Emergency Orders

Posted on Mon Jun 1st, 2020 @ 1:03am by Commodore Ledeya ‘Ed’ Ehestri (*)

Mission: Cosmos
Location: USS Cosmos
Timeline: 2396
1248 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Ledeya was no longer in her PJ’s as she paced the length of her quarters waiting for the connection to connect to the USS Alexander. She normally did not bypass the chain of command but every attempt for the last hour had failed to get a secure connection to Starbase 50. Maybe a relay was out in the general area, maybe they were having communication issues but time was of the essence on Starbase 261 and she needed to let someone higher up know of the bombing and the potential consequences with the conference that was meant to be happening. She just hoped waking the Admiral up at 03:00 was not going to bite her in the ass.

The peace of the river was absolute. The wind moving gently through the trees, the gurgle of the water over the rocks and the occasional splash of a trout breaking the surface. Zavareh loved mornings like this, on the rare occasions he had them. This early in the ship's day, no one was awake from the Alpha shift, the holodecks were usually devoid of activity (not that he didn't have seniority of course, but he loathed taking it away from his crew) and most importantly his children were asleep, meaning the odds of unsupervised mischief were extremely low. Zavareh cast his fly lure deeper into the river once more, enjoying the simplicity of it all and just starting to think how much he missed doing this back on Earth, when there was a chirp overhead indicating an incoming transmission - not a commbadge call.

Zavareh lowered the fly rod and sighed. Of course. He took his hat off, letting it lay on his back with the strap around his neck and then cleared his throat, dry from so long in utter silence.

"Computer, arch," he ordered. Behind him a tall, narrow arch appeared with a screen indicating a transmission was coming through. He looked on patiently, waiting to see who it was disturbing his rare moment of peace.

Ledeya was surprised by the man looking so awake as he appeared in front of her on screen. Her ship did have the technology to create holograms but at that time in the morning, Ehestri was loathed to use it. People deserved to be able to wear what they wanted to. “I apologise, Admiral, but we have a situation on Starbase 621 and I am unable to contact Rear Admiral Harrington on Starbase 50.,” she knew it was a huge break of the chain of command but it was impossible to avoid it.

"I see," Zavareh replied tersely. He didn't know Harrington all that well and in truth had never met him in the flesh, only read his file and agreed to his taking the command of the Starbase and the Task Force entrusted to him. Beyond that, he was simply a respected command officer; he had no idea why he would be out of touch especially when there was an issue of enough substance that a fellow Flag Officer would be willing to circumvent the chain of command to reach him. "What is the situation?" he asked with genuine concern.

Ledeya nodded relieved that he was prepared to listen before he went into a rant or rave about the chain of the command. It was not her style after all. “Starbase 621 is currently at red alert after having at least two explosions." Ledeya began. “The Commanding Officer along with three or four of the senior crew is dead or I have them on Cosmos as I was ferrying them for the conference.” Ledeya sent a copy of the schematics she had managed to get from 621 before communication became more difficult. The station was peppered with red, especially near to where the explosions occurred. That meant that significant portions of the shuttlebay, and by extension parts of the Promenade, the VIP Quarters, Armory, and areas affected by secondary weapon explosions, and the entire communications array were completely destroyed. "As you can see she is in quite a state."

Zavareh surveyed the damage slowly, tapping the terminal beside the transmission to bring up other relevant data on the area, the available ships and on the officer to which he was speaking. He didn't say a word, he simply worked, sighing after a few moments when he was forced to pluck his glasses from his pocket and put them on. Finally, he looked back to the transmission, "I'm retasking the hospital ship, USS Hippocrates to rendezvous with you at 621. They should be there... in twenty-five hours," he explained, "I'm also tasking the USS Mars and Ganymede to provide support," he added, tapping the Prometheus and Luna class vessels on the terminal beside the transmission. "Estimated arrival in twenty-three and twenty-seven hours, respectively. You may be on your own when you first arrive, but support is incoming," he explained.

The woman stayed deathly quiet as she waited for him to process the information and consider the options on what to do. It was not every day that something like this happened and it was complicated by the location of the Starbase. Ledeya nodded, she knew the USS Hippocrates was a good ship and it gave her hope that eventually, things would be okay. She just hoped that the base lasted that long. “I can handle it, sir. Thank you for arranging the support. I am sure the Executive Officer of Starbase 621 will offer the same thanks when we have communications again.” Ledeya was sure that she was more than capable of handling it.

"I want a report on the status of the station and the estimated repair times in thirty hours. That should give you enough time to get a baseline assessment. If you feel you need to report sooner, do so," he continued, giving her his brief expectations. "In reading your service record here, I have every faith that you will accomplish this mission without fail. Given your record, I'm assigning you as the commander of this temporary support fleet. I am also promoting you to the rank of Commodore. It suits the circumstances, and by your record is well beyond overdue," he declared without a hint of a smile or other congratulatory emotion.

“Yes, sir.” It was a fair order and time frame to get an estimated repair time. It was just frustrating that she was so new out of dock that she did not have a quantum slipstream drive that would allow her to get crew there. The mere mention of service record raised the woman's eyebrows just enough to give her a confused expression for a few seconds before it was replaced by resolve. Any other time she would have been happy for a promotion and it would have shown but it was not the time or the place. “I appreciate the faith in me, sir,” she added, glancing back at the yeoman who was taking notes just in case she forgot anything in the moment of haste to get the emergency situation across. “I will contact you in 30 hours or less.” She wanted to go and get the wheels in motion started but she did not want to appear rude.

"Then I'll leave you to it, Commodore," Zavareh nodded with finality. "Sepandiyar, out."

OFF::

Zavareh Sepandiyar
Commanding Officer
USS Alexander


Ledeya ‘Ed’ Ehestri
Commanding Officer
USS Cosmos / TG 72-B
(PNPC Gregnol)