Devin made his way onto the bridge carrying a fresh cup of coffee in a mug which was emblazoned with 'NCV-1001 USS Ranger.' In a few short minutes they'd be breaking dry dock for the first time. As he stepped onto the bridge, the entire crew looked his way, and his First Officer stood up, and stepped away from the Captain's chair. "Sir, all departments report ready to leave Dry Dock. We're just waiting for clearance from Frisco Control."

"Good to hear." Taking a sip of his coffee he glanced around at the bridge crew – which was made up primarily of the heads of the various departments. "Alright people, you've all put a great amount of work into this, time to make it look routine." Stepping over to his center chair he settled in and tapped a quick command into the arm rest console, bringing up his personal settings.

"Sir, I have clearance from Frisco Control. We've been cleared to break moorings from dry dock and make our way from the yard. Worker bee traffic has been re-routed to give us safe passage to Orbit." Commander Terrik spoke up a few minutes later

"Thanks Ops. Alright, time to see if she flies." Devin tapped his comm badge, "Bridge to Lt Cortana."

"Go ahead Captain." Replied the disembodied voice

"We've received clearance to leave dry dock, everything running smoothly down there?"

"Aye sir, we're ready to disconnect external power at anytime, Warp and Impulse engines at your descression sir."

"Thank you Lieutenant. Bridge out." Glancing around the bridge one more time the Captain couldn't help but smile, "Ok – Ops, engage break away sequence."

"Aye sir, break away sequence started. Dry dock is reporting umbilicals are retracting – clear in thirty seconds."

Devin glanced at the helm, "Mr Zephyr, bring the navigational deflector online, and prepare to depart dry dock"

"Aye Captain."

"Sir, Dry Dock is reporting umbilicals are in the clear. We are ready to leave dry dock"

"Good. Commander Nyes, if you would be so kind as to take us out?" Devin asked, glancing at his First officer

Caroline blinked, and then nodded, "Of course sir, Helm, report."

"Navigational Deflector is active and in the green, ready to leave on your order sir." Ensign Zephyr replied, glancing over his shoulder at the commander

Devin nodded at Caroline, then took a sip of his coffee and turned his attention to the main viewer

"Helm, take us out, one quarter impulse. Follow traffic pattern omega to high polar orbit." Caroline ordered

"Aye sir, ahead one quarter impulse," Ensign Zephyr replied "Clearing dry dock in fifteen seconds."

From his center chair Devin watched the crew perform in silence, tapping a couple of queries into his personal console as he did.

The USS Ranger pulled out of dry dock for the first time under her own power smoothly, and banked gracefully to port as it headed into a high polar orbit. The only odd thing about her departure was that there was no brass onboard. Typically a new ship class got a visit from the Admiralty on its maiden voyage, if only for the time it took to leave Sol. It didn't take a genius to see that the Admiralty was distancing itself from this project until it could see some results.

A few minutes later Mr Zephyr reported, "Sir, we've established polar orbit."

"Excellent. The first order of business is to head for the dark side of Luna, maximum impulse – warp tests will follow later. Helm, steer for Luna – course at your discretion." Devin responded

"Aye sir. Setting course - maximum impulse."

"Bridge to Lieutenant Commander Tae."

"Tae here Bridge." Came the immediate response

"How soon can you have the Catapults loaded and ready for testing?" Devin inquired

"CAG and I are going over that now. Expect first CAT in under an hour, say 1030 sharp, followed by a full launch work up and recovery ops."

"Take your time Commander, and do it right. We'll be awaiting the word."

"Aye sir."

"Bridge out." Turning to his first officer Devin inquired, "What's next on the list?"

"Nav systems are fully operational. Testing the full sensor suite and tactical systems are to wait until we get to the testing grounds off Titan."

"I assume a full test of the telemetry system for our fighters comes about then as well." Devin responded

"Aye sir, after which it's extended Warp trials – if all goes well we should be back at the Frisco yards for final adjustments if any, and then out to the fleet within the next couple weeks." the commander finished, looking up from her console

Devin was about to say something more when his comm badge chirped. Tapping it he stated, "O'Connor here"

"Ah, Captain, it's Lieutenant Selvin."

"What can I do for you doctor?" Devin responded, before taking a sip of his coffee, which was starting to cool

"There's been a bit of a problem with a couple of our medical records for the crew. Can I see you in sick bay?" the CMO responded

Devin paused, and glanced at his crono, it'd be at least another 45 minutes before the deck crew was ready for the first CAT shots. "Alright Doc, I'm on my way down now. I'll be there shortly."

"I'll be expecting you then Captain. Sick bay out."

Downing the rest of his coffee Devin sighed.

Glancing over at him Caroline frowned, "Trouble sir?"

"No, not really, I was rather expecting this – but not quite this quick." Devin pushed himself out of his chair and headed for his ready room to drop off his mug

"Anything I should be aware of sir?"

"Not at this time Commander. The bridge is yours, til I get back" Devin said as the doors to his ready room slid open, he paused a moment, "And contact me if I'm not back before the CAT trials, I want to be on hand for those."

"Aye sir."

After dropping off his coffee mug off in his ready room Devin headed down to deck six, and Sick bay. Stepping into the medical bay he unconsciously straightened his tunic. "What can I do for you doc?"

Looking up from a PADD she was studying Lieutenant Selvin nodded, "G'morning Captain. I suppose I should have expected you to be no different from any of the other captain's I've served under. You all hate physicals."

Devin chuckled, "That was a fairly interesting way to get me to come down here without alerting the bridge crew, however."

"I though it was in the Captain's best interest that it not be common knowledge that he had not completed his physical when the rest of his crew had complied with the standard procedure. I see from you records sir that you're in nominal shape, and a tad on the young side for a Command." The Lieutenant looked up from her PADD again, "Shall we get this over with then?"

"By all means Doc, it's not a slight against you, but I just don't like being poked and prodded." Devin responded, settling down on one of the bio beds, "Even if very little poking and prodding has been done since the advent of Medical Tri-corders long before my time." He winked

"Oh, I completely understand Captain. It's a strange malady that all Captains seem to pick up. Still, I would think it's in your best interest to present a good example for the crew." Opening her tri-corder she removed the scanning wand and passed it over Devin slowly, pausing a moment around his eyes, "Ah. Your record briefly mentions an ocular surgery, but didn't mention an implant… yet I'm picking up one."

"That's because it's not much of an implant. I was hit in the face by a phaser set on high stun during an away mission. It damaged the retinal nerve of my right eye. Since the tissue wouldn't naturally heal to the correct state, they implanted cloned tissue, but had to use nano sutures due to the nature of the injury." Devin responded as if he had answered the question a hundred times.

"And they've never come out?" Helen asked with a frown

"I was told they weren't designed to. And I can't much complain - I've had excellent vision since the surgery. Is there a problem Doctor?" Devin queried

"Well, no. Not exactly – but this kind of surgical operation is a little rare – and it would preclude you from flight ops due to the possibility to could fail, I should pull your flight status right now. Hell, you shouldn't even be let near a fighter – the Gs those things pull in combat, even with inertial dampers could rip those sutures out – which would be both incredibly painful, and disorienting when you lost the use of your eye…" she paused, "Hell, if that happened I'm pretty sure we couldn't fix the damage a second time, assuming the occurrence didn't get you killed."

Devin frowned, "No one's ever mentioned that before."

"That's probably because no one's ever looked closely. I've seen your record sir, flying is what you do – and you seem to do it well – so I can see why they didn't pull you back in the day and bent the rules a bit. But now it wouldn't be ethical for me to not pull at least your fighter quals sir." Helen stepped back and put her tri-corder down

"I can understand you reasoning, but I've had these for over a decade now with no issue. And fighter quals push you through some of the most demanding maneuvers the craft can perform." Devin retorted

Helen shook her head, "It's a lot like pointing a phaser at your head with a randomizer on the trigger sir. Sure, the last six tabs of the trigger didn't kill you, but that next press might. Is that worth your life and perhaps the lives of those flying with you?"

Devin rubbed his face and Helen put the tri-corder down, closing it. "There might be something I can do. The nerves should have healed more then enough in that amount of time that we can remove the sutures, but I'm not sure. I'd have to run a few tests and check on some things. Nano sutures aren't exactly normal operating procedure."

"Alright doc…" Devin responded, pushing up off the bio bed, "I'll make a deal with you – you don't forward the paperwork to suspend my qualifications for medical reasons until we're certain the operation you just proposed can't be done. If that's the case, I'll voluntarily give up my quals. Until such a time, I'll also stay out of the cockpit of anything more rowdy then a personal shuttle - deal?"

"I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that Captain…" Helen said, picking her tri-corder back up, "It's not exactly ethical"

"I'm not asking you to stand before an ethics sub-committee on this doc, but if you revoke my flight status on medical reasons, even if those reasons later cease to be a factor, getting my flight qualifications back will take me months of red tape. I spent too long on those quals to begin with." Devin finished, straightening his tunic

"Ah… alright." Helen nodded, "I'll skirt the issue for you – but if I find out you've been out flying with the squadrons again before we finish this I will have those flight quals yanked before you get back onboard Captain."

"Fair enough doc, you done poking and prodding?"

"Aye sir, you're fit for duty. I'll start looking into the procedure today, should be able to find an answer for you within a week – all things remaining as they are." The CMO stepped back, still the ships doctor, but taking up her position as a Starfleet Officer as well. "There is one thing though sir, I haven't mentioned it to engineering because they're busy enough… but my EMH is… odd."

"Define odd Lieutenant." Devin glanced around – sick bay was quiet, but there were more then a fair share of personnel that worked under the CMO and saw to the needs of the crew

Helen picked up the hint, "If you'd step into my office."

"Certainly doctor" Devin replied and a moment later they stepped into the office and the clear glass doors shut behind them, "So, what's the deal with the EMH?"

"Well. Its nothing about its functionality… but… maybe I'd better show you." Helen frowned then said, "Computer, activate EMH – authorization code Alpha Mike Delta Kilo Seven"

"You locked your EMH to command codes?" Devin asked, as the hologram doctor appeared before them. "Oh. I see."

"How may I assist you doctor?" The EMH intoned with a slight Irish lit. Unlike most EMH models – which seemed to have a penchant for picking up annoying habits and had rather abrupt bedside manner and where male – this EMH was female, and bore a striking resemblance to the ship's CEO.

"Computer, pause program" Helen ordered, "You can see the problem."

"Quite clearly, I'll check with Lieutenant Cortana this evening after we finish the first full impulse test. If she doesn't know about it I'll have Commander Terrik look into it, since this section of the computer system is their job." Devin paused then chuckled, "Still, she's easier on the eyes then the typical EMH."

"Captain!" Helen exclaimed, looking mildly offended.

"Just telling the truth, those bloody holograms were genius, but they all had a sadistic side. This one still runs on the same base programming so it probably does as well – but at least it's nicer to look at. That said – it is outside of standard protocol, and if it was done as a prank – we'll find out. And if not – well we'll find out why." Devin nodded, "I promise you that."

"Thank you Captain." The chief doctor responded with a nod, looking slightly relieved.

"Anything else Doctor?" Devin asked

"No sir. Except that I think Lieutenant Fero was hoping to speak with you about the crew psych sessions"

Devin grunted, "I know, but I've been a bit busy to fit her in. I'll make a point of it in the next day or so."

"All I can ask."

"Mm… We'll see." With that Devin made his way out through sick bay and headed back towards the bridge

Devin was fifteen feet from the bridge turbolift when his combadge chirped, "Terrik to Captain O'Connor."

Reaching up he tapped his combadge and replied, "O'Connor here, what can I do for you Commander?"

"Sir, we're receiving a transmission from Starfleet Command – its Admiral Decker for you sir."

"Route it to my ready room. I'm just getting on the turbolift now."

"Aye sir, what about the CAT tests – I believe you wanted to witness them?" the Commander asked

"Looks like I'll miss 'em." Devin stepped onto the turbolift, "O'Connor out."

Grumbling about his bad luck Devin let out a terse, "Bridge."

He'd been looking forward to witnessing the first Catapult shots – but duty called. Once the turbolift opened to the bridge he nodded to Commander Nyes and headed directly for his ready room. Sliding into his office chair he tapped a key on the console and brought up the Comm channel, "Admiral – what can I do for you?"

"Hello Captain. How are the Shakedown trials going?"

"So far so good, though we've barely just begun. No holes in the boat so far. However, I doubt you called for a status check – since we didn't even rate an Admiral for launch."

"Now Captain, that's very cynical of you…" The Admiral paused, "But I suppose I deserve that. And you are correct – I'm not calling to check on status. We have a minor situation – and you're the only ship within reasonable response distance."

"What's going on?"

"A Starfleet convoy just dropped out of contact on a run between one of our research centers at Alpha Centari and the testing facilities at Titan. We need you to make best speed for the last known location and find that convoy." The Admiral stated bluntly

Devin frowned, "Permission to speak freely sir?"

"Go ahead Captain; I realize this is somewhat irregular."

"That might qualify as a massive understatement sir. While I have every confidence in my crew and this boat – we haven't even completed a fully round of tests and calibration yet sir. And we can't be the only ship in Sol able to respond to this."

"Under normal circumstances, you'd be correct Captain. However this convoy is carrying very sensitive military experiments to the testing range. It is possible it came under pirate attack – it is also possible that a catastrophe occurred of some type. We don't know – and we would prefer to keep this quiet until everything can be sorted out – which as you can likely guess means only one ship. And the Ranger is the only ship available that has the crew onboard for a possible heavy SAR/Salvage job, and the firepower to go after Pirates that would be well enough equipped to take on this convoy and not allow a mayday to get through. In short – you are currently the only choice we have. Can you do the job Captain?"

"Aye sir – we can get it done – but we're not operating under ideal conditions. Trial by fire I guess. Can you give me any information about these experiments Admiral?" Devin asked, unconsciously pouring himself a fresh mug of coffee and taking a sip

"I'm sorry Captain, currently that's on a need to know basis, and until we have a better idea what happened – you don't need to know." The Admiral looked apologetic "However that may change – so report back as soon as you know something."

"Aye sir."

"Captain I'm transmitting to you the last known location of the convoy. It was on the standard space lane route I mentioned to you before consisting of two heavy Milspec freighters and a single Saber class frigate as escort." The Admiral tapped a few commands into a console at his end then looked up, "That's all the information we have. Good luck Captain."

"In this case, we might have to make our own luck. We'll be underway as soon as possible and make best speed for the convoy."

"Good, Decker out."

Devin sat at his desk for a moment sipping his coffee and pondering the conundrum before him. This didn't bode well at all. While he doubted it was pirate activity this close to Sol – stranger things had happened. But, they wouldn't find out sitting out here. Tapping his comm. badge he said, "O'Connor to Lieutenant Cortana."

"Go ahead Captain."

"Lieutenant, just so you know – this isn't a Drill. How soon can you be ready to go to Warp? And how much can you give me?"

Devin could just about hear the gears turning in the Chief Engineer's head, "Ah... I could have us ready in… ten minutes sir? I'd be comfortable with… say Warp 7… maybe 8, max without proper ramp testing… why sir?"

"You'll know soon enough Lieutenant. Make it happen. We've got a change of orders and somewhere to be. Understood?"

"Aye sir, we'll make it work."

"That's what I like to hear Lieutenant, O'Connor out." Tapping his combadge to close the connection he rose and headed out onto the bridge, and started asking questions before he'd made two steps, "Commander Nyes – what's the status of the CAT tests?"

"Sir, we just completed the first full speed dual tube test – twelve fighters launched from each tube in just under a minute – just as advertised." Nyes replied with a small smile of triumph

"Good to hear, time to bring 'em home, Commander Terrik pass the word to the Airboss – I need those fighters back on board, in five minutes - combat landings. Commander Nyes, let the senior staff know I need them in the situation room in 15 minutes, make sure they call up their seconds." Devin paused a beat to breathe then glanced at the Helm, "Mr Zephyr. A minute ago I transferred a set of coordinates to the helm – set a course and stand by to hear from engineering. As soon as they're ready, and all the fighters are accounted for we're heading for those coordinates at our current max sustainable Warp. Understood?"

A chorus of "Aye sirs" rang our, as well as more then a few strange looks. Devin looked around his bridge and nodded. "I'm sure you have questions – which will be answered in time. For now, do your jobs and I'll see the senior staff in the situation room in 15 minutes. Get to work."

Down on the flight deck the deck crews were taking a moment to celebrate the success of the CAT system before prepping Red and Gold Squadron's for their turn at the CATs. The celebration was cut short as the Deckboss' voice blared over the flight deck address system. "Flight Deck, prepare for Combat retrieval Ops. This is NOT a drill. First fighter will be lined up in 30 seconds. MOVE people."

For about three seconds a stunned silence fell, and then the section chiefs started to holler orders. And everyone started moving – fast. Crewman First Class Walsh joined her deck gang and prepared to handle the incoming fighters. Part of her wondered what the hell was going on, as the rest of her went about her job just like she'd trained to do. This might be the first time they'd done it for real – but the entire Deck crew had been training in holo-sims for this for better then six months so they'd get it right, the first time out. And it looked like they were going to have to do just that.