Ensign Christopher Caldwell: To the journey
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Chris M
May 23, 2024, 2:47:31 PM5/23/24
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(( Runabout Daugava, Main Shuttlebay, Deck 4, USS Astraeus ))
He'd promised to have the Runabout ready in twenty five minutes, he'd got it more or less spot on which he was pretty pleased with. It had been hard work. Both the Danube and Arrow class Runabouts were specifically designed to be modular, this allowed for the ships to be manufactured for specific purposes or to be re-configured whilst in service to suit specific mission profiles. Despite this, easy was still a relative term. There were only so many ways you could integrate such modularity into a viable spaceframe without too many compromises and as such the process was not something that could be easily achieved in such a short space of time. Still despite that he had succeeded in not only overseeing (and doing more than his fair share of) the work to prepare the Daugava but he'd also retrieved his travel bag from his quarters, written and filed his flight plan and had also managed to do two things which he felt were especially nice touches. The first was that he had borrowed one of the sofas from one of the two lounges that adjoined the main shuttlebay and had it quickly welded into place in the medical compartment, he figured that if Serala's mother was ill enough that she would be largely confined to the medical unit then Serala might likewise spend a lot of time with her and that the sofa would allow her to be more comfortable. In fact, after his self imposed deadline proved more strict than it had needed to be, he had spent the bulk of his time trying to make the compartment more comfortable but without compromising on the effective operation of the space. The second was that he had managed to persuade one of the servers from the Pagrati Lounge to deliver half a dozen temperature controlled flasks containing what he had been assured were drinks that the Commander had ordered in the past and shown a preference for, the drinks were of course fresh and not replicated. It was for the second of these thoughtful touches that his heart sank when he saw Ensign Doucet approaching as he stuck his head out of the Runabout's port entry hatch.
oO Serala didn't tell me Sylvie was coming did she? I didn't get anything for her. Oo
He started trying to work out how quickly he could get to the lounge himself to retrieve something for Sylvie, not wanting them to feel left out. He estimated he could get to the lounge, place an order, have it filled and rush back within a few minutes but he could use the transporter instead, adjusting his maths accordingly would more than half the time but then he'd probably have to explain his site to site transporter order which would then cost him a decent chunk of the saved time and if Serala arrived could he really justify delaying their departure, when he had made promises about how quick he would be ready to go, to go and grab a fresh drink rather than a replicated one?
oO I might still be able to make it. Oo
His thinking quickly changed when he saw the Commander entering the Shuttlebay, stopping to talk to a pair of blue uniformed officers that Christopher wasn't familiar with.
Serala: Thank you both. And I mean that quite sincerely. Neither of you has to do this, and the fact that you are willing to do so means quite a lot to me. I won’t forget it as a matter of honor. And Honor is Life.
He wasn't familiar with what seemed to be a quote but knowing the background hardly seemed important, the meaning was perfectly clear.
Caldwell: We've got a medical module installed, it should be well stocked and I've tried to put in some creature comforts. There's some freshly brewed drinks as well for you and your mother, hopefully she has similar tastes to you. ::To Sylvie:: Sorry doc, I didn't have time to grab anything fresh for you.
Well stocked was likely to be an understatement, given the small number of passengers, he'd used one of the crew compartments as additional storage which he'd filled with a range of medications to treat all number of conditions, using what medical knowledge he had, and probably more helpfully, what the main computer had suggested he had practically everything in the database for treating Vulcanoids. Had he known Doucet would be joining them he probably wouldn't have needed to go quite as over the top as he had. He still wasn't sure if Serala had mentioned that Doucet would be accompanying them or not and since he wasn't certain either way he saw no reason to throw the Commander under the proverbial bus when he could take the blame for his failure to get anything to make the Ensign more comfortable for the trip.
Doucet: Response.
Serala: Right, then. Let’s get this thing underway, shall we?
Caldwell: Aye sir.
Without waiting he disappeared back into the Daugava and made his way to the cockpit, with the hatch still open he could just about make out Doucet speaking.
Doucet: Response.
Having already carried out a pre-flight check and waiting for his companions to seal the hatch so that he could initiate departure, very much aware that time might be of the essence and that Serala was likely going to be anxious to reach Illara Prime and see her mother as soon as possible.
((Timeskip several days))
Christopher was pretty exhausted as the ship raced towards the Illara system. He'd spend most of the trip at the helm, in fact he'd often slept at his console in case the autopilot had ever ran into trouble, which it had on a few occasions.
On a direct, straight line course, the journey would have been just under 20 lightyears however, as with much of the Par'tha Expanse, straight line travel was not possible. The Expanse was still a relatively newly formed region of space, filled with all sorts of navigational hazards and ever shifting safe routes between them. The safest route would have been the Kaen'anti Bypass, a trade route that was traditionally heavily used by the Romulans. That route would have made their journey close to 27 lightyears and so Christopher had decided to forge his own path, opting for a shorter and far more direct route that had taken the Daugava far closer to the Rintani nebula. Whilst they never passed through the nebula itself there were large pockets of theta radiation in the surrounding area as well as a number of other hazardous phenomena that Christopher either had to find ways to fly through or around. The course he had plotted had meant that as they approached the Illara system, they'd made the run in just 20.47 light years, just under a single light year off of a direct course and far shorter than had he stuck to the Kaen'anti Bypass, it had however made it far more dangerous, requiring more of his attention to pilot the ship.
oO Astral eddies, gravimetric distortions, neutronic storms, plasma flares, even a goddam quantum filament. This would have been a great field trip for some Academy science majors. Oo
Most of the encountered difficulties hadn't been too difficult to avoid, although the filament had definitely snuck up on them, it wasn't about avoiding them though. If he just wanted to avoid them he'd have stuck to the Bypass. The point was finding away through or around the dangers without adversely delaying their arrival. During the moments of calm that existed between the frantic piloting, Serala and Doucet had spent a decent amount of time keeping him company, even if he was too focused on flying to always be an exciting participant he had appreciated their presence. They'd found little ways of making him more comfortable such as adjusting the lighting to replicate a day and night cycle. One 'night' he had woken up to find that one of his crewmates had wedged a pillow under his head and covered him with a blanket as he slept. They also took turns piloting to give him some reprieve and they'd agreed almost immediately after departing the Astraeus which part of the route would be suitable for each member to fly or at least be designated as the duty officer to oversee the automatic piloting that was in place. Between piloting emergencies they found little ways to pass the time, he appreciated that whilst Serala was understandably anxious to get to her ill mother, she was flexible in terms of how they spent their time, the trio had talked about about their pre-Starfleet lives, experiences at the Academy, they had watched some movies together, they had even 'went camping', dimming the lights and consoles and using a portable holoprojector to project readings from the external sensors onto the cockpit's ceiling allowing them to do some stargazing which they further enhanced by having the computer provide background ambience simulating the natural world with wind and appropriate animal noises, they even traded some ghost stories at one point. Their interactions helped make his job feel less stressful and hopefully provided some distraction for Serala.
With the first leg of their journey nearly completed, he allowed himself a moment to rest his eyes, very nearly falling asleep during the process until Serala spoke up.
Serala: We’re making good time. We should be at the planet in a few hours. Mister Caldwell, what’s the weather forecast? I can see the ion storm on my sensors, but how bad is it really?
Caldwell: It's a big one I'd say it's looking like a level ten. It's severely disrupting the telemetry coming out of the system, from what I can tell it looks like they're diverting or grounding non-critical travel into and out of the system along a number of transit routes. If I'm getting this right it sounds like they are even evacuating some of the smaller stations as a precaution. There's so much interference though a lot of what I'm getting is a garbled mess but they've got us on their long range sensors and are continuing to provide real time updates which are largely coming through intact.
Christopher felt it was best to stay silent, his job was getting them from A to B in one piece.
Caldwell: Given the situation in system, transporters might be a problem. Can your mother be easily moved if needed, is she mobile?
Serala/Doucet: Responses
Caldwell: There's so much ionic interference that even boosting the confinement beam we might be talking about needing pattern enhancers to even attempt a safe transport.
Serala: Response
He'd promised to have the Runabout ready in twenty five minutes, he'd got it more or less spot on which he was pretty pleased with. It had been hard work. Both the Danube and Arrow class Runabouts were specifically designed to be modular, this allowed for the ships to be manufactured for specific purposes or to be re-configured whilst in service to suit specific mission profiles. Despite this, easy was still a relative term. There were only so many ways you could integrate such modularity into a viable spaceframe without too many compromises and as such the process was not something that could be easily achieved in such a short space of time. Still despite that he had succeeded in not only overseeing (and doing more than his fair share of) the work to prepare the Daugava but he'd also retrieved his travel bag from his quarters, written and filed his flight plan and had also managed to do two things which he felt were especially nice touches. The first was that he had borrowed one of the sofas from one of the two lounges that adjoined the main shuttlebay and had it quickly welded into place in the medical compartment, he figured that if Serala's mother was ill enough that she would be largely confined to the medical unit then Serala might likewise spend a lot of time with her and that the sofa would allow her to be more comfortable. In fact, after his self imposed deadline proved more strict than it had needed to be, he had spent the bulk of his time trying to make the compartment more comfortable but without compromising on the effective operation of the space. The second was that he had managed to persuade one of the servers from the Pagrati Lounge to deliver half a dozen temperature controlled flasks containing what he had been assured were drinks that the Commander had ordered in the past and shown a preference for, the drinks were of course fresh and not replicated. It was for the second of these thoughtful touches that his heart sank when he saw Ensign Doucet approaching as he stuck his head out of the Runabout's port entry hatch.
oO Serala didn't tell me Sylvie was coming did she? I didn't get anything for her. Oo
He started trying to work out how quickly he could get to the lounge himself to retrieve something for Sylvie, not wanting them to feel left out. He estimated he could get to the lounge, place an order, have it filled and rush back within a few minutes but he could use the transporter instead, adjusting his maths accordingly would more than half the time but then he'd probably have to explain his site to site transporter order which would then cost him a decent chunk of the saved time and if Serala arrived could he really justify delaying their departure, when he had made promises about how quick he would be ready to go, to go and grab a fresh drink rather than a replicated one?
oO I might still be able to make it. Oo
His thinking quickly changed when he saw the Commander entering the Shuttlebay, stopping to talk to a pair of blue uniformed officers that Christopher wasn't familiar with.
Serala: All set, Mister Caldwell?
Caldwell: We're good to go.
Serala: Excellent news. :: to Doucet :: And you, Doctor? Do you have everything you need?
Doucet: Response
Serala: Thank you both. And I mean that quite sincerely. Neither of you has to do this, and the fact that you are willing to do so means quite a lot to me. I won’t forget it as a matter of honor. And Honor is Life.
He wasn't familiar with what seemed to be a quote but knowing the background hardly seemed important, the meaning was perfectly clear.
Caldwell: We've got a medical module installed, it should be well stocked and I've tried to put in some creature comforts. There's some freshly brewed drinks as well for you and your mother, hopefully she has similar tastes to you. ::To Sylvie:: Sorry doc, I didn't have time to grab anything fresh for you.
Well stocked was likely to be an understatement, given the small number of passengers, he'd used one of the crew compartments as additional storage which he'd filled with a range of medications to treat all number of conditions, using what medical knowledge he had, and probably more helpfully, what the main computer had suggested he had practically everything in the database for treating Vulcanoids. Had he known Doucet would be joining them he probably wouldn't have needed to go quite as over the top as he had. He still wasn't sure if Serala had mentioned that Doucet would be accompanying them or not and since he wasn't certain either way he saw no reason to throw the Commander under the proverbial bus when he could take the blame for his failure to get anything to make the Ensign more comfortable for the trip.
Doucet: Response.
Serala: Right, then. Let’s get this thing underway, shall we?
Caldwell: Aye sir.
Without waiting he disappeared back into the Daugava and made his way to the cockpit, with the hatch still open he could just about make out Doucet speaking.
Doucet: Response.
Having already carried out a pre-flight check and waiting for his companions to seal the hatch so that he could initiate departure, very much aware that time might be of the essence and that Serala was likely going to be anxious to reach Illara Prime and see her mother as soon as possible.
((Timeskip several days))
Christopher was pretty exhausted as the ship raced towards the Illara system. He'd spend most of the trip at the helm, in fact he'd often slept at his console in case the autopilot had ever ran into trouble, which it had on a few occasions.
On a direct, straight line course, the journey would have been just under 20 lightyears however, as with much of the Par'tha Expanse, straight line travel was not possible. The Expanse was still a relatively newly formed region of space, filled with all sorts of navigational hazards and ever shifting safe routes between them. The safest route would have been the Kaen'anti Bypass, a trade route that was traditionally heavily used by the Romulans. That route would have made their journey close to 27 lightyears and so Christopher had decided to forge his own path, opting for a shorter and far more direct route that had taken the Daugava far closer to the Rintani nebula. Whilst they never passed through the nebula itself there were large pockets of theta radiation in the surrounding area as well as a number of other hazardous phenomena that Christopher either had to find ways to fly through or around. The course he had plotted had meant that as they approached the Illara system, they'd made the run in just 20.47 light years, just under a single light year off of a direct course and far shorter than had he stuck to the Kaen'anti Bypass, it had however made it far more dangerous, requiring more of his attention to pilot the ship.
oO Astral eddies, gravimetric distortions, neutronic storms, plasma flares, even a goddam quantum filament. This would have been a great field trip for some Academy science majors. Oo
Most of the encountered difficulties hadn't been too difficult to avoid, although the filament had definitely snuck up on them, it wasn't about avoiding them though. If he just wanted to avoid them he'd have stuck to the Bypass. The point was finding away through or around the dangers without adversely delaying their arrival. During the moments of calm that existed between the frantic piloting, Serala and Doucet had spent a decent amount of time keeping him company, even if he was too focused on flying to always be an exciting participant he had appreciated their presence. They'd found little ways of making him more comfortable such as adjusting the lighting to replicate a day and night cycle. One 'night' he had woken up to find that one of his crewmates had wedged a pillow under his head and covered him with a blanket as he slept. They also took turns piloting to give him some reprieve and they'd agreed almost immediately after departing the Astraeus which part of the route would be suitable for each member to fly or at least be designated as the duty officer to oversee the automatic piloting that was in place. Between piloting emergencies they found little ways to pass the time, he appreciated that whilst Serala was understandably anxious to get to her ill mother, she was flexible in terms of how they spent their time, the trio had talked about about their pre-Starfleet lives, experiences at the Academy, they had watched some movies together, they had even 'went camping', dimming the lights and consoles and using a portable holoprojector to project readings from the external sensors onto the cockpit's ceiling allowing them to do some stargazing which they further enhanced by having the computer provide background ambience simulating the natural world with wind and appropriate animal noises, they even traded some ghost stories at one point. Their interactions helped make his job feel less stressful and hopefully provided some distraction for Serala.
With the first leg of their journey nearly completed, he allowed himself a moment to rest his eyes, very nearly falling asleep during the process until Serala spoke up.
Serala: We’re making good time. We should be at the planet in a few hours. Mister Caldwell, what’s the weather forecast? I can see the ion storm on my sensors, but how bad is it really?
Caldwell: It's a big one I'd say it's looking like a level ten. It's severely disrupting the telemetry coming out of the system, from what I can tell it looks like they're diverting or grounding non-critical travel into and out of the system along a number of transit routes. If I'm getting this right it sounds like they are even evacuating some of the smaller stations as a precaution. There's so much interference though a lot of what I'm getting is a garbled mess but they've got us on their long range sensors and are continuing to provide real time updates which are largely coming through intact.
Serala: Very good. Let me know how I can assist. I minored in Operations at the Academy, so I can be of some use if you need me.
Caldwell: The storm is moving pretty quickly, once we get closer anything you can do to clear up comms is going to be incredibly helpful.
Serala gave an understanding nod before turning her focus to Sylvie.
Serala: I’m going to need you on hot standby. With this being a touch and go retrieval, I would like you to assess Mother once she’s on board and give me your estimate on how long she has and if you can keep her alive until we get to Vulcan.
Doucet: Response
Christopher felt it was best to stay silent, his job was getting them from A to B in one piece.
Serala: Ambassador Jorin will be coming as well. I don’t know what his status is going to be, but my guess is exhaustion at a minimum, so I recommend being ready to treat him as well, just in case it’s needed.
Doucet: Response
Caldwell: Given the situation in system, transporters might be a problem. Can your mother be easily moved if needed, is she mobile?
Serala/Doucet: Responses
Caldwell: There's so much ionic interference that even boosting the confinement beam we might be talking about needing pattern enhancers to even attempt a safe transport.
Serala: Response
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