The Journey Home

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11305.31)

 

 

John shimmered back into existence aboard Challenger; his first thought

was, 'It's great to be home.' He stepped down off the transporter pad, and

nodded at the transporter chief. "Welcome home, Lieutenant," said the

chief. "Good to be home, Lieutenant," replied Randall, and exited the

transporter room, heading for the turbolift. "Deck 3," he said, and the

lift whisked him away to his new quarters.

 

He arrived, and exited the lift; he made his way along the corridor,

acknowledging the welcome-backs and the hails of various crewmembers

he passed. He came to his cabin, and went inside. Other than being a little

bigger than his old cabin, there wasn't much difference between the two.

The rooms were a bit larger, but not that much, and John was satisfied.

He stowed away his gear, and returned his Colt .45 revolver to its case.

'Grandpa would've been proud,' he thought, and smiled to himself as he

stowed away the antique weapon. He felt in need of a shower, and

stripped off his civilian clothes to go take one.

 

Some 20 minutes later, he exited the shower, toweled off, and exited the

head. He made his way over to the computer terminal, and called up the

duty roster. Seeing he was scheduled to report to Engineering in about

6 hours, he decided to take a nap. He got into his pajamas, climbed into

bed, and fell asleep. The computer woke him five and a half hours later;

he arose, went into the head to shave and freshen up, then put on his

duty uniform, which felt kind of strange at first, and smiled to himself

in the mirror. 'Gotta get used to wearing this again,' he thought, and left

his cabin to grab some breakfast.

 

'One good thing about being on this deck,' he thought to himself as he

made his way along the corridor. 'The officers' mess is on the same level.'

He arrived there, went up to the ordering wall, gave and received his order,

and sat down at a nearby table to eat. A few minutes later, he deposited

the remains of his breakfast into the recycler, and left the officers' mess,

heading for the turbolift. "Deck 12," he said as he entered, and the lift

sped off.

 

He arrived, and made his way along the corridor to Engineering. The doors

swooshed open as he approached, and he went inside. The crew greeted

him with glad cries and warm sentiments; he acknowledged them all, then

put them back to work. He went up to the main console, sat down at a

terminal, and logged in for duty. He then punched the 'comm. "Randall to

Davis," he said. A few seconds later, his friend Ensign Steve Davis

answered. "Davis here, go ahead, Lieutenant." "Status report, Steve,"

said John. "Aye, sir," said Davis. "The replacement crystals are installed,

and showing green across the board, sir. All systems are nominal at this

time." "Acknowledged, ensign," replied Randall. "Steve, you've done a

great job here. It will be noted in the report to Starfleet." "Thanks, John,"

came back Davis. "Anything else?" "Yes," replied Randall. "Report to

the main console, please; I will need your help for the time jump calculations."

"Acknowledged, Lieutenant," said Davis. "On my way. Davis out."

 

John smiled as he turned back to the terminal, and the 'comm beeped.

"Bridge to Engineering," came the voice of Captain Ja'Lale. "Randall here,

sir," replied John. "Ah, welcome back, Lieutenant Randall," said the captain.

"Status report, please." "Thank you, sir," said John. "The replacement

crystals have been installed, and are showing green across the board, sir.

All systems are reporting nominal." "Acknowledged, Lieutenant," replied

Ja'Lale. "Are we ready to jump back home?" "I was about to start the

calculations, sir," said Randall. "Give me about an hour, and we should be

ready." "Acknowledged, Lieutenant," Ja'Lale said. "Report when you're

ready." "Aye, sir, Randall out," said John as Steve Davis arrived, and sat

down at a terminal next to him.

 

"Hey, Steve, glad you're here, my friend," said John as the two friends

grinned at each other. "The captain sounds like he's chomping at the bit,

so we better get to it, I guess." "Aye, sir," grinned Davis, and he laughed as

Randall rolled his eyes. He gave Davis a friendly punch in the arm, and the

two men began the calculations for the time jump. Some 55 minutes later,

the last numbers were inputted, and Randall ran the simulation. The computer

confirmed the equations for the jump, and the two men sighed in relief.

John told Steve to start inputting the numbers into the warp core station, Davis

left to do just that, and John hit the 'comm button. "Engineering to bridge."

A few seconds later, Ja'Lale's voice came over the 'comm. "Bridge here, go

ahead, Lieutenant." "Sir, the calculations are complete, and we should be

good for the jump home," reported Randall. "Excellent, Lieutenant," replied

the captain. "How soon can we go?" "15 minutes, sir," said John. "Fine, I

will inform the crew. Good job as always, Lieutenant. Bridge out."

 

John sighed, then pushed the button for the department mic. "This is Randall.

We are preparing for the time jump home. Everyone to your stations, strap in,

and pay double attention to your boards. Stay conscious as long as you can,

and be sure to rig your station for computer control if you pass out. See you

in the 23rd century. Randall out." The crew scurried to their stations, and the

captain's voice came over the shipwide system, warning all hands about the

imminent jump. John joined Davis at the warp core panel after putting his

other close friend, Ensign Jeff Michaels, at the main console to help monitor

them.

 

The two men inputted the equations into the panel, set it for computer takeover

in case they succumbed to unconsciousness, and Randall gave orders to the

computer to that effect. A few minutes later, the order came from Ja'Lale to

start the jump, and the two men tightened their holds on their chairs. The ship

took off with barely noticeable movement, but a vibration soon made itself

aware as they increased speed for the slingshot around the sun. John kept his

eyes glued to the panel as the ship's speed neared the breakaway point of

warp 9.7.

 

A few minutes later, both men did indeed pass out. When they came to, they

immediately looked at the panel, and were gratified to see that the braking

thrusters had fired right on schedule. John asked the computer what the

current stardate was, and he was immensely grateful and surprised when

the computer informed him that the stardate was only five minutes later

than when they had first left for the mission. The men looked at each other

and grinned, and shook hands in tired triumph. Randall asked about the

status of the new dilithium crystals, and the computer informed him the

crystals were fine, and, if needed, could undergo recrystallization when

the ship put in for drydock.

 

John unstrapped himself from his chair, and went to check on the rest of the

engineering crew. They were all fine, and were going about their duties. John

went to the main console, and called up the ship's course; they were headed

to a starbase for drydock, and the base was close by. They would be there in

minutes. The captain's voice came over the 'comm system, and stated that

shore leave woud be possible for the crew while he saw about receiving new

orders from Starfleet. The crew cheered at the announcement, and the ship

eased into drydock at the starbase about thirty minutes later.

 

John wished the crew a good shore leave, then waited at the main console for

the first batch of starbase engineers and workers to arrive in engineering.

He mainly sat at the console, receiving and acknowledging reports from the

starbase workers for the next couple of hours. Then the 'comm beeped, and

a familiar face appeared on the monitor screen. When it did, John couldn't

believe his eyes. It was Admiral Jason Baldwin, the same admiral that had

recruited Randall for an intelligence mission last year, a mission where John

got into a fight with a Klingon, and nearly lost his life.

 

"Lieutenant Randall, good to see you again," came the deep bass voice of the

admiral. John nodded to him. "Admiral Baldwin, how are you, sir?" he replied.

"I am well, Lieutenant, thank you for asking," Baldwin said. "Congratulations

on the success of your mission." "Thank you, sir," John said. "May I inquire

as to the reason for this call?" Baldwin regarded him for a moment. "John, I

have some news that you may want to hear in person," said the admiral, and

Randall's eyebrows raised. "Have you been authorized for shore leave?"

 

John nodded warily. "I have, sir, but I need to remain here to supervise the

starbase workers whle they're in engineering. Commander Freeman is still

recuperating from the mission, I believe," he said. Baldwin nodded. "Let me

know when you're free, Lieutenant," he said. "It's important to both of us that

we talk face to face. Contact me at these coordinates." The numbers came up

on the screen, and John nodded. "Acknowledged and received, sir," he said.

"I'll contact you as soon as I can." "I look forward to it, John," Baldwin said.

"Baldwin out."

 

The screen went dark, and John sat back in his chair, letting out a huge sigh.

'Wonder what this is about,' he thought. A thought came into his head about

his father, but he immediately shunted that aside. 'No expectations,' he told

himself firmly. 'Let them tell you.' Still, he couldn't help but wonder.

 

 

END LOG