A Fruitful Endeavour (Part II)

Posted on Sat Feb 11th, 2017 @ 9:43am by Captain Alistar McKeon

1,029 words; about a 5 minute read

-= U.S.S. Arthurian =-

The Arthurian was firmly place in a position to oversee the shipyards and maintain a vigilant watch over the new arrival. Inside the ship the crew was working frantically with each other, and their shipmates still aboard the Endeavour who were working around the clock with its crew, and the shipyard staff, to get the ship into working order. Darius was not on the bridge. He trusted his crew to keep things going, as well as his XO to oversee their work, so he took the chance to find Raven and see if she needed any help.

Raven heard him approach before the door opened. "Hi," she said, not looking up from her computer screen. "It looks like we may not be able to return the Endeavour to its proper time." She pointed to the screen. "Even if we could recreate the temporal event, the information has...changed."

"I've sent for Captain McKeon. We need to talk to him about this," Raven said. "And Admirals Burke and Hunter."

Alistar tried not to grumble as he was escorted throughout the Arthurian. In addition to the yeoman who had collected him, a security officer had been firmly planted on his shoulder ever since he had beamed on board. It didn't help that the guy seemed to take his job seriously either. As they finally stopped at a door, the yeoman motioned for Alistar to enter. When the security guard started to follow, Alistar pinned him with a glare until the officer nodded and took up station beside the door. Tapping the door chime, Alistar shook his head and waited for a reply.

"Come in," Raven said.

When she saw the Captain, she waved a hand to a chair. "Please, come in and take a seat."

"Thank you," Alistar said as he entered the room and sat down in a chair. "I take it the news isn't as hopeful as we had first hoped?" he asked.

"It depends on which news you're referring to," Raven hedged. "Commander Rhodes says the repairs will be done ahead of schedule. However, we cannot reproduce the same conditions to get you back to your time."

"I just talked to Commander Rhodes about repairs. I have to say that I'm impressed," Alistar said with a nod. After a brief pause, he sighed and continued. "What does the second item mean for my ship and crew?" he asked.

"It means you're stuck here," Raven said quietly. "I've talked with Admirals Burke and Hunter. They think we can help you acclimatize to this new reality. Or we could keep trying to find yours, but the longer it takes, the less likely it will be to find your proper dimension."

"If there's not a full one hundred percent chance of getting us back to our original timeline, then I think it's for the best that we stay here," Alistar said, finding it difficult to process, much less speak the words. "I take it that our commissions would be honored here in this timeline?"

Raven nodded. "I agree. Our best guess only gives you a 32% probability of success and a 22% chance you wouldn't make it anywhere." She pulled out her PADD and thumbed through it. "Yes. Admiral Burke said you and your crew would be incorporated into our Federation after a brief training. Your computer will also be altered to refelect your current location." She didn't tell him that a backup of his current computer would be archived in case it ever became necessary to access its files.

Alistar nodded and made a face at the mention of the computer core replacement. "I hope whoever changes the computer is in for a rough time. My chief ops officer doesn't like anyone toying with his systems, and my chief engineer is twice as bad," he said with a slight grin. "I'd like to request a few hours for everyone to grab any personal files from the computer system, if anything survived."

"I think we can arrange that," Raven said. "I'll be the one overseeing the transfer. I'll be happy to work with your Chief Operations Officer if you'd like."

"Don't be so quick to volunteer for that," Alistar warned. "Have you ever worked with a sarcastic Vulcan before?"

"I have worked with a variety of species. Some have been sarcastic," she admitted. "A former CO complained about my being too mellow."

"I'm going to assume that there's already a schedule in place to incorporate us into your timeline?" Alistar asked with a chuckle.

"Well," Raven admitted with a half smile. "There is." She pulled out a PADD and handed it to the Captain. "It's awaiting your approval."

Alistar nodded as he looked over the schedule. In short, everything would be doable as far as it was concerned anyway, since his crew had nothing but time. Repairs to the Endeavour would take even longer than the classes that had been prepared for them. "Well, everything looks ready to go," he said with a nod. "I'll pass this on to my crew and get them in the classroom as quickly as I can."

Raven gave a brief nod. "If there is anything I can help you with, please let me know."

"I'll certainly keep that offer in mind, Commander," Alistar said with a smile. "Hopefully we won't be too much of a burden."

"On the contrary, I think you and your ship will be an asset," Raven assured him.

"We'll certainly do our best," Alistar said with a grateful nod. Standing, he offered the intelligence officer a formal bow. "On behalf of my crew, I want to thank you for the assistance you guys have given us."

Raven returned the bow. "It was our pleasure, Captain. Good luck."

"Thank you, Commander. Good luck and great fortune to you and your crew mates as well," Alistar said. With a final professional parting nod, he turned and headed out of the room.

OFF

Captain Alistar McKeon
Commanding Officer
USS Endeavour

Commander Billy Jo Rhodes
Director, Athena Shipyards
Starbase Typhon

Captain Landon Mabrade
Commanding Officer
Starbase Typhon

Commander Ritsu Tainaka
Fleet Engineer
USS Hibiki

Commander Raven Adams
Chief Intelligence Officer
Starbase Typhon

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