Lieutenant Wyatt Ral - A Logical Argument
Jason Price
(Corridor, Deck 10, USS Astraeus))
Caldwell: We're going into drydock for an extended period of time, we're long overdue for some proper work, you know better than anyone that they practically kicked us out of the yard last time so they could make room for half of the fleet. I wouldn't read anything more into it than that.
Ral: Well… I… just assumed you would know.
Wyatt clearly sensed that flash of irritation again at what he’d just said.
Caldwell: oO I know everything Ral... with the exception of the boring stuff... that's what we have blue shirts for. Oo
oO No one knows everything Chris Oo
Caldwell: Like you said, I'm the Second Officer, Ral. If a decision had been made to mothball the ship, I'd know about it- the Captain would have addressed all of us.
Ral: There was an addition to my message. A list of protocols that need to be initiated by the time we reach Earth. They're not standard protocols. We’d usually only do them if we were going to decommission a ship, not just have it in dry dock for repairs
Caldwell: Oh come on, Wyatt. You know what Starfleet are like, it's some bureaucrat desk jockey somewhere that can't tell the difference between a... warp... matrix... flux capacity and a... self-sealing... stem bolt. Or it's some know-nothing know-it-all that's decided to make some procedural changes without a clue as to what they were doing.
Ral: I’m not so sure. Losing the First Officer, removing the Chief Engineer plus all the other transfers. Recalling the Astraeus when the Romulans seem to be getting more involved in the region.
Caldwell: Think it through. Following Frontier Day, Starfleet are getting as many new officers through the Academy as they can, they can't launch ships fast enough to keep up. The Astraeus might be a bit long in the tooth but she's a perfectly fine ship, she's also the command ship for this region. Starfleet is hardly going to pull resources from the expanse whilst the Valcarian's are in the middle of a military buildup, plus the Al-Leyan Exiles are looking at Federation membership and will need support, especially given that La Tirano entity is still at large. It makes no sense at all.
Ral: That’s just it. It makes no sense, to me at least, that they would take the most powerful starship in the region and recall it to Earth just when it’s needed the most in that region.
Caldwell: Wyatt, come on, I'm telling you. Even if you ignore all of the reasons why this makes no sense whatsoever, if... if they were actually thinking about mothballing the Astraeus the Captain would have told us, right.
Ral: I only hope you’re right. I… we, have all put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into making the ship what it is today. Maybe the Captain can’t say anything yet!
Caldwell: Response
Ral: I'm going to double check those orders with SF Command.
Caldwell: Response
Ral: Either way I’m still going to be leaving the ship at some point and I’ll miss everyone. I know we haven’t spent that much time together but I’m going to miss that sarcastic bluntness you're such an expert at ::grinning::
Caldwell: Response
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Lieutenant Wyatt Ral
Chief Engineer
USS Astraeus NCC-70652
C239903WR3