"What a beautiful thing".
Captain Julian Graves peered out the viewport of his transport shuttle at at the starship that would be his home for the foreseeable future.
"Yes she is, Captain. The Messier is a very impressive ship, even by Federation standards. Over 1,500 meters long, a crew of nearly 5,000.."
"Thank you Ensign, I have read the briefing", interrupted Captain Graves.
He couldn't fault the young ensign for being excited. The Starchaser-class USS Messier was Starfleet's first genuine explorer vessel in nearly a generation. Her design was a departure from the classic Starfleet saucer, engineering, nacelles arrangement. This design could trace it's heritage back to the D'Kyr class Vulcan cruisers of the early 22nd century. She had the same needle shaped prow sweeping back to a large circular section taking up most of the rear of the ship. Her warp nacelles were integrated into the side of the hull rather than the old annular wapr nacelle of the D'Kyr. The circular section instead housed the heart of the Starchaser-class vessels, a quantum field generator. The previous generation of quantum slipstream drives had only been useful for short hops or a long transit in an emergency, issues with the stability of the slipstream and the vessels saw to that. The field generator was able to measure the fluctuations and variances in the quantum field ahead of the the vessel and create a countering field. This, combined with the new, more streamlined hull design, enabled the Messier to travel through slipstream for several days before needing to drop out for recalibration. This meant a voyage from the alpha quadrant to the delta quadrant could be made in less than two weeks, rather than a month.
"Do you think we can actually make it sir?", the young Ferengi officer's eagerness to get underway was apparent in his voice.
"We have a long way to go before we find that out, Ensign...?", "Dreg, sir".
"Ensign Dreg, you're on the diplomatic staff, correct?", "Yes, sir. I'm Ambassador Sulan's trade adviser".
"A bit strange to be thinking about trade on this mission. The distances involved make it a bit out of the ordinary." Captain Graves did not enjoy having unnecessary people around him.
"The Ambassador believes it would be a good opportunity for me to expand my knowledge into other areas and to put some lightyears under my lobes."
"Well, I cant really argue with the Ambassador, it is his mission after all."
Ambassador Sulan had been put in overall command of the mission, while Captain Graves was in command of the Messier itself. It was not an arrangement that Graves was comfortable with but it was necessary.
Their mission would take them far beyond the borders of the Federation and was guided by one of the oldest principles of Starfleet, to seek out new life and new civilizations.
The Messier could sustain a quantum field for several days before needing to drop out for re-calibration. The stabilisers also provided extra maneuverability within the field, allowing for course corrections without dropping out of slipstream. The most important feature of the new drive was the ability to generate a micro-wormhole. The wormhole had a fixed exit point in the alpha quadrant and ensured long distance communications were possible, because where they were heading, the ship and crew were well outside the range of the subspace communications network.
The addition of multi-phasic shielding and a phase-cloak to the Messier allowed it to travel past the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, into the void and then into the Triangulum Galaxy, over 3 million light years away.
The transport shuttle docked in the shuttlecraft bay of the Messier and Captain Graves was piped aboard.
"In accordance with orders from Starfleet Command, effective stardate 102820, I hereby assume command of USS Messier, NCC-98000. I believe you will find everything in order, Commander." Captain Graves handed his PADD over to the security chief.
"Computer, transfer command authority to Captain Julian Graves as of this time and note it in the ships logs, it's a pleasure to have you aboard, sir." Lt Cmdr Jek Arosh was tall for a Bajoran and his physique made him an intimidating sight, the perfect fit for a ships head of security.
"Thank you Commander, it's a pleasure to finally be here. Has the Ambassador arrived yet?"
"Yes, Captain. Ambassador Sulan arrived last night," Jek replied frowning at Dreg, "with the rest of his staff."
"My apologies Commander, Ambassador Sulan added me to his retinue at the last minute while I was on vacation back home on Ferenginar. I only arrived on Earth this morning," Dreg stammered out, obviously concerned by the look he was getting from Jek.
"You had better hurry and report to the Ambassador, he is in his quarters and doesnt like to be kept waiting." Jek warned.
"Yes sir, straight away sir. Excuse me Captain." Dreg managed to utter in his rush to get to the nearest turbolift.
"That was a bit cruel, Arosh" the captain said with a smile on his face.
"Sorry sir, can't help hazing the newbies." replied Jek. "I'm glad you took this assignment, sir. It will be good for you to get away for a while."
"Arosh, the less said about my ex-wife, the better. And you are right, I need to get away and believe me, this is about as far away as I can get."
"Shall I show you to the bridge Captain?"
"No, thanks though. Once all the senior staff are aboard, let me know then schedule a briefing in the conference room for an hour after, and make sure the Ambassador is included."
"Will do sir, enjoy your sightseeing."
Captain Graves left the shuttlecraft bay to explore his new home, eagerly awaiting the challenges that he would undoubtedly face over the next few years.