Taking a Trip with the Captain

Lieutenant Moss arrived in the main hanger of the Leviathan and looked around. It was 17:45 and Captain Taybar had told Stefen to be here by 18:00. Most of the shuttles and the Leviathan 's main runabouts, including both the Hellcat and the Devastator II were to the sides. Stefen had expected to be travelling with the Captain onboard the Hellcat, but there was only one small type-9 shuttle in the launch bay. As he approached the shuttle, he saw that the door was open and stepped inside.

“Hello Lieutenant.” The voice of Captain Taybar said from the cockpit of the shuttle. “Early as usually.”

Stefen stowed the small backpack, he had brought with him and stepped forward, taking the vacant seat beside the Captain.

“So Captain, where are we going exactly ?” Stefen asked.

“Jupiter station.” Aki replied. “I have an old friend visiting and I thought that as the Leviathan won't be ready for another two days, I'd go and say hello.”

“So why did you ask me to come along ?” Stefen enquired.

“I think the two of you will get along just fine.” Aki stated. “Shall we leave ?”

“OK.” Stefen replied, checking his console. “All systems show green, we are ready to depart.”

Aki activated the comm. link and contacted the hanger control centre.

“Shuttle Two to hanger control.” Aki announced. “We are ready to leave.”

[Hanger control to Shuttle Two.] A voice replied. [You are cleared to depart, opening hanger bay doors.]

Ahead of them, the doors to the hanger opened and they got their first view of Earth, which was only obscured by the repair station sub-structure. Aki pushed the shuttles thrusters and slowly moved out of the hanger bay and through the sub-structure into open space once more.

“Shuttle Two out.” Aki replied, activating the shuttles impulse engines and setting a course for Jupiter station. Jumping to warp, she set the controls on auto and turned to look at Stefen.

“So Lieutenant, we have a few minutes before we drop out of warp.” Aki said. “I've been looking at your proposal for this new away team and I have a couple of observations to make.”

“I would be interested in what you think Captain.” Stefen replied.

“My first observation is that you don't have any engineering expertise within the team.” Aki stated. “You have all the other areas covers, helm, ops, tactical, medical, science and security, so I would suggest that you have a word with our new Command Marine and suggest that Jack Truman joins the team. As well as his Marine training, he's also a good Engineer.”

“That's a good idea Captain, thank you.” Stefen said.

“Secondly, I'd like to suggest that you change your science officer.” Aki stated. “Lieutenant Lloyd is a good stellar cartographer, but I think Lieutenant Ashraf Kahfre would be a better choice for a science officer. His expertise and abilities could prove useful.”

“I did think of using Lieutenant Kahfre, but when I approached Lieutenant Rhee, she was unwilling to release him.” Stefen explained.

“I'll have a word with Lieutenant Rhee when we get back.” Aki stated. “I do have one more addition to the team to suggest, another Marine. You may not have had much time to review the new arrivals, but we have a Second Lieutenant, who is an expert in Infiltration. His name is James Archer and given his background, I think he would be a valued addition to the team. Again, you'd have to go through our new Command Marine, but I can't see any problems.”

“I'd like to review his service record.” Stefen replied. “But all your ideas sound useful and I will consider them.”

The console in front of Aki beeped stating that they were about to drop out of warp. Aki resumed control and the small vessel dropped out of sub-space and appeared in normal space with Jupiter station ahead of them silhouetted against Jupiter.

[Jupiter station to Captain Taybar. We have you on approach, activating approach beacon seventeen. You will be docking in hanger sixty-two. We also have a message for you.]

“Go ahead.” Aki replied.

[The drinks are on you.] The voice announced. [I don't understand, but that was the message.]

“Thank you Jupiter station, message received and understood.” Aki announced, a smile crossing her face. “We are locked onto the approach beacon, ETA three minutes.”

Ten minutes later, after going through docking security the two Leviathan officers were heading up the station.

“Captain, what was the message you received mean ?” Stefen enquired.

“You'll see in a minutes.” Aki replied as the turbolift finally stopped and the doors opened into the stations concourse. “Welcome to Jupiter station.”

The two officers quickly walked through the myriad of people and finally found ‘The Red Spot'. They were stood outside a large establishment, but from the outside it could have been anything. As they stepped inside however, its purpose became clear. Inside it was a large restaurant\nightclub and it had a supreme view of Jupiter and its famous red spot. As Aki and Stefen came fully inside they were met by a Bolian waiter.

“Welcome to the Red Spot.” The waiter announced. “Do you have a reservation ?”

“No.” Aki replied. “We're here to meet with a colleague of mine, Lieutenant Commander Barker.”

“Ah yes.” The Bolian said. “The Commander is already here, please follow me.”

The two officers followed the Bolian through the tables and finally they arrived at a table set for three. Already sat there was another Trill, a male and Stefen guessed that this was Lieutenant Commander Chu Barker, the same Trill the Captain had spoken of earlier in the day.

“I'm fine.” Aki replied. “This is Lieutenant Stefen Moss, who I spoke to you about this afternoon. Have you ordered yet ?”

“Only drinks.” Chu replied. “I thought I'd wait for you, I know how you like to peruse the menu before ordering.”

The Bolian waiter passed the three officers menus and after five minutes had taken their orders. The evening went fast as the two friends caught up and by the time they had finished their meal, it was almost midnight. Heading for their assigned guest quarters, all three arranged to meet the following day to get down to work.