Battle Preparations

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT (j.g.) JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11204.07)

 

John awoke in his bed after a much-needed 14 hours of sleep. He got up,

stretched for a few moments, then made his way to the head to grab a long, hot

shower. He got the water going, and stepped inside. The water felt good on his

body, and, after 20 minutes, he stepped out of it, and felt like himself again. He

grabbed his workout clothes, and was about to put them on when his intercom

beeped. What now, he thought, and went to the computer terminal to answer.

"Randall here," he said. "Ah, ensign, you're awake," came the voice of the captain,

and John snapped to attention immediately. "Report to the rec deck immediately,

Ensign Randall. Ja'lale out." "Aye, Captain," said John, and went into his bedroom

to put on his duty uniform. He made his way out of his cabin, and went down the

corridor to the turbolift. "Deck 6," he intoned, and the lift whisked him away.

 

He arrived at his destination, and made his way down the hall to the doors

of Rec Room 1, which swished open as he approached. He strode in, and stopped

dead in his tracks. There were about 150 crewpeople gathered in the room. The

regular crew were standing on both sides of a podium which had been set up in

the middle of the room. Gathered on the podium were most of the senior officers

and Captain Ja'lale himself, who looked on with a serious demeanor. John

thought, Okay, what's going on here, and about that time, the new XO (first officer)

of the Challenger, Commander Erica Rinax, barked, "Ensign Randall, front and

center!"

 

John stood at attention briefly, then walked toward the podium, and ascended

it from the left. He walked toward, and then stood in front of, the captain and the first

officer. Ja'lale cleared his throat. "Ensign John Randall, this is somewhat overdue;

but, there have been, er, extenuaning circumstances to prevent this from taking place

sooner. Your service on this vessel has been good to the point of excellent, and has

not gone unnoticed. So, at this time, it pleases me greatly to bestow upon you the new

rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Commander?" Rinax stepped forward, and pinned a

pip to the collar of John's uniform, winked at him, and stepped back, her face once

again impassive. "Congratulations, Lieutenant (j.g.) John Randall, and keep up the

excellent standards you have obviously established for yourself, and which tie in

excellently with the ship's as well," intoned the captain. He then looked out at the

assembled crewpersons. "Three cheers for the lieutenant!"

 

The crew responded, and Ja'lale gave John the Starfleet salute, which the new

lieutenant returned. The captain then said, "Dismissed!" Several of the crew came up

to Randall to congratulate him, and, after several minutes, the new lieutenant left the

rec room, and made his way to the turbolift. "Deck 4," he intoned, and the lift departed.

He left the turbolift, and made his way down the corridor, where he was congratulated

by more passing crewmembers. He strode inside, went up to the ordering wall, gave

and received his order, and started to sit down at a nearby table; but then remembered

his promotion, and made his way to the officers' tables, where he sat down to eat.

 

A little while later, he disposed of the contents of his tray, and left the mess hall

to return to the turbolift. "Deck 12," he intoned, and the lift took him there. He exited the

lift, and went along the corridor to the doors of engineering, which swooshed open as

he approached. He went in, and thought he heard the captain's voice over the 'comm. He

made his way to the main console where he saw lieutenant Eddie Freeman studying a panel.

"Hello, Lieutenant," he said, and Freeman looked up at him. "Heey!" said the chief, raising

a hand. "I heard about the promotion, man; congratulations!" John smiled, and said,

"Thank you. Now, I'll have to work even harder." He laughed briefly, then said, "But,

don't worry; I guess I'll get used to it."

 

Eddie said, "Eh, it's not so bad. We're still just junior grades. Speaking of which,

I technically don't outrank you any more." John nodded, and said, "I was just thinking

about that. How about you just calling me John? And, wasn't that the captain's voice I

heard as I came in?" "Works for me," said the chief. "And you can just call me Eddie. And,

as for the intercom, I didn't hear it. What'd he say?" John smiled briefly again. "Eddie. I think

he was asking about the engines and the ship systems." The acting chief engineer looked

over the panel briefly, then nodded. "Looks like everything's green across the board." He

then thumbed the 'comm. "Engineering to bridge. Captain, resend your last transmission,

please; sorry I missed it. If you were asking about the systems, everything's ready to go

shipwide."

 

John quickly sat down at a panel, and whispered, "I'll run checks while you talk to the

captain." Freeman nodded, then the captain's voice sounded. "Bridge to engineering. Thank

you, Mr. Freeman; that's what I was calling down about. I wanted to see how things were

going down there in preparations against the incoming fleet. I want our systems running at

top specs. Ja'lale out." John quickly held a thumbs-up gesture to Eddie, and the chief nodded.

"We're ready for it, sir, Freeman out," said the chief. John called up the diagnostic program

results, and nodded in satisfaction. Eddie turned off the 'comm, and turned to face Randall.

"I think I might need to get my ears checked; that last away mission might have done a number

on 'em."

 

John looked up at him, and nodded thoughtfully. "That might not be a bad idea; if you

want to go, I'll hold things together 'til you get back." The chief considered a second, then

said," Nah. I'll wait a bit, see if I keep missing things. Don't want to bother the new doctor just

yet." He then sat down on the other side of the console. John smiled, and said, "Ok, no

problem. From what I can see, we're green across the board. I might take Steve Davis and a

couple of guys to see about the nacelle alignment, if it's okay with you. The diagnostic showed

the left nacelle is apparently .05 mm out of alignment."

 

Freeman started to respond, then the 'comm beeped. "Attention: senior officers are to

meet in Observation Lounge 1 in 20 minutes for a briefing with Starfleet HQ staff. Starbase

Commander out." Eddie made a wry face, and said, "Looks like we just got other plans." John

frowned, and said, "Then again, I could just brief him, and let him do it." Freeman snorted in

amusement, and John looked around, spotting Steve Davis about to walk by. "Steve!" he

shouted, and Davis looked around until he spotted Randall, waved, and started making his way

over. Eddie stood up, and said, "Sounds good. I'll meet you over there, yeah?" John nodded,

and said, "I'll be along shortly." Davis arrived, and John showed him the diagnostic of the nacelle

adjustment as Freeman exited engineering.

 

Randall and Davis finished going over the procedures of the EVA, then John clapped

Steve on the shoulder, and strode out of engineering, heading for the turbolift. "Deck 10," he said

as he walked into the lift, which promptly set on its journey. The lift, however, made its way to

deck seven, and the door swished open to reveal the figure of the new chief medical officer of

the Challenger; Dr. Gretchen Hanson. She was startled at first, but recovered nicely. "Going

down?" she asked as she stepped inside. "Hey, Doctor," said John, noting the pips on her collar

as well as the blue uniform of the medical staffers. "On the way to the transporter room; need a

lift?" "Transporters?" said Gretchen, looking puzzled. "I was just going to walk over. But, I guess

the transporters would be faster. Wouldn't want to get lost for my first 'senior' meeting."

 

The door of the lift closed, and John said, "Deck 7. There's some long corridors over there,

Doctor; it'll be easier just beaming straight to the observation lounge." The doctor smiled at him,

and said, "I'll follow your lead, Lieutenant." Randall returned the smile, and said, "And, let me be

the first to 'officially' welcome you to the USS Challenger." "I love official welcomes," laughed

the doctor. "They're so....official!" John laughed as they arrived at their destination. "Yes, aren't

they? This way, doctor." He escorted Gretchen to the transporter room, led her to, and helped

her up onto the dais, then looked at her. "You ready?" "All set," she replied, and John nodded

at the transporter chief. "Energize," he said, and they shimmered out of existence.

 

They rematerialized inside the huge observation room, and John looked around, getting

his bearings, then saw Freeman and Major Kimiko Johnson making their way to a long table that

bore the nameplate Challenger crew. "They're over there, I believe, doctor," he said, and he and

Gretchen began making their way over. The doctor was staring a little wide-eyed at the crowd as

she followed along behind Randall. "Do you think we have name tags?" she said jokingly. John

turned, and said, "Good Lord, I hope not." He saw Freeman waving at them, waved back, and

made his way to the table. They found a seat with the other Challenger crew, and, about that time,

several Starfleet admirals and one Romulan made their way to the tables which had been placed

at the head of the room. An admiral walked up to the microphone stand, and said, "Ladies,

gentlemen, and gentlebeings, please take your seats so this meeting may begin."

 

John began to feel a little claustrophobic with such a crowd of people; but then that

feeling vanished as he saw the Romulan for the first time. Freeman quickly noticed that Randall's

body had involuntarily stiffened; he quickly leaned over and whispered, "The Romulan is on our

side, believe me. I helped see to it myself." John nodded, and relaxed slightly. "At least, I think

he is," said the chief, and Randall said, "I know, but you know how I feel about them." Freeman

nodded, and settled back in his chair. He accepted some cups of coffee from Kimiko, and

passed them along to John and Gretchen. The doctor had noticed his reaction, but wasn't quite

sure yet what had caused it. She quickly pulled a foil-covered lozenge from her pocket, and

prepared to offer it to him. The admiral said, "With the help of the crews from Challenger and

our new experimental cloaking vessel Altair, as well as from our Intel representative Commander

Rinax, we managed to secure a key part in stopping the Romulan attack fleet. He has agreed to

assist us in exchange for political asylum on Earth."

 

John's mouth dropped open in disbelief at the news, and his body tensed tight again.

He then got a nudge from Gretchen. "Here, take this. It'll help," she whispered, and Randall

accepted it gratefully, opening the lozenge, and putting it in his mouth. "Thank you, doctor,"

he whispered, and she smiled slightly in return. The admiral then invited the Romulan to speak,

and John tensed up again. The doctor nudged him. "Roll it around on your tongue. It will help

relax you." The new lieutenant nodded, and followed her orders. The briefing, much to John's

relief, ended soon after, and he was ready to go back to Challenger. The doctor leaned over,

and asked him, "Did that help?" John nodded. "You don't know how much, Doctor." The crew

of Challenger walked toward the front of the lounge, and they were beamed back to the ship.

 

 

 

END LOG