Part Of The Ship Part Of The Crew
Posted on Fri Jan 31st, 2025 @ 1:59am by Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant Daynah Ral
1,734 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Shore Leave & Ship Repairs
Location: Captain's Ready Room- Deck 1 - USS Astrea
Timeline: MD: -2
Daynah's latest assignment that of leading the computer team on the refit of the USS Astrea had gone swimmingly. The Trill and her team had not only gotten their work done ahead of schedule but she managed to make some new friends and get some time to see the state of the art labs aboard the ship. To say that she was a fan of the ship was an understatement to say the very least.
This was why when her work came to a close and she learned that the Astrea had need for a Chief of Operations she put in for the transfer. It was the shortest wait time that she ever had to receive the news that her transfer was granted and she should report to Captain Johansen. So, here she was ringing the door chime to the Captain's Ready Room. Her hair up in her customary pony tail and a fresh uniform on. It was the words of one of her former hosts Captain Alaryc Ral that always said you only had one chance to make a first impression.
"Come in," Remy called, as she stood up to walk around her desk, a habit of hers when greeting someone new.
Daynah stepped into the Ready Room and came to attention. "Captain Johansen, I am Lieutenant Daynah Ral reporting as ordered. I am ordered to take over at your Operations Department. That is of course with your permission." She placed the PADD containing her orders on the Captain's desk. For the moment this seemed more like a formality for the Trill woman. She had spent so much time with the repairs and refit that she already felt like she was part of the ship.
"Relax, Lieutenant," Remy said warmly. "Can I get you anything? I was probably going to grab a cup of tea."
Daynah physically relaxed. Alaryc's teachings were it was always best to first approach a Captain with all of the protocol being followed and then lessen it as needed. Doing this has never failed Daynah to this day. "Thank you Captain I would love a cup of Cardassian red leaf tea."
"Cardassian Red Leaf it is," Remy said as she walked to the replicator. "Where did you develop a taste for Cardassian teas?" the Captain asked. "Do you like it in a traditional cup or a thermal mug? I order all of my hot drinks in a thermal. I don't like them to get lukewarm." She stood half-turned at the replicator waiting to finish the order once she heard Daynah's preference.
"Ohhhh a thermal mug would be great. As for my taste for Cardassian tea? I actually rather like most Cardassian cuisine. I was stationed aboard the USS Apollo which often put into Empok Nor in the Trivas Station as a port of call of sorts. Once you get past some of the more lecherous mentality of Cardassians you will find them to be a great people. Ferengi are very similar in that way. To this day kanar is one of my beverages of choice." Dayanah spoke excitedly about her time in Cardassian space. She truly did find them to be a fascinating people.
Two thermal mugs of tea materialized on the replicator pad, Astrea's logo imprinted on the matte gray surface of the mug. Remy picked up the cups, passed the new officer hers as she walked back to her desk. "I don't think I'll ever develop a taste for kanar," she admitted. "I've managed to choke down a sip once or twice for diplomatic reasons, but you won't see me ordering it for pleasure."
Noticing Daynah's passion when talking about the Cardassians, the captain continued, "You realize we probably won't get over that way for a while. We're primarily assigned to the Romulan border, and Federation territories that have been mostly impacted by instabilities caused by events surrounding the Hobus supernova. Although Astrea is just getting started in the region, my last assignment was as a first officer in the similar sectors, and things seem to be heating up rather than settling down. I imagine we'll be busy out here for a while."
"That is understood Captain..." Daynah began and took the offered cup. She paused just long enough to sip the tea and savor the flavor. "...As much as the Cardassian people are interesting and a group that I like to spend time with. It is time for bigger and better things as it were. It is sort of the mission of a joined Trill to give their symbiotes new experiences. And believe it or not Ral has never had any direct dealings with Romulans and so he is very interested in what is to come."
"It is an interesting time to be on the Romulan border. When we get back to our original mission, I hope to dig up some connections I was able to make on the Luna." Remy paused to take a look at the Lieutenant's orders and signed off on them before setting the PADD aside.
"But, we've actually got something else brewing at the moment. Less than a day ago four members of my crew took an unmarked freighter to Freecloud to follow up on a lead from an asset there about possible weapons deals being brokered that break interstellar laws against biological and chemical warfare," Remy stated. "While they were out there..."
"Are you familiar with the USS Dalton?" Remy asked.
Daynah thought for a moment and had no recollection of that ship."No, Captain I can't say that I am."
"There's no reason that you should be," the Captain assured her. "It was, well hopefully is an oberth class vessel that went missing approximately nine years ago while studying the Vaulteran nebula in Bolian space. Starfleet searched for years with no trace. It still could very well be just a scam, especially considering who is involved, but nevertheless, our team picked up on something that may be a lead that we are going to try to look into while we are out there."
The captain continued. "Two of our officers overheard a merchant trying to sell parts from the vessel to a group of Pakleds who visited his kiosk at on of the markets. Like I said, we haven't been able to verify whether this merchant is bluffing or not, but from what the team was able to send over it seemed as though the merchant had a working relationship with these particular Pakleds."
"If the parts are authentic it should not be too difficult to verify. Starfleet parts have unique signatures based on how they are made. A simple scan would reveal if the parts are authentic. Perhaps we can go there and purchase the parts. Simply outbid the Pakleds." This seemed like a genuine mystery and that was something Daynah liked. She always enjoyed getting to the heart of matters and figuring out why things happened the way they did.
"You're right. And knowing my Chief Engineer as well as I do, if the parts had been at the kiosk he would have called an audible and we'd have an answer or be talking about his rescue mission right now," Remy retorted giving the officer a slight grin.
"Which is why we're in a hurry to get out there. We're the closest vessel, and given the circumstances we'll be using the slipstream for the first time since we've been placed in active service."
"Well, I will make sure that the Astrea remains in tip top shape so we can get there and solve this mystery. Other than the obvious, which is learning what happened to a missing ship. Was the Dalton on any unique or specific mission that could help in solving this?" It had been Daynah's experience as well as Ral's that when ships went missing in this manner it was usually because the were on a certain kind of mission.
"As for our ship, the original engineer who installed the slipstream actually tapped into system operations a little more than Commander Winters was comfortable with. There's been quite a bit of overhaul since, but I know he's always looking to improve, so we may need to take a second look after this trip," Remy stated.
"As for the Dalton, if there's more to their mission I wouldn't have been privy to it at the time. If there is more, we may be given that if this lead turns into something. But they went out without any distress calls, so the timing on when something may have happened is not clear, and it was a couple of weeks after their last known contact before another ship got to where they were last pinpointed," Remy said. "It's nearly impossible to be completely thorough when a ship goes missing in space. Knowing what we know about wormholes and other conduits, they were inside of a nebula where another ship would have been obscured. It could have been anything."
Daynah nodded she knew the Captain had the right of it. "I will work on the sensors and shields. If we do wind up in a nebula or other obscuring anomaly I would like to make sure that we have an ace up our sleeve."
"Excellent. It seems you know what needs to be done. I'm relieved we have someone in the department head spot before we begin this mission," Remy admitted. "You have a solid crew, but most of them are young and need leadership. The X-O and I have an open door policy, and once you get a chance to meet our chief engineer, you'll see he's easy to get along with and is going to be happy to see you as well."
"Unless you have anything else, I'd like to give you a little time to get settled in before we depart this afternoon," Remy stated.
Daynah stood after taking the final sip of her drink. "No, nothing else Captain thank you. I could use the time to get used to everything." When the order to leave was given Daynah left the Ready Room and headed for her quarters. She had bounced around from various assignments, but had not felt like she was home in quite a long time. However, all of that changed the Astrea felt like home.
Captain Remira Johansen
Commanding Officer
USS Astrea
Lt. Daynah Ral
Chief Operations Officer
USS Astrea
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