Chapter 2.2

Posted on Wed Oct 5th, 2022 @ 3:27am by Lieutenant Commander Broka & Lieutenant Percival Godfry & Commander Nathan Hawkins & Lieutenant Commander Cyrus Marner & Captain Nathan Bishop & Lieutenant Commander T'Lisha "Hawkeye" Bishara

1,189 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Hope
Location: Bridge, USS Nyota Uhura
Timeline: 2431-03-09, 04:45

After having served on vessels like the Enterprise, Valhalla, and ships of the line, the quaintness of the Starship Nyota Uhura had taken Lieutenant Commander Broka somewhat aback. The Reliant Class vessel was over a quarter of a century old and was a fraction of the size of the other vessel's he'd served on. In fact the Engine Room itself proved this theory to him. Spread across a single level, the T-shaped engine room had only half a dozen workstations and the Master Situation Table. There would be no reason any of his team should say they didn't hear him issue orders at least.

The Ferengi Commander stepped up to the Master Situation Table and input the activation sequence for the Warp Core. Since the Uhura had been docked at the Station it was on external support mode. This would be the first step to bringing the small frigate back to life so that it could investigate the True Way. While the Warp Core was just as small as the rest of the ship it made up for that with the power it held as the same unit had been created to serve as the heart of the Inquiry Class Battlecruiser. It was alive for the first time since her refit began.

Pressing the comlink control, "Engineering to Bridge. Warp Core is online."

Lieutenant Percival Godfry stepped onto the Bridge of the Nyota Uhura and was impressed by what he saw. While the Reliant Class had been built to replace the older Miranda Class Starship within the fleet as the primary support vessel for the larger fleet, you would never be able to tell that with the Bridge of the Uhura. As he studied the half circle shaped Bridge he quickly discerned each of the primary workstations, the Captain centralized with the Helm and Ops Stations directly ahead.

Passing the Captain's Chair to the upper level, the wall was dominated by five workstations built into it. In the center was a large Master Situation Monitor, mimicking the table in Engineering, while it was flanked by consoles for Environmental Control (port) and Mission Operations (starboard). The two largest panels were for the mission profiles most frequently assigned to ships like the Uhura. The massive Tactical console was next to the Mission Operations panel and would provide detailed data on the ship's readiness for combat. His station, the Science Station, perfectly mimicked the Tactical console on the opposite wall next to the Environmental station.

Sitting down in his chair the Lieutenant quickly logged in to begin preparations for their mission as the rest of the away team came aboard.

Captain Nathan Bishop stepped onto the bridge and smiled. He was in command of a starship. A Reliant class frigate to be exact. He looked about the bridge. It was compact, organized. All the stations you would ever need right there. He stepped down to the captain's chair, the center seat and ran a hand along the arm. Like the bridge it was compact and not burdened with all kinds of functions the command chair on the Enterprise had for example. In addition, it was not an overstuffed pillow. He sat down and sung the seat around and saw a lieutenant standing at the science station. "I didn't see you there Lieutenant.' He said to Godfry. "I hope I am not interrupting you."

"Not at all, Captain," the Science Officer answered, "I just arrived myself." He noticed that there was no adjoining chair for the Executive Officer next to the Captain, "Looks like Commander Hawkins will be pulling double duty on this ship."

Bishop chuckled, "Yes, it does. I'm sure he's going to love that. Perhaps we can get a chair for him to sit in." Bishop suggested. "I'll have to talk to Engineering about it."

"I think that Lieutenant Commander Broka is on loan to us from the Valhalla for this mission," Percival answered. "I couldn't tell you if he's arrived aboard yet."

"Commander Broka? How did we manage to pry him away from Captain Jamison? I can't believe he didn't put up a fight over this." Bishop observed.

Godfry shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure of the answer, Sir. I only know he's coming aboard from the mission manifest."

"Well, however we got him, I am grateful for his presence here." Bishop replied crisply before continuing, "How does everything look from your station Lieutenant?"

The Hysperian Lieutenant was about to answer when he noticed that their Helmsman had arrived.

T'Lisha stepped from the lift and logged in on her helm station. Reliant classes were old even with her upgrades and smaller in size but, more maneuverable, at least with her training. Hands dancing across the command panel, she brought the helm to life.

"Everything seems to be good so far, Captain," he finally said after having noticed their pilot. "Sensors will be more than capable of running the scans we need."

"Good." Bishop acknowledged as he saw T'Lisha come onto the bridge. "What do you think T'Lisha? She up to snuff?" He asked and was glad to have a pilot of her talent onboard.

"Engineering to Bridge," they were interrupted, "Warp Core is online."

Oh come now Bishara you can make anything fly gracefully. We're do just fine," Commander Hawkins arrived to overhear the tail end of their conversation with a encouraging smile.

Bishop smiled at the voice, turning he saw Nathan come onto the bridge, "Welcome to the Uhura, Nathan." He said warmly.

He looked up to Bishop already up on the central podium: "Should I have bought a cushion?" he joked about the missing seat normally for the XO. Considering the small size of the of Uhura it wasn't surprising the petite Spock lacked such comforts too he remembered painfully.

"Might have been a good idea," Bishop mused, "We're toying with the idea of getting you a seat." Bishop pointed out.

"I'm sure I can manage without on this occasion." A smiled tucked at Hawkins' lips as he headed over to the Ops station and begun to familiarize himself with the display.

The doors to the turbo lift opened and Lieutenant Marner stepped onto the bridge, of the Uhura. He could feel goosebumps rise on his arm. It was almost as if he were stepping onto some familiar territory. "Quite the beauty." he commented. "I hope you don't mind my watching us get underway, Captain Bishop. I don't want to miss this event at all."

"It's standing room only I'm afraid Doctor," Hawkins joked.

Cyrus laughed. "I shall endeavor in getting the best place to stand then and catch the whole experience." he responded, moving to get a good view but stay out of the way as well.

"Captain," Godfry called out, "Message coming in from the Station. We're cleared for departure. Coordinates have been transferred to the helm for our first investigation point."

Bishop looked over to Cyrus, "Not at all as Nathan said, I'm afraid it's standing room only." He nodded to Godfry before looking over to Nathan. "So it begins." He told his friend and to T'Lisha. "Commander Bishara, take us out."

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