Chapter 7

Date: February 12, 2158

Time: 1800

Location: Orion Interceptor Blizzard

"No survivors Mistress," D'Lena's sensors operator said from her station.

"What the hell is happening out here?" D'Lena Tendi leaned back in her seat, the lithe beautiful young green-skinned Prime Daughter of the powerful and respected House Tendi having been stressed by the recent spat of destruction amongst pirate vessels.

"This makes how many now?" D'Lena's closest friend, Venaa, her weapons systems operator, asked from her own station.

"Twenty ships. All destroyed within the past week, whoever's doing this…they've got a ship that can at least Warp 6, and that narrows the suspects," D'Lena replied tensely.

"If it's the same people who took D'Tida, I doubt we'll find anything for sure here," Venaa stated glumly.

They watched as the flotilla of five Orion Interceptors scanned the wreckage of the two ships, one Dacoit-Class Freighter and one Barge from House Talos, a minor house who would be devastated by this loss given that it represented a loss of a whole third of their miniscule fleet. But House Tendi had lost three of their own ships, seven hired Nausicaan mercenary vessels, and their cargo station along with tens of thousands of tons of valuable cargo, for which they'd had a buyer already lined up. Worse still, D'Tida, D'Lena's sister was now counted as missing as this flotilla was her first solo mission. Her ships had failed to make their scheduled check-in with the accounted-for inventory of their mercenaries' haul and purchase of supplies. So, D'Lena had rushed off to find her sister. She'd found her sister's ship, the Ravager, slightly away from the debris field of what had once been the mercenaries and their station. The ship had been savaged. One wing was blown off, its weapons blasted away, and the crew found dead. But, D'Tida was nowhere to be seen.

After this, they'd also found the splintered wreckage of four fellow Orion Interceptors of House Azure, no great loss to House Tendi, they hated the Azures. D'Lena had then found then two Nausicaan ships of theirs and a stolen Enolian freighter transporting cargo, and now the two House Talos ships. One thing each of them had in common was that no distress signal was received, and each ship had its data recorder stripped to deny all possible record of the ships' attacker or attackers. By her count, this aggressor may have been responsible for up to five hundred deaths. And so far, seemed no closer to stopping their rampage.

"What ships do we know of that can reach Warp 6 or higher?" D'Lena asked after a moment, knowing that in order to chase down their ships this mystery ship would have to go at least fly at Warp 6.4.

"The Vulcans' combat cruisers, there's rumor they're able to reach Warp 7 for extended periods. But that's unconfirmed. The Andorians' warships can get to Warp 6, possibly Warp 7. The Klingons have some ships that can get to just above Warp 6 too," Venaa replied as she thought about this, "Beyond that…no one besides our own that we know of."

"Didn't someone report that the Humans have a ship that can go Warp 6?" D'Lena questioned.

"I don't know, maybe," Venaa shrugged, "But we haven't seen one of those newer Human cruisers in a long time, not since they went to war with the Romulans. But they can't beat our ships like this. Only the Vulcans or Andorians are capable of this kind of damage."

"This isn't the Vulcans or Andorians' MO though. The Vulcans aren't this aggressive but they can be this brutal. The Andorians are this aggressive, but never this brutal," D'Lena stood up in frustration and paced, "If you told me that it was the Klingons I'd believe you. But why would the Klingons defend a human freighter convoy?"

"Maybe they're privateers who don't like us? Hired to protect Coalition shipping on the promise of finding a good fight? It isn't outside the realm of possibility."

"Klingons have done weirder things," D'Lena nodded her head, "But what if it was Human?"

"The human ships never leave their convoys, plus their ships aren't capable of this speed or able to dish this kind of damage."

"And even if it was one of their new fast cruisers, they can't outfight our ships like this," D'Lena responded, knowing the facts, "But a large ship was reported at the Human colony at Deneva recently. What if it's Human and what if it is responsible for all of this?"

"But why would the Humans send a ship that can do this kind of damage when they're fighting a war to defend their own home space and their colonies?" Venaa asked, offering a retort as it was customary to do for an advisor.

"Maybe because it's what can do the job. And it seems like that job is to hunt pirates based on the fact that's exactly what they're succeeding at."

"I'm not sure. We know how to negotiate and handle situations with most species when they decide to send warships. But the Humans have only ever had two experiences with the Syndicate as far as I know," Venaa shrugged.

"And both times they stood their ground and did what most others would refuse to do, take on the Syndicate directly," D'Lena explained, and put a finger to her chin, "If the same caliber of people willing to directly take on the Orion Syndicate have a ship fast enough and powerful enough to chase down and destroy several of our hunters at once without leaving a trace…we're in trouble unless we can find that ship and get rid of it."

"Well, they haven't met the Mistress of the Winter Constellation, yet."

"No, no they haven't. Set a course for Valakis, we need to refuel and refit after going at near maximum Warp for the past week. And we'll need to contact home about this. Mother will want to make some changes to avoid further losses."


Date: February 13, 2158

Time: 1100

Location: USS Warspite

The ship had been embarked upon a rampage. The convoy attack had set off a trigger within Captain Shaw's mind. After the Warspite had assisted the convoy in its repairs and then escorted them to Deneva the ship had turned right around and warped off. Their long-range scanners had detected a loitering pair of ships, Orion, another Dacoit-Class Freighter and an escorting Orion Barge. These had been found to be picking through the wreckage of their fellow pirates, whether they were of the same house or not, Captain Shaw didn't care. They were attacked and eliminated just the same. The chase had been ruthless, and Orion effectively impotent to stop the destruction of their ships as the Warspite then departed right after, leaving the husks of the two ships floating in a cloud of debris. Warspite later on caught three Nausicaan Raiders escorting a stolen Enolian freighter that had been filled with stolen goods traced to two raided and brutalized Human freighters, destroying the three small pirate vessels faster than it took for the ship to be brought up to action stations. The freighter had been seized from the half-dozen Nausicaans and destroyed quite easily with a simple demolition charge on the warp core. As usual, not a single transmission had been sent, demanding surrender or asking for mercy. And after the battle, each enemy ship's data recorder was picked from the wreckage to keep anyone figuring out what was on the loose out here. Now, within a week, twenty pirate vessels had been eliminated but still, no Romulans had been encountered.

This whole thing was passing without much of a disturbance for the young Madelyn Scott who was finally about to get her cast off. She had remained aboard Warspite, mostly because Captain Shaw was able to read between the lines when he'd spoken to the other human ship captains and knew she would not necessarily feel very welcome aboard the escort flotilla from Starfleet that would take the rescued freighters from Deneva to Coalition space, and she might end up back on Earth faster aboard the Warp 7-capable Warspite. A cast saw was currently being used to carefully remove it from her leg while Goliath was busying himself with a nap. Dr. Watson was overseeing one of his junior medical officers as he went about the procedure as the young girl watched in eager anticipation.

"You know, Madilyn," Watson said as he nodded to the ensign who was just about through the fiberglass cast, "I do believe you may be the first injured individual to leave our medical bay fully healed."

"That can't be true," Madilyn scoffed quickly, looking up at the doctor, "I've seen you fix up lots of crew in here."

"Those weren't injuries, my dear. They were just hurt," Watson said as the cast finally came apart and the ensign pulled out a pair of scissors and start to snip carefully along the gauze, "You however sustained a break in two bones before. While it did not happen aboard the Warspite, I assure you, you were still my patient."

"You think I'll be able to do things again?" Madelyn asked innocently as she watched the cast finally fell away as the ensign cut all the way though and then removed the long sock which was under the gauze.

"Such as?" Dr. Watson asked as he slid over and started to gently squeeze her calf with gloved hands, checking for any muscular disforming and for the strength of the bone while the ensign did a quick scan.

"Helping, T'Pmin said if I got a clean bill of health that I could go with her today on her duties."

"As much as she refuses to say so, she has grown to like your company, I suspect."

"I'm easy to like," Madelyn beamed as she began to flex her feet and ankle as Watson tested both, "So…"

"So…what?" Watson teased her back.

"Is my leg okay?"

"Better than okay, it's right as rain," Watson gave a confirming smile, "Go ahead, stand up, let's check your stride."

He pushed his rolling chair across the circular medical bay from her and she gingerly but steadily stood up, and walked over while Dr. Watson nodded at a good even walk.

"It feels so good to be able to walk again," Madelyn smiled brightly, feeling her bare feet on the linoleum-covered deck plating.

"Go ahead and walk back," he said as she did so and his medical assistant did likewise, "Good, no issues that I can see. Any pain or soreness?"

"Nope," Madelyn responded as she walked back, "So? Am I good to go?"

"Yes, you're good, but…" Dr. Watson lifted a finger, "You'll need to go through some physical therapy. Alright?"

"What's that?" the young brunette cocked her head.

"It's where you do exercises to make sure your body is become as strong as it should be after an injury weakened you. Your…leg muscles in this case, have not been exercising as they normally would, and have what we in the medical profession term, atrophied. So, we must conduct some exercises to get your leg muscles strong again."

"They don't…feel weak," Madelyn looked down at her leg.

"Give it time, you'll feel it. Trust me," Dr. Watson replied as the door opened and in walked T'Pmin in her normal Vulcan uniform carrying a gym bag and a plastic-wrapped Starfleet jumpsuit uniform, a small one.

"T'Pmin!" Madelyn immediately beamed brightly, a big smile emerging on her face at the sight of the Vulcan woman, and she lifted a hand with her middle and ring fingers parted, "Tonk'peh."

"Tonk'peh, Madelyn," T'Pmin stated with a bow of her head, "Your lessons are taking hold I see. Nam-tor du pok tor gol-tor nash-veh?"

"Uh…yes?" the girl said hesitantly, not exactly sure what the Vulcan female said.

"What did she say?" Watson inquired.

"She…asked if I was…uh…ready for something?"

"Hmm…it seems additional lessons will be necessary. But first, if you are to assist me in my duties today you will be required to don the appropriate attire as per Starfleet regulation."

T'Pmin lifted the hanging jumpsuit uniform and unzipped the plastic wrapper and laid it across the bed. It was a bare bones Starfleet uniform alright. It had the two patches found on the ship's own personnel's uniforms, one patch with the Warspite's badge and one Starfleet patch while her name was written above the colored piping. However, it didn't have the standard section piping. Madelyn's piping was a bright purple, a custom touch apparently. There was even a pair of boots to go along with it.

"Whoa…is that mine?" Madelyn asked with a bright wowed expression.

"Indeed. The ship's quartermaster was happy to oblige. He made some…eccentric modifications to it however," T'Pmin noted, "Apparently you had asked him for such a uniform before?"

"He listened!" Madelyn said in excitement, "Purple is my favorite color."

"Chief Tanner is quite a capable man," Watson nodded to her.

"The captain has extended an invitation to join him for lunch, will you accept?" T'Pmin inquired.

"What's for lunch?" Madelyn cocked her head curiously.

"Chef Gabe claims it to be a surprise," T'Pmin responded in turn, "Which usually means something quite exotic."

"Okay then, I'll get dressed," she replied, and grabbed her bundle of gifts and went to her room, one of the recovery rooms.

"Is she fully recovered, Dr. Watson?" T'Pmin inquired as he stood up.

"Yes, indeed, although she still must go through some light physical therapy. Do me a favor, keep an eye on her for any signs of physical discomfort?" Watson inquired as he saw a couple of MACO's walking into the medical bay, one of them bearing a cut above his eye and was holding a white towel to his face.

"I will watch her carefully," T'Pmin replied with a nod, meaning it was effectively a promise, T'Pmin never broke her word.

"What've we got here?" Dr. Watson came over to his new patient.

"Dropped a box off of a shelf in the armory while doing some maintenance, sorry Doc," the uninjured MACO responded and Watson came over and lifted the towel away and examined the cut.

"Well, it seems you're going to need some stitches, have a seat," he then turned to his on-duty assistant, "Ensign, if you'd please get this chap cleaned up?"

"Yes, Doctor," the young medical officer responded and the MACO's went over to one of the beds near to them.

Dr. Watson went over to his main work counter to grab some sutures and a needle. Here, another of his young medical personnel was working on some advanced medical training while wearing a virtual reality headset, using his hands with some actual medical simulator implements to conduct a surgical procedure. At the moment, Warspite had four qualified surgeons including Watson himself. But he was the only one qualified enough to teach and qualify new ones to add to that number. During these quiet periods, he felt it immediately important to make certain that he was enhancing the capabilities of his twenty personnel department, which was divided into four shifts of five, three in the main medical bay and two in the secondary medical bay in the engineering hull. So, he administered courses to a rotating cadre of medical personnel.

By now, Madelyn had come out of her room wearing her new clothes and shoes, beaming in pride at the fact she now wore a uniform now, even if it certainly wasn't official.

"I'll join the Captain for lunch momentarily," Dr. Watson told her, "See you in an hour."

"Of course, Madelyn, if you'll pick up the bag on the bed and pack the belongings in your room, I will take you to your new quarters," T'Pmin effectively ordered, hands behind her back.

"Wow, my own room?" Madelyn asked quickly as she picked up the bag, and saw it had a number of clothing items, mostly shirts, shorts, sweatpants, tennis shoes, and underwear and socks, "You did all of this for me?" she softly asked.

"Of course, Captain's orders were to treat you as part of the ship's 'family'. Apparently in an effort to help you in your time of grieving and adjustment," T'Pmin said evenly.

The young girl didn't reply, the mention of her family's loss made it feel like it was dawning upon her once more. Her eyes lowered, and she zoned out, but started to quietly doing as she was requested. The grief came and went, and when it did, those near her could tell. And those who heard it heard the sniffles as she tried to keep a brave face. But more than once in the past week Dr. Watson had heard her crying in her room through the monitoring cameras that kept tabs on the individual small rooms. The child was brave soul, tougher than most. Life out here in space was certainly enough to do so. Dr. Watson knew her to have quite a lot of mental strength, given her age. So, he was glad for it. As he went about his own duties, namely stitching up the cut on his new patient with an autosuture, the girl reemerged, having somewhat regained some of her poise.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said with a light smile, which came across as more of a reassurance she was okay, "Will I be able to come get Goliath's stuff?"

"I'll bring it by your quarters on my way up."

"Thank you, Doctor," Madelyn replied calmly as she waved bye and left the medical bay right alongside T'Pmin who wasted no time in giving her a quick speech.

"Your quarters are located on the starboard side, Section 12, E Deck near Turbolift 4. During a yellow or tactical alert you will go to and remain inside your quarters until the alert has lifted, after which point you will report to Dr. Watson either in person or via communicator that you are safe. If you are unable to reach your quarters in such a situation you will instead report to the medical bay," T'Pmin began, and then pulled a Starfleet communicator from her pocket and passed it over to show her by flipping it open, "This one has been modified and contacts listed. You will only contact anyone besides Dr. Watson in the event of an emergency relating to the senior staff's specialties. And if any of those staff do not answer you will contact myself or Lieutenant Commander Frost. If either of us do not respond, only then will it be permissible to contact Captain Shaw directly."

"Emergencies only, got it," Madelyn nodded eagerly as she took the communicator as she walked with the Vulcan officer resuming her steady purposeful pace with hands clasped behind her back.

"Your assigned duties, such as they are, will rotate with your awake times being those of Alpha Shift. Your schedule will be arranged at the beginning of each day during which time you will accompany one of the senior officers as they attend their duties. Today, you will accompany me in Engineering."

"Really? This is so cool!" Madelyn said, in awe of the matter-of-fact manner she was speaking to her, as though she were one of the crew as the two walked into the lift to get from F Deck to E Deck.

"Indeed," T'Pmin responded as the lift stopped and opened and she continued to lead the way and reached the door in question and opened it, "Now, a room inspection will be conducted every week on Monday at oh-eight-hundred. You know the hours that the mess hall is available. You will be permitted to dine in the officers mess and make use of the officers lounge."

"Wow…" Madelyn stepped into her admittedly-small room, "I've never had my own room before."

The guest quarters were on the small end in terms of size, modular in their design. This type of guest quarters was of the type that could house a true guest, albeit not an important one, or be modified with bunks if Warspite needed to house numerous travelers or to act as a troopship. In this case, Madelyn's quarters were made up with a single bed in a cubby in the wall with a few small cabinets above it and to the side while a small desk and a chair was across from it. Next to the bed a taller cabinet segment was present, and it had a screen that acted like a window with the stars going left to right.

"I didn't know I'd have a window," the girl said as she walked to the window.

"It's not," T'Pmin said and tapped a control panel by the 'screen' which changed it to a menu, "It's a screen, you can change your preferred view to any of the assorted choices."

"Oh, lemme see," the girl ran over and tapped at the screen, and brought up the moving image of a tropical beach with palm trees with a morning sun rising to the side.

"I am assuming you find this more intriguing than a check of main engineering?" T'Pmin said as Madelyn cycled through some additional customization options.

"Sorry, I'm ready," the girl smiled excitedly.

"Take your datapad, and be sure to take notes. I intend to give you an exam at the end of the day," T'Pmin gestured to a fresh datapad for her.

"Uh…exam?"

"To continue your education is important to human adolescents, is it not?" T'Pmin arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah…I guess."

"Then let us be on our way. There is much to cover."


Time: 1130

Shaw heard a beeping coming from his monitor, it was an incoming call tone which he had not had since they had arrived at Deneva to report back to Starfleet Command and submit their reports thus far. And as he turned towards his screen in the outer corner of his desk in the Ready Room he arched an eyebrow. It was from NX-01, USS Enterprise, Captain Archer was reaching out to him. He swiveled his chair over and turned to face the screen as he tapped the control.

"Captain Archer, how are you old boy?" Shaw gave a wry smile to his fellow captain.

"Captain Shaw, doing alright, how 'bout yourself?" Archer returned the smile from where he was sitting in his own ready room.

"Quite alright, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Just read your most recent after action report, figured I'd call and ask you myself," Archer said, "What's going on down there? Your report said you destroyed fourteen ships in a week?"

"Twenty ships, we managed to catch six more since then. The mission's proving quite productive in terms of its testing Warspite's combat capability."

"I thought you were sent to try to figure a way to stop the pirates, not risk provoking them?" Archer responded with a much more abrupt tone.

"Risk them doing what? Attack our ships? They're doing that already, Jonathan, we can't stop someone with words who is already regularly committing violence and atrocities against our people," Shaw replied in kind, assured in the knowledge he did have the logical edge, "If Starfleet felt that words could do that the Vulcans would have already done so. But they haven't, so we sent a battleship to do what a battleship is meant to do: find enemy ships and destroy them."

"And what if it starts a war? What if this is exactly what the Romulans want?" Archer stood up, his go-to move when he was frustrated and/or conflicted as Shaw knew all too well.

"Then they've chosen a poor potential ally if all it takes to wreak havoc upon their shipping is just one ship," Shaw chuckled.

"You and I both know that Warspite isn't just any ship," Archer smirked back, knowing that Shaw may have been fanning his own ego slightly.

"That's true," Shaw laughed as he took a drink from a glass of water, "Speaking of not just any ship, how is Enterprise? Should be just about out of your refit by now."

"We were just about to do our first warp speed trial," Archer replied earnestly, "But I wanted to talk to you first, in private."

"So, did you call to confirm my report?"

"I guess I just wanted to hear it from you. And hear why you felt you had to do what you did to the Nausicaan pirates on that station," Archer growled, crossing his arms over his chest, dead serious. Shaw simply leaned back in his chair and looked at his fake fireplace which he had turned on and sighed through his nose.

"Circumstances could have never allowed for it," Shaw said quietly, "I wasn't willing to risk my ship in favor of the kinds of people whom our ancestors once dealt with in far, far worse ways than what we had to do."

"You effectively executed over a hundred Nausicaans, James!" Archer raised his voice, getting him to turn his gaze back.

"I did what was necessary, Captain Archer," Shaw lowly replied, tone etched with a nonverbal warning, "You know what it's like to make that sort of decision don't you?"

"And that decision's haunted me since," Archer stated, as he turned away and paced a back and forth, "And I'm not second-guessing you, I hope you're taking that from this. Your report met with its share of criticism, but I know that you knew that it would. But it was also met with…a reception some have found unsettling. Not…happy, more like…indifference, a willful disregarding of something that we should be uncomfortable with. I know…that this mission you're on is the first of its kind for Starfleet. Taking on a large and brutal criminal organization is not exactly what we were trained to do and you're having to make it up on the fly. Look, maybe you were right to do what you did, maybe you weren't. Only time will really tell. I'm just…" Archer looked off to the side, trying to find the words as he pursed his lips, "I'm just trying to figure out if Starfleet is becoming something that it won't be able to come back from, if you're becoming something that you can't come back from."

"I didn't take any joy from it, but I hope you know me well enough to not think so little of me as to suspect that," Shaw replied, softening his tone and gaze, "But you're right, Jon, it does feel like Starfleet is changing, but such are the times in which we find ourselves in. We must adapt, we must overcome, in a way it really is as simple as that."

"In the process, make sure we're able to adapt to when the times change, for the better that is," Archer nodded to him as he sat back down, "We can't let this war change who we are."

"We have to win it before we speak of philosophy on how to win it," Shaw reminded him.

"That's true too, I suppose," Archer admitted as he sat down again, "So, you still intending to continue to retaliate against pirate vessels?" he asked in reference to Shaw's stated plan in his report.

"I am, but first we're planning to stop by Rigel X in an effort to isolate the Orions from some of their mercenaries. We managed to glean some navigational data leading to a Nausicaan pirate haven on the planet which is where the Orion Syndicate hires them. Once hired they then operate from the planet, attack our shipping, return and sell their haul. I intend to pay them a visit."

"That is Rigelian space, do you intend to speak to them about seeking assistance?" Archer inquired curiously.

"Not in the least," Shaw replied, "I'm not planning to bring Warspite into orbit until we've confirmed our targets."

"That's right, you have that Warp-capable shuttle don't you?"

"The K45 Runabout, yes, we're organizing an away team to scout things out. Once we make that strike it'll likely be impossible to maintain the secret of the Warspite being in the sector."

"And what'll you do if the Rigelians try to stop you?" Archer asked.

"That's the point of the recon, to get cold hard evidence to counter with an accusation of aiding and abetting acts of piracy and murder. If they seek to press the matter after that…well…I'd challenge them to stop us. And given the state of the Rigelians' ships, I believe they'd choose discretion and not escalate the situation."

"So, you're going to bombard the planet from orbit?" Archer questioned now, more of a scoff as Starfleet firing on the surface of a neutral planet would potentially be one step too far.

"No, no, of course not," Shaw chuckled, agreeing with that sentiment, "That's why I have Major Odell and his company of MACO's aboard."

"So, a ground assault then," Archer noted, "You ever been to Rigel X?"

"Not yet, no…" Shaw replied.

"Your best bet's going to be a trade complex near the equator. You're not going to get much in the way of accurate scans through the ionosphere that surrounds the planet. But it's frequented by all manner of species from all over the place, odds are, if there's pirates selling ill-gotten goods, you'll find them there or find someone who will know where to find them."

"Any other advice?" Shaw arched an eyebrow.

"There's a lot of interference to comms equipment, especially when you're outside. You're going to want to boost your comms signals any way you can, but even then, best to have your communications officer with you to help overcome any issues or conduct translations. And, as far as I remember, the Rigelian authorities in the complex don't seem to get involved with even gunfights. But if you go in blowing up things they may come running," Archer likewise continued his advice.

"Any species there besides these…Suliban and a small Klingon presence that we'll need to be concerned about?" Shaw then pulled up a report he'd had queued up for reading later.

"No telling what the Suliban will do, probably nothing to be honest with you," Archer shook his head, "The Klingons…we only ever saw three. And they were on the move, so hard to tell what they were doing there and how they'd react to a battle breaking out nearby. Best to steer clear if you can, they might take a show of force as a challenge."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," Shaw nodded as his desktop beeped, a scheduling reminder, "I'm afraid I must go, I'm due to host some of my officers."

"Let me know how the mission goes," Archer responded, "I suppose it goes without saying, your reports are looked forward to here at home. It's nice having some good news for a change."

"And you'll let me know how Enterprise's speed trials go?" Shaw replied as he gave his goodbye.

"I'll see if I can keep Commander Tucker from beating Warspite's record," Archer said in turn.

"You won't hurt my feelings old boy," Shaw nodded, and both men ended the transmission.

Shaw sat back in his chair, smirking to himself. He'd known Captain Archer since he was part of the NX Project's testing phase. The man had a need for speed that sourced from his father's heading of the project and desire to help see it through to the end. He knew that Humanity owed Dr. Henry Archer a tremendous debt. It was fate that his son took Enterprise, the first Warp 5 ship, on her maiden voyage and remained her skipper through some of the most critical moments of Humanity's first troublesome big steps into the quadrant. At his core, Shaw knew Archer to still be the same man with the same eagerness to press for faster and faster speeds. So, he knew that Enterprise going out for her speed trials was going to be a welcome respite for Archer from wartime operations.

He too was looking forward to doing something other than what amounted to combat operations. But teaching and developing young officers was exactly in his wheelhouse. To an extent, that was why he was doing so much for Madelyn Scott, because he wanted to, and he could. It was also a part of his mantra of leadership, that a leader needs to be able to teach. Captain Shaw had some very capable officers and crewmen aboard the Warspite. His view on the best sign of an officer's competence and confidence was in their ability to teach their subordinates how to do their own jobs. This development emphasis was becoming more important overall to Starfleet with the immense growth of the fleet. Some officers who'd have had to wait up to a decade for an opportunity to become a captain were taking command of their own new ships ranging from the mass-produced sixty-five meter-long Phobos-Class Corvette or the Daedalus-Class Frigate and the older but relatively common but old Ganges, Freedom, and Intrepid-Class ships. But, for the really ambitious, there was now the genuine possibility of landing command of a less-common but in-production NX, Poseidon, and Yorktown-Class ships. Or, at the very least for junior officers, a chance at a more senior position aboard those ships.

That was part of the point of inviting some of his senior officers to dine with him on occasion, to keep a finger to the heartbeat of the ship and see to their development. Plus, Chef Gabe saw to it that the ship's meals were a part of the day for the crew to look forward to. Today, it was the first French dinner, Chef Gabe was in fact a classically-trained chef who'd done his culinary work in Paris and had been lovingly-caring for a whole lab full of farm-raised snails which would form two parts of tonight's meal. So, after washing up, Shaw checked on the bridge which Lieutenant Commander Frost was in command of for the watch, and then made his way down to the Captain's Mess.

Of course, Chef Gabe was already present, getting things finished with setup as he had already laid out a simple but elegant white tablecloth while white plates and silverware were laid precisely as they'd be laid out if they were in a French restaurant.

"Good afternoon Chef," Shaw greeted the man as he entered.

"And a good afternoon to you too, Captain, how's the day treating you so far?" Gabe replied with a smile as he continued along, pulling a pair of whole baguettes and placed them on a cutting board he had on a prep table in the corner.

"Quite well indeed," Shaw said as he came over and poured himself a glass of water, "Hmm…I'm curious, what's the occasion?"

"It is…time for escargot," Chef Gabe smiled, giving off a slightly exaggerated French accent, "Plus I know Major Odell's joining today and it'll drive him nuts to eat bugs, haha!" he then gave off one of his smug laughs.

"Devious," Shaw smirked over at him, shaking his head as he took a drink, "Although it'll be nice. I haven't had French cuisine since last November when I took my wife to Paris for our anniversary."

"You got married in Paris, didn't you?" Gabe said as he took the sliced bread and placed it into two baskets on either end of the table.

"Just outside of Paris, yes," Shaw nodded.

"Must've been a dream come true for the Mrs. huh?"

"Well, I'll confess, it was indeed an occasion of her planning," Shaw replied, "I was just a young lovestruck ensign, fresh from the Academy at the time," he smiled to himself.

"My wife…whoof, she could have never allowed me to get anywhere near the wedding plans," Chef Gabe laughed as the door opened and in walked Major Odell and Commander Rowley, "Hey-hey, Major, Commander, welcome in!"

"How ya doin' Chef?" Odell chuckled as he came over and gave the portly man a fist bump, the two having bonded apparently, "Gotten any more training in?"

"I'll get to it, although…" he gave a mock punch towards Odell, "I don't think I need too much more. I'm a weapon, baby!"

"Oh?" Shaw arched an eyebrow, not having heard this story yet.

"Lucky shot," Odell shook his head.

"I don't know Major, one of your boys getting one-punch TKO'd by the ship's chef…" Commander Rowley chuckled.

"Is that so?" Shaw laughed a bit.

"Yeah, Chef here's got a mean right cross when he gets you in the corner on the mat," Odell acknowledged.

"It's about getting that weight into the punch, ole Chef here's got that down," Rowley noted, mimicking the movement in question, being a hell of a boxer in his right.

"You two gotten to have a go yet?" Shaw pointed to the two officers.

"Nah it's not a good look for the head of security and the MACO CO to get in the ring, can't let the crew's best fighter get too humbled," Major Odell offered a jab.

"Oh, now I'm feeling tempted," Rowley arched an eyebrow as he took a bite of a piece of bread.

Before this happened, Sub-Commander T'Pmin arrived, along with her own little follower, Madelyn.

"Look at you, all dressed up and at work," Rowley greeted her, "You doing some good learning?" he asked her.

"Yeah, T'Pmin is a great teacher," Madelyn replied, "She took me through basic warp theory."

"For a ten year-old?" Gabe asked.

"She has proven remarkably-well-informed on the basic principals of warp engines," T'Pmin responded calmly.

"I just don't get why or how this ship is so big," Madelyn replied, clearly having been in awe of the Warspite's sheer size, and now expressing it because she'd been through so much of it.

"I will say that that is quite a story in and of itself," Captain Shaw replied, "Before we eat. Miss Scott," he reached into his pocket and withdrew a copper-colored metal tab, just like the ones on the other officers' uniforms just a different color and he went over to her, "I have something for you. Here, this…was my first-year cadet rank pip. I keep it for luck. May it bring you the same."

"Thank you so much," she said as he came over and pinned it in place, "Am I officially part of your crew now?"

"Officially, no, but you are part of the crew," Shaw smiled, "I don't think I'm wrong in saying that the crew would fight to protect you with the same tenacity that they would fight for each other."

Madelyn just held that part of her uniform over to look at the insignia, even if it was that of a cadet, she still felt like she now had a place she belonged again. As such, she stepped over and wrapped her arms around Shaw's waist and gave him a hug. It simply felt right. By this time, Dr. Watson walked in, and saw the scene.

"Well then, I see Madelyn received your gift quite well," Watson smirked.

"Yes quite, now shall we?" Shaw patted Madelyn on the head, "I believe Chef has some food for us."

"Yes I do," Chef Gabe proudly declared as he came over as the assembled officers sat down, "I present, snail caviar harvested here on the ship, with dill picked from the hydroponics bay not even an hour ago, on a bed of homemade cream cheese, on a freshly-baked and toasted brioche slice," he came forward with a set of plates, each with a piece of said item on it. It was quite a sight, a nicely-toasted slice of bread with a creamy white cream cheese with white pearl-like eggs of snail caviar and a small sprig of dill upon it.

"Snail?" Madelyn yiped.

"It is quite the popular dish in France," Shaw said as he looked at it admiringly, "I must say, with the thought that you lads made and grew almost everything here aboard Warspite, it is quite impressive."

"That reminds me, Captain Shaw, why is Warspite so big?" Madelyn asked as Shaw took a bite, making sure to keep it small.

Shaw finished his chewing, and after swallowing he spoke.

"It's complicated, but at the same time it's rather simple," he started, "It has to do with the Warp 7 engine of the Yorktown-Class as a whole. Starfleet went down two different paths when trying to figure out how best to make a reactor that could get to Warp 7 speed. The first path was to simply upgrade the Warp 5 reactor of the NX-Class, but that venture has not proven forthcoming with results, so they changed tact, they took the idea of a second more powerful reactor and having the two reactors act in concert to get the needed power into the nacelles to achieve those speeds. The NX-Class therefore actually has two different Warp reactors in their ships, one in its original location, which is a fine machine, truly a marvel of human achievement. The second is an improvement upon that engine that is located in the engineering hull. But, that approach is costly, very costly in terms of having two of everything in regards to keeping both of them running. It's why the NX-Class is still only able to cruise at Warp 5, because their newer reactor is capable of Warp 5 on its own while their original reactor is then able to add stabilizing power and balance to the whole system, but that performance over Warp 5 leads to horrifically-bad fuel usage and when at top speeds, it is highly prone to warp field destabilization that can damage numerous systems, which is why the NX's that receive that refit almost never go over Warp 5.5 except for emergencies."

"Indeed, which is why the Yorktown-Class uses a different style of reactor," T'Pmin added as he gingerly picked the bread up, and took a bite, apparently lifting her own dogma regarding being a pure vegetarian.

"That's true, as you saw in engineering," Shaw explained, "Our reactor is basically a standard Henry Archer Warp 5 engine and scaled up several times with added structural integrity. It is no less fuel hungry, and it is quite a bit more reliable due to their being fewer points of failure. We can cruise comfortably at Warp 6.5 in terms of mechanical reliability, and that is a luxury unlike any Starfleet has in its repertoire. As I'm sure you can imagine, that still makes that engine very, very valuable."

"I remember my friends talking about the Warp 7 engine, it's about as expensive to make one as would be to make three Daedalus-Class ships," Rowley explained, "And the hull materials and weapons could build a half dozen of them."

"Probably more than that," Shaw laughed, "And…so, with having so much pushed into the power plant, it was only logical that the ship that is inside of would need to be large enough to accommodate a large fuel load to ensure that we have the range necessary to undertake independent missions, and to have a ship capable of using the new deflector shield technology which Warspite, and her sisters, were designed from the ground up to have. This combination of mass and new shielding lets Warspite withstand a lot of punishment and still allows us to get away from danger. And with the size of the ship we have, we are capable of mounting tremendous weapons systems. Our phase cannons, larger and more powerful than the rest of the fleet's models, our torpedo bays are also larger and have the advent of newer and faster reload mechanisms, and our communications are powerful enough to communicate directly with Earth without the use of subspace relays. But, the ship was also designed, unlike the NX, the Ganges, or the Intrepid, with a single purpose. Warspite was built to make war, not be an explorer."

"We've been doing a lot of that lately, haven't we?" Dr. Watson murmured.

"I'm afraid so," Shaw nodded solemnly, "Which in turn meant the Yorktown-Class needed more crew, and more crew meant more life support systems, more storage for food, enough quarters for the crew, more facilities for crew and officers, a large enough surplus for all of that to be able to bring along a contingent of MACO's, like Major Odell and his men."

"Actually, this might be interesting to know," Major Odell piped up, "This ship could take another two hundred more people aboard if it had to."

"Wow! You could have…like an army," Madelyn noted with awe.

"Indeed, but the reason you would want more crew was a lesson Starfleet learned a long time ago. Ships run smoother, and repairs happen faster when you have more crew on hand to do those jobs. So Warspite was built to always have more than enough help on hand," Shaw explained, "And with all of that in mind, the design for the ship just got bigger, and bigger. And lastly," he said more cautiously, "Earth needed a ship, at the time the Yorktown-Class was designed, that could send a message that understood by all languages without having to say a word. That message is really a warning, we are not someone you want to fight."

"And…if they do want to fight?" she cocked her head curiously.

"Well, if someone stands before Warspite and wants a fight, we'll give them a fight. But that's not necessarily what we want, of course. The greatest victories are often won without fighting, Miss Scott," Shaw said to her with an air of wisdom, "Although, sometimes you don't have a choice in the matter. Sometimes, you must fight. And Warspite and her sisters were built to make sure we win that fight."