When Oppertunity Brings It's Own Demons.

Posted on Tue Jan 31st, 2023 @ 10:08am by Captain Ethan De Havilland
Edited on on Wed Feb 1st, 2023 @ 2:53am

1,262 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Ethics, Morals & The Prime Directive.
Location: Utopia Planitia - Orbital Drydock Facility
Timeline: Mission Day 1 - 04:17 Hrs

Sleep had not come easily for Ethan the last few days since the news of his next assignment had come through from Starfleet Command. Up to a few days ago, Ethan was content with aiding in logistical coordination for various projects which included resupply and refit of the 11 vessels currently in the yards in orbit. From his quarters that acted at times as his office he could see rows of shipyards, an Akira sat in the nearest, an Intrepid in the one next to it but they paled to the moment he found himself in right now. Nothing more than mere visual decoration to what he held in his hand.

Starfleet Command had ordered Ethan to assume command of the Valkyrie class U.S.S. Dreadnought, an appointment he had mixed feelings about. The Valkyrie class was the largest vessel ever constructed and it was clear to see why. 6 nacelles, each larger than a Prometheus class, three and a half times the length of a Sovereign class, almost two Galaxy class lengths in width containing 172 decks and two Defiant class escorts.

Even the very nature of the vessel was new.

Command Carrier.

It was a colossal leap from his previous duties aboard an aged Excelsior class starship, the Cardiff in so many ways it was too hard to fathom. He wondered why Starfleet Command would pick him to command such a vessel as he was certain it would be pegged as an Admiral's flagship or some other important flag officer's base of operations.

The Dreadnought was currently in orbit of Earth being used to raise morale and enhance recruiting to the service, a move that Ethan disagreed with, starships had no place in politics but he accepted this was far from an ideal time to have idealistic notions. He placed the PADD down onto the cool surface of the desk he was sitting at and rubbed his eyes as questions raced through his mind. Questions came easily but it was the answers that were reluctant to accompany them. Ethan was scheduled to shuttle to the Dreadnought at 6:00hrs but patience at this current time was a currency he didn't have in abundance.

By 04:30hrs he found himself boarding a shuttle, one of 3 passengers it seemed excluding the pilot. The other was a cadet, the other an Ensign. As expected they left him to himself while they quietly spoke between themselves and even the pilot as they gazed out the viewport to the starships in orbit, in transit or waiting. Ethan didn't need special abilities to know when his command came into view because silence fell upon the shuttle like a thick choking mist. After a few moments, the silence broke as the two resumed talking to each other again broken only once when the pilot signaled the ship they were on final approach, with the new commanding officer.

The talking fell to almost embarrassed hushed tones as they realized they had been talking about the ship the man behind them was the Captain of, clearly this was not the shuttle ferry that they had thought they were boarding to the Starbase.

-- -- U.S.S. Dreadnought's Main Shuttle Bay -- --

Ethan stepped off the shuttle and was immediately greeted by an honour guard of 4 officers, 4 security officers armed with rifles standing in a line and a whistle. "Permission to come aboard," Ethan spoke coming to a stop in front of the officer leading the group.

"Permission granted Captain, I'm Commander Pirk Ola, welcome aboard the Dreadnought. We were not expecting you so soon."

"I wanted to get an early start, settle in, catch up on reports," Ethan answered as Ola lead him away.

"Of course, I'll take you to the Bridge and surrender command to you formally."

Ethan followed but listened to Ola talk about recent events on board, last-minute changes and other assorted additions but otherwise what he was hearing was routine and expected. The ride on the Turbolift was longer than Ethan was expecting but he quickly remembered this was no ordinary ship and with size came travel time. Ola had not stopped talking since the doors closed and was still going when they arrived on the Bridge.

-- -- U.S.S. Dreadnought's Bridge -- --

"Captain on the Bridge." Ola spoke stepping out first then turning to watch Ethan step out of the Turbolift.

The first thing to strike Ethan was the sheer size of the Bridge, he was expecting something small and oval similar to other vessels but this Bridge was a large open space. To the front was a large 2-step sunken holographic table ringed by a handrail, the sides lined with various duty stations. In the centre was a curved section to the front with workstations in the nook beside two T-shaped stairways leading up to the command deck. Here he found the Captain's chair, behind it was a status display similar to those found in Engineering, two consoles in front of him, and a walkway leading to his Ready Room to the rear of the room. "As you were." He spoke.

Ethan took long moments looking around, taking it all in, how the room seemed to make those within appear like worker ants in a hive. "Captain, I am ordered by Starfleet Command to transfer command of the Dreadnought to you at this time." Ola spoke facing Ethan.

"Very well. Commander Ola, I relieve you."

"I am relieved." Ola with hand out to Ethan. "Computer, transfer command codes to Captain Ethan De Havilland, authorization Ola Sigma 7-3-9 Omega."

Ethan shook Ola's hand and then let it go. It hadn't sunk in yet fully that he was now in command but he didn't get long in his line of thinking before Commander Ola spoke again.

"I have left a full report on your desk as well as the last 3 days of any updates and changes in case they were delayed in getting to you. If you will excuse me, I'll leave you to it as I have a few final duties to attend to."

"Of course, thank you Commander." Ethan didn't feel overly thankful, still unsure why he'd been given command after what happened to the last time he took command of a starship. Still, it was done, he'd been picked and the ship was now his and one way or another he'd have to accept it. Ethan walked along the walkway that lead to his Ready Room and when he walked in it too was large. When the doors closed behind him he sighed, behind closed doors, he didn't have to put on a face or hide anything and right now there was much he was hiding.

On his desk, he saw the three PADDs that he was warned about so when he sat down he ignored them for the time being. "Computer, show me the senior staff structure of this ship." He spoke wanting to get that snippet of information, with everything so new to him and so much to take in he wanted to get started quickly. Almost immediately he noticed there were gaps in his senior staff, notably a First Officer. Perhaps one of the files on his desk held a list of candidates suitable for the role.

The Dreadnought was still 48 hours away from being declared ready, he had time and time he'd need. "Computer, relay message to currently displayed staff. Report to ship within 48 hours for operational departure."

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