Ops, huh? What is it good for?

Posted on Wed Jul 24th, 2024 @ 8:08pm by Captain María Zavala & Lieutenant Commander Leothon Rook

1,067 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 1.01 - "Ad Astra"
Location: USS Carina
Timeline: MD 03, 1100 hours

ON: [[USS Carina, Day 03, 1100 hours]]

Lieutenant Rook - no, Lieutenant Commander Rook - had some conflicting priorities when he reached the Carina after a week of leave and another week of travel. Instinct and raw animal desire made him want to get his hands on the computer cores, or maybe the deflector dish. Shuttle lag made him want to take a nap. However, the command training he'd been taking ever since reaching full lieutenant had taught him that there were at least some kinds of protocol that needed to be adhered to unless there was a good excuse, and depending on the CO checking in with the boss immediately was something that ranged from a polite formality to something serious. So, after making sure that his luggage had arrived, Rook asked the computer where she was and headed off to meet her.

[[Corridor - Deck 25]]

Zavala made her way down the corridor at a steady pace. She'd just returned from her latest meeting aboard the station, a meeting which (by all accounts) should have been a teleconference. Besides her, the only other people actually in the room had been the mid-level staffer and the technician running the slides. Still, it had given her the chance to stretch her legs and to spend a little time away from her own office, so she couldn't complain too much.

Very soon after crossing over onto the Carina, Zavala rounded the corner that would take her toward the central lounge area (and turbolift access) for the deck. It was at that point she caught sight of a Trill in services gold walking towards her. At first, she thought perhaps they were simply headed for the airlock from which she'd come (perhaps intent on spending a bit of time on the station themselves). But then their eyes made contact, and she realized he was (in fact) looking for her.

"Ah, Captain Zavala!" Rook called, spotting his quarry. He put his best smile on. "Lieutenant Commander Leothon Rook. I'm your new operations officer. I just arrived a bit ago."

"Pleasure to be meeting you, commander," Zavala said, "Walk with me."

Rook fell into place at the captain's side. As they walked, he glanced around, taking in the ship's appearance. There were more blues and cool colors than he remembered, but the shapes and structures were still familiar.

"I have to say, even leaving aside the job and mission, I'm glad to be on a Galaxy-class again. I feel like starship design peaked in the 60s and 70s, before they started filling the interiors with nothing but metal and glass."

"I'd imagine it feels a bit like coming home."

Rook nodded and smiled, pleased that the captain knew that bit of his history. "It does, yes. Oh, there's some differences - our arrival lounge here had rose bushes the captain had personally transplanted, for example - but for the most part it's downright nostalgic."

"I know what you mean," Zavala said, returning the smile with one of her own, "It reminds me a bit of some of my earlier assignments as well. The Galaxy may have made the headlines, but what they pioneered eventually made its way to the rest of the fleet. I remember the arboretum on the Soval being particularly nice..."

The doors to one of the turbolifts opened, and Zavala's voice trailed off. She stepped inside the empty car, making sure to leave enough space for Rook to join her. He did and the doors closed again. "Main Bridge," Zavala told the computer. Immediately, the lift began to move, rising upwards through the ship toward the requested destination.

"We had a very nice one on the Vallejo as well. Our XO liked displaying plants from every second-contact we did. Now, some newer ships, on the other hand." Rook shook his head. "I went aboard an Inquiry-class once. Apparently the designers thought that since long-term holodeck stability had improved so much, there was no need for large single-use spaces like an arboretum aboard. I don't think the crew agreed."

"That's...disappointing."

"It's been a disappointing decade," Rook said. "Starting to look up, though."

Zavala smiled. "Indeed, it is," she agreed. After the many difficult years of being stretched thin, focusing inward, doing all they could just to 'get by', things were finally starting to turn around. Rome wasn't built in a day (as the old Earth saying went), but thanks to the efforts of countless individuals, the needle was moving. They all were going to have the opportunity to see their hopes and dreams realized...together. It was not only a relief. It was a joy. "...like the clearing of the skies after a storm."

Stepping onto the bridge from the forward lift station, Rook's first impression was that it wasn't too different than he remembered. The side consoles were new, and luckily had railings unlike the first couple ships to get that refit. There weren't so many as to make the space crowded, though, sticking to the original design intent of a comfortable command center focused on the essentials of the mission. Then his eyes went upwards and he realized why it was a bit dimmer than he remembered. Someone had taken the artful ceiling and made it spectacular, even with just the inside of Spacedock to see.

"I like the view," he said. He placed a hand on the ops station. "To paraphrase some of your Earth media, it's an elegant design from a more civilized age."

Rather than surveying the room herself, Zavala had watched as Rook took it all in. She had seen it countless times before (the look, that was, not the bridge). And it never seemed to matter whether the individual was a seasoned veteran or fresh out of their training. The first view from a new posting (almost) always managed to bring out the sense of awe and wonder that had driven many of them to be out here in the first place. Indeed, it was something she never tired of witnessing.

"Well, that's probably enough about interior design for one day," Rook said after a minute. "I imagine there's still quite a lot to wrap up before we launch. We don't want to leave spacedock still waiting for our photon torpedoes."

OFF

 

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