--------------------------- Dorothy A. Mozart Commanding Officer Stardate 49901.25 "Engage!" --------------------------- Captain Mozart placed the PADD down onto her desk and turned toward her comm terminal, a soft chirping noise and a blinking light attracting her attention. Calling up the latest report from the personnel department, she nodded in acknowledgement. The last crewmembers had arrived - except for the ones of course that would be picked up along the way to their first destination - and all station and maintenance personnel had cleared the ship. Skimming through her speech one last time - she had completed it about half an hour ago - she slowly stood up and walked out onto the bridge. Quite in contrary to the last time she had seen the bridge, it was now buzzing with activity. Every station was at least manned twice, everyone who could had taken the opportunity to watch the departure from up here. She nodded as her Executive Officer, LtCmdr. Stevens rose from the chair in the center of the bridge. Taking a few moments, she glanced at the unfamiliar faces surrounding her. Most of her senior staff was assembled on the bridge. Although she had met most of them in one meeting or another, she knew she still needed to get to know the people behind those faces. Shikara was looking up from the science station, with Chief Medical Officer Slade and Counselor Troi standing right behind her. Ensign Dodge was manning Tactical while LtJG. Maar was watching over his shoulder. Finally there were Ensign Peterson and Ensign Wells at Helm and Operations, respectively. Time to get this show on the road, she thought and raised her voice. "Report!" Even though the bridge was packed with crewmembers, it fell silent immediately. LtCmdr. Stevens turned toward the Captain. "All departments have checked in and are standing by, Ma'am. All walkways and power conduits have been retracted, and clearance for departure has been granted by the station flight controller. We are ready to power up." "Excellent." Captain Mozart touched her comm badge. "Bridge to Engineering. Prepare to initiate activation of the warp core." Chief Engineer Quiane's voice sounded through the intercom. "Aye aye. Standing by for activation." "Make it so." Involuntarily, Captain Mozart held her breath as a slight shudder went through the ship as the matter/antimatter reaction was initiated. Then she turned around to face Ensign Dodge at Tactical. "Activate forward viewscreen." "Aye, Ma'am." He touched a few buttons and the giant screen sprang to life, displaying the images of Admiral Harmon, the station commander and Admiral Fernandez at Starfleet Headquarters. Once both of them had acknowledged the connection, she raised her voice once again. "Activate ship-wide comm system." Suddenly she felt everybody's eyes resting on her and she took in a deep breath before continuing. "Attention at all hands, this is the Captain speaking. First and most of all, I would like to welcome all of you aboard. I know for some of you your new assignment has been at bit of a short notice, but I am especially delighted to have you here with us today." She paused a bit to glance at her bridge crew. "I know none of us expected this upon requesting transfer to a science vessel. This is not what we studied for, this is not what this ship was built for... And this war is something nobody in Starfleet ever wished for. "And there are two things we can do about this situation. We can object to these new orders, on the grounds that - as scientists - we are not necessarily qualified to perform tasks as sensitive as these. It might take some time, but a new, more qualified team will be assembled and there won't be any need for us to neglect our research. Or we can do our very best to do what is needed under these extraordinary circumstances, and make sure that one day this quadrant will once again be a place where this ship can follow her true purpose and where scientists are able to be entirely committed to science." Even while making her speech, she could feel excitement build up in the crew, that special kind of excitement that consisted of a good dose of anticipation, together with eagerness and a good deal of curiosity. Coming to an end, she turned toward her First Officer. "I guess it is time that we finally stop talking and start taking action. Let's take her for a little stroll around the block before proceeding to our first assignment." She motioned for LtCmdr. Stevens take over. "Helm, plot a course for the outer limits of this solar system," she commanded. "Reverse thrust, one quarter impulse." "Aye Ma'am, course layed in," Ensign Peterson announced, waiting for the Captain to command that he'd take them out. She took a couple of steps toward the viewscreen. The the image of the two Admirals had now been replaced by the image relayed from the ship's aft sensors, displaying thousands of stars sparkling in the dark velvet of space. "Engage!" As she ship began to gracefully slide away from the station's docking pylons, a loud cheer sounded through the bridge and the comm system. The Captain let her gaze wander over her crew and smiled. Whatever obstacles would be thrown into their way, it didn't matter. Not with this crew, not on this ship... ------------------------- Capt. Dorothy A. Mozart --- CO U.S.S. Darwin Cmdr. Deis Leah, M.D. --- AMO U.S.S. Lexington k'Taris, Liaison to Romulus --- Empok Nor ------------------------- allegretto@gmx.net --- leah@startrekmail.com ------------------------- http://members.xoom.com/ussdarwin ------------------------- "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."