Zion is Coming
"
By: Ian Hunter, Commanding Officer, [PC]
Jonathan Wright, Executive Officer, [PC]
Michelio Zoei, Chief of Security, [NPC]
Stardate: 58202.27 1335
Capt Hunter stepped onto the Bridge from his ready room. Already the bridge crew had begun to make final preparations to get underway. He looked at the main viewing monitor. Nearby stars showed brightly through the docking moores. He strode across the bridge and sat in the captain's chair for the first time. He looked over at Wright who was busy monitoring progress. He greeted his first officer, "Number One," he said with a nod.
The captain watched and listened to what was going on around him. Everyone on the bridge seemed so young. The helmsman tapped on his console, "...confirmed port side umbilical connectors disengaged. Releasing docking moores in 30 seconds. All inertial dampers online..."
The captain leaned over to Wright, "Status Number One?"
"All stations report ready Captain. The fleet yards have requested a few minutes to clear the docking clamps and open the space dock doors. " replied Wright.
After 10 minutes everything was quiet. All was ready. The captain tapped his console, "All hands, this is the Captain. I'm pleased to announce that we are about to get underway. We're two days away from our shake down excursion but we all realize that this is where it all begins. I want to congratulate everyone for being a part of this crew. Captain out."
The captain smiled and nodded to Wright to get things started.
"Helm ahead one quarter impulse power.", instructed Wright, " Let's take this thing for a spin."
The helmsman fumbled with the console for several moments, the captain gave Wright a slightly pained look. After a minute the helmsman turned and reported to the captain. "I...I...I'm sorry sir, I seem to have locked out the helm, these configurations are a little different from the academy trainers, he bowed his head, this is the first Sovereign class I've flown."
The captain sat back and gave the commander a side-ways glance, he seemed slightly amused. "Number One," said the captain with a gesture, "would you care to do the honor and maneuver us out of space dock?
Wright stood up and walked to the helm. The embarrassed helmsman got up to relinquish his seat.
"Ensign, where are you going? Please sit down." said Wright.
"Yes sir.", said the helmsman as he sat back down.
Wright typed the access code into the console and said "Now look closely at the console Ensign, is it really all that different from what you trained on or are you just nervous?"
"I guess I am just nervous Sir.", he said tapping in the coordinates and looking at the Commander.
"Ahead one quarter impulse power Ensign." said Wright again.
"Aye Sir!", said the ensign as the great ship moved forward through the massive doors. "Thank you Sir."
The USS Zion banked sharply and changed course and accelerated to full impulse power. This was the beginning. She would take her place among the finest ships in the galaxy and do her part to help plot the uncharted destiny of the future. Her brand-new shiny plated hull glimmered in the light of the distant sun. Inside, her crew manned their stations, ensuring everything was functioning normally as the ship entered orbit around Bajor.
"Standard orbit Ensign." , instructed Wright.
"Aye sir. Standard orbit Sir." Said the ensign who was now so absorbed in flying the Zion that he had forgotten his earlier troubles. John was somewhat amused by the huge grin on the young ensign's face as he brought the ship into orbit around Bajor.
"Mister. Westfall, please send our greetings to Bajor." said Wright.
"I guess this would be a good time to recheck all systems and bring the warp core up to 100%" smiled the Captain with a nod of approval. "But it appears that everything is working perfectly."
"Indeed Sir. Indeed." said John.