Posted by Lieutenant Commander Kastarak (First Officer / Navigation Officer) in Leaving the Solar System – Bridge (tag: everyone)
Two days after Malone had hit the Chernov, the Chernov was ready to leave. The USS Constitution had been helpful. The cross-crew engineering teams – one led by Mr Batario and Mr Kax – and one led by Mr Zóbel de Ayala and Ms Lovejoy – finished all the tasks ahead of schedule. The Chernov was now in a good-enough shape. Luckily, the engineers and scientists hadn’t disclosed the Romulan cloaking tech to the visiting engineers, but it was entirely possible that they had understood what the Chernov was carrying. Even so, the Chernov had not tried or tested the tech. As such, no one knew if it would be working or not.

Still, the Chernov had its orders, and the crew needed to follow them. The staff of the Constitution were leaving the Chernov to return to their own ship. Good-byes were said. This friendship would not be forgotten.

On the Bridge, First Officer Kastarak had returned to service. He had been cleared fit for service, and outwardly it looked like nothing had happened to him. Inside, however, he was still shaken by it – a near brush with death – his second one. The first one had been when escaping the destruction of the planet Vulcan. So, what had happened now, was existential, and activated the traumatic memories from before. He had in his coma also sensed the proximity of Pawl, and sensed how helpful and meaningful that would be. Would there be a way for them to be with one another again? He didn’t know, but he longed to have an answer, an answer not rooted in logic but one in fact.

The Bridge was empty, save for some junior officers prepping the equipment and Kastarak himself, of course. Departure soon. He sounded the intercom.

“All department heads, report to Bridge. All department heads, report to Bridge.”

He sent an intercom to the captain too, letting the captain know the ship was ready. Lack of expertise in applying the bionic arm made the captain one-armed for now. Would he be able to serve? Or could Sickbay and Engineering, now when the emergencies were over, collaborate in sticking the bionic arm back? Either way, the captain was the captain of the ship. He needed to be informed of everything going on. And whether he had two arms or one arm, he was at least fit to serve – for now.

Finally, Kastarak sent an intercom to Ms Lovejoy, “Bridge to Lt Lovejoy, report to Bridge. Lt Lovejoy, report to bridge.”

Kastarak, Lt Cdr
First Officer and Navigations Officer

Dawson was getting security back in order after the repairs. They had been on edge the entire time the Constitution was assisting. Dawson had done his best to keep the Romulan technology secret from the Constitution, not wanting to bring the ship and her crew into their murky business. But that wasn’t the only reason security had been tight. They were still close to Malone’s Titan Base and while they had not heard of anything from the renegade Section 31 outpost since Dawson had melted their central command room with phaser fire, presumably killing Col. Malone. Still, Dawson wasn’t leaving anything more to chance. He’d underestimated Malone before and it had nearly ended up costing the ship and her crew. He was not about to do so again. The entirety of the repairs, Dawson kept the sensors on the lookout for any sign of potential traps and ambushes and he kept his security officers on alert throughout. It was good to be able to have them stand down for a time. Once they reached Klingon space, there would be no respite from danger.

=/\=All department heads, report to Bridge. All department heads, report to Bridge.=/\= Kastarak’s voice came over the intercom. It was good to hear his voice and know he was alright. Dawson had tried to go see him in sick bay during his coma, but he just hadn’t had the time. At least, that’s what he told himself. The truth was he had felt partially responsible for what happened to Kastarak. He couldn’t help thinking that had he acted sooner, or perhaps not antagonized Malone so much, or handled the Section 31 officers differently, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened. He pushed those feelings away, they served no purpose and Dawson had no use for self pity. He put on a smile and went to the turbo lift. “Bridge.” He said and the lift took off.

He arrived on the bridge and went to tactical, a calm smile playing on his face. “Greetings, sir.” He said as he passed Kastarak. “Second verse same as the verse, yes? Let’s try to mind your head this time, alright?” He smirked at Kas as he took his position. Once he was at the controls, he focused again on watching for any possible surprises. Dawson knew rationally that, if Malone did have anything waiting for them, it would have sprung by now. There was a feeling, however, that he just couldn’t shake. This feeling that something was about to happen. Perhaps it was just trauma from the attack. Maybe being so alert through repairs made it harder to come back down. or it could even be the anticipation of the mission and the implications it would have for his family. Perhaps all of these things. But Dawson didn’t become Chief Weapons officer by ignoring his instincts. He’d let Pascall’s wager govern this. If he was diligent and wrong, no harm done. But if he was lax and right? That could spell disaster.

Lt. Q Dawson, CWO