Disclaimer: These characters (with the exception of the Zuikaku and her crew, which are owned by the author, who is willing to sell them to Paramount for a price (hint, hint!)) are the property of Paramount Pictures. In other words: I don't own them, I'm just borrowing them.
Basically, if you've seen it on TV or heard it on the radio, I don't own it.
Category: Romance / Humor / slight Action/Adventure
Pairings: Thomas/Price, slight Picard/Crusher, slight Riker/Troi, very slight Janeway/Chakotay
Author's Request: Be gentle on the destructive criticism...I'm an aspiring writer, and this is my first fanfic.
Notes: For reference, the Sovereign-class starships (the first four as near as I can gather, anyways) are as follows:
U. S. S. Sovereign (NCC-73811)
U. S. S. Ark Royal (NCC-75633)
U. S. S. Kirov (NCC-78731)
U. S. S. Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)
U. S. S. Houston (NCC-13130)
U. S. S. Zuikaku (NCC-32206)
This fanfic is dedicated to the carrier H.I.J.M.S. Zuikaku, her aviators, her crew, and her skipper, the late Vice Admiral Takeo Kaizuka, who died with his ship on 25 October 1944. May they rest in peace.
Star Trek: Kaigun Force
Chapter One - Captain's Musings
Starship U. S. S. Zuikaku (NCC-32206)
Observation Lounge
Captain Jethro "Jett" Thomas was bored. He'd come to despise the stuffy receptions that came with the commissioning of a new ship of the line. However, the fact that said vessel was his own ship made it all worthwhile. And the fact that said vessel was one of only six vessels in her class, and one of the four 'upgraded' versions, made her commissioning even better. For the starship Zuikaku was no ordinary starship: she was the newest Sovereign-class starship.
The observation lounge was large, as were most of the public rooms on a starship of this size. In one direction were the expanse of viewports, which usually would look out at the stars streaking by at nearly warp 10, but now only looked out at the pylons of the construction spacedock. After glancing out the viewport for a brief period, Jett turned away, disappointed with the view. 'Soon', he thought, 'Soon that view will change.'
He smiled as he walked over to the opposite bulkhead, which housed a large three-dimensional display case. In the case rested holos of the ship's two namesakes: the first starship Zuikaku, NCC-1746, a Constitution-class vessel that had long-since been scrapped. That first ship shared a similarity with the new one: both were sister ships of a starship Enterprise. But it was not the holos of that namesake that most attracted him, nor was it the holos of the first vessel to carry the name, a 20th-century Japanese aircraft carrier. It was the model of the latter vessel. The creation was 1/50th in scale, making it nearly seventeen feet in length. It was exquisitely detailed, and portrayed the vessel as she looked in her final days in service. As an amateur historian, he'd taken the time to find a company that made such creations and commissioned them to construct this artwork for his first command. The model rested in a shielded case, so as not to get damaged if the ship was in battle.
However, he knew that gazing at the beautiful model didn't hold a candle to gazing upon the real thing. He'd been several times to the museum that had been built around the final resting place of the original Zuikaku. The entire vessel was now housed in a secure facility that had been built over her grave in the mid-21st century, and her wreckage had been painstakingly preserved as she looked at the time of her discovery in the early 21st century off Cape Engano in the Philippines. Many other 20th century warships had been found in those waters and preserved in a similar manner. He'd enjoyed visiting every one of them. They looked beautiful...even in death.
Now, here he was, Starfleet's youngest and newest Captain at the age of only twenty-eight. 'Twenty-eight, hell', he thought to himself. 'I feel a hundred years older just from the stress of the past two weeks.' He let his gaze travel around the room, picking out two of his senior officers. There was Commander Solak, his 'Number One', the typical Vulcan, conversing with some of the Vulcan members of the ship's design team. Newly-promoted Lieutenant Commander Korth, his Security Chief, was only the second Klingon in Starfleet history. Right now, he was standing rigidly in a corner, looking ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Jett smiled as he noticed the similarities between Korth and Commander Worf, the Staff Security Officer aboard Enterprise...how alike they both were.
After the incident with Shinzon, Enterprise had returned to Earth for an extensive refit. Then-Commander Thomas had been assigned as one of the officers to oversee the refit...not as an Engineer working with the designers, but as an officer to keep the command structure even. He'd met Captain Picard then, who was thoroughly impressed with him.
Now, one year later, he was attending the commissioning ceremonies of his own vessel. The Enterprise was now serving as a flagship, as now-Admiral Jean-Luc Picard had adamantly refused to take a desk job. Captain William Riker had gladly stepped in as the new CO of Enterprise. Although, Jett remembered, there had been a fuss over Riker assuming the position, as he'd just lost the Galaxy-class starship Titan in a freak accident, Admiral Picard had firmly stood behind his former 'Number One'. Now, the Enterprise senior staff was pretty much the same as it had been when the ship was commissioned, save for the fact that some people held different positions, an example being the former First Officer was now the Captain, the Ship's Counselor shared the Captain's last name, and the Chief Medical Officer was also a Captain and shared the same last name as the Commanding Admiral.
Jett smiled as he saw Jean-Luc and Beverly Picard and William and Deanna Riker enter the observation lounge. The men watched their wives, both heavily pregnant, like hawks, ushering them to nearby chairs and hurrying to get them refreshments despite admonitions from both women that they were fine. He turned back to the model of the Japanese warship, gazing wistfully at it, and soon got lost in thought. 'There's probably a program of this ship on the holodeck', he thought. 'With a little luck I might just be able to - '
He was jarred from his musings by a familiar authoritative voice.
"Captain Thomas. Enjoying the festivities?"
Jett turned, not at all surprised to see the person speaking to him.
"Admiral Picard, sir. Yes, I am enjoying myself. As much as a semi-anti-social person can at one of these functions."
Picard cautioned,
"Remember, as a Captain, you'll have to deal with more of these functions as time goes on."
Jett nodded.
"Yes sir, I realize that. I just hope that I find something out there to make the duties of the center seat all worthwhile."
Picard smiled, then leaned in conspiratorially.
"For your sake, I just hope it doesn't take you as long as it took me." He then spoke in a more conversational manner. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you personally for the beautiful model you gave to the Enterprise. The entire crew seems to like it."
Jett knew what Picard was referring to...the model of the Second World War-vintage aircraft carrier Enterprise, with the same scale and authenticity of the Zuikaku model he'd had built for his own ship. He opened his mouth and was about to speak, but any reply he had died in his throat as he glanced toward the entrance.
She was the most exquisite creature he'd ever seen in his life, and the fact that she wore a Starfleet dress uniform only made it better. She stood about 5'6", and her hair was a dark brown, almost black, and was swept up into an attractive twist. She appeared human, but then Jett noticed her slightly-pointed ears. Picard saw whom he was looking at, smiled in the young woman's direction, and motioned her over.
When she stopped in front of them, Jett managed to get a better look at her facial features. Her skin was lightly tanned, and (from what Jett could see) the Starfleet dress uniform hid a body that would tempt a saint. Her eyes mirrored the color of her hair almost perfectly, and seemed to project every emotion that she kept hidden. He was still trying to find his voice, although his mind was going a mile a minute.
'Dear Lord, she's exquisite!...Who is she?...Is she someone's wife?...Admiral Picard, if she's on your staff, you're the luckiest being alive, getting to work with her every day...' His thoughts were interrupted by Picard's introduction, and they brought his world to a crashing halt.
"Captain Jethro Thomas, allow me to introduce Lieutenant Commander Kalinara Price, your Second Officer."