Chapter one - The basics of flying
Captains quarters. Day 32 on board.
Captain Max Cook was eyeing himself in the mirror. His dark hair was pointing in all directions as usual, it refused to be tamed. He stroke his jaw and wondered if he should shave. He looked more older than he remembered, and more tired.
He was given the captaincy of the USS Trespasser a month ago. It was a new vessel type and one of the fastest one in the fleet. The vessel had unexpectedly lost engine power, several times, during the first month of testing and as a result he had been spending more time in engineering than in the captains chair. The chief engineer had propably seen enough of him for a while, and vice versa.
"Captain to the bridge" the communicator demanded. "I'll be there in five" the captain responded and quickly washed his face.
The bridge.
Cook came out the elevator and stepped out on the bridge. His favourite moments so far as acting captain. He loved beeing on the bridge, every minute of it. "How is she doing?" he asked, refering to the ship.
"We keep losing engine power." first officer Jane Hoss said with concern in her voice. Max was pleased to have her on board. She was more than qualified for the job, but sometimes she suffered from lack of self worth and doubted her abilities. But Max liked her.
"I thought the problem was fixed yesterday."
"So did everyone else, captain."
"We are scheduled to depart soon, we got to get this bird flying. I would hate to stay docked for much longer".
"Anxious to see the stars, Max?"
"Beats drinking coffee in the ready room".
"Every time." Jane smiled. She knew how eager Cook was to get away from Starfleet and all its bureaucracy and regulations. Max wasn't a fan of rules. Sure, he followed the chain of command. But not every time, he had been notorious for giving Starfleet officials grey hairs in the past.
"I'll go down to engineering and see what's going on". Max wanted to see for himself, it was after all his ship and crew. His responsibility if it goes sour.
Engineering.
The chief engineer greeted him unentusiastically, "Captain." Hans Olaus was studying user graphs. "It worked like a dream this morning".
"What's causing the problem this time?" Max asked.
"We are working on it".
"You are working on it?" Cook stated bluntly. "Can we expect it to run stable any time soon?" Max was displeased. He knew that the engineers where doing their best, but he was slowly growing tired of this situation.
Hans looked at his captain and grinned: "Maybe you could do a better job than me, Max".
"You know I have trouble telling the difference between a phaser and a scanner" Cook said. Both men knew it not to be true. In fact their captain was more interested in tech than most.
"How they ever let you out of the academy is a mystery worth investigating". Hans stated.
Both men studied the data in silence.
Ready room.
Max Cook was in the ready room, a cup of coffee in his left hand, starring at the monitor in disbelief.
"The ship's not ready." he stated firmly. "You can't send us out there as long as the engine problem exists."
"Captain, you have been eager to leave port."
"I know. But not with a crippled ship!"
"We have people at the academy that's waiting in line for a chance to take over for you." Ouch, Max thought. Not his command their not.
"We leave in a day." The transmission ended.
Later that day.
The crew was assembled in the ready room. "Your gonna love this..." Max started out, then continued: "We are leaving port."
"We have a malfunctional engine!" Hans stated firmly.
"We are going to stay in known space as long as possible to get you time to fix it properly, before we enter unchartered territory. That's the best I can do." The crew wasn't happy, he tried to provide some answers. "I heard they have people in line at the academy, to get a captaincy".
Hans whizzled. "They wouldn't". I wouldn't bet money on it, Max thought. They just might.
"We have 24 hours left before departure". The first officer said and continued: "I'm sure we can get the engine up and running if we put all available hands on it." Max nodded in agreement.
"Hans, take as many people you may need." Max said. "And get some rest first, Jack can cover for you".
"You get some rest to." Jane said to the captain. "Your doing the night shift after all this." Jane was halfway through her day.
