CHAPTER 4
Captain Enor went around roaming the Hornet. They were cruising along at warp seven with a heading for his homeworld. He decided to head down to sickbay, since he was due for one thing he absolutely hated with a passion -- his monthly physical examination, along with a check-up on the symbiont. When he entered sickbay, Doctor Ogawa was already prepared, along with Molly, who would do the hands-on examination of the symbiont.
"Alyssa, I can't avoid you for anything, huh?" he asked, jokingly.
"No, you can't," she said. "I've also had Molly check Lieutenant Caroghey over, for before we reach Trill, so we can proceed at her discretion."
"She got a clean slate, sir," said Molly, referring to the lieutenant's physical condition.
"Any word on which symbiont?" Enor asked.
"Not a hint, but we were told it will be unbelievably a first host scenario!" exclaimed Molly, in a very suprised manner. She was also very hyper at the thought.
"Wow!!!" exclaimed the captain, matching his sister's surprise. "First me, two years ago, and now one of my own crew within two days from now. Unbelievable! This calls for a celebration later tonight."
"I'll be there," said Molly and Alyssa in unison.
Alyssa continued, "But you still aren't getting out of your physical like you did for the last two months. Doctor's orders."
Chris just grinned and replied, "Aye sir."
All three of them laughed from that, since it came out in a funny way.
He relented and removed his uniform jacket, leaving the red turtleneck on, and laid down on the surgical biobed.
"Just don't you dare turn that holographic doctor on. He's a rude person, and has the worst bedside manner this side of the Romulan border," he warned.
"Alright. No EMH this time," promised Ogawa.
A sigh of relief escaped Enor's lips, a silent thank you. The EMH was dreaded by the entire crew of the Hornet, because he was rude, not personal with anyone at all, only gave diagnoses and hypos when needed, and always insisted he be turned off when someone left sickbay.
In the mess hall, Jeff and Kathy had gotten two glasses of orange juice cocktail. The mess hall itself was rather quiet, except for all kinds of sizzling from the kitchen area, where the chefs were preparing dinner for the crew. Kathy thought she could smell her favorite dish, spaghetti with meatballs, cooking. Jeff, who was transfixed on the view outside, just sipped his drink, making slurping noises as he did, and fumbled with the commbadge his father gave him and engraved the Trill child's initials on the side of the gold plating.
"Do you smell something?" asked Kathy, to Jeff.
Jeff sniffed away from his drink, and noticed the same smell of their favorite suppertime dish.
"Spaghetti!" he squealed
"Right," she said, heading towards the kitchen area.
"Okay Kathy, you know better than that," came a familiar voice.
Kathy looked to the sound of the voice, and saw her father walking towards her and Jeff.
"Uh oh! Got caught.." she said sadly. "Daddy, can I please have spaghetti now?" she asked as Terry picked her up.
"When your mother's shift is over, then we'll see," he told her. He then noticed Jeff. "Do you think your father would let you tag along, Jeff?" he asked.
"Me go check real fast," he said in a hyper voice and ran out of the mess hall for the turbolift.
Terry turned to his daughter.
"Now how in the galaxy did you manage to break the codes again, angel?" he asked.
"I didn't," she said, handing him a tricorder that was in their quarters. "This let me out."
"Very funny..." said her father. "You know better than to go roaming the ship without either your mom's permission or mine."
"Sowwy daddy," she said, rubbing her eyes and was about to cry.
"Come on. I guess I can get you something that should cheer you up, but not a word to mommy, okay?" he said.
"Okay," she said and stopped rubbing her eyes.
Terry took her over to the nearest replicator. Kathy aimed her face at the control panel.
"Tell the computer what you want, Kathy," said her father.
Kathy almost shouted it. "Spaghetti and meatballs!"
"Specify style," said the computer.
"American, twentieth century," Terry said.
"Specify size," came the computer's female voice again, asking.
"Child size," he told the replicator.
"Specify hot or chilled," came the computer's voice yet again.
"HOT!" screamed Kathy, becoming very annoyed at the computer.
The computer chirped some, and then the replicator came alive with a swirl of colored lights, as her food appeared on a plate, complete with a side of garlic bread and parsley on the side for a decorative touch. Kathy struggled to grab her food even before the food and plate materialized fully.
"Wow! You must be hungry," commented Terry, more to himself but in regards to his daughter's reaction.
She just nodded extremely fast, and once her items materialized fully, Terry picked up the rather warm plate, and took Kathy over to a booth by the windows. When Terry let her down, they heard a soft murmur under the table. Kathy took a look.
"Jeff! What are you doing under there?" she squealed in surprise.
"Shhhhh. Hiding," he whispered.
The commander looked under the table as well, and when he saw Jeff, he pulled him out gently and helped him up onto a chair that was just a little to high for Jeff to reach on his own. However, by this time, Kathy was already attacking her plate of spaghetti, thanks to her incredibly voracious appetite.
"I love you daddy," came her muffled voice while she was eating.
"I love you too Kathy," he said and kissed her forehead.
* * *
As the sleek shape of the starship Hornet flew through space, Captain Enor sat in his quarters, running over a musical score that he had been working on for the past three hours. He kept playing it on the keyboard in there, set for organ tone, and for some reason, he wasn't satisfied with it.
"Ok. Computer, Earth orchestral accompaniment in key of C major, from the measure nine," he said.
The computer chirped, and there were clarinets, flutes, trumpets, and a lively string section playing with him.
"Computer. Pause playback," he said, noting something wrong in the music.
The computer complied and instantly, the music stopped.
"Computer, replay recording from measure fifty-two and end at measure sixty-eight," he ordered, hoping he could spot the mistake.
When the music started again, including his own from recording, he cringed when there were three conflicting chords in measure sixty-three.
"Computer, pause playback."
The computer complied very quickly.
"That should be an F seven chord instead of a B flat minor. Computer, replay measure sixty-three with an F seven chord for organ instead of a B flat minor chord," he instructed.
The computer chirped and then the music played again. This time, it sounded better, but there was still something wrong. Enor felt it by instinct.
"Computer, play the pick-up into measure sixty-five, and stop at the end of sixty-seven."
As the music started again, he heard the problem.
"Computer, pause playback," he quickly said.
The music stopped, but there was another chirp, this time from his door.
"Come in," he said to whoever was at the door. He then turned back to the music. "What chord would make that sound right?" the captain wondered.
"Maybe if you were to try a C sharp instead of the E flat," came a familiar voice.
The captain turned around, startled, and was looking at his cousin and chief navigator, Kell Perim.
"Kell!" he said in surprise. "What brings you down here?"
"Music for one, but primarily to talk about my trainee," the young Trill lieutenant replied.
"Ok," said Chris as he got up from where he was and met her on the couch in his quarters. "What seems to be the problem with Cadet Tzjan?"
"That's just it. She's got nothing wrong, except for the complaints she's had about how touchy the navigational controls are. It's already made me have to go see Doctor Ogawa once for space sickness, and then I took over for her, when she managed to put us into a flight upside-down. I know she's never handled a starship's helm before, but I know for a fact they teach about how to keep a steady profile for a ship when in motion," she said, with a hint of anger in her voice.
"Ok.. She might just need some practice on the holodeck. I can arrange some practice time on Holodeck Two for her, this afternoon. I can tell the computer to give her a picture on the console to show the Hornet's orientation in space," he offered.
"That might be part of what she needs," said Kell.
"Alright, then you can talk to her about it, or I can. It's up to you," he said.
"I think I should. It's would probably lessen the impact if I told her," said Kell.
"Ok. Then it's your project, lieutenant."
He was cut off as the Hornet rocked with a surprisingly strong jolt. He and Kell raced to the bridge, where the crew were already working on figuring out the problem.
"Report?" inquired Captain Yates.
"We've just found our way into an ion storm," said Ensign Shepard in reply.
"Shields to full. Red alert," came the order from Captain Enor, instinctively.
The lights dimmed and bright red lights flashed near many of the consoles on the bridge, and on the bulkheads. The klaxon also blared in time with the flashing of the lights.
"Mister Shepard, how long did you see that storm before we entered it?" asked Yates.
"Maybe less than five seconds. Our warp field does limit sensor resolution at higher speeds," he replied apologetically.
Captain Enor strode around the bridge, and looked at the viewscreen. The swirling masses of blue was spectacular, but the jolts that hit his ship didn't make it seem that pretty.
"Remodulate the shields if you have to, and adjust the inertial dampeners to give us a smoother ride out of here," he said to the tactical trainee, Cadet Rekaara Talouri. He then turned to Cadet Tzjan at the helm. "Ease us out of here, three-quarter impulse power."
"Aye captain," came her reply as she entered the commands into the helm.
The Hornet's shields took a pounding, and it sounded like a thunderstorm inside the ship. With the engines going, the Hornet took a route out of the storm that was quick, but not easy, as they were going against the storm currents.
"Full impulse power," Enor said, standing next to the helm, using the nearby railing for support so he wasn't thrown around the bridge like two of the cadets were.
The Hornet got pummeled a couple more times before she broke out of the storm.
"That's like an Earth hurricane," muttered Kelly Mathison, to herself, "except about twenty times stronger, or more."
"Damage report Commander," Enor asked.
"Shields are down to thirty percent, and we have some buckling on the nacelles. Sickbay reports that five were hurt, but none were serious. Other than that, we're in good shape," she replied.
Chris muttered to himself, "If you are going to enter an ion storm, do it at impulse power, and not at warp speed."
"All hands, submit damage and casualty reports to myself, Commander Mathison, Captain Yates, and Commander McLoughlin," announced Captain Enor over the shipwide intercom. "Stand down from alert status."
The bridge lights came back up and duties were resumed. Amy soon found out what 'down under' in reports meant, as she got a shipwide set of reports on all damage and injured crew members. Three lateral sensor relays were fused and had to be replaced, the nacelle pylons needed to be reinforced with the structural integrity fields, power relays to five shield generators needed to be overhauled, and ion particles needed to be vented from the warp and impulse engine exhaust manifolds. All in all, she felt like she was totally unprepared for all of that.
"Resume course and speed as soon as we're back up to full engine capacity," came Amy's next order.
"Aye captain," said Emony, from the helm.
Kell whispered to Emony. "I have arranged some practice time for you on the holodeck, if you want to join me when we hit the next duty shift."
"I don't know... If it's because of that problem with holding attitude control of the ship properly, then I probably should," she relented.
"I know this much. You gave a few of your friends, including some of the officers, a case of space sickness, and this little exercise can help you," Kell explained. "Come on. The sooner we get that practice for you, the easier it will be to handle those touchy controls."
"Alright. I'll meet you at Holodeck Two when I'm off duty," said Tzjan in reply.
"Ok. I'll finish setting up the program," said Perim, and then she left the bridge.
After about ten minutes, the Hornet resumed its course, with the warp drive running at full capacity.
"ETA until we reach Trill," asked Enor.
"About fifty-two hours at present speed, sir," came Lieutenant Perim's reply before she left the bridge.
Kell entered the lift and the doors snapped shut. She told the computer she wanted Deck Seven, where Holodeck Two was at. Upon reaching Deck Seven, she went out of the turbolift and went to the program terminal just outside the large doors to the holodeck.
"Computer, I'd like to have a simulation of the Hornet's bridge," she said to the terminal.
The computer chirped. "Please specify added parameters," came the computer's feminine voice.
Kell touched the control to open the holodeck doors, so she could do just that. When the doors slid open, she stepped onto a holographic representation of the bridge of the Hornet, in all its lovely detail, complete with the recent decorations made by the school students on the ship, which included the Trill symbol just above the aft bridge consoles, the Starfleet insignia on the floor, and the Trill tapestry that hung on the captain's and first officer's chairs. There was also a painting of a symbiont on the door to the captain's ready room, and had Trill writing under Enor's name, translating it from Federation standard.
"Computer, make a secondary screen as part of the helm station, to show the ship's attitude for navigation," Perim requested.
The computer chirped and a secondary monitor attached next to the helm station appeared, showing a starboard view of the Hornet on the top, then a top view of the Hornet on the bottom. On the side, she could see a front view of the ship.
"Computer, adjust attitude monitor size. Make it larger to show any changes in vessel attitude," she ordered.
The computer was swift in carrying out that action as the screen vanished, then reappeared, but larger this time.
"Okay. Computer, save program as Perim Navigational Training, Program One," she instructed.
The computer chirped and replied, "Program stored."
"Computer, exit."
At once, the holodeck arch and doors appeared, replacing the bulkhead and doors that led to the observation lounge. The doors had opened with their usual loud 'whoosh,' and Kell swiftly exited the holodeck.
"Computer, end program."
At that instant, the hologrid appeared as the bridge of the Hornet dissolved and in essence, turned into the hologrid, bare and empty.
Captain Enor sat in his ready room studying the archaeological expedition mission he had planned for his upcoming trip to Hanoran Two, with the Enterprise. He was hoping to get there before the monsoon season hit. In fact, that was to be the next mission after the terraforming trip home for Enor. For the young and bright captain, he had honors under his belt already, such as being the first male Trill in Starfleet, the first Trill starship captain and currently the only one, and being Joined with his symbiont at the equivalent of eighteen Earth years of age, younger than anyone on record back on Trill. In the background, there was a soothing concerto playing from Trill, that he enjoyed listening to, and it calmed him down when he wanted to concentrate on something important, such as the archaeological survey plan.
"Computer, what was the Enterprise's approximate estimate as to how long this survey will last?" he asked.
"Three weeks, five days," came the reply.
The captain tapped his commbadge.
"Enor to Mathison, get me a channel to the Enterprise, please."
"Aye sir. Channel open," she said as the communication channel bleeped on.
"Enterprise. Riker here," came the audio reply.
"Commander, it's Chris Enor. Is Captain Picard available to talk?" he asked as he entered the request for visual ship-to-ship communications.
Commander William Riker's face, still clean shaven, appeared on the screen at the other side of his ready room.
"Yes. He's available for once. Stand by," he said.
The comm channel was rerouted to Picard's ready room, and his face appeared on the screen.
"Greetings captain. What can I do for you?" came Captain Picard's cheerful voice.
"Jean-Luc, it's been a while. I was calling to see if we could finish the plans for the survey on Hanoran Two."
"Ahhh.... I see. Well, that starts in about a month, since they are in the monsoon season now, unless you want to go and swim," said Picard, with a chuckle.
"Personally, I think Enor has done enough swimming for both of us, and believe me when I tell you that it has worn me out," he said, referring to his own internal symbiont, and patted his upper abdomen gently to emphasize his point.
"I see. Well, as a first host, according to one of my officers, it is a strange and enchanting experience to feel a lifeform of another species moving inside your own body," he offered.
"Yes. Just like how Kelly Mathison described what it is like to be pregnant," Enor said with a chuckle.
"I see," replied Picard with a smile. "Well, the Enterprise will be there for the survey. Will the Hornet be as well?"
"Unless we end up in some bizarre twist of fate, we will be there too," said Enor firmly.
"Thank you for the time to talk, and I look forward to the survey. Picard out."
Enor smiled to himself as the comm channel closed and his viewer went dark.
"This will be fun. Jadzia and I had gone on that dig on Earth where we found all of those nineteenth century artifacts," he thought to himself.
He tapped his communication badge.
"Computer, get me the readouts for the Hanoran Two survey mission."
The computer beeped and the maps instantly came up on his monitor.
Captain Enor went around roaming the Hornet. They were cruising along at warp seven with a heading for his homeworld. He decided to head down to sickbay, since he was due for one thing he absolutely hated with a passion -- his monthly physical examination, along with a check-up on the symbiont. When he entered sickbay, Doctor Ogawa was already prepared, along with Molly, who would do the hands-on examination of the symbiont.
"Alyssa, I can't avoid you for anything, huh?" he asked, jokingly.
"No, you can't," she said. "I've also had Molly check Lieutenant Caroghey over, for before we reach Trill, so we can proceed at her discretion."
"She got a clean slate, sir," said Molly, referring to the lieutenant's physical condition.
"Any word on which symbiont?" Enor asked.
"Not a hint, but we were told it will be unbelievably a first host scenario!" exclaimed Molly, in a very suprised manner. She was also very hyper at the thought.
"Wow!!!" exclaimed the captain, matching his sister's surprise. "First me, two years ago, and now one of my own crew within two days from now. Unbelievable! This calls for a celebration later tonight."
"I'll be there," said Molly and Alyssa in unison.
Alyssa continued, "But you still aren't getting out of your physical like you did for the last two months. Doctor's orders."
Chris just grinned and replied, "Aye sir."
All three of them laughed from that, since it came out in a funny way.
He relented and removed his uniform jacket, leaving the red turtleneck on, and laid down on the surgical biobed.
"Just don't you dare turn that holographic doctor on. He's a rude person, and has the worst bedside manner this side of the Romulan border," he warned.
"Alright. No EMH this time," promised Ogawa.
A sigh of relief escaped Enor's lips, a silent thank you. The EMH was dreaded by the entire crew of the Hornet, because he was rude, not personal with anyone at all, only gave diagnoses and hypos when needed, and always insisted he be turned off when someone left sickbay.
In the mess hall, Jeff and Kathy had gotten two glasses of orange juice cocktail. The mess hall itself was rather quiet, except for all kinds of sizzling from the kitchen area, where the chefs were preparing dinner for the crew. Kathy thought she could smell her favorite dish, spaghetti with meatballs, cooking. Jeff, who was transfixed on the view outside, just sipped his drink, making slurping noises as he did, and fumbled with the commbadge his father gave him and engraved the Trill child's initials on the side of the gold plating.
"Do you smell something?" asked Kathy, to Jeff.
Jeff sniffed away from his drink, and noticed the same smell of their favorite suppertime dish.
"Spaghetti!" he squealed
"Right," she said, heading towards the kitchen area.
"Okay Kathy, you know better than that," came a familiar voice.
Kathy looked to the sound of the voice, and saw her father walking towards her and Jeff.
"Uh oh! Got caught.." she said sadly. "Daddy, can I please have spaghetti now?" she asked as Terry picked her up.
"When your mother's shift is over, then we'll see," he told her. He then noticed Jeff. "Do you think your father would let you tag along, Jeff?" he asked.
"Me go check real fast," he said in a hyper voice and ran out of the mess hall for the turbolift.
Terry turned to his daughter.
"Now how in the galaxy did you manage to break the codes again, angel?" he asked.
"I didn't," she said, handing him a tricorder that was in their quarters. "This let me out."
"Very funny..." said her father. "You know better than to go roaming the ship without either your mom's permission or mine."
"Sowwy daddy," she said, rubbing her eyes and was about to cry.
"Come on. I guess I can get you something that should cheer you up, but not a word to mommy, okay?" he said.
"Okay," she said and stopped rubbing her eyes.
Terry took her over to the nearest replicator. Kathy aimed her face at the control panel.
"Tell the computer what you want, Kathy," said her father.
Kathy almost shouted it. "Spaghetti and meatballs!"
"Specify style," said the computer.
"American, twentieth century," Terry said.
"Specify size," came the computer's female voice again, asking.
"Child size," he told the replicator.
"Specify hot or chilled," came the computer's voice yet again.
"HOT!" screamed Kathy, becoming very annoyed at the computer.
The computer chirped some, and then the replicator came alive with a swirl of colored lights, as her food appeared on a plate, complete with a side of garlic bread and parsley on the side for a decorative touch. Kathy struggled to grab her food even before the food and plate materialized fully.
"Wow! You must be hungry," commented Terry, more to himself but in regards to his daughter's reaction.
She just nodded extremely fast, and once her items materialized fully, Terry picked up the rather warm plate, and took Kathy over to a booth by the windows. When Terry let her down, they heard a soft murmur under the table. Kathy took a look.
"Jeff! What are you doing under there?" she squealed in surprise.
"Shhhhh. Hiding," he whispered.
The commander looked under the table as well, and when he saw Jeff, he pulled him out gently and helped him up onto a chair that was just a little to high for Jeff to reach on his own. However, by this time, Kathy was already attacking her plate of spaghetti, thanks to her incredibly voracious appetite.
"I love you daddy," came her muffled voice while she was eating.
"I love you too Kathy," he said and kissed her forehead.
* * *
As the sleek shape of the starship Hornet flew through space, Captain Enor sat in his quarters, running over a musical score that he had been working on for the past three hours. He kept playing it on the keyboard in there, set for organ tone, and for some reason, he wasn't satisfied with it.
"Ok. Computer, Earth orchestral accompaniment in key of C major, from the measure nine," he said.
The computer chirped, and there were clarinets, flutes, trumpets, and a lively string section playing with him.
"Computer. Pause playback," he said, noting something wrong in the music.
The computer complied and instantly, the music stopped.
"Computer, replay recording from measure fifty-two and end at measure sixty-eight," he ordered, hoping he could spot the mistake.
When the music started again, including his own from recording, he cringed when there were three conflicting chords in measure sixty-three.
"Computer, pause playback."
The computer complied very quickly.
"That should be an F seven chord instead of a B flat minor. Computer, replay measure sixty-three with an F seven chord for organ instead of a B flat minor chord," he instructed.
The computer chirped and then the music played again. This time, it sounded better, but there was still something wrong. Enor felt it by instinct.
"Computer, play the pick-up into measure sixty-five, and stop at the end of sixty-seven."
As the music started again, he heard the problem.
"Computer, pause playback," he quickly said.
The music stopped, but there was another chirp, this time from his door.
"Come in," he said to whoever was at the door. He then turned back to the music. "What chord would make that sound right?" the captain wondered.
"Maybe if you were to try a C sharp instead of the E flat," came a familiar voice.
The captain turned around, startled, and was looking at his cousin and chief navigator, Kell Perim.
"Kell!" he said in surprise. "What brings you down here?"
"Music for one, but primarily to talk about my trainee," the young Trill lieutenant replied.
"Ok," said Chris as he got up from where he was and met her on the couch in his quarters. "What seems to be the problem with Cadet Tzjan?"
"That's just it. She's got nothing wrong, except for the complaints she's had about how touchy the navigational controls are. It's already made me have to go see Doctor Ogawa once for space sickness, and then I took over for her, when she managed to put us into a flight upside-down. I know she's never handled a starship's helm before, but I know for a fact they teach about how to keep a steady profile for a ship when in motion," she said, with a hint of anger in her voice.
"Ok.. She might just need some practice on the holodeck. I can arrange some practice time on Holodeck Two for her, this afternoon. I can tell the computer to give her a picture on the console to show the Hornet's orientation in space," he offered.
"That might be part of what she needs," said Kell.
"Alright, then you can talk to her about it, or I can. It's up to you," he said.
"I think I should. It's would probably lessen the impact if I told her," said Kell.
"Ok. Then it's your project, lieutenant."
He was cut off as the Hornet rocked with a surprisingly strong jolt. He and Kell raced to the bridge, where the crew were already working on figuring out the problem.
"Report?" inquired Captain Yates.
"We've just found our way into an ion storm," said Ensign Shepard in reply.
"Shields to full. Red alert," came the order from Captain Enor, instinctively.
The lights dimmed and bright red lights flashed near many of the consoles on the bridge, and on the bulkheads. The klaxon also blared in time with the flashing of the lights.
"Mister Shepard, how long did you see that storm before we entered it?" asked Yates.
"Maybe less than five seconds. Our warp field does limit sensor resolution at higher speeds," he replied apologetically.
Captain Enor strode around the bridge, and looked at the viewscreen. The swirling masses of blue was spectacular, but the jolts that hit his ship didn't make it seem that pretty.
"Remodulate the shields if you have to, and adjust the inertial dampeners to give us a smoother ride out of here," he said to the tactical trainee, Cadet Rekaara Talouri. He then turned to Cadet Tzjan at the helm. "Ease us out of here, three-quarter impulse power."
"Aye captain," came her reply as she entered the commands into the helm.
The Hornet's shields took a pounding, and it sounded like a thunderstorm inside the ship. With the engines going, the Hornet took a route out of the storm that was quick, but not easy, as they were going against the storm currents.
"Full impulse power," Enor said, standing next to the helm, using the nearby railing for support so he wasn't thrown around the bridge like two of the cadets were.
The Hornet got pummeled a couple more times before she broke out of the storm.
"That's like an Earth hurricane," muttered Kelly Mathison, to herself, "except about twenty times stronger, or more."
"Damage report Commander," Enor asked.
"Shields are down to thirty percent, and we have some buckling on the nacelles. Sickbay reports that five were hurt, but none were serious. Other than that, we're in good shape," she replied.
Chris muttered to himself, "If you are going to enter an ion storm, do it at impulse power, and not at warp speed."
"All hands, submit damage and casualty reports to myself, Commander Mathison, Captain Yates, and Commander McLoughlin," announced Captain Enor over the shipwide intercom. "Stand down from alert status."
The bridge lights came back up and duties were resumed. Amy soon found out what 'down under' in reports meant, as she got a shipwide set of reports on all damage and injured crew members. Three lateral sensor relays were fused and had to be replaced, the nacelle pylons needed to be reinforced with the structural integrity fields, power relays to five shield generators needed to be overhauled, and ion particles needed to be vented from the warp and impulse engine exhaust manifolds. All in all, she felt like she was totally unprepared for all of that.
"Resume course and speed as soon as we're back up to full engine capacity," came Amy's next order.
"Aye captain," said Emony, from the helm.
Kell whispered to Emony. "I have arranged some practice time for you on the holodeck, if you want to join me when we hit the next duty shift."
"I don't know... If it's because of that problem with holding attitude control of the ship properly, then I probably should," she relented.
"I know this much. You gave a few of your friends, including some of the officers, a case of space sickness, and this little exercise can help you," Kell explained. "Come on. The sooner we get that practice for you, the easier it will be to handle those touchy controls."
"Alright. I'll meet you at Holodeck Two when I'm off duty," said Tzjan in reply.
"Ok. I'll finish setting up the program," said Perim, and then she left the bridge.
After about ten minutes, the Hornet resumed its course, with the warp drive running at full capacity.
"ETA until we reach Trill," asked Enor.
"About fifty-two hours at present speed, sir," came Lieutenant Perim's reply before she left the bridge.
Kell entered the lift and the doors snapped shut. She told the computer she wanted Deck Seven, where Holodeck Two was at. Upon reaching Deck Seven, she went out of the turbolift and went to the program terminal just outside the large doors to the holodeck.
"Computer, I'd like to have a simulation of the Hornet's bridge," she said to the terminal.
The computer chirped. "Please specify added parameters," came the computer's feminine voice.
Kell touched the control to open the holodeck doors, so she could do just that. When the doors slid open, she stepped onto a holographic representation of the bridge of the Hornet, in all its lovely detail, complete with the recent decorations made by the school students on the ship, which included the Trill symbol just above the aft bridge consoles, the Starfleet insignia on the floor, and the Trill tapestry that hung on the captain's and first officer's chairs. There was also a painting of a symbiont on the door to the captain's ready room, and had Trill writing under Enor's name, translating it from Federation standard.
"Computer, make a secondary screen as part of the helm station, to show the ship's attitude for navigation," Perim requested.
The computer chirped and a secondary monitor attached next to the helm station appeared, showing a starboard view of the Hornet on the top, then a top view of the Hornet on the bottom. On the side, she could see a front view of the ship.
"Computer, adjust attitude monitor size. Make it larger to show any changes in vessel attitude," she ordered.
The computer was swift in carrying out that action as the screen vanished, then reappeared, but larger this time.
"Okay. Computer, save program as Perim Navigational Training, Program One," she instructed.
The computer chirped and replied, "Program stored."
"Computer, exit."
At once, the holodeck arch and doors appeared, replacing the bulkhead and doors that led to the observation lounge. The doors had opened with their usual loud 'whoosh,' and Kell swiftly exited the holodeck.
"Computer, end program."
At that instant, the hologrid appeared as the bridge of the Hornet dissolved and in essence, turned into the hologrid, bare and empty.
Captain Enor sat in his ready room studying the archaeological expedition mission he had planned for his upcoming trip to Hanoran Two, with the Enterprise. He was hoping to get there before the monsoon season hit. In fact, that was to be the next mission after the terraforming trip home for Enor. For the young and bright captain, he had honors under his belt already, such as being the first male Trill in Starfleet, the first Trill starship captain and currently the only one, and being Joined with his symbiont at the equivalent of eighteen Earth years of age, younger than anyone on record back on Trill. In the background, there was a soothing concerto playing from Trill, that he enjoyed listening to, and it calmed him down when he wanted to concentrate on something important, such as the archaeological survey plan.
"Computer, what was the Enterprise's approximate estimate as to how long this survey will last?" he asked.
"Three weeks, five days," came the reply.
The captain tapped his commbadge.
"Enor to Mathison, get me a channel to the Enterprise, please."
"Aye sir. Channel open," she said as the communication channel bleeped on.
"Enterprise. Riker here," came the audio reply.
"Commander, it's Chris Enor. Is Captain Picard available to talk?" he asked as he entered the request for visual ship-to-ship communications.
Commander William Riker's face, still clean shaven, appeared on the screen at the other side of his ready room.
"Yes. He's available for once. Stand by," he said.
The comm channel was rerouted to Picard's ready room, and his face appeared on the screen.
"Greetings captain. What can I do for you?" came Captain Picard's cheerful voice.
"Jean-Luc, it's been a while. I was calling to see if we could finish the plans for the survey on Hanoran Two."
"Ahhh.... I see. Well, that starts in about a month, since they are in the monsoon season now, unless you want to go and swim," said Picard, with a chuckle.
"Personally, I think Enor has done enough swimming for both of us, and believe me when I tell you that it has worn me out," he said, referring to his own internal symbiont, and patted his upper abdomen gently to emphasize his point.
"I see. Well, as a first host, according to one of my officers, it is a strange and enchanting experience to feel a lifeform of another species moving inside your own body," he offered.
"Yes. Just like how Kelly Mathison described what it is like to be pregnant," Enor said with a chuckle.
"I see," replied Picard with a smile. "Well, the Enterprise will be there for the survey. Will the Hornet be as well?"
"Unless we end up in some bizarre twist of fate, we will be there too," said Enor firmly.
"Thank you for the time to talk, and I look forward to the survey. Picard out."
Enor smiled to himself as the comm channel closed and his viewer went dark.
"This will be fun. Jadzia and I had gone on that dig on Earth where we found all of those nineteenth century artifacts," he thought to himself.
He tapped his communication badge.
"Computer, get me the readouts for the Hanoran Two survey mission."
The computer beeped and the maps instantly came up on his monitor.
