My First Command

Posted on Wed Oct 4th, 2023 @ 4:25am by Captain Aiden Daniels & "Hera" & Igor
Edited on on Fri Oct 27th, 2023 @ 8:53am

3,139 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: [Episode 0]
Location: Space Dock
Timeline: Current

"Calm down Igor. I know you're excited, so am I." Newly promoted Captain Daniels tried to calm down the 6th month old dalmatian puppy he held in his arms while he waited for his roster to appear on screen, in the waiting room of Space Dock 100. Captain Daniels kissed the little puppy on the head. "Normally they wouldn't allow animals on board, but this is not a normal situation."

A tall Vulcan in a black uniform came strolling up to Captain Daniels. "Captain Daniels sir? My name is Lt. Commander Tevek and I have been ordered by Admiral Yamato to come fetch you. You are actually in the wrong area." "Thank you, LT., Please lead the way." Captain Daniels went to pick up his bag, when the Vulcan Lt. stopped him. "There is no need to grab your things. We will take care of that for you." Lt. Tevek pressed his combadge.

=/\= Lt. Commander Tevek to the USS Zeus. Come in Zeus. =/\=
=/\= This is Zeus. Go ahead Lt. =/\= came the response from the combadge.
=/\= Yes, I am with Captain Daniels, and he needs his bags beamed up to his quarters right away. I am going to take him to Admiral Yamoto's office for his briefing. I know that he is 2 days early and the modifications are not complete yet. Plus make sure that there is ample room for his furry friend. =/\=
=/\= Furry friend? =/\=
=/\= Do I need to repeat myself Ensign?"
=/\= No sir, I was just not sure what you were talking about. I have the manifest right here and ahhh there it is. The entry just come through. Igor, is it? Dalmation 6 months old puppy. =/\=
=/\= Thats the captains' furry friend. Make sure that there is a place for him in Captain Daniels quarters. =/\=
=/\= Understood Lt. Please tag the bags and we will beam then right up to his quarters. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Ensign. Tevek out. =/\=

"So sorry about this Captain Daniels. This assignment is pretty hush hush, and all permissions are granted from Admiral Yamato's office personally." Lt. Tevek spoke.

"No need to apologize Lt. It's alright. I have come to know that with a hush hush assignment like this that things could go wrong. Igor here was rescue from an old friend on Earth while I waited for port call." Captain Daniels explained.

"No need to explain, he will be a welcome addition. Plus, the school age children will just love him." Lt. Commander Tevek said. Lt. Commander turned and started to tag the bags for beam up. As soon as he was finished tagging, the bags de-materialized and were beamed up to USS Zeus.

"So, Lt. Commander Tevek was it? What do you do here? I see that you are wearing a Star Fleet Intelligence uniform." Captain Daniels asked.

"Well Captain, I was not supposed to be assigned to this project, but something came up and well I was chosen to be a part of your senior staff as your Chief Intelligence Officer. I will be working very closely with you as well as the Admiral, because we are going to be something different. Normally it would be the Admiral that will deliver the missions, but I will be his or her voice instead. I will be getting the mission briefings from Star Fleet Command and will be conducting the overview of each assignment. You will still be charge, but my orders will come from Star Fleet Commend and Project Epsilon Commander, Admiral Yamato. Speaking of Admiral Yamato, we do not want to keep him waiting." Lt. Commander Tevek said.

"You're right. Let's go." Captain Daniels said.

"Right this way." Lt. Commander Tevek gestured.

When the two officers reached the Admirals' officer. Lt. Commander pressed the door chime.

"Enter" came the voice from inside the office, and the door slid open.

The two officers stepped through the threshold. Sitting at his desk was a Japanese man in his late 70's reading a padd report. "Admiral Yamato, I found Captain Daniels as you requested. " Lt. Commander Tevek spoke.

"Very good Commander. You may leave us." Admiral Yamato said.

Lt. Commander Tevek turned to his left and he exited the office through a side which must have led to his office.

"Aiden. May I call you Aiden?" Admiral Yamato asked.

"Of course, sir." Captain Daniels responded.

Admiral Yamato looked up from his reading and his eyes fell on the mow sleeping puppy that Captain Daniels held in his arms.

"This must be Igor. He is going to be a great addition to your crew, but he looks hungry. Has he eaten?" Admiral Yamato asked.

"Not since we arrived on the station. I was going to feed him once we reached my assigned ship." Aiden responded.

"Nonsense! A growing puppy needs to eat about 6 times a day." Admiral Yamato got up out of his chair and went over to the replicator.

"Computer, a bowl of water and a bowl of puppy food for a 6-month-old dalmatian. Half wet food and half dry."

The water bowl and the puppy food materialized on the tray.

Admiral Yamato took the bowls and set them on the floor. No soon as the bowls were set, the smell of the food woke the sleeping Igor up. Captain Daniel set the Igor on the floor, "Look Igor treats!" Aiden explained and Igor took off toward the food. When Igor reached the bowls, he sniffed the food and cocked his head and looked at Aiden.

"Go on Igor eat up." Aiden said and Igor started to eat his lunch.

"Thank you, sir, for doing that. I had food in my bag for him, but it is now on the Zeus." Aiden said.

"It's no trouble. As a dog dad myself, I know how it is when you are traveling with your furry friend." Admiral responded.

"Now on to business. You know that Project Epsilon is a classified project. This project is on a need-to-know basis. Clearance has been set up for you and your crew and for the families of your crew, but no one else, except me and those I choose to inform. Understood Captain?" Admiral Yamato asked.

"Understood Admiral". Aiden nodded his head as he spoke his understanding.

"Good. Now that we have that out of the way, let's go on to the most important part of this briefing. You have already met your Chief Intelligence Officer, correct?" Admiral Yamato questioned.

"Yes, I did Admiral, but I am confused as to what he told me about him getting his orders from you and not me." Aiden said.

"Let me explain. As I am a very busy man running "Project Epsilon", I will not be able to confer with you at all times, so I needed a voice on the ship. Keep in mind he is still a part of your crew and is still under your command, but he will get the orders from me, and he will deliver them in my stead. I will be checking in from time to time when I am able, but he will be my eyes and ears. Also, all reporting will be filtered through him." Admiral Yamato explained.

"I think I understand, sir." Aiden responded.

"Now that's done. Do you have any questions?" Admiral Yamato asked.

"Can I see the Zeus?" Aiden asked.

"It doesn't take a Betazoid to read that question. It was written all over your face." Admiral Yamato said. "Of course. I was going to go to Space dock and check on somethings anyways. If you would like to accompany me?" Admiral Yamato asked.

"It would be an honor sir." Aiden said.

"Oh and one more thing. This "sir" business. Project Epsilon is outside of Star Fleet. We are funded by the Federation themselves, so you can call me Sato." Sato explained.

Sato pressed the intercom and spoke into it. "Commander Tevek? We are going to see the Zeus. Please handle my calls and please finish packing." Sat spoke.

"Understood sir." came Lt. Commander Tevek's voice.

"Sato out." Sato cut of the intercom and turned and looked at Aiden. "I don't know how many times, I have tried to tell him to call my Sato, but he's a Vulcan. Rank is important and so is formality. So, I let it slide. "

"Well to each his or her own, as the saying goes Sato." Aiden says.

Sato laughed. "Your right Aiden, shall we?" Sato asked.

"I'm ready when you are." Aiden answered.

"Will Igor be ok here while we are gone?" Aiden asked.

Sato looked at the empty bowl of food and saw that Igor was curled up napping in his chair. "Igor will be fine. We will be only an hour or so. You can rest easy." Sato said.

So, the two officers walked out of the office and towards the nearest turbolift. Each person they passed stopped and saluted them. Aiden's arm was getting tired of saluting back. Sato looked at Aiden. "Still kind of new to being saluted to?" Sato inquired.

"I have been a Captain for a week now and it's still very foreign." Aiden responded. "Don't worry you'll get used to it." Sato said. As they reached the turbolift, the doors opened and coming off the turbolift was Ambassador Genar of Caitlain. "Good evening gentleman." Genar said.

Both Sato and Aiden nodded. "I have just come back from the Zeus, and I can say that the improvements are coming along nicely." Genar said.

"Thank you so much the compliment Genar." Sato said. "Your tech crew has been working day and night to get ready for launch, but may I make one small request?" Genar asked.

"Of course, Ambassador. Anything in particular?" Sato answered.

"It has come to my attention that an Earth canine is going to be aboard, and we all know that canines are the natural enemy of Caitlains. Would it be possible to make sure that the canine is quarantined?" Genar asked.

"Ambassador, I am going to defer this to the captain of the ship, Captain Daniels do you have anything to add" Sato asked.

"Actually, I do Sato." Aiden turned to the Ambassador. "Ambassador, I do appreciate your candor on the matter. Igor is my friend and he's just a young puppy. I can assure you that there will be no trouble aboard the ship with him. Igor will mostly be with me and in my quarters. Unless you were to visit me there, then you will be entering his home. If I had a shelter for him, which I do not, then I would not bring him aboard, but alas this is not the case. You have my word as captain of the USS Zeus and a Star Fleet Officer that Igor will be well behaved and will cause no trouble. I will be sending word to the Caitlain delegation already about Igor as well as I am wanting to interview a few Caitlain members of the crew about Igor before launch. We will be having a briefing so we can qualm any concerns that the Caitlain delegation and members of the crew have. So, I hope that with this, that we can come to an understanding that no harm will be fall you and your team while aboard my ship when it comes to Igor." Aiden said. Aiden reached out his hand.

A large black and white striped paw of the Caitlain ambassador reached out and took Aidens hand and shook it. "Thank you, Captain Daniels your prompt response about this matter has eased my mind somewhat. It will be a pleasure flying with you. Now gentlemen, if you excuse me, I need to go take my catnap. I bid you a good evening." Genar said and kept walking. When the Ambassador was out of sight, Sato pressed his fingers to his temple and said, "End Program" and the hallway and turbolift was gone and there they stood in the hanger bay were the USS Zeus stood getting modified.

"This was all a test?" Aiden inquired.

"Yes, it was Aiden, and I must say you passed with flying colors. I knew I picked the right man for the job. How you handled yourself with Caitlain Ambassador was very impressive. You stood your ground and came to a resolution without confrontation." Sato said.

"Sato you are a sly man, but I knew that getting into this. You can keep me on my toes anytime." Aiden said. Both of them gave a hearty laugh.

"What you just witnessed is a mobile holo emitter, that we have been working on. It's still in the testing phase, but I think that field test when without a hitch." Sato said.

"Also, we have installed an AI, that can take the place of and crewmember that is sick or injured, just by a command. You want to meet her?" Sato asked.

"Sure, why not." Aiden replied.

Sato, pressed his combadge.

=/\= Admiral Yamata to USS Zeus. =/\=
=/\= USS Zeus here. Go ahead Admiral. =/\=
=/\= Two to beam up. =/\=
=/\= We have your bio signs on lock and are ready. =/\=
=/\= Energize. =/\=

A shaft of blue light appeared and both Sato and Aiden dematerialized and rematerialized in Transporter Room 3.

Once they had fully materialized, the Transporter Chief, a young human NCO, Chief Petty Officer Christopher Micheals snapped to attention.

Aiden caught the eye of the young NCO and spoke. "As you were Chief. We are not here on official duty yet. Just taking a tour. Please pretend we are not even here."

"Thank you, sir." CPO Micheals said.

Since Aiden is part Betazoid, he reached out to young Mr. Micheals and spoke to his sub-conscious. (Good job on the protocol my young friend, however if I can make one tiny improvement. Make sure that you conceal any physical remains of an encounter with a Romulan female. You have a bruise right under your collar and if I can see it, and this was a formal review, that would be points deducted.) Aiden removed himself from the young NCO's mind.

The young NCO face flushed, and Aiden put his finger to his lips to shush the NCO from speaking as they walked past him.

"What as that about?" Sato asked.

"It was nothing. Well, it was something. That young man had an encounter with a Romulan women, and he had a visible bruise. I was just correcting him telepathically. " Aiden said.

"You're already acting like a Captain and our mission hasn't even begun. I am impressed Aiden." Sato said.

'Thank you Sato." Aiden answered

As the two of them walked to the nearest turbolift, each person they passed Aiden was telepathically correcting his crew. Those that he could not connect with telepathically, he made a mental note and requested the name of the officer or NCO.

When they reached the turbolift and stepped inside, Sato turned and said "Bridge." and the doors closed and off they went.

When they reached the bridge, and the doors to the turbolift opened, and they stepped off on the bridge of the USS Zeus, the deck officer in charge called out. "Captain on deck attention."

Aiden called back out. "As you were. We are just taking a tour, and this is not an official review. We will have one in 2 days' time, but not today, so please go back to what you are doing, but be available to answer any questions that I may have as this will be my ship because I want to know all about him."

"Him?" Sato asked. "Most ships are called "her."

"Well from what I understand and remember from my Academy classes on Ancient Earth Cultures, Zeus was the King of Greek Gods, thus 'him' and Hera was his wife." Aiden said.

"Speaking of Hera. Here she is." Sato pointed to a computer console.

"All I see is a computer console." Aiden quipped.

"You're right. But there is more." Sato said.

Sato walked up to the computer console and pressed a button. "Hera? Image please." Sato said and what was thought to be a hologram, was in fact not a hologram of a very beautiful woman in a lavender colored dress with red hair and blue eyes appeared.

"Go ahead speak to her." Sato said.

Aiden walked up to Hera and asked. "Hera? Do you know who I am?"

"Voice pattern recognized. You are Captain Aiden Daniels. Species: 1/2 Risan and 1/2 Betazoid. Gender: Male. Captain Daniels? Where is Igor? I would like to meet the young puppy." Hera said.

Hera turned with a grace befitting a Goddess. "Igor is asleep in Admiral Yamato's office, you will meet him soon." Aiden answered.

Sato stepped forward. "Good to see you again Hera." Sato said.

"And I you, Admiral Yamato." Hera replied.

"Hera here is a start of the art AI system, that is equipped with a vast amount of information, so that if any crewmember becomes sick or injured, she can replace them, if needed."

"That is wonderful to have around." Aiden turned to Hera. "I think you and I will be fast friends." Aiden added.

"Hera, turn off." Sato said and the physical image of Hera vanishes.

"Looks like the tour is over." Aiden said.

"Sadly, yes for me, for I have a very important thing that I need to attend to. Do you have any more questions?" Sato asked.

"None that I can speak of. I am ready to take flight. I will collect Igor on my way back to my quarters on the station. Do you mind if I beam us out?" Aiden question.

"This is your ship. By all means." Sato answered.

Aiden pressed his combadge.

=/\= Captain Daniels to Transport Chief. =/\=
=/\= Transporter Chief here Captain. =/\=
=/\= Two to beam back to Admiral Yamata's office please. =/\=
=/\= Signals locked and ready Captain. =/\=
=/\= Engergize. =/\=

Just like the first time, a shaft of blue light engulfed Aiden and Sato and they dematerialized and in a matter of moments reappeared back in Sato's office just in time to catch Igor waking up from his nap.

"Igor, you ready to go home?" Aiden asked the still sleepy puppy.

Igor jumped off the chair and scampered into his owners' arms. Aiden scooped Igor up and gave him a hug. "I think before we go home, I need to take you out for a walk, but we are on a space station, so it's the holodeck we go. " Aiden said and Igor's response was very wet puppy lick across Aiden's cheek,

Aiden turned to Sato. "Sato thank you for the tour, but I need to take this little guy out for a walk, and I know you are busy, so I am just going to dismiss myself." Aiden said.

"I will contact you when you and the USS Zeus is ready to leave." Sato said.

So, Aiden turned and exited Admiral Sato's office with Igor in his arms and walked to the nearest holodeck.

[end scene]

 

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