Beta Antares Ship Yards - Antares sector (Federation space) - 1.5 years ago
"She's a beaut, ain't she?"
Captain Dorian Travers turned from the shipyard's observation deck window, a grin already spreading on his lips at the sound of that voice. The grin changed to a smile as his eyes confirm what his ears told him and he pushed away from the window, walking over to the taller, leaner Hispanic man that had addressed him, holding out a hand. "Commander Olivera, as I live and breathe. What brings you from the Beta quadrant?"
Commander Manuel Olivera smiled, taking the offered hand with real affection. "Well, I heard through the grapevine that you'd finally gotten your own ship and might be looking for a first officer." Releasing the Captain's hand and spreading his arms wide, he gave the other a grin. "So here I am."
Dorian took a step back and looked his friend over as though scrutinizing him. Dressed in Starfleet's command uniform, he looked like he had just stepped off his old ship maybe ten minutes ago and had only stopped long enough to drop his bags off before coming to see his former classmate. A chuckle escaped him as he looked back up at the man's face. "I don't know, Olly. You think you're up to it' This is a ship of war, not the Rhode Island out on survey missions and cataloging gaseous anomalies."
His friend gave him a laugh at that comment. "Yeah, because that's all there is to do on a Nova-class ship. We had our share of rough scrapes out there. Besides, we served on the Bellerophon together too, or did you forget?"
He hadn't forgotten. And jokes aside, Dorian knew him to be an excellent officer - they'd joined the Academy and taken their first duty station together. When he knew he was getting his own ship, Olly's name had been the first he'd looked up.
He wasn't going to tell his old friend that, though. "Duly noted. You know I have to at least consider the other names on the list, though."
Olly rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Yeah, right." He gave the giant window an upnod, looking at the ship beyond. "So they not only gave you your own command, they let you supervise construction of your own brand-spanking-new Prometheus-class" Who'd you have to bribe?"
Dorian arched an eyebrow, the slightest hint of a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Who says I had to bribe anyone?"
His friend just stared at him, his lips pursed, an eyebrow arched in imitation of his old friend and future commanding officer. Finally Dorian grinned, turning back towards the window. "I sent Admiral Janeway a case of home-made, about twenty pounds of freshly-roasted vacuum-sealed coffee beans, and a card with a subtle hint."
The commander looked at the shorter man with an expression between shock and amusement. "Seriously?"
Dorian nodded, grinning. "Yep. I got a letter and my orders back a week later. She told me that the gift was unnecessary, but she didn't return it."
The two shared a laugh over that as they watched the shipfitters settling another of the ship's ablative armor plates into place.
U.S.S. Nautilus - Present day
"What the hell just happened, Olly"!"
The voice of his captain, together with the ship's blaring red alert klaxons, brought the first officer out of his semiconscious daze. Whatever had hit the ship had to have been traveling with enough force to override the inertial dampers and knocked everyone out of their seats or off their feet. Feeling the deck vibrating under his hands and knees, the first officer could tell it wasn't over yet. "I don't know, sir!" Shouting over the cacophony of alarms and the sound of the ship vibrating around them as he pushed up to his feet, he turned in the direction of the tactical stations.
Lieutenant J'Pan got to her station first. The young Vulcan officer pulled herself up, brushing her hair from her eyes, seemingly unruffled by the chaos surrounding them as she re-manned the Tactical-1 station. "Captain, it appears that we have been caught in the wake of a graviton surge of some kind. External sensors, communications, helm control, warp drive, and weapons are all offline."
The blue-skinned Andorian male, Lieutenant Thorin, called out next from the ops station in front of the Captain's command chair. "I can't get a reading on course or speed, sir. Navigational array seems to be offline as well."
By this time Dorian had managed to get himself back into his chair, despite the teeth-rattling vibration of the ship around them. Turning it to the right, he eyed the further of the two stations. "Commander Brotak?"
The Klingon sitting there shook her head, monitoring her instruments. Even after two years of her manning that station it still struck him a little strange having a Klingon as a science officer, but the formidable-looking woman was every bit as good as any he had worked with at it. "Sir, it appears we've been thrown into null space by the graviton surge."
The ship around them vibrated more fiercely, and behind him an EPS conduit blew in a shower of sparks. Dorian glanced at it, then back at his science officer. "Well, that's fantastic, Commander. How do we get out of it?"
The Klingon shook her head, looking back at Dorian. "Voyager encountered something like this out in the Delta Quadrant, captain. The only thing we can do is ride it out."
Another conduit ruptured, this time on the port side of the bridge above the engineering station. Dorian gave this a glance, then looked back at his science officer again. "Any idea how long that's going to take?"
Another head shake from the female Klingon as she turned back to her console, tapping at her LCARS controls. "Negative, sir. Judging by the graviton surge's strength on sensors before it hit us, we could be in this for hours. I'm adjusting the deflectors to compensate for the turbulence..." A few moments later, the vibrations eased, then vanished altogether.
Looking around the bridge, Dorian took a moment to regroup his thoughts. They'd been en route to the Romulan Neutral Zone on an assigned patrol when it had felt like the hand of the gods themselves reached out and smacked his ship.
And now here we are, blind, deaf, dumb, declawed and being carried off to the gods know where. Beautiful.
"All right, people. If we're stuck here, then there's nothing for it but to see where it drops us. In the meantime, Jack?" He turned towards the engineer, Lt. Cmdr. Jack Bennett, who looked back over his shoulder at Dorian on being addressed. "Let's get our systems repaired, starting with external sensors. We're gonna want to know where we are when this thing finally plays itself out."
"She's a beaut, ain't she?"
Captain Dorian Travers turned from the shipyard's observation deck window, a grin already spreading on his lips at the sound of that voice. The grin changed to a smile as his eyes confirm what his ears told him and he pushed away from the window, walking over to the taller, leaner Hispanic man that had addressed him, holding out a hand. "Commander Olivera, as I live and breathe. What brings you from the Beta quadrant?"
Commander Manuel Olivera smiled, taking the offered hand with real affection. "Well, I heard through the grapevine that you'd finally gotten your own ship and might be looking for a first officer." Releasing the Captain's hand and spreading his arms wide, he gave the other a grin. "So here I am."
Dorian took a step back and looked his friend over as though scrutinizing him. Dressed in Starfleet's command uniform, he looked like he had just stepped off his old ship maybe ten minutes ago and had only stopped long enough to drop his bags off before coming to see his former classmate. A chuckle escaped him as he looked back up at the man's face. "I don't know, Olly. You think you're up to it' This is a ship of war, not the Rhode Island out on survey missions and cataloging gaseous anomalies."
His friend gave him a laugh at that comment. "Yeah, because that's all there is to do on a Nova-class ship. We had our share of rough scrapes out there. Besides, we served on the Bellerophon together too, or did you forget?"
He hadn't forgotten. And jokes aside, Dorian knew him to be an excellent officer - they'd joined the Academy and taken their first duty station together. When he knew he was getting his own ship, Olly's name had been the first he'd looked up.
He wasn't going to tell his old friend that, though. "Duly noted. You know I have to at least consider the other names on the list, though."
Olly rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Yeah, right." He gave the giant window an upnod, looking at the ship beyond. "So they not only gave you your own command, they let you supervise construction of your own brand-spanking-new Prometheus-class" Who'd you have to bribe?"
Dorian arched an eyebrow, the slightest hint of a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Who says I had to bribe anyone?"
His friend just stared at him, his lips pursed, an eyebrow arched in imitation of his old friend and future commanding officer. Finally Dorian grinned, turning back towards the window. "I sent Admiral Janeway a case of home-made, about twenty pounds of freshly-roasted vacuum-sealed coffee beans, and a card with a subtle hint."
The commander looked at the shorter man with an expression between shock and amusement. "Seriously?"
Dorian nodded, grinning. "Yep. I got a letter and my orders back a week later. She told me that the gift was unnecessary, but she didn't return it."
The two shared a laugh over that as they watched the shipfitters settling another of the ship's ablative armor plates into place.
U.S.S. Nautilus - Present day
"What the hell just happened, Olly"!"
The voice of his captain, together with the ship's blaring red alert klaxons, brought the first officer out of his semiconscious daze. Whatever had hit the ship had to have been traveling with enough force to override the inertial dampers and knocked everyone out of their seats or off their feet. Feeling the deck vibrating under his hands and knees, the first officer could tell it wasn't over yet. "I don't know, sir!" Shouting over the cacophony of alarms and the sound of the ship vibrating around them as he pushed up to his feet, he turned in the direction of the tactical stations.
Lieutenant J'Pan got to her station first. The young Vulcan officer pulled herself up, brushing her hair from her eyes, seemingly unruffled by the chaos surrounding them as she re-manned the Tactical-1 station. "Captain, it appears that we have been caught in the wake of a graviton surge of some kind. External sensors, communications, helm control, warp drive, and weapons are all offline."
The blue-skinned Andorian male, Lieutenant Thorin, called out next from the ops station in front of the Captain's command chair. "I can't get a reading on course or speed, sir. Navigational array seems to be offline as well."
By this time Dorian had managed to get himself back into his chair, despite the teeth-rattling vibration of the ship around them. Turning it to the right, he eyed the further of the two stations. "Commander Brotak?"
The Klingon sitting there shook her head, monitoring her instruments. Even after two years of her manning that station it still struck him a little strange having a Klingon as a science officer, but the formidable-looking woman was every bit as good as any he had worked with at it. "Sir, it appears we've been thrown into null space by the graviton surge."
The ship around them vibrated more fiercely, and behind him an EPS conduit blew in a shower of sparks. Dorian glanced at it, then back at his science officer. "Well, that's fantastic, Commander. How do we get out of it?"
The Klingon shook her head, looking back at Dorian. "Voyager encountered something like this out in the Delta Quadrant, captain. The only thing we can do is ride it out."
Another conduit ruptured, this time on the port side of the bridge above the engineering station. Dorian gave this a glance, then looked back at his science officer again. "Any idea how long that's going to take?"
Another head shake from the female Klingon as she turned back to her console, tapping at her LCARS controls. "Negative, sir. Judging by the graviton surge's strength on sensors before it hit us, we could be in this for hours. I'm adjusting the deflectors to compensate for the turbulence..." A few moments later, the vibrations eased, then vanished altogether.
Looking around the bridge, Dorian took a moment to regroup his thoughts. They'd been en route to the Romulan Neutral Zone on an assigned patrol when it had felt like the hand of the gods themselves reached out and smacked his ship.
And now here we are, blind, deaf, dumb, declawed and being carried off to the gods know where. Beautiful.
"All right, people. If we're stuck here, then there's nothing for it but to see where it drops us. In the meantime, Jack?" He turned towards the engineer, Lt. Cmdr. Jack Bennett, who looked back over his shoulder at Dorian on being addressed. "Let's get our systems repaired, starting with external sensors. We're gonna want to know where we are when this thing finally plays itself out."