A Look Around
Bob Martens
Everything was so new, but it still felt good to be back.
"We've been updating the whole ship from stem to stern … including gutting the old computing circuitry and replacing it with bioneural gel packs. I'm not sure how many other Defiant class vessels will have that amount of computing power, but I hope you put it to good use."
Bob just nodded. By this time, the Defiant class is one of the older classes still in use, and because of that she had been surpassed easily by new technology. Of course, the Excelsior he had been brought here on was far older, but that didn't change the fact that the class was starting to show its age.
She had been gutted, much like the Constitution class had been a century ago, and rebuilt with the newest technology. Jason had said this was nothing more than a test project at the moment to see if it was even feasible to update the Defiant class for the next round of conflicts, but so far it was an impressive upgrade.
"Of course, the torpedo launchers and cannons have been updated, along with the addition of some traditional phaser emitters for precision strikes when needed. A lot of effort has gone into miniaturization of existing technologies to try and gain some extra space where there had traditionally not been any … and the addition of a few phasers was a nice touch."
They rounded a corner and saw everything torn apart and the hull missing … they could see the hanger bay from there.
"More modular facilities, like I mentioned. Science labs, extra medical bays, crew quarters, cargo holds … just mission specific facilities. They've been added all over the ship and the idea is to try and eek out a 'multi purpose role' out of what has been a warship. I think its ridiculous, but we will see how it goes in the end I guess."
They turned back and headed to a turbo lift.
"So, pretty impressive. Most of the improvement won't be seen, but with the new automation systems, the crew complement has been cut by a third so that the ships can go on longer missions by allowing less room for crew and more room for storage. Another benefit is that the commanding office and executive officer will both have their own private rooms. Of course, they double as offices, but with less crew comes more space."
Jason nodded in the direction of the XO's office. Bob thought to where Tank might be at the moment, knowing that he had been left to his own devices to get to Deep Space 6. He hoped that the two of them might meet up soon. He was also expecting most of the other members of his senior staff to be showing up as well.
Bob just shook his head. "It is all pretty overwhelming, to tell you the truth. Never thought I'd be back on a ship like this."
"There's more, but I have some stuff to attend to," Jason waved over at a younger man working on part of the ship. "Jonathan! Come here!"
The young man came running over with a serious look on his face. "Yes, sir?"
Jason chuckled just a little bit. "I'd like you to meet Lt. Commander Jonathan Davidson, he's been watching over the refit for the past three months," Jason then turned to Jon. "This is Captain Bob Martens, he'll be the commanding officer of this fine vessel once she is all done. I'm sure you can give him a better tour than I have so far."
Stretching out his hand, Bob was hoping to receive a warm welcome from the young officer, but he got a little bit of a cold shoulder. Nevertheless, cordial relations were always important at times like this. "Pleasure to meet you Commander. Are you stationed here on the station or are you shipping out soon?"
Jon rolled his eyes slightly before taking Bob's hand. "I will be shipping out with you … sir."
Jason leaned over, "I hope the two of you will get off on the right foot, I'll be tending to my flock if you need me for anything. Try to keep a low profile while you're here."
With that, Jason headed for the airlock and went on his way, leaving Bob and Jonathan time to size each other up … with Bob being the first to speak.
"Sorry I didn't quite know who you were at first, I had not received a final manifest and I'm hoping to find it here before I leave."
Jon motioned for Bob to follow him. "You're going to find that to be quite difficult … most of us don't exist here. Every person you see working on the ship right now is a member of the crew and will be joining us. I'll be staying on as your Strategic Operations office, mainly acting as your naval XO when the need arises."
Bob shook his head, "Glad to have you aboard. How do things look right now from your perspective?"
"Besides being chronically behind schedule and being forced to barter for almost everything? We're doing remarkably well, I guess. We should be finishing up all superstructure and external work this week, closing her up and then finishing up the rest within the month. HOPEFULLY we can get the extra supplies we need and be under way shortly after."
"Well, that gives us plenty of time to prepare. Does everyone have quarters assigned on the station?"
"Nope. First thing we were assigned to do is to prepare our quarters here on the ship. Something about not wanting us to be part of the general populace at all. It keeps us cooped up, but we manage … WATCH OUT!" Jon ducked under a low-hanging conduit and Bob almost grazed it with his temple. "The big project at the moment is prepping the new warp core to come online tomorrow, which should speed things up a little bit. Having our own power source will allow us to sever our current ties with DS6 and start running diagnostics on the new gel packs and other systems."
"Anything else new that I should be aware of?"
"The bridge has been reconfigured, but not a whole not. Comfier chairs, I guess. There is also a new holographic display system at the back of the bridge that ties directly in with the main sensor array and should give us a great view of whatever we are up against in any battles."
"Should be useful. Any of that extra space being used by a second shuttle?"
"Glad you asked," Jon said as they rounded another corner and could see directly out into the hanger again. There was obviously an environmental shield there, but it still took some getting used to. "We can now carry two of them at once, and they're now designated Type-10c shuttlecraft. Crew complement is the same, but armament and armor has been increased. I think they'll make a good addition."
"Wow, sounds like quite the update all around. Anything else I should know about?"
Jon stopped and pulled Bob aside. "Since this whole … mission … isn't "by the books" by any means, we've acquired an experimental cloaking device."
"Acquired? A cloaking device isn't something that falls out of the sky."
"Well, this one literally did. Right now we're still trying to figure out who made it and what it is doing here … but when I got here it had already been installed and tested. I'm not sure who did it, I just know that we have it."
Bob was more than a little worried about that fact. "Any idea if it is bugged or a bomb just waiting to go off?"
"Honestly, I've had a crew picking that thing apart since I was assigned here and we have not found anything. We've ended ups actually taking it apart and putting it back together and we are no closer to figuring out who put it there."
"Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth?"
"If it works and doesn't get us killed … no."
They stopped in front of a door and Jon sighed, just a little bit, with relief. "These are your quarters, ready room, and personal office."
"Thank you Commander, I look forward to looking over your progress after I get settled in a little bit."
"If there is nothing else, sir, I'd like to get back to work."
Bob sighed a little himself, knowing it would be futile to try and get anything else out of the man. "Very well, don't get anyone killed before we are underway."
Jon turned quickly and headed down the corridor. Bob smiled widely and stepped into his quarters.
Sincerely,
Bob Martens
http://bobmartens.net
@boblmartens