The Journey Home

Posted on 26 Aug 2022 @ 4:56pm by Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers & Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd & Lieutenant Leland Hawksley & Lieutenant Lamia ‘Mia’ Kildare & Lieutenant Matthew Thompson & Lieutenant Serina "Reaper" Donovan & Lieutenant JG Tosrol Ze & Lieutenant JG Thyra Sh'shraaqir

2,699 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: S03 Ep 04 Captive State Part 1 (Main)
Location: Various
Timeline: Current

[ON]

After the Ceremonial festivities were over the crew were starting to return to their duty stations, Alex was on the bridge going through some reports on her Padd when the lift doors opened and the bridge crew for the journey home arrived and took up their duty stations, Lieutenant Donovan took her station at the Helm, then newly minted Lieutenant Jg Sh'shaarqir took her place at the helm station.

"So how did the party go for the three hours you guys had?" Colonel Somers asked.

"It was very festive and delicious. I'm gonna have to go on a diet when we get home," Serina said laughing.

"It was fun," Thyra said, "as really exhausted afterwards. Don't think I had enough sleep yet." She laughed as she looked at her new station. After the promotions, this station was now empty. So she had to fill it.

"Good to hear you enjoyed yourself I..." Alex was stopped by the rest of the bridge crew arriving she greeted Lt Ze and Commander Dodd, "so did you guys also have some enjoyment?" She asked as Dodd took his seat to her right.

"I ducked out of the festivities after the awards were over as I needed a bit of time to myself, but I am focused and ready to proceed and looking forward to a little downtime. I am hoping I can get to an oceanic retreat for a little skinny dipping and hiking." Dodd stated. "Did you not enjoy the festivities?"

*looks over at her XO* "I did not stay, after the ceremony and announcing about three hours to celebrate I left as I had things to do, I will relax when we arrived at SB51. You may have to use the holodeck to go skinny dipping Number One, the Starbase does not have a place that has such facilities. Oh, remember my Sister Karyn Somers?" She said as she ended with a question.

"I had some private matters to attend to, sorry ma'am. As for your sister, I do remember her. Is she still serving on the Leto under Captain Sterling?"

"Yes, yes she is, I got good news she just got promoted to Marine Captain and made MCO on ersonally I think she is missing the quieter times when she was a Warrant Officer, but she is following in my footsteps in the promotion department, as I too was given a field commission, I am surprised I attained such a high rank after the stunts I pulled," the Colonel said lightly laughing.

"Well, Ma'am, congratulations on the promotion of your sister," Dodd replied. "When we get to Starbase 51, I was thinking of taking a shuttle to the second moon of the closets planet as it is a thick forest with moderate temperatures and ideal for hiking and it is vastly underpopulated so I could be alone and get some great mileage in to keep my core in tone. Would that be permittable?"

"It will be shore leave Commander, just take a Communication badge with you linked to the shuttle and an emergency medkit, and be prepared for a callback, but otherwise clear the use of the shuttle with the Starbase flight controller first," Somers said.

"Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate the approval." Dodd repliedefinitely have the necessary gear and the clearance for the shuttle in check. By the way, will you be able to get any relaxing downtime when we get to the station?"

*smiles at her XO* "Good" was all the Colonel said and fell silent for a moment.

After the festivities, Ze went and got changed into his new uniform and headed straight out to the bridge. Pulling his tunic over his head, he left his room and headed for the turbo lift. Once in the lift, ze looked around "Computer take me to the bridge please" He spoke as he felt the turbo lift sprint to life and in no time he was on the bridge "Captain And Commander" he bowing his head as he took his position at the security console.

"I am not only going to go to the beach but have a good rest. Besides Paul and I have a wedding to prepare for as well. It will be good to see my family and the girls. I do miss my girls...." Serina said, checking the status of the flight path which was 5 by 5 in the green.

"Indeed Lieutenant," Somers said and saw that the needed crew were on the bridge, then addressed both Helm and Navigation "Conn, set heading for Starbase 51, set warp speed eight and goto warp when we are clear of any gravity wells" Somers instructed.

Looking at her heading and checking the sensors for any remaining gravity wells, "Helm ready," Serina said. Looking at Hawksare ley, "How we looking Hawksley?. Good to go?" she said.

Hawksley breathed inward, as this was his last sitting at the CONN of the Tomcat. He was happy as it was a nice ending to one position, turning another as Chief Engineer.

"Captain, Engines are ready. On your orders Ma'am."

"ENGAGE," Somers said then turned to look at the ship's Counsellor "So Lamia, what are you planning to do while on shore leave, I assume some of it will be spent with Chris?" Somers asked.

Lamia nodded. “That’s my plan exactly! It doesn’t feel like we get much time together aboard ship, apart from evenings of the course.” She smiled warmly. “I just want to be able to spend time with Chris without interruption.”

"Yeah! this job we do can get in the way sometimes, but you must have known that getting together with a Marine was going to be interesting and more often than not, busy!" Somers said.

Lamia nodded. “I know, none of us can help who we fall in love with!” She grinned. “What woman couldn’t fall in love with Chris! That smile of his is infectious.”

*Smiling at that* "I know, I have known Chris for many years and quite often I have had to fight the impulse and remember I am a married woman, but knowing Chris as long as I have, he is a good guy, although you knew that" Somers said.

Lamia nodded, pausing to admire her engagement ring for a moment. “I feel like I’m the luckiest woman in this entire universe! After everything that’s happened Chris has kept me going.”

*Smiling* "I bet he has!" was all she said with a mischievous smile as she faced forward watching the stars pass by on the viewscreen.

Watching Hawksley operate the CONN for the final time made Serina a little sad. She was going to lose her friend to engineering. It was good to see him get into a new area that he liked. Watching her sensors, she avoided the gravity wells and increased speed when they cleared.

"Captain, clear sensors ahead. Increasing to warp 8 as ordered. Time estimate 1 hour 30 minutes to Starbase 51" Serina said.

Leland always felt a shiver through his body. It was the exact time that his third forefinger, his wedding band finger, hit the engage on the CONN. The Tomcat’s engines from the bridge revved as the deck plating, and everything around them hummed at subatomic frequencies on a higher level, raising his back neck hairs.

"Excellent" Colonel Somers responded "now remember to drop from warp outside the Starbase defence perimeter" she added with a lot of humour.

"Of course, would not want to crash into our home now would we," Serina said as she looked at Hawksly chuckling just a bit, smiling as she turned and looked back at Somers. It felt good to be at the helm of the Tomcat, but she would miss Hawksley after this mission.

"Not so much of crashing Lieutenant, I would be more worried about the defence perimeter which would take us out long before we could crash into the starbase," Somers said to Serina.

"Hmmm..." Hawk paused, pretending to look perplexed at his CONN. "Lieutenant Donovan did tell me there was an all-stop button on here somewhere...." Leland snickered.

"Well, then we better give them the correct clearance code wouldn't we Mr Hawksley?" Serina said with a chuckle. "I would like to get to the station in a whole ship," she added grinning.

Hawksley grinned back at Serena. “Clearance and pre-entry codes have been entered.” He lent his eyes to the starscape streaming like small diamonds ahead of their course on the main viewer. It was always a sight, no matter how many years were spent in deep space.

Not long after the friendly banter the ship dropped from warp at the Starbase defence perimeter Somers turned to the communications station Lieutenant Sh'shraaqir hail SB51 flight control, send them our ID and get permission to dock" she said to the newly minted Chief Intelligence Officer.

Thyra had up until now just listened to the conversations. She thought about what she would do on shore leave. She was taken out of the thoughts by the colonel. "Yes, colonel," she confirmed. Her hands moved over her console as she send over the ID and permission requests.

With a nod she looks at Ze "Mr Ze when clearance has been granted send all duty logs and data from our mission to Starbase Security and Tactical departments and then secure all non-essential systems" she said firing off instructions.

Ze was at his station, looking over the tactical information from the previous mission "Understood captain" he said as he collected all of the information ready to send it off to the starbase "All info and duty logs away captain" he returned with a smile.

"Excellent," she said then looked over at Thompson "Mr Thompson when we have clearance to dock send all science data to the Science Department on SB51 and secure your station after," she said.

"Aye Colonel," Mr Thompson acknowledged.

With clearance gained the Tomcat closed in on the Starbase and slowed down as the ships allowed the space dock doors to open and expertly Hawksley guided the ship into the cavernous dockwork bees and shuttles were flyingles flying about, and there was one ship docked and that was a Nebula Class, Alex thought it out of place as she pulled up the data, it had no permanent crew assigned to it, so the only other reason it was here was for a specific mission, she would probably find out in due time.

Leland tapped in the few final coordinates from the docking master, now that the Tomcat was on an internally guided pathway, all controls within his CONN were relinquished. “CONN acknowledges docking master codes. Maintaining axis t+5 degrees. Thrusters maintaining at minimal pivot intervals.”

The Tomcat began to slowly slide into its birth within the station’s confines. Worker bees on their own guided paths cleared for the Tomcat’s arrival at Starbase 51.

As soon as the Tomcat had stopped its forward motion and the docking arms had locked in the station umbilical cords for power and personnel transfer connected to the ship.

Smiling, Serina *looked* at Hawksley, "She slid in just as smooth as a baby's bottom!" ckling, as she closed down her helm controlled.

"It was a pleasure, Serina." Leland paused. "You taught me all I know about Tomcat flight systems." He choked a bit, his face at his CONN. He loved flying this vessel, yet he loved keeping it powered just as much. "Don't be a stranger, ok." He winked at Serina.

Tapping the surface of the communications section on her chair arm =/\= All hands this is the Captain, prepare for disembarkation Engineering switch over to Starbase Power and all departments remember to upload logs and such to station main database =/\= she said then closed the link and looked at Thompson "Mr Thompson now we are docked switch over to starbase power send your department Logs" she said then opened a channel again.

=/\= All hands, this is the Captain when everything is done you are free to dand isembark, enjoy your shore leave =/\= Alex said then switched the communication off and looked at the bridge crew.

"Okay, when things are done you all too can leave *looks at Hawksley* Mr Hawksley, excellent piloting job, now feel free to double-check engineering, this is optional, but you are all free until the next mission" she finished.

"I'm going to soon-to-besthe oon to be husband of mine. He has some explaining to do," Serina said standing up ready to leave.

Alex looked at Serina's departing back and somehow she felt sorry for Winchester, then her XO speaking to her brought her back to the present.

the "Colonel, ma'am, are you going to be able to downtime down time?" Dodd asked of his commander.

"That Number One remains to be seen, my husband is on a mission on the Poseidon and kids are on earth with their grandparents and the distance is too far to travel in what I expect is a short shore leave timeframe so I WIll be settling for an interstellar call to them, what about you Commander?" Alex asked.

"I do look forward to my hike in a real and natural setting that is not holographically,generated." Dodd replied. "I have not been out in nature for a very long time and it will be nice the to be off ship and not on a space station."

"Which Planet will you be visiting Commander? The closest planetary system is Galen?" Somers asked curiously puzzled.

"I am going to Galen V's third moon. It is a lush forest that is much like Earth but yper centty percent forest and has a temperate climate and thus it seldom snows but rains almost daily. At one time i,n the past it was used as a penal colony for the former soldiers who violated policies or what have you. Now it is a secret tourist resort for nature seekers and they only let 100 visitors on the moon at any given time. I hafour-dayd four day visit and plan to use it to my advantage as the poputhe lation of moon is less than one thousand and since the penal colony dissolved, the planet converted the barracks to hostels and luxury apartments for the tourists but you can camp in nature if you wish, which is what I will be doing. Also, I have noto really seen any other humanoids as I plan to be out in nature the whole time with only a holographic dog for companionship." Dodd replied.

"That sounds interesting, hope you enjoy your time and be careful the Galen system is in the neutral territory" Somers advised her First Officer.

With the final stretch complete, Lieutenant JG Tosrol Ze breathed a sigh of relief, as he disembarked his station " Finally a little respite" he said with a wide smile as he left the bridge heading for his room so that he could change and Lelandith leland and the rest of the three musketeers.

Matt looked at Hawksley and Sh'shraaqir. "Do you guys want to go to ten forward and get some drinks?" Matt asked.

Leland was surprised to be asked for a drink from Matt. He knew the Officer and found it nice to be asked for a drink in 10 Forward. "Of course. I would love that. How about Ze comes along as well, maybe Dodd, Ted, and Mazal too? The more the merrier!" Leland turned to Dodd.

"Commander Dodd, Sir. Would you care for a drink with Matt and us in 10 Forward?" Leland asked.

"I will join you for a drink before we all disembark for our leave." Dodd replied. "It would be a great way to wrap up this endeavor and prepare our minds for the break."

With that final answer, those on the bridge left, leaving the Colonel alone for a moment, before she too stood, tugged down her tunic and left the bridge also.

[OFF]

Lt Col Somers
Acting CO

Lieutenant Commander Dodd
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Lamia Arderne
Chief Counsellor

Lieutenant Matt Thompson
Chief Science Officer

Lt Hawksley
Chief Engineering Officer

Lt. Serina "Reaper" Donovan
Commander Air Group

Ltjg Thyra Sh'shraaqir
Chief Intelligence Officer

LTJG Tosrol Ze
Chief Security/Tactical Officer

 

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