The Trenton was less than a day away from Starbase 80, and for the first time since he had come aboard, Traan wasn’t racked with anxiety as he stepped onto the bridge. Sure it was a basic shakedown cruise where they were simply transporting a few hundred Displaced to Starbase 80, sure it wasn’t a full crew, and sure it was a milk run of a mission. But the awesome and ultimate responsibility for a ship nearly half a kilometre long with over six hundred souls onboard falling on his shoulders just wasn’t something he had ever thought about or prepared for. Today was different though, he had finally got used to the routine of the staff coming to him with everything since the ship and crew were both newly assembled and most of the tasks required to certify the ship as ready for active service were already complete. He was almost at ease as he arrived on the bridge.
“Captain on deck.” the fresh faced Orion, B’ret said from the Ops console. A bit of Traans anxiety crept back in.
Though he had heard it countless times over the past few weeks, something about the phrase unnerved him.
“As you were.” He said as he had every other time.
“Report Lt?” he addressed Lt. Horvath, his hand picked XO for their ferry cruise. Traan wanted to give the man a break and also reward him for all of his hard work as a shift leader back in the yard.
“22 hours to Starbase 80. All systems nominal. The full up Phased Sensor Array test went well about an hour ago. Hangar reports they’ve done all their tests except the mass launch and recovery and rapid deployment tubes. They’d like to perform those right as we drop out warp near the starbase.” Horvath stood from the command chair in the centre of the large, spacious bridge.
Traan nodded as he approached, “Sounds good, authorize the hangar to proceed. I’ll inform Starbase 80 and the rest of the ships parked nearby that we’ll be puting on a bit of a show…why dont you stick around for a bit Lt? We’ve only got a few more performance checks to run before we can certify, and we’re about to do a few fun ones.”
“Lemme guess, the acceleration test, and the flank speed check?” Horvath replied with a grin on his face as he took a seat in the XO’s chair.
“Indeed. Let’s see what this ship can do. Helm make ready to perform the rapid acceleration test, followed by a flank speed check.”
“Gladly sir.” The helmsman replied.
“LCdr Dawes. Lets run a snap Red Alert drill. Exclude the Forward shuttle bays where we have our guests berthed, but have the rest of the ships crew report to battle stations, if you please.”
Adrian Dawes, the Tactical officer, was among the more experienced officers aboard, and along with Traan and the Lovat, the chief engineer, the only other Lieutenant Commander aboard. He quickly input the commands into his console and set the ship to Red Alert before activating the ships intercom, “Red Alert, this is a drill, all hands to battle, this is a drill. Bridge out.”
As the klaxons blared and the ship jumped to life, with crew rushing to their stations Traan started issuing orders, “Helm slow warp 6.”
He tapped his armrest and opened a channel to the engine room, having just spoken with Commander Lovat before coming to the bridge, “Bridge to Engineering, you ready to punch it Mr. Lovat?”
“Aye, lad, ready to increase the war core to 98% of maximum power, on your orders suh.” LCdr Lionel Lovat, the Scottish engineer replied.
“Hit it Commander,” Traan closed the channel, “Helm, warp 9.1, engage.”
“9.1 Aye sir.” The Ensign at the helm replied.
Less than two seconds later she added “Now registering 9.1 and holding.”
Horvath checked his side console, “quick response time, not setting records, but more than enough to certify.”
“Certainly is…Helm, increase to flank speed, let’s open the throttle and see what she can do.”
“Roger than Cap’n, flank speed… registering warp 9.5, 9.6… 9.9 sir.” The Ensign stole a second to glance out at the stars streaking past, it was the fastest she’d ever traveled up to that point. Much of the crew below, being newly graduated officers or on only their second tours, were also setting personal speed records without even knowing it.
Dawes reported from the tactical console, “All stations report ready for action sir. 1 minute 23 seconds sir.
“Quick…” Traan muttered.
“So is our ride.” Horvath added, impressed with the ship’s speed.
“9.92 sir…9.93.” The Ensign reported, almost surprised by the number she was reading.
“Ease it back a touch Ensign. Let’s see if we can hold 9.92 for five minutes.” Traan looked to his right as Horvath who nodded in approval. They only needed to reach and maintain warp 9.85 to qualify for active duty in this test, and though the ship was rated for speeds up to 9.98, there was no sense in pushing it. After the final launch tests, salvo fire weapons test and dropping off their passengers the next day, Traan and Horvath’s mission would be complete, and they and the rest of the yard crew could return to SBB.
The Ensign slid her hands across the controls and reported, “Registering 9.92 and holding sir.”
The next few moments past in mostly silence, many of the officers in attention allowed themselves to peer.out at the small specs of light whizzing by in mere blurry streaks nearing the edge of perception.
“Alright Ensign, slow us to warp 9. Eta to Starbase 80?”
“Shaved a couple hours off the trip sir. 21 hours 13 minutes.”
“Very well, Dawes, stand us down from Red Alert. Well done everyone.” As much as he was learning about the ships, himself, and what it took to be a leader, Traan was looking forward to the heading home on the April, where he and his yard team could just focus on surveying the ship for repairs and decompress for a few weeks on the trip back to Starbase Bravo.
