An Orbit Of Earth

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11307.23)

 

 

John awakened in his bed after a good, long 9 hours of sleep. He got out

of bed, stretched, took off his pajamas, and tottered into the head to take

a shower. Some 20 minutes later, he stepped out, toweled off, and returned

to the bedroom to put on his uniform. As he finished dressing, he walked

over to the computer terminal, and punched the 'comm. "Randall to

Freeman," he said, and got an almost immediate response.

 

"Freeman here," said the chief engineer. "What's up?" "Hey, Commander,"

Randall replied. "Just wanted to let you know I'll be at my station in 5 minutes."

"Good," said Freeman. "Not sure, but it sounds like we're getting right back

into the saddle. Give me a heads up when you get here." "Will do," answered

the assistant chief engineer. "Randall out." He walked over to the mini-fridge,

got out his breakfast concoction; poured himself a glass, drank it straight

down, and headed for the door of the cabin.

 

He exited the cabin, and went down the corridor, heading for the turbolift.

"Deck 12," he said as he stepped in, and the lift sped off. A few seconds

later, it arrived, he stepped out, and made his way along the corridor to the

door of engineering. It swished open at his approach, and he strode in, nodding

to various crewmembers he encountered. John made his way to the main

console, where he noticed Freeman was at a terminal. He sat down at a

nearby one, logged in for duty, and glanced at the chief engineer. "Hey, Chief,"

he said.

 

As Freeman turned to acknowledge him, John saw, with surprise, a huge bruise

on the side of the lieutenant commander's face. "Hey," Eddie replied. "How's

it going?" "Um, better than you, apparently," said Randall, glancing at the

night shift reports. "You all right?" "Yeah, I'm fine," said Freeman resignedly.

"I was at this bar, and there was this Andorian..., well, details aren't important."

John raised his eyebrows as Freeman continued, "I said something rude about

his mother, let's put it that way." He put down the PADD he had been looking at,

and gestured to his face. "And, then, this happened," he concluded.

 

John grimaced in sympathy. "Ouch," he said, then grinned ruefully. "Yeah, those

Andorians pack a pretty good punch, being from a high gravity planet, and all."

"I did pretty well," said Freeman defensively, "for a non-combat specialist, fighting

an Andorian. Still got my clock cleaned, but at least I cleaned his, too." He

suddenly leaned forward, staring at his monitor. "Are we moving?" he asked.

John consulted his own monitor, and nodded. "Yes, sir, we are," he confirmed.

"Looks like we're pulling into an orbit around Earth."

 

John then thought of something, and glanced at Freeman. "You know, I never did

hear about the captain making it back on board, did you?" Eddie raised an eyebrow,

and, fingers moving over his keyboard, pulled up the status reports. "Captain's

still unaccounted for," he said, with a little surprise in his voice. Randall regarded

him for a few seconds, thinking. "Hm, the last I heard, the captain was still in the

bayous of Louisiana; you don't think he got lost, do you? It's still easy to do in

that place." Freeman adjusted his position at his console. "Never been," he said.

"Closest I've been is New Orleans. But, what I've heard; yeah, it's real easy to turn up

missing."

 

John nodded, then pulled up a diagnostic program, and began running it. A little

while later, Freeman punched the 'comm button at his station. "Engineering to

bridge," he said. "Um, to anyone who isn't busy, we're getting status reports down

here that the captain is still unaccounted for; is this true?" John glanced at him

during the transmission, but continued running the diagnostic program. A few

minutes later, the voice of Challenger's executive officer, Commander Erica Rinax,

came over the 'comm. "This is Commander Rinax. Before everyone starts guessing,

yes, we are sending a shuttle to Earth to collect the captain. In the meantime, do not

go wild claiming his belongings, or writing home; he is fine. Rinax out."

 

John heard Freeman mumble to himself, "That would be a yes," and smiled to himself.

He widened his eyes a little, and glanced at the chief engineer. "Lost in the Louisiana

bayous," he said. "I hope the captain's all right." Freeman answered, "You'd think

Engineering wouldn't have to find out through the grapevine, though." He leaned

back in his chair. "Not much we can do, however," he continued. "That's an SAR job.

They might ask for one of us, though." John nodded, finishing up the diagnostic

program he was running. He stretched a little in his chair, then glanced at Eddie.

"Chief, I'm gonna go check in with Steve Davis at the warp core station. Will contact

you if anything happens." "All right," responded Freeman. "I'll keep an ear open."

 

Randall nodded, got up out of his chair, and strode back to the warp core station,

where his friend Ensign Steve Davis was watching after the engines. He walked

up to Davis, and clapped him on the shoulder. "How's it going, my friend?" he

asked. The ensign smiled at him. "Hey, Lieutenant," he replied. "Not bad. Is it true

what I heard, the captain's gone missing?" John nodded. "That's what the XO said

a few minutes ago, yeah," he answered. The two men continued to work at the warp

core station.

 

A few minutes later, the voice of Rinax came over the 'comm again. "Challenger crew,

this is the XO. The captain is aboard our shuttle, and is enroute to the ship. Please

prepare your stations for our next mission." The two men heard the announcement, and

grinned at each other. John put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Everything looks

good here, Steve," he said. "I'm going back to my station; see you later." Davis nodded,

and John strode back to the main console, sitting down at his station. He began to read

the reports as they came in, and was busy for a while. Sometime during the next hour,

however, he began thinking about his father, and what he had learned about his death.

He involuntarily stared off into space as he did so, and it was noticed by his friend Jeff

Michaels.

 

The ensign got up from his station, and slid into an empty chair beside Randall. "Hey, pal,

you okay?" he asked, glancing at the chief engineer, who was busy at his station. John

started a little, then his eyes came into focus as he smiled at Michaels. "Hey, Jeff," he

whispered back. "Yeah, just doing some thinking, but better not do it here," he grinned.

An e-mail flashed onto his monitor; it was from Lieutenant Reed on the bridge, seeking

confirmation that the engineering department was ready for the next mission. John

sent a confirming e-mail, then turned as Michaels addressed him.

 

"Okay, pal, just checking on ya," he whispered, and smiled at John. "Thanks, Jeff; we'll

talk later," Randall replied. Michaels nodded, got up, and went back to his station. John

looked around, and noted the chief had left engineering; he stood up, glancing around

the department; everything seemed to be running normally, and he sat back down,

resuming his duties. A little bit later, John suddenly thought to himself, 'Haven't seen

a mission brief yet,' and checked his inbox; there was nothing there, so he continued

working. A few minutes later, his 'comm beeped. "Talbot to Randall," said a bass voice.

John punched the 'comm. "Randall here," he answered.

 

Ensign Greg Talbot, a native of Rigel VII, said, "Sir, we're having a bit of a problem with

the coolant flow; care to lend us a hand?" Randall said, "Roger that, Greg; be right with

you, Randall out." He got up out of his chair, glad to have something to do to help take

his mind off things, and strode back to the coolant flow station. He greeted Talbot, who

looked relieved to see him. "Okay, Greg, what's up?" he asked the ensign. Talbot

showed him the problem, and Randall told him he would walk him through it. A few

minutes later, John saw the problem was a little worse than what he thought. He took

out his communicator.

 

"Engineering to bridge, come in, please," he said. To his surprise, the voice of Marine

Captain Cassidy Granger answered. "Captain Granger here, go ahead, engineering."

"Um, hello, captain," said John. "We need to cut our warp speed to five immediately;

we've got a bit of a coolant flow problem here. ETA on repair is approximately one hour."

There was silence for a few seconds later, then Granger said, "Done, Mr. Randall; keep

me informed." "Aye, will do," John replied. "Randall out." He started Talbot on the repairs,

and, as the repair crew arrived, briefed them on what the problem was, and they set to

work. John went to his locker to grab his toolkit, and strode back to supervise the repairs.

About 45 minutes later, the work was done, and the coolant flow returned to nominal.

Randall contacted the bridge to let them know, and strode back to his locker to return

his toolkit. He sauntered through engineering, watching the crew work, and returned

to his station, satisfied that was everything was normal again.

 

 

END LOG