New Ship, New Chapter
Posted on Thu May 30th, 2024 @ 5:34am by Lieutenant Tyler Malbrooke & Captain Rylan Gray
1,120 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
The Quasinon Gambit
Location: Captain's Ready Room - Deck 1 - USS Thunderbird
Timeline: MD021 - 1600
The journey from the USS Tomahawk to Utopia Planitia was boring to put it mildly. Tyler's only company was the rather talkative Bolian pilot that was sent to bring him to his new assignment. At least the journey allowed Tyler to get to know the crew he would be working with, but more importantly it allowed him to become familiar with the ship. The Thunderbird was an Akira Class, and new to the fleet. This was the main reason that Tyler took this assignment. The idea that he along Lieutenant Graesyn would be among the first to work with this technology excited him to no end.
While he was nose deep in the intermix chamber specs the Bolian spoke up, after a few hours of blessed silence. "Lieutenant sir, we are arriving at Utopia Planitia. Would you want a look at your ship before we dock?" Tyler thought that would be a wonderful idea and his shuttle made a circle of the Thunderbird as she hung in spacedock. To say that the ship was beautiful was to say the very least. The sight of the ship helped to bring Tyler's excitement bubbling to the surface. After a few minutes of looking at the ship Tyler's shuttle docked and he made his way to the Thunderbird. After checking in with the Security Officer at the airlock. He had his belongings transferred to his quarters on the Thunderbird and headed straight to the Ready Room. Tyler stood in front of the door and tugged at his uniform to make sure it was straight then pushed the door chime.
"Enter," Rylan said as he walked from the replicator back to his desk with a fresh cup of tea in hand. The day had been interesting, short periods of work, broken up by the arrival of his department heads and in one case in particular, the removal of one. He circled around, placed his tea cup on the desk, and was just sitting down when the door to his Ready Room opened and the latest new arrival entered.
Tyler stepped into the Ready Room when bidden. He came to attention in front of the desk. "Lieutenant Tyler Malbrooke reporting as ordered sir. Here are my orders." He offered the PADD to the Captain. Tyler always took the formal option when he reported in to an assignment. He never knew which way the Captain went. So he erred on the side of caution and went formal.
"Lieutenant," Rylan said as he accepted the PaDD. He scanned the orders briefly, for formality's sake, and then returned the PaDD. "Please, have a seat." He gestured toward the chairs in front of his desk and waited for the lieutenant to settle into place before resuming his own. "I understand you're here to take over Operations."
"Yes sir." Tyler began as he took the seat offered. "I am excited to be a part of the Akira program. This ship's design is something new and something special I think." Tyler sized the Captain up briefly. From the physical appearance he seemed to match what Tyler had seen in his service record. Tyler thought that while the Captain did not seem to be physically imposing, there was an intelligence and cunning that seemed to exist behind the gray eyes. This was an imposing intelligence.
"It is at that," Rylan said, nodding. "Commander Knox, Lieutenant Graesyn and myself have spent the better part of the last three weeks learning about the ship and what it can do. Now, it'll be your turn. Well, all of the department heads. You'll get briefings and specifications on the ship in general but also, more in-depth on anything that touches upon your department's operations."
"I took the liberty of familiarizing myself with the schematics of the ship on my way over here. However, I do plan on spending a fair amount of time in the Jefferies Tubes. Get to know every bolt as it were. The 1500 Cochrane Warp Core is state of the art, and not only packs the power for propulsion, but that core can pump out sixty eight gigawatts of power. The Thunderbird certainly brings the thunder." Tyler chuckled at his own joke. It was his attempt to lighten the mood and see if the Captain was jovial.
"That line," Rylan said, grinning slightly even as he was shaking his head, "was appropriated by our sister ship, the Thunderchild. Mitz, She launches before us and her captain, Mitz, claims all rights to the expression. Or so he told me the last time we talked. Along with prowling the tubes, you'll have a lot of other things to focus on. We've all a whole crew to settle in place, make sure that all of our supplies make it to the right places. That sort of thing."
"Understood sir! May I ask has our Quartermaster checked in yet. I would like to coordinate the housing of all the new crew with them. If they are not here I will handle it personally." Tyler smiled mischievously. "Perhaps with your permission I can work with Lieutenant Graesyn and get more power from that core. Then when Captain Mitz sees that our systems are running more efficiently they will relinquish their rights to the line... sir."
"The Quartermaster falls under your department, Lieutenant," Rylan said. "I'm sure that information will become available to you once we've finished here. As for mucking about with the core, I'm not in favor of the idea. Tell you what, speak with our Chief Engineer and then, the three of us will discuss this matter again."
"Aye sir that I will. Just excited to have the most efficient and best ship in the fleet is all." Tyler said with a smile. He understood a Captain's need and want to not experiment with their ship. But, he was sure that he could get everything running at top efficiency. "Very well sir. With your permission I will get to it then."
"Alright," Rylan said. "I am formally accepting your transfer to the USS Thunderbird as our Chief of Operations. Computer please so note in his record."
"Verified." the computer responded. "Lieutenant Tyler Malbrooke is now the Chief Operations Officer for the USS Thunderbird."
"Welcome aboard, Lieutenant. "You are dismissed."
"Thank you sir." Tyler said with a smile and turned to leave the Ready Room. He was not sure about it when he accepted this position, however, after meeting the Captain Tyler felt that this would be the start of the rest of his career. This ship, crew and Captain just felt right. Something special was definitely on the horizon.
Captain Rylan Gray
Commanding Officer
USS Thunderbird
and
Lieutenant Tyler Malbrooke
Chief of Operations
USS Thunderbird
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