"As Real As It Gets"
[Previous post: "Getting To Know The Newbie"]
###
Setting: USS HATHOR, Bridge
The taste of the synthahol that had been used to make the punch still
hung in the Hirogen's mouth despite the inhuman amount of food the
hunter had consumed after the one and only drink he had taken. Nico
had almost showered the walls of the ANUBIS' Sickbay when the Nausicaan had
taste the foul mixture, quickly joining the FCO in trying to rid
themselves of the lingering taste.
With each swallow the hunter was reminded of the night before which
luckily had only one mark against it, but it seemed to be unwilling to
allow itself to be forgotten by the Hirogen. The taste had been almost
bad enough to make the hunter ill, but his duties as FCO of the HATHOR
had prevented Uxtar from giving in, not that he would have anyway.
Being sick had never been, nor would ever become, an acceptable excuse
for a hunter, and as a Starfleet officer, that was even less
acceptable.
"Helm, I think it is now safe to head for out first training ground,"
the CO said having taken the last half hour to make sure everything had
been as it should. "Set course for the KARRABY CLUSTER, warp 1."
"KARRABY CLUSTER, warp 1, aye," Uxtar said acknowledging the order as
he entered the coordinates into the flight computer. All of the
simulations had shown that the HATHOR's engines would work as they had
been designed to, but the Hirogen still felt a little apprehensive as
he touched the controls sending the ship into warp.
The HATHOR made the transition from regular speed to faster-than-light
without as much as a jolt, reassuring the FCO and everyone else on the
bridge.
"All systems are looking good," Ens. Carft reported from the Ops
station. Apparently he too had been curious to see if the new engine
design would prove to be as successful in the real world as they had
been during the simulations.
"I am picking up a slight resonance in the port nacelle," the CSciO and
ExO of the HATHOR added. As a scientist the woman had not wanted to
leave anything to chance although the resonance she had mentioned had
been both normal and anticipated by the engineering staff.
=/\= We're reading it here too, =/\= the Oltharian said having been
listening in on the conversation on the bridge. =/\= Let me see if we
can's get it fixed. =/\=
A few moments later the ExO made another announcement. "The resonance
has vanished, reading both nacelles as perfectly normal."
"Well done engineering," the CO said into an open comm channel. "Let's
see what this ship can do. Helm, increase speed to warp 5, in 30
second increments, there's no need to give anyone a heart attack."
"Increasing to warp 2," Uxtar said as he gently pushed the ship faster
and faster. The seconds passed in slow motion as the HATHOR continued
to move faster through space "Now at warp 3."
The ship had almost reached warp 4 when everyone was sent flying as if
the ship had been hit by some kind of weapon's fire. As everyone got
back to their seats, the CO turned to Nico, "Report!"
"Shields and deflectors show no impact," the Nausicaan said. "Whatever
it was, it was not caused by us hitting or being hit by something."
"It's the inertial dampening field," Ens. Kea said from the Ops
station. "There was a surge which caused the system to flinch for a fraction of a second."
"We were lucky that it was not longer than that," the ExO said looking
at the CO. "At nearly warp 4 we could have all become part of the
bulkheads."
"Helm," the CO immediately added, "take us back to sub-light speed.
Engineering, can you get this problem fixed?"
While waiting for the reply, Uxtar quickly complied witht he order
while thankful that the problem had not been worse.
"As soon as we take care of the one injury we have down here," one of
the engineers finally replied.
"Bridge to Doctor Summers," the CO said after having opened a comm
channel to sickbay. "Your presence is required in Main Engineering."
###
And
Flight Control Officer 2005 post #544
Stardate: 60331.0830
Mark Hutchings {h172mark16@fastmail.us}
Ensign Uxtar
VIPER Pilot
USS ANUBIS
USS HATHOR
