Putting in to Port

Posted on Wed Sep 8th, 2010 @ 3:49am by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Fala Awen & Lieutenant JG Malia Jacy

Mission: Episode 1.3 - "The Time of Trial"
Location: Main Bridge, USS Pandora
Timeline: Mission Day 02, 1024

ON: [[Main Bridge, USS Pandora, MD02, 1024]]

The bridge was rather quiet, even for a morning shift. If Robert (NPC) hadn't known any better, he'd have sworn he was back on the night shift. He glanced over his shoulder to where Lieutenant Commander Fala was seated in the center chair. It was unusual for him not to see the admiral or even Commander Earlond sitting there instead, but things hadn't exactly been 'normal' ever since they'd returned from their little trip to Romulan space.

Awen was on the bridge, in the center chair, for the second day in a row. It wasn't sitting any better with her on this day than it had the day before, but it was her duty. She had to admit that the situation was disconcerting and the questions swirling around in her mind weren't helping. Still, all things considered, everything was going...well.

"...I'm tellin' you Bish, it's love," came the voice of Rodney McCabe as the turbolift doors opened onto the bridge.

The senior engineer sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "McCabe, in a world of idiots, you stand as a paragon of the breed."

The younger man shrugged off the jibe. "See you... you're just jealous that a lovely red-haired beauty is takin' a shine to me," he fired back.

"Hardly," Bishop snorted. "And if you think she's a 'red-haired beauty', you're more naive that I gave you credit for."

McCabe blinked, suddenly unsure of himself. "That's not her natural hair colour?"

"That's not her hair."

For a moment McCabe said nothing, though his eyes grew noticeably in their sockets, causing Bishop to chuckle and move to the Engineering station. "Kids," he muttered to himself. As if noticing Fala for the first time, he nodded once to her in greeting. "Commander."

Glancing over at the Chief Engineer, Awen gave him a brief nod. She wasn't entirely sure about the story behind the engineers' chatter and, truth be told, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Regardless, nearly everyone was at their station. Christopher was noticeably absent, but he had taken the night shift, so she hadn't expected him.

"Bridge to Engineering," he called when he reached the console. "Murphy try sensor pallette G-7. That's the one Astrometrics has been moanin' about for a week. I'll coordinate the realignment from here."

=/="Got it Chief,"=/= came the voice from the comm.

Shaking his head, Robert turned his attention back to the readouts on his own console. The two engineers seemed too chipper, considering with everything that had transpired. He didn't think they seemed very concerned about what was going on with Commander Earlond or the admiral. Then again, maybe it wasn't any of his business to be concerned with the affairs of his superiors.

"Contact with the outer navigational buoy, ma'am," Robert announced as he picked up the signal that would help to guide them into the appropriate approach vector for Deep Space Four.

The Bajoran nodded and sat up a little straighter in the command chair, "Thank you, Ensign. Slow to three-quarters impulse power and maintain a steady course." Turning slightly towards the Assistant Chief Operations Officer, she said, "Lieutenant Jacy, once we're in range, contact Deep Space Four's docking master and confirm we've arrived."

"With pleasure, Sir," Mali smiled, tilting her head and eyeing the console in front of her intently. A secret part of her always wondered how much fun it would be to arrive unannounced. There was a short dialogue in her head that always ensued after such a wonderment, and never failed to make her grin from ear to ear.

"Aye ma'am, three-quarters impulse power," Robert said, acknowledging the order. With one hand, he reached over and eased the Pandora out of warp. The stars on the main viewscreen shifted from streaks of light to little points in the blackness of space. Robert adjusted the power of the impulse engines so that they would continue forward at three-quarters impulse.

He continued to watch the navigational readout on his console. This was something he'd done at least a dozen times before, but it was important to remember that each approach was different and that anything could happen in an instant. For that reason, he remained focused on what he was doing. He needed to keep track of their approach, watch for navigational instructions, and keep an eye out for other traffic. Being that this was a smaller installation, he wouldn't be docking the ship to the station, but he would need to get them into a proper orbit around the station.

"We're entering visual range now, commander," Robert announced, glancing up to the main viewscreen where he could see the image of Deep Space Four against the backdrop of the planet it orbited.

Awen nodded, watching the viewscreen. Malia would be contacting the dockmaster to confirm their presence. Her eyes took in the station, wondering what exactly would be awaiting them.

"Oh darling dooockmaster," Mali singsonged beneath her breath as she opened a channel to DS4. Once the link was established she put her game face back on. "DS4, this is the USS Pandora NCC-83739. We're here for a visit," she chuckled lightly.

"Pandora, this is DS4," the voice of the station's dockmaster replied, "You have been cleared for approach. Maintain course heading of zero-two-mark-three-five-seven and enter a concentric flight pattern at two thousand meters from the station."

"Got it!" Mali grinned brightly, turning to Fala to ensure the bridge leader was aware as well.

Giving a brief nod, Awen turned to Robert, "As the Dockmaster said, Ensign. Course heading zero-two-mark three-five-seven, concentric flight pattern at two thousand meters."

"Aye, ma'am," Robert replied, adjusting the Pandora's heading slightly to line up with the instructions from the station's dockmaster. A concentric flight pattern at any size could easily be handled by the ship's computer, but it would be Robert's job to get them there. He kept his hands steady on the controls as they continued to approach the station.

The distance readout continued to drop as the station grew larger on the main viewscreen. Robert knew that he could do this as long as he remained calm. Five thousand...fourty-five hundred...four thousand meters to go. A slight adjustment to the ship's heading as they continued toward their destination. Robert eased up on the impulse engines and applied a small burst from the thrusters to adjust their heading slightly. "Two thousand meters, concentric orbit, ma'am," Robert announced with a smile on his face. Textbook.

"Good," Awen replied, satisfied. She tapped her comm badge, "Bridge to Iluvar. The Pandora is now in orbit of Deep Space Four."

There was silence. Robert glanced over his shoulder toward the center of the bridge to see what the commander's reaction was. It was unusual for the admiral to not respond to a communication from the bridge, but then...he wasn't usually absent either.

The Bajoran paused. Without a confirmation, she wasn't sure whether or not Iluvar had gotten the message. She contemplated going to tell him herself, but decided to give it another minute or two first.

A moment later, the admiral's voice responded, "Acknowledged."

Awen leaned back in the command chair. Apparently he had heard her after all. Perhaps now that they had arrived she would find out exactly what was going on. Part of her wasn't entirely sure she wanted to though...

OFF

A JP by:

Lieutenant Commander Fala Awen
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Pandora

Lieutenant Samuel Bishop
Former Chief Engineer
USS Pandora

Lieutenant JG Malia Jacy
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
USS Pandora

and

Ensign Robert Johnson (NPC)
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: RAdm Iluvar