Refit

Posted on 29 Dec 2024 @ 1:53am by Commodore Xaeralan & Captain Bane Plase

2,709 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Shoreleave and Reassignment
Location: Starbase 375
Timeline: Current

Commodore Xaeralan held up the data PaDD and tried to read the latest work orders while he enjoyed his second breakfast in his office, a plate of eggs Benedict with maple-glazed ham, covered in Hollandaise sauce, with a side serving of steamed asparagus - the asparagus was mostly to keep up appearances if the station's Chief Medical Officer happened to walk in, the damned Vulcan had been on his case for years, trying to get him to lose weight and exercise more.

Who had time to exercise when you oversaw a crew of five hundred engineers and the refit of an average of eight ships simultaneously at any given time, with a horde of Admirals breathing down your neck, asking for hourly updates on each ship?

A notification popped up on the PaDD. He tapped it open, and nearly choked on the asparagus when he read the extent of the damage to the latest work bill. An older model of Nebula-class starship, with extensive structural damage, sheared off mission pod and nacelle, breaches in the saucer and secondary hull...

And the ship was just being towed in. Experience told him that this job would monopolize a third of his workforce for at least three months.

And the ship's Captain was just beaming in now.

"Commodore, I have Captain Bane Please of the USS Cygnus here to see you," chimed in Ensign... What was her name again? The latest yeoman assigned to him, they never seemed to last long enough for him to learn their names. Human names all sounded alike.

"Send him in," replied Xaeralan.

A moment later, Captain Bane Plase stepped into the room and following protocol, stopped exactly three paces from the desk in which the Commodore sat. "Good morning, sir. I am Captain Bane of the Starship Cygnus. Thank you for seeing me on such," he paused, then continued, "Unsavory circumstances."

"Captain Bane," replied the burly Orion, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I don't stand on ceremony. Sit down. Now what the frack did you do to your ship? No, don't answer that, I don't give a damn. You have any idea how long it'll take to get that ship spaceworthy again?"

The junior officer took a seat and mumbled a thanks before answering the Commodores question with a bit of humor. "I think faster than it would be to build a new Nebula-class?" He chuckled, then continued. "She is a good ship, sir, well-built. She would be worth repairing and getting her back out in space and on duty again."

"Think again," replies the Commodore. He took a sip of coffee before punching up a holodisplay. A cross-section view of the Cygnus's saucer section hovered above the desk between the two officers. Xaeralan highlighted several structural support beams. "These are the main structural support struts in your ship's saucer. Their integrity is down to just five percent. They have to be replaced entirely, which means we have to cut away the entire dorsal section of the mission pod assembly. That's three weeks of work for a thirty-person team. Something we wouldn't have to do when building a new ship."

He tapped the console again and swore under his breath when his finger left a smear of Hollandaise sauce on the panel. The secondary hull appeared.

"The nacelle. It wasn't just ripped off. It twisted away before tearing off, so we have to replace those as well. Not to mention the fact that we have to find a new Nebula 1-class warp core somewhere. You have any idea how long it's been since we had to manufacture one of those? I don't know if we even have the specs anymore! Trust me, it's be faster to build a new Nebula II-class ship."

Bane exhaled heavily at that news. He knew the damage was extensive for the ship, but had hoped it wasn't as bad as his defective sensors had been telling him, nor the sensors on the Goddard during his trip here. He stood and walked to the replicator, getting himself a cup of Darjeeling tea. While it hummed into existence, "So you're telling me the Cygnus is a total loss, sir? She can't be repaired?"

"Now don't put words in my mouth, Captain," said the Commodore. "I'm not saying that at all. What I am saying is that logistically, it's not the most cost-effective thing to do. We'll be putting in a lot of effort to get that old ship spaceworthy and up to today's norms, when we could have a brand-new, top-of-the-line ship rolled out in three months. We already have the superstructure built for a saucer section that was scheduled for the USS Manchego, but she's not expected on the Tzenkethi front for another eighteen months. We could pull that saucer and adapt it for a Nebula II and have the ship ready in fourteen weeks. You have an emotional attachment to your old ship, I can understand that. I just want you to be aware that this is going to have a major impact on our maintenance calendar. We'll be putting back repairs to the Shenzhou, the Drummond and the Ankara."

The Captain mimed his apology at putting words into the Commodores mouth while he talked. He sat and took a sip of his tea. "I can see the appeal of having a new ship, and the needs of your maintenance schedule. Would Starfleet even approve me having a new ship? Let's be honest here, Commodore -- I have had a terrible track record for successful missions the last 24 months. I'm lucky to even have a seat still."

"I don't handle fleet assignments, Captain, that's entirely up to Admiral Savok. And if it's spiritual comfort you want, the Bajoran Temple is on Deck 64. My job is to coordinate repairs and determine what needs repairing, and what needs replacing, and making sure Starfleet's resources are used as efficiently as possible. In the Cygnus's case, we're in that gray area between repair and replace. Slower to repair but consuming a bit fewer material resources, but we'll be patching up a thirty-year-old shell. Are you that attached to your old ship?"

Bane sat back in his chair, surprised by the question. "No....well...yes...no..." he said, contradicting himself. "The part I am most attached to is the command chair. If I lose this chair, will it be certain I will get another one back? Although, if I push and wait for this ship to be repaired, Starfleet won't just sit by and allow three hundred and fifty odd Starfleet officers and crew sit around doing nothing until the Cygnus is finished. I've assembled a crew that is exceptional, and that is taking my own bias out of the equation, sir. They worked hard to come home. They have gelled together. They are forged together through the crucible of near death and insurmountable odds. They deserved to be kept together." Bane exhaled through his teeth as he sat back again. "My back is against the wall on this, isn't it. If I want to keep my crew together and potentially lose the command seat, I have to accept the Cygnus isn't worth repairing. If I want to wait and push for it, then I potentially lose my crew and the very soul that makes up the Cygnus."

Xaeralan looked at Bane in confusion, his coffee cup frozen about halfway to his mouth. "Pull yourself together, man," he said. "Your crew are still assigned to the Cygnus - whatever form that will take. Most of them have been granted shore leave on Elysia, and those who don't have it yet, will be getting it soon. But like I said, I don't deal with personnel. Now, two things. One, we need to determine the best approach to get a ship called Cygnus back out into space. Two, I will strongly recommend that you speak to Counselor Val Mont as soon as possible."

It was Bane's turn to hold his teacup frozen between the saucer and his mouth, a look of confusion etched on his face. "Why would I need to speak to Counselor Val Mont?"

"Because of your obvious emotional attachment to this crew of yours, which seems to me a bit excessive. It's in every Starfleet officer's nature to seek to reach the center chair one day, and they can't do that if your ship's roster is gridlocked. You have to accept that people will want to transfer in and out in their attempts to rise up the totem pole. You've also mentioned a terrible track record over the past two years, and you're not sure why they're allowing you to remain in the command seat. That means you doubt your capacities as a leader, and you're going to start second-guessing your decisions and are liable to hesitate at a crucial moment. Talk to Counselor Val Mont. He's a bit of an arsehole but he should be able to get your head back on straight."

The coffee mug finally made its way to the Commodore's mouth as he took a sip. He looked at his half-finished plate of eggs Benedict, and pushed it away. It was getting a bit late for second breakfast, elevenses was coming up and he had promised himself a nice plate of boar sausages. Doctor T'Lura be damned.

"Now what do you want me to do about that ship of yours?"

Plase sipped his tea as he considered the question, and the ramifications of the decision he was about to make. He certainly enjoyed the new gadgets and gizmo's that were afforded to him while he was on the Goddard, and rather enjoyed the fresh feel of the ship too, but he felt the pull of his own ship and the way things were. He and his crew were trained in, and familiar with, the older analogue-style vessels, the 'old ship' version of Starfleet. Plase loved the Cygnus, and didn't want her to die like this. "As nice as it sounds to get a new ship, state-of-the-art and with all the bells and whistles, I firmly believe the Cygnus, that is, my Cygnus, has a lot of life left in her, a lot of stories to be told on her decks, and a lot of service left to give to Starfleet. She is as much a character in this story as I am, or Commander Bast is, or even Ensign Veenak is. Sir, I would like my ship repaired. If it takes longer because you need time to dedicate crews to the Shenzhou, the Drummond, the Ankara and the Manchego, then so be it. You can even pull from my crew to augment yours to speed things up a bit, if needed." Bane was growing more frustrated, feeling like he was being strong-armed by this Commodore. If Bane had to guess, this officer never commanded more than departments and divisions, and was never in command of a stand-alone unit before. "If my crew wants promotions to higher levels, they will earn it over time, and if they want a crack at the center seat, I am sure there are plenty of ships assigned to this sector and to this fleet corps for each of them to tell their stories. And I, for one, will be the first to congratulate them to command, be their biggest cheerleader, and mentor them as the senior captain here, as they need it. The Cygnus is not a prison ship, Commodore. I want to promote my crew and let them spread their wings as far as they wish. Finally, I do not doubt my command abilities, nor my decision-making skills. We have been dealt a rough hand recently, and we have done the best we could. We have faced an enemy that devours whole worlds. We made First Contact with a species that wasn't yet ready to join the interstellar community, and reacted negatively to a relatively harmless virus to all of us, but was exceptionally deadly to them. We found a substance that could wipe out all higher life on a planet, and have brought it back for further investigation, just not as intact as we used to be," he stated, standing, referring to both the Antioch mission and the isolinium they had brought back for investigation."

Xaeralan looked at Bane for a full minute, assessing the Bajoran Captain before finally deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt. "All right," he said. "Refit it is." He pulled up the maintenance schedule, and the timeline for repairs hovered over his desk. "We're rushing final repairs on the Andorian cruiser ch'Vekh. That should be done in ten days, which will free up Drydock Eight for the Cygnus. In the meantime, your crew should get their personal effects into storage. Your engineering staff should get the decks completely clear of debris. We'll have to strip away the hull plating and remove the Warp nacelle struts. The pod docking manifolds will have to be replaced entirely, and we'll tear out your old Gen-II isolinear net with the new Gen-V. Your computer core will have to be overhauled, and the power distribution grid, which is antiquated, is going to be upgraded. You have a remaining staff of..." Xaeralan tapped his console to check the Cygnus's manifest. "Forty-six engineers and twenty-two Operations staff left. We'll need them to complement our own staff for three-week rotations. They've earned their shore leave, and some of them still have to be cleared by Medical."

The Commodore went on with the exhaustive maintenance list for another fifteen minutes, detailing everything that would need to be done to the Cygnus to bring it up to specs.

"All in all," he said, "we're looking at a maintenance list that would require sixteen to twenty weeks in drydock, followed by a shakedown cruise."

"Would it be too much to ask for the holographic terminal interfaces on the Bridge and in my Ready Room," Bane asked after whistling through his teeth at the amount of time it would take to get the ship repaired. He thought maybe two months, tops, and this was coming from someone with an Engineering background like he was. He certainly didn't expect five months.

"Holointerfaces have been state-of-the-art for years, you'll have them all over the place. And guess what, I can even throw in a cupholder on the Captain's chair. Anything else?"

Bane knew he had pushed too far. "No sir. Sorry, sir," he said, though he did have a sheepish, lopsided grin on his face. Hopefully the Orion Flag Officer recognized that he meant no harm or was trying to step over the line. "I will get rotations to you by 1900 hours for my engineering and operations staff to augment yours. I will be talking to the personnel director after this meeting about getting new people assigned to the Cygnus, and will rotate them in to help out as they are assigned and arrived." Then Bane thought about that, and amended. "Well, that is if they come. With the ship being down for a minimum of five months, it'll be a hard sell to get them here quickly," he added.

"That's a problem for Admiral Savok. Mine is getting your ship in and out of drydock as quickly as possible." He tapped a command on his console and the holodisplay vanished. "I'll be off-duty at 1900, but my Yeoman should have no trouble getting your rotation schedule. Thank you Captain, you're dismissed."

And that was that. Bane stood back up. "Thank you for your time, sir. Have a good day." With that, Bane turned and exited the office. Now that he had a timeline, he could grant the rest of the crew that hadn't already been granted it their shoreleave. He knew most were anxious to explore Starbase 375 and the planet below, Calisto. He even heard a few rumors about a particular city, Elysia. Plase himself was anxious to get down there and explore.


OFF

Bane Plase, Captain
USS Cygnus, Commanding

and

Commodore Xaeralan (NPC, played by Lt Cmdr Temerant Bast)
Head of Starship Maintenance and Refit Operations
Starbase 375

 

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