Space, the Final Frontier…

These are the voyages of the starship Dauntless!

Star Trek: Dauntless

“Shipyard – Part 2” By PJK

February 2383

Stardate 60125.8

Captain Peter J. Koester was sitting behind the desk in the office he was using aboard the Antares Shipyard Orbital Office Complex, approving work orders, reviewing progress reports on the repair of his starship and signing requests for parts and equipment.

In the month since the Sovereign-class USS Dauntless had entered drydock, a lot of work had already been performed, including the removal of the hulls of the two Zaqri terrorist vessels that had embedded themselves in the starship’s hull when they had attacked the Federation starship, as well as preliminary repairs to the starship’s main shuttlebay, site of the first explosive attack by the Zaqri on the Dauntless.

The intercom on Koester’s desk whistled, startling the captain, who was in the middle of reading a disturbing report on the structural damage to his vessel. He pressed the button, saying, “This is Captain Koester.”

“Captain,” said the voice of Koester’s yeoman from the outer reception room of the office. “Your new Command Master Chief is here. He is requesting to meet with you.”

“Really?” Koester asked, surprised. He had not expected Starfleet to replace his former CMC, Chief Piotr Zubatka, badly injured during the terrorist attacks on the Dauntless, quite so quickly. Especially since he had not yet reviewed the records of the applicants and submitted his recommendation to the Starfleet Bureau of Personnel. Pulling down on the front of the uniform vest he was wearing in an attempt to straighten it, he said, “Send him in.”

Koester shut off the padd he had been reading and stood to greet what appeared would be his newest crewmember as the office door swished open. As the man stepped into the room, the captain almost fell back into his seat.

The man who entered, in spite of the trim beard flecked with grey, looked ten years younger then the last time the captain had seen him almost three years earlier. Koester stood there, mouth open, unable to speak as the man walked up to the desk and offered his hand.

“Good to see you again, Skipper,” said Pono Kyman, his hand embracing the captain’s.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, Chief,” the captain said as he finally started to regain his wits and returned the El’Aurian man’s shake, “but what the hell are you doing here at Antares? I thought you had settled down among the Ba’ku for good?”

Kyman took a seat in the chair across the desk from Koester as he answered, “I heard you needed me, so here I am.”

The captain looked skeptical as he said, “You heard what happened to the Dauntless all the way out in the Brier Patch?”

“I’m not totally out of the loop, Skipper,” Kyman replied with a wry smile. “I’ve still got my contacts at Starfleet Command. I may have moved out into the boondocks, but I haven’t turned into a complete hermit.”

Koester leaned forward, a slight smile spreading on his own lips before saying, “I have to admit, I’ll be happy to have your help and support back aboard, especially under the current circumstances. But I thought you once said Starfleet was a job for people younger than yourself?” The El’Aurian man chuckled softly as Koester stood and walked over to the nearby replicator, looking at Kyman inquiringly.

“My usual, Skipper, please.” And as the captain handed the chief a steaming mug of coffee, Kyman nodded his thanks and added, “To tell you the truth, I feel like a much younger man than I used to be. I’ve been living on Ba’ku for five years, but I feel now like I did more than twenty years ago. El’Aurians, as you know, are a very long-lived race, especially compared to humans like yourself…” Kyman made a point of gazing at Koester’s graying hair, much more so than the slight grey the captain had had when Kyman had first joined the Dauntless crew almost a decade earlier. “…But living among the Ba’ku has revitalized me in ways I never would have believed. I’m feeling urges I haven’t felt for years! And one of those urges has brought me back to the decks of the starship Dauntless… If you’ll have me?”

Koester looked at Kyman with an expression of disbelief.

“If…?!?” he finally managed to say. “When can you start?”

Kyman glanced upward at the ceiling of the office as he said, “Well, my request for reinstatement to active duty was submitted three days ago. I should be hearing back within a week.”

“I’ll see what I can do to hurry that process along. I’ll shanghai you if I have to.” As Kyman started to laugh, Koester touched the intercom on his desk. “Yeoman?”

“Yes, Captain?” came the reply.

“Add a new entry in the crew manifest. Kyman, Pono R. Rank: Master Chief Petty Officer. Position:…” The captain looked up at Kyman with a broad smile. “…Chief of the Boat.”

“Sir?” replied the yeoman.

“Just make it so,” Koester ordered before clicking off the intercom. He then stood and leaned over the desk, once more grasping Kyman’s hand as he said, “Welcome back aboard the Dauntless… COB.”

To Be Continued…

Continue on to “Shipyard – Part 3.”

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