Business As Usual

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11404.26)

 

 

John resumed his duties aboard the Challenger. His return was never acknowledged

by any of the crew, and he had come to accept that as the norm. Covert agents didn't

want to be known; if they became too well-known, their status as a covert agent was

pretty well ended. Randall took solace in the fact that his father had been avenged, and

the family could, at last, begin their final healing.

 

'And,' he mused to himself while on duty in engineering, 'it's probably just as well that

I returned while the away team is on Qo'noS. I wouldn't be too well received down there

if any of the Klingons found out who I was.' * He got caught up on his work, then went

into the chief's office to help catch up there as well. Freeman was down on the planet

with the away team, and part of John's job now was to assist his boss in his duties.

 

It was pretty much standard duty in engineering, until John happened to take a reading

of the radiation levels outside the ship. He noticed they were becoming a bit high, and

immediately thought to himself, 'Uh-uh, not this time,' remembering the mission a few

weeks ago inside that nebula, where the radiation levels got so high they actually inflicted

harm on the crew of the Challenger. He took a few readings from his station, then realized

he would have to go to the bridge to implement the changes needed to the shields. He

put Lieutenant (j.g) Steve Davis in charge of engineering, and exited the room, heading

for the turbolift. "Bridge," he said as the car arrived, and he stepped in. The lift sped off.

 

The lift arrived a few moments later, and he stepped out onto the bridge. Captain Ja'Lale

saw him as he exited the lift, and nodded to him. John nodded back, and went to the

engineering station. He put in his passcode, and was granted access. He set to work

implementing the changes to the shield harmonics, and, a few minutes later, was satisfied

with the results as the changes took hold.

 

The bridge crew were having a discussion about how to shield some of the radiation from

the Klingon homeworld. John listened for a few moments until an image formed in his mind.

On his homeworld, Centaurus, the scientists there had had to come up with a method of

bringing a day/night circle to Alpha Centauri B, known to the Federation as Centaurus. In

the early days of colonization, several Earth plants and flora had been brought to Centaurus,

along with some trees. The early attempts at seeding the planet failed, however, because of

Alpha Centauri's binary system. Centauri B was continually being bombarded with light; by

the main star, Alpha Centauri itself, and Proxima Centauri, the tiny dwarf star in the system.

The scientists finally came up with a way to block the Proxima star's rays from hitting Centauri

B; a huge device was built on the planet which generated a hyperpolarized field that blocked the

rays from the dwarf star from hitting Centaurus; thus giving the planet a day/night cycle, and

the plants and trees from Earth were finally able to grow, then flourish, on Centaurus.

 

John thought to himself as he listened, 'I believe that could work here.' He looked over at the

discussion taking place for a few seconds, but then thought better of it; it really wasn't the

place for him to be offering opinions. His mannerism had not gone unnoticed, however;

Marine Captain Cassidy Granger had seen him. A few seconds later, there was a break in the

discussion, and Granger said, "Mr. Randall, you have something to contribute to our discussion?"

All heads turned toward John, who looked up from his station on the bridge. He gave a small

smile, and said, "Well, I couldn't help overhearing, and a thought did cross my mind."

 

Captain Ja'Lale said, "By all means, Lieutenant; share your thought with us." John nodded, and

said, "Well, sir, I was thinking; this is sort of the problem the early settlers of my homeworld,

Centaurus, had." He went on to explain how the problem had been solved; when he finished, the

bridge crew looked at each other for a few seconds. The captain said, "And you think the same

concept would work here?" "I do, sir," replied Randall. "It would take some modifications, of

course, but, essentially, sunrays are radiation, also; I believe the concept would block a great deal

of radiation from the Klingon planet. However, it would cost some credits to have the building

necessary to handle the hardware built, and, from what I've heard, the Klingons simply can't

afford it."

 

The captain nodded. "Thank you for your input, Lieutenant; that's an idea I'm sure hadn't occurred

to anyone else." John nodded. "Always happy to help, sir," he replied, and turned back to his

station. The discussion resumed behind him; a few minutes later, his work was done, and he logged

out of the engineering station. He turned, and left the bridge, catching the eye of navigator Lieutenant Reed as he began to walk toward the turbolift. The two officers exchanged nods, and John arrived at the lift. "Deck 12," he said as he stepped in, and the lift whisked him away.

 

He arrived at the deck, and stepped out of the lift. He made his way down the corridor to engineering, and went in. Davis gave him back the conn, and John went to his station, resuming his duties. He found out later on, as the mission concluded, that his idea had been rejected by the Klingons for the same reason he had stated; it was just too costly for their budget. The Challenger arrived at the starbase that was their destination, and the crew was granted limited shore leave while they awaited their next assignment.

 

 

END LOG

 

* - This is in reference to John Randall's first covert mission, available in the Challenger logs section.