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<div dir="ltr">OOC - Posted this to Galaxy due to the presence of Fleet. <br> <br><br><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span></font><font size="2"><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">// Star Fleet HQ, San Francisco, Earth \\<br>
</span></font><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">Sasha fidgeted in the waiting room that fronted Commodore Sheppard’s office. She'd already checked on the Challenger's repair and refit progress, and had received good news. Finally the ship had been pulled into the dock and was being worked on. Since they'd had the Freedom refit, there was less to be done than on the other NX ships, and since a lot of the repairs had been cobbled together while on their way back from the Coalsack Dark Nebula, /hopefully/ it wouldn't be long.<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">And that's why she was here. Orders. Time couldn't stand still and wait on the newly-hatched Federation to get all their ducks in a row. Star Fleet's work still had to go on. From what Sasha had heard of the news coming out of Forrest Outpost and New Darwin, the enemy had been up to no good while the Fleet's back had been turned giving the Romulans a good ass-kicking near Cheron. <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">She looked up as a sudden commotion caught her attention, at the doors that fronted the waiting room. The reception clerk was standing in the way of a short red-haired female, shaking his head at her as she frowned up at him. It was Cara. Sasha smiled and watched her at work. The clerk, a Lieutenant Junior Grade, was about to find out that you didn't stand in the way of the Challenger Exec.<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">"Lt .... if you do not stand aside I will make you stand aside." Cara spoke calmly and quietly, her hands on her hips and a set look on her face. The clerk continued to argue with her and Cara's voice broke into a very still, almost intimidating tone. "Lt (jg) Gregory, you will stand aside so that I can meet with Commodore Sheppard and Captain Spearling and you will do so now." She said, putting her hands on the Lt's arms and stepping him to the side firmly before walking over to Sasha.<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">"Good morning Captain." Cara said, smoothing her hair back into place "How are you?"<br>
<br>
"Good," Sasha said, grinning and patting the chair next to her. "How 'bout yourself, Commander?" Behind the XO, LtJG Gregory pressed his lips together and decided not to approach and question the Exec's presence. Good decision. <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">Cara looked back at the Lt. "I think I hurt his feelings." She said with an impish grin. "So hopefully we're getting a mission and we can get back out there." She said as she continued to watch Gregory pout. "The nanny is ready to come aboard and Josef has spent a wonderful week with Anwar's parents and my parents." She said as they waited for the Commodore. <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">Sasha was about to speak but the door to the inner office opened and Commodore Sheppard stood peering from the doorway. A moment of question passed over her face until she recognized Capt Spearling. Gregory was about to speak up, probably to explain the raised voices in the outer office, but Sheppard waved him off and stepped up to the Captain of the ESS Challenger. “Capt Spearling. Thank you for coming on such short notice. I’m sure you are watching the transition of the Challenger and hate to miss a lick of paint.”<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">"I've got Commander Hanley and LtCmdr McDonald on their way back up to keep an eye on things, and the Engineering Second won't let a lick of paint be applied without his supervision," Sasha said as she stood up, smiling. She shook hands with Sheppard and then gestured toward Cara. "Commodore, my XO -- Commander Nelson-Samad. Cara, this is Commodore Adrienne Sheppard, Fleet Operations. You may have seen her somewhere recently." A smiling reference to the Federation ceremonies that all three women had attended. <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">Cara nodded to the Commodore. "Nice to meet you in person." She said glancing back at Gregory "I apologize for the disturbance. Lt (jg) Gregory was very much against me joining Captain Spearling for this meeting." She said. <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">Sheppard nodded with understanding. “I may be able to explain that. It has been a bit of a circus around here the last couple days and twice we’ve had reporters all but force their way in here, under the pretense they are someone else. Sounds crazy that they made it all the way in here before someone caught them. So security has been on the alert and Lt Gregory I’m sure was afraid someone might have again gotten past the watchdogs. So, come in and sit. I’m delighted you have joined the Captain, Commander."<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">Sasha let the other women precede her. On the way past Gregory's desk, she leaned over and said softly, "keep up the good work, Lieutenant. But I would suggest a good facial recog program." She rapped her knuckles on his desk lightly, then turned and went through the office door, closing it silently behind her.<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">The Commodore was speaking as she turned around. "May I offer you each some tea. I was just going to make a pot of Green with Jasmine, but I can make anything you like of course.” <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">"Yes, thank you, I'd love some," Sasha said.<br>
<br>
"Tea would be great." Cara said waiting for the two senior officers to sit down before she did. She may be forward in many things, but she did stand on decorum and until the senior officers sat, she stood. <br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman"><br>
</font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial">Once everyone was settled with the beverages, the Commodore invited them to sit in the occasional seating arrangement next to the window looking out over the City. Fog lay on the banks of the sea and Bay, but further inland the sky was clear and bright. “Well, I take it then that the upgrades to the ship suit you.”<br>
<br>
Sasha placed the delicate cup back onto its saucer with a barely perceptible clink. "Yes. You know that I've been saying since the beginning that we needed a better hull protection alternative -- and I think with the new shields we're on the right track. Other than repairs, though, since we're a Freedom model there's not /that/ much more to be done to us, mods-wise." She lifted the cup and sipped, watching the fog swirl outside the window as she did.<br>
<br>
Cara nodded in agreement "As we go along, I know the Corp of Engineers will continue to improve on the shielding." She said as she settled in the chair and watched the fog for a moment "I've also heard tell that various other departments are getting much needed improvements that will allow us to perform better in the more hostile circumstances." Cara said sipping the tea and thinking about the refits and upgrades that she had heard about poking around the Engineering dept at headquarters.<br>
<br>
"Right. Medical especially ... they're making good use of the space we opened up when we consolidated the science labs," Sasha added. <br>
<br>
“Do you have a projected completion date?” asked Sheppard.<br>
<br>
"I expect we'll be done and ready for duty within the week ... although that dockmaster said it'd be two weeks, I know a stretch when I hear one." Sasha chuckled lightly.<br>
<br>
“Well, better it done right now than have the only recourse be cursing the shipyard and fixing it yourself. Although, I am sure there are advantages to doing it yourself,” Adrienne said with a chuckle. “So, I suppose you are wondering what might be in store for that shake-down cruise.” <br>
<br>
Glancing at Cara, Sasha said, "That thought has crossed our minds, yes. I assume you have something for us, or you'd've not called us here." <br>
<br>
“We’ve got distressing news from Maxwell Forrest Outpost, in the Galad System,” announced Sheppard. “They’ve been blockaded by a flotilla of Klingon ships, warp approaches have been mined, two ships have already been destroyed coming out of warp. All comms in and out jammed, and an enemy commander who is apparently very uncommunicative. Our info is coming in through a very complex, astoundingly ingenious backdoor method of filtering the outgoing messages through the Klingons’ own comm system. Sketchy doesn’t begin to describe it. I’ve ordered the Challenger to be pushed through the refit ahead of a couple of the others and I want you to head out there and see what's going on. I’m sending a Sol escort to run shotgun for you too. Captain Thompson and his crew are pretty damn self-sufficient out there, but this sounds like they may have met their match. I want some big guns there to back them up, bail them out if you have to.”<br>
<br>
Cara set her cup of tea on the table quietly and gave her full attention to the Commodore.</font></span></font><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br>
</span><font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
Sasha had listened with intent seriousness. When the Commodore stopped, she said, "Nathan Thompson ... he's still the CO out there, then?" From what she'd heard through the Fleet grapevine, that wasn't anything to be all that surprised about. The man was rumored to be ... tenacious.<br>
<br>
“He’s tenacious, and unorthodox, hence I’m not surprised at the convoluted comm technique. However, he’s not invincible,” replied Sheppard. <br>
<br>
Thinking it over, Sasha was already laying plans in her head. "Can we use that 'ingenious network' to get any COMMs /in/ to them? Like, let them know we're coming?"<br>
<br>
“We’ve done that, but have received no confirmation that they got the message. Since we don’t want to blow their comm cover using the Klingons system, we don’t want to try to send a message that indicates we’ve gotten word from them. It’s shifty,” Adrienne said, frowning, and spinning the tea cup on the saucer before setting it down on the table in the center of the four chairs.<br>
<br>
Cara remained quiet for a moment "The Klingons really have no liking for the Challenger." She said "We didn't seem to make a good impression on them the last time we met." Cara said. <br>
<br>
“All the more reason to send Challenger. You’re most familiar with their tactics, and they know you don’t scare off easy,” replied Adrienne.<br>
<br>
"We don't want to tip our hand by letting them know we're coming. It could give them a reason to amp things up." Sasha paused for a second. "Klingons. Wonder if this is in any kind of retaliation for the little escapade Cara is referring to," Sasha mused. She thought of Han, safely ensconced in a cell courtesy of Star Fleet. Another thought occurred to her on the tails of that one. "Or ... do we think the Romulans may have a hand in this somewhere? They aren't above using the Klingons to do their dirty work."<br>
<br>
Sheppard nodded. “The Klingons are always loose cannons. Could be working on their own, thinking they’ll nab the Outpost when the Romulans win the war...which we know /ain’t gonna happen/. Maybe the Romulans are behind it. But the Romulans destroyed the Klingon ship that was poised to take New Darwin in that recent take-over attempt by the Klingons. There they appeared to be working on their own. Since they haven’t withdrawn from Forrest with the announcement of the end of the War, I’m inclined to think they are working on their own, or at someone else’s beck and call. We get one fire put out and seems like two more light up.”<br>
<br>
"Well," Sasha said, "it would actually be pretty smart of them to try and sneak in the back door while they thought we were too busy to notice. But we'll get out there and see what's what. More than likely Thompson will have the whole thing handled by the time we get there. Where do you want us after that?"<br>
<br>
Sheppard took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “To watch for fires. I want you to take the lead in a new ongoing patrol route along a segment of the new Romulan Neutral Zone. It will be a rotating circuit ride shared by several ships. Not to press inward for trouble, but just to let them know we are watching, we are prepared.” <br>
<br>
"More than likely they'll be doing the same -- although I doubt we'll see them," Sasha said. Sounded like a nice run, mapping and checking the border. "What Sol ship is going with us?"<br>
<br>
“ESS Tempest.”<br>
<br>
"Mm-hmm. Who's her CO?" Sasha asked, wondering if she knew the person.<br>
<br>
“Experienced man, Capt Frank Cortez. New to this ship, but experienced Sol captain, Mercy Campaign, Ghost Nebula. He was in command of Seawolf at Cheron. Maybe you know him already. He’s a high energy guy, but not overly reckless,” added Sheppard.<br>
</span></font></font><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br>
</span></font><font size="2"><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"Heard his voice, haven't met him in person," Sasha said. Commodore Sheppard's staccato way of speaking was contagious. "You?" she asked Cara. <br>
<br>
"I've only heard of him. Never met him." Cara said as she finished her cup of tea. "What I've heard is that he's good at what he does and he doesn't back down from a fight." She said. "That can be good and bad. It will be interesting to see how he handles the Klingons." <br>
<br>
“Well, I have had my tactical people prepare all the maps and related information to the blockade, as well as the area of the Neutral Zone Challenger will be covering. It's been uploaded to Challenger’s computer, so you can study that. Any more questions for me?” asked the Commodore.<br>
<br>
Cara shook her head "I think you've given us a pretty good idea of what's to come." She said looking at Sasha.<br>
<br>
Sasha looked back at her. "Yes. That's all we need to know." She put her cup and saucer on the little table that stood at her left elbow, then stood. "We'll go over the information packet, if there are any holes I'll be in touch with your staff."<br>
<br>
“Please do,” replied the Commodore. “Thank you both for coming in. I’m very pleased to have met you, Cmdr Nelson-Samad.”</span></font></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font size="2"><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <br>
Cara nodded. "And I you Commodore." She said as she shook hands with Sheppard. <br>
<br>
"Thank you for seeing us, Commodore," Sasha said. She stood and the women shook hands. ~Kinda different ... that she called us /in/ to receive our orders instead of using the usual methods,~ Sasha thought. <br>
</span></font></font><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br>
</span></font><font size="2"><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">She never thought of it like this: she and Cara were the only -- and first -- fully female starship command team in the Fleet. The thought never crossed her mind. Instead, she smiled, assured the Commodore that she'd stay in touch, and left the office with her XO. Outside in the hall, she stopped Cara with a hand to her forearm. "Orders ... finally! All right, Number One, let's get the word out to the crew. I want everyone back on the ship within the next 24 hours --"<br>
</span></font></font><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br>
</span></font><font size="2"><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"48. I'd suggest 48, Captain. Hannah Grayson and Jason Davis went lunar hiking once the ceremonies ended, for example."<br>
</span></font></font><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br>
</span></font><font size="2"><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"Hannah and Jason, huh?" She smiled. "48 hours. Test-drive to begin just as soon as the mechs release us." She grinned at Cara. "Let's get back out there." <br>
</span></font></font><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <br>
</span></font><font size="2"><font face="Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"Ready when you are Captain. Ready when you are." Cara said, a large smile on her face. <br>
<br>
~~~<br>
Commodore Adrienne Sheppard <br>
Fleet Operations Commander <br>
Starfleet Command HQ <br>
&<br>
Captain Sasha Spearling<br>
Commanding Officer<br>
FCL-04 Challenger<br>
&<br>
Commander Cara Nelson-Samad<br>
XO<br>
ESS Challenger</span></font></font><font face="Optima, Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br>
</span></font><br></div>
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