STAR TREK: WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE
"The Tides of Time and War"
by Michael D. Garcia

Chapter Two

NCC-14427/03 (Shuttle Chaucer)
En route to the Beta Antares Shipyards Construction Yard Eleven.
Stardate 23459.1
Passenger Compartment

Lieutenant Commander Aggie Jacobs could see the massive construction yard loom in the forward viewport of the shuttlecraft, bringing the end of a long journey from the starship Lexington. Though her initial desire was for a direct route, the shuttle was routed through several other ports to assist in delivering other personnel to nearby destinations. As Starfleet was preparing itself for major conflict, the demand for personnel transport increased dramatically, and Chaucer was one of the many courier craft available.

The extended journey allowed her to meet several officers and enlisted members on their way to their new posts and positions. Included amongst them were fellow Majestics such as Lieutenants Marie Leone and Jared Bond.

Jared Bond, a junior grade lieutenant fresh from the Academy's Advanced College, demonstrated his sense of humor by keeping the two female officers entertained with glib comments and witty banter. It helped to keep their minds off of the war, though it seemed that the impending conflict with the Klingons was the topic of major discussion within the compartment over the course of the trip out.

Unlike Bond, Marie Leone conducted herself initially as a very straight-laced but pleasant officer recently reassigned from the Excelsior-class starship Okinawa. Like Jacobs, she served as the operations officer and appreciated the mid-level seniority the position afforded her. Though it was not a sure thing, Jacobs felt she would make an excellent third-in-command, given her background and the five days spent getting to know her. Leone exhibited a remarkable capacity for insight as well as information at her disposal. Jacobs had to wonder at times whether the lieutenant had some Vulcan blood running in her veins.

At that point, there was little doubt in anyone's mind that the Federation and the Klingons were hostile. In the days following the order to increase battle readiness, one of the border outposts, Epsilon Eleven, reported being under siege by Klingon forces. A task force, led by the starship USS Horatio, departed from Starbase 24 to reinforce the outpost's defenses. It pulled a significant portion of active duty ships from their interior patrols to lend a hand, but after twelve hours of fighting, the last Klingon ship was destroyed and the news spread throughout the quadrant quickly. The only thing left to do was to formally declare war, though that had not yet occurred.

The Starfleet recruiting machine shifted into high gear by appealing to the patriotism of its citizens. Record numbers of men and women lined up to enlist or apply to the various officer training facilities located throughout the Federation member worlds and colonies. News of the attack and the preparations were made known to her while the shuttle darted from port to port, picking up and dropping off people.

"Commander Jacobs," called the pilot from the shuttle's cockpit, "we've been given clearance for final approach and landing aboard the Majestic."

Aggie nodded. "Thank you." She returned her attention to the view ahead of her, and could see the Majestic "gone cold." None of the exterior lights were on, and it looked as though only a handful of the ports were lit from inside the ship. Without those small signs of life, the ship looked as though it were lifeless. Regardless of the circumstances, it always chilled Aggie to see a ship in such a state.

Lieutenant (jg) Bond smiled at the report from the cockpit. "We're finally here." He shifted his seat to the right, in order to look outside the starboard viewport and look at the other ships housed in construction yards. "I heard Starfleet's rushing these ships into service. Think ours will be, too?"

"I wouldn't doubt it," replied Aggie.

"How close do you think we are to launching?" asked Bond.

Aggie shrugged as she continued to watch as the shuttle banked and turned to enter the rear-facing shuttlebay on the port side of the ship. "Looks like there's still work to be done on her."

The shuttle passed through the shuttle bay doors, and landed softly against the deck. As Aggie and the others departed the craft, they could see that other shuttles were delivering more officers and crew to the ship.

Aggie did not recognize any of the officers coming off of the ships, but she did recognize the officer standing on the deck.

"Alex!" said Aggie as she smiled and approached the younger officer. "Did you get assigned here, too?"

Lieutenant (jg) Alexander Hayes-Winston inclined his head slightly before replying. "It's good to see you, too, Aggie. I see you've been promoted, too." He stretched out his hand toward her. "Congratulations, Commander Jacobs."

She waved his hand away with her own before reaching forward and embracing him. "I'm so happy you're here."

Bond cleared his throat, to remind her of their presence.

"I believe this fellow wants to be introduced," said Hayes-Winston, as Aggie stepped back and remembered where she was. "My name is Lieutenant Alexander Hayes-Winston. And you are?"

"Lieutenant Jared Bond, and this is Lieutenant Marie Leone," replied Aggie. "Please forgive my rudeness," she began to apologize, but thought better of it. In a jovial tone, she said, "Hey, you know what? I'm a lieutenant commander, and you're a bunch of lieutenants. I'll be rude all I want."

"That's the spirit," said Bond with a smile.

Leone offered her hand to Hayes-Winston. "Lieutenant," she said with a nod.

"Lieutenant," said Hayes-Winston as he shook her hand.

"Lieutenant," said Bond, offering his hand.

Alex accepted the handshake, and replied with a nod, "Lieutenant."

Amused by the trio of lieutenants introducing themselves by rank, Aggie noted, "Well, what we need are a couple of ensigns to break up the monotony."

Bond and Hayes-Winston chuckled, while Leone offered only a small grin.

She cleared her throat as the moment grew awkward. "I'd best report in. Alex, we need to catch up over some tea."

"Oh, absolutely," agreed Hayes-Winston. "I'm at your disposal. Might I offer to take your things for you, Aggie?"

"Thank you, Alex," she said as she smiled at him. "You're a life-saver."

"No thanks, required. I'll be looking forward to having that tea."

"Good. I'll see you three later," said Aggie as she walked into the corridor and headed for the nearest turbolift.

She felt a lot better about her assignment to the Majestic after seeing Alex aboard. Though he held the rank of a junior grade lieutenant, Alexander Hayes-Winston and Aggie Jacobs had both served aboard the Miranda-class USS Tian An Men over five years ago. He had arrived as an Ensign, and she served as a lieutenant assigned to the operations division. As a collateral duty, she functioned as Alex's sponsor aboard the ship; acting as the orientation officer and ensuring that he familiarized himself with the ship's organization. But more than that, they formed a friendship that had possibilities.

Alex Hayes-Winston admitted he fancied Aggie after six months of shared meals and deep conversations. She agreed to see him socially and they had been out on a few dates, but when she received a reassignment to the Lexington after a promotion, they realized that trying to maintain a relationship within Starfleet would require patience and understanding that neither was willing to give. So long as they remained aboard the same ship, it was fine, but with light-years between them, it was obvious that absence did not make the heart grow fonder.

During the first three years aboard the Lexington, they maintained sparse correspondence, though it tapered off in the final year of her tour of duty before her arrival that day. She was genuinely excited to see him, and he appeared to return that excited, though reserved excitement. Aggie felt the anticipation of developing a social relationship with Alex once again, however, the impending assignment of executive officer may prevent that from happening. Though the promotion to executive officer would do her career wonders, there was a small part of her that hoped there was another lieutenant commander assigned to the Majestic, so she could return to operations.

She stepped out of the turbolift and onto deck three, navigating the corridors until she stood before the entrance to the captain's stateroom. Aggie leaned forward to announce her presence by pressing the door chime.

"Enter," came the response from within.

The doors parted, and she stepped in. Seated within a chair, was a Starfleet Commander with a mug in his right hand.

He rose from the chair, and beckoned her to step forward.

She did so, and once she felt she was an appropriate distance from him, snapped to attention and announced, "Lieutenant Commander Agatha Jacobs, reporting for duty, sir."

Romanov smiled at her. "My name is Nikolai Romanov. At ease, Commander."

Aggie relaxed her stance as he ordered.

"Please have a seat," offered Romanov. "Can I offer you something to drink?" He gestured with the mug of coffee in his hand. "Some coffee, perhaps?"

"No, sir," she replied. "Thank you, Captain." Aggie sat down in the chair opposite of the one that the captain stood from. Though he was a commander by rank, all officers in command of a vessel were referred to as 'captain.'

"Did you have a nice flight?" Captain Romanov asked in a pleasant tone.

"Oh, yes, sir. A little long, but Starfleet had other personnel to transport, so my hopes for a non-stop flight were dashed when they added fifteen stops."

Romanov winced. "You should have left before the war started, like I did. I only endured through three days from Starbase 24."

She laughed, "Yes, sir."

"Have you served aboard a Miranda-III?" he asked.

"No, sir. But I have served aboard a Miranda-class cruiser before," she answered.

Romanov recalled the information from her service record. "That's right. The USS Tian An Men?"

Aggie nodded in response. "She was my first posting from the Academy, yes, sir."

He decided to continue with the small talk. "Your former commanding officer on the Lexington speaks very highly of you," noted Romanov. "As does his executive officer. Frank Reynolds and I attended the Academy together. He's a good man, and a fine officer."

"Frank is a very good friend and an excellent mentor, Captain," she said.

He nodded, while taking a sip from his mug. "Well, I'm sure you've probably guessed that as a lieutenant commander, you're the second most senior officer aboard ship. You are my first choice as executive officer, and as such, I would appreciate you tending to your duties, effective immediately."

Aggie nodded. "Aye, sir." She remembered Frank Reynolds' advice on the Lexington. "Captain, before I do that, I'd like to ask a few questions about your expectations of me."

"Of course."

She stammered, "Uh, well, sir, may I know what your expectations of me are?"

Romanov smiled at the discomfited commander for a moment before assuming a serious tone. "Other than the basic responsibilities of your position, I expect you to feel free to communicate with me openly. I keep an open door to you, and I want you to never be afraid to use it."

"Understood, sir."

"However, there may be times when a decision is made and discussion would cause confusion to those under our command. I expect you to determine when it is appropriate to speak up and when it is not. If you have any difficulties in that area, I will not hesitate to correct you."

"Aye, sir."

"I think that's all."

Aggie nodded her understanding. "Yes, Captain."

"One more thing," Romanov raised a finger as he spoke. "Behind closed doors, you can call me Nikolai or Nik. We can respect each other without having to hide behind ranks, here, out of the view of the crew. But out there…" He trailed off, leaving the rest unspoken.

She nodded once more. "Yes, sir. I understand what you mean, and I appreciate your candor."

"I would never expect you to function as my XO without candor, Commander. And call me Nik."

Aggie smiled at Nik, and rather than be uncomfortable, she decided to put the open door policy to the test. "Well, with all due respect, sir, it'll be awhile before I'm comfortable in addressing you by your first name."

Romanov showed his teeth as he smiled at her statement. "All right. I can understand that."

"But," she said, "please feel free to call me Agatha or Aggie."

"Aggie, it is, then," he said, standing from his seat. With an outstretched hand, he said, "Welcome aboard the Majestic, Aggie."

"Thank you, sir."

"I've taken the liberty of having the service records of our wardroom made available to you. I'd like for you to see to the appointment of the rest of the senior staff positions. I've already appointed Lieutenant Veronica Yates as chief engineer," said Romanov, after returning to his seat and finishing off his coffee.

Aggie settled back into her own seat as the captain continued to speak to her.

"The wardroom sure got big in a hurry," commented Lieutenant Veronica Yates to herself. She took a few moments to nod and smile to the officers that had already made her acquaintance. Maneuvering between small groups of officers holding various conversations, she was amazed at how quickly the ship's population increased.

Although there were still some officers and crew in transit to the ship, the more senior officers arrived within the last forty-eight hours by various courier craft. The wardroom size grew every twelve hours by three or four new officers. The complete crew compliment of the Miranda-class cruiser was two hundred thirty-six people. Of that number, twenty-two were officers.

Looking around the wardroom, she noticed that a majority of the officers were human. There was a Vulcan woman seated at one of the tables, waiting patiently. As Yates looked at her, the Vulcan met her gaze and simple inclined her head as a form of greeting. Yates smiled and nodded in kind before she continued to seek out more familiar faces within the wardroom.

Continuing to place names and faces, Veronica's gaze landed upon the face of Lieutenant Marie Leone. "Now there is a face I recognize," she said, loud enough for Leone to hear.

Leone sat against the far bulkhead, next to an ensign from the same division. Like Veronica, Marie wore a gold uniform turtleneck as engineering and operations shared the same divisional color. Upon hearing the familiar voice, she looked up from her glass of iced tea and offered a wave to her friend.

Walking over to Marie, Veronica placed her hands on her hips and smiled. "Looks like we're stuck together again."

Marie returned the smile with one of her own. "I think I'm being punished for something I did in a previous life. It's not too late to transfer, is it?"

Yates laughed. "Oh, much too late. You're doomed." She looked to the ensign seated next to Leone and made a gesture with her hand, signaling she wanted to sit there. The ensign immediately offered his seat and sought another. She sat down, and looked back at Leone. "How're you doing?"

"I'm tired," replied Marie. "You?"

"I got to work on a pre-commissioned ship and I'm your new chief engineer," beamed Ronnie Yates. "I'm doing great."

"Good to hear." Marie leaned in toward Ronnie and asked in a quiet tone, "Anything you can tell me about our new captain?"

"Lots," said Ronnie with a short nod. She folded her arms across her chest and kept her eyes on the wardroom door. "Anything you can tell me about our new exec?"

"I spent five days in a shuttle with her," admitted Marie. "She's pretty personable. I like her."

"You like her? Does that mean you'll make second officer, then?" asked Ronnie with a smirk.

Before Marie could answer, Lieutenant Commander Jacobs entered the wardroom. Her entrance brought the chatter in the wardroom to a sudden halt as some of the other officers pointed her out to those who had never seen her before.

"She's kind of short," whispered Ronnie, looking at the lieutenant commander.

Marie shushed her.

"Attention on deck," said Jacobs, coming to the position of attention.

The officers within the wardroom rose to their feet in response to the order.

"Please," said Captain Romanov as he entered, "remain seated. Thank you." When he was satisfied that everyone was comfortable, he gestured to Jacobs. "My name is Commander Nikolai Romanov." He smiled at the collection of officers. "Welcome aboard the Majestic."

"He's gorgeous," whispered Marie, as they applauded the sentiment. She kept her eyes on their handsome commanding officer, thinking about the possibilities.

Ronnie shushed her.

Romanov continued to speak as he found the nearest table and sat down on its edge while bringing his left foot to sit upon the seat of an empty chair. "Over the next six months, we will be working hard every day to run this ship through her paces. I'm certain you all know by now that Starfleet requires her services in this war with the Klingon Empire."

The wardroom shifted uneasily with news of the war, Ronnie noticed.

"So, we have a lot of work to do," said Romanov as he clapped his hand together. "To that end, I would like to introduce your new executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Agatha Jacobs. She has a few announcements to make about department chiefs."

"Thank you, Captain," replied Jacobs. "Effective immediately, the following personnel are appointed to the senior staff." She looked around to find the officers she recognized before speaking. Finding Leone and Yates seated next to each other, it made the announcement easier. Pointing toward them, she announced, "Lieutenant Marie Leone, chief of operations and third-in-command. Lieutenant Veronica Yates, chief engineering officer."

Sitting next to one another, they both rose partway out of their seats to acknowledge the announcement. Yates raised her hand in a short wave.

"Lieutenant, junior grade, Jared Bond, chief of security. Lieutenant, junior grade, Alexander Hayes-Winston, chief science officer." Jacobs continued her announcements.

Leone pointed out both officers to Ronnie.

Ronnie looked at Hayes-Winston for a long while, before returning her attention to Commander Jacobs.

"Finally," said Jacobs, "our chief communications officer is Lieutenant, junior grade, T'Liyssa." She pointed toward the Vulcan officer that Ronnie had nodded to earlier. "We will be appointing the other positions as soon as those officers arrive aboard the ship. I expect everyone to report to their new department chiefs within an hour. The senior staff will assemble in the captain's stateroom on deck three in two hours from now. That's all from me."

Romanov grinned. "Very well, XO." He closed the meeting with a simple, "Thank you, everyone." The captain stood from the table and departed the wardroom.

Jacobs remained behind and called out, just as the officers began to talk to one another as before. "Lieutenants Leone and Yates, can I have a moment of your time, please?" She walked outside the wardroom and into the privacy of the corridor.

Following her out after a few moments of navigating the chaos of conversation and groups, Marie and Ronnie appeared in the corridor.

"Have you two met?" asked Marie, looking between them.

"Not yet." Aggie Jacobs held out her hand to Yates. "First of all, I wanted to thank you, Lieutenant Yates."

Yates accepted the hand. "What for, sir?"

"The captain told me you were pulling double duty before my arrival. You did an outstanding job of keeping the books current for me," replied Aggie. "It made things a lot easier on me. Thanks for that."

Ronnie exchanged a look of surprise with Marie before returning her attention to Aggie. "It was nothing, sir," she said while shaking the exec's hand. "When you sleep less, there's more free time in your day."

Aggie smirked. "Spoken like a true workaholic." She addressed the pair of officers. "The real reason for this little impromptu meeting is to give you a heads' up. Starfleet wants us shaking down in less than two weeks. Apparently, they got a hold of a progress report and saw we were ahead of schedule."

"That would be my report, sir," admitted Ronnie. "But we're ready. In fact, we could launch now."

Bringing a finger to her lips while looking up and down the corridor, Aggie gestured to keep quiet. "You want Starfleet to hear you?"

Marie laughed. "Oh, I'm going to love working here."

"All joking aside," said Aggie, "we're looking at a schedule of no more than eleven days until we take her out for walk around the block. When you come up to the captain's quarters, I'd like for the both of you to come up with an updated timetable. Don't cut any corners, just try and tighten up what you can. I'm not interested in sacrificing quality for speed."

"What if we need more time?" asked Marie.

"Then, we'll have to update our projections, I guess," replied Aggie.

Ronnie noted, "Well, I'm pretty sure we won't have to do that, but if you'll allow us, we can get right to work on that for you, Commander."

"I appreciate it a great deal," said Aggie, about to walk away. Stopping, she smiled. "Listen, we're going to be working together pretty closely here."

Marie nodded. "You can call me Marie."

"I'm Ronnie," offered Yates.

Aggie smiled. "Aggie Jacobs. Good to meet you."

Once the executive officer moved out of earshot, Ronnie turned to Marie and smiled. "Yeah, I give her a week before she starts crying. Let's go meet our people."

Marie followed Ronnie back into the wardroom. "You still haven't told me about the captain."

Ronnie snorted. "I wouldn't want to ruin your sexual fantasies or anything."

Several male officers turned their heads at Ronnie's words, causing Marie to blush. She composed herself and barked at them, "Mind your business!"