[Noram]

USS Athena Operational Logs



Featuring
USS Athena, NCC-23904, Commander Walter Northam (Noram)

Mission Summary
The USS Athena cuts it's survey mission short after being ordered to return to port with a warning that big changes are waiting. Athena's crew has built a strong sense of camaraderie in their time together, but can that spirit endure a new assignment and major upheavals aboard the ship?

[Noram]

USS Athena
Mission Log, Supplemental - SD58824.16




“Enter,” a rich baritone called. Commander Walter Northam took a moment to straighten his uniform before stepping into the captain’s ready room.

As always, he felt more like he was walking into one of his professors’ offices back on Earth, rather than the administrative office for a highly decorated Starfleet captain. Warm light filled the room, cast from shaded lamps rather than the compartment’s overhead lights. Northam had made the mistake, years ago, of questioning the safety of having unsecured fixtures on a starship. He’d never forget the captain’s smug little smile as three security officers struggled in vain to overcome the magnetic lock holding one of those lamps in place. One wall of the ready room was dominated by bookshelves. He knew the captain took great satisfaction in loaning the titles out whenever he found a worthy candidate. The captain’s desk sat in front of the viewport on the opposite wall. That was where he found the captain, one hand rubbing his chin while his fingers drummed against the desktop.

Captain Mullin was a squat man, barely 150 centimeters tall, with thinning hair that had once been black but was now liberally streaked with grey. He looked back at Northam, his expression unreadable for a moment, before he forced a smile into place.

“Have a seat Walt,” Mullin said, waving a hand at one of the chairs in front of the desk, while he rose from his own seat.

“Can I get you something? Coffee? Tea?,” he paused for a moment, “Whisky?” he asked, a hint of genuine humor entering his voice.

“No thank you sir,” Northam replied with a chuckle, “I’m fine at the moment.”

“If you’re sure.” The captain murmured his order to the replicator in the small alcove in the inner wall of the ready room, then returned to his desk a moment later. He set down a steaming mug and the aroma of strong, bitter coffee filled the compartment.

“A few hours ago I received a dispatch from Starfleet Command by way of Admiral Danislav. We’re being ordered back to Starbase for a new assignment,” the captain said, setting down his coffee cup. Northam nodded his understanding. Technically Command could issue orders to any ship any time they wanted, but they traditionally went down the chain of command if it wasn’t an emergency. Rear Admiral Danislav, commanding officer of Starbase 621, was Captain Mullin’s direct superior and coordinated all of the starships assigned to this sector.

“I understand, Sir,” Northam added, suddenly pensive, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was strange for the captain to be this reticent. Normally he was the sort who put all his cards on the table, especially with his Exec.

“Danislav also included a personal message for me with an unofficial preview of what’s waiting for us.” At that Northam’s eyebrows shot up. Admiral Danislav was one of the most straight-laced, by the book officers he knew. The admiral didn’t add his own comments to Starfleet’s orders unless there was a very good reason.

Mullin sighed deeply, shaking his head, before looking back at Northam. “Right, sorry for the dramatics. The short of it is, there’s going to be a major crew reshuffle when we get back. We’ve got experienced people, most of whom have been here for over a year. Command wants them spread throughout the fleet, sharing that experience. There’s some new taskforce in the works too, but that’s not the pressing issue.”

“Who are we losing, sir?” Northam asked, trying to keep his voice level, “How many?”

“Forty percent. Mostly noncoms and junior officers, with a few exceptions”

“Exceptions,” Northam repeated slowly, trying to ignore his pulse pounding in his eardrums, “Such as?”

“Sorol’s getting her own command, and I’m going back to school,” Mullin explained, his tone light.

Northam tried to get his brain working, he really did. “I don’t...what?”

“The academy Walt. Command figures they’ll only get a few more years out of me and that those would be better spent honing young minds, as if I haven’t been doing that out here,” the captain explained, a trace of bitterness creeping into his voice. ”It’s a good opportunity though, for more than just me,” he jerked his chin at Northam.

“Me?” Northam gaped, “I’m still too junior for a promotion, I’ve only been a commander for two years!”

“That’s true. Oh they’ll give you Athena, I don’t doubt that, but not a fourth pip to go with her. Not in the short term at least,” Mullin said bitterly, and Northam felt a flare of affection for the captain at that indignation on his behalf.

“But, forty percent of the crew, that’s two hundred eighty people--”
“A little more than forty percent,” the captain interrupted, ”Two hundred eighty-seven total. And you’ll have nearly the entire senior staff to back you up. You’re already a good team, I made sure of that.”

The captain looked at him seriously, and Northam felt his spine straighten a bit.
“I know we’re like a big family here, Walter, and it’s going to hurt losing people. But we’ve all been together so long I think some of us have forgotten that this is just how it goes sometimes. Bigger ships have had to deal with worse. Hell, those new Obenas have bigger crews than ours and they’re working up from scratch right now.”

Captain Mullin stood again, eyes still on Northam. “You’ll do more than fine Walt, I’ll bet my reputation on it.”
He crossed around the desk and patted his XO on the shoulder, “Now have a drink with me.”

[Noram]

USS Athena
Commanding Officer's Log, Stardate 58837.24



The Athena is now en-route to Deep Space Nine for a new assignment, per Admiral Dalton's orders. W

e were at Starbase 621 for barely a day when the new orders came through. Getting over two hundred crewmembers offloaded so they could be sent to their new assignments was...rough. Our transporter techs and shuttle pilots managed it expertly though. Luckily the rest of the transfers were bound for DS9 anyway and to other ships from there, so we could leave early and chauffer them ourselves.

I haven't received word from Command on when to expect replacements for all this manpower, other than that the new Exec is waiting at DS9...with some company, I hope. Carolyn is already grumbling about being understaffed, and the other department heads won't keep quiet much longer.

[Noram]

USS Athena
Commanding Officer's Log, Stardate 58839.5



We were only at DS9 for a few hours before this Farronus situation blew up. I'm not happy with our current crew situation but we don't have time to wait for the Benevolent to drop off the rest of our people, and we'll get by with who we've got, even understaffed as we are. Carolyn Wu is going to chew my ears off, no doubt about that, but even she can't argue against a black hole consuming an entire star system.

The new Exec, Iona Jandieri was only able to get aboard because her shuttle met us on our way out. We'll have to have a conversation en-route to Farronus. That being said, I'll have to pull together a full meeting of the senior staff. I've got a feeling this is going to be an all hands effort, especially if another ship doesn't get assigned to Farronus and it's only Charleston and us.

[Noram]

USS Athena
Mission Log, Supplemental - SD58888.90, High Warp



“Alright, let's get started everyone,” Walter announced, taking his seat at the head of the long table running the length of the observation lounge. Conversations broke off as the officers scattered around the room moved to their own chairs. The newest addition to the group, Lieutenant Commander Jandieri took the spot directly to his right while Doctor Sarnor-Berl, the Grazerite chief medical officer, sat across from her. His eyes swept the room a final time, then he leaned forward.

“We’re twelve hours out from Farronus, as you all know. We’ve also received a transmission from the [i]USS Charleston[i/], one of the other ships assigned to the evacuation effort. They’ve already arrived in the system and were able to send us a status update and some sensor data. Carolyn, Talis, you’ve both had a chance to look over the data, what are the highlights?” he nodded to Athena’s Chief Engineer and Science Officer.

“Well sir,” Lieutenant Commander Talis Gradan began, “The first is that we were fortunate to get any message at all. According to Charleston’s sensor data the black hole’s spatial distortions are already reaching Farronus and making a mess of subspace. I expect that’s why we haven’t been able to communicate with them further. Distortions in subspace also have unfortunate consequences for our ability to traverse the system, something Carolyn and I have been discussing,” she gestured to the engineer.

“Right,” Yu continued, “As Charleston found, warp is going to be impossible, or at least dangerous with subspace as...soupy, as it is. They had to drop out of warp well short of Farronous III due to those distortions, combined with the stress on their engines.”

Walter looked sharply at her, and she pressed on quickly, “We’ll be able to get a bit further in if we drop to Warp 1. We haven’t pushed our drive quite as hard as they have running around the quadrant.”

“Understood. I take it our transit time will depend on subspace conditions when we arrive?” Walter looked back to Gradan and received a confirming nod, then turned to the operations
chief, Lieutenant Sirramo.

“How long do we estimate it will take to pull the entire population of Farronus II? We’ll be the ones in the best position to start pulling people out if we can indeed warp further into the system than Charleston.”

The Saurian consulted his PADD quickly, then looked up.

“II isn’t as heavily populated as III or IV, it’s planetary temperature is barely within the habitable range. I’d estimate we can beam everyone aboard within...20 standard hours of arrival.”

“Include the shuttles,” Walter said, then paused for a moment, then added, “And Horatio. I want us in and out as quickly as possible. Commander Jandieri,” he looked at the ship’s new executive officer, “You’ll coordinate the evacuation on the ground. We’ll send you down with some security teams to keep a lid on the situation. I hope we’ll be able to keep things orderly, but I’m sure tensions are going to be high. After that...”

It was over an hour later that Athena’s senior staff finally filed out of the Observation Lounge, off to brief their staffs and make their own preparations for the upcoming task. Walter himself remained at the table, looking over the various PADDs in front of him until he finally heard the door hiss closed. He leaned back, resting his head against the headrest of his chair with a deep breath and tried in vain to will away the headache he could feel forming and the dread in the pit of his stomach.