Plot Log | Ascending Pt 1 | CO | Como Savage
Posted on 241605.13 @ 7:12am by Commodore Silvija Savage
Mission:
Ascension
Location: Utopia Planitia
Timeline: Current
[Utopia Planitia]
“Junk?” Sil had to grin at that. Her eyes looked at the red ashen reflection of Mars’ rust against the bright sheen of Enterprise’ hull. There was a certain irony that such a polished spectacle of pure beauty could be considered…trash.
“Not quite junk.” Rear Admiral Fargo bristled slightly until he noticed his reflection in the window and relaxed his expression “there was a mistake during the building process and the alloy that we used in much of base frame and bulkheads was unfortunately compromised by defective materials.”
Yes, yes, apparently you are quite talented at talking out of both sides of your mouth. Sil smiled and left her thoughts in her mind while managing only to mutter “I see” at bull the poor Admiral was plastering all over the window at every breath. If it had been just Enterprise, the issue could have been considered an unfortunate oversight but apparently the problem affected three other ships of the Odyssey design. Now all three would have to return to space dock to be essentially stripped for parts and then scrapped. For her part she decided that instead of debating the issue and Fargo’s job security- or lack thereof it would be better to get to the crux of the matter “so, this leaves me without a ship now?” Not that she regretted it- this was the perfect opportunity for her slip back to Astarte.
“About that Commodor…”
A loud rumbling sound at the end of the corridor brought silence and cause Sil to turn around. She was startled slightly to find a large grey rock slowly meandering down the wide walkway towards them. Of course she quickly recognized what- or in this case who the rock was. She smiled knowing the expression wouldn’t be noticeable to the approaching Horta “Suuraht, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Hmmm?” That whimsical buzzing of the Horta’s voice synthesizer echoed through the corridor “now you know Silvija that it’s hard to keep a Horta from going where it wants to. If we can’t fit, we eat our way through it.” There a chuckling hum from the Horta who, if she had a face, would probably be beaming right now. “Admiral Fargo I can take it from here. You can dismiss yourself.”
The Admiral nodded nervously not that Suuraht would have noticed but she probably could sense the poor man’s anxiety. Sil knew Horta had keen insights to chemical compositions- even just from tasting the air. Fargo quietly slipped out of sight down the corridor leaving the Commodore standing next to the living rock “so, this appears to be the newest fleet scandal. Defective alloy? Seems ridiculous.”
“I wish it weren’t so.” The Horta buzzed slightly in a soft rumble which Sil intimated was probably their version of a sigh. “It was a substantial mistake that will cost us dearly in terms of vessel production. The Enterprise being the most notable victim of this terrible lapse of quality control. Fear not however there will be a wholesale reshuffling of Utopia staff. Intolerable.”
“So did you just come here to assure me that you’ll be spanking the staff here or was there something else?” the Commodore smirked wryly. “If it’s nothing important I’m going to head down to Earth to see if I can get my post on Astarte back before fleet finds from pinhead to fill it.”
“Oh honey.” The Horta’s voice synthesizer sounded abnormally shrill which caused Sil to flinch. “I wish you had told me sooner that you wanted to head back to Astarte. I offered a solution to T’Evora and she accepted it. If I had known, I wouldn’t have even thought to do that. I hope you won’t take it badly.”
Oh my, what did you do? Sil stared at the rock for a quiet moment in thought before speaking “that depends…what did you offer as a solution?”
“I think it would be better to show you. Follow me Commodore.” The Horta slowly started rumbling down the corridor.
Sil followed the rock- kind of like that old fable the blind leading the dumb, or was it the blind? In any case she thought it would have probably looked comical to anyone who didn’t know better to see her following a meandering rock. Though well known as a species the Horta were still relatively rare in terms of Starfleet service. Suuraht was the highest ranking Horta at Vice Admiral and held the highest post ever achieved as Chief of Starfleet Operations. “I wonder if there is a song.” Sil said.
“A song to what?”
“About following rocks.”
The Horta laughed which the voice synthesizer tried to replicate through the rumbling but ended up sounding more like someone groaning with constipation as the rumbling drowned out the artificial voice. “I can make one. HERE COMES THE HORTA THE BEST HORTA OF ALL HORTAAA…”
“Yeah, no.” Sil patted her old friend on the carapace. “Let’s skip the singing and go straight to the- where the hell are we going and are we there yet?”
“We’re almost there.” The Horta laughed again which caused the walls to vibrate. “Here.”
When they stopped Sil looked out the windows and noticed they were on the completely opposite side of the docking ring. This time they were facing space and in front of them was a massive behemoth of a ship whose long slender frame sparkled under the silver starlight. “It’s big- obscenely so and somewhat ugly. Not too unfortunate and anus resembling like a Nausicaan but not really inspiring either like a Klingon. What exactly am I looking at here?”
“The Ascension class- or more specifically the first of her type the USS Ascension. Or at least…what was once the USS Ascension.” Suuraht giggled through that synthesizer “sorry, I’m just excited. The Ascension is one of our newest explorer designs- built with teeth of course but her main purpose is long range exploration mission. We just finished her shakedown cruise a month ago and everything was working within parameters. The Ascension isn’t set to be staffed for another three months but…”
If Horta’s could smirk, Sil frowned as she could already picture what was going on in her mind and she didn’t like it…not one bit. “But…”
“Why wait?!”
Aha…Sil shook her head as she stared at the ship and then she noticed it. That tiny dot on the ship’s forward saucer was actually a workbee- the flea shaped thing was scribbling new wording on the ship. Even unfinished she could make out what it was writing ‘U.S.S. ENTERP…’
“By recommendation by the Chief of Starfleet Operations and approved by the Starfleet Commander I hereby grant a special dispensation and rename the USS Ascension to USS Enterprise with the designation NCC 1701 F.”
“You call this a ceremony?” Sil felt her temples suddenly begin to tighten “this is…bad luck. You know improperly renaming a ship is bad luck. If we warp into a black hole or crash into an asteroid, you’ll have to live with the fact that you caused it Admiral. Bad juju I’m afraid.”
“You’ll survive.” Suuraht chuckled deeply causing the floor to shutter beneath her “and if you don’t I’ll promise to send a nice floral arrangement to your funeral.”
“And steal my husband.”
“Mmm, I’m afraid you’ll just have to take him to the grave with you. I don’t think anyone else can tolerate too much of Jeremy. Not even a Horta.”
The pair shared a laugh. When they finished Sil sighed “well I guess my plans on returning to Astarte are over.” She studied the behemoth hovering just outside the window. Big didn’t begin to describe it. “How long until she is ready for service?”
“She’s ready now. I mean there is still the issue of lettering but the engineers made all necessary modifications and upgrades after the shakedown cruise. The Enterprise is good to go- once you get her crewed.”
“How many regular crew is she designed to run with?”
“Fifteen hundred…or specifically around three hundred officers and twelve hundred enlisted personnel- give or take a few hundred civilians.”
Sil felt her jaw drop and gently nudged it back up using her right thumb. “Well, this is going to take a while.”
“I hope not.” Suuraht said.
“Why is that?” Sil studied the Horta wondering what the rock meant by such an ominous statement.
“You have a week and then you need to set out for the Cardassian border. Command feels that your mission has been delayed long enough.”
“I would throw you out the airlock Admiral but I hear your people not vacuum averse. One week? Ridiculous.”
“Only when it comes to our apartments.” The Horta laughed but cut it short “anyone you need can join in route but the situation at Deep Space Nine and on Bajor is critical. The bajorans have already taken in almost three million Cardassian refugees. They are demanding that the Federation stop anymore from trying to reach Bajor and for a greater amount of supplies to care for them.”
“A humanitarian mission?” Sil nodded her head “Starfleet loves miracles. I’ll see what rabble I can string together in such a short time. In the meantime, just make sure they get the lettering right on that monster.”
“I’ll tell them to be careful with their alphabets.” Suuraht chortled.
[To be continued]
Commodore Silvija Savage
Commanding Officer
USS Enterprise
