Ship's Watch

Posted on Mon Mar 4th, 2024 @ 12:45pm by Commander Kevin Lance
Edited on on Mon Mar 4th, 2024 @ 12:48pm

Mission: Starbase 364
Location: USS Chuck Norris
Timeline: Current

on:
{Bridge, Deck 1}

Kevin sat at the flight conn on the bridge of the Chuck Norris running the diagnostic program on the ship’s maneuvering and flight control systems. So far everything was checking out. While the maintenance program continued to cycle through systems, Kevin had an administrative program running where the tactical controls were usually displayed and he went through the myriad of details that were the purview of the ship’s Second Officer.

He was a little put off by Mira’s off-handed comment implying that there was no need for a ship’s watch while the majority of the crew was on the star base. That might be true of the security and science personnel but operations and engineering were still needed to maintain the ship and engines at full readiness in case of emergency. If the station came under attack or other such crisis, they wouldn’t have the luxury of waiting two hours for the warp core to warm up. Even a crash restart of the core would take precious minutes that they might not have.

Temporary “mothballing” of ships was a common practice in the core of the Federation when large ships returned from lengthy missions and crews were placed on block leave. But out here, wedged as they were between the always volatile Klingon Empire, a fractured and disintegrating Romulan Star Empire and who knew what in the Shackleton Expanse, it was a luxury that they could ill afford.

Mira’s attitude was surprising considering the amount of time that she spent crawling through Jeffries tubes and maintenance catwalks, engaging in routine maintenance tasks that were unseemly for a Commander to perform. Her current attitude that the ship was safe with “a couple of security officers stationed outside” seem a trifle negligent to him.

His thoughts were interrupted by a warning on the flight control panel. The maintenance routine was reporting a fluctuation in the power delivery to one of the thrusters. Kevin made a note of the error in the growing list of faults that would be reported to Lieutenant Walker. He ordered the computer to resume diagnostic testing and returned to reviewing and signing supply requisitions.

:off

Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Chuck Norris