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// Cochrane Arena, San Francisco, Earth \\<BR><br> <br>As Sasha entered the antechamber that SNN had taken over for<br>interviews, she shut the door quickly behind her. It shut out the<br>noise completely -- the raucous celebration going on outside this room<br>would not interfere at all with the interviews. Smoothing her uniform<br>over her hips, she looked at the technicians as they readied their<br>equipment for more recordings. A mixed group of women and men, all<br>Humans (not surprising, at least -- not at this point), they kept up a<br>steady chatter of tech-ese as they placed cameras at various angles<br>and tweaked sound devices.<br> <br>The room itself was fairly large, with numerous windows that ran along<br>the outer curving wall. The ceiling was high, and was festooned with<br>curving arches and buttresses. A fussy-looking man spotted her as she<br>stood near the door. He approached and said, "Captain Spearling?",<br>checking a datapad as he spoke.<br> <br>"Yes."<br> <br>"Good good. I'm Roger Pedacter, I'll be directing this recording.<br>Won't you come along over here and let make-up take a look at you?" He<br>smiled a toothy smile and took her by the elbow, leading her off to a<br>smaller room attached to the main antechamber by a narrow arched door.<br>Once there, he ushered her inside and then disappeared.<br> <br>"Goodness me," said a Denobulan woman who lingered inside the room.<br>"We won't need to do much for you, I can tell from over here that your<br>skin is just /gorgeous/!" She fluttered over and fussed a while with<br>Sasha's hair, touched up her lips with rosy color, then bade her<br>return to the main room.<br> <br>--<br> <br>For all his attempts to avoid confrontation Ethan had not been able<br>to get out of this one. As he wandered through the crowds in the<br>post-signing celebration meeting lots of new people and catching up<br>with some old, he had been approached by an attractive young lady.<br>Doing the polite thing by offering her a drink he hadn't noticed the<br>Solar News Network ID badge until a split second too late. He found<br>himself roped into giving an interview with a pass handed to him and<br>instruction to 'get back stage' at a specific time. He reluctantly<br>agreed. The women then left; leaving her drink untouched.<br> <br>In the aftermath of this he had decided to honour the agreement and<br>found himself sitting in a busy interview area. A reasonable sized<br>sofa would sit three, four at a squeeze, so he positioned himself on<br>the far left cushion and waited for his interviewer to turn up. He<br>tried to ignore the slightly sluggish feeling one usually associates<br>with having consumed a few alcoholic beverages.<br> <br>As Sasha re-entered, she recognized Captain Armstrong from photos<br>she'd seen of the Intrepid crew. A smile bloomed on her face as she<br>approached him, hand out. "Captain Armstrong, I presume?" she asked,<br>still smiling. His grip was strong. She liked how his black hair<br>spiked every which way, as though he'd just come in from sailing in a<br>gale.<br> <br>"Captain Spearling of the Challenger." Ethan stood up with a smile and<br>shook the approaching woman's hand. "I see they got to you, as well."<br>he gestured toward the news staff. "I'm glad to see you if only so I<br>don't have to fly this one solo" he raised an eyebrow.<br> <br>Sasha's voice was hushed. "My thoughts exactly. Did they feed you<br>any topics? I mean, besides a couple obvious guesses, I have no idea<br>what they're going to ask." She looked over at Mr. Pedacter, who was<br>'directing' the techs while the make-up girl powdered his nose.<br> <br>"I've got nothing." Ethan shrugged looking around casually to see if<br>the woman who invited him in the first place was anywhere to be seen.<br>"Still, I'm sure we can handle it. I've recently discovered a new<br>skill for making things up as I go along," he grinned wryly.<br> <br>Roger approached, clapping his hands together briskly. "All right,<br>all right, everyone! Let's get settled! Mitreena is heading our way,<br>and she has a limited amount of time for this!" Sasha and Ethan<br>smirked at each other -- as though /their/ time was limitless. Sasha<br>shrugged and walked over to sit in one of the comfortable chairs that<br>surrounded a low table on the 'set'.<br> <br>Ethan followed Captain Spearling from the waiting area through to the<br>main set. He remembered seeing the reporter Mitreena on the television<br>back at Starfleet Command earlier in the day. It seemed a little<br>strange he would now be meeting her face-to-face. But then it had<br>been a historic few hours.<br> <br>"Coffee?" A young Human page.<br> <br>"Definitely," Sasha said. "Black." It had been a long day and looked<br>to be an even longer night.<br> <br>"Coffee, no thanks. I try not to drink the stuff at night" Ethan<br>rejected the request.<br> <br>Mitreena Four swept into the room. The dimunitive Denobulan woman<br>entered the room, shushed her agent and aide and shut the door in<br>their faces, and then hurried over to where Ethan and Sasha waited --<br>brushing past Roger Pedacter and ignoring him in the process. She<br>gushed, "I'm /so/ glad you could both make it ... thank you /so/ much<br>for agreeing to be interviewed."<br> <br>"Yes. You're welcome, Ms. Four," Sasha murmured. "Sasha Spearling,<br>of the Challenger." She shook hands with Mitreena. The glittering<br>Denobulan made Sasha feel positively plain in comparison, with her<br>bejeweled gown and upswept 'do.<br> <br>Ethan couldn't say much at first, he just sat there and smiled as the<br>life and soul of the party arrived. "Captain Armstrong, Intrepid," he<br>eventually replied as Mitreena shimmered in front of him,<br>orchestrating the room with her moves.<br> <br>"I'm honored ... honored," Mitreena said, seating herself. "Roger ...<br>Roger, let's start, all right? These people can't waste time here,<br>they have very important jobs to get back to." She smiled at Ethan<br>and Sasha -- but mostly at Ethan.<br> <br>Sasha pressed her lips together to hold back a chuckle. Pleased to see<br>his smile reciprocated, Ethan felt that perhaps this wouldn't be so<br>bad after all.<br> <br>"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE!" Roger Pedacter yelled. "Camera ... move in ...<br>good good ... yes, that's right ... tighten it up. GOOD! All right,<br>Mitreena, ready?" Ms. Four nodded. "All right then .... Three ...<br>two ...." He then held up one finger, then pointed at Mitreena as the<br>camlights went to red.<br> <br>"Good evening. This is the Solar News Network, and I'm Mitreena<br>Four." A pause for a smile. "With me this evening are two of Star<br>Fleet's finest: Captain Ethan Armstrong, commanding officer of the<br>NX-07 Intrepid ... and Captain Sasha Spearling, commanding officer of<br>the FCL-04 Challenger. Captains -- welcome and thank you for being<br>with us this evening."<br> <br>Sasha nodded her head benignly, a small smile on her lips. John would<br>want dignity from her in this situation ... she'd give it to him in<br>spades. Ethan suddenly realised he was probably being recorded,<br>possibly live, and that some of the crew would most likely be<br>watching. He straightened himself up and removed the grin, replacing<br>it with a stern but relaxed expression.<br> <br>"First let me begin by saying how much I respect and admire you for<br>what you do. And I'm certain the viewers out there feel the same<br>way," Mitreena said, smiling at the two officers /and/ into the<br>camera.<br> <br>"Thank you, Mitreena." Was this how it was going to go? Sasha fought<br>the urge to sigh.<br> <br>"I consider myself very fortunate to serve on Intrepid, exploring<br>space. That remains our core mission despite recent activities. The<br>respect of others is appreciated and an added bonus but we'll keep<br>doing our jobs even without it," Ethan replied.<br> <br>"Thank you, Captain Armstrong. Now .. we know that the Intrepid was<br>instrumental in cutting the Romulan supply lines. What can you tell<br>us about that?"<br> <br>"We were diverted from our mission to help a colony in the Algosi<br>system. From there we got on the trail of a missing cargo freighter<br>and pulling that thread unravelled a path which eventual lead us to<br>the Romulans. Given the escalating situation in the Cheron system we<br>were authorised to push on and destroy a Romulan shipyard, if<br>possible, to reduce their chances of sending reinforcements. With the<br>help of our allies the Andorians, the Interplanetary Enforcement Unit,<br>and the starship Yorktown, we succeeded."<br> <br>Sasha sipped her coffee and listened to Ethan. She kept her face<br>benign, her hands steady on the thick mug, as she listened, nodding<br>occasionally.<br> <br>"Captain Armstrong, that must have been an amazing experience. I wish<br>you could tell us more, but I definitely understand why you can't,"<br>Ms. Four said to Ethan.<br> <br>"I can only say I am proud of my crew's performance and I am glad our<br>actions helped the war effort and force a Romulan retreat," he looked<br>briefly at the cameras as he spoke.<br> <br>"Captain Spearling ... we understand that the Challenger was facing an<br>altogether different set of circumstances. We've been told that your<br>ship -- along with the Meridian -- was in command at the Coalsack Dark<br>Nebula in the Battle of Cheron. Will you share with us please ...<br>what was that like?" Mitreena was intense, solemn again, leaning<br>forward in her chair.<br> <br>"I'll tell you what I can," Sasha said, "although as you must know,<br>much of it is classified." She set down her coffee mug. "The<br>Romulans were massing near Cheron, with what we now know must have<br>surely been most, if not all, of their entire fleet. The intel was<br>good, as we discovered when we arrived on the opposite side of the<br>nebula. Our allies worked with us to ascertain their numbers and<br>movements, and when we had that information -- due to some excellent<br>scouting -- we all met to lay down our plans. Keeping a /very/ low<br>profile, we began our attack fully supported by our allies, surprised<br>the Romulans, and were ultimately successful."<br> <br>"You leave a lot out, we know this and we know why ... but I'm sure it<br>wasn't nearly that cut and dried?" Mitreena knew a hold-back when she<br>heard one.<br> <br>"No, of course it wasn't, Ms. Four," Sasha said. "I tell you what I<br>can. You, and the viewers, have I'm sure watched enough Tri-D to have<br>an idea what such a battle must be like. Our allies were the key,<br>both during the battle and after. Loss of life and materiel was<br>/greatly/ reduced, since we had their help and support." No way was<br>Sasha mentioning the nukes. Technically nuclear weapons were frowned<br>upon, if not outright outlawed ... although out at the edge of the<br>quadrant laws were spotty. That would probably change now.<br> <br>"Yes, of course," Mitreena murmured. "And now that such inter-species<br>cooperation will be taken to the next step -- with the United<br>Federation of Planets -- we present a much stronger front to our<br>enemies." She didn't allow time for response to this but just<br>ploughed on ahead. "Your ships are currently in Space Dock," she<br>continued. "What's going on? Captain Armstrong?"<br> <br>"Most of the NX fleet is undergoing repairs and upgrades as you'd<br>expect. You may have read from recent engineering corp reports that<br>they've developed a better warp core for the NX class frame which<br>could take us to warp 6. Along with better defensive and offensive<br>capabilities and improvements in sensors. Pretty much every system is<br>getting some kind of improvement." Ethan explained. "This is a major<br>refit designed to take the fleet to the next level and give us some<br>parity with the rest of our Federation allies."<br> <br>Sasha let Ethan handle that one, sipping her coffee and nodding when<br>it looked like her agreement was called for.<br> <br>"Interesting!" Mitreena sang out. "So then -- what's next? After all<br>the pomp and circumstance is done and the Federation begins its<br>important work ... what's next for Star Fleet? Captain Spearling?"<br> <br>Holding her mug between her hands, Sasha looked at Mitreena. "Star<br>Fleet will continue as the spaceborne arm of the Federation,<br>especially as it concerns near-Sol activities. I look for the Alien<br>Exchange Program to evolve and accelerate as relations between our<br>species firm and strengthen ... which will result in the evolution of<br>the Fleet." She smiled. "That's my prediction, Mitreena."<br> <br>"Ah-hah," Mitreena said, smiling back. "Captain Armstrong -- what's<br>next specifically for the Intrepid?"<br> <br>"Give us a couple of months and Intrepid will be heading out of the<br>solar system faster than anyone has gone before, on a new mission of<br>exploration. Boldly going where no-one has gone before. At least,<br>that's the intention," Ethan smiled. The camera panned out.<BR> <BR>The screen went dark.<BR> <BR> <BR>This has been a special report, brought to you by the Solar News Network!<br> Stay tuned, stay informed, stay involved!<BR> <BR> <BR>Your host:<br>Ms. Mitreena Four<br>SNN Reporter<br> <apb Anna><BR>==================<br>Captain Sasha Spearling<br>Commanding Officer<br>FCL-04 Challenger<BR>==================<BR>Captain Ethan Armstrong<br>Commanding Officer<br>ESS Inrepid, NX-07<br><BR> </div></body>
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