Captain’s Log, Stardate 240111.13

‘Captain’s Log’. I dont think I’ll ever get used to that. To say my career path has been unique would be an understatement. I’ve only been an officer for nine years, and I just made Captain. On my birthday no less. Talk about a gift.

My orders came through today, I’m to report to Deep Space 17 to take command of the U.S.S. Yamato. A Sovereign-class. Not the most advanced vessel in the fleet, but no slouch either. I’ve only seen them from afar, never up close, and now I get to command one. From a posting at Starfleet Intelligence HQ to CO of a Sovereign-class starship, it’s a huge leap. One I hope I’m ready for.

Deep Space 17 was one of Starfleet’s furthest bases. It sat at the edge of the great unknown. The Typhon Frontier. Largely unexplored. And she was going to be one of the few to explore it. To delve into that great unknown. The station glittered in space as the runabout dropped out of warp. Shuttles flitted around the base, moving between it and the ships that orbited it. An Odyssey-class stood sentry outside the base’s massive dome. That was where her ship awaited her.

A Sovereign-class. A ship from the time of Starfleet’s military expansion. Designed to fight the Borg and the Dominion. Battleships, though now Starfleet classified them as ‘exploratory cruisers’. She preferred to think of them as ‘enhanced deterrence explorers’. Ships designed to fight and project power, but also to further Starfleet’s mission of exploration.

The young Ensign at the helm turned his head, looking at his new Captain. He coughed some, drawing her attention from the book she was reading. She was old fashioned and quite enjoyed the feeling of leafing through pages over tapping away at a PADD.

“Yes, Ensign Soren?” she asked, her Irish accent light and airy, almost sing-song in her inflections.

“We’re arriving at Deep Space 17, Captain.” he said timidly. Solaris glanced up at the rapidly approaching Starbase, closing the book, not actually bothering to mark her place. She had read the book before, only using it to pass the time. The trip had taken a while, but it had been good to get to know one of her new crew on the way.

“Ah! So we are.” she commented.

“Tell me, Ensign, are you excited?” she asked, looking at the young Bajoran next to her. The Ensign looked at her again, tilting his head a bit as he thought.

“Excited, ma’am?” he asked. “I think nervous might be a more appropriate description.” he added, chuckling.
Sol laughed, setting the book on the console. She leaned in closer to him, smiling.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret: So am I.” she admitted before leaning back. She was. She was young for a captain. Not the youngest, but certainly ahead of the curve, and a Sovereign was a big responsibility. Soren considered her for a moment then returned his attention to piloting the runabout. Somehow that made him feel better. If his captain was nervous then surely it was normal for him to be feeling nervous. The console beeped with a notification.

“Ma’am, the base is requesting our clearances.” he reported. Sol nodded, reaching to the chair behind her where her small duffel bag sat. She dug around in it without bothering to look, feeling for the PADD that contained her orders.

“Ah-ha! There it is…” she said, pulling the PADD into her view. She skimmed the PADD quickly then reached over and tapped in a sequence on the console, transmitting it to the Starbase. The console beeped again.
“They have acknowledged the clearance code and welcome us to Deep Space 17.” Soren reported. “They have given us a flight path to the Yamato.” he added as another notification popped up.

“Good. Take us in then. I want to see my new ship…” Sol said, grinning. While she was nervous, she was also excited. She felt the runabout bank slightly, beginning to arc around the station. She watched as the base filled the front viewports of the runabout. While it wasn’t as large as some of the Spacedock types, it was still plenty big, and several ships were docked around its exterior. Sol could see other vessels docked, but not hers. She could make out the forms of an Edison-class and a Steamrunner-class both sitting powered up and ready if they were needed. A Nebula-class was just departing passing by their starboard headed toward open space on her own mission.

“Hmm, maybe around the other side? You’d think a Sovereign would be pretty easy to spot.” she commented, laughing. Soren chuckled a bit as well, banking the runabout around the exterior of the dome, and out of any potential starship flight paths. As the runabout cleared the side of the station Solaris’ breath caught in her throat.

“There she is Captain!” Soren blurted. She nodded, eyes scanning the ship. It was darkened, awaiting its crew. Only a few scattered windows were lit, and workbees flitted around it, moving cargo and equipment into the shuttle bays and from their current distance, with the running lights darkened, she couldn’t even make out the name on the hull, but there was no mistaking it. She knew it in her bones. That was her ship. The man next to her was part of her crew. Suddenly what once had seemed just a fairy tale was now very very real. She was a captain.

“Ensign… hail the Yamato… get us clearance to land in shuttle bay one.” she ordered, slipping into a slightly more serious tone.

“Aye, Captain.” Soren responded. It didn’t take long for the ship to respond. The engineering crew aboard it having been expecting her arrival.

It was only a few short moments between their acknowledgement and the runabouts final touchdown onto the deck. As Soren ran through the runabouts post-flight checks, Sol gathered her duffel bag and stood. The rest of her belongings, and Soren’s, were in the ships hold. They would be gotten later.

Now however? Her nervousness had been replaced with excitement. She turned to Soren with a pleasant smile.

“Excellent job piloting, Ensign. Thank you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” he responded, looking up from his seat at the console. He had been terrified to ferry his new Captain alone, but the trip had been very pleasant and she certainly hadn’t been what he expected. He returned his attention to runabout as Sol headed for the hatch. She palmed the access panel, the double doors sliding open. The shuttle bay beyond was a flurry of activity. No one even bothered to glance in her direction. They were all far too busy to even notice her, and she wasn’t actually in uniform. Not unless long flow-y dresses and corsets were the newest uniform.

She took a breath, and started off toward the shuttlebay’s exit. The heels of her shoes clicked against the deck plating, barely audible over the other sounds of the bay. She needed to find whomever had ferried the ship to Deep Space 17, and properly take stewardship of her ship.

That meant the bridge or maybe engineering. She paused as she crossed into the corridor outside the shuttle bay.
“Computer. Who is currently in command of this vessel?” she asked. The computer beeped, processing her query for the briefest of moments.

“Lieutenant Commander T’liss is currently in command.” it stated. Sol’s eyes widened. She recognized that name. She had served with the Vulcan woman on her second ship. That was fortuitous and made assembling her senior staff that much simpler.

“What is her location?” she asked.

“Lieutenant Commander T’liss is located on the main bridge.” it replied. Main bridge it was. Sol nodded to herself, continuing off down the corridor, searching for the nearest turbolift.

It hadn’t taken her long to find a turbolift. It had taken even less time for the lift to ascend the five decks to the main bridge. Much like the shuttlebay, no one even bothered to look up as the doors opened and admitted her to the bridge. She glanced around, just standing in the little alcove that was formed by the bulkheads, watching the engineering crew go about their business. The woman she was looking for was perched in the command chair, head just barely peeking out from behind the horseshoe shaped tactical console that semi-encircled it and the other two seats. She let the moment pass before stepping properly onto the bridge and around the tactical console. She stepped carefully down the double steps, running a hand along the tactical console as she did, as if inspecting it for dust. There was none of course. She stopped just before the step up to the command area, watching T’liss skim a PADD before handing it off to an Ensign. It took the Vulcan a moment to notice her standing there, but once she did she moved to stand. Sol held up a hand, letting her retain the chair for the moment, instead choosing to sit in the XO’s position. She studied the face of her old friend, eyes scanning the remnant borg implants left above her eye. A similar set ran along the backs of one of her hands.

“Commander T’liss.” she greeted, with a smile.

“Captain McLaren. Welcome to the Yamato.” the Vulcan replied. Sol produced her PADD containing her orders. Normally there would have been a ceremony, but Sol didn’t like those. She handed the PADD to T’liss who skimmed it just as she had the prior PADD before tapping at the controls on the arm rest of the command chair.

“Computer, transfer all command codes to Captain Solaris McLaren.” she stated simply. The computer took an even longer moment to process before beeping.

“Transfer complete. U.S.S. Yamato now under command of Captain Solaris McLaren.” it announced. The engineering crew on the bridge finally stopped and looked to the center of the bridge. Sol glanced up.

“As you were.” she commanded with a small grin. The engineers quickly resumed their tasks and Sol turned back to T’liss.

“I relieve you, Commander.” Sol said.

“I stand relieved, Captain.” T’liss replied, standing finally to offer the center seat to the new CO. Sol looked at it for a moment then shook her head. She needed to change and drop her things off. She gestured to the vulcan to retake the chair for the time being.

“I assume my quarters are at least presentable?” she asked. T’liss nodded an affirmative, returning to the center seat.

“They are, Captain.” she replied. Sol nodded and stood.

“How long are you and your engineering crew remaining aboard, Commander?” she asked, leaning against the horseshoe for the moment.

“Until the ship is ready for departure, Captain.” T’liss stated, looking up from where she was seated. Sol nodded, thinking. Well pretending to think, she had already made the decision on the way up to the bridge.

“I need a Chief Engineer, T’liss, and an engineering staff. Seems to me, there’s no one better for the job than you and your crew.” Sol said, smiling. “Does that sound intriguing to you?” she asked, crossing her arms.

T’liss cocked an eyebrow. She had only expected to ferry the ship from the yards to the base and return. Then again, her human friend was sometimes unpredictable.

Sol glanced down at her with red eyes, studying the Vulcan’s features. Even with all her intelligence training, she still had trouble reading her friends expression’s, what little of them there were. She pushed a strand of her snow white hair behind her ear, waiting.

“I believe that would be suitable to me, Captain.” T’liss stated, with a simple nod of her head. Sol grinned. What engineer could resist being the Chief Engineer of their own starship?

“Good! I’ll file the appropriate PADD-work for you and any of your crew that wishes to accompany you…” she glanced down at herself. “Now I’m going to go get changed and see about assembling the rest of my senior staff.” she stated. She had several candidates already and just needed to contact them.

“Very good, Captain.” T’liss replied.

“You have the bridge, Commander.” she paused, chuckling. “And let me say, officially: Welcome to the Yamato.” she finished, before spinning on her heel. She hurried up the two steps back to the same turbolift she had arrived in and called it. Engineers continued to buzz around like busy little bees, each again paying her no mind. She chuckled to herself and stepped into the lift when it arrived.

“Deck five.” she called out. She was committed now. There was no mistaking it. The ship was hers. And she had work to do. The doors shut and the turbo lift set on its way, leaving her to consider her next steps.