Mission: An Unexpected Detour

[Deleted]

***OOC: I apologize for not beginning on Sunday, but I have been getting a message that the site was suspended every time I tried to pull up the S47 site. I wasn't sure if this was just me or a site problem. ***

Parsons had arrived on board the Hope about an hour earlier and had been introduced to the senior staff. They seemed like a very competent and capable crew. This was a great relief to the young tactical officer, because this assignment was a new experience for him.

As part of Starfleet's command training, Adam was embarking on a short command of the USS Hope. She was a fine ship, of the updated Galaxy II Class. The temporary CO had unpacked and arranged his quarters and was now on his way to the bridge.

The ship seemed a bit more roomy and softer than the El Salvador, the Prometheus Class vessel Parsons was used to. It must have been the difference in purpose when designing the two ships," Adam thought to himself.

Once on the bridge, the slightly nervous Captain greeted the bridge crew and took his position in front of the command chair. His First Officer for the mission was already in position.

Thirteen seemed to be an interesting fellow, being a former Borg, but seemed very qualified and Starfleet had deemed him loyal. It was not Adam's place to question that.

"Hello, Commander," Parsons said, extending a hand toward Thirteen.

<TAG Thirteen, and any other crew that want to chime in>

After exchanging pleasantries, Parsons gave the rather mundane order to the crew to set a course for a rather unextraordinary sector of space to perform a standard patrol. The sector in question was home to no Class M planet and seemed of little interest or value to anyone. However, it would be a good uneventful test of a new Commanding Officer.

Course was plotted by the Navigation Officer and the ship was underway.

<TAG: Bridge crew>

[Deleted]

Kuragh grinned with big teeth and looked at the new capn with biig eyes

yes yes sir on we go he said and pressed the button that made the ship go forward and then left a bit so that he dindt ht the side of the base as they left it he didnyt wanna scrath the new paint and get int trouble on his first ever mission with capn parso

plot is in and we on way he said again lets hope summin interestin hapend or this gonna be real dull I m klingon and need good fight he toth grinned

[Deleted]

Commander Shris stood quietly at Tacitcal as the Hope eased out of Space dock.

Kuragh was being his usual talkative self as he took teh Hope into warp and out on patrol.The new senior staff has arraived and Captain Parsons sat in teh centre seat.

"Excuse me Sir Is this your first Command?" he asked

TAG Parsons

"I see sir, do you have many stories from the El Sal, this could prove to be a long and slow patrol"

TAG Parsons

[Deleted]

"Dont mind Shris sir" Jo commented with a wink "Hes a curious beggar"

She was half turned in her Ops chair and then returned to her console.

"All decks have reported in. Everything is at peak efficiency."

TAG anyone

[thirteen]

Thirteen looked around his quarters on the Hope. He liked the result of his minor redecoration; it wasn't always easy to fit in a rather bulky alcove. Luckily the quarters of the commanding officers where quite spacious. "Computer, time," Thirteen asked. *Time is 0558,* it responded. The new first officer decided, since he was early, to take a stroll around the ship, to get to know her a little before they would leave dock. He looked forward to the meet the crew he was going to serve with for the upcoming month, especially commander Parsons, whom he would be sharing command with. He greeted an early engineer he came across in a corridor, and took a left turn.

Time passed by in a slow pace. After an hour Thirteen decided it was time to head for the bridge, and get acquainted with the main controls of this vessel. After enjoying a short turbolift ride the doors slid open and revealed the bridge of the U.S.S. Hope. The layout, as expected, was different from what he was used to on the Tiger Shark. It took him a few seconds to realize that a Klingon was staring at him from the navigator's seat. "Greetings," Thirteen said, "lieutenant Kuragh I presume?" The man acknowledged Thirteen's suspicion, and welcomed the ex-Borg aboard.

After a quick inspection of the bridge stations, Thirteen sat himself down in the rather comfortable first officer's chair. The remainder of the bridge crew started trickling in. Eventually the turbolift's doors slid open to reveal commander Parsons. Thirteen stood up as the man approached him, and took his hand to shake it firmly. "Greetings commander, I have been looking forward to meet you," Thirteen said. The two fresh commanding officers sat down in their chairs, and captain Parsons gave Kuragh the order to take the Hope out.

[Deleted]

"Nice flying, Mr. Kuragh," Adam commented. "An interesting mission would be fine, Lieutenant, but unlikely this patrol. Besides, we don't want things too interesting do we?"

"Excuse me Sir. Is this your first Command?" Shris asked.

"Yes, Commander. I was temporarily the First Officer of the El Sal, and I have commanded the ship on shifts or for portions of missions, and several away missions, but this is my first assigned command. "

"I see sir, do you have many stories from the El Sal, this could prove to be a long and slow patrol?"

Parsons smiled, "Yes, I have a few."

"Don't mind Shris sir," Jo commented with a wink. "Hes a curious beggar."

She was half turned in her Ops chair and then returned to her console.

"All decks have reported in. Everything is at peak efficiency."

"Excellent, Commander."

As the Hope sped through the sleepy sector that was the subject of their patrol:

"If you are going to be that bored this mission, I could tell you all about the Pirates of Migorus III," the Captain said with a slight smirk. This seemed to interest a few of the bridge crew.

Just as Parsons was beginning the story, the Hope began to shake violently. "Lieutenant Kuragh, what the hell is going on."

"I'm not sure, Captain," Kuragh responded. "We appear to have become caught in some kind of wormhole."

Panels began shorting out and the ship continued to shake. After a moment, the rough ride was over and the ship emerged on the far side of the wormhole. The conduit closed behind them.

"All departments report damage," ordered Parsons.

<TAG anyone>

The reports came rolling in. The most seriously damaged systems were Navigation and Engineering. The ship was left with only Impulse power and without the navigation system, the crew was blind as to where they were.

"Engineering, get the warp drive back on line as soon as possible. Any time estimate you have would be appreciated."

"Commander Thirteen, coordinate with the department heads and take charge of the repair effort. Also, get someone from the science department to figure out what that was we just came through and see if they have any ideas on getting back through once the engines are online."

Turning to the Conn, "Mr. Kuragh, Best guess on where in the Galaxy we are?"

<TAG Everyone>

[Deleted]

wow this realy werdnone of these starrs look like ones that are near wear we was its kinda spokky Kuragh said with toothy grin.

Lemme look a mo he said yeah hong on I got a match looks like system j25 of my that no good thats borg space perhaps we do get to fight sir.

[Deleted]

Shris became instantly alert. He raised the ship to yellow alert and began to cycle the weapons.

His mind ran through all his training on the Borg and began to realiase that with such a new crew they were at a severe tactical disadvantage. The Hope was a powereful ship but no match for a cube and if they were boarded Shris had not had chance to train his staff enough yet to counter such a threat.

"Sir Can I suggest we seek some kind of refuge while we assertain what happened"

TAG

"Can I also suggest Red Alert?"

TAG

[thirteen]

Thirteen raised an eyebrow as he eyed captain Parsons who was about to commence a story about pirates. Parsons never got to his first line as the Hope started trembling violently. Sparks flung themselves from consoles onto the unsuspecting crew, and the lights on the bridge flickered menacingly. The ship's hull was creaking as if she was being ripped apart. "We've lost hull integrity on decks five and seven!" Joanne's voice called from the operations panel. "Forcefields!" Adam commanded.

Then the rumble stopped, and everything went silent. It was a strange sensation. Nobody said anything for a few seconds. Thirteen looked at Parsons, who called out to the departments to report damage. Luckily the casualties consisted of people with mere bumps and bruises, Williams reported in from sickbay. "What a ride," Parsons said. "A good start of our mission," Thirteen said, even though irony was missing from his voice.

Thirteen contacted the department heads as he was told to do. =/\= Commander Thirteen to mister Sullivan, could you give me an indication on how many extra crewmen you need to finish repairs as soon as possible? =/\= =/\= If you can lend me a hand or six we'll have warp back up in approximately four hours, maybe three. Restoring hull integrity should take about two hours, =/\= came the chief engineer's voice over the comm. =/\= I will get you help from the science and security department, I will come by to check on your progress in half an hour, Thirteen out. =/\=

=/\= Thirteen to lieutenant Jones and ensigns Davis and Jamal, you are to assist commander Sullivan in engineering. =/\= =/\= Roger that sir, on our way, Jones out. =/\= =/\= Thirteen to lieutenant Prendel, can you spare three of your scientists to assist mister Sullivan with repairs? The rest of you is to find out what just exactly happened, report any findings directly at me. =/\=

"Commander Zaksh'riszehn, double security patrols and list the security risks of our ship in her current state," Thirteen ordered the Andorian, "I want a report within the hour." "Miss Merit," Thirteen said, now turning to Joanne, help mister Kuragh find out where we are. Thirteen walked over to captain Parsons. "I have arranged what you requested, now all we can do is wait until we find out what exactly happened. I will be in engineering, helping with repairs." Adam nodded at Thirteen, who got into the turbolift and went on his way down to engineering.

[Deleted]

Parsons scrolled through damage and injury reports from his command chair as Thirteen took charge of the repair effort.

"Sir, can I suggest we seek some kind of refuge while we ascertain what happened," said the tactical chief.

"That might be premature, we don't know where we are or where we would be going," responded the Captain. "Although...sensors do show a Class M planet within impulse range. Mr. Kuragh, set a course, best possible impulse speed. Before we go launch a probe to study the space near the entrance to the wormhole. It's sensor data might aid our science team."

"Can I also suggest Red Alert?" asked Shris.

"Yellow alert will suffice for now, Commander. There is no immediate threat to the ship."

***

Thirteen walked over to captain Parsons. "I have arranged what you requested, now all we can do is wait until we find out what exactly happened. I will be in engineering, helping with repairs." Adam nodded at Thirteen, who got into the turbolift and went on his way down to engineering.

The Captain then turned his attention to the planet they were approaching. A sensor sweep of the planet indicated a mining facility of some kind on the surface, likely of Borg construction. No life signs were indicated.

"Parsons to Commander Thirteen. If the repair efforts are in hand, I'd like you to prepare an awayteam to investigate the planet. We have detected an abandoned mining facility on the surface. It is likely of Borg origin. Choose your team and transport to the surface when ready," directed the Captain.

[Deleted]

Approaching the class M planet, Joanne noticed on her sensors something of interest; a life sign on the planet. She couldn't determine what species or even if the sensor's were giving her correct information. Running a quick diagnostic she still couldn't tell.

Turning to the CO, "Sir, I'm picking up one life sign on the planet surface, however I'm not able to tell what kind ... at this point I have no way of knowing if sensor's are function correctly. It does appear to be humanoid, at least the readings seem to suggest that."

Tag Parsons

[Deleted]

i cant tel whrer the hel we are and sensors are not helpping. Star, must find a familure star he thougt as he sat runing his hand acros the controls.

[thirteen]

Engineering was busy, to say the least. Engineers scurried past, handing tools to their colleagues and doing their very best to get the Hope back together, especially warp. In the middle of the chaos a man wiped the sweat from his forehead. "How are the repairs going commander?" Thirteen asked as he approached the man. "Coming up slowly but surely sir," Sullivan said as he stuffed his handkerchief back in his pocket.

"We've some problems restoring hull integrity on deck seven, so that's going to take us a bit longer than expected," Sullivan said. "How much longer?" Thirteen inquired. "I afraid that it'll add up to be an hour or two." "And warp?" "We're on schedule with the core, we're replacing some conduits and gelpack connectors at the moment, and double checking the circuit. We wouldn't want to risk a backfiring warp core once we start her up again."

"Can I be of assistance with repairs?" Thirteen asked. "Every pair of hands is one," Sullivan said as he motioned Thirteen to follow him. "Ever seen one of these before?" he asked showing Thirteen a device that look mostly like a hypospray to the ex-Borg. "No." "Well I bet you have seen a hypospray before. This is something much like it, but we use it to restore misaligned gelpacks. Simply scan the gelpacks with a tricorder, enter the misalignment here," Sullivan pointed at a small screen on the device, "and inject it into the gelpack as you would a hypospray. Convenient isn't it?"

With that rhetoric question he walked off to help an engineer that'd called out to him. Thirteen got to work, but he got only as far as four gelpacks before captain Parsons called him away for an away mission. Thirteen notified Sullivan of his absence, and got into a turbolift and headed for the security station.

=/\= Lieutenant Zaksh'riszehn, assemble two of your security officers and meet me in the transporter room in five minutes. =/\= The turbolift came to a halt, and Thirteen stopped by the armory to pick up gear for their away mission. Fifteen minutes later the four officers had assembled in the transporter room.

"We will beam down to an M-class planet. We have detected a possible Borg mining facility, one life sign has been scanned. Since our ship is in a bad shape, we cannot rely entirely on this information. Be prepared," Thirteen instructed his companions as he handed them phaser rifles. They got onto the transporter platform. "Is everyone ready?" Thirteen asked. A blue haze came over them as they dematerialized.