Captain's Log, Stardate 81070.3
The Silver Hawk is in orbit around the planet Litix Alpha. The planet is in a remote section of Federation space and serves primarily as a rehabilitation center for various types of criminals. The center is in need of enhancements to its core computer systems, and Starfleet has dispatched our ship to oversee the completion of the procedure.
"Because of the importance of this assignment," said Captain Winchester, "I have to go down to the planet and supervise the operation personally." He was talking to his first officer, Commander Kirby Steele, as they walked down the corridor of Deck 7.
"You don't sound very excited," said Steele. "I thought most captains would like going down on an away mission instead of being cooped up on the ship."
Winchester shrugged. "This isn't going to be very exciting," he said. "The planet's surface is mostly a desert. It's virtually uninhabitable unless you have a contained community, much like this rehab complex. The design of these places usually isn't very good, either. It's too clinical for me."
"I guess being up here isn't any better," said Steele. "There isn't really anything that needs worked on at the moment, so all anyone can do is twiddle their thumbs while we're in orbit."
"Try out the holodeck," said Winchester. "Let me know how you like it."
Steele pondered this suggestion, scratching at his short, sandy brown hair. "Maybe I should do that," he said. "Might be fun."
The pair reached the turbolift. "You'll have to wait for the next one, Kirby," said Winchester. "I'm going down to Engineering. I need Commander Skye to accompany me to the planet so she can reprogram the computer core."
"Understood," said Steele. "Try not to have too much fun without me."
Winchester grinned and leaned against the back wall of the lift. "Engineering," he said to the computer. The turbolift began its swift descent to the lower decks.
Down in the engineering section, Lieutenant Commander Madison Skye was hunched over a master systems display console. It looked very much like a table, built low to the ground with a flat top surface. On the surface was a detailed wireframe breakdown of every critical system aboard the Silver Hawk. Skye focused her gaze as she scanned deck by deck, making sure everything was in order. The rest of the section was relatively quiet, with the other officers busy doing various tasks at terminals scattered around the tube-like hallway. A few yards from the table where Skye was standing, the gigantic cylindrical warp core pulsed and hummed in a soothing rhythm.
Skye's focus was broken with Winchester's arrival. "Stand up straight, Commander," he said with a charming smile. Skye jumped at the sound of his voice. It was just deep enough to cut through the pulsing of the warp core and startle her. Her voice, by contrast, was much lighter in tone.
"Sorry, sir," she said as she turned to face him. She had to look up a bit because he was several inches taller than her, but she never felt intimidated by the difference in height.
"Relax, Madison, I was just joking," Winchester said. "I thought I'd come and take a look at what you've been doing down here before we go to Litix Alpha."
"Well," Skye said, making a sweeping gesture toward the warp core, "I've been trying to improve our engine efficiency. Even though this is a brand-new ship, these warp cores have a sort of 'factory setting', if you will, and it can almost always be improved upon." She led him down the hallway into the open area where the core was stationed. From up close, its size was all the more staggering. It extended multiple levels both upward and downward. The central shaft glowed a pale blue as matter and antimatter flowed through it. "Through a little bit of reconfiguration with the phase inverters, I think I've managed to raise our cruising speed to Warp 8.5." Skye beamed at Winchester as she described her work.
Winchester nodded approvingly. "Very impressive," he said.
"I'm also working on programming more recipes into the ship's replicators," Skye continued, leading Winchester over to a replicator located near her usual work station. "All ships come with some really basic things like water, coffee, and toast, but I'm trying to get some more sophisticated food and drinks in there. Go ahead, try it out."
Winchester looked at the wall-mounted unit, pondering what to try. "Scrambled eggs with a side of bacon," he said to the replicator.
Skye groaned. "Belay that order," she countered. The replicator chirped in response. "Captain, that's not very original," she said. "Try something more adventurous. Think of something you really like and that you're probably going to eat a lot in your ready room while you're working."
Winchester folded his arms across his chest and stared at Skye for a moment, clearly put off by what she said about his first choice. He took a deep breath and turned back to the replicator. "Okay, let's try something more complicated," he said. "I want a fish sandwich. I specifically want a blue catfish, fried of course, and I want coleslaw on top of the fish." He looked at Skye again. "That's how we do it where I live back on Earth," he said.
Skye smiled. "Good choice," she said. "That'll be a nice test for the replicator."
The service tray on the replicator glowed and buzzed. When the light dimmed, there was a white bowl sitting in the tray. Inside the bowl was a brown liquid with a spoon sticking out of it. Winchester picked up the bowl and looked at it with disdain. He sniffed the liquid, but it had no discernible smell. He scooped a spoonful to look at it more closely. The liquid seemed to be thick and viscous. Still unsure of what it was, he did the only reasonable thing and tasted it. Once he did, he slowly turned to face Skye and narrowed his eyes at her.
"This is chocolate milk," he said. "I asked for a fish sandwich, and it gave me chocolate milk in a bowl. With a spoon, no less."
Skye quickly grabbed the bowl from him and put it back on the tray. She tapped some buttons on the control panel and the bowl dematerialized. "I still haven't worked out all the bugs," she said with a huff. She began playing with her dark brown hair, which she did when she was flustered. It was in a ponytail, so there wasn't much she could do with it, but it was obvious she was upset at being embarrassed in front of her captain.
Winchester chuckled. "Get a team together and meet me in the main transporter room," he said. "The sooner we get this job over with, the happier I'll be."
Winchester arrived in Transporter Room 1. Steele was there waiting for him, chatting with the transport operator. "Are you that eager to see me go?" asked Winchester.
Steele chuckled. "No, I just wanted to see the transporter in action. None of us have had the chance to use it yet."
The transporter unit was the same design as any other starship, with six individual pads arranged in a hexagonal pattern and an oversized pad in the center for small cargo. The pads were on a raised platform in the room, and the back of the unit was shielded with a super-tensile glass wall. The wall was backlit and glowed a pale yellow. On the ceiling, directly above the pads, were molecular imaging scanners. There was one over each pad. The scanners were designed to resemble a mirror image of the pads below, and the result was a very symmetric look.
Steele looked at his commanding officer and sighed. "Okay, I admit it, I'm already bored," he said.
"Would you like to come down with Madison and me?" asked Winchester. He grinned, figuring what Steele would answer.
"I'm not that bored," Steele said, smiling. "I'll find something to do."
The transporter room doors slid open. Skye and two other engineers - a man and a woman - entered. They were each carrying medium-sized briefcases, each filled with the necessary equipment for their job.
"Sorry if we're late, Captain," said Skye.
"No harm done, Commander," said Winchester. "I assume we're all ready to go, then." He joined Skye and the engineers on the transporter pad. "Hold down the fort, Kirby," he said. "We shouldn't be gone long."
Steele nodded and looked back to the transport operator. "Energize," he said. The operator tapped a few buttons and slid his fingers up along the energizer dials. The pads glowed white and the four officers' bodies were enveloped in a blue light. Within five seconds, they dematerialized from the ship.
The transporter on Litix Alpha lit up as the officers materialized on the pads. Winchester instinctively looked around the room as soon as his body was made whole again. As he had expected, even the transporter room was very clinical in design. The walls were a muted shade of grey, and there were no special designs painted anywhere. Along one wall was a row of isolinear sub-processors for the transporter, and of course there was the control unit directly in front of him, but really nothing else. He turned his attention to the man standing in front of the transport controls. He was an older man, short and round. His head was bald, but he had a small grey beard on his face. He wore a command-branch uniform, and the three pips on his collar denoted his rank of Commander, the usual position held by leaders of small installations such as this.
"Captain Winchester, welcome to Litix Alpha!" he said. His voice was deep but clearly jovial in tone. "I'm Commander Stephen Simon. I'm in charge of operations here."
Winchester stepped off the platform and shook Simon's hand. He gestured to Skye behind him. "This is my chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Madison Skye. She and her team will be the ones upgrading your computer systems."
"Good, good," said Simon. "It's high time we had an update around here. When you run a place like this, you've got to be at the top of your game."
Skye and the engineers also stepped off the transporter. "I trust the place is safe right now, isn't it? I've never liked prisons," Skye said.
Simon chuckled. "We prefer to think of it as a rehabilitation center. And don't worry, we don't have anyone truly dangerous. The people here have committed mostly minor offenses. They're here for a few weeks or months and then they go back to their regular lives when they've completed the rehab. Now, if you'd like, follow me and I'll show you where everything is." He started to leave the room.
Skye walked up to Winchester as they approached the door. "Well, at least this is a slight change of scenery for me," she said. "It's good to be out of Engineering for a bit."
"Don't plan on going outside for a tan," Winchester said. "We're here to work."
Skye pointed to her already dark complexion. "Look at me," she said. "I don't need a tan." She looked over Winchester and noticed his complexion was fairly light. "Maybe you could get one, though," she said with a giggle.
Winchester rolled his eyes. "Let's just get going," he said.
"You sound so pained to be here, Captain," said Skye. "For me the time is going to fly by since I have all the work to do."
"But my part here is mostly a formality," said Winchester. "Officially I have to oversee the operation and make sure everything goes smoothly. I see no reason why it won't, which means for the next several hours I'm going to be bored senseless."
"Well," said Skye, "maybe it's better to be bored sometimes. I mean, do you want something to happen while we're down here?"
Winchester paused and thought about her question. "I suppose not," he said. "But I'm still not going to like it."
Skye smiled. "Your objection is noted, Captain," she said playfully. "Now let's go. We don't want to keep Commander Simon waiting and I'm sure we'd all like to get this done quickly."