She placed both arms on the rests of 'the Chair'.
Kathryn smelled the faint odors of fresh paint, new carpet, and that slight burn
from fabricated duriplast. She wiped clean a small console on the armrest of
smudge marks from the tips of her fingers before realizing it would never stay
clean. She smiled at the idea of her wiping the surface clean every few minutes
with the cuff of her uniform and that action becoming the defining moment of her
career with Solaris.
It was a good ship with a reasonable history
for his age. Being the last Excelsior class constructed in the
twenty-fourth century was its own status, being the most recent in the class to
receive a refit was another one. Now Kathryn Beringer was the newest Captain for
this class of starship. Looking around at the bridge crew, she was proud to have
almost 90 percent of the surviving crew from the Galatea
follow her; most from their own request and several from her own
recommendations. But Solaris was a larger ship, so she had to spend a lot
of time getting acquainted with new crew during the refit process.
She
smiled, absorbing the feeling of the ship, from the almost imperceptible hum from massive engines to the armored skin that gave Solaris its shape. Ian
McKinnon's voice broke her chain of thought. "We are cleared from Space Dock
local, switching to impulse."
Kathryn sat straighter in her command seat.
"Helm, ahead one-half impulse speed. Take us to LaGrange point beta in Neptune's
orbit, then hold station."
Ian looked back with raised eyebrows. When she
returned his glance, he turned back around quickly. "Aye,
Captain."
Kathryn nodded to herself. It was her second order for the new
ship, behind clearing Earth Space Dock. Ian was the newest of her bridge crew
for alpha-shift. He was confident and hot-headed on occasion, but his dossier
showed him to be a highly skilled starship pilot. Ian was also attractive: sharp jawline framing facial hair that, although shaved smooth, seemed to shadow his skin. Dark brown eyes that sought truth in words and evaluated action. Ian was muscular enough to fit the stereotypical 'jock'. Seeing him pilot the ship, Ian's physique ran counter to the delicate maneuvers required to pilot a starship.
She shook her head from thinking about him
further and turned to her Andorian Chief Engineer. Thel Ythysi stood next to the
chair at the console with a hand to his chin, clearly deep in thought. Kathryn
could tell he was troubled, so she stood to meet him. "A smile for your
thoughts?"
Thel looked quickly from the console to Kathryn and back. "You
would think, after all these decades, someone at S.C.E. would have made the
Transwarp engines fool-proof."
Kathryn rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Surely, you don't think the rumors are true?"
"Oh, I'm very sure they
are not rumors, sir. 'First and fail', so they say. And my name is
Thel."
She feigned surprise. "Is that a joke?"
The Andorian's
antennae twitched. "Don't tell anyone."
Kathryn smiled.
Ian
interrupted the activity on the bridge with his announcement. "Holding station
at LaGrange point Beta, Captain."
"Let's see if the rumors are true.
Helm, plot a course for Deep Space Eight and engage Transwarp
Drive."
"Plot laid in, Transwarp Drive engaged in 5 ..."
An
audible hum slowly filled the room.
"4 ..."
Kathryn could feel the
floor vibrate slightly.
"3 ..."
She darted to her chair and
switched the main viewscreen –
"2 ..."
-to a rear view camera. The
nacelles started to glow.
"1 ..."
Kathryn clenched the arm rest
pads with anticipation.
"Warp."
A small grinding sound like a bag
of wrenches thrown into a blender underground was heard and the
glow from the nacelles dimmed.
Thel slapped his forehead and his console
started to light up from damage reports.
Kathryn nodded. "Huh. So I guess
the rumors are true."
---
Cast:
Kathryn Beringer - Rachel Nichols
Anthi Ythysi - Katheryn
Winnick
Thel Ythysi - Kevin
Sorbo
Ian McKinnon - Ben
Browder
