Was early the next morning, Tajir had already gotten dressed and eaten breakfast as he made his way to the bridge. They were scheduled to depart Devron Fleet Yards within the hour so he wanted to make sure every department was ready. Having his coffee in one hand and a padd in the other he arrived, each one was at their station save for the Doctor as he was probably in sickbay at the moment.

“Good morning Commander,” Tajir said to his first officer with a smile.

“Good morning Captain,” Aki replied, a bit groggy from the night before. “I hope you slept well on the eve of departure. I myself tried to curl up with a good book, but the excitement of our mission got the better of me, and I slept much less than I would have liked.”

He chuckled, “actually I did.” Tajir replied, “have the supplies been delivered?” Tajir asked Aki looking at her from his seat, though he was still standing.

“The Delta Shift Watch Commander reported the last of the supplies were transferred approximately ninety minutes ago.”

“We are scheduled to depart within the hour,” Tajir replied looking around the bridge. “I need a status report from all stations,” he said.

Elizabeth looked up from the engineering station.  She had anticipated this order.  “Warp and impulse available at your discretion sir. Navigational deflectors and structural integrity fields are fully operational and within safety standards.”

Zane ended his fourth diagnostic, and the results were the same. “All offensive and defensive capabilities are in the green and are in standby mode.”

“Operations department ready. Primary power available, and emergency power on standby, captain.”

Standing out like a cornstalk in a field of strawberry bushes, Commander Q’orvha ‘haunted’ over her station, her hood pulled low over her eyes to shield them from the bright lights of the bridge. “Latest relevant reports have been secured from Command. Decryption algorithms are up to date, and long-range sensors identify no significant threats or mission complications currently in the area of operations.”

Anticipating a status update request from the Captain, Elisha had ensured he’d gotten everything to full readiness and strolled onto the bridge right as Q’orvha gave her own reply. “Sickbay and my staff are all at the ready as well, Sir,” he said with a polite nod, sliding down into an auxiliary station to watch the departure. He didn’t really have a bridge station as it were, but he always enjoyed watching a ship’s departure from the dock; it was sort of a little tradition he’d kept going over the years.

Calum had not slept a wink the night before and his eyes showed it. He had decided instead to stay up and listen to a riveting holonovel from Megan O’Keefe called Velocity Weapon. He had been so entwined in the story he forgot to look at the time. He made it to the bridge and his station before the rest of the crew and was steadily working when the others had arrived. He had continued to monitor sensors and saw nothing to be alarmed about. He was continuing to observe when he heard for a status report “No anomalies or suspicious activity present on sensors, Sir.”

Once all of the bridge stations had checked in, Aki examined the status reports on the console between her and the captain, “Secondary systems are in the clear. We are prepared for departure. Have we been cleared by station operations?” she said to Lieutenant Jackson.

Jackson checked his console. “Yes sir, we have been cleared,” he replied.

“Helm, disengage docking clamps,” Tajir ordered looking at the helm officer.

“Aye sir, disengaging the docking clamps,” Ensign Sato repeated back while tapping a few buttons. After a few moments, the docking clamps were disengaged. “We are clear of docking clamps,” Sato replied looking back at the Captain.

“I sent you the coordinates, once we are clear of the station take us to warp eight,” Tajir replied looking at the Ensign.

“Aye sir,” came the reply as the ship began to slowly move away from the station until they were at a safe distance. Sato tapped a few buttons at the coordinates were set, “we are clear sir course and speed laid in.” Sato said ready for the Captain to give his word.

“Engage,” Tajir replied as he finally sat down in his chair as the ship jumped to warp eight towards its destination. “Time until our arrival?” Tajir asked looking at the Ensign who looked back.

“We will arrive in eighteen hours sir at our current speed,” Sato replied back as Tajir nodded in response.

“The engines should be able to hold eight-point-five,” Elizabeth suggested.  “Nine if you really wanted to push them.”

Aki was pleased with their Chief Engineer’s report of the engines functioning so optimally. Though considering they were setting out on their maiden voyage, she would have been severely disappointed otherwise. “I think it’s best we do not burn the engines out before we’ve had a chance to break ’em in, don’t you think Lieutenant?”

“They can take it, ma’am. But, beyond the recommendation… well, that’s above my pay grade,” Elizabeth replied.

Alton kept his eyes on the viewscreen…there was nothing as pretty as watching the stars flash by at warp. He would, from time to time, return his gaze to his console, making sure all departments had the needed power they needed.

“As the designated mission officer, I would also declare it unadvisable,” Q’orvha spoke up from her station, turning to address the Captain. “…as little as I care for it, we are still subject to the subspace warp limitations treaty, limiting us to the designated cruising speed of this vessel, outside of emergencies or other granted exceptions.”

The Klingon practically spat out the regulations with more than a little venom in her voice. “Personally, I would like to see how far we could warp space and time before the deck plates started buckling apart, tears in subspace be damned…but I’ve seen your Federation penal colonies and find them existentially boring.”

Zane smirked at the conversation going about on the bridge, bringing up the live report feed from his security team, checking up on them to see if anything has happened but all is quiet. So, this left him to chip in as he had nothing left to do but rig long-range sensors to notify him if any vessel were to show up on sensors and were unidentified. “Personally, I’m all for bending the rules. As long as you’re able to remain professional and not put anyone in harm’s way or let emotions take over your decision, bending the rules should always consider.” He shrugged his shoulders, “Although this ship has received its upgrades, she could probably go faster than supposed Starfleet specs would say. What was it someone told me? A lot of it is just guidelines, not meant to be taken seriously. Once you have a feel for what the ship can do, then you know she can definitely do better.” He realized how he took over the conversation and cleared his throat. “Just matter of experience.” He returned his gaze back to his console and just cycled through systems, running the quickest, less invasive diagnostics just to kill time and appear like he is busy.

”If we were to do that…” Q’orvha retorted, her lips curling into an infernal smirk. “…then my experiences would say to do it while we are not being actively tracked by Devron’s sensor net. Leave as little evidence as possible…evidence like this entire conversation…which is all just, as you humans might say, ‘hypothetically speaking.’”

Elizabeth smirked.  She hadn’t intended to put into question Starfleet policy,  nor advocate ignoring such rules.  As she had said, it was above her pay grade.

Turning her attention back to the engineering console she entered commands monitoring the systems.   The EPS flow regulators to the starboard nacelle were out of calibration by .0091 microns causing slight yaw.  Her fingers danced over the console and recalibrate the regulator. “Helm, that should have corrected for the slight yaw.”

Tajir looked at the two, “that is enough we are staying at Warp 8.” Tajir said firmly as he let out a sigh as things were going to be interesting between some of the officers.

Alton didn’t pay much attention to the argument going on about their speed…..he checked the power levels for engineering, and he found them to be acceptable. He continued to run scans.

Calum rolled his eyes at the conversation of argument. He had been in Starfleet too long to know that it wasn’t how officers should act but to each their own. He continued to observe his station waiting for any order from the Captain.

Tajir stood up from his chair looking over at his first officer, “I’ll be in my office finishing up some reports.” Tajir replied as he got a nod in return. Walking towards his ready room he entered and looked out the window for a moment, their maiden voyage into a place where they will face many challenges. “Here is to new adventures,” Tajir said to himself as he stood there for a moment more almost in thought before taking a seat at his desk.