241606.13 Duty Log: CO, Capt McKeon

Posted on Tue Jun 14th, 2016 @ 6:24am by Captain Alistar McKeon

816 words; about a 4 minute read

Alistar stood at the large view port that overlooked the dry dock slip where the Endeavour was docked. The engineers and technicians at Utopia Planitia had promised the Endeavour's commanding officer that they would get started on repairing the ship right away, but the look on the face of the commander in charge of the repair dry dock had said everything that the commander didn't. Alistar had already guessed that the repairs would take some time, he had toured the Endeavour during her month long journey home. The damage throughout his ship was extensive, and the Endeavour would be down for quite some time.

"Commander McKeon?" a voice caught Alistar's attention and he turned to see a commodore and two commanders standing there.

"Yes sir?" Alistar said carefully.

"Admiral Weber wants you to report to his office at Starfleet Command for a full debriefing," the commodore said. "There's a shuttle waiting for you in bay 9-B. I know you're a qualified pilot, so it's at your full disposal."

"Thank you, sir," Alistar said. Taking a long look back through the view port toward his damaged cruiser, he turned and started off towards the designated docking bay. It was a shorter trip than he thought it would be, and the bay turned out to be smaller than he thought it would be as well. A type 9 shuttlecraft was waiting for him, so he climbed into the shuttle and settled down into the pilot's seat. Going through the preflight checklist with a numb mind, Alistar sealed the shuttle and requested clearance for launch from the shipyard flight operations tower. He was cleared immediately, so he launched. Banking the shuttle away from Utopia Planitia and towards Earth, Alistar set the autopilot to take over. Leaning back in his seat, he reflected on the past month.

The crew had done everything that could be done to repair the Endeavour in flight. Nothing short of a major overhaul in dry dock could finish the repairs, and Alistar knew that engineering had a list of things that needed to be worked on anyway. The crew needed the down time though, and Alistar knew it. They had all given over a hundred percent during every mission the Endeavour had been given since her launch, and it was time for a break. He just wished it hadn't taken something like this in order to get it. The cost had been too high. It would have been worse, he thought, but it had still been a disaster. Alistar spent the rest of the flight in silence, and only spoke to the traffic controllers when he approached Earth and later San Francisco. Landing at the spacious landing pad next to the Starfleet Command building, Alistar exited the shuttle and took a deep breath before he headed inside.

He was quickly escorted to Admiral Weber's office, and upon his arrival Alistar was surprised when instead of being directed to wait with the dozen or so officers and aides already there waiting to get in he was walked straight through the doors and into the office of the Starfleet Commander. Inside, Admiral Weber stood as Alistar walked into the office. Alistar was surprised to see not only Weber but also another admiral he didn't recognize.

"Captain McKeon, please have a seat," Admiral Weber said as he waved the most junior officer in the room to sit down.

"Thank you sir. And it's commander," Alistar said as he sat down.

"Not anymore. As of this afternoon, you're to be promoted to captain. Your promotion was authorized some time ago, but no one bothered to take care of it. So," the admiral smiled as he tossed Alistar a small black box. "Put that on your collar before you head back to your crew. I've scheduled a social gathering on the Angel Island grounds this evening at 1900 hours. Your crew has already been informed, so don't worry. After the gathering, your crew will be on shore leave until repairs to the Endeavour are complete."

"I understand," Alistar said. "I take it I'm not in any trouble and I'm keeping Endeavour, then?"

"You understand correctly, Captain. Your report stated clearly what happened, and I wanted to personally tell you that you and your crew did an outstanding job in responding to what happened. I'm keeping you and your crew on the Endeavour, and when she's released from Utopia Planitia, she's going to be assigned to exploration duties. Until then, however, you and your crew will be on full shore leave. So, get out of here, go get your dress uniform and be there at 1900 tonight. Until then, dismissed."

Alistar stood and nodded towards Admiral Weber before he turned and opened the box. Quickly, he pinned the gold pip to his collar and brushed all four pips before he walked out of the office. This he needed to pass along to his crew.

RSS Feed