Captain Eric Norman sat impatiently at the Admiral's desk. This is always how he sat at admiral's desks. Impatiently. By this time,he knew the routine. They would come in,shake his hand, maybe pat him on the back,and smile a forced smile.
"Sorry,Eric." he mumbled to himself. "After that _incident_ at Wolf 359, we just don't have a ship to let you command. We have more Captains then ships right now." He instinctively knew that when that door opened, Admiral Skutter would march in and follow the routine. The door opened. Eric turned and followed the admiral with his eyes as he came in.
"Eric." the admiral shook his hand and patted him on the back. "I have some news for you."
Eric tensed up. 'Here we go..' he thought to himself.
"We have a ship for you." the admiral smiled.
Eric's jaw dropped.
"It's an old Excelsior class. One of the first ones out of the factory. She's a bit old,but Starfleet Command pulled her out of mothballs for this." The admiral looked at Eric. "To be honest,Eric,we are at an all time low. Some old ships are being pulled back into active duty. Just as filler til we can get the fleet back up to spec. You do good on this.." the admiral stared Eric in the eyes and wagged his finger at him. "and there's a good chance you can upgrade to one of the newer ships when they become available. You've been rotting behind a desk far too long. Congratulations." He shook Eric's hand.
Eric stood up speechless. His own ship. Finally.
"But.." the admiral's words cut through the air like a hot knife cuts butter. "There's a catch."
"A catch?" Eric gulped. This did _not_ sound good.
"As I said,she's old,and most of the repair/rebuild facilities are needed for the new ships. You and your crew will have to fix it up as you go along. Don't get me wrong,she's a good ship. She just needs some tweaking to get the bugs out of her system. And speaking of bugs.." the admiral pressed a button on his desk. "Send in Lt.Servix."
The door slid open and a petite female Vulcan entered. "Captain Eric Norman...meet Lt.Servix. Your first officer." Eric shook her hand.
"I am...pleased to meet you. Admiral Skutter has told me many stories about you." said Servix. Staring at the hand,she wiped it on her pants leg.
"A pleasure to meet you as well. Lt. ummm Servix." Eric grimaced.
The admiral smiled.
"Now,Eric,if you'll allow me.. Your ship awaits." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 minutes later. Outside Starbase 112. A shuttlepod. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well...there she is,Eric. Isn't she a beauty?" said the admiral with some pride.
Eric's nose was nearly pressed to the shuttle's window.
The ship looked as though she had been one too many solar storms. The paint was peeling in places,half the lights were blinking on and off,and she was tilted at an angle in space.
"I know she's not much to look at Eric.. But she's got it where it counts. Right Servix?"
"According to the scanners and reports,the ship is marginally functional, it occasionally,as the engineer terms,'backfires',and can be beaten by a squad of Girl Scouts armed with sticky lollipops and a battery of cookies."
The admiral smiled.
'Great.' Eric thought to himself. 'A Vulcan with a sense of humor.'
Admiral Skutter patted Eric on the back.
"Remember Eric,you do good on this one.."
Eric sighed. The shuttlepod came up from behind,arcing over the bridge and headed up to the front. Eric stared at the name.
"What does that name mean?" Eric asked.
"Servix found that one. She tends to think esoterically."
Servix spoke up. "It's the name of a minor cultural figure in the late 20th century on your planet. He laid down some of the basic tenets that Starfleet _and_ the Federation follow today. I found it very fitting for us,being.. well.." the admiral cut in.
"What Servix is trying to say here,Eric. Is that your crew is not,well to be honest,quite up to Starfleet snuff. They're good people. They know their stuff. They're just _not_ quite the norm for most starships. Witness Servix here." Servix glared at the admiral. "As you can tell,she's not your normal Vulcan. She tends to be,rather,the Vulcan equivalent of a cynic. But I'm sure you'll get to learn all about your crew."
Captain Eric Norman stared out into space. He turned back to look at the ship. His ship,he corrected himself.
'Well,NCC-2001,aka the U.S.S. Antiwesley..' he thought to himself. 'looks as though we're stuck with each other.' Eric Norman sighed. ---------------------------- The adventure is just beginning....