United Earth Oceans Organization Captain Treize Khushrenada surveyed the schematics of the world's most advanced submersible on the screen in his ward room. No one could deny the seaQuest was an impressive beast. From outside, she looked like the mantle of a giant squid. She was over three hundred meters long, stem to stern, with a crew of eighty-eight military and one hundred twenty-four science personnel. Her top speed was rated at one hundred sixty knots, crush depth of nine kilometers; the fastest, deepest diving submersible ever made. Part of her amazing tolerance was due to a state-of-the-art, genetically engineered, bio-skin that was not only completely inert to most marine bacteria and organisms, but could also regenerate itself in the event of a hull breach. Her fuel usage and life-support-including waste recycling, hydroponic food growth, and desalination of water-were efficient enough to support the entire crew for several months. The seaQuest could, quite literally, sit at the bottom of the ocean for nearly half a year without any harm to crew or ship.

Equally impressive were her military and scientific capabilities. She was armed with advanced probes, Wireless Sea Knowledge Retrieval Satellites (WSKRS), which could provide real-time information as they travelled forward, port, and starboard to the ship. They were applicable for use in both military and scientific situations, constantly collecting data. Armed with traditional torpedoes, intercepts, and sea-to-air missiles, she was formable; added to that was a complement of more advanced undersea lasers and grapnel torpedoes. She was even fitted with aquatubes within the ship to carry a navy-trained dolphin. She was also fully equipped with labs for chemistry, marine biology, oceanography, environmental toxicology, aquaculture and more; occupying the midsection on three decks. A full team of scientists would be on board, conducting research and running a variety of experiments.

A posting on the UEO flagship was the most coveted amongst the navies of the coalitions; equally desirous amongst the scientists of the world. The job of the captain was an honor beyond words. Treize wanted none of it.

"One tour," he muttered, "then I'm retiring to my chateau and vineyards."

"Sounds boring, sir."

Treize turned away from the screen to face his company. Commander Zechs Merquise stood in the ward room hatch, leaning casually against the bulkhead. As usual, his uniform was pristine and his long hair tied back. His appearance said strictly military, but Treize had known him for years and knew it was an image he portrayed. Merquise played at being military, but was far too liberal in his politics to be considered truly as such.

"I prefer the term, 'relaxing', sailor."

Merquise feigned surprise. "Are you saying that shoving off in a half-completed submersible, with an untested crew, to chase after a fleet of pirates isn't relaxing? I find it very much so. Our sailing orders have changed, sir. We are to shove off as soon as the crew is on board and preliminary diagnostics ran."

Treize scowled. "I won't have time to meet my officers."

"That's why I'm here, sir. To brief you on your officers' personnel files in lieu of a formal meeting. I've been here with most of them all week and have been able to speak with them informally. Your first officer is tried and true; a paramount of naval efficiency. Handsome, too." Merquise grinned.

"My first officer will get himself demoted to swabbing the decks if he doesn't get on with it."

"We've got a dagger for that already."

"What?"

"I'll get to that in a bit." Merquise sat down with a flourish and pulled out a touchpad, linking it into the ward room's large viewscreen. He dismissed the schematics with a swipe of his finger and pulled up a personnel file with a few more taps. The screen showed a woman with a very serious expression, short black hair, and a military bearing. Treize recognized her.

"You're ex-wife?"

Merquise winced. "Yes sir. Lieutenant Commander Lucrezia Noin specializes in navigation and weapons. She's by-the-book, sir. She can probably quote half a dozen different naval codes from around the world, as well as the UEO charter. We will never be without knowledge of proper procedure and policy. Strict. Professional."

"Your opposite."

"Well, yes sir. They do say opposites attract, then bitterly divorce three years later."

"Will it be a problem, Commander?" Treize narrowed his eyes at his first officer. Merquise was occasionally flippant, frequently sarcastic, but was extremely good at his job. There was no one else Treize would want to serve as his XO, but personal issues could not interfere.

"No, Captain. I can stay professional, and she would rather die than allow any relationship to stand in the way of her career." He swiped the touchpad, switching to a different file. "Moving on, Lieutenant Commander Howard Kalani, chief of engineering. He designed this tub, you know, stem to stern. Kalani's Calamity, it was called for years, until the UEO decided to actually build it. I was expecting old school navy, sir, not…" Merquise trailed off and shrugged helplessly.

"Not? Not what, Commander?"

"He looks like the UEO dragged him away from Margaritaville, sir. I've been running interference between him and Commander Noin this past two weeks, sir. I can't imagine the commotion if the Commander saw him in his khaki shorts, Hawaiian shirts, and rope sandals. I've ordered him into uniform, but he-ah-seems to ignore me. I'm reluctant to discipline the guy that built our ship."

"I'll take care of it, Merquise. I've been in communiqué with the lieutenant for a few weeks now. I believe he'll listen to me."

The first officer nodded contently and swiped over to another file. The picture showed a young man, probably of Japanese ancestry, glaring at the camera. "Chief of Security is a recent Academy graduate. Lieutenant Heero Yuy graduated top of his class. The guy is quiet, stoic. Nothing seems to ruffle him. There is a classified section of his file, sir. Per orders, I have not viewed it, yet."

"Open it up, Commander."

The screen filled with biometric data. Identifying the lieutenant as a genetically modified human. His modifications included superior strength, speed, and agility. His intelligence quotient was also much higher than average. A psychological evaluation was included, clearing him for active duty. According to the file, no remnants of brainwashing remained. The captain and his XO exchanged looks, but neither commented.

Merquise cleared his throat and moved onto the next file. "Chief Computer Analyst, Ensign Alisa Sokoloff. Soviet Coalition, but not part of their navy. She's got a reputation for being arrogant and unyielding. She knows her way around a mainframe, though; the computers stopped glitching a week ago." The woman in the picture was older than Treize, with a beak-like nose and strong jaw line. No-nonsense and overbearing were two words that came to mind.

"Communications officer, Ensign Quatre Raberba Winner." The young blonde man was actually smiling in his ID photo. "And before you ask, yes, Winner as in Winner Enterprises Coalition, one of the chief funders of this ship. He's not here by connections, though, he's an Academy graduate and well-qualified: fluent in seven languages, passable in four more. I haven't personally met him, but Lieutenant Yuy was aware of him in the Academy. Said he had a reputation for diplomacy and settling disputes amongst his peers, as well as a rumored psy-factor for Empathy."

Another flick and another personnel file appeared. This one showed an arrogant-looking Chinese man. "Sensors officer, Ensign Wufei Chang. On loan from the People's Coalition of China. Seems to be well-versed in the UEO, though, considering his coalition was one the last signatories of the charter. So far, the only thing I really know about him is that he had a rather heated debate with the Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Sally Po, regarding justice and honor. It wasn't so heated that I was called to deal with it, but heated enough to be the scuttlebutt for a few days."

Treize considered the implications. Having an officer that was a member of the People's Coalition of China was a potential problem. That particular coalition was not well-known for its humanitarian or environmental efforts in the oceans. Hopefully, Ensign Chang did not share his government's ideals-or lack thereof.

"Where is he from?"

Merquise blinked. "From, sir?" The commander consulted the file. "Umm, the Shenlong Colony. Located in the East China Sea. Info says they splintered from the main Coalition, but still keep ties for protection."

Treize nodded in satisfaction. He was likely from one of the traditional clans that left the land for undersea colonies to avoid their own government. That was good. He probably had his own strict moral codes, hence the heated debate with the doctor. He waved at Merquise to move along in the files.

"Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Sally Po. Multiple degrees in medicine, biology, and biochemistry. Scary smart. Very vocal on her opinions of environmental policies." Merquise grinned up at the picture of a stern-looking, part Asian woman with braids. "I like her. She's not afraid of the military personnel, as evidenced by her shouting down a few of the security guys for 'unnecessary risks' when they were running some drills."

"Doctor Catherine Bloom rounds out the officers. She's head of the science personnel and holds degrees in oceanography and marine mammal sciences. She's officially my favorite scientist, sir. Extremely sweet and caring. Kinda like the sister I'd rather have." The red head on the screen smiled broadly in her picture.

Treize laughed at Merquise's sister comment. He avoided the commander's politician half-sister whenever he could, and he had a feeling Merquise did the same. "Is that everyone?"

"Not quite, sir. That's all the officers, but we've got a few others I need to brief you on. I mentioned the dagger swabbing the decks earlier, sir. I wasn't joking."

"'Dagger' is a nasty word, Commander, the correct term is 'GELF'." Treize rebuked his officer mildly.

"Apologies, sir. The GELF is the Prototype Model K. Some of the engineering crews have been calling it 'Nanashi' as a bit of a joke, sir. It isn't very smart, but was assigned to us on a trial basis as maintenance personnel. Apparently, he's one of the first GELF to grow to maturity. However, its DNA was a bit off. It isn't the finished product like they have locked up on Alcatraz. The UEO wants to determine if this prototype, and others like it, could be used as simple labor on ships. We're the beta testers, sir."

"No picture?"

Merquise gave him an incredulous look. "It looks like all GELFs."

"Male or female?"

"It's a GELF, sir, they don't reproduce. They don't have a gender identity."

Treize sighed and waved at his officer to continue. He wasn't going to debate the humanity of GELFs at this juncture. Perhaps, the presence of this GELF would open the minds of some of his crew, especially his first officer.

"Ensign Darwin, sir. The dolphin."

Treize chuckled. "I'm aware of him. Kalani told me quite a bit. Go on. You've been tensing up more and more as we've gotten closer to that final file. This one must be a doozy, Merquise. Saving the best for last?"

"Or the worst, sir. The UEO decided seaQuest should participate in the International Criminal Reformation Program. The goal is to reform non-violent criminals into functioning, useful, citizens. The discipline and isolation of a submersible is considered an ideal environment. Our parolee is Duo Maxwell, who just served five years for cyber crimes. Including, but not limited to, electronic vandalism, fraud, espionage, and illegal funds transfer. I've already briefed Lieutenant Yuy on this matter, sir."

"Seems a short sentence for such serious cyber crimes."

"Well, according to my information, he was charged with those crimes, but only committed them in the most technical sense of the laws. The vandalism charge stemmed from changing government websites to include dancing animals; the fraud due to him impersonating celebrities; the illegal funds transfer was for transferring already stolen money into charity accounts. The espionage seems to be true, except that he didn't do anything with the information he obtained. During interviews he said he hacked into those secure servers 'just for fun' and 'to see if he could'. Whatever else he is, he is most certainly a genius. His intelligent quotient was measured at two hundred and thirteen in prison."

Treize studied the accompanying picture. The young man seemed carefree, smirking into the camera like he knew things nobody else did. Of course, with an IQ well into, possibly even beyond, the upper extreme of the scale, he probably understood lots of things nobody else really did. He was young, appearing to be only fifteen or sixteen. His hair was pulled back in what appeared to be a braid, and his eyes were a deep, unnatural violet.

"There's a classified section of this file as well, sir."

"I'm afraid to ask. Open it up."

Again, biometric data filled the screen. This data seemed to be inconclusive, though, showing modifications, but no information on what those modifications did. Except for one, very obvious, difference. The young man appeared to have gills, allowing him to breathe underwater. Treize made an educated guess that the other mutations probably gave him the ability to withstand pressures and temperatures beyond the normal human range as well. The psychological evaluation showed no remnants of brainwashing.

"He's a freaking merman." Merquise blurted out.

Duo Maxwell attempted to saunter between his guards as they exited the airlock onto the launch deck of the seaQuest. He was hampered by the shackles on his wrists and ankles, but made a good go at it anyway. He grinned widely at any sailor who looked too closely at him. It seemed to throw them off balance, which Duo enjoyed greatly. His guards were pulling him unceremoniously toward a short, stocky man with Lieutenant bars. The man glared at him as they approached. Duo grinned and winked.

"Prisoner transfer, sir!" The military police officers escorting him released him just long enough to throw hasty salutes.

The lieutenant's expression didn't change, he just held out a hand for the MPs' touchpad to sign. He signed carefully and handed it back, motioning for the guards to unlock the shackles. They did so, quickly, saluted again and then turned back to the airlock. They practically ran back to the hatch, apparently eager to be away from Duo's dubious company.

Duo ignored them. "Nice to meetcha! Duo Maxwell is the name; I may run and hide, but I'll never tell a lie! That's me in a nutshell." He rubbed at his wrists; those shackles had been tight, and continued to grin at the naval officer. "This is a nice ship ya got here. Big. Fancy. But, I'm not sticking around for the tour!" He broke away, ducking back toward the airlock. However, his timing was off and it has closed before he reached it. Cursing, he turned. He bowled over some little blonde guy and ricocheted off another man before gaining his footing on the slippery deck floor. Down two more passageways and a left turn around a corner brought him face to face with his chance to escape.

The bridge of the seaQuest was awash with barely controlled chaos. Lieutenant Commander Lucrezia Noin stood firm in the center of it all, like a lighthouse during a hurricane. Until Captain Khushrenada and Commander Merquise returned from the ward room, she was in charge. They were to shove off in less than two hours, and half the bridge officers weren't even at their stations yet. Noin took calming breaths, and then turned to Ensign Sokoloff for a status report.

"Computer diagnostics all show normal and ready for launch, sir." The ensign's accent was thick, but easy to understand. "Ensigns Chang and Winner are on C deck attempting to locate the glitch in the communications relay. Lieutenant Commander Kalani checked in a few minutes ago to report engine diagnostics normal and ready for launch. Lieutenant Yuy is on the launch deck to take custody of the parolee. Helms are manned and are a go for launch."

"And the rest of the crew?"

"Once the parolee is on board, sir, that will be the full crew. Supplies were loaded yesterday and are being stowed currently."

"Security to the Bridge."

Noin pulled out her Personal Audio Link, hoping that Ensigns Winner and Chang would get shipboard communications running soon. "Go ahead, Security."

"I'm pursuing the parolee Duo Maxwell in an escape attempt. He is tagged with a tracking device. Sensor reads?"

Noin moved across the Bridge to the Sensors station, pulling up the inboard array. A blip was moving through the corridors on C deck. The blipped paused, then entered the aquatubes. "Escapee has entered the aquatubes on C deck, heading afore to the science labs. Closing sea doors, now. He won't be able to leave the ship."

"Understood, Bridge. Security out."

"Captain on the bridge!" Ensign Sokoloff cried out.

Those few crew and officers on the bridge stood and saluted as Captain Khushrenada entered, followed by Commander Merquise. Noin saluted smartly with the rest, aware of the general disarray and how it would appear. She held her salute a few moments longer than the others, and stayed standing to address her superior officers. As soon as the captain took his chair, she gave him the status report, adding the escaped parolee.

"No report in from Med or Science Bays?"

"Not yet, sir."

"Get them on the PAL. I want to know if they're ready for sailing yet."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Noin brought her PAL back out, tapping in the code for the Chief Medical Officer. "Bridge to Medical."

"Medical here."

"Status report, Medical." Noin demanded in clipped tones. She didn't like having so many civilians on board, it made for loose discipline and confusion.

"Stowing the last of our supplies now. We'll be ready to sail in twenty minutes."

"Understood. Bridge out." Noin once again tapped out a code on her PAL, this time for the Chief Science Officer. Whom she liked even less than the Chief Medical Officer. At least Po had some military experience, having been on an aircraft carrier during the war. Bloom's closest military experience was teaching ROTC students at university. "Bridge to Science."

"Hello!"

Noin winced. "Status report, Science." If possible, her tones were even more clipped and formal.

"We're dandy. Everything in its place and ready to go. Darwin is being a little strange, but hey, he's a dolphin."

Treize gestured for Noin to hand him the PAL. "This is Captain Khushrenada, Science. I assume I am speaking with Dr. Bloom?"

"That's me!"

"What do you mean by 'a little strange'? Is it something to be concerned about?"

"I think he's just adjusting to the-hey!" The PAL went to static.

Dr. Catherine Bloom dropped her PAL as two young men came rocketing out of the Darwin's pool. One of them slammed into her and they fell in a tangle of limbs. The other wasn't far behind, grabbing the first by arm and collar, yanking him upright. Recovering from her surprise, Cathy finally recognized the second man as Lieutenant Yuy, head of security. She'd seen him around a few times since reporting to the seaQuest, but never spoke to him. The first she didn't recognize, but she hardly knew all the crewmembers. She barely knew her own staff!

"You are upsetting my dolphin!" She scolded them both, regaining her feet and glaring at the men. "What are you doing swimming around in the aquatubes? They aren't designed for humans! You could have drowned! I'm told that drowning inside a submarine is very unlucky, Mr. Yuy. Not to mention stupid."

The unknown man stared at her from beneath sopping bangs. "Wow. Color me shamed." He grinned. "Can't blame a guy for trying to get off this tub, though. I wouldn't have drowned, sweetheart. Can't say the same for superman, here, but I would have been just fine." He wiggled around and lifted his shirt, showing slits in his skin. "See? I got gills. I'm an experimental. I'm Duo, by the way, and count yourself lucky to have seen these babies. I usually require dinner and dancing first."

Cathy was momentarily distracted. "Gills? Really? My god, that's amazing! How deep do they work? Do they prevent nitrogen narcosis? Can I examine you?"

Yuy cleared his throat. "He's going to the brig, Dr. Bloom. You can satisfy your scientific curiosity later."

The PAL, forgotten on the deck, crackled. "Dr. Bloom! Dr. Bloom, report!" The captain's voice sounded concerned.

Cathy grabbed it up. "So sorry, Bridge! I was startled by Mr. Yuy and his, uh, prisoner." Yuy gestured at her and started hauling his prisoner away. "Uh, Mr. Yuy is taking his prisoner to the brig. I assume he'll report to you when he's done."

"Thank you, Doctor, Bridge out."

Ensigns Quatre Winner and Wufei Chang, along with a team of engineers, had finally determined the glitch in the communications relay. Their progress had been slowed by an apparent chase down the corridor they were in. Quatre had been bowled over twice, first by what appeared to be a long-haired felon, second by Lieutenant Yuy, who had been chasing the felon. He was slightly bruised from being slammed into the bulkhead, and considerably embarrassed from the same. Ensign Chang, despite being equally knocked about, had kept his feet and his composure.

Quatre shook himself out of his reverie. He had a communications relay to repair, or rather, to install. The relay wasn't damaged or malfunctioning, just not hooked up. Unfortunately, it wasn't secured either, which could be tricky without the proper equipment (which they didn't have) or the correct safety gear (which they also didn't have). Currently, the engineers were jerry-rigging and lift system to put the relay in the correct place so that someone could get under it to secure it to the bulkhead correctly. Once secured, they could actually hook it up, calibrate, and run diagnostics.

"We're ready, sir." One of the engineers told him, gesturing to the relay.

Quatre nodded, removing his boilersuit top and tying it around his waist, to allow for better movement. The engineers had already secured the top bolts, but he would have to get under the relay to finish the job. Thankfully, he was a small person and wouldn't have any issues sliding underneath. Chang handed him a chemical light, which he attached to his undershirt collar, and the impact wrench. As Quatre shimmied beneath the relay, he felt Chang brace himself against the relay.

"Something wrong, Chang?" He asked, curious as to why the other officer would do this.

"Just in case. If this thing comes down, I might be able to hold it long enough for you to get free."

"That would be appreciated." Quatre laughed. The relay weighed close three hundred kilos and was only a few centimeters away from his face. If it fell, he would be squashed and there wouldn't be anything Chang could really do about it. The thought was nice, though, so Quatre didn't say anything. He could feel Chang's concern and was rather touched by it. He'd only known the sensor officer for two weeks, but he seemed like a good man.

Quatre shimmied one more time and managed to bring himself into the correct position. He lifted the wrench, preparing to secure the relay so they could get moving with the installation. He froze as the metal creaked ominously. "Chang?"

"I heard it too, you lot, stop staring at the GELF and get over here. Check those bolts!" The metal creaked again.

With a horrendous shriek, the relay shook and started to come down. Wufei braced himself, and was joined by three of the engineers, to try to keep it off the communications officer. "Winner!" He shouted, trying to warn the other officer to get free. His warning was too late. Suddenly, the whole relay was lifted easily out of their hands and he found himself next to a GELF. The man-for he appeared masculine-held the relay easily.

"I can help." The GELF's voice was soft. His bright green eyes were piercing and seemed intelligent.

"Can you hold this up while we get it secured?" Wufei asked. He was impressed by the GELF's strength, but wasn't certain of its limits.

"Yes."

"Good. Winner, finish up. You, and you," he pointed to two of the engineers. "Get the top bolts properly secured this time."

"Chang," Quatre's voice was concerned. "What's going on?"

"Unexpected help. You're safe."

He heard Winner sigh, and the tell-tale signs of clanging as he finished the job. Wufei supposed he shouldn't have trusted his fellow sailor's safety to an engineered life form, but the man seemed to understand what was going on, and have a real desire to help. Wufei had never been much for the school of thought that the GELFs weren't human. They were modeled after humans, after all, and shared much of the same DNA. They acted like humans, seemed to share the same fears and joys. Their mottled skin looked different, sure, but his eyes looked different than most of the world's.

"Done! Can you pull me out?"

Wufei knelt down and grasped the comm officer's slender ankles, hauling him out from underneath the relay. Once Winner and his tools were clear he turned back to the GELF. "You can let go now, it should stay on its own."

Winner turned on his sunniest smiled, which, Wufei noted, could probably melt the hardest of hearts, and turned to the GELF. "Thank you! You probably saved my life. I would have been squashed like a bug under there." He held out his hand to shake. "I'm Ensign Quatre Raberba Winner and this is Ensign Chang Wufei. What's your name?" Several members of the engineering team snickered. Winner ignored them.

"I have no name. I am not a person or an animal, so how could I have a name? I am the Prototype, Model K GELF." The GELF just stared at the proffered hand. "Some of the others call me Nanashi or dagger."

Winner frowned. "Dagger isn't a nice word. And I'm sure they think Nanashi is clever. Do you know what it means?" The GELF shook his head. "It means 'nameless' or 'nobody' in Japanese. It's nicer than dagger, but not by much. I suppose I'll have to call you Nanashi until we can think of something better." He turned to the engineering team. "The relay is installed, gentlemen, I'm sure you have other duties to attend to?"

They all threw him hasty salutes and scuttled away. Wufei shook his head. Cowards. "Do you have anywhere you need to be, Nanashi?" He inquired kindly. He and Winner needed to get back to the Bridge and start the calibrations.

"I was told to find something useful to do, or stay out of the way. Was I useful?"

Winner smiled his megawatt smile again. "Very. Thank you, again. Why don't Ensign Chang and I escort you to the main Science lab? I'm sure Dr. Bloom can find something for you to help with."

Nanashi drew back. "I don't like labs."

"No. No, no, no. Nothing like that. Dr. Bloom studies the ocean. She has a dolphin. Have you ever met a dolphin?" Nanashi shook his head. "Well, they're very interesting creatures. Come on, I'll introduce you."

Lieutenant Heero Yuy was rarely amused by the antics of delinquents, and the current situation was no different. He wasn't amused when he was informed the seaQuest was taking part in the International Criminal Reformation Program. He wasn't amused by the prisoner's attitude, strutting around like he owned the place, despite shackles. He was even less amused, and teetering toward annoyed, when the criminal tried to escape. He went from not-amused-teetering-on-annoyed to severely annoyed as soon as the miscreant dove into the aquatubes.

Now, still annoyed and soaking wet, he was force marching the young man into the brig. As far as he was concerned, Maxwell could stay there for the entire tour. All thirteen months. In the brig. Preferably on half-rations. He passed Ensigns Chang and Winner, with the maintenance GELF, as he left the main Science lab. He nodded curtly to them as they approached and they moved to the side to allow him to pass.

"He man, lighten up, I promise not to run again."

"I know. You'll be in the brig."

"Is that really necessary? I mean, I tried, I failed. You caught me. Kudos to you. I am resigned to my fate now."

"You're fate is the brig." Heero ground out. "Until such time as I, or the captain, determine you can be trusted to wander the ship."

"Man," Maxwell whined. Heero felt his left eye twitch. "That sucks. I wanna hang out with the nice scientist lady."

"Hn."

"That's not a word."

"Hn."

"This is a violation of human rights."

"Shut up."

Maxwell wrenched his neck around and stuck his tongue out. Heero roughly pushed him back to facing forward. By this time, they had reached the brig. Heero entered the coded lock sequence to allow the force field to drop. Once down, he roughly shoved his captive into the small room and immediately reactivated the field. Turning on his heel, he marched back up the passageway, heading for the Bridge, determinedly ignoring Maxwell's cursing.

Captain Treize Khushrenada surveyed his bridge with some small amount of pride. The bumps had been smoothed over and they were nearly ready to sail. All officers were on the bridge, busy at their stations. Last status report showed all systems green, except for communications, which was still running diagnostics. All areas of the ship reported everything was stowed and ready to metaphorically weigh anchor. Considering their rather hurried itinerary, all was going quite well.

"Captain. Communications diagnostic completed, all systems green." Ensign Winner called out.

That was what he'd been waiting for. He nodded to his first officer and stood up. "Excellent, Mr. Winner. If you could open up all ship board channels? I would like to address the whole crew."

"Aye, aye Captain." Winner tapped a few buttons on his console. "Channels open, sir."

"Crew of the seaQuest, this is Captain Treize Khushrenada speaking. I would like to personally thank all of you for your hard work in the past two weeks preparing our ship to leave port. I know that it has been tough, and there were a lot of setbacks, but as of a few moments ago, all systems read green. Congratulations." He waited patiently for the applause to die down. "Unfortunately, the hardest work is yet to come. Earlier today, a fleet of rogue submarines was reported off the coast of Australia. They have been observed committing acts of piracy. Our first mission is to track down these pirates and subdue them. Now that all systems diagnostics show green, we will be shoving off immediately. Anchors aweigh." He nodded to Winner to shut off the communication.

"Plot a course to the Tasman Sea, full speed ahead."

To Be Continued…