Personal Log: Commander Cody Bettencourt

‘It’s been a few weeks since Captain Vax and Commander Fergouson took shore leave while the ship was being refitted with its carrier module. Since then, I’ve commanded the Heracles and been tasked with patrolling the Klingon-Federation border. We intercepted a few Orion ships that were listed as potentially slave traders; fortunately, only two of them were slave traders. Following a successful investigation of the ship’s manifest and the removal of three illegally obtained Betazoids from their holds. We sent them on their way with a firm warning that if they were caught again with illegal goods or enslaved people, we would impound their ship and revoke their trade licenses.’

Cody paused the log for a moment to take a sip of the Raktajino on the desk. As he placed the drink back on the desk, he wondered if anything else needed to be logged before returning to the log.

‘After the Heracles left the Earth Space Station, a few minor power issues were discovered. The majority of them had a direct connection to the carrier module that the Heracles had attached to its structure. I honestly believe it shouldn’t have been a problem given that the Heracles is designed to handle such a module, but even the best-laid plans have flaws from time to time. I eagerly await the return of Captain Vax and Commander Fergouson in the next…’

A soft beep came from the console on the desk, and Cody paused the log to respond to the hail from the bridge.

“Commander Bettencourt, we have a message from Starfleet command. It’s for you,” said a soft female voice on the other end of the intercom.

“Send it to the ready room computer,” Cody said as he closed the intercom.

Cody sat back in the oversized, plush chair. As he waited for the message to be sent to the computer, he thought to himself, ‘God, now I see why she loves this chair.’ As the message appeared on the screen, I read it and discovered that it had been sent by a member of the Fourth Fleet Admiralty. He read the message and saw that it was an order to change course and head for the Paulson Nebula to assist the fleet in the “Stormbreaker” operation. He also noticed that they would have to take a detour because they needed to pick up Captain Vax and Commander Fergouson on Vulcan.

After reviewing the message and orders, he noted that their primary mission was to close any subspace rifts they came across. He then shook his head as he looked over the attached designs and specs for the device that would allow the rifts to be closed. ‘Thank God I don’t have to design this,’ he thought to himself.

He stepped out of the ready room after closing the file and taking his seat from Trever, who had been in command while he was away.

“Set your course for Vulcan, Mr. Nief.” “Warp 6,” Cody said, leaning back in his command chair.

Trever nodded and took over the ship’s flight controls again, saying, “Aye, Commander,” as he plotted the course to Vulcan. “Vulcan laid in,” he stated.

Cody nodded before saying, “Engage.”

Trever tapped a single holographic icon, which activated the Heracles nacelles and propelled the ship into warp.