Standing Down

As the Lotus finished docking and stood down from alert, Lieutenant Vincent stood at his console on the bridge. He’d been staring at his sensor readings long after the other officers stood down.

“Lieutenant, we’re docked at the starbase, it’s probably okay for you to blink now,” Ensign Kiels, the assistant security chief, said half joking.

“Since we left Starbase 10, I let Klingons board the ship, my captain was shot by an Undine infiltrator, the first officer, another Undine, slipped past me, and on top of all that both prisoners escaped from my brig,” Josh responded bluntly without taking his eyes off the scanners. “And then the same Undine that disabled the ship using my security guards and knocked out the entire crew saved us from the brink of defeat and just left. I’m not letting my guard down again until I’m completely satisfied that we’re in the clear.”

Ensign Kiels placed her hand on Lt. Vincent’s arm and leaned in closer.

“Josh, let’s take a walk. You can’t stand here forever; let Ensign Hermann watch the sensors for a while,” she said.

After a few moments of hesitation Josh waved the other tactical officer over and stepped in to the turbolift with Nidiri.

“Do you really blame yourself for all of those things?” Nidiri asked.

“Yes I do. I’m the security chief and as such the security of the ship is my domain. The Klingons, the Undine, and the fracture that’s practically tearing the Lotus apart; responsibility for all of those lies with me,” Josh responded.

“Then the credit for surviving all of this is yours too,” replied Nidiri. “Your security teams successfully fought off a full Klingon boarding action, stood toe to toe with the Klingon flagship, and helped secure the Horizon, all while our XO was working to sabotage us.”

Nidiri stepped out of the turbolift as it stopped and Josh followed, thinking on what had been said.

“And where is the XO now? He’s gone, leading his armada to…” retorted Josh.

“You weren’t even on the ship when he left. You were busy saving Captain Kheren and Commander Syntron, without whom this whole operation would have been a waste,” Nidiri sternly replied. “You were following orders and doing your work as part of a team. And now that team is doing its part to keep us safe while we write our reports and repair the Lotus.”

The tone of Nidiri’s last response startled Josh; he stopped and looked up to see that the two had arrived at the security office. Josh turned and made eye contact with Nidiri for the first time since they left the bridge.

“I know you’re right Nidiri, but I’ve been fooled too many times today and I can’t let it happen again,” Josh replied solemnly. “The Lotus isn’t exactly in a position to fight if anything does happen, so I guess I just need to get some rest, after writing my reports of course. You should relax too, you were great out there. And thank you for talking me down.”

With that Josh hugged Nidiri and stepped into his office. He looked at the PADDs strewn across the room as he sat at his desk.

Security Chief’s Log Stardate 87174.9

It has been a wild operation, we encountered just about every enemy of the Federation, but we came out on top. The Horizon anomaly has been sealed and the attacking forces are destroyed or in retreat. The Undine, who infiltrated the Lotus, attempted to take over, and after incapacitating the entire crew, escaped, ended up saving Lotus Fleet and Starbase 10 from being ravaged.

Several minor casualties in my department from the fighting and one casualty: Crewman Terris. The ship is being held together by its ablative armor due to heavy damage from the Klingons.

Honestly, I don’t really know what to think about all of this right now. I need to get some rest and look more closely at all that happened. For now I’ve got to check up on the rest of my officers, they’ve been working very hard and seen a lot and I need to make sure they’re all okay.

End recording.

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Much of his time had been spent in engineering sense returning from his debriefing with Lotus Fleet command, Gould and Adams had the some what dismal task of  determining if the reconstruction of the USS Lotus's superstructure was even feasibly possible.

Gould gave yet another heavy sigh "We'll have to strip the ship down to its sub-frame all along the secondary hulls port side before we can even begin to work on the problem."

Adams nodded in agreement "That will take two or three weeks easy, to bad we cant just beam in a new sub-structure like it was a piece of the hull captain."

Gould shook his head, it was a daunting task, the Lotus had taken a torpedo hit by a Klingon dreadnought and cracked her frame, no damage could have been harder to fix short of a missing section from the primary or secondary hull or an entire warp engine. But the use of both continual high warp and well as the trans warp drive caused the damage to spread through out most of the secondary hull, fracturing it in several key areas.

"Were looking at.. um.. 6 months of repair time I'm guessing.. before she'll be space worthy again." Adams said with an annoyed tinge to his voice.

Gould used his best Vulcan voice in response. "Engineer Adams, I find your evaluation of the situation overly optimistic." Both men smiled.

Adams turned and walked away slowly while looking around the bay. "There's been some talk.. we've been pushed back of the supply list, nothing to unreasonable,"

Gould leaned against a console "They want to get the ship that are lest damaged first up and back out in the field and I'd have to agree, the Lotus wont be going any where for a while.. but that's not what you want to know is it?" Adams gave him a look that might 'maybe' so Gould went on. "I just don't know yet truthfully, The Lotus took a lot of damage and she's an old ship. It's possible she might be decommissioned to make way for a new ship, but nothings final yet."

"Yes, that's what I was thinking alright sir." and looked around the room again. "My gut tells me that's the way it will end, perhaps they'll turn her into a museum or even a cadet cruiser.. she could be fixed up enough for that I think." Gould had seen that look in an engineers eye before, in himself.

"I'll miss you you know, it's hard to find an engineer that can put up with another engineer for a captain." Gould said with a grin. 

Adams laughed a little "That plain am I? well your right of course, where she goes i plan to follow for better or worse, but we'll have to see." then brightened a bit "But you'll be getting a shinny new ship then? lets face it, you do sit the Lotus with a great deal of fondness.. one engineer to another."

Gould shrugged. "She's a good enough craft for her age, I just felt she was ill suited for a Flagship, the demands are too heavy for a scout ship, even this one." then held up his PADD "Exhibit A through D right here" he said seriously.

"Maybe so.. maybe so.. but she did wonders in her time, no one could have asked more from any ship." Adams said with a smile.

"I'd never say otherwise" and straightened up. "I think I'll leave you two alone for awhile, I need to check in with Vincent." waved and walked out.

Adams watched him go for a few seconds and went back to work. "Don't you mind him old girl, either way I'll have you flying again, even if it is just for one last flight home."