"Dunno what the Admiral wants with us," Chandra muttered, and Amanda was glad someone had said it. What passed for the ship's available senior staff was currently stood waiting in its only working transporter room, idling away the minutes until Admiral Tarav transported over from the Bainbridge.
"We're in no fit condition to move out, we don't even have a warp core until tomorrow," Amanda replied calmly. "I doubt we're being shipped out just yet."
"It's probably a crew rotation." Amanda hadn't met Major Dawson before, but the head of the ship's Marine Corps contingent seemed nice enough. Sensible, unflappable, if a little detached. The vixen rotated her shoulders a bit; evidently she'd been woken up as well.
The others in the room were a collection of mostly beta-shift officers and crew, the ship's command staff mostly yet to arrive. Threycus, who Amanda had been less than thrilled to read was being assigned as the ship's permanent Operations Manager, was amongst them, but the Engineering section was excused due to having more pressing duties.
Like getting 11586 actually working,
"Or Starfleet deciding they don't need to recommission these old ships after all," Kemu Taril interjected with a hint of paranoia, "and rendering all this work we've done useless."
"Let's not get paranoid, Kemu," Amanda said dryly, the feline Trill nodding at the comment.
"Sorry, ma'am." he replied, as the blue shimmer of the Transporter began to fade into view on the pad.
Three figures mateialised; the Tellarite admiral, his adjutant Pedersen, and a short, tiger-striped hyenid female from a species Amanada couldn't quite recall dressed in the little-used purple uniform of Starfleet's Diplomatic division.
"Admiral Tarav," Amanda said to the flag officer, nodding to Pedersen.She'd met the Admiral's adjutant before, and she was glad for his presence; he had a habit of smoothing over cracks and reassuring the perfectionist Tarav that everything was going to be all right in the end.
"Commander," Tarav replied gruffly. "Is the engineering work on schedule?"
Right into the questioning, Amanda thought. I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition. "It is. We expect to fit the replacement warp core tomorrow morning, weather permitting. Within three days we should be running on our own power instead of having to drain energy from the fusion reactors temporarily stored in our primary and secondary cargo bays." She paused a moment to swallow, her mouth a little dry. "Um, computer cores are installed and engaged in networkijng and Daystrom compatiability testing, the LCARS database should be fuilly installed and networked in by Tuesday. The new Bridge module arrives the same day... we also have ninety-two per cent of the new EPS system intact, the holodecks on deck six are being prepared, and the arboretum is being replanted. Deck twenty-one is being fitted out as a large recreation and relaxation area for the more aquatic and amphibious species aboard."
Telev looked her up and down. "Only ninety-two per cent?"
She nodded, feeling somewhat small. "The remaining eight per cent requires the new warp core installed to be fitted. Engineering crews expect it to be a maximum of one of your Twu'rai before the alterations are completed."
The admiral smiled- genuinely- at Amanda's use of the Tellarite week, though Amanda had picked it up a few years earlier as a simple way of saying 'nine and a half Earth days'. "Only three days ahead of schedule."
"Well, we could spend it arguing."
"If only," Telev muttered at the mentiong of the Tellarite preferred pastime. "Your staff is assembling?"
Amanda nodded. "We're still, as you'll be aware, yet to recieve a captain, and most of the senior staff is scheduled to arrive in the next few days. So far we've got Lieutenant Commander Crowson in engineering- they've been excused from shipboard functions during the refit-and these are Lieutenant Kemu Taril, our ship's asssistant counsellor, chief of Operations and the refit supervisor Threycus Pashtelli, Ensign Mahana Chandra, beta shift Communications, and Major Grace Dawson of the Marine Corps."
"I see. I shall need to speak to you in your ship's briefing room, if you would show us the way."
Amanda nodded, and began to lead the way.
Oh Joy.
***
As you will be aware," Telev began, the officers and his group sat around the secondary briefing room's large, chevron-shaped table, "the majority of Starfleet's curent focus is on pacifying and mapping the Gamma Quadrant, with a view to eventually setting up a section of the Federation itself in the quadrant. This, of course, leaves a gap in the Federation's homeland protection.
"Suffice to say, at present, our assets in the Alpha and Beta quadrants are somewhat limited. And with the Treaty of Bajor meaning free wormhole access to any Alpha-Beta quadrant power, internal policing is also an issue. As such, this vessel is being temporarily assigned to the Home Quadrant Fleet for a period of no more than six months before its mision in the Gamma Quadrant."
Amanda sighed, realising that the hopes she'd had of going out for an exploration mission were dashed, at least for the moment.
"I know this will come as a disappointment to several of you, but it is purely temporary, due to a lack of available vessels."
"But sir," Chandra asked, "we're not built for combat. Sure, we have two platoons of marines on board, but most of the refit has focussed on sensory and communications capacity, as well as science labs."
"I'm aware of that, but the sensor capacity is going to be your greatest asset. When engaged in anti-piracy and interdiction, you need a long reach."
"So, we're what, sitting on the Klingon border until March in case someone tries something funny?"
Telev nodded. "In the event that the border remains quiet, standard Federation primary mission parameters are to be followed. You ship out in ten days."
Amanda nodded slowly. "Um, sir. One problem so far."
Telev stared at her. "What?"
"We... we don't yet have a transponder code to give the ship. At the moment we're simply 'Mothball One-one-five-eight-six."
The diplomatic officer, a member of a species Chandra had identified as the Kyenthids, grinned, something Amanda didn't expect. "Actually, I can fix that. Kerra Varadike, by the way. I've been assigned as your contact specialist."
"You could have told us!" Amanda chastised, but made it clear that the statement was mostly in jest. "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Varadike, then. What was it you had to say?"
"Well, on departure from Starbase Twelve, I was given the ship's transponder frequency and identifier codes, as well as the dedication plaque that they'd just forged. Bloody heavy thing, by the way."
Chandra grinned. "Can we see it?"
Kerra smiled, picking up the large carry-sack from the floor and putting it on the table, reaching in and extracting a large, rectangular bronze plate. "Ta-dah."
On it, finally, the ship's name was made clear.
