civilian transport from DS9. And, as I already told the others,” his voice became clearer as he pulled his body and head from the intermix chamber, “I will not be having my ship produce any less than 25% power over the required, and that will be at warp 9.9...”

His voice trailed off when, as he set down his tools and the component he’d just pulled from the core junction, he finally looked at who was interrupting him. “Cadet Wolfe? I was not aware you would be joining us on the Atlas? Good to have you aboard! Will you please pass the isolinear spanner there beside you?”

“Well technically at the moment sir,"Adina offered a smile, "I’m assigned to McKinley station, and with respect, you appear to be ripping apart a good portion of my work for the last...two months?”

“Oh... er...” Gerhardt looked down at the component he’d just pulled out. “Um... And what excellent craftsmanship you... um... Well, it certainly had wonderful aesthetic... er... I suppose you were following orders on this one? Or were you also part of the draft committee for this ship?”

“Well,” Adina started, “I was ordered to install the components but I uh...tweaked a few things here and there whilst I was at it...”

“Tweaked?” Gerhardt asked. Glad to be on somewhat firmer conversational ground, he decided to pull this thread further, “Yes, this component did seem to exceed the original specifications with which I was familiar. What exactly did you intend for this piece to accomplish?” he asked, pointing to a small part that did not quite match the rest.

Adina pulled herself up and peaked into the semi-dissembled alcove, “That, that would be a little something I put together last week, i dubbed it a quantum magnet, I put it in to help lower the power needed to run the automated intermix, it’s not perfect but last I checked it seems to be saving about...two percent?”

“Quantum magnet? Hmm...” Gerhardt studied the piece further, a look of admiration and curiosity working its way across his face. “This is good. I think perhaps it is needed elsewhere, though. What else can it do? You see, I only ask because if we remove the automated intermix, we will be saving much more than two percent, but I think your quantum magnet has promise.”

“Well it could probably be used to save energy in other systems but so far it only seems to work properly in the higher energy flow systems.” Adina admitted with a small shrug. “As for the automix I always saw it as a little overpowered, but you have to admit it does free up a few engineers, not to mention taking human error out of the equation.”

Gerhardt sighed heavily. He’d hoped they had worked away from the automix conversation, but Adina clearly was not going to be so easily swayed. ''Anyone else and I might have side-stepped that subject. This cadet is quick... hmm...'' he thought. He gave his idea due consideration before continuing. “Cadet, I am quite certain the Academy does not graduate engineers who cannot do Bernelli’s algorithm in their heads, but you are correct in at least one regard: the danger of human error is too great when dealing with transwarp drive, especially on a ship this size. The gauge is too costly a drain for the benefit, but I will need a failsafe mechanism installed, just in case.”

“I’d already done that, you’re holding half of it in your hand...”

“...” Gerhardt gave a bashful look to the component he held and quickly, but carefully, replaced it. “Very good, Adina. You are, I believe the expression is, one hell of an engineer. Speaking of which, I would love to read a report on the quantum magnet, though I suppose I cannot order someone not under my command for a report...”

“Not to worry sir.” Adina offered, blushing profusely. “I will get a rough technical doc put together at shifts end. Was there anything else in the core you wanted to...discuss?”

Gerhardt looked about himself at the dismantling he’d already performed and wondered how much more would come before he was satisfied. Although an extra set of hands would be helpful, and with her quick mind Adina would be much more beneficial than simply a wrench-holder, she was assigned to the construction crew which had very specific plans to follow. It would simply be too much of a risk to her career to ask her to assist him under those circumstances. Circumstances which could be changed. Gerhardt thought. “No, Cadet, but thank you. I truly appreciate your input.”

“Not a problem sir.” Adina smiled, a blush still apparent across her face, “If you do need any more assistance I’ll be on-duty until around midnight.”

Gerhardt answered her salute and watched her go about her business with a thoughtful look on his face. He grabbed his padd, always close to hand, and sent off a quick message before going back to his dismantling:

''Transfer request: Cadet 4th Adina Wolfe Current assignment: McKinley Shipyard New assignment: USS Atlas, Engineering Request status: Voluntary, with promise of advancement''

Intermixes, Magnets and Transfers Oh my!: Brought to you by Gerhardt and Adina! Aboard the USS Monarch::
 * 02-10-2011 11:25Gabriel Holt
 * Earth's Orbit::

The rest of the trip for Gabriel had been quiet and no where near uneventful. After filling out his paperwork on the Course of Treament for his 3 patients, Gabe spent most of the rest of his time on the trip reading, working out, and studying Medical Manuals. He read often to distract himself from the hum-drum boredom that came along with taking a trip on a ship that you weren't assigned to. He had lived up to his word and visited his first ever patients daily. Each one was expected to live and have a full recovery. It was something of Gabriel to be proud of. But, however joyous it might have been that these patients would recover, Gabriel tried to come to terms with the fact that sometimes, you can't save everybody. It was a thought that tended to bother Gabriel.

At his first class at Starfleet Medical Academy, his professor had tried to impress this very thing into the minds of his students. "One thing you all must remember," the professor had said, "is that sometimes, medicine fails us. We have yet to come up with something that cures any and all things. At times, you will lose patients. But it is your responsibility to do your best not to let that happen." Even now, the words stuck with Gabriel - high memorization capacity be damned.

Gabe was still "itching to go" as the 21st Century term went. Often times his mind would wander with thoughts of what his first real assignment would be like. Sometimes, he would look at his assignment orders just for the thrill of knowing that he was really going to be taking up his first Duty Posting in Starfleet.  Official Starfleet Duty Orders  Name: Gabriel Holt Rank: Cadet 4th Class Ship Posting: USS Atlas Duty Posting: Medical OfficerAfter a few more weeks, Gabe had finally arrived in Earth's Orbit! Chief Benson had passed him a message through the ComLink letting him know that they would be arriving soon and would then dock at the McKinley Shipyard. Gabriel immediately dressed in his duty uniform and literally sprinted to the Observation Deck. When he got there, it was packed with passengers and crew alike. For some, this would be their first viewing of Earth in quite sometime. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Gabe stared with a large smile on his face as the Earth loomed into view. And, after a few moments or orbit, the McKinley Shipyard became visible. It was there that he would board a transport and be taken to the USS Atlas. The Atlas was still being completed for the departure, but Gabriel wanted to see her sooner rather than later.

As he stood there among the passenger and crew with a large, broad smile on his face, Gabe heard a voice behind him. "It's a wonderful sight, isn't it," asked the familiar voice of Dr. Krav? Gabriel turned around and realized the smile was still on his face. But he wouldn't remove it for anything.

"It certainly is, Doctor...It certainly is.." Gabe mused looking back at all of what was in front of him.

"You know, Cadet, I haven't been back to Earth in about two years."

"I'm sure it will be nice to get out and stretch your legs a bit," Gabe said to Krav. The two stood for a moment more before Krav spoke again.

"Listen, Holt," Krav said facing him now as opposed to the viewing deck. Gabriel turned to face him. "When you arrive on the ship and report in, give this to your Commanding Officer or someone who will see that it gets to him. Either your ship's CMO or XO."

Gabriel took a PADD from the Doctor's hands and then looked at him with a bith of confusion.

"It's a report I have written up about your time here aboard the Monarch. Your Commanding Officers will want to see that so they have an idea of how you conduct yourself."

Gabriel looked at the PADD and then back at the Doctor. "Well, thanks very much Doctor! I appreciate it you taking the time to do that."

"Don't mention it," said Krav smiling.

Gabriel looked at the sights once again with a smile on his face. The ship was beginning to dock with the McKinley shipyard. Luckily, Gabe had already packed and all he needed to do was go back and grab his bag before he was able to leave the ship. "You know, Doctor. I've always dreamed of this day. But now, it's finally here. And I suppose I've realized that this isn't the end of the dream, but the real beginning of it." Gabe smiled at the Doctor before hearing an announcement that they had been docked.

"Well, go, Cadet! Your posting awaits," Krav said with a smile on his face.

Gabriel smiled and shook the Doctor's hand. "Thank you, Doctor, for everything."

With that, Gabriel took off to his Quarters. Grabbing his bag in a flash, Gabe then went to the demarkation station of the ship. As he left, Gabe pulled out the PADD and shot off a quick message to Chief Benson. Chief Benson, ''I appreciate all the help that you have given me while aboard the USS Monarch. You made my stay a comfortable and enjoyable one. If I can ever repay you for your service, I shall. ''

Cadet 4th Class Gabriel Holt

''PS - I will be serving aboard the USS Atlas. ''

Gabe sent the message and walked out of the docking station and into the Shipyard. Like DS9 there was also a lot of activity going on in the shipyard; but unlike DS9, almost everywhere he looked, Gabriel saw a Starfleet uniform. He felt right at home.

He decided that he would make a few stops at the Shipyard such as the PX to get a few things before he went to catch his scheduled boarding flight to the USS Atlas. He still had a little more time to kill....
 * 02-10-2011 21:37Joshua Castillo
 * Earth:San Francisco::

The warm sheets rustled against Joshua's body as he shifted his weight around turning over on his side and placing his right hand underneath his face as it lay on the soft down pillow. The breeze from the open window in front of the bed blew through the lace curtains and into the bed room causing the temperature in the room drop from seventy two degrees to a chilling sixty three degrees; the air condition responded by kicking on an adding additional heat to the room to restore it once more to the ordered settings.

Joshua was about to pull the covers further up to his neck to insulate his body heat, but then he felt something warmer contact with his naked body; and it was skin that was soft and smooth and a soft pair of breasts pressed up against his back. At first Joshua thought that he was dreaming and he was going to see where this dream took him, but when the arm of this obviously female person reached across the upper part of his chest and her warm lips meet the back of the neck he knew he wasn't dreaming.

His eyes slowly started to open and again the soft warm lips kissed him on the back of his neck, this time with a bit of more passion; and the hand that was once on his chest traveled lower past his belly button and then gripped its fingers.

"I see someone is awake," came the soft female voice from the lips that were once kissing the back of his neck, and the voice was familiar and smooth.

"Hmmmm," replied Joshua under the wonderful pleasure that was being sent through his body, causing it to wake up from its slumber and now ready to quickly jump into action once more. Joshua's body relaxed once more as the fingers tightened its grip slightly and then relaxed them, and it forced him to turn over in the bed and kiss the limps of the woman that was next to him.

"I told you going to the warp core would be fun," she said in a soft warm voice, as she kissed his lips again this time locking them with her tongue, in which Joshua responded.

"I thought you said that we weren't going to do this again," he said once the long passionate kiss was finished and as he took his hands and embraced her soft warm body.

"I believe this time you can blame it on our hearts," she said to him.

"Well my heart has been wanting to steal yours again since the beginning of the Xul war," he said to her as he kissed her on her neck.

"I've wanted to tell you how much I've missed you, and I figured that this was the only way," she responded to him as she grabbed his face and pulled it towards hers as she kissed him again.

"There were other ways," he said to her.

"I tried that, but you never caught on...so now what do we do?" asked Jean.

"We could start off from right here, were we left off more than four years ago," he said to her as he kissed her once more.

"I could do that again," she said, as they were about to kiss again when Joshua noticed what time it was and that he was due to guest lecture within thirty minutes; the old him would have jumped out of the bed but this time he kissed her once more and unwrapped his naked body from the soft warm covers and moved towards her shower turning it on.

"Now where are you headed off to?" she asked as she wrapped up her body in the sheets showing only her thighs.

"I'll tell you about it when I return...just promise me to stay like you are," he said to her.

"I would if I could but I have training of my own you know," she said to him.

"I know that," as she could hear the water running in the bathroom.

"Can we meet up for lunch," she asked him.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," replied Joshua.


 * Starfleet Academy::

“I was wondering if you were going to show up or not,” replied Frank as he sat in his office chair looking at his old wooden clock that he had on his desk.

“I was thinking about a few personal things along the way,” said Joshua as he leaned in the doorway of his former teacher’s office.

“I hope about your career in Starfleet,” said Frank as he pushed his chair back from the solid oak desk that was covered in papers and many pads.

“That too,” responded Joshua as he stepped back out of the doorway to allow Frank the room to slide by and step out into the hallway.

“So have you decided what you’re going to lecture about?” Frank asked as he started walking down the hallway with Joshua in tow.

“I figured I was going to play it by ear,” he said with his arms folded behind his back, which normally meant that he was nervous but confident that when he approached the situation that everything would work out for its self.

The two officers passed a few cadets in the hallway that stepped to the side and saluted the two officers, but Joshua hated those kinds of pleasantries and so he waved the cadets at ease; it was hard enough that they had to focus on classes that they didn’t need to salute at every single officer that walked in the hallway. As they approached the lecture class room, at least fifty students were piled into the room with data pads in their hands, and others with different colors identifying that they were either engineering/security science/medical or even command students.

“I’ll introduce you first and then the floor is yours,” replied Frank as he slapped Joshua on the upper shoulder, letting him know that he was going to do just fine. Frank approached the glass door which slid open and the entire room stood up and came to attention as the two officers walked in; Commander Johnson mounted the podium with both hands gripping the sides as his eyes scanned the auditorium filled with cadets.

“Good morning cadets, as you know this is free lecture day, however it is still important that you take good notes for you never what maybe on the next test or simulation,” replied the commander.

“Today we have a guest lecturer, former Chief Engineer and Second Officer of the USS Integrity Lieutenant Junior Grade Joshua Castillo,” said Commander Johnson as he stepped aside from the podium and extended an open hand, which meant for Joshua to mount the podium and begin his lecture.

“Good morning cadets,” replied Joshua as he took the podium and looked across the audience, before he became chief engineer a crowd like this would have scared the crap out of him, but addressing and being over two hundred engineers forced him the face his fear and to go on the best way he knew how.

“I am Lieutenant Joshua Castillo, and I was the former CEO of the USS Integrity…I am also the only cadet to fully assemble a warp drive system for a starship in simulator since Montgomery Scott in record time. Since this is free lecture, I figured that I would let you all ask questions and then I will follow up with a response,” he said as he looked across the room.
 * 02-11-2011 00:05Gabriel Holt
 * McKinley Shipyard::Earth's Orbit::

Gabriel walked along the shipyard viewing all sorts of vessels that were under construction. Each Starfleet Personnel he passed made him feel more and more at home - more and more like he belonged. Though he missed his home and his family, he knew this would come a close second to it. His duffle bag slung over his shoulder, Gabriel asked around for a few minutes and found a small PX. The contents of his duffle bag held mostly uniforms, personal clothing, a few surgical instruments, and a smattering of books that were the real things that gave his duffle bag the weight. Before he left home, instead of bringing along several books, he went and gotten himself books that were condensed into volumes. Some of the ones he had brought were: Sherlock Holmes Adventures - Volumes 1 and 2, Rudyard Kipling - The Essential Classics, Jules Verne's Stories, Shakespeare - The Complete Works, and a few others. Hopefully aboard the Atlas, Gabriel could find a place for them.

Within a few minutes, he had arrived at the PX and walked straight up to the counter. "Good Afternoon, Ma'am. I'm a Medical Officer aboard the newly commissioned USS Atlas, and I need to get a hold of some things. Would you mind helping me?"

Gabriel had always been taught to be very polite in everything he did, unless a situation did not call for it. Many found it old fashioned, but he often stood when a woman walked into the room (not while on duty unless at a formal dinner) and whenever there was the rare door still on hinges, he opened it. It was simply his way of showing respect, not distinguishing between sexes as some miscontrued it to be.

The short, blond NCO smiled at Gabriel as she had to look up at him. Gabe had always known that his height could be inconvenient for people at times, but he liked it. "Certainly, Cadet. What can I help you find, today?"

Gabriel returned the smile, and began. "Well, I need a basic Trauma Kit as well as a standard Medical Kit, and, if possible, a Reference Manual on Bioimplants."

The NCO nodded to him, went back from behind the counter. Gabriel watched her as she paced a few of the aisles behind the counter for all of the items that he had requested. A few minutes later, she returned with all of them. "Here we are, Cadet. All the items you asked for." The woman replaced a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled back up at Gabe. Gabriel looked each item over and then turned his eyes back to the woman.

"Thanks very much, Ma'am. Much appreciated," Gabriel said. He collected the items into his hands, but found that he had a hard time carrying them all combined with his duffle bag. Noticing Gabe's dilemma, the blond NCO reached down and retreived a small bag. "Here. use this," she said handing it out to him. Gabriel smiled and took the pack, placing the items into it. "I appreciate it," Gabe said to her sheepishly. "Don't mention it," replied the young woman.

Gabriel held the other bag in his hand and spun to walk out of the PX. "Hey," Gabe heard the young woman call. Spinning at the door, Gabe looked back at her. "Yes, Ma'am?"

The woman smiled at him and said, "Whenever it is you're around here again, feel free to stop on by here." She ended her invitation with a wink. Gabriel smiled to her, and walked back out into the shipyard.

Now, Gabriel had everything he needed. Checking the time on his holographic watch, Gabriel took off for the docking station that would ferry him to the USS Atlas. He walked at a brisk pace toward the small transport ship to carry him. Within a short time, he had arrived. The back of the transport was locked into its docking station for passengers and cargo to load onto it. On either side of the entrance was a Starfleet Officer, whom Gabriel had assumed were the pilots of the trasnport. As he walked up, Gabriel put his smaller bag down and saluted the senior pilot. "Cadet Holt requesting permission for passage to the USS Atlas?" Gabriel stood at rigid attention in front of the two.

"Granted, Cadet. Is this all you're carrying," asked the senior airmen.

"Yes, sir. I pack light."

"Very well, Cadet. Let's get underway then," replied the Officer as he and his co-pilot boarded the transport in front of Gabriel. Gabe made his way inside and set his bags down in one of the seats and picked out another one for himself with a viewport. In a few short moments, the door in the rear of the transport was shut, and the small ship began to cast away from its docking port.

At first, the speed of the ship was slow, but it sooned picked up speed. Gabe watched everything unfold outside of the small viewport. The shipyard slowly faded away from the transport, before the pilots banked left and swung wide of the station. After a few moments, Gabriel saw a ship come into view. It was one of the most spectacular ships he had ever seen. His jaw slightly dropped and he looked at it. The transport made its way closer, and righted its course straight for the ship. Gabe couldn't help but shoot up from his seat and toward the cockpit in order to see the ship in all its splendor. The ship was magnificent. Gabriel had never seen a more proud ship to call the one he served on. There were a few other ships along the outside, seeming to put superficial finishing touches on it. In big letters, Gabe read: ''USS ATLAS. ''A small smirk came across his face. This was it - his first assignment and his newest home.

Gabe quickly went back to his seat and grabbed up his bags. "Mighty fine ship, Cadet," said one of the pilots from up front.

"Ain't she though?" Gabe asked back with a smile.

Within a few minutes, they had reached their docking point. Gabriel could hardly wait to go aboard. Adrenaline filled his veins and he could barely contain himself. This was it! As the door of the transport opened, Gabe stepped forward to go onto the ship. He walked into a long corridoor that he recognized as Deck 6's Main Shuttlebay. Glancing up and down the hallway, Gabriel knew he was alone. The transports doors closed behind him, and Gabriel turned just in time to see it closing up. He turned back around and once again looked up and down the corridor. ''Now what? ''He asked himself. Gabriel supposed the first thing he should do is to check in with someone in order to see where he needed to go. He new the full crew would not have arrived yet, but possibly he could find someone that could let him know where the best place to go was. The village in which the O’Flagherty’s family home resided was lovely. A main avenue cut through the middle, with many small family owned shops lining each side. Moira led Bet into a shop called Kereen O’Connor’s. Inside Bet saw linens, lace, and other assorted brick-a-brack. On the back wall carpets could be seen, hanging on wood racks. A stout woman entered from a back room and upon seeing Moira erupted into a shrill cheer, “Moira me darlin’! Ya didn’t tell me you’d be stoppin’ by!” “Kereen, I brought the Lass my boy is datin’, she wants to decorate his new lodgin’s. Please meet Dr. Lisbet Ulrika...”
 * 02-11-2011 13:42Lisbet Ulrika

“Lisbet, please,” Bet said as she offered her hand.

Breaking her embrace with Moira, Kereen took Bet in a tight embrace rather than take her offered hand. Bet felt the air escape her as she was hugged tightly against Kereen’s ample bosom. Stepping back Kereen gave her an appraising look, “That Tommy has marvelous taste, you’re a beauty you are!”

Moira continued her introductions, “Lisbet this is my very good friend and owner of this shop, Kereen O’Connor.”

“Pleased to meet you Kereen. You have a lovely shop. I’m sure I’ll find all sorts of lovely things that will remind Tom of home.”

Kereen led Lisbet to a collection of small figurines of local design. “I think you might like some of these. Tommy used to be a real footballer when he was little. I just can’t remember which club he liked...”

“It’s Cork City,” Moira replied from behind them. She busied herself looking at the collection of jewelry. The collections of rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings gleamed brightly in the glass case.

‘Footballer? Sorry, what is that?” Bet asked, slightly embarrassed. She looked closely at the figures and suddenly understood, “You mean soccer? My father spent most of his time in San Fransisco, they call it soccer there.”

Both of the older women snickered lightly before Moira spoke up. “Aye, same game, but it has never been played with quite de same amount of passion on the North American continent.”

“Anyway, dis is da emblem for ‘em here.” Kereen took down a small, woven tapestry with two towers flanking a sailing ship on a red backdrop. Embroidered across the top was the name “Rebel Army.”

“Moira, do you think Tom would like this?”

“Oh, yes. Tommy used to go watch some of their games with his friends when he was a teenager.” Moira took the small banner from Kereen and looked at it admiringly. “He had a sweater of theirs before he left for da Academy.”

After a few seconds, she looked back up at Lisbet with a questioning look in her eyes. “What about you, girlie? Tommy never had a lotta decoration to his room. What do you want in there? That will make you feel more comfortable than football flags.”

“I’ve got some textiles from Betazed, little things I’ve collected over the years. I’d love a quilt for our bed, something luscious to snuggle under. But this trip isn’t about me, it’s about Tom and his new command,” Bet replied as she looked around the store for said quilt.

Both of the Irishwoman erupted into laughter as they looked at the younger Betazed woman. After their conspiratorial chuckle, Kereen finally wrapped her arm around Lisbet’s shoulders. “Oh, the trappings of youth.” She chuckled again while Lisbet looked confused. “Tommy is a man, right? Shoppin’ for him is like tryin to find a snake on the Isle.”

After a few more seconds of Lisbet being confused, Moira finally tried to assuage her mind. “Legend has it that Saint Padraig ran all the snakes from Ireland almost two millennia ago.” Then Moira stepped closer to her son’s lover. “Tommy is like his father. He isn’t a goin to care what’s on da walls...as long as you’re there.”

“Besides...” then a gleam filled her eye, “we both know that his name may be on da door, but it’s your house.” And then the three of them all laughed together, like girls gossiping together at a sleep-over.

Girl time, with Tom writing as Mum and Kereen courtesy of us both! ''':::Vaughn Penthouse, 0900:::
 * 02-12-2011 14:35Christopher Vaughn
 * Infinity Building, San Francisco – Earth::: '''

The soft chimes of his wake up alarm sounded across the lavish master bedroom as the windows dark tint faded into clarity. He had almost forgotten what waking up in his own bed would be like. The massive California King was practically as big the main living area of his quarters on the Emissary. God, I hope my new ship has larger quarters.

“Is it morning already?” a soft voice asked from the other side of the bed. “Seems like we only just got to sleep.”

Chris had practically forgotten anyone else was in bed with him. Her voice had startled him slightly as he slowly recalled meeting her at the bar WISH downtown the previous evening. Bridget Hamilton, she had gone to high school with him at Birch Wathen Lenox in New York. He had always been attracted to her in school something she had never reciprocated. Last night, more than ten years later, they found themselves sitting in the same bar. It had been an opportunity he wouldn’t let go to waste again. Running his hands through his hair and checking the nightstand clock he sighed heavily. “I think we only just did.” He said, rolling back over to face her.

Her soft blue eyes glistened in the morning sun light as Chris ran his hand along her silken skin. Offering a tempting smile she snuggled into the sheets further, “So…what do you want to do?”

“I need to make an appearance at Vaughn & Associates before my leave ends. After that I’m off to the Atlas to take in my new post.” He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead before crawling out of the bed to start getting dressed.

“I can’t believe you’re going to just leave a naked blonde in your bed all alone.” She called after him.

Chris offered a slight chuckle as he started the shower and prepared to brush his teeth. “Money never sleeps. Besides, don’t you need to shower too?”

Bridget let out an exaggerated sigh as she followed him into the bathroom. “Fine, you have to wash my back and shoulders.”

“I’m sure I can hit all the hard to reach places.” He replied.

''':::Vaughn & Associates:::
 * San Francisco, Earth offices:::'''

Chris shook hands with Richard Archibald as he stepped off the elevator into the lobby of Vaughn & Associates. The two men exchanged greetings as they walked back to his father’s old office. Chris took in the room recalling all the times he was there growing up and even where the last conversation with his father took place the last time he was on leave. It brought up a score of emotions and memories. He knew Archibald wasn’t aware this was the last place he had seen his father. He had likely selected the office for their meeting to give Chris a sense of continuity.

“So what are you using this office for now?” he asked realizing it looked the same as it always did under his father’s care.

“We keep it the same as it was under your father.” Archibald replied noticing as the younger man inspected the office. “We really only use it for meetings with important clients or opposing counsel when we need to send a message.” Chris nodded absently, running his hands across the massive oak desk his father spent so many hours(days, months, years…) working at. “I see you have your father’s signet ring.” Archibald pointed to Chris’s hand.

Chris glanced down almost forgetting his recent encounter with Q which he had been given is father’s old pinkie ring. Not really sure how to explain the Emissary’s dealings with the near omnipotent being he gave a casual shrug, “Yeah, I picked it up at Seacliff.” Tapping his hands softly against the desk he turned back to Archibald. “So what new business is there?”

“A little bit.” The other replied. “One of the major things I wanted to discuss is the Vaughn Annual Brunch coming up in two days.”

“What about it? I hate brunch.”

“Yes, well your father all ways hosted the annual brunch and since he isn’t with us – you should. It lets the shareholders know there is still a Vaughn running things, allow you to have some face time with the minority shareholders. It’s very important.”

“Seriously?” Chris said irritably. “Do you know how boring the annual brunches are? I went to a few with my dad when I was a kid, I would rather drag my body over broken glass.”

“Your father always seemed to make the brunches exciting…I thought.”

Chris let out a laugh, “Archibald, let’s just say your version of exciting and mine probably differ considerably.”

“Well regardless,” Archibald said sternly. “Your boredom aside you will be at this brunch. It’s a tradition that dates back several generations and it’s not negotiable Christopher.”

“Ok, ok.” Chris held his hands up defensively. “I’ll make appearance at the brunch, although I’m sure the shareholders won’t give a damn what I think about things but fine – I’ll be there.”

“Good.” The other replied. “Also feel free to invite some of your Starfleet associates to the brunch; it would do the shareholders well to see some of the people you work with.”

“So it’s not enough that I am suffering but I have to drag some of my crew down to this mess too?”

Archibald gave a cunning smiled, “Well Christopher, think about it…the more people there - the easier it will be for you to slip out in the end.”

“You really don’t get enough credit for your deviousness sometimes.” Chris stood and checked his watch. “Ok, I need to meet Tom; we are heading up to the Atlas for the first viewing. I’ll see if I can conjure up some bodies for the brunch.”

Featuring - Miss(or is it Mrs...?) Bridget Hamilton http://i568.photobucket.com/albums/s...ary-jones2.jpg

And Managing Partner Richard Archibald, http://i568.photobucket.com/albums/s...rchibald-1.jpg