Life's a Test to Dream

Posted on Thursday 22 June 2017 @ 01:50 by Lieutenant Commander David Tan & Captain Melody Jones

Mission: The Perez Nebula
Location: Tan's Quaters / Holodeck 1
Timeline: Stardate 239406.20
3105 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

1800 Hrs:

Melody pressed the door chime at the Tan's quaters and waited.

... They had just finished their evening meal and the girls were in their bedroom, Mackenzie doing her homework, and Mia doing her best to get her not to. David approached the door.

"Hello David. I brought some material for Mackenzie. Can i have a quick word?"

"Commander ...." David replied, stepping aside to let the Exec' in, "Yes of course ... Mackenzie, you have a visitor." he said, asking Melody to have a seat as both girls came in running.

"Hello Mia, Mackenzie. I've brought some material for you. I need you to read them before tomorrow."

She handed her two PADDS. "The first one the flight handbook for an Intrepid Class Starship. The second, a Galaxy class. Tomorrow, we'll be having two sessions. One in the morning, one in the afternoon."

... It wasn't a school day so there was no problem, as long as it wasn't taking up too much of her time Lana thought. Kenzie took the offered PADD's and smiled:

"Two sessions !" she said excitedly. putting both PADD's on the table, "I'll make sure i read them both I promise."

"Good, I'll see you in the morning."

... After melody left Kenzie picked up the PADD's but her mother halted her for a second:

"You know you need to finish your homework before you do anything else Kenzie ?" she said, making it more question that instruction, but Mackenzie assured her parents it would be finished first, but she did ask if Mia could remain in the living room so she could concentrate. David and Lana said OK and that they would keep her Sister busy ... In her room Kenzie dutifully completed her homework assignments then turned her attention to the PADD's .....

The next morning - 09:00 Hrs:

Melody was stood outside the holodeck. She greeted Mackenzie in a far more formal fashion. "Good morning Miss Tan. Busy schedule. Let's begin, shall we?"

... For a second Mackenzie wondered if there was something amiss, but then recalled the information she had been asked to review and wondered if this was a test in some form or other, like they did in school so you couldn't revise or something. She stood a little taller and replied:

"Good morning Commander, yes we can begin." she said, trying her best formal voice. The doors opened revealing the bridge of in Intrepid class, similar to USS Voyager.

"Right then Miss Tan. Take the helm please. We are currently in orbit of an M class planet. Following normal Starfleet procedures, I want you to land the ship at the co-ordinates indicated at the helm."

Melody now sat herself in the Captains chair. "You have two attempts and a time limit of one hour."

She gestured to the helm "Proceed."

... Kenzie looked at the expressionless face of her 'Instructor' then turned to her panel ... She opened a Comm link and informed the crew of their intentions to land, then instructed Engineering to take the warp core off-line. Without waiting for any other orders she altered course to enter the atmosphere. She didn't want to rush things given this was the first time she had attempted such a procedure, so she make the descent as shallow as possible, but ten minutes in she realised that the ship was now 'bouncing' off the upper atmosphere rather than ploughing through it effortlessly. She increased the angle by three degrees and that rectified the problem ... As the ship began to feel her way through the upper atmosphere she increased inertial dampers to their maximum setting ... The planets' surface was coming up much fast than she expected and began to adjust the glide slope, but something was wrong !

She applied thrusters but nothing happened ... Her eyes flashed across the panel trying to figure out why the massive vessel was now increasing her rate of descent rather than decreasing their fall. She looked at the view-screen and could already make out land masses approaching much much to fast. Alarms began to sound, almost deafening the six year old but she tried to concentrate, all thoughts of Melody gone from her mind as she ran through the manuals in her head.

-- Warning -- Impact Imminent -- Warning -- Impact Imminent --

She pushed the thrusters past their maximum and held onto the panel, the ship was now at an angle of almost sixty degrees and heading towards the surface at twice the speed of sound.

-- Warning -- Impact Imminent -- Warning -- Impact Imminent --

"Computer stop this. Stop this now.I want to start again !" she said almost in panic. The computer interpreted that she wanted the simulation ended and did so, resetting automatically. Kenzie turned to Melody who simply pointed out that she had thirty five minutes to complete the task at hand. Shocked, but quickly recovering, Mackenzie began the process again but this time halted the program for almost two minutes, in which time her Instructor sat completely silent, watching the six year old as she sat almost motionless.

~~~~~

Then Kenzie told the computer to resume.

She took warp drive off-line and increased inertial dampers to maximum, then set the angle of attack to thirteen degrees. This time she brought the atmospheric thrusters on-line before entering the upper atmosphere and again began to feel the buffeting as the Intrepid Class entered the life-giving air of the planet. At ten thousand meters she began to decrease the angle of decent using the atmospheric thrusters until it was at only five degrees. At five hundred meters she lowered the landing struts and scanned ahead to make sure the landing area she had selected was still free of obstacles, and satisfied she began to lower their height above ground while simultaneously using the forward thrusters to decrease speed.

At one hundred meters above the ground she brought their forward motion to almost a complete stop as she watched the landing area on the screen, her eyes flicking between her panel and the view she reduced thrust allowing the ship to make a controlled fall to the soft ground below. Indicators on her panel confirmed that all four landing struts were on firm ground and were supporting the weight of the craft within parameters. Taking a few seconds to review her actions, hoping she hadn't messed up again, she shut down all thrusters and drive systems reducing inertial dampers to compliment the planets gravity signature, then turned to Melody.

"Vessel has made planet-fall and landed successfully Commander. Power systems are in stand-by." ...

Melody simply nodded and enter some information on a PADD.

"Very good. Please bring all relevant systems online and take us back into orbit. Then lay in a course for the nearest Starbase and engage so we arrive there within twelve hours. Once again you have two attempts in an hour time limit. Begin."

... This time, Mackenzie sat and ran through the procedure in her mind first, taking less than five seconds to do so. she brought thrusters on-line and increased inertial dampers to maximum, then applied thrust. The massive vessel gracefully rose from the dust-laden ground and began a slow climb. As the seconds passed she raised the landing struts and increased speed before manipulating the controls to pull the 'nose' of the ship up to increase the climb angle. Within two minutes she was back in space, pulling away from the planets gravity and into open space. Instructing Engineering to bring the warp core back on-line she checked the location of the nearest Starbase. Engineering confirmed they had warp drive and Kenzie made the necessary inputs on her panel. The ship jumped to warp ... She turned:

"On course for Starbase one three one. Speed Warp four. Commander."

Once again Melody simply nodded and recorded the information. "That concludes this secession. Go and get some lunch and take a break for three hours. The report back here at fourteen hundred hours. You can review anymore information you need to during this time."

She stepped out of the holodeck, Melody still sat in the Center Seat of the imaginary vessel ... Home, she excitedly told her parents and somewhat bemused younger Sister about her test.

"I'm pretty sure it was a test, though Melody, erm, Commander Jones didn't exactly say it was." she said.

"Well sweetheart, not 'all' tests are announced beforehand as you well know, some are set to test the knowledge you have gained without having to resort to revision." her Mother explained, "OK. let's get you some lunch, if you have to be back in the hold-deck in three hours it doesn't give you much time. You're not getting too tired are you, I can always ask Melody to pos ...."

"No, no, I'm fine. Just a little disappointed that I crashed the ship first time around."

"Kenzie crashed the shi'iiiip ... Kenzie crashed the shi'iiiip." Mia sang as she ran around the room.

"Now now Mia, you know that's to the right thing to do, say sorry to your Sister." Lana instructed sternly while trying not to grin, "Then you can help me." Mia did as she was told, hugging her big sister then going after her Mummy.

"So what do you think your instructor has planned for you next ?" David asked as he watched his daughter bring the PADD's she had been given the night before from her bedroom.

"I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure that a Galaxy Class Starship can't land on a planetary body, so it's a little confusing."

"They don't tend to crash all that well either." David said under his breath.

"What was that Daddy ?"

"Nothing Princess ... OK, you're sandwiches are here, make sure you eat then and drink your milk, I'll leave you to your studies." he said, going into the kitchen area to join his Wife and younger Daughter. From what she was reading, the Galaxy Class wan't designed to land at all. The Saucer Section 'could' make planet-fall, but it would be more a controlled crash than an actual landing, and it certainly wouldn't be in a condition to lift off and attain orbit after the damage the 'landing' would have caused, so what was in store for her next she wondered as she bit into her sandwich ....

Afternoon - 14:00 Hrs:

Walking to the holodeck Mackenzie wondered again what was in store. She approached the waiting Melody:

"Trainee Mackenzie Tan reporting Commander." she said formally, hands clamped to her sides and chin up, eyes front ....

"Good afternoon Miss Tan. Shall we?" Melody then addressed the computer "Run program flight training part 2."

The pair found themselves on the battle bridge of a Galaxy class Starship.

"Now Miss Tan, for this you have an hour and a half and two attempts. Please take the helm. The saucer section of this vessel is not far from here. Locate it on sensors and intercept. Then please complete a manual docking manoeuvre, once that's completed you'll accompany me to the main bridge." Melody once again sat herself in the centre chair.

... Full manual docking ?" Mackenzie asked.

She raised an eyebrow "Yes, manual docking. No computer assistance. You may begin."

... It wasn't going to be easy, she knew that as she took her seat and looked at the large panel and even more imposing view-screen. She instructed the computer to scan for the Drive Section .... It was almost four thousand kilometers ahead of the Stardrive Section and Kenzie pondered her next move: A qualified Officer would increase orbital velocity and allow the Stardrive Section to catch up to the Saucer Section, then she had it, she used the forward thrusters to increase speed and watched as the Stardrive began to close on them. On the large screen she immediately spotted the oncoming Section.

As the distance decreased she checked and triple-checked her actions, using the thrusters to position the Stardrive Section in relation to it's partner. She realised very quickly that even in the apparent vacuum of space, a planets gravity field could effect even the truest flight and she needed to compensate again and again. At three hundred meters she used the thrusters to incrementally decrease their speed until they were closing at two meters per second. She manually instructed the docking Latches to extend from the 'Drive section and waited. It was all down to her getting the timing of the connection right so at twenty meters she again used the thrusters to slow the approach to only one meter per second. On screen the massive Saucer section appeared to be about to slam into them, she forced herself to concentrate on her panel, and primarily the counter showing her the ever-reducing distance from the duel sensors on the docking latches and their fixtures.

She silently mouthed the figures as they fell: Five meters ... Four ... Three ... Two ...... Then came the 'thud' of contact, muted and reassuring, she could hear the clamps moving into place securely fixing both enormous Sections together as one. She checked their orbital status and realised that due to the docking manoeuvre they were now slightly below their assigned orbital track, she made several adjustments then satisfied herself that her task was complete, but rather than turn around she ran through the complete process on her panel, checking that as far as she knew she had followed procedure. Finally, she opened a Comm to the ship and confirmed docking was complete. Only then did she lock off her panel and turn to face her Instructor ...

Melody made some more notes on her PADD. She then rose and headed towards the turbolift. "Follow me please."

Tag

"Main bridge" Melody stated and the lift started to head up to the newly joined saucer section. The lift stopped and Melody gestured to the helm as she took the Captains chair.

"Starbase 74 is less than 10 minutes from here at warp six. Please take us there and dock the ship."

... Kenzie looked at her panel, inputting the destination and velocity, then double-checked everything was correct. She placed a finger on the activate pad and the ship began a turn to Starboard, levelling it't attitude the Galaxy Class vessel jumped to warp six ... Mackenzie didn't take her eyes off her panel as the minutes past, finally, the computer informed them that they were approaching Starbase Seventy Four, Kenzie immediately dropped to full impulse and checked her readings and ran through what she had learned about the docking procedure, she was still thinking when the Comm chirped to life:

=^= USS Doctrina .. Starbase Dock Master .. We have you on approach .. Prepare to transfer Helm control to Dock =^=

Mackenzie turned to Melody, who simply raised her eyebrows and returned her attention to the PADD in her hand. Kenzie took a breath.

=^= Starbase Dock Master .. USS Doctrina .. Requesting erm manual docking =^=

=^= Manual docking is prohibited .. Please stand by to transfer control to Starbase for docking USS Doctrina =^= Kenzie turned to her Instructor, who overruled the Dock master =^= Manual docking confirmed .. Please begin your approach at one quarter impulse maximum .. Dock Master standing by =^=

Mackenzie confirmed the velocity and slowed the ship ... At five thousand meters she plotted her approach so the Galaxy Class Doctrina would, hopefully, pass through the slowly rotating doors of the Dome ... On the viewscreen the slowly opening doors, looking almost tiny against the enormous four kilometer tall Starbase, were off to her right and slowly coming into view. At two thousand meters she checked thruster control was active on her panel then cut impulse drive completely. She was concentrating on a thin line, more a soft arc, extending from the ship to the docking bay door opening. As the ship neared she used dorsal and lateral thrusters to 'nudge' the six hundred meter long vessel, now moving in two planes, forward and to port, onto the line. At five hundred meters she used the fore thrusters to slow their approach to fifteen meters per second ...

As the ship passed two hundred meters she again slowed, reducing their approach to only five meters per second ... The enormous opening still seemed to be much to far to her right but it was slowly lining itself with the oncoming Starship. The sides of the opening loomed large on screen and eventually passed beyond the edges of the viewscreen. She could see the lights inside as the Saucer Section passed through the opening. Ahead was a long section where the ship would dock and she slowed once again until the ship was moving forward at only one meter per second. She could see on her panel where the ship needed to come to a complete halt and did so in target. She set thrusters to station-keeping and instructed the Dock to extend umbilicus which would connect power and walkways to the ship, disengaging thrusters so they would not interfere with the flexible conduits extending from the dock ...

Confirmation came up from both the Dock Master and Engineering that all power umbilicus were connected and the warp drive could be shut down. Kenzie ordered this to happen then waited again while the two extending walkways to connect with the Port Saucer Section airlock and the Stardrive airlock on the same side. Engineering confirmed that the Doctrina was now on external power. She thanked the unseen Engineer and turned her seat to face her Instructor:

"Docking is finished Commander." ... The simulation vanished as the holodeck program was ended, after a few moments talking together Kenzie returned to her quarters .....

"Kenzie, Mia, time to get up." Mackenzie opened her eyes, confused for a second to find herself in bed and not on the holodeck with Melody. Mia jumped on her, tickling her until she did the same. Both girls giggled until their Mother came into their room again, "Hey you two, we're not going on the picnic if you both don't get out of bed and in the shower." Lana said, trying not to grin.

Mia got off her bed and ran to the bathroom, Mackenzie frowned for a second then began to follow. Lana was watching her Daughter and asked if anything was the matter:

"No Mummy ..." Kenzie said with a smile, "I had the most exciting dream, I'll tell you all about it at breakfast, OK."

"OK Sweetheart." her Mother said, leaving them to shower and dress .....

OFF:

Lt Commander David Tan
Chief Operations Officer
USS Merlin

Mackenzie Tan
Daughter of David Tan

Commander Melody Jones
Executive officer
USS Merlin