UFS Lovelace, 2233
There was always something about your first command. At least, that's what Mizu Sukuda had heard from her friends as they'd gotten their first command as XOs and captains. Most of them had gone on to crew rather venerable ships, all told. One of her old classmates had even gone on to take the XO's seat on her father's old command, the Olympus.
But, there was also something to be said of being the daughter of someone on the Admiralty Board. They couldn't afford to pick and choose favorites, or even give the appearance of doing so. So, while it certainly had its benefits, being Fuku Sukuda's daughter certainly had its downsides when it came to Starfleet.
Which was why Commander Sukuda looked out the window at the oddly-shaped, still somewhat-strangely colored vessel that had been one of the newer ones off the docks; an Archer-class light cruiser Lovelace.
It didn't hold the sleek lines of the few, vaunted Radiant-class postings, nor the solidness and reliability of the Newton-classes. But there was some small charm to its bulbous 'head', ski-like nacelles, and the rather small engineering hull that would be eclipsed by one of the small cargo pods it would carry. It wasn't beautiful… but it could be cute.
'And damn it all, it's my ship,' she mused as she considered the crew docket on her padd. 'I might as well be proud of it.'
It was a decent crew, most not anywhere above Lieutenant. Hell, her XO, an Ashley Kennedy, was a Lieutenant Commander. But she had no doubt that the crew would be capable, even if they found the missions somewhat boring.
'It's a way to settle into ship-board life, if nothing else,' she thought as the shuttle she was on, one of a complement of 20 and called Bombe, touched down in the 3rd of 5 hangar bays. As she stepped out, she was greeted by the sound of the bosun's pipes, a greeting party with Lieutenant Commander Kennedy, blonde-haired, fair-skinned, and regarding her intently with amber eyes, came to attention.
As Mizu came to a stop in front of Kennedy, she noted the presence of two distinctly non-humanoid crew members serving alongside the usual human complement. One was a Birrin, clothed in the red of operations and a patterning of skin that reminded her of what her history books called penguins. The other was a Korusmian, a woman if the drab plumage that framed her rept-avian head and peeked out from the science blue of her uniform's sleeves was any indication, who regarded her intently. One alien species on a crew was already an interesting sight to see, but two, and clearly non-humanoid in their build, was remarkable.
"Captain," Kennedy said, drawing Mizu's attention back to her, "welcome to the Lovelace. The ship is getting ready to depart with a load of station parts to Korusmi to complete its orbital presence. We're just about ready to get underway."
Mizu nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. I won't keep us waiting any longer than we need to."
As the party was dismissed, most going their separate ways, she fully turned her attention to the Korusmian, nodding slightly. "Lieutenant Suk'nurushni," she said, silently hoping she'd managed to get the pronunciation correctly. "I'm glad we have a Korusmian on-board to help smooth things along for this mission. Are you here on commission from the Korusmian military?"
Suk'nurushni shook her head. "I am a part of Starfleet proper," she replied, the universal translator rendering her voice as a deep, somewhat rumbling alto. "Myself, along with Lieutenant Dimillin of the Birrin, are among the first class of Starfleet Academy personnel that has more than one or two non-humans among its ranks."
"How many were there?" Mizu asked as Kennedy began to take her on a tour of the ship, the others following behind.
"There were 6 of us," Dimillin replied with a rather melodic, almost shimmering voice. "Myself and Nuru, a Catian, a Vulcan, and two Andorians. We continue to commiserate as best we can."
"I see," Mizu said. "Well, I'm glad to see the frontier is expanding for you and for Starfleet in terms of its membership. With being a chief engineer and chief science officer, even on a ship such as this, I imagine you have some prestige on your homeworlds."
"We are… minor celebrities, yes," Suk'nurushni replied. "Depending on the length of our stay, you and the rest of the crew may be exposed to what one could call… fans."
With that, the tour of the ship went as well as one might expect. As they walked, however, Mizu noticed something. The atmosphere of this ship was… different from those that she'd served on.
Almost all Starfleet vessels were, by the nature of their insulation against the void and their long treks throughout Federation space and beyond, possessed of a crew that was familiar with each other, capable of working together and understanding the needs of the mission and the crew as a whole. Such was necessary to keep such complicated ships functioning.
But the feeling of this ship's crew, the way they interacted with each other, the way they regarded her beyond just as their new commanding officer… she'd inherited a crew that was more tight-knit than most.
She'd heard that such was the case from her father. Seeing it in action, however, almost but not quite skirting the edge of regulations regarding fraternization, still managed to shock her somewhat. She wasn't just a new commanding officer that they would need to get a gauge on. She was a stranger entering an extant community, a little world of its own.
'Well,' Mizu thought as, with Dimillin and Suk'nurushni having parted ways at their stations for the moment, she stepped onto the highest deck of the ship, the bridge arrayed before her, 'I need to integrate myself, then. If it can keep this ship running as happily as Commander Isley mentioned in his message to me.'
As she put the bridge officers at ease, she made her way to the captain's chair, Kennedy taking her place alongside her as she directed the ship to begin moving towards their waiting cargo pod.
"No opening speech, ma'am?" Kennedy asked.
"I want us underway, business as usual, before I make any ship-wide broadcast," Mizu replied. "Their routine has already been disrupted somewhat by my arrival, so I want to give them a chance to settle back in before I make any ripples."
"That's… highly unusual, ma'am," Kennedy replied.
"I get the feeling this isn't your regular sort of posting," Mizu replied. "How long have you been here?"
"About a year, ma'am," Kennedy replied. "I replaced the previous XO after he went on paternity leave with his family. It's taken some time, but I think the crew's comfortable with me now."
"And to achieve that," Mizu said, "I think I'll need to follow your lead. Think you can show me the ropes?"
"I thought Sukudas were supposed to be quite able to adjust to new tactical situations on their own, Captain," Kennedy said with a slight smile.
Mizu returned her smile. "Maybe so. But I think I'll need your family's good luck for that to be the case."
Kennedy chuckled softly. "If only mom had heard you saying that…"
Mizu shrugged slightly as she looked over at her comms officer, the rumble of the docking clamps connecting to the cargo pod heard even here. "Ensign Seo-yeong, shipwide channel, please."
As the ensign completed his task, Mizu let the bosun's pipes whistle pass on for a moment before speaking. "This is your new captain. I've heard nothing but praise from your previous captain, Mr. Isley. He asked me in his message to send over his regards to, in his words, 'as fine a group of wrench-pullers as any person could ask for'. That alone speaks volumes of his trust, and his comfort, in working with this crew."
"I am well aware that I am an unknown," she continued, "as any new crewmember can be. As well, I am a stranger to most, though I'm sure you've likely heard of my family name. I have no intention to lord such a thing over you, even if I had the power to do so. As humble as these ships are compared to many other postings, this ship and its sisters play a vital part. It is an honor to serve with all of you, and I look forward to getting to know you as we do what needs to be done to build the Federation piece by piece."
With that, she signaled for the link to be cut, looking at Kennedy and seeing a somewhat bemused expression.
"That's rather… magnanimous, ma'am," Kennedy said. "We aren't exactly the Sagarmatha."
"Well, if there's anything my time spent growing up traveling the Federation has taught me," Mizu replied, "it's that you don't make friendly neighbors by being lordly."
"Helm," she said as they reached their departure, a Newton-class called the Faraday their escort. "Take it away, maximum cruise."
The stars stretched into lines zipping past them, and Mizu settled into her chair with a quiet sigh. 2 months to Korusmi. Enough time to be friendly, at the very least.
. . .
2 Months Later
The Pharos-type station, or at least its skeleton, loomed large in the viewport of the Lovelace. She was accompanied by two other Archers, the Archer herself and the Benz. Their shuttles, accompanied by swarms of worker bees, made a cloud around the superstructure, like carrion flies working in reverse.
Mizu wasn't on the bridge to watch the continuing construction. The whole process would take several months, anyway, and she was sure that the Faraday, who had remained with them as a patrol guard, would find the same waiting period boring as well. But there were benefits to being on an Archer for that long.
Tonight, as had been established when the Lovelace had arrived, was game night.
Crewmembers of all three ships, via separated comms channels, had set up digital games stations that could relay info across all three ships. This week's game night had taken the form of a collection of 'campaigns', as it were, of an old role-playing game system from Earth, nearly lost in the fires of the Third World War.
Mizu was arbitrating, or Game Mastering, a collection of 6 that included, of all things, the Benz' executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Sinclair. It was an interesting thing, this role-playing game. It reminded her of so many elements of childhood make-believe, of the blending of human and alien stories and mythologies that she'd bent to her seemingly boundless imagination. But here, there was structure, an order to things, that she was sure the engineering-minded among her crew found quite comforting, even when the dice used to arbitrate luck turned against them. That so many among her crew and many others she'd interacted with in this way were artificers was only a happy coincidence, she was sure.
As she narrated a scene of an adventuring party at rest, she found herself rudely interrupted by the howl of the red alert. 'Damn,' she thought as her group excused themselves and she quickly made her way to the nearest turbolift. 'What am I missing?'
She pulled out her communicator, activating it with a chirp. "Status report," she said into her feed to the bridge.
"We're reading increased tachyon particle emissions at the edge of the system," Suk'nurushni replied. "The Faraday is going to investigate, but whatever is emitting tachyons at such a rate will meet the Faraday only 15 minutes away from us at maximum impulse."
The explanation made her blood run cold. 'Cloaked raiders.' Who they were, how they had made it so deeply into Federation space, what their goals were, all would have to wait until they knew more. Until then, all they could do was get ready.
Mizu emerged onto the bridge, barely acknowledging the call of the crewmember announcing her arrival as Ashley stood from the captain's chair.
"What are our options?" Mizu said.
"Right now, the best option seems to be running, ma'am," Ashley replied. "Whatever's coming for us, we can bet that we likely won't best them."
"Maybe so," Mizu said. "But that leaves the planet open to them. As well as the station. We could be set back months if they do enough damage. Comms, get Captains Huxley and Huertas on channel."
Park Seo-yeong did his duty quickly, and the voices of the two captains were not quiet for very long.
"Captain Sukuda," Captain Fernando Huxley said, "I imagine you have some sort of plan."
"I'd like to have something," Mizu replied, "seeing as we don't have a defense grid built to help us out just yet."
"We aren't exactly warships," Eliza Huertas said archly. "What can we do other than try and pile on whatever ships get past the Faraday?"
Mizu was silent for a moment. "These are likely just raiders," she said. "They wouldn't advance this deep and this silently unless they were looking for an easy payoff."
"We're just carrying parts for the Pharos," Huxley replied. "The only thing of any value would have to be the power plant modules that we haven't installed in the station yet."
"If the raiders are crafty enough, that'd be a payday enough for them," Huerta replied.
"Sir," Seo-yeong said, "the Faraday's engaged the raiders. The data on the four vessels they're relaying is roughly matching old Klingon warbirds. They're likely newer designs, but the resemblance remains."
"Klingons?" Mizu said. "We haven't picked a fight with them, and they haven't made any overt moves. Why strike at us now?"
"Questions for the diplomats," Huxley replied. "Right now, we just need to make sure we survive. How do we do that?"
Mizu considered the question silently as she looked out the main viewscreen, taking in the space around her. And the cargo pods that lay empty surrounding the station.
Then, she got an Idea. "Why don't we give them something they can't pass up?"
"What do you mean?" Huerta asked.
"How quickly could we pack a brace of torpedoes into a cargo pod?" she asked. "We'll need to get started now, because the work around it will likely draw the raiders in."
"And if we protect them…" Huxley said slowly. "We make it seem like there's something precious we have to give up to stay alive."
"What are you doing here, and not in the chair of a Kea?" Huerta asked with a chuckle.
"My job, Eliza," Mizu said with a slight smile. "My people will get to work on a way to mimic the sensor output of one of the bigger cores we have here. As long as we have a dozen or so torpedoes taken from each of our magazines, that should destroy anything that comes our way."
"Good luck," Huxley replied. "We'll get to work."
With that, the comm channel closed, and Ashley looked at Mizu. "I've gotta say," she said somewhat hesitantly, "you're kind of asking for a miracle, ma'am."
"It's what we joined Starfleet to do," Mizu replied. "And if there's any crew that can do it, it's the Lovelace's."
. . .
The next 15 minutes were a frenzy of activity as the chosen cargo pod became an unwilling improvised explosive, Mizu keeping tabs on the Faraday's battle with the Klingon raiders. It was a battle that, as well armed and nimble as she was, she was losing. The ship had destroyed one of the birds of prey, and crippled another decisively. But, at long last, she had to pull back to keep herself from being torn apart, letting two birds of prey, one unscathed, the other only partially damaged, carve their way towards the waiting station and ships.
The clock was now ticking, and Mizu kept it in mind as she watched the final, hurried efforts of those daring engineers within the cargo pod, now a safe distance away from the station, who were wiring the signal, built into a torpedo hull as a power source and a transmitter, that would lure the Klingon raiders in.
"How are Aomea and Dillons holding up, Nuru?" she said, not quite capable of keeping the edge of concern from her voice.
"They should be finished soon," Suk'nurushni replied. "Creating the signal was always going to be the difficult part, and Dimillin's people handled it exceptionally well."
Mizu remained silent as she watched the screen, the cloud of workers clearing up as shuttles returned to their bays. "Captain," the voice of the Junior Grade Lieutenant that manned their transporter room, "I have Aomea and Dillons."
"The signal is transmitting," Suk'nurushni said. "The battlespace is now yours."
"For all that's worth in these," Mizu said, mostly to herself. "Seo-yeong, signal the Archer and the Benz and have them form up with us around the cargo pod, and get ready for long range fires. The moment they get within a kilometer, turn and burn away from the cargo pod. Let them think they've won."
"Acknowledged," Park replied, relaying the message as the Lovelace moved into position, making up the top vertice of a triangle pointed out at the raiders.
And, for a moment, Mizu thought about the story that her dad had told her of the battle of Agaron Prime all those years ago. The waiting he'd done for the Romulans. That she was doing now.
Then, a brief alarm. "Raiders are in range," Ashley said.
"Fire."
The space above Korusmi flashed with phasers and photon torpedoes, phasers scanning the space the tachyon emissions were coming from as photon torpedoes chased the brief hits that were made. All too often, the photon torpedoes just sailed into the night, detonating on nothing.
As the tachyon emissions closed past 50 kilometers, they slowly faded out in time with the Klingon birds of prey revealing themselves, harsh, angular things that were painted in a dull gunmetal gray, diving towards them with harsh green disruptor cannon shots and deep red torpedoes striking out. But where the phasers and photon torpedoes only scored glancing hits, the disruptors were far more precise. And quite deadly.
Mizu and the rest of the bridge crew rocked in their places as one of the birds of prey scored another hit on her shields, the blow causing them to flicker for a moment.
"Shields still holding at 68.7% capacity," Suk'nurushni said as calmly as she could. "Raiders are at 35 kilometers."
"Almost…" Mizu said quietly. They just needed to get a little closer…
Then, a tone from the science station as another hit rocked the ship a little harder. "The raiders have passed the point of no return."
"All ships, break and disengage!" Mizu said. "Helm, come about, full impulse."
Mizu had to grip her chair a little tighter as the ship moved as fast as it could, a rear view coming up on the monitor as they fled. The raiders, for their part, slowed down, seemingly content to let the ships they'd had their little duel with escape as they kept their noses firmly pointed at the cargo pod that had seemingly been left out of desperation.
'Come on…' Mizu thought, trying to will the ships to continue creeping closer. 'Take the bait…'
Closer and closer the birds of prey drew to the cargo pod. Mizu glanced up at Ashley as the seemingly agonizing process took place. "Finger on the button, Ashley," she said quietly. "Just in case."
The last words came at a murmur as Mizu considered the hastily designed and constructed proximity system the crews of engineers had brainstormed and added to the torpedo array at the last moment. There was a manual detonation switch just in case, but-
There was a brilliant flash of white light, the automatic filters on the viewscreen only doing so much as all reflexively covered their eyes. As the flash faded, those eyes slowly were allowed to see the spinning debris field, metal cooling rapidly appearing almost like twinkling stars.
With that, Mizu, and the rest of the crews she was sure, allowed herself a gentle sigh of relief. "Well," she said quietly, "we're nothing if not proficient in demolition as well."
. . .
5 Weeks Later
There were many more Starfleet ships in system than there were intended to be. Not the least of these ships was the UFS Denali, which had carried a member of the Admiralty Board to oversee the ongoing investigation and commend the crews for their actions in the battle.
That it happened to be Admiral Sukuda, who should have been on a diplomatic tour half a Federation away, simply came down to him being already out there, she'd been assured.
Even still, it made hugging him in her private quarters no less sweet for how long they'd been separated. She could swear there was more salt than pepper in the 85-year-old man's hair at this point, and there were a few more lines in his face that creased with his smile as they sat and had drinks, but he still possessed the same quiet energy that had kept her in check as a child whenever he was able to see her and her mother.
"Sakura bloom," he said after a moment appreciating the company, "we've got to keep meeting like this to a minimum. At least while you're in a ship like this."
Mizu sighed quietly and smiled, chuckling softly. "She held together well, Dad. The engineers at Utopia Planitia should be proud of themselves."
"I'll pass on my regards, then," Fuku replied. "But there's something else to discuss, now that we've gotten past the fact that you've used a cargo pod in a remarkably unorthodox manner."
Mizu shrugged slightly. "I can only thank the crew here on the ship for teaching me how to effectively think outside the box."
"I've learned that if you put enough engineers in a room, you'll experience miracles, sooner or later. Your mother can attest to that," Fuku said with a slight shake of his head.
The smile on his face faded. "No, what I have to say isn't allowed to leave this room just yet. And it's the reason for your crash engineering project."
"The Klingons."
Fuku nodded. "The one ship that managed to survive mostly intact is the largest raider we've ever seen in Federation space. The tacticians on the Denali are already designating it the D2, and the 80 Klingon warriors onboard made us pay for every inch of it. It looks like an older ship that's gone through quite a lot of updates and modernizations; radio-carbon dating's placing some of the main hull components as early as the 2160s."
"But the fact still stands," he continued, "that this is the furthest that Klingon raiders have penetrated thus far, and with the heaviest tonnage in ships we seen thus far."
Mizu's blood ran cold. "So the rumors of border raids are true, then."
Fuku nodded. "It's part of why you're building this station. Everyone back at San Francisco is gearing up for something bad. Maybe even war. The sort of war, if reports on Klingon naval strength and attitude are correct, that'll stand next to the Romulan War in its bloodiness."
Mizu took a deep breath, then nodded. "I can hope we'll be ready for it, if nothing else," she said quietly.
"Of that much you can be assured," Fuku said as he stood. "The Warp 8 program's completed testing, and they're just waiting on a ship to put it on. We'll get there. I promise."
Fuku made his way to the door, pausing at it before it opened. "And," he said as he looked back, "with you performance here, I wouldn't expect you to stay for long on a ship like this, Captain. Good evening to you."
"Good evening, Admiral," Mizu replied, and she watched as Admiral Sukuda exited her quarters.
The idea of moving up in the world, of commanding a ship meant for greater things than just engineering projects and hauling, was always an exciting prospect. Mizu couldn't deny the little thrill that ran through her.
But she also couldn't deny the quiet, aching sadness of the thought of leaving these people, this ship, behind.
'Well,' Mizu thought, 'you never forget your first command.'
