Behold, a mighty gift

Posted on Mon Jul 8th, 2019 @ 6:46pm by Captain Abigail Laurens & Lieutenant Jack Carver

Mission: Getting To Know You
Location: Bridge

"Commander Laurens?" the ensign at Ops spoke up, glancing over at the captain. "We're being hailed, priority message. Encoded. Shall I transfer it to your ready room, Ma'am?"

Abigail sighed softly, running her fingers through her dark hair before she reached out for the communication. "Yes," she said quietly. "Transfer it through," she said as she stood up and walked to the replicator, ordering her regular chai latte and a plate of shortbread cookies before heading back to her desk to take the call.

The connection was made, credentials accepted and soon enough the terminal would show the visage of a kindly older man with a salt-and-pepper beard and Admiral pips on his shoulder. "Commander Laurens, I'm Admiral Flanagan of Starfleet R&D, it's a pleasure to meet you." he offered with a smile. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

Abigail smiled genially. "Of course not Admiral, what can I do for you?" she asked, unable to truly hide the small amount of skepticism in her voice. This was not her first conversation with Admiralty of any kind since she had taken command, and every single one of them ended up with her taking on yet more crew at their behest.

"I'll not keep you long, Commander." Flanagan spoke, turning a little bit more serious. "Lord know you'll have your hands full as is." he added. "Records tell me your ship is not currently carrying a fighter complement. Your fighter hangar should be empty, is that correct?"

"Well, I guess that depends on your definition of empty," Abigail said guardedly. "Right now it does not contain fighters, no... but we've also just been loaded with one hundred pallets of supplies for Trion 8," she said quietly. "Am I to assume you have other ideas now?"

Flanagan nodded. "I'm afraid you're going to have to find another space for those pallets, Commander. I have a full strike wing ready and waiting for transfer, with your name on it. Six Razor interceptors, six Gryphon multirole fighters, eightteen flight crew, twenty ground support crew and associated support equipment." he mused. "It was decided to outfit the Astraea with the latest and most effective support craft in Starfleet's arsenal. The Akira class was designed as multirole cruiser-slash-light-carrier after all."

Abigail closed her eyes momentarily, simply thinking over the logistics of the entire situation. "Alright," she finally said quietly. "I think I can make it work, I'll have my crew relocate the pallets immediately, when do you want your fighters to come aboard? I'm not sure if you're aware or not but we have already received our orders and we're supposed to depart early tomorrow morning."

"We can beam over the ground support crew at any time to assist with the logistics of clearing the fighter bay. Transporting the support equipment will take up to an hour. The fighters themselves will be flown in by their flight crews - if you give me advance warning I can have them waiting outside your ship so they can land in your through-deck hangar over about ten minutes." Flanagan offered, steepling his fingers as he thought.

"I can hold position outside the station for about twenty-four hours, Commander. That should give you plenty of time, I think." he smiled. "Once everything is on board the Astraea your new wing commander, Lieutenant Jack Carver, will oversee all the logistics of getting your new fighter wing ready and operational."

Abigail sighed, rubbing her fingertips into her forehead. They were meant to be departing in less than 24 hours. "Alright," she finally said quietly. "If your support staff can have the fighter bay ready in the next six hours then I'll allow your fighers on board." There was a certain tone of resignation to her voice as she spoke, just a gut feeling telling her that any time she may try to come back with an argument it would be dismissed. "But we are on a deadline Admiral, we have our departure orders and we need to be gone at zero nine hundred tomorrow."

Flanagan smiled. "Understood, Commander. Shouldn't be a problem. Lieutenant Carver can answer any questions about the fighter's capabilities if needed." he offered. "Do you have any more questions for me?"

Abigail shook her head momentarily. "Actually, just tell me, when do you think I can expect your Lieutenant Carver to arrive?" she asked quietly, trying to calculate accordingly.

"Whenever is easiest for you, Commander. I can beam him over right away if you want." Flanagan offered. "That way he can help oversee operations."

"That would probably be beneficial, at the moment my crew is already chasing their tails getting ready for departure, to suddenly have to find a team to take control of this, well, I'd rather not risk mutiny before we even leave the Starbase," she said with a shake of her head.

Flanagan offered a kind smile. "I completely understand and sympathize. Getting ready for the first launch of a newly commissioned ship is always a stressful time, even without strange admirals dumping entire fighter wings onto your lap out of the blue." A nod. "I'll get Carver and the ground support team ready to beam over in ten minutes. They'll be briefed and will take as much of the logistics workload off your shoulders as they can, regarding this mass transfer."

"Thank you Admiral," Abigail replied graciously. "I appreciate your efforts to make this easier on us. Just have your Lieutenant Carver report to me when he comes aboard and I'll notify Operations and Security that they will be coming." She offered a smile at the console. "If there's nothing else Admiral, I'll take my leave now so my crew isn't taken by surprise when fighters start mysteriously appearing."

Flanagan sat up a bit more straight and gave a nod. "Sounds good, Commander. Lieutenant Carver can answer any further questions you have and if you wish to speak with me directly, the Overloon is holding position just outside the station. Feel free to hail us at any time." he offered with a smile. "Flanagan out." as the screen went dark.

=/\=

Commander Abigail Laurens
Commanding Officer
USS Astraea

&

Admiral Flanagan
NPC