Phoenix Dedication Ceremony

The echoes of voices filled the great hall of the starbase as it was again in full regalia.  Hanging in all their glory were flags proudly displaying the colors of the United Federation of Planets and of Lotus Fleet.  Frantic voices called out direction as the final banner for Starfleet was being hung.

The glory filled spectacle was being prepared as the Starbase readied itself for the launch of the USS Phoenix.  Star fleet officers, crew, honored civilian guest and Federation media personnel were filling the great hall surrounding a circular grand podium, which while currently empty slowly turned to reveal to all the glorious Federation Crest that covered its center.  It was from that stage in the great hall that heroes and dignitaries alike would stand and address the hundreds in attendance and countless billions throughout the quadrant.  

Off to the side and roped off with red crushed velvet line were two rows of seats reserved for the officers that would be presented along with the ship they were ready to serve under.  It was a heroes section for the brave men and women of the USS Phoenix who were ready to sit their stations as she undertook her first mission.

The door to the great hall opened and in walked Master Chief Eddington, who paused momentarily to adjust the white collar of his dress uniform, before proceeding for a final walkthrough before the crew and captain of the Phoenix were to enter.  As Master Chief Eddington walked toward the roped off area for the crew he was approached by Commander Joshua Riker who had already been present and was personally seeing media and civilian guests to the open areas.  Eddington was taken back slightly seeing his first officer as the first to arrive for the mingling, he had known Commander Riker a long time and fancy events were never something he hurried to arrive for.

Excusing himself from the two reporters he was speaking with Commander Riker walked over to Master Chief Eddington and pointed towards the door.

"Master Chief welcome glad you could arrive early.  Get what crewmen you need and be ready by the door.  As the crew arrives there will be much in the way of talking and questions and I need everyone to understand where they are going."

"Aye sir."

The door then parted open and in came Captain Kheren, commanding officer of Lotus Fleet's flagship, the Lotus class USS Horizon deep space explorer which had been also commissioned merely a week ago in this very hall. And he was not alone; his bridge crew, the one that had served on the late starship Artemis with Captain Syntron, had come to share their best wishes with the former first officer they had served with.

Among them were of course the Andorian's two wives, the giantess tactical officer Tyvya and the unique Aenar counselor Lyrya, but there was also the former colleagues of the Vulcan, black skinned humans Lieutenants Valencia Irksos and Norbert Baoule, as well as the latter's twin brother, engineer Lieutenant Robert Baoule with assistant engineer the blonde woman Patricia Blakely at his arm. Also came the Inuit ace pilot Aguk Snow and the six-limbed Edoan ops officer Lieutenant Thaankhuun Cheonghi shyly closing the small gathering of flagship officers.

As they all came into the hall, they met Eddington and Riker just as they were to move off.

"Greetings, Commander, Lieutenant "said Kheren in his deep, low voice. " Hopefully we are early enough so as not to attract to much unduly attention. If you do not mind, we would like a discreet section to have ourselves seated and enjoy the ceremony. "

"Although do not go out of your way to follow our good captain's wishes, " offered the towering Tyvya with a telling stare falling from her two point twenty-five meters of height. "We will certainly enjoy a front row seat just as well if there is no other place available."

"Our captain always endeavor to be... inconspicuous," offered Lyrya hanging on the other arm of the athletic commanding officer of the Horizon. 

The humor in her tone was quite evident, as they could see how inconspicuous a trio of Andorians like this, one muscular, indigo-skinned captain, a gigantic female and a white-skinned, blind Aenar could ever be... not to mention who they all were.

Glancing quickly around the room Commander Riker saw a section of chairs that was empty and not marked for anything.  Gesturing to the empty chairs Riker motioned for Master Chief Eddington.

"Master chief take the Captain and his distinguished guests over to those few back rows.  They are far enough from the cameras and crowds they should do nicely for him."

Turning back towards Captain Kheren Commander Riker continued.

"Captain it is an honor you could join us.  Master Chief Eddington here will show you to some seats that will befit your request."

The dark-hued Andorian shifted his silvery eyes tellingly towards his wives, who's antennae dropped as his own curbed inward in the Andorian equivalent of a wide smile. Then, he nodded to Riker.

"The honor is ours, Commander. All of us here owe our lives to your captain. Being here is as much a duty as it is a pleasure. And thank you. I look forward to speaking with you later on. I do have some tall tales about your commanding officer that you might find interesting. "

And with another nod, he moved on with his bridge officers to follow Eddington to their designated seats.

*             *             *

Lt. JG B’Zinga Decatur felt like - to use an old Earth term - walking on Cloud Nine. Here she was at the dedication ceremony of the USS Phoenix, her first of what would hopefully a long line of assignments in Starfleet. Yes, the last few days were crazy but hey, she made it here, and she’ll do her best to make the voyage a productive and enjoyable for everyone.

She especially felt amazing because she had her arm around one of the most amazing person she ever met - her husband, Jocelyn Decatur. Jocelyn was also straight out of the Academy - she married him when they were both still cadets. He was a science officer that was assigned to a ship headed for the front lines. B’Zinga loved Jocelyn’s classy demeanor, razor-sharp intelligence, and unwavering loyalty.

Of course B’Zinga also loved her husband’s allure. He was, quite simply, a stunner. Like others in his family, he had a radiant type of charm that had a tendency to turn heads. His dark brown eyes were so beautiful and enticing they could take the breath out of many women - and even some of the men.

B’Zinga leaned closer to Jocelyn’s shoulder and allowed herself to take in Jocelyn’s charm. It was contagious - pretty soon B’Zinga felt amazing. She felt her tongue lick her lips as she and Jocelyn made their way towards the center of the area made for gathering. She didn’t care that she was in a public area where others could see her. She didn’t even attempt to hide her attraction to Jocelyn. At this point, she was completely enraptured by him. She was about to take a nice romantic bite out of Jocelyn’s cheek when she was met by a harsh glare by another officer.

Of course this behavior was quite unprofessional. B’Zinga had been written up for this type of behavior as a cadet. She figured then that it wasn’t a secret that she loved Jocelyn so she wasn’t shy at expressing her love for him - even in front of others. Some of the more bigoted instructors gave her a pass because deep inside they thought that B’Zinga, as a Klingon woman, didn’t have the same capability to control her desires as members of other Federation peoples. The more level-headed and fair instructors held her accountable for her actions. The behavior continued even when she and Jocelyn were assigned to the USS T’Kurin. Jocelyn was, as always, completely professional in public, but B’Zinga was a different story.

It wasn’t an accident that Starfleet had reassigned the two lovers to different ships. There were many reasons why the two were removed from the T’Kurin - many of which had nothing to do with them personally - but it couldn’t be denied that Starfleet wanted to keep B’Zinga away from Jocelyn during work hours until she was able to act more like a mature adult and less like a hormone-hyped teenage girl.

B’Zinga never even guessed that her immaturity was one of the reasons why she had been transferred. She was here at the present, and she was basking in her husband’s enrapturing charm. She let Jocelyn lead her to the table with the drinks.

*             *             *

Lieutenant Junior Grade Stephanie Decatur entered the great hall along-side Ensign T’mur. She froze in her tracks when she saw the crowd gathering. T’mur turned to see the trills eyes dilate as she fought of a panic attack. She looked right at her Vulcan friend and whispered, “Why am I here again?”

“Because as of right now we are both part of the crew, and it is the human custom to send off a ship with its crew with much pomp and circumstance.” T’mur answered her nervous friend.

“I’m not human…can I just leave?”

“I believe, ma’am, that is it too late for that.” T’mur said, casually turning and leading the way across the floor of the great hall. Stephanie hopped a few steps to catch up. The last thing she wanted was to be lost in this crowd, at least if she was near T’mur she would probably end up in a group of Vulcans who didn’t care about the propriety of socializing at formal events as humans did.

*             *             *

The doors swished shut behind him as he entered the great hall for a second time. Commander Rogers glanced around the large expanse, noting the gathered groups and velvet ropes where the Phoenix crew were to seat themselves. Taking an untoward route, David walked around the perimeter and toward that section, whereupon he took the last seat at the outside of the second row. His last visit here for the Horizon ceremony had left him alone and unmolested, and he expected nothing less than the same for this ceremony.

His mixed Romulan ancestry had always ostracized him from most Star Fleet personnel and he was used to being mostly alone at public gatherings. Of course, being raised by a Ferengi Daimon had not endeared him much to his co-workers at Utopia Planatia either. Nor to his fellow cadets during his academy tenure. David therefore usually avoided any semblance of outward contact with the visiting crowds at these functions and kept to himself. It would be over soon enough and he could return to his engine's where he belonged.

Musing on the past, David sat looking out the vast window, not really noticing the various work bee's and transport shuttles scurried about on their various task's, and waited for the ceremony to start.

*             *             *

When he came in, more than one stare went toward him. They of course all knew; disciplinary action had to be made publicly  known if they were to have truly real and lasting effect, not only on the guilty but most of all on everyone else, as they were meant not so much as punishment as to prevent such mistakes from being perpetrated again by anyone else. 

And so, Doctor Elliago Nasaro-Myth entered alone, answering every stare with a small, polite, respectful smile and went to the serving bar to get a glass of Earth champagne and go stand in a corner, so as not to bring any somber mood from his shame. He did not believe he deserved to be with all those Starfleet officers; not at the moment.

There was atonement to make. He had to prove himself once again truly worthy of that uniform he was wearing and, as far as he was concerned, he was not fit to wear it at this moment, especially at this very moment, where his ship and crew were to be honored for their upcoming term of service.

What he had done had not been either life threatening nor even mission compromising; nothing compared to the waywards acts of a Sorripto in facts; but in spirit, it was. He had knowingly broken the trust of his fellow officers, his colleagues, his friends. The comparative mildness of his transgressions were irrelevant; their intentions, as good as they had been, were irrelevant; their result, as beneficial as they had been, were irrelevant. Like Sorripto, he had to expiate for doing the wrong thing, even if it was for good reasons. In his case, no one had been hurt; many in fact had been helped; but for all those individuals he might have helped, even at the small scale his actions had occurred, what he had done had threatened the whole fabric of Starfleet, because it had not followed the true values of Starfleet.

Truth, Honor, Trust, Duty and Responsibility.

Without those, all that Starfleet did or intended to do was meaningless. Starfleet itself became meaningless. Klingons had Honor... but not Trust. Romulans had Duty and Responsibility... but shied before the Truth. The Borg had had Truth with their total mindlink... but no Honor. To be a Starfleet officer was not just to do a job or even do what must be done like Section 31 had been so proud in claiming; it was much, much more than that: to do the right thing the right way.

Elliago had failed in this regard. Like the old Earth proverb, stealing and egg was stealing a bull; in truth and spirit, the scale of a wrongdoing mattered not; he had not behaved as a Starfleet officer should. And the worst of all, he had not realized it himself, before a fellow officer had come to him to point it out. 

No, Elliago did not feel he deserved to be here tonight; but his captain, one he had dared call his friend once, had asked, not even ordered but asked for him to attend as his duty required. It was an offer of renewed Trust, an opportunity to act Dutifully and Responsibly, to show Honor and face the Truth.

To become again a Starfleet officer.

And so, Doctor Elliago Nasaro-Myth came. He came alone, not even among his own kind as was usual with gregarious Deltans. He stood apart, waiting for the beginning of the official ceremony to take a seat at the end of the row  prepared for the officers of the Phoenix. Looking at the group of officers from the USS Horizon, he smiled back at them but declined with a nod the invitation Lieutenant Tyvya made to him with her hand. He would do all that was required of him... but he would not  shame his colleagues and friends. He would exit quietly and spare them the discomfort of his presence until he had proven himself again fully worthy of their trust.

He would be a Starfleet officer again.

*             *             *

As the senior staff entered one at a time Master Chief Eddington greeted them and directed them towards the main area around the stage.  There Commander Riker was doing his rounds speaking momentarily with each of his senior staff.  Riker was a large man and towered over his fellow officers he was clearly hoping some light hearted small talk would break the ice.  As the senior staff spoke Riker noticed Doctor Elliago enter and slowly sneak to the back.  Excusing himself from the other officers Riker walked over towards the back wall where the Doctor was standing.

This was the Phoenix dedication ceremony and already before she took her first flight the Phoenix was expecting a new Chief of Security and the medical department carried a dark cloud. Riker was determined not to allow any of that to ruin or even effect the grand day before them.  Approaching the Doctor Commander Riker smiled.  No words just a smile.  There had been a breach of trust yes, but Riker was raised by the maquis and a father who prided himself on doing the right thing when it mattered.  As a Commander and first officer Riker could not openly support the actions of Doctor Elliago, but as a man Riker was unable to pretend he did not understand.  With a simple smile Commander Riker conveyed those thoughts as best he could before stopping one of the stewards who was serving drinks and grabbing two glasses.  Handing one to the Doctor Riker nodded.

Elliago took the glass and smiled in return, his smile this time much of the usual charm it used to convey but with definite gratefulness. Of all things, the worst one any Deltan could feel was being alone. And if the serious, dedicated First Officer could thus make a gesture of forgiveness and acceptance, he would take this as the inspiration he now so desperately need. He raised his glass to him.

"To the Phoenix; may she raise all of us to the stars from our ashes. "

Riker clinked his glass with the Doctor then tilting his head slightly gestured for the Doctor to follow him to where the other senior officers were gathered.

"Come on we still have some time to talk to everyone before the Captain arrives"

As Riker and the doctor walked over to the floor by the center stage area Master Chief Eddington approached with a business only look upon his face.

"Commander the Captain is requesting you in his ready room immediately."

Gesturing for the Doctor to join the senior officers Commander Riker nodded to Master Chief Eddington and handed him his champagne glass.

"Alright gentlemen I shall return as soon as I can if you will excuse me"

Sensing a slightly awkward moment Master Chief Eddington smiled towards the other senior officers as he stopped one of the drink servers and grabbed a new glass .  

"So who is ready to have some fun?"

*             *             *

Stephanie Decatur was standing rather shyly beside her Vulcan assistant who was, much to Stephanie’s annoyance, attempting to make her socialize. She spotted the doctor and Commander Riker approaching and took a step back, half hiding herself as the two approached, she desperately wished she could crawl into a hole somewhere at that moment. She, of course, was aware of the rumor that spread like wildfire throughout the ship. Despite her not wanting to hear gossip and having no interest in the social workings of a starship, working alongside six engineers meant she had no choice to overhear.

She cursed herself once again for saying anything to the hologram. He had to bring it to the attention of the captain, of course.  He’d be obligated to…if she hadn’t been so damned tired that night she would have kept her mouth shut. Now she nearly ruined a Starfleet officer’s career, and for what? Because she got irked by his pheromones?

Did the EMH tell him who it was that had issue? She silently hoped against hope that he hadn’t.

She blushed as he picked up his champagne glass and merely turned to move to a seat beside where Commander Rodgers was sitting, praying she could avoid talking to him. Maybe, she thought, I can avoid anyone else by sitting next to him until this whole thing is over.’

Her movements belied her previous lifetime spent as a Marine, her march was deliberate. About half way to the seat she saw the Commander rise and move away. Her step slowed measurably. Oh no….they know… she thought to herself with yet another mental kick. The embarrassment made her blush, the reddening skin against the dark spots along her neck betraying her feelings.

Damn it, she thought again as her stubborn side kicked in again, I’m going to have words with Doctor Gray about this.’She thought as she finished her way to the seat, deciding now that it was too late to make a course correction and sitting in the seat beside where the Commander had been sitting. She crossed her legs and fought the urge to cross her arms over her chest. She didn’t want to show the world through body language that she was pouting, so instead she simply folded her hands on the top of her knee, praying that this whole ordeal would be over quickly so she could get back to work.

*             *             *

A vibration from his communicator, pinned smartly on his dress white uniform, brought Rogers' sightless gaze back from the bustle of activity happening on the other side of the massive view port of the great hall. He had instructed the ship to silence his comm badge to vibration only so as not to disrupt the proceedings with it's chirp and he needed to physically open the channel to vocalize as well. Rising from his lone seat David walked casually across to stand under the large window, well away from the murmuring crowds and tapped his badge.

"Computer, activate voice interaction."

A small beep indicated the open channel and David replied to the incoming query. It was his assistant chief engineer, Lieutenant Andrews, on the ship.

'Sorry to bother you chief,' Sean immediately spoke up, 'but we're reading a five percent increase in the inertial dampening and structural integrity field's. Er, this is above the projected parameter's indicated due to the nanite infusion.'

Thinking lightly, David recalled the bioneural data network routing schematics of the Phoenix, hoping to indicate to himself an idea of what could be going on. It seemed likely to Rogers that the slight increase was probably due to the newer gel packs the Phoenix had, as opposed to the USS  Aunis test. Having traced that back in his mind, David responded to his second officer.

"I surmise it is our newer gel packs being more efficient than the previous tests on the other two ships Sean. But keep an eye on it and contact me if it rises to ten percent."

 Sean's retort to the effect that he ,of course, would keep an eye on it, made David smile to himself. In hind sight, David new that Lieutenant Andrews would naturally watch over the ship in an instance like this. As way of apology for even hinting at a lack of observance, Rogers continued a little more humorously.

"Of course, should you wish Lieutenant, I could come back and keep watch and you could come here as my 'official' replacement? They have champagne!"

'Sorry commander,' came back Sean's laughing reply. 'My dress uniform is at the cleaners today. Andrews out.'

Ordering his communicator back to mute, Rogers about faced away from the impressive view out the large window and stepped toward his former seat, where he saw the Phoenixs' new nanotechnologist seated in the next seat. Considering it fortuitous, David continued over and resumed his seat, smiling cordially at the young Lieutenant junior grade. While pulling his PADD from it's holster at his side, David opened dialog concerning what had just transpired aboard their ship.

"Lieutenant Decatur, glad your here. I have some news on our ...", Correcting himself, David continued. ..."Your technology upgrade."

Offering his PADD toward the young woman, David continued, outlining the report from his assistant chief engineer about the five percent projection overrun in the structural integrity and inertial dampening field's. Conversationally, Rogers added his assessment that he had mentioned to Lieutenant Andrews.

"I surmise that the percentage increase is due to our newer gel packs; as compared to your previous test runs on the other two ships you reported on at the briefing."

 Giving the young Trill a chance to read the proffered PADD, David went forward and asked the obvious question.

"What do you think Lieutenant?"

Stephanie was lost in thought when Commander Rodgers re-appeared. She didn’t even notice him sit beside her as she was staring in the other direction watching her Vulcan assistant having a conversation with the Deltan Doctor and the rest of the crew.  His voice shocked her out of her thoughts like a phaser. She jumped a little in her seat as she turned to look at the chief engineer. Even when they were both sitting he was several centimeters taller than she was.

She listened to him and accepted his PADD immediately, tapping a few times to skim through all of the available data. As he finished she responded, “Sir, I believe your assessment is correct. The response time in structural integrity and inertial dampening are definitely because the BNDN on the Phoenix is more advanced than anything we’ve tested so far….I..” she paused, looking back up at him from the PADD, “I didn’t foresee this occurrence…but it should be quite a boost…” She smirked, remembering how Dezerol would constantly complain about how cumbersome starships maneuvered. “The inertial dampeners and structural integrity fields should have an increased effectiveness, allowing for maneuvers beyond regular safety limits...” She said, feeling quite full of herself at that moment.

The feeling was fleeting as she sighed, looking around again, “How long do you think this is going to last? I share Dezerol’s distaste for these kinds of social gatherings….” She casually left out that a night spent hustling dom-jot and drinking was much more Dezerol’s style, and something she herself had gotten away with more than once in her days at the academy. She smirked slightly to herself thinking how much she missed the really good bar-fights that Dezerol used to get into, and the smile faded as she also remembered how much more sturdy Dezerol had been than her.

'Ahh well,' she thought silently, 'there is always the next host.'

After her comment, David glanced around at the many gathered guests, and the small groups of Phoenix officer's talking quietly. He assumed that the Dezerol name was likely one of the Lieutenant's Trill symbiont's ... if not the young woman's first and only. Truth be told, Rogers had never looked into the Trill societal relationship with their symbiont's. There had never been a need for it growing up as he did on his surrogate father's D'kora Marauder. They had never been near Trill sector space in the many years he had spent aboard. But, putting that aside, David glanced back at Stephanie and addressed her comments.

"Yeah, we'll have to keep a watch on those safety limits though."

 Sensing her distaste for the gathering from her last comment, David added his own thought's regarding the ceremony.

"I think Captain Syntron should be here very soon Lieutenant. Once this is completed, we can get back to what we do best. In the meantime, I try to alleviate these necessities by recalling a Rule of Acquisition which say's ... 'It never hurts to suck up to the boss'."

She looked back at him as if he had just made the most obvious comment about safety limits, “Of course we’re going to have to run simulations to make sure we don’t break the ship.” She paused a second and added, “Or the crew.” Knowing full well what could happen in a complete failure of the inertial dampening field during an evasive maneuver.

When David added his quotation of the Rule of Acquisition she let out a loud laugh, covering her mouth immediately and looking quite embarrassed at her inability to stop her reaction.  “I didn’t realize that engineering officers had to be fluent in Ferengi Rules of Acquisition, sir.” She said with a grin. “And I’ve never been good at sucking up to anyone…”

 David chuckled at her last comment. Knowing full well how Star Fleet operated, he also knew that a public launch of a new ship was an ancient earth tradition going back further than a millennium. So despite the apparent tediousness of the ceremony, Rogers laughingly commented on Decaturs' last words.

"I was raised by a Ferengii Daimon on his ship Lieutenant. Almost fifteen years. But we are here to cater to the public, despite as much as the crew would rather just board ship and engage engine's."

Looking down at his chest as he continued, David wiped his hand softly across the small array of medals affixed there, recalling the one that could not be publicly displayed as well.

"So, us officer's are obliged to fancy up in our dress uniforms and parade about for the watching masses while our reluctant Captain's and Admirals make flattering speeches emphasizing the merits of whatever new ship and crew being launched. Time better spent aboard the Phoenix, to my thinking. But my orders are to be here for this."

Thinking amusedly, David jokingly leaned a bit closer and whispered an addendum.

"Personally, I'd rather have a small Romulan cloaking device right now in order to quietly disappear and avoid all this."

Doctor Nasaro-Myth then leaned towards the chief engineer.

"The thing is, chief, there are not that many Romulans, sworn to death to duty since birth, among us; neither a lot of Ferengis content to listen to profit in the wind. We need this. Especially since the Borg War, when ten of thousands of us died an empty, meaningless death at the hands of an immoral enemy barely defeated in the end... After seeing an entire universe on the verge of burning in Hell... people need to be reminded that we are still here, together, with hope and a destiny to build for the better, with our own hands, our own minds, our own hearts..."

His thumb pointed behind him over his shoulder, to the transparency showing the Avenger class starship.

"When we fall, we rise up again and go on, we can even burn to a cinder like Kirk's USS Enterprise or th USS Artemis and get back again... build new and better ships like the Phoenix...  turn even death into a fighting chance to live. We have to remember that... and a ceremony like this one is meant to do just that. tedious to some great officers among us, maybe... but necessary to those among us who do fall and wonder if they can get back up; because, of all things, it shows that we are not alone. We are all in this together."

David, initially startled a bit by the sudden appearance of the Deltan medical officer, listened politely and nodded somewhat agreeably to the points the doctor was making. However, he knew that Nasaro-Myth also knew Rogers' personal feelings toward wasting time, as evidenced by David's reluctance during the Phoenix's required medical exam a few day's previously. Once the doctor had finished the pep talk ... and to David it did sound like a pep talk intending to rally some cadets ... Rogers politely smiled and reiterated his previous comment.

"Yes Doc but as you know, my place, as I see it, is in engineering seeing to the ship. I have no compunction to sit around socializing when my ...".

Remembering his previous faux-pas toward the nanite installation currently ongoing aboard the Phoenix, David corrected himself again, indicating Lieutenant Decatur with a polite wave of his hand.

"Our ... nanotechnology upload is ongoing. Liken it, if you will, to a Doctor leaving his patient on the operating table so as to attend a tea party."

The Deltan immediately felt the sourness and bitterness of a jaded man in the chief engineer's words. A bit of egotism maybe as well... or maybe, it was exactly the opposite; so much suffering and pain of an empathic man that he tried to bury himself in work, under his tools and pieces of equipement. But even if he was past all that, there were others around who had to be shaken off any pessimism or even despair their very jobs forced them to face, sometimes daily. A starship did not work only on antimatter, deuterium and electro-plasma; it also ran with living beings, with people; people needed fuel just as well, and not just for their bodily functions... even if it was as light as a pep talk or a cup of tea.

"Point taken, Sir, " Elliago said with his  trademark warm smile finally returning to his handsome face. "But then again, doctors work to have patients off the operating table as soon and as best as possible. A doctor is most happy when he has nobody to look after; you engineers however tinker endlessly with your beloved technology, sometimes even when it doesn't need to, just to get that point zero zero zero one percent improvement. Liken it, if you will, to a doctor keeping his patient on the operating table to play with his innards when  the poor soul would only need a cup of tea."

And then he winked at Rogers.

He was well aware they were getting into the traditional technician-healer banter most ships were familiar with since even before the founding of Starfleet. But that was exactly what many people needed after all the horrors of the Borg War and the anguish of the Azimuth Horizon; good old shared camaraderie. That was the fuel they needed.

What he needed.

Stephanie hadn’t noticed the doctor approach; she had been busy going over all the details of the data. His voice made her pause. She listened to his words, barely hearing them; she still felt so guilty after hearing about his reprimand. She stared at the PADD and listened quietly to Commander Rodgers’ retort and tried to avoid being drawn into conversation. She simply wasn’t ready to face the deltan yet. She wondered silently if she ever would be.

The CMO of the Phoenix noted the presence of the diminutive nanotechnologist he had met earlier in the week and immediately felt her discomfort at his presence. He purposedly avoided acknowledging her. She had not complained about it but she had been one of the very last persons he had tried to influence with his pheromones... one of his last victims. Her discomfort was quite understandable, especially now that the word was out. 

He promised himself he would apologize to her later; now, he thought best to leave her be. And so, he deliberately concentrated on his conversation with the chief engineer.

David chuckled back at the Deltan's humor in return, conceding the point to the medical officer.

"Ok Doc, we agree to mutual points of contention then. But I will take the easy route. My engine's don't cry ouch when pinched. But they may explode in fury when mishandled!"

" I guess you were never in a recovery ward with a pinched Andorian, " laughed back Elliago. 

Rogers quickly buried rising memories of the loneliness of years spent as the only non Ferengii on his step-father's maurader. The fact that growing up, even as a half-human, kept him ostracized from that ship and it's crew. He pushed down the memories of weeks spent tinkering with ship board systems; learning to bypass sub par  ... or stolen ... parts; avoiding communal meals for months on end. Learning, from pirated data, everything he could about the other powers technology; Cardassian. Romulan. Klingon. And yes, much about Star Fleet technology. Where his step-father got all this information, Rogers had never found out until later. Until he discovered one day that the very pirate cartel that had killed his father and sister supplied his step father with much of this information.

And he pushed down the memory...pushed it very very far back down, of the exact location of the D'kora class Maurader's location. Of where it lay slowly falling into the event horizon of a singularity. His youthful anger had slipped from him that day of discovery. The rage helped fuel his revenge on his step father for consorting with those murderous pirate's. But that was a past he didn't need now. David quickly glanced back at the large window, away from the officer's beside him. The shame of that rage fueled mistake swept quickly past, and David took a deep breath to calm himself.

Meanwhile, Captain Syntron had surreptitiously slinked his way through the regalia and clusters of guests,  officers and scattered media personnel throughout the great hall of the Starbase and eventually worked his way through and into the reserved row of seats roped off with links of red crushed velvet lines. The Vulcan had strived to arrive earlier, but was beset with a range of priorities and obligations that nullified his initial intentions.  Launching a new vessel with the complexity of all of the augmentations and modifications that had occurred on his starship since its arrival within spacedock and yet remain within the designated time-frame, was proving to be a more challenging undertaking than anticipated. Nevertheless, the new crew of the USS Phoenix along with skilled and experienced members from the starbase continued to work admirably and diligently together to resolve a range of technical obstacles throughout this process. With only one week until their official launch, there was no time to be wasted.       

Dressed in his full formal Federation attire, which on this occasion was adorned with a range of prestigious medals presented by Starfleet, the tall Vulcan captain carefully worked his way near his CMO and his chief engineer.

As he sat down, he looked keenly at the stage before them. Within mere moments, Fleet Captain Samji and he would each respectively be speaking to the crowd gathered here. He had not prepared a speech for this occasion, yet he knew relatively the content of what he would present. Given the list of priorities that he faced prior to his arrival, there just was not any time available.

He turned his head slightly in the direction toward his senior officers and inquired nonchalantly.

"Now what was this about a pinched Andorian?"

"Well you of all people should know better about that than anyone, even me, Captain Sir, " winked Elliago nosing discreetly towards the rows of attendees where a sat a particularly dark-skinned, athletic Andorian also in a starship captain's dress uniform, flanked on one side by a stunning Aenar and a towering Andorian giantess on the other.

Stephanie, sitting on the far side of Commander Rodgers in the row, tried to appear to remain concentrated on the PADD that the Engineer had handed her to go over. She was blankly staring at the device trying to avoid being dragged into the conversation, especially since Doctor Nasaro-Myth was sitting on the other side of Rodgers. She was struggling with mixed feelings over having told the EMH about her discomfort with a practice he seemed to have stopped. She, like everyone on the ship, knew about his reprimand and felt guilty over it.

She didn’t even notice her Captain enter the room as she silently listened to the doctor and engineer debate and jest. Equally oblivious was she when he approached the three of them. Hearing the Vulcan’s voice would have shocked her if the words had been different. She could swear that he had just made a joke, and barely stifled a tiny giggle at the absurdity of a Vulcan making a joke; especially a decent one.

Rogers allowed the doctor the starting explanation toward their somewhat obscure joke as Captain Sybtron sat at the far left. Once the comment had been added however, David thought a more fitting explanation could be given,and proceeded to put one forward to the Vulcan.

"We were merely comparing the relative dangers between an exploding warp core or pinching an Andorian Captain. Personally, I would rather take my chance's with the core ... less pain I would imagine. Done in a flash."

 Not only would this tract avoid the previous tension over the necessities of medical protocols versus time spent on work, but would also contribute, he hoped, to lightening the feeling of tension David could almost see emanating from the young Trill to his right, who silently studied his PADD as though it held the secrets of the galaxy in it's contents.

Elliago smiled.

" I am now fully confident that this ship is in good hands, with such wisdom in its engine room. "

This might have sounded sarcastic to some but it was said partly in jest and mostly in genuine respect. The Deltan noticed the unease of the Trill officer beside Rogers and the way he glanced at her and sat in a subtly protective manner as if to shield her from any possible harm; he understood why the man spoke to defuse any perceived confrontation between them, even if it was friendly banter. 

The day the chief engineer does, and better, what I should do in the first place, is the day I should reevaluate who and what I am, he thought bittersweetly. 

The captain's words that would come next to dedicate the USS Phoenix would be decisive for him... and his career.

Syntron noted the comments with a slight nod of his head and the subtle elevation of an eyebrow.

"Perhaps this comparison you mentioned gentlemen is part of what humans refer to as an inside joke...  since it is discernibly unrelated and quite illogical."

Then focusing his attention back toward the stage, the captain added more formally "Regardless, it looks like Fleet Captain Samji has just entered the hall."

As if on cue, the lights in the hall suddenly changed and then blinked several times as the music began to play from the orchestra mostly hidden within the cavernous area below the front of the main stage. It was an indication that the formality of the ceremony was about to commence and implemented to encourage everyone in the great hall to start heading toward their seats.

As the music started the door to the hall opened and Commander Riker entered through the doors.  Seeing the first officer enter as the lights faded Chief Eddington walked over to the area for the senior staff and gestured for everyone to take their seats.  Walking over to the other officers Commander Riker took a second to compose himself and nodded to the Master Chief.  Leaning in slightly Eddington whispered to Commander Riker.

"Sir I have known you long enough to know when something is bothering you.  Is there something wrong?"

With a half smile Riker just nodded.

"Ask me later."

Gesturing for the other senior officers to join him Riker stood at the front of roped off area and gestured towards the seats.

 

(As you arrive you will be coming in through the main door and then mingling with guests and everyone else until we are ready for the Captain's speech at which point we will take our seats.  If you have any NPCs you want to be here feel free to add them or bring them but remember the roped off area is for senior staff only.)