USS DISCOVERY: Chapter 1 Shakedown

After a pleasant evening's sleep Jureth awoke early the morning after taking command of Discovery, and made his way to the bridge and relieved the officer standing watch. Today was the day that this new ship would make its first foray into service with Lotus Fleet. The plan was to depart Starbase Lotus and proceed to the area that Lotus Fleet Command had designated for the Discovery's system testing. They then had 48 hours to shakedown the vessel's major systems including weapons, sensors, engines, and various other minor systems before returning to the starbase for a new assignment. It was all very routine for a new vessel, but there was still a certain excitement that buzzed about the ship, and that included her captain. Jureth was still somewhat reluctant to be in command of  a ship that was more suited to taking a stellar survey than staring down a fleet of enemy vessels, but there was something to be said about the opportunity to put a new vessel into service and that was not lost on the Bajoran. 

Being that he was early to the bridge Jureth spent time studying the PADD he'd brought with him. He was still going through quotes and sayings from various species of the Federation and even some that weren't from the Federation hoping to find something that suited the Discovery. Jureth thought perhaps he might not find anything until he'd had some time to learn the feel of Discovery, and the attitude of the ship. He'd come to realize that just like their crews each ship had its own personality. The Lotus had been sudued and serene as her name suggested, the Alsea firey, strong, and agressive, and the Horizon proud, and majestic. Perhaps the perception of each vessel was different for each of her crew, but those were the personalities that Jureth perceived. What would Discovery's be? He didn't know, but the he was sure she would tell him in the coming days. 

Jureth turned then as he heard the turbolift door open, and T'Lana stepped out. Behind her was Catherine Steel, and two faces that Jureth immediately recognized. They had been part of his strategic operations team on the Horizon and one of them was one of the most confounding women he'd met in his entire life. 

"Captain, more of the senior staff have arrived."

"I see that T'lana," Jureth replied as he rose to greet the officers.

"Lieutenant Ji'lan, good to see you again, welcome aboard the Discovery." 

"Thank you Captain," Cera Ji'lan replied "and congratulations on your promotion Sir." 

Lt. Ji'lan had been the most soft spoken of his original Strategic Operations team, and one of its smartest members. She was half Orion and half Human though one wouldn't know from looking at her. 

"Thank you Lieutenant, I appreciate it."

"Well Oseno, it seems you've made quite the name for yourself." 

That statement came from the next officer in line, the El Aurian diplomat Adira Yiral. Adira had been the Horizon's diplomatic specialist and Jureth was a little surprised to see her aboard the Discovery. 

"Adira," Jureth replied with a smile "still ignoring Starfleet protocol I see. I wasn't aware we were being assigned a diplomatic officer."

"You aren't" she said with a smile of her own "I've been assigned as ship's counselor." 

"Wonderful, now you have an excuse to get in my head." 

"I can't imagine what you mean, but I look forward to working with you again." 

"Welcome aboard Counselor," and then Jureth turned to Catherine Steele next "Cat, your first job once you're settled is to see about the whereabouts of our Chief Engineer. Have him paged on the starbase if necessary." 

"Yes Sir," 

He looked at each member the group again in turn "welcome aboard Discovery all of you. I expect to be underway for the test range in approximately four hours."

A collective "yes Sir" came from them and they disbursed to begin settling in and seeing to their individual departments, and that just left Lieutenant Commander Sorripto to report aboard. After the Alsea's last mission Jureth had every faith the Cardassian engineer would be along shortly, but as captain he also had a schedule to keep.

As each and every officer went to his duties, the towering form of Schaell Scyshyllyss took each one in turn with his big eyes, studying and memorizing every single detail of their individuality. As a Saurian, he was the ultimate individualist, born of a species that had had no knowledge of collectivity and collaborative work until the few last centuries when they made contact with the federation and other space faring species like the Kzintis and orions who had tried to invade and conquer them. But, at the same time, Saurians had a unique genetic memory that linked them all consciously to their ancestry, down to the very first sentient individual that had emerged in their distant past, tens of millions of years ago. Each one single individual was more or less like his own species unto himself, and it was only when a single threat came to them all that the first collective actions took place on their hot, tropical world. teamwork was as alien to them as underwater life was to Humans.

But since contact, peaceful this one, came with the Federation, they had learn to understand this concept of collaboration. And Schaell had been the first to try it and experience life out of their homeworld. he had been aboard the refitted USS Enterprise during the V'Ger incident of the twenty-third century and served in virtually every signle department of Starfleet since then, each time going back to the Academy to get new training and education and then experience a new kind of service among these so diverse species and cultures.

But even today, he still understood collaboration as the converging of individual need, thoughts and actions toward a specific goal. And thus, he took great care into knowing each individual he was to work with.

With a final glance around the room the only thing out of place were several engineering crewmen were busy at work with an open panel. Before anyone could say anything a recognizable Cardassian voice came over the com they had open.

"Try it now."

One of the crewmen pressed a few commands and the panel roared to life with a glow and a soft hum.

"I am showing all power checks look good down here." Sorripto told the crewmen as he closed the channel and they began to close the panel.

Just then the turbolift door opened and Lieutenant Commander Sorripto walked through with a kit in hand. Turning to find the First Officer he walked over to Commander Schyssyllyss.

"Engineering checks are complete sir, the shifts are already up and running."

Before the XO could respond Sorripto continued.

"I apologize for not checking in right away Commander, but as soon as I walked aboard one of the engineering crews grabbed me to fix a reading."

The Saurian sized up the Cardassian with two blinks of his huge eyes.

"Apologies accepted, Lieutenant Commander Ssorripto. I prefer efficiency to protocol, and sso does our captain I would hazard as a guesss. Welcome aboard. Thiss sship is presently in need of your engineering expertise."

Raising his head, Schaell tapped his combadge to get the shipwide frequency.

"All sstations; confirm all perssonnel accounted for, execute final checkss and diagnosstics for departure and report readinesss," he ordered, falling into his expected role as executive officer.

Moore turned to face him "Helm reporting in, all stations ready, Sir, at your word."

The turbolift door opened again and Catherine Steele stepped out

"Captain I..." she paused looking at Sorripto "see you found Lieutenant Commander Sorripto." 

Jureth nodded "Yes, Cat...actually he found us, but that works as well. The tactical station if you would Lieutenant Steele."

"Yes Sir." 

Jureth keyed the ship's intercom: "Attention all hands, this is the Captain. All personnel have reported on board and our departure from starbase is imminent. First shift report to your stations, and prepare to get underway. Oseno out." 

The Bajoran then turned to Commander Schyssyllyss "XO make all preparations for getting underway."

"Aknowledge," answered the Saurian before turning to nod for communications to open a channel. "Sstarbasse Lotuss flight control, thiss is the Disscovery. requesst clearance for departure."

"Clearance departure confirmed for NCC-82602 U.S.S. Discovery. May the winds be at your backs."

Oseno nodded subconsciously "Thank you Starbase Lotus, we will see you on our return." 

The first officer of the Discovery turned his gaze towards the ops station.

"Clear all moorings."

"All moorings cleared," announced ops after a moment. "Starbase tractor beams off line. We are floating free, no momentum. Space doors opening."

"All engines sstatuss, chief engineer."

"I have been working on some tweaks and upgrades and engine output is at twelve percent over standard configuration. Thrusters are online, full impulse ready warp and slip drive capabilities are functional". Sorripto responded.

"I have sensors functioning at nearly twenty percent above specs."

Smiling and gesturing to the cup of coffee on the console opposite his station. Sorripto continued.

"I even had time to get that command deck replicator working."

"Mosst appreciated, Lieutenant Commander."

Once Sorripto confirmed that all their propulsions systems were online, Schaell then focused his big slitted eyes on helmsman Moore.

"Helm, thrussters at full; prepare to move uss out then initiate full sstandard tessting of impulsse power away from dock once we have cleared sspacedoors. Sstandby on warp and Quantum Sslipsstream Drive."

"Helm, take us out  of space dock, thrusters only steady as she goes." 

"Aye aye Captain, steady as she goes." Moore said eagerly.

The elongated hull of the Vesta class starship emerged like a shark from the confines of the capitol class starbase with stately grace despite accelerating to five hundred kilometers per hour as it did. Then her long, sleek nacelles cleared the immense radius of the starbase, her impulse engines flared up and the entire vessel shot forward at one tenth impulse power, reaching seven thousand five hundred kilometers per second for ten seconds before going steadily to almost three times as fast at one quarter impulse power, almost thirty-eight thousand kilometers per second at half impulse, over fifty-six thousand at three quarters impulse and finally reaching full impulse, a full quarter of the speed of light.

"All systems show green sir, we are at full impulse" Moore had to fight back the urge to try a barrel roll.

Clear of the starbase Jureth gave his next orders.

"Mister Moore, engage emergency impulse for the next ten seconds and then throttle back." 

"Going emergency speed.. now" a slight hmm could be heard and there was just the slightest feeling of acceleration as the inertial dampers had to kick up to compensate for the increase.

"Four seconds to deceleration.. no problems indicated.. cutting speed now.." and the humming quickly vanished.

Jureth nodded in approval, everything seemed to be proceeding more to less as planned at this point and he saw no reason not to continue the system testing and begin moving toward their designated test range. 

"Lieutenant Moore, the test range coordinates should be in the computer already. Please point us in that direction and prepare for warp engine test. We will proceed in increments, beginning with Warp 1, Warp 5, and finally Warp 8 before reversing through those same speeds."

"Plotting course for test area, speed set to warp one, at your word Captain." and waited eagerly at the controls.

Jureth looked at the viewer for a moment and the starscape in front of them and then gave the order.

"Let's stretch her legs Mister Moore. Engage warp drive."

Schaell's wide field of vision allowed him from his seat to watch just about every station on the bridge. As everyone else watched how the ship performed, he watched her crew. A starship was not a probe; nominal status of systems was but part of what made a starship effective. The living elements, her crew, was not only the other half, but the critical one; the effectiveness of any system was first and foremost dependent on that of the people using it. So everyone had to be up to the task... starting and ending with their commanding officer.

The Saurian had read the impressive file of Captain Jureth Oseno; he was quite atypical of his kind. Where Bajorans were notoriously self-centered to the point of arrogance, emotional to the point of belligerence and possibly the most superstitious sentient species known to the Federation, this Bajoran had time and again proven himself a proud but respectful team player, intense but always composed and quite toughtful. Was it because he had not yet being pushed out of his comfort zone? With all the challenges he had already successfully faced with Klingons, Romulans, Undines and even cosmic anomalies, this was doubtful. Still, anyone had a breaking point. As first officer, he had to be watchful of this and be ready to support him when he would falter; or else, even the most sophisticated system in the universe would not save them when comes what may.

And so was it also with everyone else on board... including himself.

The Discovery proceeded as she was expected to and entered warp bound for the testing area which was located very near to the Klingon/Federation boarder in this sector. Jureth watched the chronometer on his command chair and then called out to Moore.

"Increase speed to warp 5." 

Moore tapped at the controls with slight impatience, after a short pause he responded "Warp 5 sir, all indicators green."

Again the pristine starship responded, gracefully accelerating under the guidance of the veteran helmsman. Jureth watched the chronometer and again when the timer hit its mark he spoke.

"Warp 8 Mister Moore. Commander Sorripto, warp drive looking okay from where you're sitting?" 

Smiling, Sorripto turned.

"The warp drive is working at nearly ten percent above normal parameters Captain."

Working the engineering station, Sorripto continued.

"The early updates and modifications are working perfectly."

"Very good," Oseno replied "Mister Moore, scale back through the previous speeds at your leisure and report when you've reached Warp 1. Standby for emergency Warp and quantum slipstream drive test."

A thin smile spread across Moore's face. "Warp4.. 3.. 2.. warp 1 Captain, standing by for drive activation."

His finger hovered over the panel.

"Ssmoothly now, Misster Moore," warned Schaell; "remember, the paint is sstill fressh on the hull."

The Saurian might have no emotion at all to experience humor, but after working alongside Humans for over two centuries, he had caught a few rotes in order to best work with them. And judging by the way this Lieutenant Moore had behaved so far, he sumrized this was the best approach to interact productively with him for the ship to run smoothly as far as the helm was concerned. If not the whole ship. he knew how difficult it was for humans and other species to relate to one of his kind.

"Okay Lieutenant," Jureth said with a smile "Emergency Maximum Warp"

"Pedal to the metal Captain." His lips curled in anticipation as he drove the warp engines to their full capacity.

"Commander Sorripto," Jureth turned again to the Cardassian engineer "how is the stress level on our shiny new engines?"

"Engines are performing at ten percent above specified efficiency Captain"

Returning to his engineering station, Sorripto checked an indicator on the panel and then continued.

"We have all the speed we could want Captain, but she won't be able to maintain maximum speed indefinitely".

Oseno waited only a few more seconds before giving the next order "Engage quantum slipstream drive." 

That, of course, was the command Discovery's helmsman had been waiting for. He activated the drive and the Discovery shot forward again entering the swirling quantum tunnel gracefully as was expected of her. 

"Time to testing ground?" 

"Approximately two minutes at present speed." T'Lana reported having taken the operations station.

"Okay Mister Moore, dial it back. Standard cruising speed." 

"Aye sir, all systems still green sir, and the helms handling smooth a silk."

The Discovery returned to normal warp with the quantum tunnel disappearing almost as quickly as it had appeared. Jureth relaxed a little in the command chair with most of the tests that could potentially blow them up over with. Stress testing a warp core was not his idea of a good time, but he was looking forward to giving the ship's weapons systems a work out. Compared to the Alsea the Discovery was modestly armed but she pack a hidden punch, forward mounted phaser cannons and that was enough to make any tactical officer smile.

"Preliminary reportss coming in from all departmentss, Captain," announced the XO's soft hissing voice. "All propulssion, environemental and power ssystems performing at peak efficiency. All personnel's response has been textbook nominal. Thiss sship is good to go as the besst Sstarfleet can offer. Ready to tesst ressearch and tactical capabilities, Ssir.''

"Thank you XO," Jureth replied "I believe we have some target drones aboard, let's get them deployed Lieutenant Steele."

"Yes Sir," Cat replied "I will-"

"Captain," T'lana interjected cutting the Discovery's tactical officer off "I am picking up a distress call."

Oseno sat up in the command chair "Source?"

"Originating point is at the Klingon border, it is from a Cardassian Union vessel."

Sorripto looked up from his console very interested in the news of a Cardassian vessel in distress.

"On Screen."

"Aye Sir,"

On the discovery's viewer appeared the slightly broken image of a Cardassian officer who looked quite haggard. Behind him a bridge crew could be seen working at consoles while others appeared to be repairing damaged ones. 

"To any ship in range, this...is...Union ship Lakat...trapped in minefield...unable to navigate...Acamarians.." 

Then the picture shook and the officer disappeared from the viewer. 

"T'lana?"

"The transmission has been cut off. It is logical to suspect this is due to either damage to their communications array or, if they are truly trapped in a minefield, their destruction."

"Nearest Starfleet vessels?" 

"Just us Captain." Cat Steele replied. "There are no other Starfleet ships on patrol in this vicinity." 

"Well that settles that. Mister Moore, set a course for the source of the transmission maximum warp. T'Lana, send a message to Lotus Fleet Command that we have received and are a responding to a call for assistance from a Cardassian Union ship."

Schaell opened a intraship channel through his combadge.

"Bridge to ssickbay; prepare for resscue operation on a Cardasssian sship, number of casualties unknown, posssible victims of mine detonation resulting in hull rupture, plassma burns and decompresssion. Engineering: prepare damage control party for sshipboard operation on a Cardasssian vesssel, exact configuration and sstatuss unknown, posssible hull ruptures and conssequential damage due to sspace mine detonation. Ssecurity; prepare to esscort medical and damage control parties on board damaged Cardasssian sship in minefield; posssible Acamarian interference. All departmentss, you have... one point five hours to get ready."

At a quarter of a light year away, as he could see on the tactical scanner signal of the distressed vessel from his height above the tactical officer's shoulder, the Saurian had easily calculated the two hours required at almost a thousand times the speed of light. He made sure however that they would have some safety margin because they were not only entering an obviously dangerous area, but there was the presence of a possible hostile force in that very area; and those were only the known quantities. This close to the Klingon border and not so far from the Romulan Neutral Zone, who could predict who or what else could be waiting.

"Captain; recommend immediate yellow alert."

This went against the peaceful policy of Starfleet, as making contact with shields up, phasers pre-heated and one torpedo in a tube was more than enough to provoke hostilities with any number of species, especially agressive ones like Acamarians, Cardassians, Klingons and Romulans, the most likely to be met there. But Schaell had been in Starfleet for two centuries; long enough to understand that there were times when you had better enter the ring with gloves raised; like entering a minefield in a hot zone where there was apparently some conflict ongoing.

Sorripto offered a suggestion.

"Captain, I am going to start scans as soon as we are within range. I would like to get some idea of what to expect from those mines, and also get a head start on what to do about them."

Jureth acknowledged both of his officers with a nod "Thank you XO, I agree with you. Lieutenant Steele, Yellow Alert and that is an excellent idea Commander Sorripto. If the Cardassians aren't able to extract themselves we will most likely have to either tow them out or get close enough to beam them out."

The ship's alert klaxon began to sound the yellow alert and the lighting on the bridge changed as Lieutenant Steele complied with the captain's order. 

"Yellow alert set captain." she reported "Sir, the transmission mentioned Acamarians, if they are on site whey aren't they helping?" 

"I don't know Cat, but if I had to guess it could be the Acamarians are the reason the Cardassians are in the minefield in the first place. I haven't encountered them before, but I know Picard's Enterprise settled an internal dispute between their clans some time ago. XO, do you have any experience with the Acamarians?"

"Only once during initial contact with them. They are a rare iron and copper based humanoid lifeform of sstandard sstature and morphology, very human-looking but for faint forehead ridges reminesscent of Klingons. They are a unified warp capable culture under a Parliementary monarchy ruled by a leader called the Ssovereign. They live under a clan ssystem, much akin to the Andorians, albeit ssignificantly lesss violent and murderous, but sstill passsionate and prone to vendettas based on clan honor. Ssome rebels to thiss way of life, called the Gatherers,  ssplit from the homeworld and became bands of local-roving sspace pirates until a reconcliliation was mediated by Captain Jean-Luc Picard of Starfleet, as the practice of vendetta had ssubstantially declined."

He blinked a few times, obviously thinking before concluding.

"Although they sseem to have abandonned their fratricide violence to a ssignificant degree, they sstill retain their conceptss of honor and their nationalisstic pride along with a ssmall local defenssive fleet. These have to be taken into consideration when dealing with them."

"They still get blamed for the occasional raid by the Cardassian border as well." Sorripto added.

"Growing up they were like a ghost story. Sure they had long since moved on from piracy, but after a century or two of hitting ships it is not unheard of for older traders to still invoke the name."

Shrugging, Sorripto continued.

"Who knows Captain, perhaps there are a few stragglers that still live by the old ways. I mean every culture seems to have a few holdouts or extremists somewhere."

"Perhaps," Oseno agreed "we will find out shortly..."

Jureth turned his attention to the viewer watching as the star field whisked by and carried them toward the ship in distress. The Bajoran was confident his new ship and crew could handle anything they found in front of them. 

Schaell turned his slitted eyes towards the science station.

"Lieutenant, bring up all sschematicss of Acamarian vesssels along with their known sspecific behavior in sspace, esspecially their sstandard tacticss during combat and compute it all into our tactical ssensors and analysers."

He then turned back to his commanding officer.

"Captain, I have a thought. We're relatively near both Klingon and Romulan borders. it would not be unheard of for Romulans to foment trouble in thiss ssensitive area; up to and including disguising themsselves as Acamarians... sso as to create trouble not only within our territory but to irke and disstract the klingons as well; or as Cardasssians to lure uss and them into ssome rassh action for their own ends. Thiss is a dissputed area for all three powers. We should not take anything at face value, here of all places."