Spirit of 45 Gabriel
Characters have previously appeared in following omakes:
Off the Ranch
Academy View
Comings and Goings
Qute and the Space-Time Vortex
9 Months before Battle of 45 Gabriel: Olympus Mons, Mars
"Guess who!" demanded a familiar voice as two hands covered Jacqueline Appel's eyes.
"Well it better be Dash sh'Rinboq, cause I don't know anyone else with blue hands who would reckon they could get away with playing 'guess who' with me," replied Jacqueline.
Taking her hands away, Dash circled around the small table and settled into a seat across from Jacqueline. "What about Rartay?"
"Rartay would say, 'A lady could, but she never would'," said Jacqueline in a decent approximation of their amarkian friend's refined tones. They both laughed.
"But seriously, what are you doing here Dash?"
"Duh, same thing that you are. You are looking at the new Gamma Shift Helm officer for the USS Spirit... well, once it launches that is."
"Helm officer on an Excelsior, huh? Somebody better warn the Captain never to order you 'full speed ahead'. Ah still remember what you did in that simulator. Warp bubbles are not supposed to flash rainbow colors!" teased Jacqueline.
Her andorian friend looked annoyed, antenna shifting back and forth. "I don't care what the simulator thinks, my math says it'll work... I mean, as long as I can steer around any subspace instabilities in our flight path."
"All right, sorry I done brung it up. Don't want to be having this argument again. But yeah, it's great to see you, Dash. Good to be shipmates with one of the old gang," answered Jacqueline, pleased.
"It's going to be awesome! I mean, being Helm Officer on its own was worth it, but I am so ready to get off the Renaissance," agreed Dash.
"I always thought you liked it there. Didn't your letters go on and on about it?" replied Jacqueline, puzzled.
"I did, when Captain Leaniss was in charge and we were out doing things! I learned so much from her, even when things were rough, like at the battle of Gammon." Dash paused at the mention of the concluding battle of the Arcadian war and looked solemn for a moment. Then the moment passed.
She continued. "But then Captain Leaniss left and we got posted to the Gabriel Border Zone... or maybe I ought to call it the Gabriel
Boring Zone."
"It can't be that bad."
"I'm serious. There's nothing to do there. We've got the place garrisoned up with 20 Starfleet ships, never mind the member world fleets, so there are enough phasers and torpedoes to keep the Cardassians scared off. Fine! But that means that whenever there's anything interesting to do, there's 20 ships competing for the job. Mostly we just crawl along, following cargo ships and freighters so they don't get attacked. Maybe once in a while the Cardassians give us a scare to make sure we stay awake, but apart from that it's months of boring at a time. And forget about shore leave anywhere fun."
"Hmmm," hummed Jacqueline in a non-comment.
Dash grinned. "Yeah, I didn't think Lt. Jacqueline 'Explorer Corps' Appel would know much about boredom. How did they get you out of the EC anyway?"
"It was stay a Lieutenant Junior Grade on the Courageous or come be a full Lieutenant on the Spirit. Now ah do love the Corps, but if I ever want to get my own command someday I have to keep moving up. Besides, after some of what we saw I'm ready for a standard sector patrol.
Those parasites that messed with our memories were about the worst!"
Dash gestured towards Utopia Planitia far overhead. "Well where one goes out, another goes in. You were copied on the same letter I got; looks like Mitchie has a posting on the Opportunity. Guess she'll see some Explorer Corps fun on her own."
Jacqueline glanced quickly to one side and then the other.
Dash put her hands on her hips in exasperation. "Oh come on. She's not going to appear just because I mentioned her-"
"HEY GIRLS," boomed Mitchie Peh as she appeared out of nowhere and slapped both of them on the back.
"Dang it Mitchie, you sure you're not part Q?" said Jacqueline.
"Part what? Anyway, my Mitchie sense told me two of my old pals were here and it is time for a reunion par-tay!" answered Mitchie, practically bouncing on her toes. The other human hadn't changed much since the last time Jacqueline had seen her, still all big grins and poofy hair.
"The scary part is, I believe her," said Dash to no one in particular. "Too bad we can't have the whole gang here, but T'Wilit and Rartay are still out on the Sappho in Amarkia sector, and Shayla-"
"Is scheming to get her way on the Kepler when it launches in a few years, just you wait," said Mitchie happily.
"Huh?" asked Jacqueline.
"Poor, sweet naive Applejack," said Mitchie, patting Jacqueline's head. "What, you thought she joined the 40 Eridani A Ship Design Bureau because ship design is her passion all of a sudden?
"Half the people there right now transferred to work on the Kepler project, and half of those are looking to pad their record to get on the initial crewing. 'I literally helped design the ship' looks good on your application," continued Mitchie.
"How do you know all this?" demanded Dash.
"I have sources. So many sources," declared Mitchie smugly.
"I guess we're lucky just to have the three of us all in one place," said Jacqueline, picking up the earlier conversation thread. "It gets harder and harder with the six of us spread across the Federation like we are."
"Hmmm, that does make party planning tough" said Mitchie, putting a finger to the side of her head as she thought. "Oh, I know! You'll just have to buckle down, do amazing things in your career, and get appointed to captain a five year mission. Then Dash can fly the ship, and Shayla can be the CMO, T'Wilit can be your Science Officer, and... I dunno, Rartay and I can take turns being First Officer. Then we'll hang out for five years!"
"Take turns, wha- That don't seem too likely, seeing as how we all graduated the same year," replied Jacqueline.
"So get a move on and be appointed the youngest Explorer Corps captain ever!" said Dash, getting in on the joke.
And the three of them laughed and enjoyed their reunion, however brief.
===
4 Months before Battle of 45 Gabriel: USS Spirit, Cardassian Border Zone
Lt. sh'Rinboq jerked into alertness as the Turbolift doors opened and Captain Przybylski came onto the bridge a full 2 hours before Gamma Shift was due to end. The ship had launched only a short time ago, but she was pretty sure that was unusual for him.
He settled into the command chair after it was hastily vacated by Lt. Commander Dimal. "Lieutenant, what's our current course?"
Dash double-checked her panel, though of course she knew the answer already. "Underway to Starbase 9 at Lapycorias with an ETA of about 30 hours, sir."
"Plans have changed. Plot a new course to Delzarr in Apinae Sector. And increase speed to Warp 8."
There was a pause of a couple of seconds as Dash waited for him to continue to explain, only to realize that no explanation was coming. "Aye sir," she finally coughed out just in time not to seem insubordinate. Dash began laying in the new route. As she did, she snuck a look at Jacqueline, who was on a sensors station near the wall. The other lieutenant caught her eyes and then glanced meaningfully at the Comms station. That was right, an eyes only transmission come come through for the captain about half an hour ago.
As it developed, they didn't have to wait long for an explanation. As soon at his first officer arrived on bridge, Captain Przybylski made a shipwide announcement. "Attention all crew, this is the Captain. We have received new orders from Starfleet Command. I'm sure all of you are familiar with the recent destruction of the Republic. A large retaliatory force is assembling in the Gabriel Expanse under the command of Rear Admiral ka'Sharren, and the Spirit has been ordered to join them. We are going to war.
"Make no mistake, this will be very different from
when we recently engaged a crystalline cosmozoan in defense of Miirilin. We go now to face an intelligent, determined enemy. As we brave that danger in the weeks and months ahead, I know all of you will perform in the finest traditions of Starfleet. Consult your duty officers for details on specific preparations for your departments. Captain out."
As soon as their duty shift ended, Jacqueline grabbed Dash to go talk.
"Just when I thought I was out of Gabriel, they yank me back in," complained Dash.
Jacqueline gently smacked her on the shoulder. "Hey, be serious! This is... I mean, you know I missed the entire Arcadian War. They never pulled the Odyssey off duty to assist. But you were in the main battle task force on the Renaissance. What was that like?"
"Scary. When you're in a big fleet battle like that, you have no control. It's all about who the other side shoots at, if they get a lucky hit or not, how the ships on your own side are doing... it's chaos, and not the fun kind. All you can do is trust your ship, your captain, and your admiral."
Dash ruminated for a few seconds, then spoke again. "We didn't see any warp core breaches, but I still remember how it felt when we heard about ships going down. The Endurance... the Sojourner... and the Thunderhead cracked clean in half. Not to mention the shots the Renaissance was taking. We lost thirty people. Nobody I knew too well, but they were still part of the crew."
"Dash, ah'm sorry I..."
"No, it's fine. I thought about resigning from Starfleet after that, you know? That's not why I want to be out here. I want to fly ships and explore and make friends and help people. But I guess sometimes you have to fight to keep everyone safe. So here we are, going to show the Cardassians they can't blow up our ships and get away with it. But it's hard when you know so much in a battle is outside your ships's control."
Jacqueline thumped a wall. "It's different in the Explorer Corp, I guess. We sure get into plenty of scrapes there, but you always feel like there's something you can do about it. Some last minute trick or smart idea Captain Thuir or Captain Mbeki or Captain Sabek would pull out."
Dash patted her friend on the shoulder. "Come on Applejack, let's get something to eat and you can tell me some Explorer Corps stories."
"Sure! Ah ever tell you about the time I lassoed a god?"
===
2 ½ Months before Battle of 45 Gabriel: USS Spirit, orbiting the remnants of Collie Mining Colony
"Put that back Lieutenant, there's no one left alive from the mining complex," said Captain Przybylski.
Jacqueline hefted the medical supplies kit and protested. "But sir, Dash- I mean, I heard from Lt. sh'Rinboq that sometimes personnel liked to go exploring when they got bored. Maybe there was someone far enough away from the blast site, and our sensors are missing them with the ionized atmosphere and all-"
The Captain looked about to reinforce his order when Rear Admiral ka'Sharren interrupted him. "That's a good thought, Lieutenant. Go do a circuit of the perimeter while the rest of us are sifting through the remains."
The Admiral's voice held its famous confidence, but Jacqueline thought she detected an underlying bitterness. Well, no wonder. If they'd only arrived a little earlier, maybe the Konen attack could have been stopped before it destroyed the mining colony. Or maybe it would have caught the Spirit with its shields down and blown it up. Chilling thought.
The Admiral, the Captain, and various personnel beamed down to Collie. The weather was typically awful, wind and rain howling, but it fit everyone's moods. While the others took sensor readings of the facility and looked for its 'black box' recorder that should survive even an orbital phaser strike, Jacqueline wandered around outlying areas scanning with her tricorder.
She didn't find any survivors.
She did find a boulder with "KS + JMV" scratched into it, a reminder of some couple who had commemorated this spot but would never be back to see it again. Jacqueline realized her cheeks were wet, but it was probably just the rain.
===
Battle of 45 Gabriel
The Spirit's battle bridge shook with impact. Jacqueline checked her screen. "Torpedo impact from Jaldun 2. Shields holding at 80%. No damage"
Lt. Commander Dimal nodded from the command seat, his rigellian features calm. He issued no orders because there was no cause to issue any. None of them had any duties, yet. They were here manning the battle bridge purely in case the main bridge took an unlucky hit that wiped out the command crew and someone still needed to be flying the ship. They had to keep absolutely up to date on everything that was going on in the battle, but at the same time they could control none of it.
It was hell.
"Not that way," muttered Lt. sh'Rinboq. Her hand twitched above the controls, disagreeing with the decisions of Helm on the bridge, but she couldn't do anything about it.
Lieutenant Parhynr over on comms gasped in a way that everyone knew instantly was bad news. "USS Renaissance has suffered a warp core breach. It... it's gone with all hands."
"No," murmured Dash not very loudly.
Over the next hour the battle continued. The Spirit continued to take attack after attack from both Jalduns and Kaldars both, shields gradually weakening to as low as 20%, but never quite failing. Finally they escaped the crossfire, firing back the entire time. Finally free, Captain Przybylski took them in after one of the Konen ships, a Whisper class. They managed to knock out its shields and then keep them down. The Spirit then joined the Riala in an assault on the Konen flagship, the Death Rattle, pounding its shields until the Riala could get in a killing shot. Everyone was so numb by this point that the announcement that the Huascar too had fallen to a warp core breach barely shook them.
Finally with the rest of the enemy fleet in retreat, they joined the Endurance in blowing up the Gabriel 45 Outpost. It was over, and somehow the Spirit hadn't even been scratched, never suffering shield burn-through and not a single crew member dead. How lucky they were. How lucky.
===
Battle of 45 Gabriel: Aftermath
Afterwards Applejack kept Dash company while she mourned the Renaissance, alternately drinking and crying for all the people she had known, then raging at the Cardassians and the Konen for their loss, at Leaniss for leaving the ship, at Admrial ka'Sharren for not saving them.
"War sucks!" declared Dash sh'Rinoq, and Jacqueline Appel could hardly argue with her.
A week later, Captain Przybylski had a new announcement to make.
"Attention all crew. You will have heard that a number of ships brought in to reinforce the Gabriel Border Zone will be staying behind to make up the numbers in light of our losses during the campaign. I've just received orders from Starfleet Command, and the Spirit will
not be among them. Instead we are to proceed to Rigel Sector and then beyond to anchor the new Horizon Border Zone.
"These past few months have been hard on us all, and I join you in mourning the wounded and the dead. The Spirit launched less than a year ago, and already it's seen the worst that service in space has to offer. I hope that in our new assignment we will see the best. Perched on the edge of Federation space, we will be at the front line to encounter new life, new civilizations, and new worlds. And more than that, the Spirit will seek to learn more about the many civilizations in that area of space that we have known for only a short amount of time. To understand them and help them understand us. To aid those in distress and encourage peaceful exploration. I look forward to this mission as a new beginning for the Spirit. Captain Przybylski out."
Sitting in the crew lounge, both Dash and Jacqueline found themselves grinning.
"Well, don't that just beat all. We might find ourselves teaming up with Mitchie on the Opportunity yet," said Jacqueline.
"You said it, Applejack!" agreed Dash.
