ON

The USS Calgary had appeared on their long range scans the day before, about an hour before Lisald had gotten off shift. The appearance of the ship sent electric vibes through the ship; everyone aboard knew that once the supplies and additional crew were safely aboard, the Cygnus would head out to unexplored and largely uncharted space.

Long range scans had picked up space-faring ship signatures unlike anyone in the Federation had ever seen, precipitating First Contact directives being brushed up on, which the Captain, First Officer, Lisald and the Chief Science Officer had especially dove in on hard. For Lisald especially, this was a boon, as part of his Command Courses demanded he study for. What better reason than the actual thing?

As the Cygnus sped towards the Calgary, anticipation mounted. Now, this morning, the Calgary had finally entered short-range scans. Captain Stafford had given the order to Lisald before he retreated to his ready room that once they were in range, to slow to impulse and come up alongside the Calgary, ready to accept the supplies and start beaming aboard people that would be assigned permanently to the Cygnus, as well as transferring off several people that were going on to different things, or getting out of Starfleet altogether, as was such the case for three people, one from Security and two from Engineering.

“Dropping to impulse,” Chapman said from the Conn station.

“Thanks,” Lisald stated from the Ops position, next to her. The command seats were currently vacant, both the Captain and the First Officer in a meeting. “Thrusters at station keeping. Bring us alongside, and match their Z, Y and X vectors.”

“Got it,” Chapman said. Within moments, the colossal ship that was the Cygnus edged into position next to the equally colossal USS Calgary, an Ambassador-class starship.

Lisald tapped his commbadge. “Bridge to Shuttlebay 1 and 2, prepare for arriving shuttlecraft.”

=/\= Aye sir,=/\= came the reply, twice, once from each shuttlebay.

Lisald tapped his badge again. “Bridge Transporter Rooms 1, 2, 5 and 7, prepare for arriving crewmembers and guests,” he said, anticipating that maybe the Senior Officers from the Calgary would want to do a meet-and-greet with the Senior Officers of the Cygnus. While the Senior Officers of the Cygnus certainly did not have the fame and admiration that the Senior Officers of the Calgary did, it was still something to do to break up the monotony and drudgery that was space travel.

Within moments, all of the transporter chiefs of each transporter room had responded they were ready.

For the third time, Lisald tapped his commbadge. “Bridge to Cargo Bay 1, 2, 3 and 4, please prepare for arriving cargo.”

Again, all of the bays had complied. With that work done, Lisald tapped his badge for the final time. “Bridge to Captain Stafford and Commander Pope. We have rendezvoused with the Calgary and are taking on personnel and supplies.”

OFF
Lieutenant jg Lisald Vaat
Chief Operations Officer
USS Cygnus