Getting Underway

Chapter 30

    Captain James Lake arrived to an empty Bridge at about zero seven hundred more than ready to get this new adventure started. Taking the command seat he grabbed his padd from his thigh pocket and made a few notes on a couple of things that he wanted checked; although nothing too important just for his own piece of mind. James hadn’t slept terribly well; some of it was excitement and also realizing he had been given command of another one of Section 42’s newest Ships.

    Hearing the doors swoosh open James turned to see who it was. Of course it was his Number One; early as usual. Racheal walked over and took her seat with a smile “Good morning Captain, sleep well” she inquired.

   “So, so and you” James replied with a grin a little more relaxed now that his First Officer was here.

    “About the same I guess” Racheal answered “So you ready for this Captain.”

    James grinned “As ever as I ever will be” as they both heard the Lift doors once again with a number of the Bridge Crew arriving early “Good morning everyone, thank you for being here early. Please feel free to get your Stations ready to go.

    Roan walked over to James “Captain where would you like me stationed” he inquired since there were only two command chairs.

    “When both the Commander and myself are on the Bridge, I would like you at Tactical unless otherwise ordered. Of course if either one of us is absent then you would be seated here at Command” James explained.

    “As you wish Sir” Roan replied then went to the Tactical Station where Lieutenant SanChez was already seated.

    “Good morning Lt. Commander and thank you for helping out at Tactical” Maria commented with a smile happy to have an extra pair of hands.

    “You are welcome Lieutenant SanChez. I will be here unless I’m needed at Command; that’s the plight of a Second Officer” he replied almost showing a grin.

    By zero seven fifteen everyone was on the Bridge and at their Stations doing final checks before getting ready for departure. James walked to the front of the Bridge to address the Crew “Good morning and thank you for your early arrival, especially on our first time out with the new Vigilant-A. We’ll be departing at zero eight hundred so hang tight; we’ll be underway soon.”

    Bending down by Helm in a low voice “Mr. T’Sol you ready for this” James inquired knowing T’Sol was certainly up to the task.

    “Yes Captain, I believe I am” T’Sol replied in his usual Vulcan manner.

    James smiled and squeezed T’Sol’s shoulder then tapped his Comm on his way back to his seat “Lieutenant Herek, how we doing down there” James asked already knowing the answer.

    “Good Captain. Everything is ready for an eight hundred departure as per your orders Sir” Daniel replied still a little in awe of Engineering.

    “Excellent Lieutenant. I’m sure you and the Commander have everything well in hand” Lake answered as Comms spoke up “Captain you have an incoming from Commodore Chi, Sir” Heidi McDoogle informed him.

    James stood and walked up behind Helm straightening his uniform “On screen Ensign.” Aye Sir.” As he saw a familiar face “Good morning Commodore.”

    “Good morning Captain and Crew. I just wanted to wish you a very successful and uneventful maiden voyage” Rebecca commented with a smile “Captain we’ll get together after your return. I’m anxious to know how the new Ship does before we make any more.”

    “As you wish Commodore and thank you for the well wishes; I’ll see you when we return. Lake out.

    By this time it was just about zero eight hundred when James ordered “Comms please open a ship wide” he ordered “Attention Crew, this is the Captain. We will be departing momentarily for what I hope to be a very good shakedown. Please keep an eye on your specific areas and report anything that isn’t as it should be. Thank you” and with that the channel was closed.

    Taking a deep breathe and turning to his Number One with a smile “Helm start the departure sequence please then thrusters until we clear the docking arm” James ordered.

    “Aye Captain. Severing umbilicals now and releasing docking clamps…..thrusters engaged” Lieutenant T’Sol called out as you could feel the Ship starting to move.

    “Once cleared…..one quarter impulse until we clear the outer markers” Lake ordered happy to finally be getting underway.

    “Aye Captain……the Ship is now clear of the docking arm….going to one quarter impulse” T’Sol informed the Captain. After several minutes “Outer markers cleared, awaiting your order Sir.”

    “Excellent Mr. T’Sol, warp four if you please” came the Captain’s order.

    “Initiating warp four Captain” was the response from Helm.

    Tapping his comm “Lieutenant Herik, we’ll be gradually increasing warp until we achieve warp nine; any concerns” James inquired.

    “No Sir, the engines are running smooth as silk Captain” Daniel replied happy as could be with the new Ship so far.

    The new Ship performed well as Captain Lake increased warp for the next couple of hours slowly reaching warp nine “Helm drop us back to warp seven” James ordered not wanting to overtax the engines.

    “Decreasing to warp seven Sir” T’Sol replied quite pleased with the way the Vigilant was responding.

    Looking at his Number One “We may as well try out the cloaking and see what happens” as James gave Racheal a nod.

    “Lieutenant SanChez please initiate cloaking” Commander Reese called out then waited to see what happened.

    “Initiating cloaking now Ma’am” Maria replied as she completed the order “We are now cloaked Commander.” 

    The Vigilant ran cloaked for the next hour before Commander Reese gave the order “Ms. SanChez, please drop us out of cloak.”

    “Dropping cloak now Commander “ Maria stated with a smile “The new cloaking system worked well.”

    But before Racheal could respond Heidi spoke up from Comms “Captain, Commander I”m picking up a distress call from a freighter” then she paused a moment checking her display then turning to face command “It appears to be about fifteen light years from our present position, Sirs.”

    “Ensign can you extrapolate the freighters current position” Captain Lake inquired knowing he was duty bound to try and lend a hand.

    After a couple of moments “Yes I have their current position…..sending the coordinates to Helm Sir” Heidi replied figuring the Captain would want to investigate.

    “Excellent Ms McDoogle. Helm plot a course as per those coordinates if you please” Lake ordered.

    “Coordinates plotted in…awaiting your order Captain” T’Sol replied.

    Tapping his chair comm “Lieutenant Herrick, we have a situation; is the slipstream available” James inquired hoping for the answer.

    “Yes Captain…..slipstream is at your disposal Sir” Daniel replied happy to be giving this new type of drive some exercise.

    “Excellent” tapping his chair comm once again “Attention Crew. We’ll be initiating Blue Alert which will enable the slipstream drive so you may want to grab on to something. For future reference if you hear blue alert….that means we’re going to slipstream. Lake out.”

    “Science, Tactical please keep a sharp eye on your consoles, I wouldn’t want to slam into something while in slipstream” James ordered as he heard “Aye Sir” from both stations. “Blue Alert” he stated as the Bridge’s lights turned to a blue color. Mr T’Sol drop us out of slipstream when we reach one light year away from the freighter then warp four. Any time you’re ready Helm.”

    T’Sol checked his readings one last time “Initiating slipstream now Captain” and with that you could almost feel the Ship becoming longer for a few moments. Looking at the view screen all one could see was a “blur” as the stars streaked by.

    After awhile T’Sol informed Command “Captain we’re approaching the one light year distance you requested…..dropping out of slipstream now” as you could feel the ship slowing down “Going to warp four Sir.”

    “Thank you Lieutenant” as James stood “Comms hail the freighter” as he walked up behind Helm straitening his uniform. Moments later an older gentleman’s face appeared on the screen.

With a smile “Greetings, I’m Captain James Lake of the USS Vigilant. We picked up your distress call….how can we be of assistance.”

    “Captain Lake thank you for answering our distress call. We were caught in a meteor shower and have sustained significant damage to our propulsion systems. Unfortunately no one on my small crew has that kind of knowledge or experience to make those kinds of repairs….then he paused “Captain apologies…where are my manners….I’m Captain Johnson” he replied as you could see the relief on his face now that help had arrived.

    “That’s very understandable given your situation. With your approval I’ll be sending a small Security Team along with three of our Engineers to take a look and hopefully effect repairs to your Ship” Lake explained.

    “Yes, please by all means send over your teams. The sooner we can get up and running the better” Johnson replied with a smile for the fist time since their conversation started.

    “Our people will be there shortly. Lake out.” Then turning “Commander Roan I want you to lead the away Team. Take two more security with you well armed. When you’re set head to Main Engineering where you’ll take three Engineers with your Team. I’m not expecting any kind of trouble but you can’t be too careful” Lake ordered.

    “Understood Captain and I will complete our mission and bring everyone back alive” Roan replied stone faced happy to be doing what he does best, then left the Bridge.