So Close...Yet...So Far.

[John_Anderson 0]

"So Close...Yet...So far."

Lieutenant William Gamble

Starfleet Weapon Systems Specialist

Head of Weapons Development. Challenger Project.

 

It had been two months since Bill had been assigned onto the Challenger Project, and wow, it sure had been a ride. Attacks by rogue Klingons, frictions between Earth, the Andorians, and the Vulcans, the move from Earth to Mars. It just had been a crazy two months, and there was a little more than one month left to go.

 

For starters, Bill had barely been in his office over the last two months. He spent most of his time on Earth, during the beginning phases of the Challenger project. He had been in countless meetings with heads at Starfleet, with diplomats, with Engineers, with almost everyone that had any tie to the Challenger and Columbia projects.

 

The reason why he had so many meetings with people from the Columbia project was due to fact that Bill was forced to take much of the work he had done on Columbia and transfer it over to the Challenger project. Needless to say, a lot of the people on the Columbia project were extremely mad at him, but he had no choice, if Starfleet wanted Challenger launched by the date they had set the Columbia project would have to be set back by a few months.

 

Anyways, that squabble was besides the point. Most of the projects he was overseeing were either on schedule, or even ahead of schedule. The phase cannon project was the one that was ahead of schedule. The phase cannons were actually going to be installed this week, the news of this just made Bill's day.

 

The polarized hull project was on track as well, but the one project that was starting to fall behind schedule was the torpedo/torpedo launcher project.

 

During the last torpedo launcher simulation, the launcher overheated and jammed after the launch of three torpedo's. Had it been an actual real life situation, the fourth torpedo would have probably taken out half the ship, and in the process, destroyed it. The setback was a bit unexpected, but he knew that if the project didn't get back on the right track that Commodore Moose and Commander Moore would not be the happiest of campers.

 

But who could he give the project to?? He didn't have the time to concentrate his full efforts on both the Polar Hull project and the torpedo project. Bill would have to find someone to undertake the effort on his behalf, but he'd have to make sure that they'd have the qualifacations for undertaking such a strenuous project, but Bill was sure he'd find someone that would be able to handle it.

 

In a few more weeks, it'll all be over with. The diplomats, the red tape, the paperwork, the memo's, the meetings, the goal was in sight, but there was still a ways to go. Bill just knew that once it was all over, it'd be well worth it. He was partaking in a project that was meant to take humanity to the far reaches galaxy, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, to bodly go where no one has gone before, and that was motivation enough for him to stay the course and see it to the end; no matter how many grey hairs he got in the process...

Edited August 4, 2004 by John_Anderson