Another Small Ship

Posted on Tue Apr 21st, 2020 @ 2:46pm by

Mission: Welcome to 2399!
Location: Utopia Planitia HQ, Mars

Spacedock was huge compared to the small series of stations in orbit of Mars. They were massive structures, but much smaller in comparison to the Human homeworld. Of course Caymen was from Mars and raised there a bit. Not so much to be taller or anything from natural gravity - he lived on stations that were equalized for standard levels. But this was a certain kind of normal for him.

The doors slid open to one of the main admiralty suites at Utopia Planitia. Caymen had been at this type of meeting numerous times before, but it always had a certain thrilling energy to it. And to boot, this office suite had a sort of red hue or glow, aligning it with the Martian look and feel. The atmosphere was altered a bit over the decades, but it was still The Red Planet to almost everyone.

The yeoman in the office let Caymen right into the not-so-busy office of the admiral in charge of this section of the fleet. The woman across from the doors, sitting at a desk, was elbow deep in datapads. "Ah, captain, come on in."

Greener wandered over to the desk and had a seat. The yeoman entered and brought in tea - oolong black tea, just the way the captain liked it.

"Thank you, Jensen." The flag officer said, putting down her current pad. "Now then," she said, looking at Caymen, "how was your journey from Earth?"

Caymen smiled and took the tea. "Well enough, Commodore." He took a sip. "It was fascinating to see the new ship in construction right as we pulled in. I'll never get over that..."

Commodore Sanders returned the smile. "Indeed. I try to take weekly tours around the shipyards for that very reason."

"And it never gets old, right?"

"Fore sure."

Caymen chortled. "I knew there was a reason you were in this job."

She took a sip of the tea as well and cocked her head. "Why are you not at a similar desk and instead in my pile of orders?"

Greener nodded, taking another sip. "Some day, perhaps. But once they drug these old bones back from the Xatrian forest, I knew I had to be active. Sitting around is reserved for the trees and firepits and warm, cozy winters."

Sanders seemed to bask in his words.

"You know this as well, Michelle."

She nodded - she was not the youngest officer either, and had tried to retire as well. They didn't let her get out the door before promoting her, though.

"Well anyways," continued the commodore after a few breathes of thought. "Let's get to it."

Greener took a sip of tea and accepted a pad from her, taking a look at the ship details and his orders.

"You are being brought into command of a new Saber-class vessel. Well, she's a refit. Starfleet is currently researching a replacement to the Saber, but that's a few years out. Until then, we've made some improvements to what you wouldn't flown when you were... younger." She grinned.

"She's a bit quicker and more nimble, has a bit more fire power and a turret, and her energy consumption and shielding has been vastly improved. We still don't allow cloaks otherwise she'd probably have one of those as well."

"Slipstream?" he asked.

"No, not yet. Development of slipstream has waned over the years, although research is still heavy in that area as well. You'll be on my list for this as things improve. Anything exploratory or scout/patrol gets priority.

"Now then, your first mission will be a bit of a shakedown near the Romulan borders. Things are still a bit chaotic with the former empire, as I'm sure you know, so we want to keep patrols going as much as we can. Along your first patrol will be a status inquiry with several stations and outposts - a list is attached.

"And, you will need to avoid contacting the Romulans." She glared at him.

Greener chortled again and shook his head.

"We know your past and your connections." The commodore chuckled a bit, and set the pad down. She took a sip of her tea.

Caymen took the last sip of his tea as well. "So we go out there blind and fly around a bit?"

"Not blind." She nodded her head to the pad in his hand. "You have plenty of intel."

Caymen didn't trust Starfleet Intelligence. Hints of secrecy and Section 31-like behavior and conspiracies and... everything negative associated with security surrounded the rather well-funded department.

"Alright, that will work, I suppose," he admitted half-heartedly. "Estimated departure?"

"ASAP?" she said, pronouncing the acronym as a word. "Whenever you are crewed up, you can get underway. I would suggest within the next week you had better be moving."

Caymen nodded and stood. "Alright, that works." He gave a slow bow of his head. "Good to see you again, Commodore." He gave a warm smile once again.

Sanders stood and inspected the captain, smiling herself. "And you, Captain." She paused as he turned to leave. "And Godspeed..."