Catching up on paperwork

Posted on Sat Aug 10th, 2019 @ 8:32am by Captain Jack Solomon

911 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 99 - Exordium / Epilogue
Location: Docking Bay - USS Sutherland
Timeline: MD1 1530hrs

With the briefing in Marine Country completed, Jack had made his way back to his office in Engineering to carry out the rest of his tasks for the day. Whilst he was still amazed at the sensitive information General Hurd had included him on with the rest of the various officers and crew in the briefing, he couldn't help wonder what other issues they would come across once they had a chance to look further into the Helldiver project.

Collecting his toolkit, Jack made his way toward the nearest turbolift and entered it when it arrived. "Docking Ring," he instructed, as the doors closed. Something that he had let slip was inspections on starships within the Docking Ring and the USS Sutherland was the first on his list.

He's made sure that the previous shift had assigned a team to work on the Nebula Class starship the night before, making sure that she was ready for Jack's visit and subsequent inspection. With all of the recent action that had taken place in previous weeks, priorities had shifted in several different areas and his time was taken up elsewhere whilst the Engineering teams did their best to keep up with the work.

This also reminded Jack that he needed to find time to catch up with Deela as well, knowing that soon they would need to pick a date for their wedding and start preparations for what was agreed to be a small affair. He was glad that they had sorted out several details already, now he just prayed for a quiet period to get the wedding finalised and completed.

Once the turbolift arrived and he made his way out to the Docking Ring, Jack took in the impressive sight of the various starships in dock inside the massive facility that was Starbase 400. He always knew when he first arrived at the Spacedock class Station that it was big, having visited Spacedock itself back in orbit of Earth several times himself, but it never failed to make him catch his breath. Despite the yearning to be out there exploring space and taking in the unknown, Jack's one true love of Starfleet was the many different types of starships that Starfleet employed for their various duties.

The Nebula Class starship stood before him locked into its Docking Area and he could see several teams making trips back and forth as regular maintenance was taking place. Checking the duty roster for any officers or crew working onboard from Engineering, Jack smiled as he saw Lt Yosemite as being the officer in charge during this shift. He knew that the young Martian officer was a capable engineer and wasn't surprised to see she was assigned today.

He made his way towards the docking hatch and saw the Lieutenant snap to attention as she spied him making his way over. "Commander Solomon, I wasn't aware that you were paying the Sutherland visit today?" she offered, already knowing herself that she was prepping the ship for his arrival.

"At ease, Lieutenant, I'm just here to make sure that the old girl passes her inspection, which is long overdue after recent events," Jack explained as he met Yosemite at the airlock exit. "So, I see we have a standard maintenance crew on duty today, I'm not sure that was to be expected?" he asked her. Jack knew that the young officer was an organised and efficient colleague who attended to her duties well.

"I like to make sure that the maintenance crews onboard keep each and every starship we have in tip-top condition, sir. It's good to make sure that any of these vessels can leave port at a moments notice," Yosemite explained.

Jack smiled. "Very well. I'll start in Engineering and make my way around to work through the various checklists I have, make sure I'm not disturbed too much?" he asked. He liked to make sure that he wasn't disturbed as he carried out his work, knowing that his report had to be completely accurate, otherwise a starship could be rendered out of action until it was cleared for duty.

Heading towards a turbolift on board the Sutherland, he requested Engineering and stepped inside the car once it arrived. Taking note of the smooth ride along the way, Jack smiled as he arrived at his destination and made his way to the heart of the Nebula class starship. Whilst serving on Starbase 400 hadn't dulled his senses, he did get a kick out of walking onboard a starship and also walking into the Engineering section. Despite his previous Operations background, Jack was loving his role and the privileges that came with it such as this.

As the Warp Core sat in idle mode before him, he still marvelled at the amazing piece of Engineering before him. Knowing that the Sutherland had been involved in the Klingon Civil War as part of the blockade fleet to stop Romulan ship aiding the House of Duras as well as being a heavy part of the Ninth Fleet during the Dominion War meant that Jack had to make sure that she was in top condition. One of the older starships in the fleet, the Nebula Class starship could take care of herself in both Exploration and Battle and had proven so before.

Pulling out his checklist and opening his toolkit, Starbase 400's Chief Engineer began his inspection, knowing that the next few hours were going to be very busy for him.

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