Captains log.

The Calistoga had spent the past several weeks completing medical supply runs and offering pop-up medical clinics to smaller and less resourced colonies in semi-remote areas south of Deep Space Five. We were due to head back to Deep Space Seventeen but I have received a set of orders from command that has honestly thrown me off a bit. It is not necessarily bad news, but it is highly unexpected. I’ve asked the senior staff to meet me in the conference room in thirty minutes so I can review the orders with them. I expect one of my staff in particular will not take this well…

The conference lounge was buzzing with conversation amongst the senior staff of Calistoga. Over the past several months, they had all become much closer with one another and what started as some awkward silences when half of them were newcomers to the vessel had evolved into a naturally flowing dialogue when they were all together. 

Raiem was the last to enter the space, and as he emerged through the doors, Lieutenant Sinclair quickly stood to attention and exclaimed, “Captain on deck!”

Captain Raiem rolled his eyes and waved the young helmsman down. “Eddie. I’ve already told you several times. Knock it out with that.” He knew the young man was just throwing some fun his way. His officers knew that level of rigid military fashion was not in alignment with his leadership style. “Sit your rear end down. Next time you do that, I’ll make you stand by yourself for the duration of the meeting.”

Eddie’s eyes widened, and he quickly resumed his seat as instructed. His eyes gave their usual sad puppy-eyed look. There were some low-level chuckles amongst the remainder of the staff.

Raiem tapped on some controls on the conference table as he assumed his own seated position. A holo-image of an Echelon class vessel displayed in the middle of the table, with a slow clockwise x-axis rotation. He didn’t speak immediately but instead noted his officers’ body language and initial reactions.

“An Echelon class vessel?” It was Lieutenant Atraix that spoke up first, something that was no longer a surprise for Raiem. He had come to appreciate how Atraix was never afraid to put forward what was on her mind.

“Not just an Echelon class vessel, Lieutenant. The Echelon.”  Raiem replied to the statement question but remained silent again. 

“I knew the cards were not deceiving me this morning.” Lieutenant Yuzar spoke up now. “The alignment of the fifth moon of Yurax never disappoints. Change is coming.” Everyone in the room looked at Yuzar now, some more perplexed than others. The newly minted Chief Science Officer of Calistoga rarely offered something not mystic in her delivery.

“Oddly enough, Lieutenant. Your moon of Yur…something is indeed correct. Change is coming. I received orders from Starfleet command this morning. We’ve been ordered to report to Starbase Twenty-One, where we will disembark and stand down from operations on Calistoga. We’ve been transferred to the Echelon.” Raiem gestured to the rotating holo image toward the end of his share.

There was silence now. Raiem made sure to take another read of the room. 

His executive officer, Commander Mayvilis seemed to have an extra twinkle in her eye. The news of an upgrade to an Echelon-class vessel appeared to sitting well with her.

Lieutenant Sinlair seemed only to be half paying attention as his eyes moved all around the room, and his lips moved silently as though he were conversing with himself. Young Eddie often needed more time to process things than the others.

“I’m game.” Lieutenant Atraix spoke up with a smile on her face.

Doctor Lilzalo and Lieutenant Nahl both looked unphased completely. Raiem wasn’t overly surprised by this. Both of them were hard to read on a good day. 

Lieutenant Yuzar appeared pleased with herself, having made her successful astrology-play before the news was even delivered.

Unsurprisingly. Lieutenant Command Stramm’s expression was not a positive one. Her face seemed to get redder with each passing second, and she bit her bottom lip, likely to prevent herself from saying what was actually on her mind. This didn’t work, though, as she spoke up with a slight spice in her voice. 

“And just what is going to happen to the Calistoga? Am I the only one in this room who even cares about that? Let’s move an entire crew to a different vessel and act like that’s not an unusual play.” 

The room looked to their Captain for a reply. Raiem nodded in understanding, he certainly aligned in his thinking regarding this whole set of orders being unusual. That an entire crew be vacated to another vessel at the same time was not something routinely done as far as he was aware. 

“In truth. I do not know, Commander. I am just as curious as you to know what will become of the Calistoga, but I was not about to call up Rear Admiral Viran and Captain Braim and demand further clarification.” Raiem gave his Chief Engineering Officer an empathic look but knew immediately that her reception of his comment did not land well. 

Stramm sighed and visibly disengaged from the conversation. “Captain. I have an eleven hundred I need to make with my staff. May I please be excused to go prep for that?” 

Raiem nodded and Stramm needed no further confirmation. She quickly stood up and left the room. There were some hushed comments from others who were sitting beside one another. Raime knew that none of them were surprised by the reaction of Hilga – someone who had served on Calistoga for a very long time. 

“That’s all I have to share on that for now. Eddie. Plot a course for Starbase Twenty-One and engage at the best possible speed. Please share this news with your teams and… start packing…” His staff gave him a nod of confirmation, and each of them made their exit. Commander Mayvilis remained with him. 

“Do you want me to talk with Hilga?” She asked Raiem.

“No. I think it’s best that I have a conversation with her.” Raiem replied and then took a deep breath, letting go of the little bit of anxiety he had left from the sharing that just took place. His fingers tapped lightly on the conference room table. 

“I need to convince her not to hand in her resignation over this. Hilga may be a challenge to work with at times, but there is no better engineer I would rather have than her to see us through this transition. We need her on board with this.” 

Mayvilis nodded in reply and gave Raiem an empathic expression of her own, “Good luck…”