Part of USS Opharus: First Steps and Bravo Fleet: The Lost Fleet

Arrival

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Alexander Wright stepped out of the turbolift and did his best to wipe the scowl off his face.  His journey to Starbase Bravo had been relatively hassle-free, aside from a minor incident with the transport’s engines after leaving Earth Spacedock.  Once he arrived at the station, he started to make his way down to the berth that held the USS Opharus

He was doing his best not to wear an unpleasant look on his face as he passed by everyone else. It wasn’t their fault that he had been stuck on this dead-end assignment instead of on a real starship that would undertake real missions. He knew that he should have just been happy to have been chosen as a member of the command staff, even if it was on a corvette. 

He would preserve through this and get assigned to an actual command. He didn’t know much about the CO, other than the man was only a few years older than himself. It probably made him a bad XO but he really just wanted to get through this assignment and move to the next. He must have gotten turned around while thinking because when he next glanced down the corridor, he realized that he was totally lost. He swore and walked over to the nearby wall display.

“Computer, I need directions to the USS Opharus.”

Continue down the corridor another 150 meters and then take the turbolift down one deck.”

Alexander stepped away from the wall and continued down the corridor. As he walked he pulled out his PADD and looked up the command manifest for the Opharus and then stopped in his tracks, causing several people behind him to have to veer abruptly around him. He shook his head and read the screen again, just to make sure that he wasn’t seeing things.

There was no way this was happening. There was no way that the universe was this cruel. Did he piss off Q or something? His new commanding officer, the man that he would be stuck with for the foreseeable future, was the same man that had stood him up three times in high school. 

He looked different for sure but he still wore that same old cocky grin in his personnel file that he wore all around high school. Now, Alexander really wanted to hit something. He took a deep breath and then asked the computer to locate Lt. Fox. 

“Lt. Fox is onboard the USS Opharus.”

“Let’s get this over with.”

Comments

  • A great introduction to our character and he's got more than just a chip on his shoulder - I like how he fights having a RBF about all this and how the Raven isn't his ideal assignment. Playing with that should be a fun addition to this character. And the reveal about the CO? This is going to be interesting. I like how it's far enough in the past to maybe be more buried...but that just means more digging into the past and seeing what turns up! Looking forward to more!

    June 1, 2023
  • This story did a really effective job of putting the reader in Wright's frame of mind. I got a deep sense of his ambitions and anxieties; I liked some of the pettiest reflections, like how he got lost. Or even the way he questioned his preparedness to be an XO because of how little research he did on his incipient captain. But my favourite part, the absolute climax, was that sinking feeling as he realized his captain was the jerk who stood him up. I'm always on the lookout for a novel CO/XO dynamic and you've found a stellar one here. I wonder who's more liable to kill Fox first: the Jem'Hadar or Wright!

    June 1, 2023
  • '...dead-end assignment instead of on a real starship that would undertake real missions.' This guy evidently doesn't know much about what Raven class corvettes really get up to! Lets hope the crew can prove him wrong and that his past at High School; with the now Lt Fox doesn't lead to too much conflict on the bridge. I thing a inventory of all phasers may be needed.

    June 1, 2023
  • I can see this guy is going to be a treat, I can understand not wanting to be on a lowly Corvette and be on a real ship. Ravens are just as important in their own way. I enjoyed how you portrayed him, and curious to see how things play out as time goes on. Sometimes fate is cruel sometimes even with it being as big as space one really doesn't ever think being assigned to the same ship as someone who you knew in high school let alone one that stood you up. I am curious to see how their interaction will go, great job with this story!

    June 17, 2023