Part of USS Auckland: Caduceus Pt. 2

Chapter 2 – Welcome Aboard, Captain Pt. 2

USS Auckland
Feb 2401
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The transporter room of the USS Auckland materialised in front of Aris' eyes. His first look at his new ship, Stepping of the pad he was greeted by a young officer. “Welcome to the Auckland, Captain.” Taylor introduced himself. “Ensign Taylor Shan, Tactical Officer.”

“Thank you, Ensign.” Aris replied with a smile and a brief handshake. “I believe the Captain is expecting me?”

Taylor took a step back again and relaxed a little. “Yes sir, I'm here to show you to the Bridge and witness the transfer of command to yourself, Sir.”

“That would be most welcome, Ensign.” Aris replied before turning to face his senior crew. “Please report to your quarters everyone and get yourself settled, I will be calling a meeting shortly.”

Aris waited with Taylor until the last of his crew had exited the transporter room. “Lead on, Ensign.” he motioned Taylor toward the door. 

As Aris and Taylor were making their way to Deck 2, Gin was pacing the bridge. She had just finished speaking with the Admiralty who had issued one final order. Two small boxes were beamed onto the bridge with strict orders that these were to be given to the Captain on his arrival.

“Come on Gin, deep breaths, settle down.” she murmured to herself, shaking some of the nervous energy from her arms and shoulders. "Its just a simple transfer of command, the crew exchange has been completed and everything ran as expected, she had no reason to be worried.

The distinctive hiss of the bridge door opening quickly caught Gin's attention as Ensign Shan escorted Commander Suin to the bridge. “Welcome to the USS Auckland.” she offered a hand to shake.

“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Aris smiled, shaking the offered hand with his own. “Shall we get this transfer confirmed and get down to business?”

“Of course, Commander.” Gin replied. “Computer, initiate transfer of command operations from Lieutenant Gin Fenway, Authorisation Fenway-3-1-2 Lambda Psi.”

The computer beeped once indicating it was now waiting for acknowledgement. “Computer, acknowledge transfer of command operations, Authorisation Suin, 7-2-2-6 Epsilon Sigma.”

Two more beeps sounded. “Command operations transfer witness acknowledgement, Authorisation Shan-6-6-4-2 Tango Kilo.”

“Command operations transferred.” The computer confirmed. "Log has been updated.” 

Once the confirmation had been received from the computer, Aris turned to face Gin. “Well, Lieutenant. Shall we adjourn to the ready room and bring each other up to speed?”


While Aris and Gin were getting acquainted, Emma, T'Keterk, Nora and Damien were heading to their assigned quarters. The group came to a pause outside the turbolift car as they each consulted their padds to reconfirm their living assignments and their locations relative to each other. All of them understanding this would be vastly different to the living arrangements on the Corax

They had grown accustomed to all being housed on the same level, but Parliament class vessels were different. As senior crew Lieutenant Junior Grade and above, T'Keterk and Nora would have individual quarters while Damien and Emma, although a part of the Senior Crew were assigned to a residential hallway located as near to the individual quarters as possible.

Damien and Emma both smiled at each other. Both thinking about how good it was that they wouldn't have to acclimate and get situated alone. As they parted, they each said their farewells for now, knowing that the Captain would be calling a briefing soon. 


Back on Deck Two, Aris led Gin to the ready room. “Can I get you anything?” he asked. “Tea? Water? Coffee”?

“Coffee, please, Captain.” Gin replied, taking her seat in front of the desk she turned to face Aris. “But only if you join me too.”

Aris turned and busied himself with the replicator. In a matter of moments a tray materialised holding 2 steaming cups of coffee with an assortments of milks, water and sugars. Placing the tray between them on the desk, Aris began to fix his coffee to his liking.

“How do you like it, Lieutenant?” Aris enquired as he hovered a spoon over the different options. 

“Just a splash of milk for me, Captain.” Gin confirmed as the mug was slid toward her. “Before we being, may I have a short moment of your time?”

“Of course, Lieutenant.” Aris replied with a smile. 

Getting the affirmative, Gin placed the two boxes received from the Admiralty on the desk. “These arrived shortly before your arrival on the bridge with strict instructions to hand these over once you had assumed command.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Aris pulled the boxes toward himself and unsealed them revealing a gold and a black rank pip respectively. Accompanying the pips were promotion authorisation, Aris being promoted to full Commander and Lieutenant Fenway being promoted to Lieutenant Commander.

“Congratulations, Commander.” Aris smiled. “I will update the ships log to reflect the change and update your classification once we are done here."

Settling back in his seat and getting comfortable, Aris retrieved his padd and transmitted some files to Commander Fenway. “I want to begin by saying thank you for the warm welcome and for doing an admirable job as Acting Commanding Officer. I completely understand we are new amongst the crew and I will come to rely on you to help bridge any divides as we become better acquainted.”

“Thank you, Captain.” Gin replied with a nod. “I'd be happy to assist.”

“Much appreciated, Commander.” Aris continued. “Now I have transferred some files relevant to our assignment to your padd to review in your own time. I will be calling a briefing within the hour to go over the particulars and to introduce everyone. Do you have any questions at this time?”

Casting a quick glance over the details, she was certain to review these at a later time. “Not at this time, Captain.”

“Perfect, you have the bridge, Commander.” Aris replied. “I have a few things to take care of before the briefing.”

“Yes sir.” Gin got to her feet and made for the bridge. “I will notify you if anything changes before the briefing.”