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This post. In IC format)
Alexandria and the Connie-B
Alexandria Kuznetsova shoves half a slice of toast in her mouth, as she nods vigorously at her old friend, "Mmphh!" she says, encouragingly.
Anne Usha decides to ignore her friend's inadvertent chipmunk impression as she continues, "So in the end the Constitution-Bs aren't really a true refit. More like a streamlined version of the design."
"Then again, Starfleet only has
Cheron. If we were planning a full refit program only one ship would benefit." Camille Alexander says, cutting into a sausage and jumping in surprise at the sudden grease spurt released towards him.
"Wed be bullin shiftps fer oniie teh eehrs." Alexandria swallows her toast down, "There is no upgrade room. We might as well be de-orbiting them for fun in a decade," says the Lieutenant Commander as she contemplates what it would look like to watch a dozen cruisers breaking up and dropping into an atmosphere at all once.
"Why not just sell them?" Han Seung looks around the group, waving around a piece of ham on a fork, smiling brightly at his girlfriend as the three Starfleet officers look at him blankly. "I'm not kidding; a lot of groups would kill to get their mitts on even a used discount Connie." He pictures himself sitting in the middle of a Constitution's bridge like a more entrepreneurial Kirk, and smiles.
Camille quickly swallows his breakfast sausage, "We can't do that!"
The other man shrugs, buttering a slice of toast, "Why not?"
"Because!" Alexandria and Camille say at the same time, then look at each other, in surprise.
"You can't just sell a Starship! It's just not done! Who knows what someone could do with a Starship?" Camille finishes, Alexandria nodding in agreement and stuffing another hunk of toast in her mouth.
"Then sell it to someone you trust." says the independant captain. "I'm just saying that If I were one of those poor bastards making runs out to Indoria and back, I'd want a big 'ol heavy cruiser watching over me. What happens to them in ten years would cost me less than losing an entire cargo tomorrow." He looks at his girlfriend for support.
"Hey. I just build the things. The Connie-Bs that we have up on the drawing boards are pretty efficient pieces of work. It's a shame that new designs we're kicking around will outclass them. But I don't like us introducing a new version of an ancient hull. " she leans over to steal a slice of fruit of Alexandria's plate, "It would be nice to see the Connie-Bs in use rather than scrapped in a decade if we did build them though."
"Hmmm" says Alexandria, chewing with her face scrunched up in thought ignoring her friend's blatant theft of part of her breakfast. "Hmmmmm" she says again more decisively, as she swallows heavily.
The Lieutenant Commander pokes her hash browns thoughtfully. "You know, the member fleets use some of the older older designs. Even a bunch of those Constellations that people keep telling me we should replace." She reaches out and the rest of the table instinctively covers their plates. Alexandria frowns unhappily and spears a slice of bacon. "Hey. Do you want to hear this thought or not?!"
Anne sighs and lifts her hands, followed slowly afterwards by the two men.
Kuznetsova sets down the chunk of bacon, "Thank you"
"Now. Some members already have Constitutions that they are familiar with, and aren't planning to retire soon," Alexandria cuts a piece of bacon in half and sets it on Anne's plate next to her beef sausage. "They'd be happy with a cheap addition to their fleets that let them replace an old Constellation or something with a better ship." She takes away a fork full of omelette from Usha's plate.
"Wouldn't the members feel insulted getting hand-me-downs?" Camille says watching Alexandria swap the other half-piece of bacon for a wedge of bagel on his plate.
Seung snorts goodnaturedly, "Ha. Doubt it. I know that the Vulcans are tired of their Soyuzs spending half the year in dry dock. And the other half in the hands of crews that would be terrified if they had emotions. They'd love to get their hands on a good ship only a decade old." He observes Alex reaching across the table to swap two pieces of fruit with a wary and resigned eye. "I'm pretty certain the Andorian Imperial Guard wouldn't mind either. It's not like we're talking about decrepit rustbuckets here." He pokes at his new slice of cantaloupe. "I mean
Enterprise, was launched in what '93? And I bet the member fleets would go to war to get her. Age isn't everything"
Anne nods enthusiastically, "And by no means are the Connie-Bs bad designs. Not full Excelsior upgrades like
Enterprise, but they are efficient, reliable designs that can be built fairly cheaply and quickly." she shrugs, "They just don't have the room for continued refitting in the future and our current designs would eclipse the Connie-Bs after a decade. They just aren't a good build for Starfleet in the long run."
"I'm telling you Anne, most planetary and system fleets would kill to get their hands on a reliable, easy to maintain fairly new build ship. These Connie Bees sound about perfect."
Alexandria giggles at Seung's pronunciation of Connie Bee. "Connie Bee. Put that way it sounds like a cute little bee friend." She takes a breath, and continues in a sing-songy cadence, "~ConnieBee! ConnieBee! ConnieBee won't you be friends with me! ConnieBee! ConnieBee! ConnieBee help me guard my hon-eee!~" she ignores the curious stares and turned heads in the restaurant as Camille politely claps. "Seriously though. I like the idea. People with higher pay grades than mine probably already thought of it. But I'll still pass it along."
"We don't get paid anything," Camille points out, quite reasonably.
"Yes. But they get paid quite a bit more nothing than us!"
