The steel corridors of headquarters, empty just a couple of hours ago, are
now filled with a little over a thousand officers, all on their way to
transporters. None of them knowing exactly what's going on. Each had
received a communiqué, roughly three hours ago, informing them that the
Enterprise-F will be launching three months ahead of schedule, and that
they must arrive in time for launch, at 1300, or they will be left
planetside and stripped of rank. It had also been very specific in leaving
behind any family you had previously planned to bring aboard.
Of course, the hefty threat of being stripped of rank had convinced nearly everyone to show up. Being told not to bring their families, had left them confused and a bit worried. Some speculated that it was due to the threat of the Ferengi/Romulan alliance. Other various rumors had sprung up among the crew; the Borg, Klingons, etc. Regardless of the threat it was obvious the Federation intended to meet it with its best. The Enterprise-f, much like its predecessors, is now the top ship in the fleet. Serving as the flagship of the federation.
The Enterprise-E had met an untimely fate. According to Starfleet records a group of Tholian warships had attacked the ship. All its crew, except the captain, had survived through escape pods. Now a little over a year later, the specifics of the confrontation were unknown to the public and most of the Federation. Many were bewildered that it had not been investigated further. The crew had given what little they knew, but the senior officers had kept their silence. A few of which were spread out through the crowd massed in the corridor, namely; Goerdi LaForge who had recently replaced a less experienced lieutenant as Chief Engineer, Data as Ops officer, Deanna Riker serving as Counselor and Beverly Crusher, who was asked to come out of retirement as Chief medical. Beverly had withdrawn herself from Starfleet after the Enterprise and Jean-Luc went down, having been left his entire estate at LaBarre she retreated to France.
Deanna was allowing herself to be a little more forceful than usual and pushed through a crowd of ensigns, obviously fresh from the academy. Most of which recognized her and quickly moved aside. Deanna faintly rolled her eyes at the hushed whispers; Look its the Counselor from the old Enterprise, Yea I read about her in psyche class, What's her name De-Deanna Trio or something like that. She almost turned around to correct the ensign, That's Deanna Riker, but decided against it when she spotted the unmistakable red head standing a tad higher than all the young officers. Smiling she tumbled to the other side of the hall. "Beverly!" Deanna called, as she stepped up behind her. Turning quickly Crusher nearly lost her balance to a lieutenant pushing through the hall. Muttering something about a zoo, she found the source of the voice. "Deanna!" Smiling they exchange a short embrace. When another officer rams into them, they glance at one another, silently deciding to save formalities for the quiet comfort of the ship. Finally making it into a transporter room, Beverly and Deanna all but leap onto the transporter pad, anything to get out of the mass of people. A few seconds after stepping on they were both caught in the familiar blue light of a transporter beam. Beverly fought off a wave of nostalgia at the sensation, remembering the last time she had been carried away by the welcoming blue haze. As the pair remateirialized, Deanna shot her a worried glance. Beverly quickly buried her line of thought and chastised herself for forgetting Deanna's abilities. Its been far to long since I've been around people she thought, stepping off the transporter pad.
Deanna and Beverly walked into the busy corridor, turning to the left out of habit, they soon realized the turbolift was no where to be found and that they where headed for astrophysics. Beverly gave a sad smile and asked the computer how to get to the bridge. Yellow lights flashed across the wall consoles and the pair turned around. Once inside the turbolift, Deanna chirped bridge and soft whirrs started.
A few brief seconds passed and Deanna took the time to observe the effects the past year had, had on her friend. While inspecting the new frown lines lost weight and pallor of Beverly's skin, her specimen became aware of the scrutinization. "Stop it" Beverly muttered. "Stop what, worrying about my best friends health and mental state?!" Deanna grumbled. Beverly winced. "Bev." The turbolift doors slid open to reveal the sleek deep blue and green tones of a sovereign-class ship the layout almost identical to the last Enterprise. As the pair stepped out, they both took a visual sweep of the bridge, a human woman at security, Data at tactical, a young human man at helm and a tall Vulcan commander standing in front of the captain's chair. Quite an assortment. The Vulcan turned to the pair dipping his head slightly and began, "Counselor Deanna Riker and CMO Beverly Crusher I presume." "That's us" Deanna said, slowly stepping towards the Commander. "I am Commander Terrill." He said with a bit more flair than the average Vulcan demeanor warranted. "A pleasure to meet you." Deanna said with a smile. "The pleasure is mine." Terrill replied. Deanna smiled recalling the commanders profile half Vulcan, half Betazoid, an interesting combo at best. He was raised on Vulcan. Had undergone the Kahs'Wans and was completely acclimated in Vulcan culture. Being half- betazoid he could not reject emotions, since he was able to sense them, he simply held a firmer grip on them. This allowed for a lot of the normal tensions of having a Vulcan onboard to ease considerably. He tapped his comm badge. "Terrill to Captain Slocumb." "Slocumb here" A brisk female voice responded almost immediately. "Counselor Riker and Commander Crusher have arrived, we now have all of the senior staff onboard." "Good, have them all assemble in the observation lounge immediately, Slocumb out." Terrill glanced over at the Bajoran, and android as they got up. Obviously they had overheard the order, the human was already entering the turbolift.
As Data passed the pair he gave a quick nod and smile, less than Deanna or Beverly expected from their normally chatty freind. "Lieutenant Maddock you have the bridge." Terrill said to a young man on the side of the bridge, as he too entered a turbolift with Deanna and Beverly right behind him.
*~**~**~*
"I'm sorry, my hands are tied, headquarters won't allow me to reveal the exacts of your mission until you are closer to the rendezvous point. " Admiral Nechayev's image filled the comm panel on top of the mahogany table. "Admiral, how can I prepare my crew for a mystery mission?" Captain Richelle Slocumb leaned closer to the link, distraught. The past week had been a rush for Richelle, first the Enterprise launching earlier, all the crew changes, half her crew had been replaced or moved down by higher ranking officers, heck, headquarters even tried to give away her command. Then all the secrecy among high command, you couldn't find an admiral that wasn't hiding something. Nechayev just shook her head, "There's nothing I can do until you get away from earth. I'll contact you then, Nechayev out." With that the screen changed to the familiar blue Starfleet insignia and Richelle let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. Nechayev always had that effect on her. Just as she'd sunk into her chair and gotten comfortable the door quietly hissed open. Captain Slocumb rose as Lt. Comdr. Wells, Lt. Stepp, Comdr. Terrill, and Comdr. Data walked in. They all walked to their respected seats. Shortly after came an always observant counselor and Doctor carefully inspecting the room as they walked in. Richelle stood, to greet them.
"Counselor Riker, Commander Crusher, glad you're here. Please," the captain motioned at their respective chairs, "Take a seat."
*~**~**~*
Of course, the hefty threat of being stripped of rank had convinced nearly everyone to show up. Being told not to bring their families, had left them confused and a bit worried. Some speculated that it was due to the threat of the Ferengi/Romulan alliance. Other various rumors had sprung up among the crew; the Borg, Klingons, etc. Regardless of the threat it was obvious the Federation intended to meet it with its best. The Enterprise-f, much like its predecessors, is now the top ship in the fleet. Serving as the flagship of the federation.
The Enterprise-E had met an untimely fate. According to Starfleet records a group of Tholian warships had attacked the ship. All its crew, except the captain, had survived through escape pods. Now a little over a year later, the specifics of the confrontation were unknown to the public and most of the Federation. Many were bewildered that it had not been investigated further. The crew had given what little they knew, but the senior officers had kept their silence. A few of which were spread out through the crowd massed in the corridor, namely; Goerdi LaForge who had recently replaced a less experienced lieutenant as Chief Engineer, Data as Ops officer, Deanna Riker serving as Counselor and Beverly Crusher, who was asked to come out of retirement as Chief medical. Beverly had withdrawn herself from Starfleet after the Enterprise and Jean-Luc went down, having been left his entire estate at LaBarre she retreated to France.
Deanna was allowing herself to be a little more forceful than usual and pushed through a crowd of ensigns, obviously fresh from the academy. Most of which recognized her and quickly moved aside. Deanna faintly rolled her eyes at the hushed whispers; Look its the Counselor from the old Enterprise, Yea I read about her in psyche class, What's her name De-Deanna Trio or something like that. She almost turned around to correct the ensign, That's Deanna Riker, but decided against it when she spotted the unmistakable red head standing a tad higher than all the young officers. Smiling she tumbled to the other side of the hall. "Beverly!" Deanna called, as she stepped up behind her. Turning quickly Crusher nearly lost her balance to a lieutenant pushing through the hall. Muttering something about a zoo, she found the source of the voice. "Deanna!" Smiling they exchange a short embrace. When another officer rams into them, they glance at one another, silently deciding to save formalities for the quiet comfort of the ship. Finally making it into a transporter room, Beverly and Deanna all but leap onto the transporter pad, anything to get out of the mass of people. A few seconds after stepping on they were both caught in the familiar blue light of a transporter beam. Beverly fought off a wave of nostalgia at the sensation, remembering the last time she had been carried away by the welcoming blue haze. As the pair remateirialized, Deanna shot her a worried glance. Beverly quickly buried her line of thought and chastised herself for forgetting Deanna's abilities. Its been far to long since I've been around people she thought, stepping off the transporter pad.
Deanna and Beverly walked into the busy corridor, turning to the left out of habit, they soon realized the turbolift was no where to be found and that they where headed for astrophysics. Beverly gave a sad smile and asked the computer how to get to the bridge. Yellow lights flashed across the wall consoles and the pair turned around. Once inside the turbolift, Deanna chirped bridge and soft whirrs started.
A few brief seconds passed and Deanna took the time to observe the effects the past year had, had on her friend. While inspecting the new frown lines lost weight and pallor of Beverly's skin, her specimen became aware of the scrutinization. "Stop it" Beverly muttered. "Stop what, worrying about my best friends health and mental state?!" Deanna grumbled. Beverly winced. "Bev." The turbolift doors slid open to reveal the sleek deep blue and green tones of a sovereign-class ship the layout almost identical to the last Enterprise. As the pair stepped out, they both took a visual sweep of the bridge, a human woman at security, Data at tactical, a young human man at helm and a tall Vulcan commander standing in front of the captain's chair. Quite an assortment. The Vulcan turned to the pair dipping his head slightly and began, "Counselor Deanna Riker and CMO Beverly Crusher I presume." "That's us" Deanna said, slowly stepping towards the Commander. "I am Commander Terrill." He said with a bit more flair than the average Vulcan demeanor warranted. "A pleasure to meet you." Deanna said with a smile. "The pleasure is mine." Terrill replied. Deanna smiled recalling the commanders profile half Vulcan, half Betazoid, an interesting combo at best. He was raised on Vulcan. Had undergone the Kahs'Wans and was completely acclimated in Vulcan culture. Being half- betazoid he could not reject emotions, since he was able to sense them, he simply held a firmer grip on them. This allowed for a lot of the normal tensions of having a Vulcan onboard to ease considerably. He tapped his comm badge. "Terrill to Captain Slocumb." "Slocumb here" A brisk female voice responded almost immediately. "Counselor Riker and Commander Crusher have arrived, we now have all of the senior staff onboard." "Good, have them all assemble in the observation lounge immediately, Slocumb out." Terrill glanced over at the Bajoran, and android as they got up. Obviously they had overheard the order, the human was already entering the turbolift.
As Data passed the pair he gave a quick nod and smile, less than Deanna or Beverly expected from their normally chatty freind. "Lieutenant Maddock you have the bridge." Terrill said to a young man on the side of the bridge, as he too entered a turbolift with Deanna and Beverly right behind him.
*~**~**~*
"I'm sorry, my hands are tied, headquarters won't allow me to reveal the exacts of your mission until you are closer to the rendezvous point. " Admiral Nechayev's image filled the comm panel on top of the mahogany table. "Admiral, how can I prepare my crew for a mystery mission?" Captain Richelle Slocumb leaned closer to the link, distraught. The past week had been a rush for Richelle, first the Enterprise launching earlier, all the crew changes, half her crew had been replaced or moved down by higher ranking officers, heck, headquarters even tried to give away her command. Then all the secrecy among high command, you couldn't find an admiral that wasn't hiding something. Nechayev just shook her head, "There's nothing I can do until you get away from earth. I'll contact you then, Nechayev out." With that the screen changed to the familiar blue Starfleet insignia and Richelle let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. Nechayev always had that effect on her. Just as she'd sunk into her chair and gotten comfortable the door quietly hissed open. Captain Slocumb rose as Lt. Comdr. Wells, Lt. Stepp, Comdr. Terrill, and Comdr. Data walked in. They all walked to their respected seats. Shortly after came an always observant counselor and Doctor carefully inspecting the room as they walked in. Richelle stood, to greet them.
"Counselor Riker, Commander Crusher, glad you're here. Please," the captain motioned at their respective chairs, "Take a seat."
*~**~**~*