Tigerfish Heading Out
Posted on Wed Oct 30th, 2024 @ 6:38pm by Lieutenant Shiki Ichiose & Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Johnson Sr & Lieutenant Kris McEntyre & Lieutenant JG Daphne Crenshaw & Commander Louise De La Valliere & Lieutenant Alice Zuberg MD & Lieutenant JG Kas Th'shrytrir & Lieutenant JG Arak Bir
1,279 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Season 1, Episode 3: Trespassing
Location: USS Tigerfish
The bridge of the USS Tigerfish was much smaller than most. With only a few consoles compared to the much larger Constitution Class. The design was far more compact, with rear consoles spanning the aft bulkheads behind the single command chair.
Louise stepped onto the bridge. "Well, are we ready to go?"
From Engineering, Ben's head rose. "Yes, ma'am, the Warp Core is fully online. My team is on standby to pop some hoses and slip some streams," he said.
The Comm channel from Engineering closed, and Kas looked up from his console where he had been flicking a few controls more to his liking. I'll be making her sing before long.
Running his long-fingered hands down the side of his console, Kas nodded his satisfaction and called out, 'Helm reports ready - let's let her rip!'
Arak ran his third hand over the console in front of him and confirmed the settings. He double-checked every switch and control. Everything was where it should be, meaning the Tigerfish was as ready as they could make it.
“Navigation: ready to depart, Captain,” Arak reported, tone of expectation for the adventure ahead creeping into his voice.
From sickbay, Alice activated a comm panel and spoke into it. "Medical is prepared, Captain."
"The buttons on my control panel are lighting up on time," the chocolate-haired weirdo reported from her station.
"Security and tactical are ready, ma'am," Daphne said crisply.
"Communications and Cryptology ready." Kris reported from the communications station, a comm earpiece in her ear. Despite being a field agent, she had a steady hand in comm links and cryptology, an a-6 rating in cryptology in fact.
"Take us out from the station and set course for the Klingon Neutral Zone." Louise ordered simply. "Once we are clear take us to warp five."
Watching as the Operations Officer at their duty station hailed the station and detached the umbilical that kept them tethered to Deep Space K-9, Kas felt a thrill run through him as the deep hum that came up his booted feet through the decks changed.
The Tigerfish was free.
Fingers dancing across the console in front of him, Kas brough the 'Fish to full impulse, heading up and away from their K-class home. As the station retreated in the viewer, Kas conferred with the Navigator, each working off each other to lay in the optimal course to get them to their destination.
'Accelerating to Warp speed,' the Andorian politely announced, pushing the engines and watching his console, oblivious to the stars stretching to infinity on the Main Viewer. 'Estimate arrival at the Neutral Zone at about half a day.'
Louise crossed one leg over the other in her chair. She pressed a button on her chair to open shipwide broadcast. "All hands, this is the Captain. Our mission is to locate a Starfleet probe that has been 'lost' in Klingon Territory. We will be crossing the Neutral Zone and searching for this probe. We may face combat with the Klingons, and we have been authorised to use 'any means necessary' to complete our mission. From now all outside communications will be severed. Stay alert, stay vigilant. Captain Out."
Kris took that moment to key some buttons on the communications station and sever the outside comm links. She had spent the better part of the last few days upgrading the Communications and Cryptography suites on Tigerfish. Lancaster Class Starships were a product of a bygone era, the Gold Rush of colonization and the nexus of new technologies that are taken for granted today, phasers replacing lasers and phase cannons, and shields that were more deserving of the name.
Hunching over his console slightly, Kas tensed up. Despite the excitement within him at being out in space again, he was wary of crossing in to Klingon space. He'd done it before, of course, but on a much smaller ship designed to evade detection. The 'Fish was a much different prospect. No real chance of hiding her, he mused as he looked over his console, compensating for some drift in the engines.
Ben couldn't help but smile a little. That was the kind of danger he looked forward to. That's why he was here. That's why he was a Starfleet Engineer. He'd given up so much, but had also gained a lot. "Understood," he murmured from his console.
"I want you all to run battle drills. We need to be prepared for the Klingons." Louise ordered simply.
Antennae drooped at Kas's station. Drills are the worst, he thought. Setting aside a portion of his workstation to monitor their course at Warp - he wouldn't need to make a course correction for at least an hour - he pulled up some of the battle drills they had been briefed on prior to launch.
Most of them relied on stealth and subterfuge to evade a superior force, and as Kas worked his way through them, he found himself hoping that they wouldn't run in to any Klingon forces at all.
Some chance ... he snorted.
"Ufufu... battle drills, eh?" the chocolate-haired science officer postulated. "This might be an excuse for me to fabricate some contact explosives for a hostile boarding situation..."
Ben's blue eyes shifted to the Andorian. "Problem, Lieutenant?" Ben asked.
"I'll see what I can come up with, ma'am," Daphne said, already plotting tactical and security scenarios.
"Good." Louise said simply as she sat back in her chair.
The bridge door opened and in walked Dr. Zuberg. She stood behind the Captain's chair and watched the crew working at making the ship go. She looked back and forth between the centre seat and where the XO was working. "Sickbay is ready, Captain, Commander. If we risk combat with the Klingons, then they're making a point to prepare for blade injuries in case of boarding operations."
Ben nodded. "Thank you, doctor. Can I help you with anything?" He asked, trying to be helpful, to which Alice replied by shaking her head. "Captain, we're steady as she goes. For now," he replied.
"Keep her straight and true," Louise said. "Once we get close to the border I want you to zig zag. Make it look like we're studying or looking at different things."
Ben nodded. "Yes, ma'am, Roger that," he replied, and made the necessary adjustments to his panel.
"Plenty of interesting things to see out in space," Alice said jovially.
"Not too obviously or too suddenly," Daphne added. "Otherwise, the Klingons will see through it."
"Precisely. Run long range sensors scans for anything that might pique our interest," Louise ordered.
'Zig-zag pattern, aye,' Kas acknowledged as he prepped a pattern that would take them close to some interesting scientific phenomena in the vicinity of the neutral zone. 'Klingons won't even suspect a thing.'
Kris focused on her work. She still had systems to harden, and code to update. Tigerfish's computer was almost up to the level of the new Duotronic models found on the Constitutions or Atlases, or even the upgraded Walker and Miranda Classes.
Posting by:
Commander Louise De La Valiere
USS Tigerfish Commanding Officer
Lieutenant Commander Ben Johnson
USS Tigerfish Executive Officer/Chief Engineer
Lieutenant JG Daphne Crenshaw
USS Tigerfish Chief Security Officer
Lieutenant Alice Zuberg, MD
USS Tigerfish Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant Shiki Ichiose
USS Tigerfish Chief Science Officer
Lieutenant JG Kas Th'Shrytrir
USS Tigerfish Chief Helmsman
Lieutenant JG Arak Bir
USS Tigerfish Chief Navigator
Lieutenant Kris McEntyre
USS Tigerfish Chief Communications Officer
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