Bridge Training: Distress Call (Part I)

Posted on Wed Apr 26th, 2023 @ 11:33am by Cadet Senior Grade Meghan Stefani & Cadet Senior Grade Daniel Weaver & Cadet Senior Grade K’tarra Smythe & Cadet Junior Grade Saskia de Jager & Cadet Junior Grade Shafin Todenhöfer & Commodore Peter Murphy & Commander Hotaru Nakagawa

1,320 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Cadet Cruise
Location: Cavalier Bridge
Timeline: After - The Final Voyage of the Cavalier?

ON:

Daniel was the first to arrive on the bridge. It seemed as busy as usual and all the senior officers were present. Even his father, but he was trying to focus on other things than that. A select group of cadets were called to the bridge in order to participate in a bridge scenario. They weren't told what it was, only that they were being tested in some form or another. Daniel couldn't help but try to figure out what kind of situation they would be put in. A combat scenario? Ship damage? Rescue? Space anomaly? All were possibilities.

Commodore Murphy remained in his Captain's chair, looking forward to the main viewscreen, before turning over to the first officer. They both seemed to share a glance before he stood up and looked over to the Cadet that entered. "Welcome, Cadet."

"Cadet Weaver reporting as ordered, Sir." He stood at attention, his eyes staring straight ahead.

"At ease, Cadet." The Commodore replied before adding as he turned to face the main viewscreen again. "Let's wait for the others to arrive before we begin."

Daniel nodded his head before easing up. He looked around the bridge again and slowly approached one of the consoles.

Thal was the next onto the bridge, having been told to head up for reasons unknown. He was a medical cadet, he thought to himself, not an engineer. He stood near the back of the bridge, watching.

"You too?" Came a familiar voice from off to Thal's right. Just out of eye sight. Daniel slowly approached, arms behind his back, continuing to speak to the Andorian in a whisper-like tone. "Aren't you medical? That might actually narrow down the options knowing your department is involved."

Thal have Daniel a confused look. “What are you talking abo-“ Thal stopped himself, before letting out an understanding, “Ahh, this is a training exercise isn’t it? I was wondering why I was told to come up here. I assumed we’d be having a meeting of some sorts, but this is much better”. He decided to then address Daniel’s point. “Yes, I’m Medical, and I concur. It does narrow it down a fair bit”.

The entryway to the bridge opened noisily, revealing the Klingon hybrid woman. Quick steps and heavy footfalls worked her way around the outer edge of the bridge. She tried to keep a low profile, keeping her eyes forward. She did offer a "Greetings sir", to the Commodore as she neared him.

K'tarra found the Ops station towards the fore-starboard section of the bridge. She stood in front of it and turned to face the others.

Saskia de Jager followed a couple of minutes later, her blond hair braided one side and while the uniform was spotless there was some distinct pinkish marks on her left cheek -pillow marks to be precise. She cleared her throat, looking at the Commodore. "Sir," she said quietly before walking to the helm. She gave the Chief a nod and when he didn't move, she stood next to him, feeling more than a little awkward.

Meghan was told to finish setting up one of the science labs before she could go to the bridge. Fortunately, it didn't take long. She hated being late, especially when called to the bridge. She straightened and took a deep breath before the turbolift stopped, pleased that she felt mostly calm as she nodded to the others on her way to the science station.

K'tarra began to spin in her chair. Her youthful mind began to wander when left waiting. A shifty glance peered at the attached officers on the bridge. Surely, she should stay quiet and wait for the mission to start. K'tarra smirked at the thought. She called across the bridge in a loud "whisper". The hybrid woman's raspy voice called out "Meghan... Meghan." K'tarra was still in the Klingon habit of referring to people by their first names. "Cadet Stefani."

K'tarra waved when finally getting her attention.

Meghan was mentally reviewing what needed to be done and missed the first time K'tarra called her. She looked up and smiled. "Hi, K'tarra!" The half-Klingon's jovial greeting helped her relax. Now, if she could only get through this without forgetting something.

Cadet Shafin Todenhöfer, arrived on the Bridge, sweeping his bangs aside. He wanted to see everything clearly, wanting to observe. He moved over towards Meghan Stefani because that was where he felt most comfortable.

Emma had arrived on the bridge with the other cadets, she made her way over to the tactical console.

Commodore looked at the gathered group, taking a moment to look to K'tarra. "Cadet Smythe, Jager, and Mendez. Please join the other cadets."

K'tarra and the other moved to join the others. The Klingon woman snickered under her breath, knowing she had made a scene. There was still an excitement that she couldn’t contain.

"Cadets..." Commodore Murphy began. "You all have been selected for special bridge training. When it begins, the senior staff will leave, and you all we take your assigned positions." He took a moment to look around the bridge before looking back. "The bridge will be yours and you will receive no help from us. Your actions will be observed from start to finish, so remember that you will be graded on many things. Some obvious and some not."

Of course they would be observed and graded. Meghan hoped she wasn't docked if she had to use the computer to find answers she didn't know or couldn't recall. But she was hopeful that this would give them all some positive field training.

This would mean that Shafin would need to likely man a station, probably something auxiliary. That was fine by him as he could blend in like a background actor on a set, some unnamed individual that had no lines or very brief ones. The less attention he drew upon himself, the better.

K’tarra’s eyes went wide with excitement. There was some anxiety boiling within, but it drove the young Klingon to push for the task. This was a day she had been waiting for.

Daniel looked around at the others, focusing on Megan for a bit with a smile, before turning his attention to the Commodore. He cleared his throat and asked the obvious question. "What's the scenario, Sir?"

He looked at him firmly, resisting the urge to smile, before finally speaking in his stern tone. "You will receive a distress call from a ship trapped in an unidentified nebula. You all must determine the damage to the distressed ship and the best course of action to deal with the nebula and rescue the ship."

"That's all?!" Daniel replied, waiting to hear the catch. This was one of his father’s lessons and there was always a catch. Always a shoe to drop. The fact that it sounded so simple meant it clearly wasn't.

"That's all you are being told." Commodore Murphy replied, looking around at the cadets. "Out here, Cadets, sometimes there are missions where you have everything and others where you have little to nothing. The true test, both here and in the field, is how you respond. How you react to the change in the mission is sometimes your best asset. No matter the mission, whether given to you by Starfleet Command or introduced to you on the fly, you must remember that you..." He pointed to each of them. "... are representing Starfleet and the Federation, so your actions may be the first and only identification of who we are and what we represent."

(To be continued...)

Commodore Peter Murphy
Commanding Officer

Commander Hotaru Natagawa
First Officer

Cadet Senior Grade Daniel Weaver
Command

Cadet Senior Grade Thalainian Th'Thane
Medical

Cadet Senior Grade K'tarra Smythe
Operations

Cadet Junior Grade Saskia de Jager
Helm

Cadet Senior Grade Meaghan Stefani
Science

Cadet Junior Grade Shafin Todenhöfer
Counseling

 

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