Setting Sail

Posted on Thu Oct 18th, 2012 @ 6:09pm by Captain Benjamin Byrne

Mission: Klingons on the Starboard Bow
Location: USS Endeavour - Ready Room; Bridge
Timeline: MD08 0800hrs

"I'll see you both soon."

"Be safe, Ben."

As the communications channel to his wife and son on the planet's surface closed, the terminal on Byrne's desk began to recede back into the surface of the desk, no longer required. His last task completed, Benjamin checked the time, aware that it was approaching the point at which his ship would enter a region where it would be in constant danger of being caught up between two of the most militaristic races he had ever known. It was times and missions like this that Benjamin was grateful he no longer commanded the late USS New York, or the powerful but small Hendrix. The Endeavour was one of the ships best equipped to keep both him and his crew safe. Even so, this wasn't a mission that he wanted to take Sarah and Jake with him on.

Standing from his desk, he pulled down the captain's vest he wore over his undershirt, and moved to take his jacket from the back of his chair, pulling it up over his shoulders. He paused just a moment to transfer his combadge from the vest onto the jacket before he zipped it up and navigated around his desk to the door of his ready room.

"Captain on deck!"

Benjamin ignored the words of the junior officer who had obviously been part of the new additions to the ship's complement over the past week - the crew who had been with him for any length of time knew that he didn't care for such traditions whenever he entered a room.

"Ops, clear us for departure with SB48," he ordered, as he moved towards the centre of the bridge, stopping just a moment in front of his chair before lowering himself into it. "Helm, set a course for the border, warp seven."

As the two officers both uttered their ayes to his orders, Benjamin waited patiently, perusing a padd handed to him briefly by another officer before giving his approving thumb-print and handing it back.

"Station operations has cleared us for departure, Captain."

"Very good. Helm; engage."

As the ship pivoted on it's central axis towards its new heading, the impulse engines glowed a bright red. pushing the ship forwards and turning the pivot into an arcing curve, before the nacelles glowed blue, and the ship shot forward into warp.

"Warp seven, aye captain," came the confirmation from the helm."

"Ops, distribute a message to the crew. Senior staff meeting to be held in the observation lounge at ten-hundred hours," the captain ordered, crossing one leg over the other as he settled in. "And request that Lieutenant Kessel join us to represent engineering."

"Aye, captain."

As his orders were carried out by the two officers at the forefront of the bridge, Benjamin settled in, surrounded by the busy activity at all other stations around him.