80121.12
--=23:50 hours, after the conclusion of the dinner party=--
The arboretum was mostly deserted now.
The tables, chairs, and overhead strands of lights had all been removed. One would never know to look at the space that a large party had happened here, just a short time ago.
The scheduled irrigation cycle, delayed by the evening's festivities, had finally kicked on.
Captain Zanh and Admiral Jonas Vox alone remained.
As drips of water cascaded as rain from above, the two Starfleet officers sat on the swing beneath the gazebo. Speaking privately of times past, friends gone, and frontiers yet to be conquered.
"It's almost midnight, Zanh Liis." Vox declared at last, as the rain sequence ended and he brought the swing to a stop with a quick motion of his foot. He stood up and looked around them, taking in the view.
The dim lighting from the panels overhead illuminated the drops of water on the plants like morning dew. Everything seemed fresh, and alive.
Anything seemed possible here.
"Will I turn into a pumpkin if we don't leave the ball, Fairy Godmother?" Liis quipped. She looked down and swung one foot forward dramatically, holding it out for him to inspect.
She analyzed it closely herself. "I seem to have lost a glass shoe."
Vox chuckled softly. "What you turn into at midnight, I don't know. But I do know that we have somewhere to go. If you'll come with me."
"Mysterious." Liis intoned playfully as she followed him toward the exit, curious what he had in store.
He led her to the nearest lift, and Liis looked at him expectantly. "Where to, boss?"
"Bridge." Vox commanded.
As the doors slid open moments later to reveal their destination, Liis was struck again by the sight of it. Sera was, quite simply, breathtaking.
"I still don't know where that bottle of wine went, I sure hope no one. . ." Zanh paused before finishing her sentence, as she looked up in dismay to find her senior staff manning every station to which they were officially assigned.
Lining the walls all along the perimeter of the room stood the rest of the ship's commissioned officers.
". . .drank it." She concluded softly, her words hanging in the air as she rocked forward and backward on her feet in anticipation. Once again, she directed bright blue eyes toward Vox.
"Admiral?"
"The reason that you can't find the wine, Zanh Liis, is because we're ready to break the bottle, just as Salvek intended."
Her lips parted slightly, as she gasped in silent surprise.
"I thought it most appropriate to conclude this evening's celebration by officially sending Sera on her way." Vox approached the helm, and gestured toward the woman there seated. "Lt. Grace, are you ready?"
"Aye. Orders, Sir?"
"Your orders are to take the ship out of dock and then lay in a course, station keeping, in orbit of Earth. The ship is to remain on that course for the next eight hours."
"Understood, Sir."
Vox glanced up at Zanh. "Provided everything goes well overnight," he raised an eyebrow slightly and just a hint of a smile danced across his lips. ". . .and assuming Sera's front bumper does not fall off," February laughed softly, and a full smile came to fruition upon the Admiral's face. "She'll receive her first official assignment in the morning."
Zanh's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes darted around the room, seeking one face in particular among the assembled group. She found him at last, glancing over her shoulder to see Jariel standing in the back of the bridge, by the lift doors.
He nodded to her once, smiling proudly. Liis' heart was so full, she thought it may not be able to contain the joy she felt in this moment.
"Captain, the shuttlecraft Chance is requesting permission to disembark." Dane Cristiane muttered from his position at the communications station.
"Ensign, we can't hear you," Vox chided him. "Enunciate."
"The shuttle craft Chance is requesting permission to disembark! SIR!" Dane snapped. His words were appropriate. His tone of voice, not so much.
Zanh shot him a stern warning glare, drawing looks from every officer present. O'Sullivan, who was standing nearby Cristiane, shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Mind your manners," he whispered menacingly, ". . .or I'll mind them for you."
"Shall I give them your authorization, Captain?" Dane inquired now, shifting in his chair slightly.
"Admiral?" Zanh asked, seeking his blessing.
"They've got your bottle of Spring Wine." Vox replied.
"Permission granted." Liis nodded. "They can launch as soon as we're clear. " She absolutely beamed, glowing as if lit from within as she added, "the USS Serendipity is leaving space dock."
"Acknowledged."
Liis felt her heart race, and her face flush with excitement. The intensity of emotion coursing through her was astonishing. It was a heady experience, and one she could only equate with the shocking rush that accompanied waking up in the middle of the night to the realization that you were falling in love.
The sensation was dizzying.
Intoxicating.
She drew as deep a breath as she could manage, and rested her hands against the back of the command chair to try to conceal from all present that they were unsteady.
To hide the fact they were actually trembling.
"Your chair, Captain?" Vox offered.
"No, thank you," Liis whispered softly, "I'd rather stand. Commander Salvek." Zanh beckoned her Executive Officer to come near.
"Captain?"
"When the Chance moves into position, please ask them to hold."
"Aye, Sir."
"Would you care to say anything to your crew, Captain, before we release the docking clamps and set Sera free?" Vox invited.
Liis reached up and twisted the chain on her earring a second, pondering. She nodded, and she moved forward a few paces to stand dead center of the bridge. Shoulders back, eyes level with her officers, she stood tall.
She looked at each of them for a moment now, taking them in. Faces both foreign and familiar surrounded her, and she knew that she could ask for no more from a crew than these souls were ready to offer her, and willingly.
It was a sacred trust, the relationship between captain and crew, and one that she would never neglect, or forsake.
"Come, my friends." Zanh began slowly. Her voice wavered, and she focused her thoughts and intention, determined to steady it. "'Tis not too late to seek a newer world."
She stepped forward, circling the bridge in measured steps as Salvek discreetly tapped the stand-by order for the Chance into the communications console.
Zanh's excitement for what was to come resonated in every word she spoke; each successive syllable uttered with an increasingly urgent and commanding tone of voice.
"Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows;"
She stepped forward to the science panel and, reaching over Reece's shoulder, she brought external visuals up on screen. The image of open space before them came into view.
"For my purpose holds.
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die."
Reece winked at Liis, and she gave him her trademark, lopsided grin.
"Even though Alfred, Lord Tennyson lived and died hundreds of years ago, only able to sail an ocean beneath the stars, and not the heavens, among them, as we do. . ." she marveled at the thought. "It seems that he understood, even so, exactly the way that I feel now."
She walked slowly from station to station, looking into the face of each officer there as she spoke.
"At this, our zero hour, we are charged with a perilous duty. That of safeguarding the future, and the technology that will shape it, for us all." She let her words stand a moment, punctuating the seriousness of their mission, before proceeding.
"I have no doubt in my mind that each of you will do your very best in service of this ship, and her crew. " She stopped in front of TC Blane, and gave him a knowing look, inclining her head toward him slightly in acknowledgment of all the man had already done for her as she added, ". . .and her Captain."
Blane puzzled her by seeming to change position a little, but Liis was too engaged to question his discomfort now.
"I give you my word that I will always do my level best for you. To protect you, to challenge you, to walk side by side with you as we move into this, our future. Not a step ahead, not a pace behind."
She approached the helm.
"We will accomplish our goals together, as one."
She moved back toward the center of the bridge to conclude her statements. "If you would indulge me a moment longer, I would like to return to Tennyson, who concluded his Ulysses this way:
". . .that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Zanh's eyes sparkled with emotion. She stepped forward to stand between Salvek and Blane, the men who were so vital to Sera's chain of command, and moreover two men she believed with all her heart would also- always - have her back.
"To the Serendipity. May she and her crew strive. Seek. Find," Her jaw set with determination as she thought now of those who would surely challenge the safety and security of their charge, the Alchemy. ". . .and never yield."
She spun on her heel and returned to the helm. "Lt. Grace."
"Docking clamps released, Captain." February responded, hands deftly maneuvering across her panel. "Course and speed laid in. Impulse drive on line and ready to engage upon your order."
All eyes were on the forward view screen as Zanh gave the word.
"Go."
The ship propelled forward, leaving behind the confines of its location of origin. Ready to strike out and explore.
Ready to begin.
As soon as the ship was clear of the dock and had moved into open space, Zanh nodded to Salvek and he gave word to the crew of the Chance.
"Proceed."
The Chance emerged from Sera's shuttle bay and swung around front of the ship, taking up position.
"By your command, Captain," said Salvek.
"Now."
The shuttle launched the bottle of Bajoran Spring Wine out into space, with a remote control guidance chip attached to it. With masterful skill and precision, the crew maneuvered the bottle straight into Serendipity's forward hull.
The shuttle sent the image from its perspective back to the Sera, and Cristiane switched viewpoints on the main screen.
The crew erupted into applause as they witnessed this official christening.
Only after it was over, did Zanh finally take her rightful seat in the center chair.
"Those who are not scheduled to work the overnight, you can go." Zanh announced. "I thank you for being here tonight, and in advance for all that you will do in service of this ship and her mission. Dismissed."
As officers began to file into the lift in shifts, the Admiral leaned over and addressed her. "Nice."
"Well, I've always been of the opinion that Tennyson said anything that ever needed to be said better than anyone else could say it, before or since."
"Would you like that last line from Ulysses to be the inscription on Sera's dedication plaque, Captain?" Vox inquired. "I held off having it finished, thinking that you may want to choose the text yourself."
Zanh looked up at him, speechless. She nodded.
"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." Vox repeated. "Got it."
"Orders, Captain?" Salvek approached Zanh again, hands clasped behind him as he walked.
"You have no orders, Salvek. You aren't scheduled until alpha shift."
"Requesting permission to stay on the bridge overnight, Captain. To allow you to rest with complete assurance that everything is well in hand here."
"Thank you, Salvek." She knew that she had better take this opportunity to sleep before her day truly began at 0600. She stood up from the chair, grinned at him and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing once. "Permission granted. Commander, the bridge is yours."
Zanh looked around now for TC Blane, wanting to revel in this moment in his company as well, but he was nowhere to be found. She knew his shift did not start until morning, so she expected that he'd gone to his quarters to sleep. Still, she frowned a little, curious that he didn't at least say something to her after the christening.
"Good job, Bru," Zanh complimented Grace with a wave of her hand. "Not a scratch."
"Just as I promised, Sir."
"Mr. Cristiane, signal the Chance and ask them to return. We remain in orbit of Earth tonight," Zanh moved toward the lift, where Jariel stood, waiting patiently for her. "Then in the morning, the real fun begins."
-=/\=-Captain Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012