Captain Gail was sitting there at the head of the table as
the bridge crew entered for the staff meeting. One by one the
redhead calmly watched as they all took their places, until almost
all of the seats had been filled.
Commander Allaine spoke up as Tanya took her seat, her dark
brown hair framing her face, "It looks like we're all here."
"Not quite," Gail answered softly.
The door swished open once again, and a woman dressed in the
uniform of a Lieutenant-Commander stepped inside. The tall blonde
walked over and saluted with military precision, "Lieutenant-
Commander Meris, reporting for duty ma'am."
"Ladies," Gail's voice rang out in the moment of
silence, "I've promoted Doctor Meris to the CMO post of the Lady
Grace. I hope you'll all support her."
Meris took a seat amid the soft words of support coming from
the officers around her. "I hope to fulfill my duties competently,"
she said calmly.
"All right," Commander Allaine spoke up, "status reports,
people. We've only got a few hours left before it's time to go."
"Engineering's a go," Karin simply reported. The black
haired Lieutenant-Commander leaned forward, "Repairs have been
completed, and we've got as much supplies in storage as we can." She
paused, "I'd also like to thank Major Tanya's pilots, without their
help we couldn't have collected as much as we did."
"Thanks," Tanya gave her a slight smile. The green haired
pilot looked over at the Captain, "Fighter wings are good to go. I
plan to have a team ready to launch as cover when we move out, just
in case we're spotted too soon."
"Hopefully we won't need to," Gail sighed softly. She looked
down the table at her tactical officer to ask, "Danielle?"
"No luck on a replacement targeting computer," the black
haired lieutenant said coolly. Danielle checked her data pad, "Our
other tactical systems have been slaved together to compensate, but
at least some targeting will have to be done manually."
"We'll manage," Allaine said firmly.
Catty's voice was soft, the communications officer almost
emotionless as she reported, "We've received no other directives
from Solonoid high command." She paused, "And outgoing signals are
inadvisable at this time."
"Course has been plotted," the helmswoman Lauren said
softly, "and warp insertion point plotted. We've also ran
simulations using other approaches, if they are needed."
Meris looked a bit nervous, but the chief medical officer
managed, "The medical bay is ready, and the emergency stations are
fully prepared."
"It looks like we're ready," Gail said. She looked around,
her eyes meeting those sitting at the table, "In a few hours, we'll
be moving out. I hope that things will go well," she smiled
grimly, "but we're ready if they don't. To your stations, people!"
The bridge staff moved off, but two figures hesitated nearby
the doorway. "Captain?" Karin finally asked her tentatively.
"Yes?" Gail looked at the engineer curiously.
"One of my people thinks it might be possible to squeeze a
bit more speed out of the drives," Karin smiled slightly, "I've
looked at the math, and I have to agree."
"Has it ever been tried?" Allaine asked curiously.
"No," Karin admitted.
"Then I think we'll hold it in reserve," Gail said, her
expression thoughtful. "Can your person rig up whatever
modifications she needs without activating them?"
"I'd have to ask Davis," Karin mused aloud, "but I'd think
so." She grinned, "We'll get started on that right away!" Not
waiting for any further orders she was gone, her communicator in her
hands as she barked out orders to her engineering teams.
"Energetic," Gail muttered. She noticed that Allaine was
still there, and she looked serious. Waiting until she sealed the
door Gail asked, "What?"
"I've seen Meris' file, Captain," Allaine said to her
grimly, "and I must admit that I have grave doubts about promoting
her."
"She's qualified," Gail said calmly, "and in all honesty, we
don't have much choice. Of the surviving two medics, she's the
highest ranking one."
"Meris is an addict," Allaine said calmly, "on board her
last ship, she was raiding medical stores to feed her habit."
"Was an addict, hopefully," Gail sighed. "She was declared
clean by medical, and as far as I know she hasn't relapsed since."
She wiped at her eyes tiredly before repeating, "More importantly,
we don't have a choice, Allaine. She's all we have."
Allaine sat down again with a sigh, pushing her dark brown
hair up out of her eyes. "You're right," she admitted. An odd little
smile quirked her lips as she quietly said, "By the way, Tanya and
Danielle are not fighting."
"Huh?" Gail blinked, trying to shift mental tracts as
quickly as possible, "But I thought they hated each other?"
"No," Allaine leaned forward as she dropped her voice to a
whisper, "they're lovers. I caught them in a compromising position a
few weeks ago, but I pretended I didn't see them."
"Oh, that's just marvelous," Gail softly muttered. She
looked over at Allaine plaintively, "Do I have to do anything about
it?"
"It doesn't look like it," Allaine shrugged, "they seem to
be keeping their relationship separate from the job so far."
"Any other gossip that I need to know about?" Gail asked
curiously. She didn't know quite how Allaine kept up with all the
romantic going's-on, it was almost uncanny.
"Well," Allaine smirked, "our tough engineer has a crush on
a former life-sciences tech named Jame, but she's in love with
Katrine. Meris also has designs on Jame, it seems." Allaine smiled
to herself, "And that pilot still has a crush on you."
"You're never going to actually tell me who it is, are you?"
Gail asked her friend wearily. She had been hearing about the crush
for awhile, and was getting a bit tired of it.
"Not until you're over Lauren, buddy," Allaine said gently.
Gail made a face, "And to think we've barely started out. I
don't want to think what the crew is going to be up to by the time
we're done." She looked over at Allaine, "Maybe someone will finally
break through that icy reserve of yours."
"Not likely," Allaine said dryly.
Gail got up from her chair, moving over to a storage
compartment built in the wall. She opened it with her fingerprint,
drawing out a bottle. At her second in command's questioning glance
she explained, "The previous captain told me about it, before she.."
"It's a good year," Allaine examined the label of the bottle
carefully. She looked up at Gail and asked, "Were you thinking of a
toast?"
"I was thinking about it," Gail agreed, but she didn't move
to open the bottle.
Allaine put her hand over the Captain's and said, "Not now."
She smiled slightly, "Let's save this. When we get away from the
Paranoid, we can use it for the victory celebration."
"And if we don't get away?" Gail asked as she put the bottle
away, sealing up the hidden compartment once again.
"If we do hit the end of the road," Allaine met Gail's
eyes, "we'll drink it all, and then take as many of them with us as
we can."
"I like the sound of that," Gail smiled coldly.
"Now lets get out on the bridge," Allaine smiled, "the crew
needs to see us out there, looking supremely confident of our
success."
"Lead the way," and with that they headed out onto the
bridge together.
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