From a distance

Posted on 23 Jul 2025 @ 8:20am by Commodore Xaeralan

830 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: The Festival of Unity
Location: Starbase 375
Timeline: Following "From Above"

Commodore Xaeralan took off his boots and collapsed on the couch in his quarters, letting out a loud belch that almost shook the bulkheads. That supper was really quite something. Tigerfish from Calisto, flown in fresh from that morning, with a yuzu ghee sauce and winter longbeans from Andor, washed down with a delicious springwine from Bajor. Federation fusion cuisine at its best, courtesy of the Grazerite Chef at the restaurant on Deck Seventy-Six. Who would have thought herbivores could have the palate to prepare such a delicate fish?

The Orion head of Starship Maintenance Operations was just about to doze off to a blissful but restless sleep (due to the digestion process) when the comm stirred him awake. He cursed, and sat upright.

"What is it?" he called out rather brusquely.

"Sir, we've just received word of a major hurricane over the settlement on Elysia," came the report from some junior lieutenant up in the Operations center.

"What are you calling me for?" said Xaeralan. "Isn't that Mitchell's job?"

"Sir, Captain Mitchell is at a conference on Navaria Prime. You agreed to take the interim while she was away."

Damn.

"All right, I'm on my way."

Xaeralan put his boots back on and stood from the couch, releasing another burp as he drew his massive frame upright.

The ride from his personal quarters on Deck Twenty-six up to the CIC took less than three minutes. Thankfully the lifts were sparsely used at this time of night, and the lift only had to stop twice in-between.

He stepped off the lift in the command center and headed for the hub devoted to the Federation Emergency Management Operations team, or FEMO as he liked to call it. Captain Mitchell's team was responsible for coordinating the response to emergency situations across the sector. She had a team of twelve people, and could draw resources from six other departments if needed, but their role was mainly coordination. They hardly ever stepped out into the field, and almost always operated remotely.

At his approach, a yeoman stepped forward. A human female, who carried herself perfectly straight, and clutched a PaDD close to her chest, her knuckles white. He remembered seeing her trailing Mitchell in staff meetings.

"Commodore," she said.

"Ellen," he said. "I need to see Mitchell's XO."

"Nancy," replied the Yeoman.

"Erika," said Xaeralan.

"No," replied the Yeoman. "I mean my name. It's Nancy."

"Then who's Ellen?"

"I have no idea."

"All right. I need to see Erika."

"Samantha."

"Who?"

"Captain Mitchell's XO. You need to see Samantha."

"All right."

"First, Admiral Savok's aide sent you a message."

"Her name is Erika."

"There's no one here by that name," replied the Yeoman, keeping the exasperation out of her voice with a Vulcan efficiency.

Xaeralan puffed out his cheeks and blew a bubble, trying to contain his frustration. "What's the message?"

"Sir, Admiral Savok wanted to remind you that the Cygnus crew is down on Elysia. Directly in the path of the storm."

Xaeralan nodded. The Cygnus. His pain in the ass for the past two months. He hated working on those old relics. The 40-year-old Nebula-class antique that he had to bring up to 25th Century specs, as well as fix the extensive damage that had been done.

"What's the status of the storm?"

"We're dealing with what would be called a Category 5 hurricane. Winds up to 276 kph, wave surges up to 4 meters and over 250 millimeters of rainfall. Landslide risks have increased by 500 percent. No reports of casualties yet, but no reports of survivors either."

"The Cygnus crew is down there?"

"Yes sir."

"Get me their CO on the comm. What's his name, Captain Blaine Payne."

"Sir, that won't be possible," replied Nancy. "The ionization in the atmosphere is interfering with communication and sensors."

That would make sense, thought Xaeralan. He kicked himself mentally for the mistake.

"What happened to the weather modification grid? It should have dissipated this storm front before it became such a menace."

"Sir, that's not for FEMO to say. Our role is to handle the response to the storm, not to search for the cause."

"All right, tell me more about the storm."

"The eye of the hurricane has passed twenty kilometers south-east of the Elysian islands. The storm itself should clear in about three hours. It will travel north-east and dissipate harmlessly over the ocean within the next thirty-six hours."

"How soon can we get relief on the ground?"

"We have relief crews on the way, they should be there in forty-five minutes. But they won't be able to land for another seventy-five minutes because of the strong winds."

"Who are you sending?"

Nancy handed him the data PaDD with the details of the landing party. Xaeralan took the list, and started going over it with Nancy, and Samantha who showed up a few minutes later.

------

A post by

Commodore Xaeralan
Chief of Starship Maintenance Operations
Acting Head of Federation Emergency Management Operations
Starbase 375

 

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