[Jaxom & Others] "Back In The Saddle"

[Clifford]

Ooc: for those interested, more about the Nova Class can be found here:

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Nova_class

“Aboard The Montgomery, Part 1”

or

“Back In The Saddle Again”

Captain Jaal Jaxom

Commander T’Vrel

Lieutenant Commander Tale Gilohesh

Lieutenant Commander Diane Doctrine

Ensign Joann Meyers

==Transporter Room, USS Montgomery NCC 72706==

Four newcomers materialized on the transporter pad. Two in casual clothes, two in somewhat tattered and dirty uniforms, and one child.

T’Vrel refrained from rolling her eyes. What in Sarek’s name had she volunteered for? She made a mental note to not let Admiral Houhah talk her into things like this again no matter how scientifically interesting the mission appeared.

She knew of the Trill and took a step towards him. “Captain Jaxom? I am Commander T’Vrel. I will be serving as your executive officer. Welcome aboard the Montgomery.”

Infinite diversity in infinite combinations, Jaal thought, but they all had the exact same haircut? Then he remembered Vulcans didn’t like casual physical contact so he held back not offering the usual handshake.

“Thank you,” he replied amicably. “Time of the essence, can we depart now?”

“We are already headed for the Archwind Nebula Captain,” T’Vrel answered precisely, “We left as soon as you beamed aboard. We should reach our destination in ten point seven hours at our current speed. In the meantime, would you all,” she motioned to the others, “like to freshen up in your quarters for our journey?”

“That sounds fantastic,” Diane offered. A good, hot shower would do wonders. “Please, lead on.”

“I heartily agree with that assessment,” Joann added. She wanted to sniff her armpits once, just to check, but held herself from doing that.

“I will certainly appreciate the respite,” Tale said, grateful for any time that wasn’t trying to appear like she wasn’t a fish out of water in this situation. Plus, she desperately needed to breathe in a room by herself. No one can ever think a singular thought in a crowded room. 

They were led up one deck and to three cabins next to each other. Once Commanders Doctrine and Gilohesh, and Ensign Meyers disappeared behind doors, T’Vrel looked to Jaal, “The captain’s cabin is one more deck up.”

As they walked down the corridor, into the turbolift, and towards the captain’s cabin, Jaal asked, “I’d like to wash up and get myself a proper uniform. In one hour I’d like to meet the senior staff, including Doctrine, Gilohesh, and Meyers in the conference room. I’m sure Admiral Houhah laid out what’s going on?”

“We are on our way to, ‘get science’, to quote Admiral Houhah,” T’Vrel replied in that typical Vulcan way that everyone else didn’t quite adore.

Jaal surmised she may be the only person from Starbase 55 that could say the Admiral’s name without giggling maniacly about it.

“Houhah” was one of those rare, spoken words, whether formally or in slang, that meant only one thing in every language in which it was translated. (Somewhat like ‘Ginnintonic”... but the author digresses.)

T’Vrel’s tone suggested the merest hint of mirth when she quoted Houhah saying ‘get science’. It was difficult to tell if she was kidding or not. Jaal looked at her for a moment while not narrowing his eyes in amusement. “It’s the anomaly that spit out the runabout Doctrine and Gilohesh were flying. It’s dissipating so I’d like to get the sensors trained on it as soon as we can detect it on the long range array. It might be their only chance to get home.”

“I will relay your orders to the science department Captain. If you need anything else, do not hesitate to ask.”

“Thank you,” Jaal replied, then he slipped into the cabin.

Inside the captain’s cabin Jaal flicked on the PADD he’d been carrying. He gave the Montgomery’s specs a quick glance and was duly impressed. She was a Nova class scout slash science vessel with, essentially, upgraded everything. “Quite the little powerhouse we have here,” he commented to no one. Montgomery had the very latest in laboratory, sensor, phaser, and shield technology, the absolute best Starfleet could currently put on a vessel.

He took a few moments to look up a few things in the Starfleet database on the cabin’s computer terminal. There were a couple things nagging in the back of his mind he needed to settle. Once he found what he was looking for, it was time to get cleaned up.

After a quick sonic shower he replicated a new uniform, some rank pips, and commbadge. Once he had the uniform on he studied himself in a mirror. Not too bad, he thought.

Next he picked up the rank pips idly wondering if he really deserved to wear them. His brow knitted deeply while he thought about all his time and experience in Starfleet. He glanced in the mirror again. “No time for doubts now. People are counting on you. You’ve had plenty of time off, now get back to work,” he told his reflection sternly.

Am I really doing this? He asked himself silently

He attached the rank pips to his collar and, once again, checked the mirror.

He swallowed hard. I guess I am. Shazbot.

He affixed the comm badge in its place on his left breast. He solemnly remembered the oath Starfleet Academy cadets swear to before starting off on their education. He felt a chill go up his spine and he tensed up.

Then the door chime rang.

Shaken from his reverie, he looked towards the door. “Come in.”

The door swished open to reveal Joann, freshened up and wearing a crisp uniform indicating her department of employ. “Hey there. You all right?”

Jaal turned to face her with his hands clasped together hanging loosely in front of him. “I… think so.”

The redhead stepped up to him while placing her hands on his shoulders. “You’re gonna be fine. This ship has an experienced crew. This little assignment will be a cake walk. You’ll barely have to do anything.”

Jaal didn’t move. His eyes looked at hers with a tinge of worry showing. “I’m not one hundred percent sure about this Joann.”

Now her hands went to his cheeks forcing him to look right at her, “This is a milk run, we’ll go, take some scans, and bring some data back, all you’ll have to do is sit in the chair and watch.”

He placed his hands over hers. “Yeah… I know that… but…”

“But what?” she challenged when his voice trailed off.

His eyes cast to the floor, then back at hers, “I just… I guess… I just didn’t expect me returning to duty this soon… nor in this surprising manner.” He paused and looked out the small view port at the stars streaking by. “I feel like I’m being thrown into the fire.”

“Do you remember the first time you took command of the Miranda?”

Of course he did… and now it seemed so long ago.

“I do…” he told her recalling the event, “It was right before the Triad War started in earnest… Captain Elaithin was on an away mission, Commander Brex and I were discussing a plan of action with Captain M’Kantu of the Galaxy. We finished repairs after a small skirmish… one thing on the bridge must have been accidentally overlooked, the investigation afterwards never put the blame on anyone in particular…”

The scene replayed in his mind while he told the story…

>+=+> Start the flashback here <+=+<

==Bridge, USS Miranda==

Crewman Unger M. Poortant, known as 'Un' to his friends, had a very simple job aboard the Federation Starship Miranda. He had the grand-sounding title of 'Illumination Specialist'. It meant that, in essence, all maintenance and management of the shipboard lighting systems were under his control - and, in layman's terms, it was a fancy way of saying that he was, in essence, a light bulb changer.

There were worse jobs, he had decided. Even if, with as many fights as Miranda had seemed to get into lately, he was kept awfully busy. It left little time recently to pursue his recreational spy games on the holodeck with his friend, a typically gregarious Bolian named Relgiez.

It did, though, have a few advantages. Namely, after a fight, he was usually summoned to fix the lighting systems on the Bridge first off – and that no one paid much attention to him. He therefore ended up hearing much more than someone of his admittedly low rank would generally hear through normal channels.

At the moment, he was listening to a discussion between Commanders Brex and Jaxom, Miranda's two senior-most officers in the absence of the Captain, and Captain M'Kantu of the Galaxy.

[... My science officers tell me that this subspace null-field surrounding Breen space seems to be coming from some sort of wide-range mine field. Not the ones the Breen have set up for their defensive perimeter, but, according to the scans we can get, some sort of odd hybrid between technological and living components. Sensors are having a hard time locking on to them, so I'm sending a team in a runabout to try to capture one."] the African Captain was saying.

The Bolian Commander nodded. "Our own Mister Mitchell has just finished informing me of the same. Even if we were able to rescue the diplomatic team, so long as those subspace mines are in place, it would take us years simply to get back to the border. As distasteful as it seems, we will have to neutralize whatever control systems the T'Kith'Kin and the Hyrdans are using if we ever want to leave here."

"It may be that your runabout team may be able to figure out how to disable them." Commander Jaxom observed. "Their control system is likely to be rather guarded, and I don't relish the idea of another fight."

Poortant knew that what Jaxom was not mentioning was that his own wife had been among those injured in the orbital ambush staged by the Hyrdans and T'Kith'Kin, and rumor around the ship was that though Taalis was alive, she would not be awakening any time soon. It was a sobering thought, but the Commander seemed to be bearing up as well as he could be expected to.

["That's what I'm hoping. In the meantime, we do have their ion trail to follow, as well as the fact that there only seems to be one path that's isn't a dead zone."] M'Kantu replied. ["It's almost as though they want us to follow."]

"I don't doubt that they do, Captain." Brex replied, a strangely sad look on his face. "I'd recommend sending our Hazard team ahead, along with a handful of Starfighters for escort. It may be that they can slip ahead more easily, and we can plan more from there."

["I agree, Commander."] the dark-skinned Captain replied with a sage nod. ["I'll transport over my Hazard Team as well. A sabotage mission will likely work much better than a full assault."]

"Understood, Captain. I'll have our team prepared and - "

The First Officer of the Miranda never finished that statement. A peculiar whine was heard coming from the deck below where he was standing next to the ops console. Poortant found it hard to describe what had happened next-- there was a flash, and both the Commander and Lieutenant Commander Narim'Malyki sailed from their previous positions, hitting the deck with a sickening sound.

Jaxom was the first to reply as Poortant saw Commander Jordan, the Captain's wife, and Commander O'Grady, the Assistant Chief of Security, rush to the two fallen officers. Poortant heard the call for an emergency transport, and both fallen officers were whisked away to sickbay.

Several tense minutes passed on the bridge as Commander Jaxom had Poortant assist him in locking down the power surge that had overloaded below the Ops station. Once that was done, Poortant could hear the Trill ending the communication with Captain M'Kantu, promising to provide him an update as soon as there was some sort of news on Commander Brex.

And then they waited, for what seemed an interminable amount of time, as Medical officers below decks tried to save the lives of two of Miranda's senior crew members.

Finally, the call came. ["Sickbay to Bridge.] was the haggard voice of Commander Felicia Khatroweena, affectionately known simply as 'Cat' by most of the crew.

"Jaxom here." came the Trill's reply with an edge in his voice that Crewman Poortant couldn't ever recall hearing before. "How are they, Cat?"

["Gwyin will be fine, Jaal."] the Doctor replied. ["She'll be out of it for a few days, but she should recover fully."]

"And Brex?"

["I've done all I can.] the Doctor replied hollowly. ["There was severe neurological damage. I've repaired it, but he's not showing any signs of coming around. He may awaken in an hour, a week - or never. I simply have no way to tell."]

Poortant saw Commander Jordan raise a hand to her mouth, a saddened look in her eyes. Rumor was the intelligence officer had been becoming good friends with the Exec, and the Crewman felt his heart go out to her.

"I understand. Keep me appraised, Doctor." Jaxom replied, the edge of steel still there.

A silent moment passed, and Jaal looked to Commander Jack Dawson, who'd led an Engineering team to finish the repairs Jaxom and Poortant had started. "Mister Dawson, after your repairs are complete, please assume the ops post."

"Aye, sir." Dawson nodded quickly, understanding why Jaal would not be serving at that position himself.

The Trill spoke one more time, addressing the ship's computer. "Computer, please record the status of first officer Commander Brex as incapacitated, and note that I have assumed command of this vessel, as of 13:40 hours of this stardate. Yeoman, note that in the ship's log."

They were words Jaal never thought he'd hear himself speak. He inhaled slowly and exhaled even slower when he finished. 'This is bad,' he thought, 'Very bad.' As if Taalis' injuries weren't enough. He walked to the center of the bridge and looked around. It seemed to him everyone was looking back. No one was without a grim look of determination on their face.

“Isn't this what you've been working for all this time?” a voice inside asked, “All that training, all the experience, all the studying, all the hard work boils down to this. Now what will you do?”

'This is not the way I expected to gain command of a ship,' he told himself. It felt wrong somehow. He didn't feel he'd earned the right but gained the position more out of dumb luck and circumstance. Up until now, he could always tap his commbadge and say 'Captain, please come to the bridge.'

Not now though.

“Not necessarily true,” the voice said, “You earned the second officer's spot. Everything you've done up to now has prepared you for the position you're in now.”

'Why don't I feel that way?' he asked himself.

There was no answer.

Jaal swallowed hard. He wasn't particularly a religious person but he said a small prayer to whatever gods would listen that the diplomatic team on Breen would live through this. Then he prayed again that Miranda's crew did.

Commander Jaxom finally sat in the center seat. Somehow the chair seemed larger than it did when he pulled his command duty shift. For the time being at least, the Starship Miranda, and all sixteen hundred lives aboard her - were under his command and right now it scared the shit out of him.

The last thing the Trill wanted now was to appear indecisive. He knew the crew looked up to him. The absolute last thing he wanted now was to let them down.

(from the USS Miranda Files, Season 8, Episode 68, Wasteland)

<+=+< end of flashback >+=+>

Joann listened intently. She found it interesting to hear about the event first hand. So many things were not in the official logs of the event.

Joann spoke softly, “The majority of the best captains get their first taste of command in similar fashion. It rarely gets handed to them on a silver platter and it’s certainly not on schedule. You get thrown in, you sink or swim. Thanks to your knowledge and experience, you were one who swam. You knew what tools you had and how to use them to their best effectiveness. Today you’ll do the same thing. Check out this crew. See what tools you have and don’t be afraid to use them.”

Jaal closed his eyes while he listened to her explain. When she finished he opened them and asked, ”How are you always right?”

”Years of practice,” she patted him on the cheek once before pulling her hands back. “Now then, are you ready?”

He inhaled deeply and exhaled, “Yeah… as ready as ever… I have to be.”

Joann was staring at him with a sly smile on her face. She took a couple steps back and admired Jaal in his uniform.

”What?”

”I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you in full uniform before,” she put her hands on her hips, striking a pose, replying in a sultry tone, “You look good in it.”

Jaal felt a small bit of heat in his cheeks. He wagged a finger at her, “We are not supposed to be screwing around. You’re my counselor, remember?”

She rolled her eyes so hard they could have rolled right out of her head, “How many times am I going to have to tell you…” She folded her arms across her chest, “That ended when Starfleet Command decided you were fit to return to duty. You are no longer my assignment. We’re just two officers that know each other now.”

Jaal folded his hands behind his back in his best captain’s pose simply staring back at her with a not quite stern look on his face. Her tightly curled, red hair clashing with her ‘medical department blue’ uniform, which did an admirable job concealing the fit figure he knew to be underneath. He shook his head slowly, “What am I gonna do with you?”

“Nothing right now dyngus,” she replied cheekily, “You have a senior staff meeting to run.”

TBC…