Captain’s log, stardate
49200.5:
We are now in our fifth day
adrift. Commendations to Ensign Jeffery
Bloom, my engineer, and Doctor Azriel Dourden, my medical officer, for their
successful efforts to keep us alive since the Jem’Hadar attack that disabled
the
Koester, out.
The runabout
“Status, Mister
Bloom?”
“I’ve done all I
can do, Captain,” the human-raised Vulcan replied. “At current depletion rates, life support
will fail in about twenty hours.”
“Damn,” Koester
hissed under his breath. “What’ll happen
if we boost our distress signal? Unless
they’re headed toward Dominion territory, the Sarek can’t be more than a few sectors away. If we can just get their attention...”
“If we boost our
signal, we might attract the Jem’Hadar, who left us for dead!” exclaimed
Lieutenant Virgil Dylan Kane, a human who became ‘Bajoran-by-choice’ after he
had quit Starfleet and joined the Bajoran resistance against the Cardassian
occupation of Bajor when his parents had been killed years earlier.
“Whether we die
by the Jem’Hadar or by suffocation and hypothermia, we’ll still be dead! It’s worth the chance.”
“By my
calculations,” reported Bloom, “boosting our signal to 115% of standard levels
will deplete our remaining power in just six more hours.”
“Mister Karg,”
Koester said, turning toward the Klingon sitting at the tactical station. “Make it so.”
“Yes, Captain,”
the red-haired Klingon replied.
A moment later,
Kane reported, “Our signal has increased in strength.” The science officer turned to look at his
captain.
“Well...,” said
Koester, taking his seat in the
Space, the Final Frontier...
Star Trek:
Dauntless
“Dauntless
Awaits!” By PJK
Five and three-quarter hours
later...
The ship dropped
out of warp less than a thousand meters from the drifting wreckage of the
“We may have
trouble,” the young Klingon growled. “A
ship just dropped out of warp just off our stern. We’re so low on power, I can’t even tell you
who or what it is.”
“The Sarek?” asked Dr Sir Azriel Dourden, the
Avalonian medical officer as he slowly walked over to Karg’s station across the
cabin.
“Doubtful. It approached from the wrong bearing. If it were the Sarek, she would have...”
Before Karg could
finish his report, the hum of a transporter formed in the center of the
runabout’s cabin. Captain Koester began
to raise his phaser but Karg leapt out of his seat to shield his commanding
officer from the unknown danger.
The beam coalesed
into the forms of two humans, one in a gold Starfleet uniform, the other in
blue.
“Thank God they’re
still alive!” said Dr Julian Bashir as he pulled out his tricorder and began
scanning the
“I’m Chief Miles
O’Brien. This is Dr Bashir. We’re from the starship Defiant. We just managed to
pick up your weak signal as we neared the wormhole, and from the looks of
things, just in the nick of time.”
“Yes, Chief. Another hour and all you would have found
here would have been five frozen corpses to identify,” remarked Koester without
humor.
“Well, you’ll be
just fine now,” Bashir commented as he returned his tricorder to its
holster. “They’re stable enough for
transport, Chief.”
“Aye,
Doctor. We’ll rig your runabout for tow,
Captain, and have you back at DS9 in
no time.”
Koester simply
managed a wane smile as Bashir tapped his combadge and announced, “Seven to
beam over. Energize.”
*
* * *
Two days later - Space
Station Deep Space Nine - Bajor Sector
Four-fifths of
the
A few minutes
later, Captain Koester walked into Quark’s and tossed a padd he had been
carrying onto the top of the bar and ordered a synthale from the bartender as
he ran his hand through his close-cropped, slightly graying hair. He took a pull at his ale and let out a long,
deep breath.
Kane, noticing
his captain now sitting at the bar, tapped Dourden on the shoulder and the two
walked over to Koester.
“Hey, Skipper,
how’d the meeting go?” Kane asked.
“Well, it’s the
old good news-bad news routine,” Koester replied as he took another sip from
his mug. “You want the bad news first?” Both Kane and Dourden nodded.
“Well, with the
loss of the
“That’s bad news?” the doctor asked.
“Glory and
recognition...,” Koester started to mutter.
“Hey, Skipper, we’re
still alive! That’s more than the crew
of the Odyssey can say.”
“Yeah, I
suppose. But as one of Starfleet’s
youngest captains, I needed to prove...”
Koester’s comment
was cut off by his exec’s foul look.
“Yeah, I suppose,”
the captain admitted.
“Well, what be
thy good news, Captain?” Dourden asked in his heavy Avalonian accent.
“Oh yeah,” Koester
said, startled from his reverie. “Starfleet
is keeping us all together as a crew, and giving us a new ship. A real starship this time.”
Both Kane and
Dourden’s eyes brightened at the news, and having lost his last spare strip of
latinum, Bloom meandered over to join his crewmates.
“What ship have
we been assigned to?” Bloom asked.
Koester put his mug down on the bar and just stared at his engineer.
“You heard
that? All the way over at the dabo
table?”
“I may have been
raised by humans, Captain,” the engineer said, smirking slightly, “but my ears
are still 100% Vulcan.”
Koester just
slowly shook his head, then turned toward the table his security chief
occupied.
“Ensign Karg,
will you join us please?” Koester called over the noise of the crowd, drawing
several drunken stares as he did. Karg
grunted over toward his shipmates, concluded his conversation with Worf, then
sauntered over to the
“Commander Worf
was just informing me why the Federation and the Empire are no longer allied,
and of the decision he made to remain with Starfleet.”
“Yes, I
know. Captain Sisko and I discussed the
situation during our debrief,” Koester confirmed. “It seems you have a hard decision to make.”
“Actually,
Captain,” the flame-haired Klingon warrior said, “I had a hard decision I’ve
already made.”
Koester, Kane,
Bloom and Dourden all looked at Karg expectantly, but the Klingon simply
proceeded to straighten the emblems on his baldric sash. Finally the captain prompted, “And that
decision was...?”
“The honor is to
serve,” Karg said as if it was the only possible answer, bowing slightly toward
Koester.
“Very well,”
Koester replied with a curt nod, satisfied.
“Then I’ll announce that we are all assigned to the command staff of the
Intrepid-class starship Dauntless,
due to be launched in two months. We all
have been authorized two weeks leave, then must report to Earth Station McKinley to assist with the final phases of
construction.”
Smiles spread on
Kane, Dourden and Bloom’s faces while Karg remained stonefaced, only giving off
an air of smug pleasure.
“Mister Bloom,
Doc, I need to speak with you further.
The rest of you, dismissed.”
Kane spun and
returned to the dartboard, where he challenged Chief O’Brien as the station’s
chief of operations entered the bar and Karg approached the Ferengi barkeep and
inquired about procuring a holosuite to re-enact the Battle of Klad’daCh
against the Romulans. After the two had
departed, Bloom and Dourden stood in front of their captain. Koester stood up from the barstool and faced
the two young officers.
“As you both
know, my final log entry aboard the
A smile spread on
Dourden’s face as he shook the captain’s offered hand. Koester then turned to the emotional Vulcan
before him.
“And in
recognition of your extraordinary efforts that extended the runabout’s life
support from near-nothing to five days, keeping the Hudson crew alive long enough for rescue, Jeffery Bloom, you are
hereby promoted to Lieutenant, effective this stardate.”
As strange as it
looked to those gathered around them in the bar, the Vulcan also smiled as he
shook the captain’s hand.
“Gentlemen,”
Koester said, returning their smiles, “dismissed.”
*
* * *
Two weeks later - Roosevelt Recreational Facility in the Beta Quadrant
Koester boarded
the transport, his dufflebag full of uniforms, civilian clothes, souvenirs and
one special book carried on his left shoulder.
He turned back
once more, looking among the crowd for one last glimpse of the very special
friend he had spent the past two weeks with, blowing her a kiss as he passed
through the airlock. Across the crowd,
the young woman with the brown Trill spots running down each side of her face
and neck smiled and waved back, her smile turning mischevious, obvious she was
hiding a secret, once Koester had disappeared from view.
As he stepped
through the transport’s hatch, Koester bumped into a tall Starfleet officer
wearing a red comand-division uniform.
The ensign stumbled and stepped on the foot of the distracted senior
officer.
“M... m... my
apologies, sir,” the ensign sputtered.
“Relax,
Ensign. I won’t court-martial you for
stumbling.” As they spoke the two
officers moved toward the transport’s passenger cabin.
“I... heh, heh...
didn’t think (gulp) you would, Captain, sir.
It... it... its...”
“Ensign, you’re
too nervous,” Koester said in his most commanding tone. “Take a deep breath, relax and tell me who
you are.”
The ensign took a
deep breath and very slowly released it.
A moment later his composure had somewhat returned.
“My name is
Ensign Francis Lenny. I just received my
first deep-space assignment.”
Koester’s
eyebrows knit in apparent confusion, though in reality he simply felt like
stringing the nieve young officer along for a little while.
“I hate to break
this to you, Ensign, but this isn’t a starship.
In fact, it appears you are a long way from where you’re supposed to
be! What happened? Did you take a wrong turn at Betelgeuse?”
“Captain?” asked
Lenny, genuinely confused.
“This is just a
high-speed transport back to Earth. You’re
not where you’re supposed to be! Explain
yourself, Ensign.”
“Well... I...
ah...,” Lenny responded, easily getting flustered again.
“Well, what is
your answer, Ensign? Do you even know
where you are?”
“I... um... It’s
just...”
“Is what you mean
to say, that you’re on leave right now pending reporting to your new command?”
To avoid further
sticking his foot in his own mouth, the Ensign simply nodded.
“Ensign, mind if
I offer you a bit of advice?” Koester asked, his tone easing.
The two officers
stopped walking momentarily as they neared the door to Koester’s quarters. Lenny again nodded to answer the captain’s
question.
“Relax! You’ll come to find life in Starfleet,
especially aboard a starship, is like being part of a small town... Or a large family. Your shipmates will help you when you need
it. You just need to be less
high-strung. I could tell you stories
about when I first reported aboard the Al-Batani
that would keep us up all night, but I believe you need to spend some time
unwinding. Enjoy this time of your life,
Ensign.”
An uneasy smile
crept across Lenny’s face.
“Yes, sir. I’ll try, sir.” And Lenny turned to find his own cabin,
leaving Koester to watch bemused at the confused young officer.
“God help his new
CO,” the captain said to himself as he finally entered his cabin door, never
once noticing the padd Lenny held in his hand, the ones containing his new
orders that started, “You are to report to Earth
Station McKinley where you will join the crew of the Intrepid-class
starship Dauntless...”
*
* * *
Two Days Later
Koester boarded
the shuttle moments after stepping through the transport airlock into the Earth
orbit office complex. And considering
the state of affairs with the Klingon Empire, a virtual state of war, the name
of the Dauntless’ number one
shuttlecraft, Khitomer, surprised
him.
The shuttlecraft’s
pilot, Chief Petty Officer Casey, introduced himself to the captain as he
stowed the officer’s gear in the rear, and a conversation started between the
two as the type-8 shuttle lifted off the deck of the complex docking bay and
exited the atmosphere retaining field into open space. The conversation, however, did not last long
once the captain’s attention turned toward what he saw.
“My God, she’s
beautiful!”
Casey followed
Koester’s gaze out the viewport. Ahead
of the shuttle, looking like it was trapped within the crushing claws of some
huge predatory crustacian, the Dauntless
floated in orbit within the structure of Earth
Station McKinley.
Recognizing the
look of wonder on the captain’s face, Casey turned the shuttle away from a
direct path to the starship’s shuttlebay and instead flew an inspection tour
around the various section of the ship, a tradition started by a transporter
accident when James Kirk took command of the refitted starship
Turning toward
Casey with a smile, Koester said, “Thank you, Chief.”
“Anytime, sir.”
*
* * *
Kane and Bloom
studied the readouts displayed on the padd that Bloom held in his hand. The bustle on the bridge around them did not
even register.
“What do you
think?” Bloom asked the executive officer.
“Bad omen?”
“I just hope
these shuttle names are no indication of what’s in store for us. What desk-bound admiral decided on naming our
shuttlecraft after famous massacres? And
what is the status of loading?”
“The shuttlepods
“Very good. Carry on.”
“Yes, Lieutenant.”
As Bloom returned
to his engineering station at the side of the bridge, but before Kane could
start another task, the computer’s voice sounded throughout the ship.
“Dauntless, arriving.”
“Ahh, here’s the
Skipper now. Mister Karg, will you see
to his reception?”
Looking up from
his security post, the Klingon ensign grunted his ascent and stepped into the
nearby turbolift.
“Exec,” called
out the ensign at the ops station at the rear of the bridge. “Currently seventy five members of the crew
have reported aboard. Thirty two remain
on leave and forty three have yet to be assigned.”
“Very good. Over the intercom, announce that all crew
members not on duty report to the shuttlebay.”
“Aye, sir.”
*
* * *
Karg stepped out
of the turbolift just as the voice of Ensign Natchez sounded from the bridge.
“Attention all
personnel, this is the bridge. All
off-duty personnel report to the shuttlebay for arrival of PCO.”
A small crowd,
already aware from the announcement of Captain Koester’s arrival, had started
to gather near the door to the shuttlebay.
Karg took his place near the door’s control panel. A moment later, upon confirmation that the
bay was pressurized, he opened the door and entered first, followed close
behind by the thirty five or so off duty enlistees and officers, which the
security officer organized into ranks in front of the descending ramp of the
newly arrived shuttlecraft Khitomer.
The doors to the
shuttlebay opened once more to admit Lieutenant Virgil D. Kane and Lieutenant
Jeffery Bloom, who took their places as First and Second Officer at the foot of
the ramp. A moment later, Chief Casey
stepped down the ramp and played an electronic bosun’s whistle. The crew all snapped to attention in unison.
Koester emerged
from the rear of the shuttle, carrying a padd.
He paused at the end of the ramp, activated the padd and began to read
from it.
“To: Koester,
Koester looked up
at the crew, shutting the padd in his hand off.
“Ladies and
gentlemen, we have a lot to do in the next six weeks. I’ll be counting on all of you to get the job
done, properly and on time. Our launch
date is set for stardate 49368.4, and I don’t want to be a second late.”
Koester took a
moment to look over the assembled crew, spending an extra few seconds on his
known crew from the
“You have my
confidence,” he finally concluded. “Dismissed.”
As the muster
broke up, the captain turned his attention to Kane and Bloom. He did not notice the tall, nervous looking
ensign who quietly snuck out of the shuttlebay amidst the crowd.
*
* * *
Six Weeks Later - Launch
Date: T-Minus Six Hours
The transporter
materialized the humanoid form on the platform.
The man in the gold uniform took a step forward, placed his hands on his
hips, and in a thick southern accent said, “Hoo-ey! Ain’t this the darned prettiest ship y’ever
seen?”
The transporter
chief, not knowing quite how to respond, simply stared at the newcomer as he
activeated the comm channel to the bridge.
“Transporter room
two to Lieutenant Kane. You asked me to
inform you when Commander Russell arrived?”
“Yes,” responded
Kane’s voice.
“Well, Commander
Russell has arrived,” the transporter chief reported.
“Understood,” the
XO replied. “Have him remain there. I’ll be down in a minute.”
The chief closed
the comlink and looked back at Commander Ray Russell, the ship’s new Chief of
Operations.
“Lieutenant Kane,
our First Officer, will be here to greet you in a moment, sir.”
“No need, m’boy,
no need,” Russell said as he picked up his bag and started out the door in
spite of the transport chief’s protests.
A minute later, Kane entered the transporter room.
“Where is the
Commander?” Kane asked, looking around in confusion.
“I told him you
were coming down to greet him, but he simply left anyway.”
“I was afraid of
this. Russell’s was busted down recently
for insubordination. The Skipper’s gonna
love this guy.”
*
* * *
Koester stepped
out of his ready room doors onto the Dauntless
bridge. To his surprise, someone was
sitting in his command seat, and it was not the XO.
“Can I help
you... Commander?” Koester asked after looking at the three pips on the man’s
collar.
“No, I’m fine,
thank ya,” the man responded in a heavy southern drawl. Koester continued to stare at him, but the
commander simply seemed engrossed in the activity going on around him as if he
was supervising it all, ignoring the captain without effort.
Finally, with
anger rising in his voice, Koester said, “Well, then maybe you wouldn’t mind
getting up from my seat?”
“Whoa!” Russell
excaimed as he jumped out of the command seat like a jolt of electricity had
shocked him. “Y’all hafta fogive
me. Y’see, my last assignment was as CO
of a starship and I’m kinda used to...”
“I’m well aware
of your record, Commander
Russell. I trust it will improve in the
future?”
Russell did not
respond, but simply glared at the Captain, a look of danger in his eyes.
“I asked you a
question... Commander.”
“Yes’m......,
sir,” Russell finally responded, then walked around up to the ops station where
his bag already sat on the deck. Kane,
having witnessed the end of the exchange from the turbolift alcove, walked down
toward the captain.
“Problem,
Skipper?” he asked as he glanced toward the disgraced former CO at ops.
“Not yet,
Exec. Not yet.” Koester eyes Russell warily as the operations
manager entered the turbolift with his bag and the doors slid silently shut
behind him. “...But I have a feeling we’re
going to have to keep an eye on that one.”
Koester was about
to sit in his seat when the intercom sounded.
“CMO to captain.”
“Go ahead, Doc.”
Koester smiled to
Kane as he heard Dourden’s annoyed huff of breath at the use of his nick name,
followed by, “It will either be I or this thing
in my sickbay, Captain.”
Koester and Kane
exchanged confused looks before Koester shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m on my way,
Doc.”
*
* * *
Captain Koester
entered sickbay, Kane following close behind.
“What’s the
problem, Doc?”
Dourden, who had
been testing medical tricorders and placing the ones that passed into storage,
turned to face the two officers.
“Watch this,” he
said, holding up his right index finger.
“Computer, activate EMH program.”
Almost instantly
a bald-headed human in a blue medical uniform materialized in the middle of the
sickbay.
“Please state the
nature of the medical emergency,” the newcomer said blandly.
Dourden pointed
at the holographic doctor and said to Koester, “Doest thou now understand what
I mean?”
“Doc,” Koester
started, blinking in amusement and trying not to laugh out loud. “It’s a holographic program. It’s designed to aid you when you need help.”
Dourden’s face
became rigid. “I whilst not argue every
small diagnosis with this... this... soul-less demon!”
The holodoc
walked over to the three officers and addressed the captain.
“Sir, if I am not
needed at present, then my program should be turned off.”
Dourden stared at
Koester. Koester looked back and forth
between Dourden and the EMH. Kane just
looked on, covering with his hand the giggle escaping his lips, trying hard not
to have to leave to prevent laughing in Dourden’s face.
“Computer,”
Koester finally said, “deactivate the EMH.”
The holodoc faded
away as a smile of triumph appeared on Dourden’s face, who then started to say,
“Computer, delete emergency med...”
“Computer,
disregard,” Koester ordered, speaking over Dourden. The smile quickly faded from Dourden’s face.
“Doc, we haven’t
got the largest medical staff. The
program is there to help you if you should need it. I’m not asking you to live with it. Just... well, live with it,” Koester ordered
as he walked out of sickbay, Kane again close behind.
As the doors slid
shut, Dourden huffed once again and shouted, “And for ye last time, I am Sir
Azriel, not Doc!”
*
* * *
“Before I do this,
I just want to make an announcement,” Koester said to the assembled group in
the McKinley Station observation
lounge. Outside the large window could
be seen the forward hull of the starship Dauntless. “I’d like to go on record that this ceremony
is in honor of my dear friend, Captain Kathryn Janeway, and the crew of our
lost sistership, the Voyager.”
The murmer of the
crowd silenced for a moment. A few heads
were bowed in respect. Then Koester
lifted his three year old daughter Gem up to a control panel near the big
viewing windows. The little girl,
excited by all the activity, pressed a control on the panel her father had
pointed out. Outside in the vacuum of
space, a champagne bottle was flung mechanically across open space in a
tradition dating back on Earth many centuries.
As everyone
raised their glasses, Commander Deanna Troi, Ship’s Counselor of the recently
launched Sovereign-class starship Enterprise-E,
addressed the crowd as she likewise continued to watch the bottle as it
increased its distance from the observation lounge.
“I hereby
christen this starship the Dauntless. May all who voyage upon you be blessed and
may your journey’s be fruitful. May you
always come home.”
And in the
soundless depths of space, the champagne bottle struck the hull of the Dauntless, shattering into thousands of
sparkling shards that quickly evaporated in the open radiation of the sun,
leaving pieces of green glass drifting away from the station and ship. The thunderous applause on the station slowly
died down as light after light lit up the new starship, bathing the vessel in
brightness. The new crew gathered by the
windows, with pride in their eyes, to look upon their new life ahead.
The End ...for
now
Return to 2372.
Return to Stories Archive.