/||\ -----------------------------------------
/ || \ Starfleet Command, Second Fleet
/ || \ U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-63100
.-/ || \-. Fleet Captain Brian Aldur, Commanding
./ || \. -----------------------------------------
.-_-. || .-_-. Simulation Teaser
.-_ \||/ _-.
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/ Simulation Teaser |
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A very faint smile crossed Brian Aldur's lips as he examined the dedication
plaque on the Bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise. "...to boldly go where no man
has gone before," he read. The Captain supposed that the dedication plaque
would have to come off along with all the ship's other distinguishing
characteristics. The team doing so was still calling for a new name.
Behind him, the Bridge was a hive of frantic activity as final checkouts were
completed on consoles to make sure the older style consoles could handle the
latest Starfleet software. Other than the technicians, only two Bridge
officers were present -- Commander Lehman and Lt. Commander Marshall were
hunched over the Bridge's central Conn. The combined Helm/Navigator station
were apparently the source of a lot of frustration to Lehman. She swore
softly as something she was doing apparently went wrong.
"No, no..." Was that almost a *patient* tone in the self-styled Maniac's
voice? Aldur's smile returned. "That kind of turn is fine on Coronado, but
if you try it on Enterprise, you'll tear the nacelles off," Marshall was
explaining, looking over Lehman's shoulder. "She's a lot less manueverable
than what you're use--"
Lehman, frustrated, cut him off. "I know, I know!" Apparently unaware of
Aldur's presence, she reset the simulation, complaining. "I don't know why
the Captain wants me to come on this mission! I don't know anything about
these old ships!" Aldur left the two officers to their work and headed for
the Science station.
Two technicians scurried out of the way at Aldur's approach as he sat down.
It only took him two tries to bring up the library computer access search,
which he took as a good sign. Out of curiosity, he asked for the source of
the Enterprise's dedication plaque quote... outside of the Federation
charter, that was. The search was a short one:
"Onward I go, to see what no man has ever seen; to do what no man has ever
done; to go where no man has ever gone."
-- from the logs of Captain J. Cook, HMS Endeavour
Aldur chuckled softly to himself and tapped his combadge. "Aldur to
Berkana," he said. "Let the Starbase engineering teams know I have a name
for them."
---------------
Brian Aldur entered the Bridge of the Endeavour, still tugging gently at the
white turtleneck-style collar around his neck. The older style Starfleet
uniforms added a certain dignity to the service, he thought, despite the fact
that they were rather less comfortable to wear that modern uniforms. Crossing
to the lower section of the Bridge, he pulled up the flap at the front of the
uniform and fastened it into place. Metal buckles, he thought, marvelling.
Behind him, the rather louder than average background noise of the Endeavour
Bridge was somewhat comforting. A pair of mechanical voices, one male, one
female, read off a checklist of ship's status:
"Pre-stage flux chillers." "On."
"Main stage flux chillers." "On."
"Intercooler status." "Standby."
"Space matrix restoration coil..."
Aldur tuned it out. Looking around, he decided that he had apparently managed
to change uniforms faster than the rest of his Bridge crew. Despite the fact
that Endeavour's departure was only 20 minutes away, the only personnel on the
Bridge were Lt. Wallace and Lt. Toria. Aldur approached the latter.
"Well, Lieutenant? Everything ready?" he asked. Toria nodded, and handed him
an old-style PADD and metal stylus. Turning the PADD on, Aldur noticed ship's
status. He started going through it as Toria briefed him verbally.
"Warp drive has checked out at Warp 9.5 plus... phaser couplings and shields
have been tested... your one and only replicator works fine... both cloaking
systems are on line and nominal..." Aldur interrupted her.
"Cloaking systems?" he asked dangerously. "Lieutenant, cloaking technology is
contravened by the Treaty of Alg--" Surprisingly, Toria interrupted, holding
up both hands.
"Yes, yes, Captain, I know, but it was installed on Admiral Namimby's orders.
Besides," she added, her eyes twinkling, "where you're going, the Treaty of
Algeron hasn't been signed yet." Aldur blinked.
"Lieutenant," he said finally, "that is either incredibly clever, or the worst
bit of sophistry I've ever heard of." Taking the metal stylus, he signed off
on ship's status and offered the PADD back to Toria, who took it.
Toria smiled back. "Let me know which when you get back, sir." She turned on
one heel and headed for the turbolift. Aldur turned away, smirking to himself
and approached Wallace.
"Well, Lieutenant, have you decided whether you're going to be accompanying us
or not?" Aldur asked. Wallace shook his head.
"That's up to the Admiral, Captain," he said. "He may want me to coordinate
activities from here. Depending on what your actions stir up in the past, we
may need to send you assistance, information, or reinforcements from the
future."
Aldur nodded, looked around the Bridge, and then asked, "Namimby. Is he
Section 31 also?"
Wallace nodded. "Head of Section, in fact."
"So, this whole mission..." Aldur growled. Wallace chuckled and nodded again.
"Cheer up, Captain," he said. "You just joined the payroll."
\_______________________________________________________________________________
\ End Simulation Teaser |
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Ross Glenn aka Jester
Fleet Captain Brian Aldur, U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-63100
http://www.ussrenegade.com/coro2400/