Change of Venues

[STSF Seiben 0]

“Change of Venues”

11011.21

For such a small ship, his guest quarters were relatively large. When notice came that Seiben’s trial would be reconvened back at Starbase 14, the only ship available to take him there was a small science vessel which was going there anyway to pick up additional supplies before moving onto its mission of cataloguing gaseous anomalies in a nearby sector of space.

 

The journey back wasn’t as quick as his journey to Earth. Unlike his ship, the USS Challenger, or the USS Kentucky that brought him to Earth in the first place, the Oberth Class USS Copernicus (NCC-623) wasn’t designed for speed with a max speed of about warp 8 (TOS Scale) or so. But as the Copernicus was nearing 30 years of service at the time, her crew usually didn’t push past warp 6.

 

The hardy little Oberth classes were the unsung workhorses of the ‘Fleet. They could be made in a matter of weeks (as opposed to several months with larger starships) with little resources in mass-assembly plants almost anywhere were mainly relegated to scientific or exploration duties as bigger ships, such as the Miranda, Constellation and Excelsior took on the missions were brute strength, speed and diplomacy were required.

 

Of course, ‘relatively large’ was a vague term. Seiben’s quarters were relatively large for the ship, but were probably around the size of a junior officer’s quarters on the Challenger. Even the captain’s quarters on Copernicus would be dwarfed by a Lieutenant’s quarters back on Challenger.

 

Seiben didn’t let this bother him though. For the first few days, he kept mostly to himself. But the tediousness of the long slow journey eventually made Seiben venture out of his quarters and explore some of the ship. On the USS Kentucky, Seiben was close friends with its Commanding Officer, Captain Johannes.

 

But he wasn’t familiar with the command staff of the Copernicus. Her captain was a tall Vulcan named Sivok. He proved to be aloof at first, as was the case with most Vulcans Seiben had encountered, but after awhile, the two started to form a friendship. As luck would have it, Captain Sivok briefly served with Seiben’s brother Hans on the USS Hood as an Assistant Engineering Officer.

 

“Your brother struck me as rather a peculiar man” Sivok said one time over tea in Copernicus’ small mess hall. “But then, all of the Hood crew struck me as peculiar” Seiben sipped his tea and nodded in agreement. “Like your brother, I didn’t stay in engineering long and transferred to science on my next assignment” replied Sivok.

 

Sivok offered a tour of the ship. It didn’t take long for the two captains to complete their tour. They met with Copernicus’ crew of 82 and exchanged stories of past missions on their respective ships. Over the course of thirty years, The Copernicus made initial contact with dozens of species. Like most Oberth classes though, Copernicus had very limited diplomatic capabilities and thus rarely made actual first contact with any of those worlds. They would make the initial contact of newly discovered species making technical and social assessments and determined if they were eligible for consideration into the Federation. A larger starship would then arrive and initiate actual first contact.

 

Of the alien species that Copernicus discovered and made initial contact with over her 25 years of service, 8 later joined the Federation as full members and 22 are currently up for consideration. 3 were made provisional members, including the Arcadians – a semi-aquatic alien species with dolphin-like heads.

 

It seemed to the perfect gig for Sivok. He was as Vulcan as it got, by the book with logic dictating the next course in action. The scientific exploratory missions were just fine with the stoic and calm Vulcan who did not care for much action. He had a few opportunities for command in bigger ships, but he seemed content in staying behind the scenes with Copernicus.

 

A few days later, the Copernicus was finally nearing her destination. Seiben’s court trial would resume in two days. The ship broke out of warp when it was within sensor range of Starbase 14. The massive mushroom shaped space station soon came into view. Sivok invited Seiben up to the bridge when they broke from warp. Seiben stood on the bridge beside the captain’s chair occupied by the Vulcan.

 

“Ms. Witherspoon, initiate contact with SB 14 and request docking clearance” Sivok ordered, swiveling his chair slightly to the young, blonde communications officer behind him. “Yes, sir” she said simply as she placed her earpiece in place and opened a channel with the space station. A few seconds later, clearance was granted. “Welcome Copernicus. We’ve been expecting you. Sit back and enjoy the ride” was the reply of the Station Operations Officer.

 

A tractor beam locked onto the Copernicus and began to reel her into the station.

Through the viewscreen, there was the usually flurry of activities with shuttle pods and work bees zipping back and forth. There were a few ships of different classes moored at the rear in various stages of construction. Bathed in spotlights, Seiben could see the Challenger, now looking as good as new.

 

Her smart white paint glistened under the lights. It was a drastic change from the last time he saw Challenger, a complete mess with gaping holes and cracks visible in the hull. There was no evidence Challenger ever sustained any of its damage those weeks prior. Seiben smiled when he saw the ship, but was still concerned with his crew who were still on the Columbia.

 

The Copernicus slid into an empty dock beside the Challenger. Seiben could see the immense difference in size of the two vessels – the Copernicus was completely dwarfed by the much larger Excelsior class. With a soft thud, the Copernicus docked into place. Umbilicals and gangways extended into place, connecting the ship with the rest of the station. Sivok got up from his seat and informed Witherspoon to announce free liberty for the crew for the few days the ship would remain on the station picking up her supplies. Before he could say anything else, Sivok was interrupted by a communication from SB14’s Commanding Officer.

 

Seiben was to be escorted to the station where he was to meet with the Starfleet JAG team. Sivok acknowledged and said he would escort Seiben himself. Seiben followed Sivok into the turbolift for the short ride to the airlock. “I guess this is it, Captain, thank you for the ride and the company, Captain Sivok” Sivok nodded and steepled his hands together.

 

“Indeed Captain. I am hopeful the outcome of your impending trial is favourable. Live long and prosper” Sivok responded with his hand extended up in a Vulcan salute which Seiben returned. At the airlock, they were met by two of SB14’s Security staff. Sivok signed off and returned to the ship without a word. Seiben reflected back on his time on the Copernicus.

 

 

Like Sivok, Seiben was of course hopeful of a favourable outcome as well. After being processed by Security, Seiben would once again meet with his defense team and assess a strategy plan for the new round of trials. His defense team was able to secure some key witnesses and with his crew due to return within the next day, he felt that his chances were finally looking upwards. But he wasn’t sure with Starfleet Command. To most, Seiben had violated a major unwritten rule. He could feel that they were just itching to make an example out of him.

 

 

To be continued…