Dauntless Mission 05: "In the Twilight Hours"

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Stardate 20805.03

In the wake of Sam's death, I was left to do a great deal of soul searching. For a time it seemed almost certain that I would resign my commission. Everything I had done, for so many years, I had done for her. Whether she was there to appreciate it, or to recognize it, I made my life's work safeguarding her. I hadn't spoken with her since the marriage ended. I let her have her own life. She deserved that much. Still though I stood ready to protect her.

In that I failed. I had given up my command to protect her, risked my life to save her, and now she was dead and life, once so vibrant and full of promise, suddenly seemed to lack even the most basic level of meaning.

Fate it seemed had something else in store for me though. It was at my greatest moment of despair that Star Fleet Command recalled me to regular service and placed me in command of the U.S.S. Dauntless, sister ship to U.S.S. Gettysburg, my command of years past.

With something of a renewed sense of purpose, I assumed command.

Our mission was to investigate unidentified energy readings coming from the Lyshan System, a Star System populated by both a Federation and Cardassian Colony. Sitting right along the Cardassian border, Lyshan had long been a disputed region. Concerned that the Cardassian's might be developing some new kind of super weapon, Star Fleet sent the Dauntless to determine the nature of our long range sensor readings.

We arrived to discover an area which seemed to defy scientific research. Dauntless came out of warp almost within the Lyshan sun, due to a computer calculation and plotting error. Sensors seemed incapable of bringing back reliable results, and the Dauntless herself was experiencing computer reports of system failures.

Luckily we were able to break through the sensor interference, but when we did our findings only served to complicate matters. Nearly every planet in the system, including those previously serving as Federation and Cardassian colony sites, had experienced major terraforming events. Planets were changing class and type at incalculable speeds.

The system was filled with refuges from both colonies. While we began rescue operations immediately, the Cardassian representative, Nerus, proved less than cooperative.

Before we could get far a massive spacial rift opened and release energy waves which pushed the Dauntless away from the rescue zone and knocked many of our key systems off line.

After extensive down time for repairs we returned to the site of the refuge vessels and resumed our rescue efforts.

Suddenly vessels began to emerge from the rift. After repeated hails the alien's identified themselves as a Jahn and informed us that they intended to colonize the system. We were warned not to interfere and given 'permission' to continue evacuation efforts before they closed the channel.

Then the Cardassians arrived... Four Heavy Cruisers entered the system and, after rescuing the remainder of their own colonists, attempted to attack the Jahn vessels.

Unable to stop them we watched helplessly as the Cardassian warships moved towards the Jahn. What happened next defies explanation, the rift sent out another wavefront and this one swatted both the Cardassian vessels and the Dauntless away from the system like flies. We were pushed some three light years back into Federation Space.

The wave bombarded Lyshan with electromagnetic radiation at levels so high we couldn't return.

With the system lost, and a vessel filled with both Federation and Cardassian refuges, I ordered us home.

Star Fleet has since redirected us to Starbase 157, as such I had our heading adjusted.

For now we're making repairs and preparing to offload the refuges.

My first time back in command of a starship in countless years and our mission had been far from a complete success. We'd saved a great many lives, but lost an entire star system.

I had a purpose again, but the need to prove my worth remained.

Logs

Below are the log entries for the mission, grouped by who wrote them and sorted by Stardate.

Captain's Logs

Adm Daniel Wueste

Stardate 20802.01

This is my first log entry as master of this vessel and my first log as a Commanding Officer in longer than I care to remember.

In the wake of Samantha's death I found myself feeling old, useless... without purpose.

Life has a way of playing strange tricks on people though and, in what was one of the darkest times in my life, Star Fleet has given me another chance.

With Kinziri Jal on medical leave, Fleet Admiral Benestad placed me in temporary command of the Dauntless.

So far the crew has been exceedingly professional and supportive. I am particularly impressed by the First Officer, Commander Kenneth Fitchel.

Aside from a few shake-ups to the Senior Staff, my short time with the Dauntless has so far been uneventful.

Long range sensors have indicated a massive energy build-up along the border. Our assignment is to investigate this as a potential Cardassian WMD in development.

If the Cardassian Union is attempting to create a new weapon, my orders are to destroy it and do whatever is necessary to keep the peace.

I have briefed the crew and launched the ship.

We are currently en-route to the border at Warp 8.

Stardate 20802.12

Commander Phazarus and her science team have been able to isolate the location of the energy emissions. Whatever this energy is, it's coming from the Lyshan system and it has some similarities to the energy matrix of the Genesis device.

With that information, and the news that the Lyshan system contains two colonies, one Federation, one Cardassian, the situation became all the more serious.

I attempted to contact the Federation colony on Lyshan VII, but communications proved impossible. The computer was unable to locate a communications array on the planet.

With that news I ordered our speed increased to Warp 9.

During the eight days spent in transit to the Lyshan system, the Dauntless detected a small shuttle along our flight path. The shuttle matched database records of a suspected smuggling vessel. I ordered the shuttle brought aboard and have put the pilot into custody pending a full security investigation by Commander De Vincenzo.

Once the shuttle was aboard, we resumed our previous heading for Lyshan.

Upon arrival we dropped out of Warp and discovered that astrometric readings had been inaccurate. As a result of this faulty data the Dauntless came out of warp right outside the Lyshan Sun's corona.

Thanks to Mr. Anduezan's skillful piloting the Dauntless has pulled away from the sun and I've put us on a heading to Lyshan VII and the Federation Colony there. That colony seems as good a starting place as any.

The Dauntless received minor damage during our encounter with Lyshan, repairs are currently underway and I hope to have some answers to the many mysteries presented by this mission soon.

Stardate 20802.26

We didn't get very far on our trip to Lyshan VII before sensors seemed to go completely crazy.

First they began to indicate planets were merging, then that the Dauntless had entered fluidic space, and finally even that we were spiraling down into a planetary atmosphere.

The physical evidence of our situation did not match what the sensors were telling us.

I ordered the ship to all stop and the sensors recalibrated in the hopes that we might be able to start receiving some level of accurate information on what was happening.

When the sensors came back online it became clear the Dauntless was, in fact, in no immediate danger.

It seems likely that it was these inaccurate sensor readings that resulted in the Dauntless coming out of warp so near to the sun.

The "accurate" sensor date proved troubling however.

Sensors indicated that Lyshan III, VI, and VII had experienced terraforming events.

Lyshan III was shifting from Class Y to Class M, Lyshan VI changing from Class M to Class O, and Lyshan VII moving from Class M to Class P.

Very little about this situation makes sense and the new sensor readings we're receiving only seem to raise more questions.

My greatest concern right now is the Federation Colony on Lyshan VII.

I have put us back on course for Lyshan VII, and I hope, against all odds, and all evidence, that we may still find people alive there.

After we've determined the situation on Lyshan VII, I intend to take us to Lyshan VI to investigate the Cardassian colony that is supposed to reside there.

The more we learn, the more I question the notion of Cardassian involvement. As it stands, it seems no one benefits from the changes happening here.

Our first duty is to preserve life. We can continue scientific research as we attempt to determine the status of the colonists.

Supplemental, Stardate 20803.19

With sensors finally providing us with some useful information, the Dauntless detected more than a dozen ships in our flight path.

These ships carried refuges from both the Federation Colony on Lyshan VII and the Cardassian Colony from Lyshan VI.

Lyshan VII's Governor had sadly been killed during the terraforming event that occurred there. I found Interim Governor Ehlana Catania to be agreeable however, and I am confident I can work with her.

The Cardassian representative on the other hand, Governor Nerus, he's a different story. He accuses the Federation of the devastation that has occurred here.

My attempts to deal with him diplomatically failed. Before I could press on with him though a large subspace tear, some sort of spacial rift, opened near all of the refuge vessels.

The rift emitted strong pulse waves that threatened not only the colony ships, but the Dauntless as well.

I ordered immediate rescue operations and we began to beam survivors aboard.

Just when it seemed like things couldn't get any worse, the anomaly decided to backbuild. The pulses stopped temporarily, but then the rift released its strongest wave yet...

Stardate 20804.07

The energy wave struck the Dauntless with such force that the ship was thrown some 500,000 kilometers from the rift.

I'm still a little groggy after being thrown half way across the bridge. Most of the bridge crew was injured as well. Reports would seem to indicate the same could be said across the ship.

Thanks to the fast action of Commander De Vincenzo, and the medical team that arrived shortly thereafter led by Ensign Nikkolsen and Midshipman Ross, all of us on the bridge are now at least able to function.

Many of our systems were similarly damaged, most significantly the Warp Core was knocked off line, as were our sensors.

After launching the Dauntless' fighter team to act as our eyes and ears, we managed to make contact with Governor Catania. She was blessedly unharmed, but one of her ships, and three of the Cardassian vessels had been destroyed.

It took some time to determine that Governor Nerus' ship had survived. While his vessel is badly damaged I am hopeful that he has survived relatively unharmed. As difficult as he has proven, our problems would be made only worse by his death.

I've placed the ship at General Quarters 3 and order deck by deck security sweeps to locate survivors and keep track of the colonists already brought on board.

Lieutenants Jazik and Kayzon are working on repairs down in Engineering, and I am hopeful we will be up and running again soon.

Stardate 20804.24

With the warp core and other primary systems back online, I am moving the Dauntless back into position to resume rescue operations.

Governor Nerus continues to ignore our hails, so we are making preparations to bring him aboard regardless of his wishes in the matter.

I'd rather him mad and safe then the alternative.

Commander Fitchel continues to have suspicions that the Cardassians were somehow involved in what has happened here. At present there is certainly far too little information available to discount that notion... but somehow it just doesn't feel right...

It wouldn't be the first example of a species imposing self-inflicted wounds just to spite a foe... but nothing was gained here, for anyone, and the overall inconvenience to Star Fleet is minimal. A few displaced colonists is hardly the strategic triumph of the century.

But if not the Cardassians, then who...?

Supplemental, Stardate 20804.28

We resumed rescue operations and successfully beamed aboard most of the Federation Colonists.

Governor Nerus continued to ignore our hails and, with his shields up, there was little we could do.

The question raised in my last entry, the question of who? who could have done this? Terraforming on such a vast scale and accomplished in such a short span of time... It seemed, to me, to be well beyond the technological abilities of the Cardassians and now, as an answer seems to have presented itself, it would seem I was correct.

As we beamed the colonists aboard the rift once more fluctuated, but this time instead of energy waves, ships began to emerge. At first our hails were ignored, but eventually we got our answer. The Jahn... that is what these aliens call themselves. They instructed us that we were to continue our evacuation and that any effort to stop there own colonization of the system would be met with destruction.

After performing a tactical analysis it became clear that any of the Jahn vessels could easily fight the Dauntless to stalemate.

I attempted to explain the situation to the Jahn, but they closed the comm. channel and refused all attempts at further communication.

Left with even more questions and seeing my first duty as being to rescue those now displaced colonists, I ordered Yellow Alert, but kept our shields down and continued recovery. I ordered the Dauntless and Dagger Flight into defensive postures, but took no hostile action against the Jahn.

As if the situation wasn't complicated enough it was at that moment the Cardassians decided to send in the cavalry. Four Warships arrived and three of their vessels promptly took up attack positions. The fourth warship began to recover the remaining Cardassian colonists.

Again I saw my first duty as being to the Federation Colonists, so shields remained down. Additionally I ordered Dagger Flight home, for both their safety and my desire to reach a diplomatic solution.

I've hailed the Cardassian vessels, informed them of our own rescue efforts, offered to transfer the Cardassian colonists we have back to them, and made my own plea for a peaceful solution.

Now we wait for their response and I can only hope they will see reason.

Stardate 20805.02

No sooner had we finished rescuing our own colonists, then the Cardassian's finished their own recovery effort as well.

Continuing to ignore our hails the Cardassian's quickly fell into attack formation and attempted to engage the Jahn.

Whether it was luck on the part of the Jahn, or they somehow controled it, the rift easily dispatched of the Cardassian threat. The how remains a mystery.

Another, stronger, wavefront came from the rift. It threw the Cardassian Warships who knows where and, seconds later, the Dauntless nearly three light years back into Federation Space.

We were lucky to not experience any serious damage from this... a few bumps and bruises, but, otherwise we're fine. We were luck... very lucky... had the proximity sensors not automatically raised the shields... well, we might not have been so lucky then.

Further scans of the Lyshan system revealed that the wave had left the entire solar system contaminated with high levels of electromagnetic radiation. As such it was impossible for us to return and I have to wonder how long it will be before any Federation vessel can even attempt to re-enter the system.

With the mission having been brought to something of a forcible conclusion we were left with a ship full of Federation and Cardassian refuges. The Cardassian vessels never even attempted to get their own people back... they rescued those still floating in space and left the rest with us.

The Lyshan system has been lost to the Jahn... and the Jahn, well, they remain as much a mystery as ever.

As my first mission back in Command comes to an end I am left to wonder... did I fail? We saved a great many lives... but an entire star system... that is a hefty price to pay.

At the order of Star Fleet Command I have put the Dauntless on course for Starbase 157 at our maximum sustainable warp speed.

Even then it will take us almost 44 days to reach the Starbase. I am unsure why we were directed there, but now hardly seems like a time to argue with orders.

We will complete as many repairs as possible while en-route and, from there, let base personnel assist with the rest. The refuges can be dropped off at the base as well and from there I suspect I will be asked to turn command back over to this ship's previous master.

For now I intend to enjoy whatever time I have left aboard.

Crew Logs

Cdr Kenneth Fitchel

Stardate 20801.17

[Begin Recording]

Personal Log Stardate 20801.17 Cdr Kenneth Fitchel, First Officer – USS Dauntless, BC-1553

The occasion when one finally becomes First Officer of a starship should be one filled with happiness and pride at the accomplishment of separating oneself from ones peers and becoming part of an elite fraternity. However, today I find myself with the opposite feeling of sorrow and doubt and I don’t seem to be able to shake it given the circumstances.

As I leave my previous post of Chief of Security behind and don the crimson of command, I am constantly haunted by the fact that my good fortune comes at the expense of the misfortune of another, another whom I love very deeply. In spite of or perhaps because of Kathy’s miraculous recovery from being in a coma following the Orionis 74 mission, Star Fleet PERSCOM saw fit to relieve her of command on medical grounds. I know that this was a bitter pill for her to swallow because she worked so hard to become First Officer and was such a natural at it. However, she says that my replacing her softens the blow and I am not one to doubt her word.

In the interim while she recovers, Kathy has returned to what I believe is her true love, besides me of course, engineering. She has been assigned as a mission specialist onboard the USS Copernicus, though she does not yet know in what way her expertise will be applied. I will certainly miss being able to see her on a day to day basis, but at least she is still part of the 3rd Exploration Group and will have Nigel with her for company until we are reunited during shore leave.

And now onto ship-related business…I have just returned from a meeting relating to the Dauntless’ upcoming mission with Rear Admiral Daniel Wueste. At that meeting I was informed that Commodore Jal had been placed on medical leave and that he was taking command of the Dauntless for the duration of the mission – an investigation of Cardassian activities along the Federation- Cardassian border.

I am disappointed that Kinziri Jal won’t be around to shepherd me through my maiden voyage as First Officer after she demonstrated her unwavering belief in my abilities by appointing me to the post over more seasoned officers such as Lieutenant Commander Stewart. She has been a tremendous source of inspiration and help to me as both a Commanding Officer and mentor and, more importantly, as a friend. I will miss her greatly.

My initial impression of her replacement, Rear Admiral Daniel Wueste, is mostly favorable. At the meeting, he went out of his way to be friendly and accessible – traits I find to be generally absent in flag officers. He is a former Security officer so we at least have a common point of reference from which to develop a good working relationship. Additionally, he has extensive command experience with the Avenger-classed battle cruiser having served as the first Commanding Officer of the Dauntless’ sister ship, the USS Gettysburg. In that regard, I am relieved – at least Star Fleet Command hasn’t sent us some desk jockey who doesn’t know his ••• from a hole in the ground.

However, I do have my doubts about him after reviewing his service record. His history is quite impressive up to a point as he rose quickly through ranks to Commodore and Assistant Fleet Commander under the old fleet deployment scheme at a young age. At that point, things seem to get hazy with a large portion of the record either classified or heavily redacted until recently when he has been assigned as a troubleshooter of sorts as a mission specialist on the USS Gettysburg and USS Yeager.

I don’t know what is contained in the parts of his record that I am unable to access, but I hope it has no bearing on his ability to carry out the responsibilities of command. If it does though, I need to be ready to step in and take charge. I know in my heart that I’m not completely up to the task of being First Officer yet, but at least I am sure that I have a collection of officers and enlisted under me that are more than capable of minimizing my shortcomings.

Computer, please end recording and save log entry for later playback.

[End Recording and Save]

[Begin Recording]

Stardate 20802.28

Personal Log Stardate 20802.28 Cdr Kenneth Fitchel, First Officer – USS Dauntless, BC-1553

The Dauntless has finally arrived in the Lyshan system to investigate the origins of the strange energy signatures emanating therein. But instead of finding answers, we are so far confronted with even more unanswered questions.

Beginning with our arrival and near collision with the Lyshan sun due to some, as of yet unresolved issue, with the ship’s navigation systems, we have been plagued with a series of odd positional readings that would briefly set off alarms and then mysteriously disappear just as quickly. Engineering has traced the source of the difficulty to a degradation of sensor array accuracy due to interference from local radiation sources and come up with the short term solution of periodic recalibrations of the affected systems. I have agreed to allow this stopgap measure and ordered the Engineering and Science departments to work jointly to permanently fix the problem in order to avoid leaving us blind while the sensors are offline during the calibration periods.

Additionally, we are faced with a greater puzzle with regards to the origin of energy readings in this system. Probe data has indicated that the planets in the system have undergone a substantial shift in planetary class. This was theorized to be the result of the use of a Genesis device of the type discovered by Doctor Carol Marcus and detonated by Khan Noonien Singh in the Mutara Nebula. However, the data collected so far shows very little similarity, other than the planetary terraforming, between this incident and the records regarding the original Project Genesis in the Star Fleet database.

Along with this conundrum, we are also confronted with the dilemma of why such a weapon would be tested in the Lyshan system. Intelligence reports speculate that the Cardassians are the ones testing the feasibility of such a device. At first, I thought this to be the logical conclusion. However, Admiral Wueste is of the belief that some other party might be behind this attempt to shift the balance of power in this sector of space. He bases his theory on the fact that both the Federation and Cardassian colonies have been adversely affected by the radical terraforming that has taken place.

I think that his conjecture is certainly a possibility, but I am loath to discount Cardassian involvement – particularly as this might be a power play by the Cardassian Obsidian Order. Given the Obsidian Order’s reputation for being even more ruthless than their fellow Cardassians, it is not outside the realm of possibility that they would sacrifice their own citizens if it meant advancing their agenda.

Questions and theories are in abundance right now. What we don’t have is much in the way of concrete answers. However, we are about to enter the orbit of Lyshan VII where a Federation colony is present. Hopefully, we will soon begin unraveling the mystery that confronts us.

Computer, please end recording and save log entry for later playback.

[End Recording and Save]

Lt Brom Jazik

Stardate 20801.24

[Begin Recording]

Personal Log Stardate 20801.24 Lt Brom Jazik, Acting Chief Engineer – USS Dauntless, BC-1553

A few hours ago, I was informed by the First Officer, Commander Kenneth Fitchel, that I am to assume the role of Acting Chief Engineer for the upcoming mission while our regular Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Nikko Kortoli, is on administrative leave. At long last, I have achieved the goal of all true engineers – to have a ship to call my own. I am content in this knowledge as I have no desire to wear the colors of command. Mother understands this as a former Chief Engineer herself, father less so. Nevertheless, I hope he will be proud of me as much as I am sure she will be.

As to the current state of my department, the situation is, to put it politely, challenging. There is a fleet-wide shortage of experienced engineers and the Dauntless is no exception to this problem. I have the requisite specialists running the various sub-departments, but little in the way of depth within them. The post of Assistant Chief Engineer is presently vacant as well and in need of filling. I could use the additional help – I have no desire to be swamped with paperwork!

That being said, I have many reports to review and not enough time to do it in. However, before I end this log, I will say that I am hopeful that my friend Nikko will eventually return. In his absence, I will do my best as Acting Chief Engineer to uphold the high standards of the Star Fleet Engineering Corps.

Computer, end recording and save log entry for later playback.

[End Recording and Save]

Ens Ilene Isørd

Stardate 20803.03

Ensign Ilene Isørd Personal Log Stardate 20803.03

We're holding a Romulan prisoner named Taev. Taev claims to be carrying weapon casings to this region of space. I intend to find out who he was planning on delivering them to and who hired him. Despite the less than routine encounter I had the privilege or curse as it were of witnessing a Romulan reunion. Taev revealed that he was the brother of Chief Medical Officer Lieutenant Lara Eial. It was less than amusing to be sure. I think my Vulcan heritage gives me an inclination not to trust Romulans, but nonetheless we have Romulan crew members and until now I haven't seen anything less than Star Fleets finest.

Something is amiss and I intend to find out what it is. Lieutenant Eial is very quick to support his story and as touching as family encouragement is at this moment; I fear that there could be a conflict of interest here. However, the lieutenant has her duty and I have mine. Until this damned thing is over I will have to keep my eye on those two. Hopefully I will be able to keep Taev longer so that we can bring this out into the open.

As for me I think that this is a bunch of filth and I don't like it at all. I've been using Vulcan techniques to suppress my emotions, but nothing can suppress the truth except for willful ignorance- something I'm not ready to accept. All the security personnel should be on their toes right now. Nothing is guaranteed.

End log.

Lt Zor Kayzon

Stardate 20803.03

[Begin Recording]

Personal Log Stardate 20803.03 Lt[JG] Zor Kayzon, Assistant Chief Engineer - USS Dauntless, BC-1553

Things have moved quickly since we left Starbase Charlie. I was summoned to Engineering by the Acting Chief Engineer, Lt Brom ‘Bojay’ Jazik for what I assumed to be some collaboration work between Science and Engineering. This was not the case.

Lt Jasik, or Bojay as I have come to know him, surprisingly offered me a position as Assistant Chief Engineer. He said there was a mandate for the move. It is Joint Directive #320A between Star Fleet PERSCOM and the Corps of Engineers. The directive states that all Chief Engineers are to be on the lookout for personnel assigned to other branches who might be suitable candidates for retraining as Engineering officers.

It didn’t take me long to make my decision. I think the position will give me an opportunity to stretch the boundaries. I look forward to learning on the job and working with Bojay. The only drawback that I see is the reaction of the Engineering crew overall. I am sure I will not be welcomed very warmly especially by some of the specialists in the department. But until I earn their respect, which is priority number one, I will have to rely on rank and position to keep some of that at bay.

On a more personal note, I have sent my mother a comm letting her know briefly of the change. I am sure she will be hounding me for information soon enough. Due to our alert status, though, I will have to wait until this crisis is resolved to contact her directly.

Finally, I am a bit worried about the repercussions of my fight with Lara during the last leave. She has not spoken to me since. It has been long enough now. I should try and smooth things over when I get a break, and at least congratulate her on her promotion to Chief Medical Officer. I am just not sure how to go about all of that.

[End Recording and Save]

Lt Aon Anduezan

Stardate 20804.12

[Begin recording.]

Personal Log Stardate 20804.12 Lt [JG] Tactical Officer - USS Dauntless. BC-1553

I know my species code of honour almost forbids me from saying this, but sometimes, honour is not what I value the most.

I have been on the helm most of the time during this mission, but I fear how it will end. When we dropped out of warp, we were seconds away from flying into a sun, and although I wish not to brag, we would have been dead had it not been for my quick action.

It wasn't my fault. The sun was at the wrong place. [...] It may sound as something taken out of a science fiction-novel, but it was not where the star charts said it would be. Something has gone terribly wrong here.

I had my suspicions that the Cardassian pigs had something to do with this, but after we were hit by the pulses from the rift... I am starting to believe that the Cardassians may be as innocent as we are. And, I fear that something greater than us might be out there, waiting for us, playing with us.

But, it is all theories, and I will not let my feelings get in my way of success.

This is still my first mission since leaving Deep Space 3, but I already feel like a part of the... well, family. I have not met many from the crew yet that aren't senior officers, but I'm sure I will soon. When we get out of here, with honour and death walking behind us...

But my greatest fear, and belief, is that this mission will end with death and destruction. I feel it in my spirit, that something is very wrong, and that we are so close to see it, but not close enough.

[End log.]

Mid Kamble Ross

Stardate 20804.17

[Begin Recording]

Personal Log Stardate 20804.17 Mid Kamble Ross, Medical Officer-USS Dauntless, BC-1553

They didn't prepare me for this at the Academy.

It's not that they didn't do their best, of course. I am well-equipped to do my job. What they didn't prepare me for was the stress of having to make your introduction under dangerous and stressful circumstances.

And it's difficult to handle pressure when you haven't eaten or slept well since at least the day before. I speak from first hand experience at the moment.

There was a shock wave of some sort, near the Cardassian border. I reported for duty on the Bridge, and immediately got to work getting them as fit for duty as possible. Luckily, at least in that area of the ship, there were no critically severe injuries.

I must say, my first impressions of Admiral Wueste and Commander Fitchel were good ones. They seemed calm, in control, and willing to direct me, the clueless newbie, to what I was supposed to be doing.

I hope I made an equally good first impression on them.

I have yet to encounter my Department Head, or interact in any meaningful way with anyone but...well, I've been land-bound for so long. It almost feels like I'm home again, whatever that means. If you can really have a sense of home, after spending your entire life moving around.

I just hope this will be a home that I actually get to keep.

[End Recording and Save]