From: Melvin Harry Pollack
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 15:53:28 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: USS CHESAPEAKE: Preparing, Whatever.
> MD: 5.1400
> Scene: USS CHESAPEAKE, Bridge
>
>
> "Mr. th'Tellan," she called above the general din of the
> bridge. "Inform Starbase DELTA of our status."
>
> "Aye, sir." The Romulan spoke quietly to the station, and
> nodded as the confirmation was received. Bell again looked to
> Brennan, who gave the order to move the ship slowly forward as
> the docking clamps retracted.
{Hey, wait a minute. Didn't we see this before?}
Yes, Mr. Editor. But since everyone else was writing their
reactions to it, I figured....
{Oh, God. Not again. I may as well start writing the apology
now.}
>
> The CO sat back and watched carefully. A routine procedure,
> a launch...they cleared the station in due course, impulse
> engines powering up. After several minutes, she nodded to
> herself. "Mr. O'Graeach, set a course for the primary Delta
> Corellis star system, heading 108 Mark 32."
>
> "Heading laid in, sir..."
>
> "Engage, warp 6."
>
> There was that moment of disorientation one always felt as a
> ship jumped into warp. A shudder, almost, seemed to pass through
> the bridge, and then the hum seemed normal.
th'Tellan had always felt moved by the launch process.
Intellectually, he knew what has happening. If you were to go outside the
ship, you would see the ship slowly float from the Starbase. Then you
would see the engines move, glowing brightly. This would immediately be
followed by you seeing the ship zoom off in a flash of light and color.
And you would think it was cool.
And then your enthusiasm would be dimmed somewhat as you realized
that you left the ship without putting on a spacesuit. This would
immediately be followed by a massive explosion of all your parts, the
remains of which would immediately freeze and crystallize so that they
would look like the red Oxion crystals, which can only be found on the
planet Torgo. Of course, this is just speculation, because I wouldn't
know an Oxion crystal if it fell on my head, which would hurt. But not as
much as if I were hit on the head by the planet Torgo....
{Feeling a little dark today?}
Don't you even think about starting. I took three engineering
tests this week, so I'm not in the best of moods, so don't start. Okay?
{'tsAll right.}
>
> Forty minutes passed, with any manner of tests being run
> and reports being filled out. Little of note seemed to
> happen... the warp engines, at least, seemed sane, and they
> traveled ahead.
>
[Second Officer's Log, Stardate 90418.1430. We are en route to the
Correlian system to mediate a dispute over mining rights. On the one
hand, this seems like a routine mission. The last diplomacy - related
mission I was involved in had resulted in our dealing with three
hostile Cardassian groups, a couple of interdimensional aliens, a fleet of
Jem'Hadar Warships, and the death of the first officer. Nothing too
serious.
{Note to Takako: This is not meant as a slam against first officers, or
as an attack on you or your character.}
In other news, we already had our first adventure. It seems that Ensign
O'Greach lost a rabbit and followed him through 47 lengths of air ducts,
only to fall into a woman's shower room. Out of all the thousands of FCOs
in the world, we had to wind up with Jimmy Carter.
{Note to Fabian: This is not meant as a slam against your character.
Note to Melvin: No one's going to understand that joke.}
At any rate, the Marine Officer decided to handle it in the calm and
rational manner of threatening castration. I have no idea how you would
classify someone like that. Since he's Jewish, maybe the best term is
Moil.
{Note to Naomi and Crew in General: We hereby apologize in advance for
our lack of taste. I can't believe you threw in a circumcision joke!}
(Hey, I'm Jewish. I'm entitled. Besides, people are more likely to
understand this joke than the Carter one.)
{Oh, for the love of.... Look, just finish up and get this over with.}
Anyway, we have mission orders, which means I have to run a coordination
meeting. Oh well, better to get it over with....]
Scene: Conference Room 3
MD 6.1400
th'Tellan looked around the room. Science, Engineering and
Security all present and accounted for. After getting the routine stuff
done, th'Tellan decided that it was time to go over the upcoming mission.
"I think that everything should be pretty routine at this moment.
But let's go over what we need to do. Gann, Murray, your main duty will
be to study the technology of the planet, the minerals, and the life
forms. The miners and the Correlians could be after anything, so be
thorough. For the biology, you may want to consult with Ledoux."
"Keyrin, your job mainly will be to make sure that we have enough
firepower to back us up. However, I also want you to study the weapons on
the planet, the tactical location, anything that could indicate that one
of the sides wants the planet for military purposes. Also, have your men
call up any treaty relating to this situation, no matter how arcane...."
"Sir," Keyrin interrupted. "I don't see what good the last part
would do."
"Two of the missions I was involved in was solved because we
happened to find an unknown treaty that just happened to give us an
advantage. And if anything goes wrong, I won't want to give up an
advantage early in the game."
"Anyway, that's the basic roles. For now, it's just the usual.
Get the departments ready, think about what away teams we need, that sort
of thing. Does anyone else have something to add?"
(Masako, Lynnaea, Michael: Add anything you want here.)
th'Tellan looked around the room a final time. "I guess that's
everything. You're dismissed. Oh, Murray, could I see you for
a moment?"
Murray paused, looking unsure. "Uh, yes. Of course." She sat
back down, waiting for the other two to leave. "Er, what would you like
to talk about?"
th'Tellan shrugged. "Well, I had hoped to talk about the latest
golf tournament. On the other hand, I don't want to be brought up with
charges of attempted murder via boredom."
th'Tellan waited for Murray to respond, but she just sat there,
squirming a little. "Look, Murray, I'm going to have to level with you.
I called you in because it looks like you've been having some problems."
Murray shot him a look of pain. "It's a good thing you're a
commander. With tact like that, you'd make a lousy psychologist."
"Oh, I don't know. I think with my tact, I can make semi - lousy.
Look, I've never minced words, and I'm not going to start now. So if
anything I say hurts, I'll understand. However, I wanted you to know that
I'm concerned about what's been going on, and I'd like to help in any way
I can."
"Thank you, sir." Intellectually, Murray knew th'Tellan was
trying to be nice. But she couldn't help thinking that, once again,
th'Tellan was about to yell at her for her actions. She kept her voice
calm, hiding as much emotion as she could. "Is there anything else?"
th'Tellan sighed. "Actually, there is. I've heard that you do a
good job of listening to other people's problems, so I was wondering if
you would listen to mine. A lot of the time, I feel like I'm
out of my element. I left science to take on an adminitration role. And
I've had some problems making the transition, getting things set up,
dealing with seemingly overbearing bosses. Sometimes, I even think that I
made a mistake; that maybe this ship would be better off if I wasn't
posted in this position. Oh, but listen to me talk. I must be
the only person in the Universe to feel like this."
Murray went through a wide variety of emotions, most of which
would have been a reaction to th'Tellan telling her about his flying
ability. "You didn't bring this up just so I could console you," she
accused. "You know about the problems I've been having, and you're just
using a basic psychological trick...."
"You're right, I didn't just tell you this on the spur of the
moment. But I didn't make it up either. I guess I just wanted
you to know that other people besides you have doubts. For some reason, I
had the ridiculous thought that it would help."
"Well, it does, I guess. I've got to admit, you didn't
strike me as the kind of person who has doubts. I guess
I've just been.... I mean my department's been.... th'Tellan, I don't
suppose that you would have any advice for how I should run my department.
I mean...."
"No, I don't. I've done my time, now it's your turn.
You've got a problem that I didn't; your officers aren't as.... No, don't
get upset about it. I'm not going to claim that you screwed up an entire
department in 15 minutes. I'm just pointing out that this is an aspect
that I didn't deal with. I mean, you've worked with Sereh. She's pretty
typical of the department I used to work for."
Murray nodded, soaking this in. "th'Tellan, I...." She paused,
unsure what to say next. Not even sure what she was thinking or feeling.
Submitted by....
Melvin Pollack....
Lt Cmdr Avikar th'Tellan
OPS USS CHESAPEAKE
mpollack@wam.umd.edu
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