Ensigns of Command

Posted on Wed Oct 23rd, 2019 @ 3:26pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Ensign Michael Sloan

Mission: Mission 1 - One Step forward
Location: Launch Bay, Deck E
Timeline: A Few Hours After Bridge Post
1317 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Looking down at the two shuttlepods really hit Michael. They were named Odysseus and Aeneas. probably by an engineering crew that tried to get cute with Ancient Greek and Roman names. But, with their latest discovery it just made sense that the ship was named after a long lost city and two people who took two of the most famous long journeys known. Michael had been so caught up into how everyone else was doing and what they had to do that he had not given himself a moment to see how he was doing. Both Beth, the new CO, and Ben, the Helmsman, were on their way to discuss the Flight Control department. Just a little while longer and Michael would take some much needed alone time to wrap his head around what was going on with the Atlantis.

Ben followed the commander as they made they way to the flight control department. He watched the commander as he starred at the shuttlepods for a while...he didn't want to ask what he was thinking.

Realizing that the Helmsman had arrived shortly after himself, Michael turned around. "Ensign Livingston," he started. After what happened in Science, the Chief Armory Officer decided to start with a question, "How are you handling things?"

Beth quickly strode into the Launch bay. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and she looked slightly sweaty but offered a nod to both men. "Apologies." She said quickly. She would explain to Michael why she had excused herself from Science to head back to the bridge, she might look distracted but she didn't miss the question. "Carry on please I would like to know how you handling things as well."

Ben looked at both of them. "I'm fine, sirs. It was a shock, everything that happened, and the situation we find ourselves in and all, but I'm okay. Anyway, this isn't the time to feel sorry for myself, sirs."

Nodding, Michael pointed down at the shuttlepods. "In order to find food, we'll need to use our shuttlpods to look at planets or some kind of asteroid that may contain fuel, water, or a food source. How soon could these be prepped for launch when called upon?" he asked. Their lives could depend on a quick ride to investigate any of the myriad of supplies that they now needed for survival if they were going to start on their 150 year journey.

Livingston looked down at the shuttlepods. "Depends on how damaged they are, sir. But once they're repaired, shouldn't be more then 15 minutes from the go order, sir." Ben looked at them, "Sirs. Has any thought been made about turning one of the cargo holds into a hydroponics bay?...to grow vegetables?"

Shaking his head slightly, Michael replied, "If we had a source of seeds and workable dirt, we could." He then rubbed his forehead with his hand as a side effect of the stress he had been under since the news came out about where the ship was. "For now, our biggest priority is to find algae and protein material for the resequencers until we can find a good Minshara Class planet that grows safe fruit and vegetables and dirt that isn't poisonous to us."

The woman frowned, it was one of the many ideas she had heard from the people throughout the ship but it was the truth. They had nothing like that on the ship due to the type of mission that they had been on sadly, it would be useful right now not even the random plants throughout the ship were anything useful apart from a random pepper plant from a Science Ensign. "All very good ideas but like Commander Sloan said we need to find items that are suitable out here for us." The armory officers touch on his forehead wasn't missed by her. She would be keeping an eye on her senior officers. "How many people do we have that can pilot the pods?"

"When I checked the manifest, we have at least twenty crew members who had a pilot certification of some kind," Michael replied. "Before you get too excited, about a quarter of that number were for atmospheric flight only," he cautioned. One of the first things he had done before they started their ship survey was to skim through every member of the crew's file. "Would you be up for starting a training program? Whenever we have planned times when we drop out of warp, we could open the doors for training sessions," he offered Ben.

Ben shook his head. He had extensive flight training at the academy. "I'll be happy to help in any way I can, commander. I'll have them soloing in no time, sir."

"I will be interested in joining your program once you have a few people trained as well Ensign." The only flight certificate she had was atmospheric herself. It made sense if she was ever going to leave the ship again to get it. It hadn't seen important now, it was more so.

"Agreed," Michael stated. "Starting with people who've had any kind of pilot training will give us a nice pool to draw from in a shorter time," he added.

Livingston nodded. "I can give everyone a crash course in piloting, sir." He looked at Leroux. "Also, is there any way we create edibles in the science labs?"

Nodding, Michael pointed out, "We just left Science, actually. " He pointed down to the shuttlepods and said, "We've got a sensor package ready to search for usable proteins to create food, but we've got to find them before they can be used in the resequencers. So we'll need a good Minshara Class planet or some kind of algae deposit large enough to be used."

Beth didn't say anything, she had not been in science but she had been in Engineering so she knew that. "It seems all our great minds are nearly thinking alike." The woman murmured as she leant against the railing looking at the pod. "Micshara Class planet would be better but not exactly fussy right now." It wasn't something they needed now as they had stores but it would be nice to have less concerns.

Livingston looked around. "Are our stores of food rations still viable? Rationing those could extend any food stuff we're running low on, sirs."

"We have a team checking right now," Michael nodded. Looking back to the helm control officer, he added, "And rationing is the protocol for this kind of situation. Trust me, we have what we can control under control."

Ben looked at Sloan. "Forgive me if I'm overstepping, sir, but can you tell me what the water supply situation is?"

"With filtration and re-purposing techniques, we should have indefinite water supplies," Michael pointed out. "Depending on how often we... excrete the water and how many hull washings we give the ship, our levels in the containment vessel can fluctuate," he explained. "We have teams testing the supplies right now, which is also why we've been developing ways to discover water in various states to top off our reserves."

Beth looked at Michael and raised an eyebrow. For an Ensign, he was asking a lot of questions that didn't concern him or his position on the ship. For the suspicious mind that she had at the moment over anything unusual it was certainly attracting her attention. Did it attract Sloan's attention as well? "We do not want to hold you up any longer Ensign." The woman prompted thinking it was time to move on.

Ben nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I'll get back to the bridge and start scanning for suitable planets. Excuse me." He turned and headed towards the turbolift.

OFF::

Commander Bethsabee Leroux
Officer In Charge/Chief Communications Officer
NX Atlantis

Lt. Commander Michael Sloan
First Officer/Chief Armory Officer
NX Atlantis

Ensign Benedict Livingston
Helm Office
NX Atlantis