Trip Not Taken
ASC Story Header
Title: Trip Not Taken: Tucker
Author: Stephen
Series: ENT, These Are the Voyages #04
Codes:
Rating: G
Summary: Archer finds and application he wishes he could grant
...
Admiral Jonathan Archer laid back in his chair, his feet propped up on his desk. There was just one more of the new Armstrong Class Starships to assign, but the Gagarin had some construction delays, so he had some time left to decide. Already he'd heard good things about how Shran was doing on the Armstrong, and T'Pol had apparently did something that had the Vulcans a bit upset. The latter was always a good thing, from Archer's point of view.
Suddenly Porthos barked, and Archer turned towards him. "What is it, Porthos?" There was a Captain's submission laying down on the ground next to Porthos. He didn't think any of the submissions could have slid that far from his desk. "Where did this come from?" Porthos whined, which Archer took as 'I don't know.' He picked it up and began to read.
...
Application for Captain
Name: Commander Charles Tucker III
Last Post: Chief Engineer, Enterprise NX-01
Honors: Xindi Expedition Medal
Why I should be Captain:
Well, Cap, I bet you didn't expect to get one of these from me. The Enterprise has been my baby, and I've spent most of my career working on warp engines. But they're decommissioning her, and when I look around, I've come to realize that being an Engineer isn't all I want to be. I've sat in the center seat a few times, and I think I can do it. If it wasn't for T'Pol, I probably wouldn't have come to that realization as quick.
I realize that commanding Engineering is different than commanding the whole ship, but these are new ships, and someone who understands Engineering as a Captain would be a good idea. After all, it worked for the old NX-01.
Recommendations:
Commodore Maxwell Forrest (from service file, )
Lieutenant Tucker shows quite a bit of initiative. If it were not for him, I doubt the run of the NX prototypes would have ever proceeded following recent problems. While he is not yet ready for command, his future commanding officers should place him in positions to develop the tendencies which lead me to recommend him for command some day.
Commander Shran
Tucker is second only to Archer among the pinkskins in both foolhardy charges and command luck.
Ambassador Soval
If there are any new human Captains to get an Armstrong Class Starships as their first command, logic dictates that Commander Tucker is the most likely choice.
...
Archer put down the application, and with renewed grief, thought, 'If only I could have followed Soval's logic.'