Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in Bridge- Post Dinner

Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Bridge- Post Dinner

Posted by Civilian Sair Songz (Counselor) in Bridge- Post Dinner
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snips)

The bridge was a flurry of activity. All the stations- even the secondary ones- were manned and active, odd for the hour. Most of the uniforms present were the Science Department blue; but some Engineers and Operations officers were present, moving from station to station and assisting and relaying information excitedly. A lone red uniform sat in the Command chair. Cochrane looked up from his display and smiled and said “Thank you for coming, Counselor. Mrs. Songz. I apologize for the late hour, I know Koro was probably asleep.” He motioned for them to sit in the two seats flanking his and he looked at Kel specifically.

“You get to babysit if I can’t get him back to sleep,” Sair said, tossing Alex a smirk as she settled carefully into the seat on his right. She shook Koro gently to wake him again. Kel settled in on the captain’s left.

“I know that it is sometimes difficult to fully grasp what it is we do out here, especially for people who’s priorities are focused on bettering their own worlds… a noble endeavor that goes unappreciated far too often by outsiders. But I wanted to give you three an opportunity that most Star Fleet personnel don’t even get.” and his eyes danced with delight and excitement. He turned to look at the Bridge crew and said in voice that filled the room “Ladies and Gentlemen, are we ready?” Multiple faces smiled and the Science officer at the primary Science station said “We are, Captain. Probe ready for launch.” Cochrane grinned with boyish excitement and said “All right, then… on screen.” and the main viewer came to life.

Sair couldn’t help but smile at his eagerness. There was something… wonderful about it, something she understood to be rare, or at least rarely shared so readily. It told her a lot about him actually.

Three stars… two white and one blue… floated in a celestial ballet in front of them. The white stars were similar in size, with the blue one being slightly larger. The white ones were orbiting the blue one, and rivers of stellar energy and bits of star debris spiraled around them all, wrapping them in blue-white ribbons that filled the empty space around them with light. Light that seemed to flow away from the three stars in one direction on the far side of the stellar dance. The crew stood in rapped silence and stared at the scene before them.

In her own state of awe, Sair whispered to Koro, pointing out what was there and the little boy’s eyes were wide. Kel was, well… her stoic self.

“Apply spectrum filters.” Cochrane said quietly. The light from the viewer su sided slightly, and now a truly massive black hole could be seen on the far side of the three stars. It was drawing the ribbons of light from the stars into it… along with the stars themselves. “This should not exist…” Cochrane said softly. “And from all that we can tell… no one has seen this before. Not even the Delta Quadrant civilizations. We are the first to lay eyes on a stellar phenomenon unlike any seen in history… anywhere.” His voice was filled with wonder and a smile pulled at his mouth. “Fire when ready.” he said to the Tactical officer. There was the sound of a torpedo firing and the officer said softly “Probe away, Captain. On course.” Cochrane leaned towards Kel as the small red light streaked towards the stars and black hole. “We have launched a scientific probe to the system. It will take readings and record everything and send us the data. It’s course will set it parallel to the event horizon of the black hole for a few hours. It will then get pulled inside and be gone forever. But the information we take from it will be studied for generations to come.” he said, a sense of wonderment and awe in his voice as his eyes stayed fixed on the scene before them.

Cochrane, CO

Compelled by something she couldn’t entirely explain, Kel rose out of the seat and moved closer towards the viewscreen. “It’s like someone is painting in real time,” Kel said softly, her eyes affixed to the screen just like everyone else. What he had just described was transient, time limited. As she watched, Kel felt some strange affinity with the scene but was it with the black hole or the things being sucked into it? There was so much she wanted to say, that could never be said, words that had never been fully formed and felt so pointless now. But that was the shifting perspective of life.

“Sal would love this. He’d be composing a piece in his head right now as he watched,” Kel said, looking back, her eyes shining with tears.

Sair looked at Alex. “This is being recorded, isn’t it?”

~The Songz Family

Alex nodded slowly, his gaze on the screen. “Absolutely.” and he sighed. “Dim the lights. Everyone, just… just look at that.” The activity slowed and all heads turned as the lights slowly faded on the Bridge and soon it was just the light of the scene before them casting mote and shadow across the ship’s command center. Alex looked at Kel and said “I hope you don’t mind, but the crew and I have already named the system.” and he shifted his eyes back to the screen.

“Welcome to the Songz-Manhattan System.”

Cochrane, CO

Confusion traipsed along Kel’s face as she looked back across the bridge. “I don’t understand.”

Sair smiled at her mother. “It’s customary for new stellar phenomena to be named after the people who first discovered it.”

Her eyes widened and Kel was quiet for a moment before she whispered, “Oh,” and turned back to the screen.

Sair whispered to Koro and the boy slipped out of his mother’s lap and wandered over to his grandmother, slipping his little hand in hers. Kel smiled as she squeezed his hand and then stooped to pick him up, though the lifting process seemed more strenuous for her at the moment. Sair peeled her gaze off the wonderful sight of grandmother and grandson sharing this amazing moment and looked at Alex. “Thank you,” she whispered. She couldn’t quite read her mother just now but there was something happening for the elder Kobliad that seemed important.

~The Songz Family

Alex smiled without looking at Sair and said ” I didn’t say anything about your mother, but I told the crew about your people. The general consensus was that we felt your people had dealt with impending doom for so long; perhaps having a reminder that endings can be amazing and wonderful and beautiful… and that the lessons we learn from those that have gone before us stay with us… so they are never really gone.” and he turned his head and looked at Sair. “We will send all of this to the Federation Diplomatic Corps, and they will present the discovery and the naming to your government.” and he turned back to look at the screen. “I hope this helps your mother, and you, truly understand that no matter our pasts and current circumstances… the universe is an amazing and beautiful place. And that beauty is something we should strive to find every. single. day.“

Cochrane, CO

Today had been an emotional day and it seemed it wasn’t going to change before she went to sleep. But Sair was more steady than earlier and was able to hold back her urge to cry just now. Sair nodded with gratitude and returned her gaze to the screen and to her family. Leaning back in the chair she actually smiled, despite it all.

“I can’t wait for my father to get the recording. I guarantee you by the time he gets here he’ll have a piece written for it.” Sair returned her gaze to Cochrane, speaking softly. “I told my mother about your offer and we had a good chat about it. She wants to stay, even though it’s hard for her to imagine not being on Kobliad. But we both know my father too well- he’ll be on the first transport out he can get. We’ll talk to him hopefully tomorrow.”

~Sair Songz, CNS

“Good.” was all Cochrane said in response. He was silent for a few moments longer and then said “Lights.” and the bridge lights came up to normal levels. “Alright, everyone. We have work to do. Science, please begin cataloging and sorting data into their respective categories. Engineering, get me a read on the gravitational pull of the monster out there and let us see if we can modify another probe for a better look as far inside as we can. Operations, please prep a quick notification to all crew that if they are free, they really should try to get to the observation deck for the show.” and the bridge crew began moving once again. Cochrane looked at Kel and Koro and said “Well? What do you think?”

Cochrane, CO