Exile Continues

[Cptn Corizon 0]

The night was growing later and Corizon was still on the bridge, pulling a double and working Gamma and Delta shifts. It wasn't that he particularly need too, though...it was just something he chose to do once a week. At least as a Commanding officer, the headache of putting together a schedule for the bridge and senior officers no longer feel to him, their were some perks he kept telling himself.

 

The compact, mini-Galaxy New Orleans-class Oberon sailed through empty space beneath him, the panels humming all around him. By now, most of the crew not on shift were deep in sleep and only the Delta shift officers were keeping her running.

 

Over three weeks had passed since they left port at Mars and got underway, and he was finally starting to settle in. Hell, no one had even taken a shot at him—a new record. The crew, as Myi'ama had put it was solid, and Corizon found them almost as good as his crew on the Excalibur, though like them, he hadn't made a connection with anyone of them.

 

A thought about that brought a small smile to his face and his fangs caught the lighting on the bridge; he'd overheard one of the ensigns in the mess talking about 'that allusive canine that runs the place.' That they were figuring out that he didn't deal with trivial problems best left for his mino...underli...support staff was encouraging. Give them time, a voice in the back of his head said...they'll get over their intimidation of you and be asking you for dating advice or worse.

 

Borderline scowling at that thought, Corizon focused his mental energies on more productive matters. Their charge was fairly simple: catalog any gaseous anomalies in the Kadaina Belt. It had so far been less than thrilling...only a class four comet and a small uncharted system with no mentionable traits beyond being undiscovered.

 

“Status report?”

 

“Proceeding along proscribed course sir,” the mop of hair that called itself a helmsman said. “Sensors continue to show nothing of note, still tracking that level 2 ion storm, but it doesn't look like it will be a problem.”

 

“Very well, carry on.”

 

“Sir,” the science officer behind him said more alarmed than even the paranoid Corizon expected. “I am detecting something unusual about seven light years starboard.”

 

So much for a quiet mission. “Report.”

 

“I was doing a long range scan of the Uturian Cloud...boredom mostly...and something is really...well odd.”

 

Corizon turned around his chair to face the science station to his left. “Elaborate, crewman.”

 

Avoiding direct eye contact the crewman, Manzetti, glanced at her board again and shook her head. “I am getting some strange readings out of it...almost like...like...”

 

“Like,” Corizon said, making a questioning motion with his head. Humans...

 

“I am not sure how to describe it in simple terms, sir.”

 

“I'm a big boy...”

 

Manzetti blushed slightly, insulting her commanding officer her first time working with him had not been her intention. “I wasn't trying too...”

 

“I know,” he said patiently. “Try me.”

 

“It's like its resonating charged particles...like...a thundercloud.”

 

“Fascinating,” Corizon said with a Vulcan-esque eyebrow raise.

 

“It looks like the Ion-storm is being drawled towards it.”

 

“Excellent.”

 

Opening her mouth before realizing he was being sarcastic she closed it for a few seconds before forming a more appropriate response. “It would be prudent, sir, in my opinion if we were to observe the phenomena closer, sir.”

 

“I'd tend to agree...” Corizon turned his chair back to face forward. “Helm alter course to get with in closer sensor range to the event.”

 

“Crewman, you'll want to forward your report to Lt. Commander Jakobi, I am sure he'll want to be up to speed.”

 

Pretending to be interested in this scientific phenomena, Corizon sat up in his chair as the Oberon adjusted its course. Here he was really hoping for Pirates or something more interesting than a spatial cumulus nimbus. Such was the lift of an ordinary command.

[EJ Pilot 0]

Very nice log Captain Corizon ::tips his hat:: I tip my hat to you :D