Bridge Training: Diabolus Ex Spatio Lacrimae (Part I)

Posted on Sat Dec 7th, 2024 @ 3:02am by Lieutenant Commander Vladimir Borovich & Cadet Senior Grade Meghan Stefani & Cadet Junior Grade Ruby Rojas & Cadet Senior Grade Daniel Weaver & Cadet Senior Grade K’tarra Smythe & Cadet Senior Grade Finn Walsh & Cadet Junior Grade Emma Mendez & Commodore Peter Murphy & Archibald 'Archie' Dorrian

1,309 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Cadet Cruise
Location: Bridge

ON:

The bridge of the Cavalier seemed extra quiet, save for the occasional beeps and bops from the consoles, but none of the officers seemed to be in a talking mood. Perhaps, it was because they were hard at work or maybe it was because the Commodore was sitting in the Captain's chair. Regardless, the atmosphere of the bridge wasn't at all where it was for the first training exercise.

As the Commodore turned his chair to face the turbolift, expecting the Cadet's to arrive any moment, a familiar and old voice came from the other side.

"So... Commodore..." Archie said as he held himself up by his cane. "What's on the agenda today? Maybe we can throw these cadets into a battle with the Dominion, in case you want to stay on theme with the last scenario you cooked up. Or maybe you want to throw a few Romulan Warbirds at them. Just like the old days." He took a moment to look around the bridge as he and the Commodore locked eyes. "Hell... let's just go all out and throw the Borg at them. That will get them wishing they never came on this Cadet Cruise." He paused for a moment before raising a brow. "That is the kind of lesson you were trying to teach with your last test, eh, Murphy? Because it sure as hell wasn't that they needed to work together and rely on their instincts because they were doing that just fine until you changed things up on them."

The Commodore looked around the bridge as most of the crew had quickly avoided eye contact, while others seemed to do their best to tune out what was going on, but the message was clear. Murphy looked over to Archie and leaned forward in his chair before asking. "Archie... perhaps this is a conversation you should save for later?"

"Why?" Archie said as he looked around the bridge. "You think you're going to look bad if you talk discuss how you want to push these kids passed their breaking point? Too late... word around the ship has already spread how the Commander of this ship has decided to use this Cadet Cruise to teach his son a valuable lesson by throwing everything at him on his first day training in the chair. A chair, mind you, he didn't ask for and you put him in. He signed onto this cruise to work under tactical and you changed it to put him in Command. Probably wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps because, clearly, he takes after her more than you."

"That's enough!" Murphy shouted as he slammed his hands on the arms of the chair and stood up. "Mister Dorrian, since this is a Starfleet training exercise, your presence here is not requires. Please leave the bridge or be escorted."

Archie stood there, holding himself up by his cane, as he stared at Commodore Murphy. He knew he went too far, but the man needed to hear it out loud. So did the rest of the skeleton crew. The Cadet's signed up to learn their departments to better prepare them for when they graduated and, so far, the only lesson they were taught was they should have waited for a different cruise.

Just as Archie was about to respond, the sound of the turbolift doors opening could be heard, prompting some to look towards it.

Daniel stepped off the turbolift first, immediately feeling the tension, as he looked around. He saw the looks on most of the officers faces and his father standing by Archie. He recognized what was going on. The Commodore was clearly upset about something that had to do with Archie and the old man was standing his ground. In an attempt to cut the tension as best he could, Daniel cleared his throat, so he could speak.

"Cadet Weaver reporting for Bridge Training, Sir." He said as he stood at attention.

Meghan decided it would not be a good idea to walk onto the bridge with Daniel. His father didn't need more ammunition to use against him, so she waited a full 60 seconds before entering. She barely glanced around before going over to the science station where Commander Borovich waited.

The commander nodded to her. "Welcome back, cadet." Then he logged out and stepped back to let Meghan take over the station.

Behind them entered Emma. She gave the others a brief smile before heading over towards the tactical console, her assigned station.

Finn Walsh stepped out of the lift on the heels of Emma Mendez. He looked in awe of the bridge, however, he wasn't quite sure why was summoned for this particular exercise. Unless he was to attend to any 'injury' that might come up as the simulation got into full swing. He looked at Shafin who stood next to him, the other met his eyes and Finn gave a shrug.

Ruby Rojas was running behind. She hurried up to the door and stopped as it opened. Then she straightened her uniform top and sedately walked onto the bridge and to the ops station, hoping no one noticed.

Cadet K'tarra Smythe approached the door to the bridge even later than Ruby. She was just returning from a shift at Main Engineering, going over last minute preparations with the officer on duty. Her 5'11 frame carried her quickly with long strides.

A toothy grin revealed her sharp Klingon teeth as she entered the bridge. She tried to avoid attention as she made her way to the Engineering station. She was glad to see it was configured just as it had been during training, with three screens showing different readouts and blueprints.

The Klingon hybrid quietly studied the power flow across the ship throughout the EPS display. She noticed the other cadets had begun to gather and moved to join them.

The Commodore looked around the bridge at the officers and cadets gathered before focusing back to Archie. He straightened himself a bit before replying in a soft, but firm tone. "Mister Dorrian, you are excused from the bridge. As you can see, we are preparing to begin our training exercise. If you wish to continue our discussion, I will be more than happy to finish it, in private. Am I understood."

Archie stared at the Commodore before he looked over to the cadets. He gave a slight scoff as he shook his head. "If you think we were having a discussion, Petey, then maybe you should have the medical cadet check your brain."

"Mister Dorrian...."

"I know. I know. I'm going." Archie replied in his gruff tone. He leaned against his cane and walked slowly toward the turbolift, brushing off one of the officers who offered to help. As he reached the cadets, Archie looked at them all, before looking over to Commodore Murphy and saying. "Try to keep them in one piece this time, Commodore. You got some smart kids here. Give them a chance, they'll impress ya."

Archie placed his hand on Daniel's shoulder and smirked slightly before whispering to the cadets. "Take from an old timer, Cadets. This ain't the Maru. If they think they have all the answers..." He said before leaning in slightly. "Change the questions." Archie gave a wink before proceeding to the turbolift with a pleased smile.

(To be continued...)

Commodore Peter Murphy
Commanding Officer/Instructor

Archibald "Archie" Dorrian
Maintenance Expert

Cadet Senior Grade Daniel Weaver
Acting Commanding Officer

Cadet Senior Grade Meghan Stefani
Acting Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Commander Vladimir Borovich
Chief Science Officer/Instructor

Cadet Junior Grade Emma Mendez
Acting Chief Security Officer

Cadet Senior Grade Finn Walsh
Acting Chief Medical Officer

Cadet Junior Grade Ruby Rojas
Acting Assistant Chief Operations Officer

Cadet Senior Grade K'tarra Smythe
Acting Chief Engineer

 

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