Saved at Last

Posted on 28 Sep 2022 @ 4:04pm by Captain Bane Plase & Lieutenant JG Christina Hartley
Edited on on 28 Sep 2022 @ 4:08pm

2,151 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Utopia Planetia

ON:

Christina growled as she looked at the report, before slamming it on the desk in her office at Utopia Planetia. It was another rejection from Starfleet for her transfer request, and she was getting angrier by the day.

As she left the office, she went straight to Main Engineering of the USS Surak, the newest ship in Starfleet. It was partially based on her own designs, at least the engines and the sensors were, and it was a Surak Class ship.

She was proud to have been working on it, but hated that she was stuck there whilst Kin was on the Cygnus, without her or their daughter, K'tress.

What she was needed for on the Surak wasn't a difficult task, and within an hour, she was already back on Earth, feeding K'tress, who was missing Kin as much as she was.

::Deep Space 9::

Across Federation space, Captain Bane had just re-boarded the Cygnus and had gotten a status report from the temporary Chief Operations Officer, Lieutenant Vujanic (Lisald was still recovering in Sickbay, and Ensign Anderson had been reassigned to another ship). Repairs were progressing according to schedule, which both surprised and pleased the Captain; rarely did things progress as planned. He then took a look at the Quartermasters report and took note that roughly 20% of the ships compliment had been transferred off, a good portion of them Bajorans. He assumed most were reassigned to other ships or stations within the fleet, the rest being done with space travel and headed back home to Bajor. To refill the loss of personnel, almost as many were being assigned to the ship, including several officers, one of which he had already met while he was window-shopping on the promenade, quite by chance.

The reports reviewed and signed off, and with nothing much to be done on the Bridge since they were still in drydock at Deep Space 9, Bane went to his Ready Room to work in relative peace and quiet.

The quiet was broken by the Ops officer on duty, Lt. Vujanic, a Vulcan that had served with Bane for years, dating back to the Sentinel. He had never been the chief of a department, but he didn't want to be, since he was also helping to teach students on board the ships.

=/\=Vujanic to Captain Bane, you have an incoming message from Admiral Savok at Starfleet Headquarters=/\= Vujanic stated.

Plase smiled, welcoming the call. "Excellent Lieutenant. Please, put it through in here," he said, tapping his badge. In the moment it took for the call to come through, Bane recalled the first time he had laid eyes on Mr. Savok. At the time, Bane had just made Captain, and Savok a Lieutenant Commander. Bane had tapped him specifically as Executive Officer, being thoroughly impressed with his service record. Bane was proud to promote him to Commander, and was especially proud the day he got to put on his fourth pip for him at his promotion ceremony. Plase was not able to attend, though he was invited, when Savok was then promoted to a Flag Officer. Still, he got to see a holo-recording of it, which was the next best thing. For Bane, it was a particularly fine feather in his proverbial cap to have had an Admiral once serve as his Executive Officer. He felt, probably quite unjustifiably so, that he had something to do with the Admirals success.

"Hello, my friend," Bane said, when the image of the Vulcan appeared on his display. "It's been entirely too long."

Savok nodded, looking at his former Commanding Officer. "Indeed it has. It has been five years, six months, two weeks, three days, and fifteen hours since last we spoke, before my final assignment as a Captain. Since then, I have been tasked with a number of duties, including ensuring the Twelfth and Fifteenth Fleets have been operating at peak efficiency. Now, I have also been tasked with handling transfers for a number of other ships," Savok confirmed.

He knew Bane hadn't asked, but he also wanted to explain why he had not communicated before. "I apologise for not communicating sooner, but once I received your urgent message, I was more than happy to help. You said you needed assistance with a matter of personnel?" Savok asked.

Plase nodded. Savok was always a man to get to business rapidly. It was one of the qualities that Bane had so thoroughly enjoyed, and one of the main qualities that propelled Savok through the ranks to Admiralty. Bane had wondered a time or two in the last five years if he himself wanted to elevate to the Admiralty. He ultimately decided not to, feeling he could make a difference on a Starship more than he could behind a desk. Plus, Savok had that natural gift as a Vulcan to absolutely crush logistics and management, something all Admirals were in a large supply of. Bane, alternatively, excelled at Engineering and, oddly enough, Security. His place was on a starship, and he was happy with that. "Yes, I do. The Cygnus, is due to depart Deep Space 9 in the next few days and I am having trouble getting a particular Engineer assigned to the ship. Ensign Christina Hartley. She is currently assigned to Utopia Platetia,, but I want her here. Think you could help an old friend out with that?" Bane knew he was asking a favor.

Savok raised an eyebrow at that. The name was familiar to him; Bane had spoken of her multiple times on the Sentinel, and she was like a niece to the man. As Savok called up the file, he noted that she was also assigned to the Utopia Planetia shipyards, with multiple transfer requests that had been denied by the higher ups. "You never ask for the simple requests, Captain, but then, I have long since known that when you decide on an officer you want, you make it happen," Savok said, remembering how reluctant he had been to become an XO, and now he was an Admiral. "According to her file, all her transfer requests were denied as she is credited as being an important part of the construction teams."

The Bajoran Captain nodded. "That's right. She helped design the next generation of impulse engines that were tested on the U.S.S. Sarek and are now being fitted onto ships within the fleet that can handle the structural stresses and power needs. It really is quite an impressive engine. And that is the rub, Savok. The engines have already been installed on one ship, tested and cleared for fleet use. I would think her job is complete, and she can now move on to other positions in the fleet, which would help her develop and grow as an officer in Starfleet. I have this beautiful Chief Engineer slot open that she would be perfect for."

Savok raised an eyebrow. "Captain, you should know by now that you do not need to 'make the pitch' to me," Savok pointed out. "Long ago, I learnt how your instincts were to be trusted," he said, as he began to access the records and transfer systems. "The problem I notice is that the one denying her requests was Rear Admiral Marcus Jameson, a man who is, unfortunately, singular minded, and when he finds the people he can make use of, is reluctant to release them," Savok said.

"I am afraid I do not know him," Plase said, honestly. "Do you think you can make it happen, and have her all the way out here in the Bajoran sector before we depart?"

"The problem with Jameson is that he is entirely too outspoken, and very vocal about how he wants everything to be perfect for him, using his authority to do so. There is, however, one situation he has not planned for," Savok said, still working.

"Which is?" Bane asked, shifting in his chair a little. From experience, Bane knew Savok had something quite diabolical planned when he said something like that. It almost universally worked out in Bane's favor. This feeling he had, he had to imagine it was what a human child felt like on Christmas morning. At least, from what he understood of it.

"The fact that whilst he is a powerful man, I am a Rear Admiral Upper Half, and as such, my wishes are considered more important than his," Savok said, as his console beeped. "I have now approved the transfer for Ensign Hartley, and alerted Rear Admiral Jameson that my orders are not to be overridden, and if he attempts to do so, I shall have him assigned to the Federation Embassy on Cardassia," Savok stated, his face impassive, but raising his eyebrow ever so slightly, which would, on a human, be the equivalent of a smirk.

Plase had to smile. "I am sure if he is assigned there, he will be happy to know that the ship she is now assigned to literally just saved that planet." Bane sat back in his seat. "Thank you for helping out an old friend. It has been great to see you, but we will have to get together in person sometime soon. Maybe when I take leave, I will come to Earth and you can show me around. I haven't been there much since I was a lowly Lieutenant Commander being court-martialed."

"It was a genuine pleasure to assist you, Captain. And if I am on Earth when you are here, I would be happy to do so. I will have a Runabout for the Cygnus made available to Ensign Hartley for her journey to Deep Space Nine," Savok said. "I must confess, I am thankful for the new Impulse Engine design; the Ozymandias is currently being refit with the new engines," Savok explained.

Plase was surprised. "You kept the Ozymandias? She is a Nebula class just like the Cygnus. I thought she was slated for decommissioning after the Mermansk Brushing Incident." Bane chose to drop the conversation about Hartley for now. Plus, he didn't want to jinx himself by losing a Runabout. The Cygnus still had plenty of room available for additional auxiliary craft, and any Captain would do just about anything for extra compliments of Runabouts. They were incredibly useful. He only hoped Deep Space 9 didn't throw their weight around when the new one arrived with Christina.

Savok nodded. "I did. The best part of being an Upper Class Rear Admiral is being able to choose your own flagship. I have had her repaired, upgraded in some respects, and prepared for duty once more. After all, when something works well, there is no point in trying to change it," Savok said.

The Vulcan's last comment made Bane think again about his own rank and position within Starfleet, and felt those words were true on so many levels. "You are quite correct, sir. Quite correct indeed." Bane inhaled and shifted again in his seat. He knew the hull of his own ship was being repaired around him, and several subsystems and bulkheads below were being repaired. He had long gotten over wanting to be in the middle of things helping out. In his experience, the Captain being there, elbow deep in repairs tended to slow things down. Not that the Captain was incompetent or anything, but that the people that were actually assigned to do such things tended to stay out of the way and watch rather than work, for fear of getting in the way of the Captain. "I appreciate you taking the time to answer me. I won't keep you, but I do mean it when I say we need to get together next time one, or both of us, are on leave."

"I welcome it, old friend. Let me know when you are in the sector. Additionally, should you need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me. I always have time for you," Savok said. He held his hand up in the Vulcan salute. "Live long and prosper, Bane Plase," he said.

Bane held up the Vulcan salute, at least the best he could. After all these years, he still had a problem with his third finger not wanting to stay over next to his smallest finger. "Peace and long life, Savok."

Savok nodded, and closed the channel, feeling satisfied that not only was he able to assist his friend, but he was also able to shut down Jameson, a man that annoyed Savok greatly.


OFF

A JP by

Captain Bane Plase
Commanding Officer, USS Cygnus

and

Christina Hartley
Senior Engineer
Utopia Planetia

and

Rear Admiral (upper half) Savok
Starfleet Command

 

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