One of Our Shuttles Is Missing

Posted on Sat Apr 23rd, 2016 @ 4:11am by Lieutenant Commander Daniel Divaro & Captain John Theisman

1,389 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Pathways
Location: Divaro's Quarters/Sensor Pod B Deck
Timeline: Current - Immediately after Dinner For Two (Part 3)

ON:

Having put the final orders in that would allow for the Hyperion's departure in the morning, John had decided to call it a night. It had been a long day, and he had worked well into the evening making comm calls, holding meetings, reading reports, and getting his ship ready for a seven year voyage into Romulan space. It was well known by now that even the Romulans hadn't fully explored all of the territory that they claimed, and it was kind of exciting for John to think that his ship would be the first into some of those sectors. As he exited his ready room and started across the bridge to make a final check, he frowned as the officer of the watch started towards him with a purposeful stride. Pausing two steps away from the turbolift, John gave the lieutenant a stare that simply said that it had better be good.

"Sir, we were doing a final check of our inventory for the morning status report, and we came up short on the shuttle list," the officer said, handing John a padd. "Security double checked and confirmed that one of the type 9 shuttles launched from the shuttlebay a few hours ago."

"Who took the shuttle?" John asked, his eyes narrowing in a brief flash of anger as he took the padd and started reading.

"There's no one listed, but the security codes used during the shuttle's launch match those assigned to Commander Divaro. We have unconfirmed reports that someone else was on board the shuttle with him when it launched."

"You're telling me that a senior officer on this ship took a shuttle without authorization for a date?" John growled. "Find that shuttle, track it, and I want to know the micro second it's back in my shuttlebay." Before the watch officer could respond, John had spun about and stormed back into his ready room. Sitting down at his desk, he activated the desktop monitor and hit the record button.

"Commander Divaro. Please meet me on B deck in the sensor pod as soon as you're back on board." Leaning back in his chair, John sighed. "Computer, send to Commander Divaro's terminal in his quarters." When the computer beeped to indicate that the message had been sent, John stood again and headed out of his office once again.

It had been an absolutely wonderful evening, Daniel thought as he approached the door to his quarters. He had spent an evening in a very romantic place with the woman he considered to be the most beautiful on the ship, and the good night kiss he had received from her had done nothing to dispel that thought. Their date, and the evening, had been perfect and Daniel was convinced that nothing could ever spoil that.

Then, as he entered his quarters, he saw that his computer terminal held a waiting message for him. "Oh boy..."

He had a sinking feeling who the message was from and when he accessed it, his fear was confirmed. It was from Captain Theisman and he wanted a meeting with him immediately--and it didn't take much imagination to figure out what the meeting was going to be about. A missing shuttle...

"Damn..." Divaro muttered to himself as he headed out of his quarters once again. "Looks like I didn't get away with it after all," he said as he headed for the nearest turbolift. Once inside, he called for sensor pod B deck, then closed his eyes. "For that which I am about to receive, may I be truly thankful..." he muttered.

====== Sensor Pod B Deck ======

As soon as the lift doors opened, Divaro spotted the captain a short way down the corridor. He walked directly up to Theisman and came to attention. "You wanted to see me, sir...?" he asked.

John had been standing at an observation window on B deck long enough to have calmed down over the situation. He had always tried to avoid being like his father, a strict by the book admiral who ruled with an iron fist over the officers above him. John had always tried to be a little more relaxed in his command style, not so to the point as some captains he knew, but still there were some things that he couldn't allow to let slide, no matter if he did understand why. As Divaro walked up, John turned and nodded. "Did you have a nice flight Commander?" he asked.

"We did sir..." Daniel said, knowing that the question was most likely a prelude to the ass-chewing he was about to get.

"We?" John asked. "I take it someone went with you?"

"Yes I did have a passenger sir..." he said, clearly not wanting to implicate Elan in this trouble. He would admit to a passenger but did not intend to divulge her name unless directly asked.

"Ah. Well, I hope you had a good time," John said in a dead flat tone. "Commander, I wouldn't have minded you taking the shuttle, but I do mind the lack of paperwork and authorization. I expect my officers to follow procedure, and I hold higher standards for my senior officers. You're supposed to set an example for everyone else on this ship, and now I'm going to have to uphold at least some of the regulations we're supposed to uphold."

"We did have a good time," Divaro admitted. "And I realize I did not show good judgment. I did submit a request, but I did not wait to see whether or not it was approved. For that I apologize and I assure you it will not happen again."

"I understand, however you know I'm going to have to set some form of punishment in place," John said unhappily. "I'm forgoing any written statements being added to your file or any thing else that may be reflected on you in the future. However, I'm suspending your personal shuttle and shore leave privileges for one month, and fining you for the fuel usage."

"Understood sir..." Divaro said, hardly able to believe how easily he was getting off on this. It would take them 49 days to get to Starbase 171 and they had no scheduled stops in between so the loss of shore leave had no meaning for him. But he did understand that if it happened again, the penalties would be swift and much more severe. So it appeared that any future dates with Elan would be in the lounge or on a holodeck--or perhaps a walk in the arboretum.

"I'm sorry, Daniel, but regulations state that I have to do something, and given that you're a senior officer," he sighed and shrugged. Turning back to the view port, he smiled. "I understand from strategic operations that you flew to Italy," he said after a moment.

"Yes sir, we went to dinner there at my grandparents' restaurant," Daniel admitted. "I knew that we may not be back to Earth for a long time, years perhaps, so I took the opportunity to go there one last time. At their age, my grandparents may not be alive when I get back to Earth."

"I fully understand," John said with a nod. He decided to let the rest of it slide, even though he was sure that Divaro's passenger had been a rather tall, slim female from the science department with lots of spots. He wasn't going to pry. "We'll be departing at 0930 tomorrow. I trust that my ship will be ready?"

"Yes sir, we will be ready. Walker is on Beta shift and they're running last-minute diagnostics on the warp drive." Daniel looked directly at his CO. "We'll be ready when you give the word."

John nodded and finally allowed a little smile. "Good," he said. "In that case, if anyone asks, I just gave you a royal ass chewing. Can't have everyone thinking that I'm always a nice guy."

"Your secret is safe with me, skipper..." Daniel said with a grin.

"In that case, I'll bid you good night and let you enjoy the rest of your evening. Sleep well, commander," John said before he nodded and started off to the turbolift.

"Good night sir," Daniel said as he watched the captain walked away."

OFF

Captain John Theisman
Commanding Officer
USS Hyperion

LtCommander Daniel Divaro
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Hyperion

 

RSS Feed