Orders in Transient
Posted on Tue Mar 1st, 2016 @ 5:46pm by Captain John Theisman
1,491 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission: Pathways
Vice Admiral Vorak, Director of Starfleet Science and Exploration, sat in the large office and quietly sipped his tea before he looked up at the other occupants in the office. Rear Admiral Morgana Fox, Director of Starfleet Logistics and Personnel, was pacing between two walls, clearly not happy at having to wait for so long, while Admiral Alistar Harrington, Chief of Starfleet operations, and Vice Admiral Kireen Lauren, Director of Starfleet Diplomatic Corps, both sat in arm chairs across from Vorak and quietly talked about the upcoming baseball season. None of them liked to wait, and Vorak even had to admit that his patience was being tested. Starfleet admirals were used to getting answers quickly, and they had all been waiting for nearly an entire day. It was this reason why they all instantly froze and turned their heads to the door when it opened and Admiral Alexander York, the Starfleet CNC, and Admiral Vanek, the Chief of Staff, both walked through. Admiral York walked towards his desk and sat down before he finally allowed a smile towards the gathered flag officers.
"We have a go for the mission," he said. "I just got off of a seven hour long subspace conference with the President, the Federation ambassador, the Romulan ambassador, and the entire Romulan Senate. There wasn't as much resistance to the proposal as we originally had thought. The Romulan Senate naturally put a few guidelines in place, and one of the conditions isn't one that I'm very happy with."
"What are the conditions, if I may ask?" Vorak asked. He was naturally curious about the conditions, since the mission had originally been his idea. It had been a brainstorm between every officer in the room, getting permission from the Romulan Empire to send an exploration ship into Romulan space and beyond for the purpose of exploring more of the Beta Quadrant. Before, the proposal wouldn't have even been long lived, but there had been a large number of changes to the Romulan Empire over the last fifteen years and relations between the Romulans and the Federation had been improving steadily enough that the idea had some merit.
"We're only allowed to send a single ship, but they'll be granted nearly unlimited access to the Romulan Empire, except of course for restricted regions. The crew will not be allowed to interfere with internal Romulan affairs. And, a representative of the Romulan Empire will be stationed aboard the ship as a liaison officer."
"I don't see the problem with that, after all we would probably insist on the same if the roles were reversed," Admiral Kireen Lauren said.
"That's another condition," Admiral York said. "The Romulans will be sending a single ship to explore Federation space as part of the treaty. But the liaison officer is the problem. They're assigning an officer from the Tal'Shiar as our liaison officer."
There was a sharp hiss, from who no one could tell, at that. Admiral York could understand. Even though the Tal'Shiar was now more of an intelligence gathering and imperial police force for the Romulan Empire and not the agency of die hard spooks it once had been, there was still a lot of uncertainty regarding the Tal'Shiar.
"There is still the matter of which ship we are to send," Admiral Vanek finally said in an effort to move the conversation along.
"What about that new Luna class exploration cruiser that Utopia Planitia launched three weeks ago?" Admiral Fox asked. "We're still assigning personnel to her and I understand that she's in her final fitting out, but she should be ready for assignment by next week."
"I've been thinking about that as well," Admiral York said with a nod. "Which ship is it and do we have a captain for her yet?"
"She's the Hyperion, and I don't think there's been a captain assigned yet. I have a list of potential officers on my desk that I've skimmed through, but I'm pretty sure I want to offer command to Captain Theisman first," Fox answered.
"Theisman. Is he related to Admiral Tom Theisman?" Admiral York asked.
"His son, if I'm not mistaken," Admiral Fox said. "He's currently in command of the Proxima."
"I'll take care of informing Theisman of his new command," Admiral York said. "I want assigned crew on board the Hyperion by the end of the week. Alright everyone, we have a lot of work to do, let's get to it."
As the gathered admirals stood and started filing out of the office, Alexander York turned to the desktop monitor and tapped the control panel. He knew it was late, but no news ever waited, and at least Theisman was getting good news.
= = = = =
The hum of a star ship at warp quietly vibrated throughout the USS Proxima. It was barely noticeable unless you knew what you were listening for. For John Theisman, it was also a way to tell if something was wrong with his ship. After twelve years on the same ship, he knew the Proxima in and out. And unfortunately, there was something wrong with the Proxima's warp nacelles. An audible whine could be heard if you listened for it, the first sign that a warp nacelle coil was about to go out. The engineers had insisted that the ship could go another year before it became a problem, but since the Proxima was overdue for an overhaul, he had figured that it was a good enough reason to put in at Utopia Planitia anyway. The whine was also keeping him from getting a decent night’s sleep, as it kept raising pitch every hour. He was about to consider taking some sleep aid when his commbadge beeped quietly.
"Captain, you have a priority transmission from Admiral York," the communication officer on duty reported.
"Put it through to my quarters," John said quietly before he eased out of the bed. His wife, Mara, was still sound asleep, and she was sometimes a little grouchy if she was woken up without her mandatory eight hours of sleep. Sitting down at the desk, John tapped the controls and waited for the screen to come to life. When it did, he realized that the admiral was calling from his office, which meant that something was definitely going on.
"Captain Theisman, I'm sorry for calling in the middle of the night and waking you up, but I thought I'd inform you as soon as possible. Effective immediately, I'm ordering your transfer to the USS Hyperion. As soon as you can, I need you to return to Earth for debriefing."
"Uh, well, Sir, the Proxima is currently underway to Utopia Planitia for a refit. We'll be there in a few days, but can I ask why I've been reassigned?" John asked.
"We've got a special assignment ready for the Hyperion, and your name was at the top of Admiral Fox's list," Admiral York answered.
"Sir, if this is my father pulling strings, I'm going to refuse the transfer," John said blankly.
"Your father doesn't have anything to do with this transfer, Captain. In fact, he doesn't even know about any of this. I spoke to Admiral Fox less than an hour ago, and I went with her recommendation," York said.
John nodded for a moment before he spoke again. "What's so special about the Hyperion and her mission, then? Can't another officer take command?"
Admiral York seemed to smile a bit at the question, but it was hard to tell. "John, the Hyperion is being given a special assignment. We've received permission to assign a special assignment to a single ship that will be granted nearly full and total access to the Romulan Empire. The Hyperion's mission will be to chart and explore unrestricted areas of the Romulan Empire and all areas of the Beta Quadrant beyond the Neutral Zone. Further details will be given at your debriefing if you accept. Do you still want to say no?"
"Sir, I'll gladly accept this transfer order," John said.
"Good. As soon as the Proxima arrives at Utopia Planitia and you get things settled, leave your XO in charge and shuttle over to Earth. We'll go over the final details then. I'll see you in a few days. Starfleet Command, out."
John stared at the blank screen for a long time. He had read about the Hyperion when the ship had launched, so he already knew that she was the newest Luna class explorer to roll off the assembly lines at Utopia Planitia. He also knew that nearly unlimited access to the Romulan Empire wasn't something that came along every day either. Glancing over at the time, he noticed that it was only 2256 hours. He could afford to stay up for an hour or so. Leaning back in his chair, John reached out and tapped the controls for the monitor, requesting technical specifications and capabilities reviews for the Luna class. He had some studying to do.