Re-born – Flying on broken wings
by HoD Ro' Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Sogh Marla Varquis & Sogh Thor'nan Mal'Kor & Ensign Jason Hawk
Ro' stood on his bridge. HIS bridge. This had been his home and his life for longer than he could remember. The whole ship was so familiar that he could tell where he was by the way the ship smelled.
They had survived so much together, both beaten and broken and dragged to the point of death so many times. Both getting back up and fighting on.
Tell had worked hard. She had rebuilt the ship, passing up many opportunities to 'improve' things. She had the heart of the ship as well. It had touched her. Somehow she knew that you could not 'improve' nobility. The engines were replaced, taken from the broken Vor'cha that Jared had downed. The air ventilation ducts had finally been cleaned out, taking the last of the red dust from the Gods forsaken Romulan world, as well as the dessicated body of the last captain, 40 years or so after his death.
There were still many systems that needed testing and reworking. At the end of it, the only thing that worked had been the light in the hold. When Ro' had found that out he had laughed till he wept.
But now he was here, again, on HIS bridge.
Tell was slumped over the Helm, which she had been reconfiguring to print in human. She was snoring and none had dared disturb her. Jason was next to her, at navigation, trying to update the latest files. Jared was playing with the computer system. No one else had even tried to take that job from him. Marla was somewhere, probably with the Cloaking Device. Thor'nan and May'bel were running recruiting for replacement crew. HIchop had been busy for days in the infirmary patching up aliens, and survivors of House Matlh. Marie had been in the hold negotiating with an Andorian, probably trying to get a good price on her grandmother. Ro' wondered briefly if Human and Ferengi could mate. It would explain a lot about Marie.
The Comms station next to Jared began to flash. This was a surprise. No one had thought it was working yet. Ro' moved to his chair and accepted the hail.
"NuqneH?" He demanded.
The reply was from a Romulan voice, "HoD Ro' we are receiving a distress call. It is not close, but there are no other craft in this system which can lend aide. The remote location was part of the reason for selecting this planet."
Ro' grimaced for a moment at the reminder of this bases former purpose, "Put it through."
The comms crackled and a static image of a man in blue Starfleet uniform was barely discernible amidst smoke panicked people in the back ground.
"This is the USS Fairch... anyone who can... under attack from... shields are gone. Main pow... ling. We... being boarded. We need help. ...nyone, please!"
The message cut out suddenly. Ro' pressed the Comm button, "How many ships do we have in a position to render aide?"
The Romulan hesitated, "Including the FHew? One."
Ro' glanced at Jason, "Can we lift off?"
Jason glanced up at Ro' with a worried look on his face, "She'll fly. No tellin' where, sir, but she'll fly. Most of these systems are untested; we don't really know what will happen when we use them. I need at least another week to get things sorted but, we don't have a week so give me..." Jason paused for a moment, "an hour and I'll have her flyin', at least for a while."
Ro' snifffed in disdain at Federation safety considerations, "You have fifteen minutes. Anything else will be fixed as we fly."
"Yes sir." Jason didn't complain or argue. If he focused on only his assigned task he could get the engine systems working in just short of 15 minutes....Give or take a FHew seconds. Jason laughed inwardly at the small joke he had made then set to work.
He turned to Jarred, "A Federation Science vessel. Can you get a fix on her from the Comm signal?"
"She's in the Meah-taar window!"
He looked up at Ro's blank expression.
"Sorry... Uhh... 'The Triangle' we're calling it now. Just off the Borders of Klingon space. Not far away!"
"Someone wake up Tell," Ro' ordered, moving to the communications panel and switched to a general frequency for all crew communicators.
,'. All hands of the IKC FHew. Report for immediate dust off. That is an order! ,'.
Maybel, Cha'a' and Ru'fimohp glanged up from their sparring. May'Bel lowered his fists. The other two lowered their practice Bat'leths.
"You heard him!" May'Bel told them with a shrug. "Fun's over for now!"
Thor'nan looked up at the summons. He'd been on his bunk, in his small 'quarters'. He stood and walked out to the bridge.
Jason shook Tell awake. "The HoD says wake up."
Tell had taken up an annoying habit of falling asleep where she dropped lately. Which wasn't a good sign as she would wake up grouchy and demand coffee.
The engineer hadn't realised she had fallen asleep and thought she was somewhere else other than the bridge. Over seeing the refit of the ship and personally redesigning the engine room her self had taken its toll on the young engineer. No one could do it better than Tell in her opinion. She had run a team of helpers ragged with her incessant demands and constant harassment on their work. She would not settle just for anything they were going to throw at her, she wanted the best she could get. This sometimes led to abusive arguments and people avoiding her as if she had developed an unusual strain of Rigellian Fever. For others they simply would change direction when they saw her coming. But they wouldn't escape her scrutiny for long because she had this precise ability to know when she was being systematically lied to and pity the poor devils who thought they could get away with it.
"What?" she mumbled through a mouth that felt as dry as King Tuts left boot. "I need coffee." she growled as she forced two fingers to prise her eyes open.
Marla reported to the bridge quietly. She never said much since her her father died, and she still felt out of place on a ship full of full blooded humans or full blooded Klingons. She was a half-blood of both, and the only person on the ship who would talk to her was now XO of the ship, and got too busy to want to talk to her anymore. Marla felt lost and alone yet again.
15 minutes later Ro' arrived next to the Helm station where Jason was still furiously working, "Status?"
Jason looked up at Ro' and gave him a small smile. "I got it sir....and just under the wire."
Ro' nodded in satisfaction, "Stand by for launch. All hands to stations. Take us out. This time, don't crash."
"Aye sir, I'll try." Jason tapped a few controls and brought the engines online. He tapped a few more controls and the FHew laborious lifted off and angled it's way up towards the stars.
When they left the atmosphere Ro' bellowed again, "Helm, set course for the last plotted position of hte USS Fairchild. Maximum Warp!"
"Aye sir, warp 7."
One moment, Marie was standing in front of a crate, the next she was sitting on her arse. Don't tell me they've let Hawk near the helm controls again. The crate started to vibrate alarmingly. And let me guess, Ro's ordered all possible speed. Tell will be beside herself right about now. She inspected the crate but it was not about to shake itself apart in the immediate future. I do so hope she's not on the bridge because she'll be making someone's life hell.
Tell started yelling at Jason.
"What the bloody hell are you doing Flyboy taking her to warp seven." shouted the XO "Don't you know that you'll tear my engine apart and the rest of the ship. I haven't spent the last few weeks on putting her back together for you to rip her apart at the seams."
"I don't care!" Jason barked back. "The HoD wanted Maximum warp and I gave him maximum warp." Jason sighed exasperatedly as he listened to Tell yelling at him. The whole while he was still piloting at warp 7. "The HoD's orders overrule hers, chill out you aren't disobeying anyone.," Jason thought to himself was fighting the SF officer inside him who was screaming at him to say 'yes ma'am' and lower their speed and the SF officer who had followed the HoD's order.
Tell took no notice of the the Ensign who had the nerve to call himself a pilot. With out a moments hesitation she threw him out of the helm to land in a crumpled heap a few feet to the side of her. "Count yourself lucky its not the bulk head Ensign." she told him and took the FHew down to a lower warp and the vibrations threatening to reduce their life span to mere minutes stopped. "You can't get the staff these days." She turned to Ro' "Engines operating within normal parameters... now HoD. We can increase to maximum warp over the next few hours after we have 'run her in'" She then turned back to Hawk "Any objections to that Flyboy?"
"Yeah, Why the Hell did you do that?! I was ordered to maximum speed and I went to maximum speed." Jason said outraged.
"Are you arguing with me Ensign Flyboy on how to fly the FHew?" Tell snapped. Definite caffeine with drawl now, levels were dropping dangerously.
Ro' sighed. Jason was right, he hadn't done anything except follow orders. Unfortunately, on a Klingon ship, that didn't stop you getting hit. It just stopped you getting hit by Ro'.
"Tell," Ro' growled, "I said maximum warp. Last time I checked we could manage 8.4 for up to half a day. Are you telling me you aren't good enough to do the same?"
Tells lips formed a tight line, sheer will power was stopping her from lashing out at him. The systems on this ship were untested. And the new engine, her engine needed to be broken in gently just like a wild horse. "I'm good enough." she told him more than good enough she thought
Ro' strode forward and said in a voice that had blades, "Then unless you want the job of Helmsman, get out of the chair and let him do his job."
Ro' stabbed a finger at Jason, "HE flies it."
He jabbed a finger at her, "YOU fix it when he breaks it."
He looked around the bridge, "Anyone else need me to explain their jobs to them?"
Reaching down he pulled Jason back to his feet and deposited him in the rapidly vacated pilot's chair. He then strode back to his seat. "Helm, set course. MAXIMUM Warp!"
"Aye sir." Jason said as he returned the FHew 8.4. "Warp 8.4 sir." Jason tapped a few control and brought the FHew through the warp barrier. Once he reached warp 7.8 he eased it up the rest of the way to 8.4. "We're at warp 8.4 now sir. We can maintain this for 12 hours at current power levels."
"Tactical Systems are at ninety percent, sir. " said Thor'nan.
Ro' nodded, "Focus on weapons. We will need our shields down if we are going to beam aboard survivors."
Once again the crates started shaking violently but this time it eased off of its own accord. Marie did not know what had just happened and did not much care – just so long as her cargo stayed intact. She'd salvaged some items off that horrible planet that might yet make the experience worthwhile. That, is, so long as no-one knew they were there. The last thing she needed was for the crates to break open and spill their contents across the cargo bay deck plating.
There was one task sprang to mind though from the problem crates or, more precisely from Tell's probable reaction. She walked over to the far side of the cargo bay.
While Tell was busy fixing the engines, Marie had found time on her hands. For want of anything better to do, she set about rebuilding the replicator. This was something else she hadn't told anyone about, preferring to present them with a fait accompli. Not that anyone could reasonably complain. She figured what with live targ on-board there was never going to be a shortage of raw materials and she'd incorporated some refinements she'd picked up back on Nouvelle Nouvelle Caladonie which decreased the power consumption from that of standard Starfleet issue machines.
“Raktajino, double strength, she ordered.
She took the cup and walked up to the bridge, cradling it carefully as she climbed the ladder. She walked over to Tell and placed it in her hand.
“Thought you might be needing this,” she said then turned and left.
Tell was strung up tighter than a knotted rope and couldn't believe it when Marie passed her the coffee. She murmured her thanks to the quartermaster. God the coffee was so good, just the aroma alone was enough to refresh her tired mind. She thanked what ever Gods were out there for this heavenly taste that was better than... well better than... mmm.
by HoD Ro' Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Sogh Marla Varquis & Sogh Thor'nan Mal'Kor & Ensign Jason Hawk
Title | Flying on broken wings | |
Mission | Re-born | |
Author(s) | HoD Ro' Matlh & Soghla' Terri (Tell) Hope & Soghla' Jared & Soghla' HIchop Matlh & Soghla' Marie St. Helene & Sogh Marla Varquis & Sogh Thor'nan Mal'Kor & Ensign Jason Hawk | |
Posted | Mon Nov 14, 2011 @ 2:04am | |
Location | FHew Bridge | |
Timeline | After the rebuild |
They had survived so much together, both beaten and broken and dragged to the point of death so many times. Both getting back up and fighting on.
Tell had worked hard. She had rebuilt the ship, passing up many opportunities to 'improve' things. She had the heart of the ship as well. It had touched her. Somehow she knew that you could not 'improve' nobility. The engines were replaced, taken from the broken Vor'cha that Jared had downed. The air ventilation ducts had finally been cleaned out, taking the last of the red dust from the Gods forsaken Romulan world, as well as the dessicated body of the last captain, 40 years or so after his death.
There were still many systems that needed testing and reworking. At the end of it, the only thing that worked had been the light in the hold. When Ro' had found that out he had laughed till he wept.
But now he was here, again, on HIS bridge.
Tell was slumped over the Helm, which she had been reconfiguring to print in human. She was snoring and none had dared disturb her. Jason was next to her, at navigation, trying to update the latest files. Jared was playing with the computer system. No one else had even tried to take that job from him. Marla was somewhere, probably with the Cloaking Device. Thor'nan and May'bel were running recruiting for replacement crew. HIchop had been busy for days in the infirmary patching up aliens, and survivors of House Matlh. Marie had been in the hold negotiating with an Andorian, probably trying to get a good price on her grandmother. Ro' wondered briefly if Human and Ferengi could mate. It would explain a lot about Marie.
The Comms station next to Jared began to flash. This was a surprise. No one had thought it was working yet. Ro' moved to his chair and accepted the hail.
"NuqneH?" He demanded.
The reply was from a Romulan voice, "HoD Ro' we are receiving a distress call. It is not close, but there are no other craft in this system which can lend aide. The remote location was part of the reason for selecting this planet."
Ro' grimaced for a moment at the reminder of this bases former purpose, "Put it through."
The comms crackled and a static image of a man in blue Starfleet uniform was barely discernible amidst smoke panicked people in the back ground.
"This is the USS Fairch... anyone who can... under attack from... shields are gone. Main pow... ling. We... being boarded. We need help. ...nyone, please!"
The message cut out suddenly. Ro' pressed the Comm button, "How many ships do we have in a position to render aide?"
The Romulan hesitated, "Including the FHew? One."
Ro' glanced at Jason, "Can we lift off?"
Jason glanced up at Ro' with a worried look on his face, "She'll fly. No tellin' where, sir, but she'll fly. Most of these systems are untested; we don't really know what will happen when we use them. I need at least another week to get things sorted but, we don't have a week so give me..." Jason paused for a moment, "an hour and I'll have her flyin', at least for a while."
Ro' snifffed in disdain at Federation safety considerations, "You have fifteen minutes. Anything else will be fixed as we fly."
"Yes sir." Jason didn't complain or argue. If he focused on only his assigned task he could get the engine systems working in just short of 15 minutes....Give or take a FHew seconds. Jason laughed inwardly at the small joke he had made then set to work.
He turned to Jarred, "A Federation Science vessel. Can you get a fix on her from the Comm signal?"
"She's in the Meah-taar window!"
He looked up at Ro's blank expression.
"Sorry... Uhh... 'The Triangle' we're calling it now. Just off the Borders of Klingon space. Not far away!"
"Someone wake up Tell," Ro' ordered, moving to the communications panel and switched to a general frequency for all crew communicators.
,'. All hands of the IKC FHew. Report for immediate dust off. That is an order! ,'.
Maybel, Cha'a' and Ru'fimohp glanged up from their sparring. May'Bel lowered his fists. The other two lowered their practice Bat'leths.
"You heard him!" May'Bel told them with a shrug. "Fun's over for now!"
Thor'nan looked up at the summons. He'd been on his bunk, in his small 'quarters'. He stood and walked out to the bridge.
Jason shook Tell awake. "The HoD says wake up."
Tell had taken up an annoying habit of falling asleep where she dropped lately. Which wasn't a good sign as she would wake up grouchy and demand coffee.
The engineer hadn't realised she had fallen asleep and thought she was somewhere else other than the bridge. Over seeing the refit of the ship and personally redesigning the engine room her self had taken its toll on the young engineer. No one could do it better than Tell in her opinion. She had run a team of helpers ragged with her incessant demands and constant harassment on their work. She would not settle just for anything they were going to throw at her, she wanted the best she could get. This sometimes led to abusive arguments and people avoiding her as if she had developed an unusual strain of Rigellian Fever. For others they simply would change direction when they saw her coming. But they wouldn't escape her scrutiny for long because she had this precise ability to know when she was being systematically lied to and pity the poor devils who thought they could get away with it.
"What?" she mumbled through a mouth that felt as dry as King Tuts left boot. "I need coffee." she growled as she forced two fingers to prise her eyes open.
Marla reported to the bridge quietly. She never said much since her her father died, and she still felt out of place on a ship full of full blooded humans or full blooded Klingons. She was a half-blood of both, and the only person on the ship who would talk to her was now XO of the ship, and got too busy to want to talk to her anymore. Marla felt lost and alone yet again.
15 minutes later Ro' arrived next to the Helm station where Jason was still furiously working, "Status?"
Jason looked up at Ro' and gave him a small smile. "I got it sir....and just under the wire."
Ro' nodded in satisfaction, "Stand by for launch. All hands to stations. Take us out. This time, don't crash."
"Aye sir, I'll try." Jason tapped a few controls and brought the engines online. He tapped a few more controls and the FHew laborious lifted off and angled it's way up towards the stars.
When they left the atmosphere Ro' bellowed again, "Helm, set course for the last plotted position of hte USS Fairchild. Maximum Warp!"
"Aye sir, warp 7."
One moment, Marie was standing in front of a crate, the next she was sitting on her arse. Don't tell me they've let Hawk near the helm controls again. The crate started to vibrate alarmingly. And let me guess, Ro's ordered all possible speed. Tell will be beside herself right about now. She inspected the crate but it was not about to shake itself apart in the immediate future. I do so hope she's not on the bridge because she'll be making someone's life hell.
Tell started yelling at Jason.
"What the bloody hell are you doing Flyboy taking her to warp seven." shouted the XO "Don't you know that you'll tear my engine apart and the rest of the ship. I haven't spent the last few weeks on putting her back together for you to rip her apart at the seams."
"I don't care!" Jason barked back. "The HoD wanted Maximum warp and I gave him maximum warp." Jason sighed exasperatedly as he listened to Tell yelling at him. The whole while he was still piloting at warp 7. "The HoD's orders overrule hers, chill out you aren't disobeying anyone.," Jason thought to himself was fighting the SF officer inside him who was screaming at him to say 'yes ma'am' and lower their speed and the SF officer who had followed the HoD's order.
Tell took no notice of the the Ensign who had the nerve to call himself a pilot. With out a moments hesitation she threw him out of the helm to land in a crumpled heap a few feet to the side of her. "Count yourself lucky its not the bulk head Ensign." she told him and took the FHew down to a lower warp and the vibrations threatening to reduce their life span to mere minutes stopped. "You can't get the staff these days." She turned to Ro' "Engines operating within normal parameters... now HoD. We can increase to maximum warp over the next few hours after we have 'run her in'" She then turned back to Hawk "Any objections to that Flyboy?"
"Yeah, Why the Hell did you do that?! I was ordered to maximum speed and I went to maximum speed." Jason said outraged.
"Are you arguing with me Ensign Flyboy on how to fly the FHew?" Tell snapped. Definite caffeine with drawl now, levels were dropping dangerously.
Ro' sighed. Jason was right, he hadn't done anything except follow orders. Unfortunately, on a Klingon ship, that didn't stop you getting hit. It just stopped you getting hit by Ro'.
"Tell," Ro' growled, "I said maximum warp. Last time I checked we could manage 8.4 for up to half a day. Are you telling me you aren't good enough to do the same?"
Tells lips formed a tight line, sheer will power was stopping her from lashing out at him. The systems on this ship were untested. And the new engine, her engine needed to be broken in gently just like a wild horse. "I'm good enough." she told him more than good enough she thought
Ro' strode forward and said in a voice that had blades, "Then unless you want the job of Helmsman, get out of the chair and let him do his job."
Ro' stabbed a finger at Jason, "HE flies it."
He jabbed a finger at her, "YOU fix it when he breaks it."
He looked around the bridge, "Anyone else need me to explain their jobs to them?"
Reaching down he pulled Jason back to his feet and deposited him in the rapidly vacated pilot's chair. He then strode back to his seat. "Helm, set course. MAXIMUM Warp!"
"Aye sir." Jason said as he returned the FHew 8.4. "Warp 8.4 sir." Jason tapped a few control and brought the FHew through the warp barrier. Once he reached warp 7.8 he eased it up the rest of the way to 8.4. "We're at warp 8.4 now sir. We can maintain this for 12 hours at current power levels."
"Tactical Systems are at ninety percent, sir. " said Thor'nan.
Ro' nodded, "Focus on weapons. We will need our shields down if we are going to beam aboard survivors."
Once again the crates started shaking violently but this time it eased off of its own accord. Marie did not know what had just happened and did not much care – just so long as her cargo stayed intact. She'd salvaged some items off that horrible planet that might yet make the experience worthwhile. That, is, so long as no-one knew they were there. The last thing she needed was for the crates to break open and spill their contents across the cargo bay deck plating.
There was one task sprang to mind though from the problem crates or, more precisely from Tell's probable reaction. She walked over to the far side of the cargo bay.
While Tell was busy fixing the engines, Marie had found time on her hands. For want of anything better to do, she set about rebuilding the replicator. This was something else she hadn't told anyone about, preferring to present them with a fait accompli. Not that anyone could reasonably complain. She figured what with live targ on-board there was never going to be a shortage of raw materials and she'd incorporated some refinements she'd picked up back on Nouvelle Nouvelle Caladonie which decreased the power consumption from that of standard Starfleet issue machines.
“Raktajino, double strength, she ordered.
She took the cup and walked up to the bridge, cradling it carefully as she climbed the ladder. She walked over to Tell and placed it in her hand.
“Thought you might be needing this,” she said then turned and left.
Tell was strung up tighter than a knotted rope and couldn't believe it when Marie passed her the coffee. She murmured her thanks to the quartermaster. God the coffee was so good, just the aroma alone was enough to refresh her tired mind. She thanked what ever Gods were out there for this heavenly taste that was better than... well better than... mmm.