A New Mission

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

ENSIGN JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log, Stardate 10812.3)

 

 

The Challenger had been requested to investigate the disapperance

of a freighter near a large nebula not too far from Starbase 103. When the

ship arrived at the last known coordinates, after a little searching, a planet

was found, and scans detected a Starfleet vessel on the surface.

 

The ship went into orbit around the planet, and an Away Team was sent

down to the surface to check for survivors. John was left in charge of

engineering while Freeman went down with the team. Randall and Jeff

Michaels soon discovered that faint radiation from the nearby nebula, along

with some dense vegetation on the planet's surface, began causing problems

with communications, and the two engineers began working to enhance the

ship's sensors for receiving transmissions from the Away Team.

 

After a couple of mostly garbled attempts, the men finally managed to

calibrate the sensors correctly, and communications were good for the rest

of the mission. A couple of hours later, the Away Team announced it had

located all the survivors, and were ready to beam aboard with the help of the

pattern enhancers taken along by Freeman. All personnel were beamed up

from the planet, and Challenger immediately broke orbit and headed for

Starbase 103.

 

The engine whine increased down in engineering, and John looked

over at Michaels. "Well, looks like they found the survivors, and we're

heading back. I guess we resume our normal duties, and wait for the chief."

Michaels nodded, and both men went to their respective stations, John

stopping in the chief engineer's office for a second to check the computer;

finding nothing, went to his normal duty station. Though technically still

in charge until Freeman returned, he preferred his station over the chief

engineer's post; John didn't feel like he was any better than anybody else,

and some of the crew had commented on that to him, saying they appreciated

him not letting command over engineering go to his head.

 

John was a little curious about the new intermix program he and Steve

Davis had put in place a few days ago, and wanted to see, now that the ship

was in warp, how the matter/antimatter convertor chambers were doing under

the new program. He called the data up on his panel, and was pleasantly

surprised that the ship's engines were running at a 98.7% efficiency rate. He

breathed a silent 'thank you', and then closed the program and went about

his normal duties, as well as overseeing his crewmates.

 

His intercom beeped, and he punched the button. "Randall here."

"Randall," came the voice of acting chief of engineering Eddie Freeman.

"This is Freeman. I'm back from the surface. I'll be down in ME in 20 minutes,

tops." "No worries, sir," John answered. "Take your time, we're all good

here, and welcome back." "Thanks," said Freeman. "It was pretty muggy

down there; need to get cleaned up a little. Freeman out." "Acknowledged,

sir," replied John. "Randall out."

 

A few hours later, Challenger arrived at Starbase 103. The ship docked,

and Captain Ja'lale announced the crew would be on leave while he went to

the Command Center to get the orders for the ship's next mission. John

finished up his duties, logged his daily report in, then went over to the main

console where Freeman was also logging in reports. "Sir, I'm going aboard

the base, heard they have a great deli here," he said. "Sounds good,"

replied the chief engineer. "Take your time, and relax; we should have a few

hours, at least."

 

"Thank you, sir," said John. "You should take some time, too. See you

later." Freeman half-smiled and nodded. John turned and headed for the

engineering doors; on the way, he was met by Jeff Michaels. "Hey, John, you

going aboard the base?", asked the ensign. "That was my plan, yes," smiled

Randall. "Okay, come on; I'm meeting Steve and Susan there. You'll make us

a party of four, huh?", asked Michaels. The men went through the doors, and

went down the hall to the turbolift. "Susan?", asked John. "Ah, yes, Ensign

Maloney from Starbase 33. Ok, sounds good; we ARE changing into civvies,

right?" Michaels laughed as the lift arrived. "Of course. Just meet us at the

deli, all right?" "Will do," said John, as the men stepped into the lift. "Deck

8," snapped the young ensign, and the lift whisked them away.

 

The men arrived at their destination, and they exited; Randall went

down the corridor to the left to his cabin. He entered, took his duty uniform

off, went to the head and took a sonic shower. He changed into civilian

clothes, and exited his room, heading for the turbolift. "Deck 6," he said

as he stepped inside, and the lift took him away. He arrived at the deck, exited

the lift, and went to the airlock to access the base turbolifts. He checked the

station guide quickly to see what deck he needed as the base turbolift

arrived. "Deck 4," he told the base computer, and was taken away.

 

He stepped out of the lift as it arrived, and was met by a Starfleet

security officer. He showed his Starfleet ID to the officer, who handed it back

to him, and nodded. John walked down the long hall, taking his time, and was

soon sure of his destination; the sound of many voices in conversation told

him he was on the right deck. He arrived at the deli, and walked in. He went

to the counter, gave and received his order, took his tray and looked around,

spotting two familiar faces: Michaels and Steve Davis. I should have known

they'd beat me here, he thought. He shook his head as Michaels waved at him,

and made his way to their table.

 

"Hey, John, glad you could make it," said Michaels as John sat down.

"Hi, guys," he said. "What happened to the lady ensign?" "She wasn't feeling

too well, so she decided to stay aboard the ship, and rest in her cabin," said

Michaels. " "Hm, I'm sorry to hear that," mused Randall. "She seems to be a

very nice woman." Steve Davis's eyes widened slightly, then he winked at

Michaels. "So, you think so, huh?", he said, and John raised his head, his eyes

narrowed. "Now, hold on a second," he began, but Davis, laughing, cut him off.

"Just kidding, John, just kidding," he said. Randall looked at him for a few

seconds, then turned to look at Michaels, who was trying very hard to keep a

straight face. John slowly smiled, and said, "Ok, I guess I had that coming. Yes,

I have noticed her; you guys happy now?"

 

Both men grinned, and they then ate their meals. They finished, disposed

of their trays, and John said, "Ok, what now, guys?" Just as he finished speaking,

their communicators beeped, and they saw on the text window that all Challenger

personnel were to report to the ship for takeoff. They looked at each other, sighed,

and made their way to the station turbolifts.

 

 

 

END LOG