"How Could You Be Worthy?" (Part 1)

Posted on Wed Jul 19th, 2023 @ 6:43am by Commander Patricia Cooke & I-400 & Lieutenant Commander Tsukasa Izumi & Lieutenant Commander Lahki Bakshi Dr & Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Stevenson & Lieutenant Akira Kogami & Lieutenant Zelea Arlidd & Lieutenant JG Danielle Sidney & Lieutenant JG Mailin & Rear Admiral Kagami Izumi
Edited on on Wed Jul 19th, 2023 @ 6:53am

1,022 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Auld Lang Syne
Location: Camp Khitomer
Timeline: 2 AM, January 1, 2400

The Delta Flyer class runabout made its approach to Camp Khitomer. The ship had originated from Manhattan Fleet Yards, and had traveled to Starbase Frontier to pick up an important guest speaker for the new year's party. This delay had been why the admiralty's speeches had been delayed until nearly 2 hours into the new year.

Emblazoned on the sides of the Delta Flyer was the name and registry number of the ship the runabout was assigned: USS MISSOURI; NCC-78316. Though the Delta Flyer's nickname, "Bluesmobile," had yet to be applied, as the name had been selected last minute by the Missouri's new Commanding Officer, Commander Cooke.

"Runabout Bluesmobile, you are cleared for landing on pad 6."

"Roger, Bluesmobile cleared to land, pad 6."

Vice Admiral Mitsuko Kongo stood near the pad the runabout had been cleared to land at, and watched as the Delta Flyer touched down on the pad, approaching as the engines powered down and the ramp lowered, revealing a Rear Admiral with purple hair, preparing to disembark the runabout.

"Welcome to Khitomer, Admiral Izumi." Mitsuko welcomed the junior admiral. "Thanks again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to speak tonight."

The purple haired officer nodded simply. "Well, it beats sitting behind a desk." She said with a small smile.

"Right this way." Mitsuko beckoned with a smile for Kagami to follow.



As 2AM approached, the dance floor was converted into a stage, with chairs being laid out in front of it for those wanting to sit and listen to admirals drone on about the accomplishments of the previous year, though since this was the turn of a new century, no doubt some of those speeches would be about the 24th century as a whole.

Patricia normally wasn't one for these types of things, and she would have left the party long ago at this point. However, she at least wanted to stay for Vice Admiral Kongo's speech. Vice Admiral Kongo was the director of yard operations at Manhattan Fleet Yards, which had built the Missouri, and no doubt that would be one of the talking points of the Vice Admiral's impending speech.

"Patty!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Patricia spotted Akira sifting her way through the crowds to make her way over to the table.

"Where'd you wander off to?" she inquired. "You totally missed out on the bloodwine keg-stands!"

"I don't think I missed much;" Patricia said. "There was bloodwine beer pong in the commanders' lounge. I had a discussion with Commander Izumi about those types of things not being of interest to me."

Up near the front of the stage, about a table or so back from it, sat Rebecca whose lips were now bright red from the copious amounts of red slushies she had been drinking. As she listed to the Admirals she could be seen taking notes of anything having to do with both science and engineering accomplishments of they past year and what was around the corner. Her lips searched for the straw of her drink as she continued to take notes.

Zelea was all ears as she listened to what was going on in the room . As an engineer she was especially interested in what was going on at the Fleet Yards.

These sorts of things always bored the Doc, but she still sat and listened quietly with her group of friends in the back. She was easily the tallest of the four ladies, at nearly 6 feet tall, she stood out usually. She took a few notes as she felt necessary, and put out some vibes that the Admiral would shut up soon so she could get some sleep. She chuckled quietly when some of the other empaths sent back affirmative thoughts. Finally, he mentioned the Missouri, and she perked up a bit. No matter how many ships she'd served on, it was still thrilling to start a new posting.

Being small made it easy for Mailin to go unnoticed. He made no effort to hide himself, but instead sat quietly and waited for the speeches to begin. He already had a lovely conversation with the Captain of the ship he would soon be assigned to observe.

At last Vice Admiral Kongo took the stage to deliver her speech on Manhattan Fleet Yards' acoomplishments.

"Hello, everyone; my name is Vice Admiral Mitsuko Kongo, director of yard operations at Manhattan Fleet Yards." She introduced herself. "Yes, I know, control yourselves... Anyway, I'm sure you've noticed me introducing my job title as director of yard operations instead of the commanding officer. It's a new system we're testing at Manhattan, because we're a shipyard, not a starship; there's really no point in following typical starship naming conventions..."

Several minutes of Vice Admiral Kongo droning on passed before she finally reached the part of the speech Patricia was waiting on:

"Now, four years ago, when the keels for our final Intrepid II projects were laid, we had no idea that in that time, the Intrepid II would be cancelled, and our resources would be allocated for converting our incomplete projects into the new Intrepid variants that Starfleet was rolling out. And I must compliment the entire yard staff who worked on these projects for persevering through this transition. Our Bellerophon units should be especially proud, as they are the ones responsible for seeing a new Missouri to completion; one which is set to set out among the stars on its shakedown cruise in just two weeks' time."

A round of applause erupted.

"Now, of course, the talented engineers who built it aren't the only ones that made a brand new Starship Missouri happen." Kongo admitted. "Building a ship is one thing, but the Missouri name came from an unlikely source, and frankly, I can't think of anyone more worthy of being the sponsor of this new Missouri than the long time captain of her direct predecessor, so please welcome to the stage, Rear Admiral Kagami Izumi!"

Before Kagami could speak, however, a terrible screeching sound rang out across the public address system, followed by the sound of shuffling feet.

To be continued...

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