Rendezvous with the Ranger

Posted on Sun Nov 14th, 2010 @ 5:11pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell

1,792 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Structured Shoreleave - Marchwiel
Location: USS Fairfax and USS Ranger
Timeline: Current

[ON]

Captain's Ready Room, USS Fairfax
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Captain Richard Northcutt had just finished reading the latest Engineering report and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Apparently Chief Russell had found the potential repair issue on the Ranger. As he reached for the cup of coffee on his desk, a message came in.

"Captain, this is Lieutenant Wells. You wanted to be notified when we were approaching Marchwiel. We are two minutes from entering standard orbit, sir." said the Tactical Officer of the Fairfax.

Northcutt tapped his comm badge. "Understood, Lieutenant. I will be on the bridge shortly. Contact Captain Halliwell of the Ranger and patch it through to my Ready Room."

"Aye, sir. Hailing now." she said as she worked to raise the Ranger.

"This is Ensign Olan, go ahead Fairfax"

"Is Captain Halliwell available?" Wells asked.

"Yes. She is in her Ready Room. I will patch you through." Olan said.

Wells worked to link the signal to Northcutt's Ready Room, and within a few seconds, Northcutt and Halliwell were facing each other on the screen again.

"Ah, Captain. Good morning." said Northcutt with a smile.

“Good to see you,� Elsie replied genuinely. “What is your status, Captain?�

"Based on the transmissions you sent, my engineers think they have diagnosed your problem. We should be in orbit around Marchwiel in a few minutes. Requesting permission to come aboard with my Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Jim Russell, and an engineering repair team." he said.

Elsie smiled, and chuckled almost at the preposterous formality of the request, but considered that she would have uttered the same phrase should the roles be reversed. If the captain and his team could help get the Ranger space-bound once more, he was welcome to take over her ready room, let alone merely board the ship. She nodded and said, “Of course, Captain. I’ll make my way to the ready room to greet you.�



Transporter Room One, USS Ranger
_________________________________________

As the blue, ionised particles swirled and danced like fairies, Elsie stood with her yeoman, Mr Andrews, to welcome the boarding party. “Captain Northcutt,� she opened with, holding out an eager hand to greet him. “Welcome to the Ranger, and thank you.�

Northcutt walked off the bad and firmly grasped Elise's hand and shook it. "Glad to meet you in person, Captain." he said as he motioned to another officer next to him dressed in the yellow tunic of an engineer. He had a utility belt on and a PaDD under his arm. "May I introduce Lieutenant Commander Jim Russell, my Chief Engineer." Nortcutt said.

Elsie nodded to Russell, held out her hand again and shook his. “Thank you, Commander,� she said, “I appreciate you helping us get back on our feet.�

"A pleasure to meet you, Captain." Russell said as he shook Halliwell's hand. "Where can I find your Chief Engineer? I want to get started with him on this repair project as soon as we can."

“Naturally, he’s stationed in Engineering. Just about where I suppose you would be should the Fairfax be in the same position the Ranger is.� She smiled at him, turned to her yeoman and said, “Mr. Andrews, please take our guest to Lieutenant Reynaldi.� Andrews smiled, nodded to Russell and stepped off out into the corridor.

As they left, Halliwell turned back to Northcutt and said, “I believe we have some further instructions to discuss. Please…� She motioned to the open door as they both headed back to her ready room.

Captain's Ready Room, USS Ranger

Northcutt walked into the room and almost sat in the chair behind the desk. He had to stop himself. He was so used to sitting in THAT chair. He instead took a seat in the chair in front of the desk.

“So,� Elsie said, taking her own seat after noticing his predilection for her own chair. She smiled, noted the humour and sense of awkwardness of two captains on one ship and continued. “What is this sensitive issue you wish to discuss, Captain?�

"Well, Captain, I'm here to give you some new orders. Once you have the Ranger up and running again, Vice-Admiral Adams has an interesting mission for you." said Northcutt.

Halliwell rolled her eyes a little. That word – ‘interesting’ – seemed to crop up in relation to Elsie and her little ship rather too often for her liking. She screwed her face up a little and sat back in her chair. “Adams, eh?� She said it more to herself and then added, “What this time? The Borg? A Dominion reformation?�

"It appears that several months ago, the USS Archimedes was exploring the Ionasixal System and came upon a previously unexplored Class M Planet they called Overton. The planet was dominated by an arid type landscape and was a hot and dry place." Northcutt said as he tried to remember all the details.

The CO of the Fairfax continued. "After scanning the planet for an extended length of time, they discovered that Overton used to be inhabited by a very advanced civilization, the Hareatians, perhaps as long as several hundred thousand years ago." Northcutt paused and cleared his throat. "The reason they believe this is because the crew of the Archimedes uncovered an artifact with some potentially amazing powers. Now, Starfleet recognized that you and your crew are familiar with the Archimedes and her crew which is why you were assigned to this project."

“What does this ‘amazing’ artefact do, then, if it’s so important?�

"Well, if the reports are accurate, the item they recovered is akin to a super transporter. If they are correct about the device, it, along with a compatible relay elsewhere, could send both our ships to other galaxies in seconds. Yes, Captain, other galaxies. Can you imagine the possibilities?" he asked Halliwell in an enthusiastic tone.

Halliwell fell silent for the moment, and then looked out of the window at the sunshine fading into dusk. “This is extremely exciting stuff! But, Captain, I don’t quite see how the Ranger could be of use to Captain Kerr and his crew.�

"As you know, information of this nature is strictly classified for obvious reasons, which is why I am telling all this to you in person and not over subspace. Too many potential ears out there. At any rate, let me finish the story." he said.

“Of course,� she replied, holding up her hands in defence. “Please.�

"The Archimedes was then ordered by Starfleet Command to take this component immediately to the nearest Federation Class 2 Research facility, in this case, Deep Space Five." Northcutt said.

"That was three weeks ago. Four days after leaving the Ionasixal system, Starfleet lost all contact with Archimedes and we cannot raise her on subspace either. The last ship to report her position was an Andorian freighter, the Jelto two and a half weeks ago. Jelto reported Archimedes was on course to DS5 at Warp 6." Northcutt paused and looked directly into the Captain's eyes. "Elise, the Archimedes is now twelve days overdue on Deep Space Five," he said with a serious tone, "and Starfleet Command has no idea what has happened to her. So, your mission is to find the Archimedes and the component she was carrying."

Surprisingly, it was the disclosure that Kerr and the Archimedes were even active so soon after their brush with the Polaron torpedo that seemed to catch her off-guard more than anything. She had only met the joined Trill once before but the majority of her senior staff were transferred over and she shared the belief that if anyone could find the ship, her captain and the component in the vast blanket of space, it would be the Ranger and her crew. But then, knowing how important technology was to the Federation and specifically Starfleet, a creeping and darkened question wafted into the corner of her mind. “What is Command more concerned with, Captain?� she asked, her voice laced with a knowing, with a concern that she felt to her bones. “The ship and crew... or this artifact?�

"Captain, the component may be the reason we can't find her. Vice-Admiral Adams made it very clear to me that the component, if it fell into the wrong hands, could be used as a devastating weapon against the Federation. Obviously, Starfleet Command would like nothing more than to find the ship and her crew completely intact, but the longer she is out of communications, the less likely that is to be a reality. So, your orders are, to find the Archimedes and locate the component. If Archimedes is incapable of transporting the component to DS5, then you will need to complete their mission. Do you understand, Captain Halliwell?" he asked her. It was a tough mission, and Northcutt knew it. Starfleet always endeavored to put the lives of the crew and officers of ships first, but sometimes due to the security of the Federation, it simply couldn't.

Her face remained steely and lined with a cautious, angered glare that wasn’t directed at Northcutt, but at the situation. “Then your repair team need to work quicker than I first thought to get us up and running so that we can search for the crew of the Archimedes... and this wretched component. As you said, the longer they remained lost, the less likely this mission will succeed. And I’m damned if I’m about to fail a mission now!�

Northcutt nodded. "There is one more thing, Captain. I have here on my PaDD a transfer of an officer from the Fairfax to your vessel, approved by Starfleet Command. I assume that you already know about it?" he asked her as he passed the PaDD across the desk to her.

She took it, looked at him and then nodded.�I do, thank you,� she replied, placed the PaDD down and then smiled at him.

"Very well, Captain." Northcutt said as he stood and extended his hand. "Good luck." he said as he shook Elise's hand.

OFF:

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Richard Northcutt
Commanding Officer
USS Fairfax

AND


Elise Halliwell
Commanding Officer
USS Ranger

 

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