The bridge seemed almost empty as Tuvic walked out of his ready room. The only personnel were Utopia Planitia's engineers making last minute adjustments. As Tuvic was about to sit down in his chair, the turbolift doors slid open and a young man wearing a teal uniform walked out. He looked around the room and then spotted Tuvic, and walked down the ramp. He was carrying a small padd in his left hand, which he handed to Tuvic as soon as he had stopped in front of Tuvic. "Lieutenant Jacob Hanson, Chief of Special Operations reporting for duty sir." Jacob said as he stood at attention. "At ease lieutenant." Tuvic said as he looked at the padd. The lieutenant placed his arms behind his back, and waited for the captain to continue. "I didn't see your name on the crew manifest, were you just recently transferred to this assignment?" Tuvic asked. "Yes sir, as of eighteen hundred hours yesterday I am your new Chief of Special Operations, I believe that all of the proper paper work is on the padd sir." Jacob responded. "You do not need to call me sir, I have not yet changed into my uniform. Have you had a chance to get settled in yet?" Tuvic questioned.
"Yes sir, I have." Lieutenant Hanson answered. Tuvic turned towards his chair and sat down, motioning for the Lieutenant to sit next to him in the chair normally reserved for the executive officer. "May I speak candidly sir?" he asked as he sat next to the captain. "Go ahead." Tuvic responded and then placing the padd on the arm of his chair turned to Jacob. "Why is there a special ops team on the Independence?… I mean she's a ship of exploration right, so we would not normally be going into a highly hazardous area." Jacob said. "That is a very good question which will be answered in the meeting I have scheduled to take place at thirteen thirty hours." Tuvic responded. "May I assume that our mission will be explained in that meeting?" Jacob questioned. "Yes, that is correct." Tuvic answered. "Then I will see you at the meeting, permission to be dismissed sir." Jacob said as he stood. "Granted." Tuvic said and then focused his attention towards the display attached to the armrest on his chair as the Lieutenant left the bridge.
An hour later Tuvic was sitting in his quarters rolling the little black box in his fingers. Sitting inside the box was his newest rank pip. It seemed to be such an insignificant thing compared to the time he had spent to earn the right to wear it. Yet in it's own little way it was the highest honor Tuvic could hope for. "Computer, how much of the crew are now onboard?" Tuvic said as he looked up from the box in his hands. "Ninety-eight percent of the crew are currently onboard." The computer responded. "Estimated time until the rest of the crew are onboard." Tuvic said. "Five minutes and thirty seven seconds." The computer answered.
Tuvic opened the box and removed the golden rank pip, he placed the box on his bedside table, and then attached the final rank pip to his collar. "Computer, time." He said as he walked out of the door to his quarters. "The time is thirteen twenty hours." The computer stated. "Summon all senior staff to conference room to." Tuvic ordered. Thirty seconds ticked by before the ship's intercom beeped twice. As Tuvic walked past a set of doors he could hear the computer's monotonous voice speaking inside.
"Lieutenant Junior Grade Kimberly Foster, your presence is required in conference room two." 'So the chief engineer is onboard.' Tuvic thought to himself. Tuvic rounded a corner just as the engineer's doors slid open. The sound of footsteps reverberated off the corridor walls as the lieutenant ran down the hall and followed Tuvic into a turbolift. "Sir…" Kimberly said when she realized who she was standing beside. "Lieutenant…" Tuvic said. "Deck three, conference room two." Tuvic ordered.
"I'm sorry for not reporting in yet, I just arrived onboard about ten minutes ago." Lieutenant Foster said. "It's understandable, the Independence wasn't scheduled to leave for another five hours. The council has given us new orders, and that is why things have been pushed forward." Tuvic explained. "Aye sir." the lieutenant said. The doors soon opened and the two of them walked down the corridor and into the conference room. The executive officer, and the chief medical officer were already sitting at the table in the middle of the room. Tuvic walked to the head of the table and sat down in his chair. The doors opened again and the rest of the senior staff began to arrive.
When everyone had been seated Tuvic began his briefing. "I'm sorry for the rush, but we have been called to starbase 874 near the edge of sector 36. We are to rendezvous with Gamma Fleet and then proceed to the Beta Draconis system." Tuvic said and then pressed a button on the control panel infront of him. He turned to face the screen adjacent to the table as a map of sector 36 appeared. A dot near the edge of the screen suddenly grew to envelope the display as the map zoomed into the system that contained starbase 874. The display split and the map was moved to the right side while a diagram of the other ships in gamma fleet appeared on the left side of the screen.
"This is gamma fleet, and our rendezvous point. Gamma fleet consists of the Drake, Expedition, Vengeance, Archimedes, and the Nagasaki." Tuvic pressed another button and the display changed to show the Beta Draconis system and diagrams of four sovereign class vessels. "Starfleet Command received a distress call yesterday, and a rescue mission was mounted. Shortly before the ships arrived insystem, all contact was lost with the colony. The Einstein, Bozeman, Yorktown, and Goliath arrived at the edge of the system and we then received a report from the captain of the Bozeman." Tuvic said and then pressed a button, and the display changed the show the message sent by Will.
After the message had concluded the display returned to its previous state. "That was the last time we heard from any of those ships." Tuvic explained. "Our mission, ladies and gentlemen... is to find out what happened to the rescue party, and the colony, should we need assistance there are a number of ships in the vacinity." Tuvic explained. He hit another button and the display changed to a black screen as Tuvic turned back to face his senior staff. "Any questions?" Tuvic asked. "I suggest constant security and tactical drills until we enter the system." Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Garath said. "Agreed, but, I want the special ops teams to prepare for zero-g combat, just incase." Tuvic responded.
The staff stood and filed out of the room, all except commander Manning. "Why do I get the feeling we are not gonna like what we find in sector 37?" he asked as they both walked out of the room and towards the turbolift. Tuvic stayed silent until they reached the bridge. He walked down the ramp and sat in his chair, then looking at the view screen he spoke. "Computer… how much of the crew are now onboard?" he asked. "All crew are currently onboard." The computer intoned. "Good, now we can get under way." Tuvic said to himself.
"Engineering, bring the warpcore online and power up the key systems." Tuvic said as he turned to Lieutenant Junior Grade Foster. "Scan to make sure that all worker bees are clear of the ship." Tuvic said as he turned to Lieutenant Marcus Taylor. "The warpcore is online, and all key systems are up and running." Kim said from behind Tuvic. "All worker bees are safely away from the ship." Lieutenant Marcus responded. "Hail the starbase, and tell them we are ready to disembark." Tuvic said to Ensign Steven Argus. "Starbase control reports we are clear for departure." Steven said. "Helm… take us out, one quarter impulse." Tuvic said to Lieutenant Junior Grade Thomas Persey. The stars outside on the view screen shifted slowly as the Independence pulled away from the dry dock. "We have cleared the starbase sir." Lieutenant Persey reported. "Set course for starbase 874, warp nine." Tuvic commanded. "Aye sir, starbase 874 warp nine." The lieutenant responded. "Engage." Tuvic said. The stars suddenly flew towards the screen as Tuvic watched.