Decision at Midnight
Contents
Captain's Log, Stardate 43089.8
Homecoming
It has been a long six months since returning to Starbase 27 with the USS Blackheart and a majority of her crew in tow. The USS Niven sustained damage heavy enough to warrant the construction of the USS Niven-B at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards. Today is the long awaited maiden voyage. I do not want to see a desk outside of my ready room for quite some time. When I stepped aboard my ship, I was surprised to see that the interior resembled the USS Mercury.
I couldn't help but smile seeing how new and beautiful everything looked, but that smile was briefly wiped off my face as I noticed a plaque hung on the wall to the left of the entrance to the bridge. It was dedicated to Lieutenant William Weaver and Sergeant Stanley VanDriessen. My throat tightened a bit as I touched the memorial and said a silent prayer. After regaining my composure, I stepped onto the bridge.
When I entered, Commander Devin West was already there and gave the time old announcement, "Captain on the bridge!" This was one of the few times I humor the old tradition. I looked around at everyone, some new, most familiar faces, and made my way to my chair.
Work in Pairs
After sitting down with a deep, slow breath, I brought up the mission onto the console. We were instructed to travel to the border of The Triangle to the Asperax system. Asperax had made a trade treaty with the Cardassians in the last two months. The Federation has strong interest in the system, however, because the second and fourth planet still practiced slavery, it automatically disqualified them from membership into the UFP. Still, we had a need to preserve cordial relations with them, given their geographic advantage. We were to work with Captain Kendrick Velacorra of the USS Asimov to diffuse any hostilities or any other issues with the Asperaxians.
