So, what's the scuttlebutt?

Posted on Thu Jan 26th, 2023 @ 7:56am by Lieutenant Commander Diane Doctrine & Lieutenant Commander Aalis Rinne & Lieutenant Sky Jansen-Carey

Mission: Starship Side Quest
Location: Ships mess
Timeline: Current.

Finchley walked into the mess, his stomach had been complaining to him for at least an hour and a half that it required feeding, but he'd ignored it on account of the thousand and one jobs he had to do, along with making sure the service crew were on top of the diagnostic routines that had just been introduced, as well as overseeing the maintenance of the holodecks, the replicators were all now functioning as they should, the transporter rooms weren't still a pile of parts but were...well, looking like transporter room should...minus conduits sticking down from the ceilings.

His head ached almost as much as his stomach, but here he was now, in the cattle market that was the Alpha shift pre-on duty breakfast run. Standing in line to get to the replicator, the line was slow moving so he began making 'mooing' noises followed by some 'baaaaaaaas'...so as the people at the front of the line knew he was getting fed up waiting. More than a few of the crew threw him a scant squint, but he ignored them all.

Finally, he made it to the front of the line and without hesitation said "One big sod off Finchley cooked breakfast!"

The replicator gave its customary whir and a plate appeared, groaning with food. Picking it up, along with his cup of tea, he looked around for a seat. The room was buzzing with people and tables were all full, except one, that had an empty seat. Walking over, he looked at the three officers sat there and said, "Please Sirs, take pity on a weary traveller who only wants a seat to rest their worn-out bones and eat the meagre rations they've managed to scrape together!"

Diane laughed out loud. It felt like the first time she's laughed in days and it felt good. She looked a touch more haggard than usual but kept her smile. Her plate was empty except for a few crumbs of hash browns and she hadn't finished her coffee yet. Kerr had a way of livening up a crowd. "Please Chief, take a seat."

While Aalis hadn't know the Chief of Boat specifically all that well, she half choked on her drink that she had been drinking when he had spoken about needing to rest his weary bones. A smile cracked as she showed him the empty chair. Her husband was on drop off duty this morning, as he had been working through the night on the repairs to the ship. She decided to enjoy breakfast in the mess allowing the boys to have a morning together.

Sky was busy tucking into her breakfast, alongside her plate of cooked goodies she also had a fruit salad for dessert, all nice and filling for a pregnant woman. She was finding out just how true the saying about eating for two was. She offered the Chief a warm smile. “Plenty of room for one more Chief, make yourself at home.”

Finchley made theatrical "Ooooohs" and "Ahhhhhs" as he gingerly sat himself down. "I thank you kind Sirs, as does my aching back, jippy knees, chocolate ankles and swollen feet!"

He tucked into his hearty breakfast and did his best not to slurp his tea, the latter not so successful though. Looking around the table he said "So, what's the latest news then?"

“Depends on what kind of news you’re looking for,” Sky grinned as she paused to sip her drink. “The colonists are being evacuated, well those who want to go that is.”

Finchley looked at Sky "I have to say, my heart goes out to them Lieutenant, I mean, being taken away from the place you've worked and lived, it's got to be hard."

"It is," Aalis stated mournfully. "I've been around and seen what can happen. While the colonies are the ones that get hit the hardest with things like this, no place is unfortunately immune to war as such." Their decision to return to fleet life was because of what happened at Earth. If that could happen there, then there really was no place that was safe for them. With the advent of the conflicts gaining in frequency becoming more worrisome, it was something that maybe she needed to discuss with her husband again.

“The sad fact is Starfleet, and the Federation at large, lacks the resources to properly protect everyone that needs to be protected,” Diane sounded a little more tired than usual. “There’s a good chance we’ll make do with what we have…” Her tone started to sound more upbeat, “And there are several new classes of starships about to make their debut.” She shrugged, “I like our chances so far.”

Finchley turned to Diane, paused for a moment then said "Actually Commander, there are resources...of a sort, but I hesitate to say too much outside of this discussion for fear that I'll be shouted down if I were to suggest it openly to higher echelons. As you know, there's a 'boneyard' at Mars where all the decommissioned vessels are sent. Every now and again, I've visited it, just to see what's there. I know this is going to sound rather off the wall, but some of those ships can be recommissioned as they basically still have all the 'guts' in them, it's just their warp cores are missing, and the computers have all been purged. It wouldn't take too much time and engineering know how to get some of them space worthy again to go back on the line. I mean, there are Larson Class destroyers, Saladin Class destroyers, Loknar Class frigates, a few Dreadnoughts, Coronado Class destroyers, Menahga Class battlecruisers, Constitution Class and Constitution Class refits, Galaxy Class plus a plethora of support vessels. I know it's not really my place, but I would be willing to bet that if I were to get a team of willing volunteers, I could have a few of those ships ready again in a very short time period."

Diane's eyes blinked slowly as she sighed. "You might be surprised to find out that is already in the works," she said, "they're planning on kit-bashing whatever is usable into these frankenstein monstrosities for the war effort if it comes to that." She shook her head, "What bothers me is, do we have enough updated technology and armaments to retro-fit these... things to make them at least somewhat viable against our enemy, who is at least up to par with our latest." She held up one fore-finger to her mouth, "That's hush-hush for now, you all hear?" She waved her finger around to point at each of them in turn.

"And this is why I'm glad I'm not the engineer in my family. I'll leave all that to my husband," Aalis shook her head lightly in mock disgust. While she tried to pay attention to the fun things that Geiger loved to get into, it was a bit over her head. However, she probably had more of an edge than the standard officer because he made her pay attention and help from time to time.

"Absolutely Sir, though, being as we're able to discuss this between ourselves, the reason I brought this up is that when I 'visited' the boneyard, it was more than just a sight seeing tour" Finchley replied "It was as part of a salvage squad. As you're probably aware, being CIO, I've had two tours in Intelligence, the latter being to see what was to reconnoitre what we could bring back online. The three Dreadnoughts, four Loknars, three Constitutions and two Coronados are what we found to be the best hopes. Yes, they can frankenstein the rest to become...whatever they'll be, but these twelve vessels are all able to be recommissioned. And it's not just that, there are four other boneyards as well, only one of which is currently being looked at. Look, it's no secret that there's a profoundly high chance we could be at war soon, we need to be prepared. I was going to come and see you later today to ask if it was possible that 'we' could go and take a look at one of the other three, see what's there, to scout, inventory and then report back at what we thinks salvageable. Would you be prepared to take this to the Captain?" he asked Diane.

She was resting her elbows on the table and supporting her chin with her fists as she contemplated. “Your idea certainly has merit. I have somewhat of a full plate now, however, I recently acquired a couple of subordinates aboard to help carry the load. The short answer to your question is yes.”

"Geiger would probably get a kick out of it, even if he is more specialized in weapons engineering and tinkering," Aalis commented. "I can talk to him and let you know."

"That's great news, thank you Sir" Finchley said to Diane. Having now finished his food and cup of tea, he stood up and as he collected his plate and cup to take back to get recycled, he added "Thank you for allowing me to share your table Sirs and I enjoyed our chat, it's been very fruitful I believe. I look forward to hearing back from you in regard to what's been said. If you'll excuse me, I have some sighing, head shaking and pointing out of some things that aren't quite right yet down below", and with that he smiled and nodded his goodbye to each of them.

"Have a good day, Chief," Aalis stated as he stood.