"Engage" said Captain Data.
And with that, the Starship Bluenose set off for her destination, the planet Raspian 5, located on the very edge of federation space.
Small by Starship designs, the Bluenose was not so much a Starship as an emergency vessel. A little more than a quarter of the size of a normal Starship, about 2500 crew members, the Bluenose was the first of her kind. Designed with a new type of engine, the Bluenose could reach speeds of warp sixteen, and could maintain lower warp speeds for much longer than a conventional Starship. She was small simply because she had to be. The longtime shape of a normal Starship was structurally unsound at these massive speeds. The new Emergency class Starships were to act as damage control ships, arriving as quickly as possible to hold off disaster while awaitng larger scale help.
However, serious planetary emergencies aren't as common as all that. The Bluenose acted most commonly as a research vessel, studying anything and everything. In the year and a half since she had first left dry dock, things had been very quiet for her. She had had to respond to only two situations, the first of which had been the assassination of Sempta Miftgawp, leader of Feneta 2, and the rebel uprising which followed. She had performed well in that situation, and so did her crew. She had proven herself to be a valuable asset to the federation as, without her timely intervention, Feneta 2 would have been much more difficult for the Federation to have regained control of.
Captain Data thought these things over as he considered the second emergency mission he had been dispatched on, Raspian 5. Not nearly as dramatic as her first mission, this one was no less important to the people of that sick planet. Their planet was being swept by a plague-like disease that attacked olled, a grain like plant used as the primary food source on the planet. The Bluenose was to start trying to find a cure for this sickness, and after the crisis had passed study events that led to the disease's emergence and prepare safety guidelines to ensure something like this never happened again.
The Bluenose was to be the first ship to arrive, followed several days later by the large medical ship the Banting. The Bluenose's scientific continengent of just over seven hundred would arrive first and begin collecting data and samples and running tests. The extra five or six days of study could be crucial to the survival of the Raspians.
However, even pushing the ship as fast as possible, it would take the Bluenose three days to attain her destination. Captain Data rose and address his first officer.
"Commander Fianna," said the android, " I will be making a tour of the relevant areas of the ship to ensure that preperations for our arrival at Raspian 5 are going smoothly. You have the bridge."
"Yes Captain." said Commander Fianna May, the ship's third officer. With a small, willowy frame and curly blond hair, Fianna was beautiful, young, and experienced. Of KanZa'Bi descent, she was no stranger to getting her way. What her looks hadn't carried her through, her brains and determination had. She wasn't above using her looks, but she wasn't above work either. Whatever means neccesary was her favourite phrase, and most recently her eye had landed on...Captain Data.
He nodded at her smiling face and left the bridge.
A/N Data's not dead! And he still has emotions. This is AU for all those still in denial. Please review!