Alliance Central Access Network
Presents: Arrhythmia
The Story Of One of the Finest Ship in The Ghost Fleet
ACAN v 1.0
ARRHYTHMIAIn Production throughout the year 2001.
Chapter 7
Commander Patrickson and Ensign Palladin snickered over the gossip they had accumulated after their night out on the starbase. They had enjoyed shore leave together, and had formed a friendship in a matter of nights. Commander Patrickson was both amazed at the level of insight contained within the Ensign, but also the sheer amount of humility that existed within him. He smiled to the Ensign as they checked each other’s uniforms to make sure the badges were all in order. Captain de Pax was a by-the-book Captain and the word had already spread around the ship that this wasn’t going to be to a relaxed cruise. Once Patrickson and Palladin knew they were in regulations, they walked out of the turbolift, towards the conference room. Zero eight hundred hours was the time when the Captain had called the senior staff meeting, and as the doors opened onto the conference room, Patrickson and Palladin noticed they were a little early with only a Lieutenant neither had seen before sitting in a chair. He stood to attention upon the sight of Commander Patrickson.
“At ease,” Patrickson ordered as he looked at him slightly confused, “Mind answering me who you are exactly?”
“Lieutenant Glenn Noda, Commander,” Lieutenant Noda replied as his Hokia face lit up with kindness, “Boss Lady Ma’am assigned me to this ship at the last minute, I’m your new Chief Engineer.”
“Thought we already had a Chief Engineer…” Ensign Palladin trailed off, as he looked at Lieutenant Noda, “No offense.”
“None taken,” Lieutenant Noda replied coolly, “Boss Lady Ma’am felt I was better for the job.”
Patrickson stood mute for a moment, and then extended his hand, “Welcome aboard, Lieutenant.”
“Thank you, sir,” Glenn replied, turning his attentions to the padds, “I’ll try and make sure I am worthy of being a member of this crew.”
“Aye, just like everyone else aboard,” Patrickson winked, as he heard the turbolift doors open, he turned to see First Lieutenants Karen Lakotah and Andy Defont walking. They saluted as soon as they saw the presence of Patrickson.
“At east, Lieutenants,” Patrickson smiled, “How was your first night on board?”
“We kinda wish we could knock the walls in between our two quarters,” Lakotah laughed.
“And, also the beds are quite unaccustomed to our feather needs.”
“Sorry to hear they don’t meet your requirements,” Grace remarked as she entered the conference room, followed by Lieutenant J.G. Thunder of the Sun the other member of the senior staff, “Have a seat gentlemen, we’ve got a lot to cover in this meeting and a very short amount of time.”
“Commander, the floor is yours,” Grace sat down in her seat as her executive officer stood up.
“Right, Sir,” Patrickson replied as he activated the view screen, “What you’re seeing is a stellar map of the Berleon star system. Its located on the fringes of the A.I.W. frontier, it was formally the farthest outpost ever built by the province of the Xiverdand Nation. The star system has nine large planets, eight of which are uninhabitable gas giants; one of these planets however is an M-Class planetoid rich in dilithium, which is why the Xiverdand Nation was so keen on settling out so far. Berleon VII was colonized about forty years ago, and has a population of thirty two thousand Xiverdands. Berleon is what we consider a Level III colony, weak defenses, and small-to-medium size population. It’s supplied regularly by Xiverdand transports, and two Xiverdand frigates guarantee it protection. Berleon VII’s population is spread between the northern continent, and the southern continent. The seat of government is on the northern continent, with the governor elected last year and will remain in power for four years. The governor is well known for his anti-A.I.W stance, so cooperation from the planetary government might be difficult at best. Mission Operations, floor’s yours.”
“Right, the A.I.W. has been keeping up with the Xiverdand Nation on a growing crisis in the Berleon star system. Several days ago their six hospitals reported cases of some kind of new disease. Currently, they’ve got a hundred twenty cases recorded, and each day the number increases. We’ve been given all kinds of different medical gear, and we’ve also been supplied with antidotes to some of the meanest diseases known to the A.I.W. According to Command, we’re going to be involved in a mixture of medical relief, evacuation, and quarantining,” Andy added looking over his padd to make sure he didn’t forget anything.
“Right, The Alliance of Incorporated Worlds’ Arch-Prime Minister’s asked the Xiverdand Nation to let us step in. He wants to show to the Xiverdand that The Alliance cares about all of its citizens, not just a certain number of key provinces, and the Arch-Prime Minister think this is a good way to do it. We’re going to be heading for the Berleon star system to do a bit of PR, but also to do a job and that is to help out the Berleonians as much as possible. XO, I want the ship ready to sail at twelve hundred hours. Medical, this is definitely going to be a mission headed by you; Mission Ops make sure we get whatever the CMO thinks she’s going to need. This mission should be a little different from what we’ve been doing as of late ladies and gentlemen, so remember that the Xiverdand are the same people as us. We carry the same flag, and we’re here for the same purpose. Any questions?”
“The disease, do we have any idea what it is?” Karen asked, noticing the lack of any information on it arriving at her desk.
“Right now, we’ve got little to hand to you, I was told Berleon VII would be contacting you sometime today with a list of known symptoms as well as preliminary medical data,” Patrickson replied, looking over his watch.
“Acknowledged, I hope it’s not anything bad,” Karen replied, accepting the acquisitions padd from Andy as she looked over the medical supplies list, “Holy…”
“Yes, whatever it is,” Andy mumbled, “It’s no small time disease.”
“We’ll figure that out when we get there,” Grace replied as she stood up, “You all stand dismissed, remember we set sail at twelve hundred hours, so don’t force me to leave without you.”
Grace watched the senior staff, as they began to walk out of the office, chatting with one another on a mixture of topics from work to mere gossip. Grace turned around and looked over the stellar cartography display that The Alliance of Incorporated Worlds had handed to her. She observed the political geography of the Berleon star system wearily as she turned around. Commander Patrickson was still there, observing her. She watched the Cardassian closely, as the Segan Captain stared back at her Cardassian Executive Officer. Lieutenant Commander Patrickson was slightly taller than Commander de Pax; it was this fact that made her smile. The exchange had only taken a few seconds, before she bowed to the ridicule of the situation.
“What can I do for you, XO?” She asked directly, almost too bluntly for her liking.
“Well, Captain,” Patrickson walked over to her and extended his right hand, “I wanted to say it’s a pleasure to mee’cha, Captain, and that I hope together we have many a successful runs.”
She looked at the hand of her executive officer, noting it as a sign of politeness. It expressed a lot more about her executive officer than he would like to admit however. Politeness, and gentleman character was something demanded by the book, and she appreciated it whenever she saw it. She extended in turn her right hand to meet Patrickson’s as the two exchanged a smile. As they remained shaking for a few more seconds, she felt stupid again and ended the handshake.
“The pleasure is mine, XO,” Captain de Pax smiled, and walked out of the conference room, followed by Lieutenant Commander Patrickson.
“Orders, Sir?” Patrickson asked as they walked the small promenade that lead directly to the bridge.
“I want the ship ready to sail by twelve hundred hours, XO, have the preliminary engine checks completed before so I can make sure there are no discrepancies.
The doors parted before De Pax and Patrickson entered the bridge, as De Pax intently looked at Navigations, “Helm, we’ve got 4 hours, prepare flight plans and send to Shipyard Mission Ops, and XO for confirmation. Tactical, inform Shipyard Ops to sound recall for Arrhythmia.”
“Operations begin systems check in conjunction with departure. Contact Engineering and request commencement of preliminary engine checks,” Patrickson echoed.