Chapter 1: Artemis
Lieutenant Arthura Knapp, otherwise known as Artemis, collapsed against the wall of her quarters. This was getting intolerable. Everywhere she went, the crewmen would whisper. The incident had been nearly a month ago. Honestly.
Well, screw them.
If they thought that blowing up seven shuttles wasn't acceptable cost for saving a group of ten away team members, then they could just keep on whispering.
A slight sound from her computer made her lift her head. She walked over and activated the message saved on it. Apparently it wasn't a visual message, but a written one.
To: Lieutenant Arthura Knapp Current Assignment: USS Manta Ray NCC-147879
Your request for a transfer has been duly noted, and the duty rosters have been changed accordingly. You have received a promotion to Lieutenant Commander, and are now in command of the USS Challenger. Please report to Starbase 24 in three weeks time for the appropriate transfer.
-Starfleet Command
Whoa. Command? Why the heck would they put her in command after her perceived screw-up? She'd blown up a ship's worth of shuttles, for god's sake. She wasn't ready for command.
It figured that they only promoted her to lieutenant commander, though. It was the minimum rank possible to command a starship.
Oh well. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she took another glance at the instructions, and headed up to tell her captain about the transfer.
Three weeks earlier, there had been an emergency during graveyard shift, when she was the chief tactical officer. The XO and graveyard Chief Engineer were both knocked out in weapons fire from an unknown alien ship, and the bridge was cut off from the others in the chain of command. So Artemis had taken the chair.
She'd ordered an insane tactic where they'd used shuttles remotely piloted to attack the alien ship while pretending that the Ray had weapons failure. Then they'd gotten to the spot on the other ship where the shields were thinnest and disabled it before it knew what happening. It had been a brilliant tactic, and there were no fatalities aboard the ship-just a few exceedingly serious injuries. But secretly, since she had acted rather strangely while commanding the ship, quite a few of the crew members thought she wasn't right in the head.
Screw them.
Artemis pressed the button to ring the captain's ready room.
"Come in," came the Captain's voice.
She entered, holding a disc copy of the orders in front of her like a defensive shield. "Sir, the transfer came through."
She really hoped that she imagined the defeated look in his eyes. "Let me see." He plugged it into his computer and looked over the orders for what seemed like a very long time. Then he looked back up at her, and leaned back in his chair. "I still don't know why you requested a transfer, Lieutenant."
"The ship wasn't agreeing with me, sir," she replied. It was a little short, granted, but it was all she could say.
"Right." He glanced back at the orders. "You're the third person in as many months that's requested a transfer out of here."
She looked mildly startled. "I only heard about one other."
"Another was an enlisted crewmember, in the sciences department." He stopped, and gave a sigh. "What's wrong with this ship, Lieutenant-excuse me, Commander?"
"The crew," She replied immediately. He maintained eye contact, obviously waiting for her to continue. She did, promptly. "They're vicious and gossip-hungry. Not in a harmless way, like in some of the starships I've served on. They're out to harm everyone they can above them. And take the positions. My suggestion is, scatter them among other starships and get a different crew."
Now it was his turn to look surprised. "That was quite vehement, L- Commander."
"I've been in the center of it for about a month, sir."
He nodded. "True."
"The command staff's an exception to the rule, generally, but for the most part, the crew doesn't deserve a captain like you." He didn't really know what to say to something like that. "Do you think they deserve a captain like you?"
That stumped her momentarily. "I don't know."
"You have the charisma for command."
"I'm a lieutenant, sir," she protested mildly. "I shouldn't have any type of command charisma yet."
"Command ability doesn't come with rank. Just look at some of the admirals we have in Starfleet Command." That prompted a slight smile. "Command ability is a quality. You have it. And you showed it during that battle a month ago."
"I destroyed a ship's worth of shuttles."
"You saved a ship's worth of people."
She remained silent. "I don't recall ever hearing about a ship named Challenger," he commented, changing the subject, but only after a long pause.
"Maybe it's just been commissioned."
"Maybe." He paused, then nodded slightly, and gave her back the disc. "We'll be within transporter range of Starbase 24 in ten days. You aren't relieved of duty."
"Aye, sir." She left the room quietly, finding herself unable to get the captain's expression of defeat out of her mind. Such a good man, stuck with such a horrible crew. Still, she couldn't contain the smile as she boarded the turbolift.
Well, she could.
She just wanted the bridge crew on duty to be able to see it.
When she got back to her quarters, she opened up the file on the Challenger.
USS Challenger NCC-1420 N
Hold on. N? Did that mean that A-M had come before this modern Challenger? She backtracked through the records, and found out that indeed it had. A - C had been destroyed in the first wars with the Romulans, while D and E had been taken off active duty because their electronics were outdated. F, G, H, and J were all destroyed-each within two years of the other one. I had disappeared before J had been commissioned, somewhere in the sector where modern Risa was located. After J was destroyed by a faulty self-destruct mechanism (luckily, no casualties), K had disappeared. Then L and M had both been destroyed, this time in wars with the Orions. There hadn't been a Challenger in almost fifty years.
Starfleet had given her a cursed ship.
She bit her lip, and continued reading the official records of Challenger NCC-1420 N.
Function: Science/Survey Maximum Carrying Capacity: 75 (small amount of time only) Comfortable Carrying Capacity/Maximum Crew Complement: 24 Current Crew Complement: 13
And if she were superstitious, she now would be sweating in her seat and considering committing suicide. Honestly, with thirteen crew members, and a ship that had been destroyed thirteen times before, anyone on the crew would be a little bit cautious about jumping aboard the Challenger.
Commanding Officer: Lieutenant Commander Arthura Knapp
Oh how she hated the name Arthura. Her great-great-grandfather had been named Arthur, and he was on the first Enterprise-the NX-01. Her parents had lovingly named her that, in hopes that she would join Starfleet. In elementary school it quickly was shortened to Art. In high school, someone mistook the name for being short for Artemis. Her name had been Artemis ever since, but she couldn't get Starfleet to change it from her birth name. Not for lack of trying.
But Artemis had just seemed to fit her gold-blond hair and slim build. She was certainly pretty, by the definitions of most people.
Executive Officer/Second in Command: Lieutenant Kevin Jameson Head of Engineering: Lieutenant Jesminda Longbottom
Engineer(s): Ensign Scott Robinson Tactical/Demolitions: Lieutenant James Jones
In spite of herself, she flinched. What kind of parent would name their child James Jones?
Chief Medical Officer: Lieutenant Simon Brooks Helm Officer: Ensign Andrew Smith Head of Science: Lieutenant Reynaldo Davis
Astrophysics: Ensign Andrew Smith **
Botany: Ensign Beth Davidson
Chemistry: Ensign Elijah Bell
Ecology: Ensign Marie Curtis
Geology: Lieutenant Reynaldo Davis **
Meteorology: Ensign Marie Curtis **
Physics: Ensign Winifred Biggs
Zoology: Ensign James Taylor
That was quite a science staff. And a grand total of three people had repeated duties. And-hey, that was funny. Not a single person in the whole group was non-human. She looked over it again. Same result. She had all types of human people, but no non-humans. Weird.
She looked up the service record of her first officer, and got to work familiarizing herself with her crew.
Lieutenant Arthura Knapp, otherwise known as Artemis, collapsed against the wall of her quarters. This was getting intolerable. Everywhere she went, the crewmen would whisper. The incident had been nearly a month ago. Honestly.
Well, screw them.
If they thought that blowing up seven shuttles wasn't acceptable cost for saving a group of ten away team members, then they could just keep on whispering.
A slight sound from her computer made her lift her head. She walked over and activated the message saved on it. Apparently it wasn't a visual message, but a written one.
To: Lieutenant Arthura Knapp Current Assignment: USS Manta Ray NCC-147879
Your request for a transfer has been duly noted, and the duty rosters have been changed accordingly. You have received a promotion to Lieutenant Commander, and are now in command of the USS Challenger. Please report to Starbase 24 in three weeks time for the appropriate transfer.
-Starfleet Command
Whoa. Command? Why the heck would they put her in command after her perceived screw-up? She'd blown up a ship's worth of shuttles, for god's sake. She wasn't ready for command.
It figured that they only promoted her to lieutenant commander, though. It was the minimum rank possible to command a starship.
Oh well. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she took another glance at the instructions, and headed up to tell her captain about the transfer.
Three weeks earlier, there had been an emergency during graveyard shift, when she was the chief tactical officer. The XO and graveyard Chief Engineer were both knocked out in weapons fire from an unknown alien ship, and the bridge was cut off from the others in the chain of command. So Artemis had taken the chair.
She'd ordered an insane tactic where they'd used shuttles remotely piloted to attack the alien ship while pretending that the Ray had weapons failure. Then they'd gotten to the spot on the other ship where the shields were thinnest and disabled it before it knew what happening. It had been a brilliant tactic, and there were no fatalities aboard the ship-just a few exceedingly serious injuries. But secretly, since she had acted rather strangely while commanding the ship, quite a few of the crew members thought she wasn't right in the head.
Screw them.
Artemis pressed the button to ring the captain's ready room.
"Come in," came the Captain's voice.
She entered, holding a disc copy of the orders in front of her like a defensive shield. "Sir, the transfer came through."
She really hoped that she imagined the defeated look in his eyes. "Let me see." He plugged it into his computer and looked over the orders for what seemed like a very long time. Then he looked back up at her, and leaned back in his chair. "I still don't know why you requested a transfer, Lieutenant."
"The ship wasn't agreeing with me, sir," she replied. It was a little short, granted, but it was all she could say.
"Right." He glanced back at the orders. "You're the third person in as many months that's requested a transfer out of here."
She looked mildly startled. "I only heard about one other."
"Another was an enlisted crewmember, in the sciences department." He stopped, and gave a sigh. "What's wrong with this ship, Lieutenant-excuse me, Commander?"
"The crew," She replied immediately. He maintained eye contact, obviously waiting for her to continue. She did, promptly. "They're vicious and gossip-hungry. Not in a harmless way, like in some of the starships I've served on. They're out to harm everyone they can above them. And take the positions. My suggestion is, scatter them among other starships and get a different crew."
Now it was his turn to look surprised. "That was quite vehement, L- Commander."
"I've been in the center of it for about a month, sir."
He nodded. "True."
"The command staff's an exception to the rule, generally, but for the most part, the crew doesn't deserve a captain like you." He didn't really know what to say to something like that. "Do you think they deserve a captain like you?"
That stumped her momentarily. "I don't know."
"You have the charisma for command."
"I'm a lieutenant, sir," she protested mildly. "I shouldn't have any type of command charisma yet."
"Command ability doesn't come with rank. Just look at some of the admirals we have in Starfleet Command." That prompted a slight smile. "Command ability is a quality. You have it. And you showed it during that battle a month ago."
"I destroyed a ship's worth of shuttles."
"You saved a ship's worth of people."
She remained silent. "I don't recall ever hearing about a ship named Challenger," he commented, changing the subject, but only after a long pause.
"Maybe it's just been commissioned."
"Maybe." He paused, then nodded slightly, and gave her back the disc. "We'll be within transporter range of Starbase 24 in ten days. You aren't relieved of duty."
"Aye, sir." She left the room quietly, finding herself unable to get the captain's expression of defeat out of her mind. Such a good man, stuck with such a horrible crew. Still, she couldn't contain the smile as she boarded the turbolift.
Well, she could.
She just wanted the bridge crew on duty to be able to see it.
When she got back to her quarters, she opened up the file on the Challenger.
USS Challenger NCC-1420 N
Hold on. N? Did that mean that A-M had come before this modern Challenger? She backtracked through the records, and found out that indeed it had. A - C had been destroyed in the first wars with the Romulans, while D and E had been taken off active duty because their electronics were outdated. F, G, H, and J were all destroyed-each within two years of the other one. I had disappeared before J had been commissioned, somewhere in the sector where modern Risa was located. After J was destroyed by a faulty self-destruct mechanism (luckily, no casualties), K had disappeared. Then L and M had both been destroyed, this time in wars with the Orions. There hadn't been a Challenger in almost fifty years.
Starfleet had given her a cursed ship.
She bit her lip, and continued reading the official records of Challenger NCC-1420 N.
Function: Science/Survey Maximum Carrying Capacity: 75 (small amount of time only) Comfortable Carrying Capacity/Maximum Crew Complement: 24 Current Crew Complement: 13
And if she were superstitious, she now would be sweating in her seat and considering committing suicide. Honestly, with thirteen crew members, and a ship that had been destroyed thirteen times before, anyone on the crew would be a little bit cautious about jumping aboard the Challenger.
Commanding Officer: Lieutenant Commander Arthura Knapp
Oh how she hated the name Arthura. Her great-great-grandfather had been named Arthur, and he was on the first Enterprise-the NX-01. Her parents had lovingly named her that, in hopes that she would join Starfleet. In elementary school it quickly was shortened to Art. In high school, someone mistook the name for being short for Artemis. Her name had been Artemis ever since, but she couldn't get Starfleet to change it from her birth name. Not for lack of trying.
But Artemis had just seemed to fit her gold-blond hair and slim build. She was certainly pretty, by the definitions of most people.
Executive Officer/Second in Command: Lieutenant Kevin Jameson Head of Engineering: Lieutenant Jesminda Longbottom
Engineer(s): Ensign Scott Robinson Tactical/Demolitions: Lieutenant James Jones
In spite of herself, she flinched. What kind of parent would name their child James Jones?
Chief Medical Officer: Lieutenant Simon Brooks Helm Officer: Ensign Andrew Smith Head of Science: Lieutenant Reynaldo Davis
Astrophysics: Ensign Andrew Smith **
Botany: Ensign Beth Davidson
Chemistry: Ensign Elijah Bell
Ecology: Ensign Marie Curtis
Geology: Lieutenant Reynaldo Davis **
Meteorology: Ensign Marie Curtis **
Physics: Ensign Winifred Biggs
Zoology: Ensign James Taylor
That was quite a science staff. And a grand total of three people had repeated duties. And-hey, that was funny. Not a single person in the whole group was non-human. She looked over it again. Same result. She had all types of human people, but no non-humans. Weird.
She looked up the service record of her first officer, and got to work familiarizing herself with her crew.