Being old is new.

Posted on Thu Jan 26th, 2023 @ 8:02am by Lieutenant Commander Diane Doctrine & Lieutenant Geiger Zaal

Mission: Starship Side Quest
Location: Chief Intelligence Officer's office
Timeline: Current

==Intelligence Center, Deck 9==

Finchley approached the Intelligence Centre with a little trepidation. He felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, a sure sign he was coming back into that fold he'd left 'under a cloud' slightly. Once at the door, he stopped and began talking to himself 'You said you wouldn't go back into this Bird, you distinctly said under no circumstances would you return, yet here you are about to open your legs and let yourself be kicked in the bollocks all because your damn curiosity got the better of you!', and then he pressed the chime.

The door opened to reveal the inside of the Resolution's Intelligence Center. In the middle of the room was a table much like the one in engineering with a master systems display on it. The walls were lined with workstations and screens which were all blank at the moment. Diane stood at the other end wearing her command red uniform. "C'mon in Mister Kerr," she greeted him. There was a single door behind her at the other end of the room that led to her private office.

"Thank you Sir, I've been in contact with Lieutenant Zaal and asked him to meet us here," Finchley replied as he stepped into the office.

Diane managed to not roll her eyes. She hated being called 'sir' but also knew it was a hard habit to break for, oh, most of Starfleet. "I'm sure he'll be here shortly." She made a few taps on the console in front of her and one of the larger screens on the wall was brought to life showing the locations of several of Starfleet's boneyards. She allowed one corner of her mouth to turn upwards as she took a sip of coffee from a mug she held.

Finchley's eyes were immediately drawn to the screen that were showing the boneyards. As he scanned them, he inadvertently began to name the ship classes under his breath, then suddenly he said "OH...MY...WORD!" and pointed to the third screen. He moved closer, his nose practically up against the screen itself "Is that a Gagarin Class Light Cruiser???" he almost shouted in excitement "I have to go see that, have you any idea how rare those are Commander?"

“I do,” Diane answered amused at Kerr’s enthusiasm.

Stepping into the Intelligence Officer's office, Geiger felt like he was being called to the head master's office or the dean's office at the Academy. His lovely wife had tossed his name into the foray and now here he was wondering what he was getting himself into. He had walked into the office just as the Chief got all excited over the light cruiser. "Greetings. I'm not sure what my wife got me into, but I'm here," Geiger commented. "Some say that it was one of the leading designs that eventually led to the Constitution Class."

“Lieutenant Zaal,” Diane greeted him warmly, “Welcome to our little cabal. It appears we need some of your engineering expertise. Would you care to go on a little reconnaissance mission?” Her hand waved over the display showing the various Starfleet boneyards.

"Not that I'm one for subterfuge, nor am I a full ship expert, I've been voluntold by my wife, so you have me to the best of my abilities," the Trill stated.

"You'll be fine," Diane encouraged him, "Now," she addressed both men, "What we're looking at here, are the nearest Starfleet boneyards, as they're commonly known, to our currently location. We're being tasked with getting a preliminary assessment of which spaceframes are suitable for... shall we say a quick upgrading to be used in a possible war with the Dominion."

"If it's ok with you Commander, I'd like to check out that one" Finchley replied, throwing his thumb over his shoulder at the Gagarin cruiser "It's the first one of the class, the actual USS Gagarin itself, registration NCC-502. I've only ever seen it on vidcast and through its specs in the Starfleet Engineering archives. It's a personal reason, my Great-great-great Grandfather served as a Tactical Officer onboard, so it would kind of bring things back full circle for our family."

Diane studied the chart for a moment. "That shouldn't be a problem," she stated, "It seems there are several other viable candidates there as well."

"There's something else Sir" Finchley said, looking at Diane "In the hope that transparency is key to the work we'll be carrying out, I'm in no doubt you've already viewed my Intelligence file. Commander...I'm honest person, and that honesty has sometimes gotten me into trouble, so I have to ask, why have you picked me to come along?"

“You were the one who suggested this little outing, so it seemed like a good idea to bring you all along,” she answered.

Finchley nodded, very satisfied with the answer given to him. He turned back to the screen nearest to him, where he'd noticed the Gagarin, and said "These vessels obviously aren't as fast, nor as they as well armed as vessels these days, however, I'm assuming we can upgrade them to a degree. With that in mind, and given that we've not had any declaration of war regarding the Dominion, would the ships that we are bringing out of mothballs all be in the same fleet, or will they be split up? I have a reason for asking."

"They have to be worth something or they'd've been scrapped by now," Diane surmised, "As far as what task force or fleet they'd belong to, that's up to the admiralty." She watched Finchley for a moment trying to figure out what his angle was.

"Oh, they're definitely worth saving Commander," Finchley relied, and turning to Geiger he asked "Do you specialise in a specific area of engineering Lieutenant?"

The Trill looked over to the other man as he asked the question. "Yes, I specialize in advanced weapon design and specialization. I've been doing more of general work around the ship with recent events requiring higher priority."

"I would think these older ships will be a piece of cake for you then" Finchley laughed.

He turned back to Diane and said, "How many other crew will we be taking along Sir, I'm happy to bring Warrant Officer Karadis along with me if you'll permit us to look over the Gagarin?"

"After hearing about your third great grandfather serving on her, I don't think I can stop you," Diane chided lightly. "As for how many should go with us, how many can we fit comfortably in a runabout?"

Finchley heard the rebuke and replied "Of course you can Sir, I asked permission for WO Karadis and me to go over to the Gagarin, you could have said no and I'd have understood. As for how many can comfortably fit in a runabout, I'd say around eight."

"It's a good idea Mister Kerr," she replied, "My handler at Intel Headquarters thinks so as well so we have an okay to poke around a boneyard or two. I think you, me, Zaal, and Karadis should be sufficient... unless you think we need more."

"Thank you Sir, and thank your handler as well from me," Finchley replied. He hesitated for a moment on the question of bringing anyone else along, then said "Well, there is one person, but I'm a little hesitant to suggest them because they're slightly...eccentric. Basically, he's a Starfleet vessel historian, but he's also what you'd deem a 'tinkerer', if anyone can coax these old behemoths back into service, it's Kevin, Lord Kilbane of Sanquhar. Before you ask, yes, he's an aristocrat, no he won't give up his title, yes, he has bats in the belfry if you get my meaning, but he's also what I'd describe as a 'vessel whisperer'. He's here on secondment, and because no-one knew what to do with him, he was sent to me."

"Then it's we five going," Diane answered pleasantly. "It should be an interesting trip."

"Oh, I would think so Commander, I would most certainly think so" Finchley replied "When do we leave?" he added.

“As soon as I can get Captain Carey’s permission to take the runabout out,” Diane answered optimistically. She didn’t think Xavier would object.

"I better go and tell Kilbane to get himself ready then Sir" Finchley replied "If there's nothing else, I'll look forward to you contacting me for the off."

Geiger nodded. "I'll go make arrangements for the trip," the engineer commented. He had to make sure that their son was taken care of and Aalis would be able to cover for him while he was gone for the family matters. They did have access to civilian care aboard so that he didn't have to really worry about something happening with Lonén.