Formalities of Command

Posted on Sat Mar 26th, 2016 @ 2:32am by Captain John Theisman & Commander Eva Grey

1,147 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Pathways

The corridors of the Hyperion were busy as John navigated his way through the ship. The Luna class ships had been designed to match or surpass the Galaxy and Nebula class ships as Starfleet's primary front line exploration ships. With that in mind, he wasn't too surprised when a gaggle of kids came running around an intersection in the corridor. What he did raise an eyebrow at was the fact that the adult responsible for said kids didn't have too much control over them. Realizing the he could move out of the way or get trampled by a pack of hyper little demons, John backed out of the way and let the herd pass. Once they had passed, he started on his way again, watching the herd of kids and making sure they didn't reverse direction and attack from behind. When he turned around, he noticed a woman who wasn't paying attention either and they collided. "Ow," John said as he fell to the deck. Regaining his feet, he offered his hand to the woman. "I'm sorry. I should have been paying attention to where I was going."


Eva sighed as she headed to her quarters. It had been a long day and she was glad that it was ending. The new captain had been delayed in his arrival, one of her science officers had blown up the chemistry lab and gotten her trampled, and the Hyperion was still on a parking orbit of Earth. She had heard that adjusting to a new ship, crew, and position could be stressful at first, but somehow she doubted that everything that had happened on her first day was normal for the majority of starships in Starfleet. From what had happened so far, she was pretty sure that the Hyperion was going to be rather interesting.

As she walked along the corridor to her quarters, Eva frowned as she heard the laughter of happy children running through the ship. Pausing, she tried to recall any reason why there would be children on Deck Three, and after remembering that the arboretum was located on the deck, she shrugged the thought away. The Luna class ships had been designed to accommodate officers with families, due to the fact that they had some of the longest assignment and deployment capabilities. Designed and built to operate at least seven years in deep space, the Luna class was fast becoming one of Starfleet's favorites for exploration missions.

Lost in thought, Eva walked around the bend in the corridor and ran into another officer. Stepping back, she stumbled and fell, thinking the entire time that she was getting tired of meeting the deck in this manner. She shook her head and realized that the other officer had already gotten back to his feet and was talking to her while holding his hand out. Taking his hand, Eva pulled herself back to her feet. "Thank you," she said as she brushed herself off. Looking up at the other officer, she felt her eyes widen as she saw that the officer was her new commanding officer. "Sir, I'm sorry, I wasn't really paying any attention to where I was going!"


"It's alright, commander," John said with a polite smile. "We all get lost inside the maelstrom of our own thoughts from time to time. No bones were broken and the ship is still intact, so I'm pretty sure there's no reason to be afraid." Holding out his hand, he nodded. "Captain John Theisman, commanding officer."


Eva took the captain's hand and shook it as she spoke. "Commander Eva Grey. Your chief of science and first officer," she said with a smile. "And I'm more than happy that you're here, Sir."


"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me why in the hell the ship was locked down for nearly half an hour," John said as he waved his new XO to lead on.


"Well, I'm hoping that you won't hold the reason against me when I tell you," Eva said as she turned and led the new captain towards the arboretum. "There was an accident in one of the chemistry labs earlier. Someone added too much of the wrong element to a mixture and the reaction was somewhat unstable and extremely explosive. The mixture exploded, causing significant damage to the lab. No one was seriously injured, but the lab will be out of commission for a few days. I'm still waiting to hear back from Commander Divaro with an estimate when the repairs will be completed."


"And any time there is an explosion on a ship in orbit of a Federation planet, a full investigation and a report have to be completed before the automatic lockdown can be released. I see," John said with a nod. "Well, let's not blow anything else up on the ship. She's brand new. I'd like to keep her looking good for a while."


"Believe me, that wasn't my intention," Eva said as they reached the arboretum. Taking a few steps inside, she stopped and turned to face Captain Theisman. "Sir, I'd like to go ahead and get the formalities out of the way, if you don't mind," she said.


John chuckled as he looked around the arboretum. It was larger than he expected, and actually really nice. Turning back to his XO, he smiled again. "Can't wait to pass the buck on to someone else?" he joked.


"If every day on this ship is going to be like today, then no I can't wait. I want you to take command right now," Eva said. Although she offered a friendly smile, she was only half joking. She seriously wanted the captain to assume command as quickly as possible.


"Well, I can't blame you for that," John said. "Proceed."


"As per Starfleet regulations, I hereby surrender full command of the Hyperion to you," Eva said formally.


"I accept command at this time. Computer, make a note in the ship's log that Captain John Theisman assumes command at this time," John said. The computer beeped and voiced a confirmation. With that done, John nodded. "Go get some rest, XO. I'll get with engineering and see if we can get underway tomorrow."


"Yes, Sir," Eva said. With a formal departing nod, she walked out of the arboretum and headed towards her quarters.


John clasped his hands behind his back and slowly walked along the main path of the arboretum. He hid a yawn, just realizing how tired he was. It had been a rather busy day, and it wasn't over yet. Tapping his commbadge, he spoke. "Captain Theisman to Commander Divaro. Meet me in the chemistry lab please.". Signing off, John took one last good look at the arboretum before he turned and started off towards the chemistry lab.



Captain John Theisman
CO, USS Hyperion

Commander Eva Grey
Chief Science Officer
Executive Officer
USS Hyperion

 

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