Voyages of the USS Lirpa

[Kirok]

[Bridge USS Lirpa]

A few days had passed since the initial shakedown flight of the ship and the Lirpa was restng back at the station.  The crew had been told that they were going to the Gamma Quadrand for a diplomatic mission.  Everone was at their posts ready to take off.

Kirok sat in the central seat on the Bridge.  He was looking at yet another request to push back the date of the diplmatic meeting.  It was the third request of it's kind and if the Admiral was not half Vulcan he would have been annoyed.

Nonetheless, he agreed to pushing back the date and sent the reply.   With that done, he looked up.  "Proceed with take off" he called out.

[Judith Eastman]

[Bridge]
A recent study showed that 80% of Counselors in Starfleet do not exercise the privilege to wear civilian garb. In her assignments as counselor (both earlier on the Fiji and now on the Lirpa), Judy belonged to the 20% that do. In the mold of such (significantly more qualified) counselors as Deanna Troi, Judy inhabited the chair to Admiral Kirok's left, wearing a floral-patterned blouse and grey skirt, with a matching grey jacket draped over the back of the chair. Her appearance was "nice counselor" from the neck down, but intimidating as ever from the neck up.
She was in the middle of reviewing the crew's personnel files (Grippen, as it turned out, was Risian, a people whose language had almost as many words for love as a typical Risian had lovers in a lifetime), when Kirok ordered the helm to take them out.
"Well, Admiral, where to?" Judy inquired, turning her chair to face him.

[Malik Grippen]

[Bridge - USS Lirpa]

With that done, he looked up.  "Proceed with take off" he called out.

"Aye admiral, beginning undocking procedure." Malik began the preplanned undocking procedure, a well rehearsed routine for any starship pilot. "Dock control reports clear for departure, bringing maneuvering thrusters online..." The Lirpa began to move forward and away from the dock. After a few moments the Sabre class was away, "We are clear of space-dock admiral." Malik turned in his seat, awaiting the answer to the counsellor's question.

[Kirok]

[Bridge]
A recent study showed that 80% of Counselors in Starfleet do not exercise the privilege to wear civilian garb. In her assignments as counselor (both earlier on the Fiji and now on the Lirpa), Judy belonged to the 20% that do. In the mold of such (significantly more qualified) counselors as Deanna Troi, Judy inhabited the chair to Admiral Kirok's left, wearing a floral-patterned blouse and grey skirt, with a matching grey jacket draped over the back of the chair. Her appearance was "nice counselor" from the neck down, but intimidating as ever from the neck up.
She was in the middle of reviewing the crew's personnel files (Grippen, as it turned out, was Risian, a people whose language had almost as many words for love as a typical Risian had lovers in a lifetime), when Kirok ordered the helm to take them out.
"Well, Admiral, where to?" Judy inquired, turning her chair to face him.

[Bridge USS Lirpa]

Kirok turned slightly toward the counselor.  He had never seen anyone wear a floral patterened anything on the Bridge of a star ship, but did not comment on the woman's attrie.  For all he knew, today was some holiday, like Easter, that the counselor was observing and he did not wish to spend time finding out if it was or wasn't.

"We're off to the Gamma Quadrand, Ms. Eastman.  This will be a diplomatic mission and your expertise will be needed.  We will be negotiating the last bits and pieces of a contract that will allow the Federation to place a Space Station on the Gamma Quardrant side of the wormhole near Bajor" Kirok said.

"On the Tempest, you have spend quite a lot of time in the Gamma Quadrant.  That is one reason you were picked for this mission.  Your first hand knowledge of some of the cultural practices there may help us in some way finish our negotiations more quickly" he added.

[Bridge - USS Lirpa]

"Aye admiral, beginning undocking procedure." Malik began the preplanned undocking procedure, a well rehearsed routine for any starship pilot. "Dock control reports clear for departure, bringing maneuvering thrusters online..." The Lirpa began to move forward and away from the dock. After a few moments the Sabre class was away, "We are clear of space-dock admiral." Malik turned in his seat, awaiting the answer to the counsellor's question.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

Kirok turned to Ms. Grippen.  He could see that the man was eager to fly the ship, so he did not delay in his reponse.  "Proceed, Mr. Grippen.  Let's see how fast you can get us to our destination" he said as if it were a challenge.

[Judith Eastman]

[Bridge USS Lirpa]

Kirok turned slightly toward the counselor.  He had never seen anyone wear a floral patterened anything on the Bridge of a star ship, but did not comment on the woman's attrie.  For all he knew, today was some holiday, like Easter, that the counselor was observing and he did not wish to spend time finding out if it was or wasn't.

"We're off to the Gamma Quadrand, Ms. Eastman.  This will be a diplomatic mission and your expertise will be needed.  We will be negotiating the last bits and pieces of a contract that will allow the Federation to place a Space Station on the Gamma Quardrant side of the wormhole near Bajor" Kirok said.

"On the Tempest, you have spend quite a lot of time in the Gamma Quadrant.  That is one reason you were picked for this mission.  Your first hand knowledge of some of the cultural practices there may help us in some way finish our negotiations more quickly" he added.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

Kirok turned to Ms. Grippen.  He could see that the man was eager to fly the ship, so he did not delay in his reponse.  "Proceed, Mr. Grippen.  Let's see how fast you can get us to our destination" he said as if it were a challenge.

[Bridge]
Judy wasn't sure exactly what to make of the Admiral's glance. It could be his Vulcan half disapproving of her (permitted by protocol, but really quite pointless) decision to forego the uniform, or the Betazoid half noticing that, for 51, she didn't look half bad.
She didn't dwell on this, as he revealed their destination without revealing much information at all.
"If you don't mind me prying, Sir, I have a few more questions," she said. "The mission notes issued to us were remarkably sparse on information." She displayed a PADD that had only "MISSION TYPE: DIPLOMATIC" written on it.
"Which species will we be meeting with? And where will the meetings be held, considering the Lirpa is so small?"
She couldn't help but wonder why the Admiral felt his presence was warranted, or why he would use such a small ship. This was clearly the sort of mission for which the Galaxy or Sovereign were best-suited. If it were Judy in the Admiral's seat, she'd probably use the Tempest.
However, she was not in the Admiral's seat, in stiff uniform and subject to all that stress. She was the ship's counselor, comfortably in civilian business casual and charged with keeping a crew of 40 from killing themselves. It wasn't hard, so she was definitely not complaining.

[Malik Grippen]

Kirok turned to Ms. Grippen.  He could see that the man was eager to fly the ship, so he did not delay in his reponse.  "Proceed, Mr. Grippen.  Let's see how fast you can get us to our destination" he said as if it were a challenge.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

"Aye admiral. Laying in a course for the wormhole." The sabre class adjusted its heading towards the bearing Malik had input. "Initiating Quantum Slip Stream Drive in 3, 2, 1..." The thrum of the drive reverberated up through the decks of the ship as the ship shot forward breaking the quantum barrier. The viewscreen showed not the familiar streaking stars of warp speed, but instead a tunnel of intense white light more akin to the Bajoran wormhole as the ship hurtled across the alpha quadrant many thousands of times faster than the speed of light. What made the Lirpa special was its automated phase variance shifter, which accounted for fluctuations without the aid of manual input and so the drive was more or less push and go. Malik viewed the estimated time or arrival and let out an astonished "Unbelievable!"

He swiveled round in his chair to face the admiral and counsellor, a wide grin on his face. "We will be at the entrance to the wormhole in 10 minutes. Admiral, sir, we are traversing 52 light years in the blink of an eye. This. Is. Amazing!" The enthusiastic ensign punched the air in jubilation. At warp 9 it would take a vessel almost two weeks to reach Bajor. With this technology they could visit any point of the milky way in the same time and even visit the Andromeda galaxy in less than a year.

[Kirok]

[Bridge]
Judy wasn't sure exactly what to make of the Admiral's glance. It could be his Vulcan half disapproving of her (permitted by protocol, but really quite pointless) decision to forego the uniform, or the Betazoid half noticing that, for 51, she didn't look half bad.
She didn't dwell on this, as he revealed their destination without revealing much information at all.
"If you don't mind me prying, Sir, I have a few more questions," she said. "The mission notes issued to us were remarkably sparse on information." She displayed a PADD that had only "MISSION TYPE: DIPLOMATIC" written on it.
"Which species will we be meeting with? And where will the meetings be held, considering the Lirpa is so small?"
She couldn't help but wonder why the Admiral felt his presence was warranted, or why he would use such a small ship. This was clearly the sort of mission for which the Galaxy or Sovereign were best-suited. If it were Judy in the Admiral's seat, she'd probably use the Tempest.
However, she was not in the Admiral's seat, in stiff uniform and subject to all that stress. She was the ship's counselor, comfortably in civilian business casual and charged with keeping a crew of 40 from killing themselves. It wasn't hard, so she was definitely not complaining.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

Kirok opened his mouth to answer the question.  But he was interrupted by an incoming message.  -A-Vulcan High Council to Admiral Kirok-A- the message said.

"I guess our discussion will have to wait.  On screen, Ms. Eastman.  Let's see what the Vulcan High Council has to say first" he said.

[Kirok]

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

"Aye admiral. Laying in a course for the wormhole." The sabre class adjusted its heading towards the bearing Malik had input. "Initiating Quantum Slip Stream Drive in 3, 2, 1..." The thrum of the drive reverberated up through the decks of the ship as the ship shot forward breaking the quantum barrier. The viewscreen showed not the familiar streaking stars of warp speed, but instead a tunnel of intense white light more akin to the Bajoran wormhole as the ship hurtled across the alpha quadrant many thousands of times faster than the speed of light. What made the Lirpa special was its automated phase variance shifter, which accounted for fluctuations without the aid of manual input and so the drive was more or less push and go. Malik viewed the estimated time or arrival and let out an astonished "Unbelievable!"

He swiveled round in his chair to face the admiral and counsellor, a wide grin on his face. "We will be at the entrance to the wormhole in 5 seconds. Admiral, sir, we are traversing 52 light years in the blink of an eye. This. Is. Amazing!" The enthusiastic ensign punched the air in jubilation. At warp 9 it would take a vessel almost two weeks to reach Bajor. With this technology they could visit any point of the milky way in the same time and even visit the Andromeda galaxy in less than a year.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

"It is quite amazing" Kirok agreed.  But this was before the hale came in.  "Please take out back to impulse for a moment, if you will, Mr. Grippen" Kirok called out.

[Judith Eastman]

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

Kirok opened his mouth to answer the question.  But he was interrupted by an incoming message.  -A-Vulcan High Council to Admiral Kirok-A- the message said.

"I guess our discussion will have to wait.  On screen, Ms. Eastman.  Let's see what the Vulcan High Council has to say first" he said.

[Bridge]
Judy looked incredulously at Kirok for a split second. She was very clearly neither ops nor tactical, being in the counselor's chair and wearing civilian clothes. Then, she shot a glance to the front of the bridge, noting that the Ops console was oddly vacant. Then, she complied with the Admiral's order, before going to assume the critical bridge station that some fool had forgotten to man today (whoever that fool was, they'd pay the price later).
Sitting down, Judy nodded in acknowledgement to Grippen, who was doing an exemplary job.

[Kirok]

[Bridge]
Judy looked incredulously at Kirok for a split second. She was very clearly neither ops nor tactical, being in the counselor's chair and wearing civilian clothes. Then, she shot a glance to the front of the bridge, noting that the Ops console was oddly vacant. Then, she complied with the Admiral's order, before going to assume the critical bridge station that some fool had forgotten to man today (whoever that fool was, they'd pay the price later).
Sitting down, Judy nodded in acknowledgement to Grippen, who was doing an exemplary job.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

"Thank you, Ms. Eastman" Kirok said.  He stood and pulled down on this shirt.  Then he tapped a button on his chair to activate the screen.

A Vulcan appeared.  He bowed slightly when he saw the Admiral.  "Admiral Kirok.  It is acceptable to see you.  Sadly, I bring you bad news.  Your father has been abducted for his home.  Your father's wife sustained some injuries during the abduction and has been able to provide a description of the individual who took him.  So far we have not been able to find a match for either man in our system.  But they did tell your father's wife to tell you to come to Vulcan if ever wanted to see your father alive again" the Vulcan said.

If Kirok was phased by the information, it did not show on his face.  "Thank you, Sir.  Please send me the documents and information you have.  And please update me as you have new information" he said.  Then he ended the transmission.

"Mr. Grippen, please bring the ship to a stop.  Ms. Eastman.  Your are my ship counselor.  What would you advise me to do?" he asked.

[Malik Grippen]

"Mr. Grippen, please bring the ship to a stop.  Ms. Eastman.  Your are my ship counselor.  What would you advise me to do?" he asked.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

"Aye admiral, all stop." Malik said solemnly after hearing the news. Their speedy jaunt across the alpha quadrant had suddenly taken on a more urgent tone. The white tinged viewscreen changed back to the regular black starfield of space as the ship exited the quantum barrier and came to a halt. The admiral appeared to be unphased by the news. Being a Risian, Malik embraced his feelings and went with them. He found it difficult to comprehend what life must be like as a Vulcan, not letting your emotions control you.

[Judith Eastman]

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

"Thank you, Ms. Eastman" Kirok said.  He stood and pulled down on this shirt.  Then he tapped a button on his chair to activate the screen.

A Vulcan appeared.  He bowed slightly when he saw the Admiral.  "Admiral Kirok.  It is acceptable to see you.  Sadly, I bring you bad news.  Your father has been abducted for his home.  Your father's wife sustained some injuries during the abduction and has been able to provide a description of the individual who took him.  So far we have not been able to find a match for either man in our system.  But they did tell your father's wife to tell you to come to Vulcan if ever wanted to see your father alive again" the Vulcan said.

If Kirok was phased by the information, it did not show on his face.  "Thank you, Sir.  Please send me the documents and information you have.  And please update me as you have new information" he said.  Then he ended the transmission.

"Mr. Grippen, please bring the ship to a stop.  Ms. Eastman.  Your are my ship counselor.  What would you advise me to do?" he asked.

[Bridge]
"Well, that sure didn't go well," Judy thought to herself. If a negotiation with dignitaries was hard, there was simply no word for how difficult a hostage negotiation would be. She turned and began to hash out a plan.
"First of all, we'll need someone to attend the negotiations in our place. Once we knock that one out of the way, we have to deal with this hostage situation. That one is a complete mess," Judy stated.
"Whoever this is didn't lay down terms; they named a meeting place. That shows that this is a personal vendetta against you, rather than a crime of opportunity. The way to beat someone like that is to get them to show their hand, to overextend themselves. For that, we may need to engage with them. You would have to come to Vulcan, with security around yourself, and see what they do."
Judy adjusted her glasses, which had made their way down her nose as she spoke, and waited for Kirok to reply.

[Kirok]

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

"Aye admiral, all stop." Malik said solemnly after hearing the news. Their speedy jaunt across the alpha quadrant had suddenly taken on a more urgent tone. The white tinged viewscreen changed back to the regular black starfield of space as the ship exited the quantum barrier and came to a halt. The admiral appeared to be unphased by the news. Being a Risian, Malik embraced his feelings and went with them. He found it difficult to comprehend what life must be like as a Vulcan, not letting your emotions control you.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

Kirok turned to Flight Control Officer.  "Thank you, Mr. Grippen.  You are doing a fine job.  Maintain position here until you receive futher orders.  But keep an eye out for ships in the area" Kiork said.

[Bridge]
"Well, that sure didn't go well," Judy thought to herself. If a negotiation with dignitaries was hard, there was simply no word for how difficult a hostage negotiation would be. She turned and began to hash out a plan.
"First of all, we'll need someone to attend the negotiations in our place. Once we knock that one out of the way, we have to deal with this hostage situation. That one is a complete mess," Judy stated.
"Whoever this is didn't lay down terms; they named a meeting place. That shows that this is a personal vendetta against you, rather than a crime of opportunity. The way to beat someone like that is to get them to show their hand, to overextend themselves. For that, we may need to engage with them. You would have to come to Vulcan, with security around yourself, and see what they do."
Judy adjusted her glasses, which had made their way down her nose as she spoke, and waited for Kirok to reply.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

The half Vulcan stared at the woman for a moment.  Stared past or threw her might be more accurate.  He was looking for a point or someting beyond her to focus on.  Just for a moment until he could gather his thoughts.

"Logic would dictate that I follower your suggestion.  The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and missing this negotiation may put our pending agreement to intall a  starbase in the Gamma quadrand in peril"  Kirok replied.

"My father is very ill and near death anyway.  So, how much more time would I gain with him by rushing to his aid.  A day?  A month?  One can not know.  But what kind of son would I be if I did not go to rescue him?" he asked both Judy and Malik.

[Judith Eastman]

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

Kirok turned to Flight Control Officer.  "Thank you, Mr. Grippen.  You are doing a fine job.  Maintain position here until you receive futher orders.  But keep an eye out for ships in the area" Kiork said.

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

The half Vulcan stared at the woman for a moment.  Stared past or threw her might be more accurate.  He was looking for a point or someting beyond her to focus on.  Just for a moment until he could gather his thoughts.

"Logic would dictate that I follower your suggestion.  The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and missing this negotiation may put our pending agreement to intall a  starbase in the Gamma quadrand in peril"  Kirok replied.

"My father is very ill and near death anyway.  So, how much more time would I gain with him by rushing to his aid.  A day?  A month?  One can not know.  But what kind of son would I be if I did not go to rescue him?" he asked both Judy and Malik.

[Bridge]
Judy was no longer entirely sure where the Admiral's heart was. It seemed, to her, like the admiral's feelings of filial love were trying to fight their way through the logic. Judy knew that she had to help and steady his mind, whether by helping him to suppress his emotions or to embrace them, but she didn't know which course of action to take. Perhaps more so than that one time she shot a door while playing security officer, Judy heard a voice in the back of her head telling her that she should have stayed in her lane. Dammit, that voice was right! Her place was the sciences console, in the back of the bridge, not Ops, not Security, and not as a Counselor.
However, she couldn't say that. Shooting her own credibility in the head wasn't going to help steady Kirok. She had to say something else.
After a pause, Judy spoke. "I don't know, Admiral," she admitted. "I just don't know. There's some kind of threat here, but we don't know enough about it to assess it. We don't know if they'll give up should your father pass. We don't know who they'll go after if they don't; it could be you personally, the Vulcans, or even the Federation at large. We have an enormous unknown, and we can't solve the equation unless we eliminate it, but we don't even know if we need to solve the equation."
Judy swallowed, not sure what to say next, before adding: "whatever course of action you choose, the crew will support you." This was an attempt at reassuring him in the face of the emotional maelstrom that was no doubt forming up within him.

[Malik Grippen]

[USS Lirpa - Bridge]

Malik listened to both officers weigh the options available to them, to Malik the newbie at the helm the decision was easy. He hadn't the weight of those golden pips the admiral bore, where a decision was rarely straight forward and without additional baggage.

"Admiral. If it were my father, I would stop at nothing to get him back. Family is everything."

Malik tapped at the helm console for a brief moment, "We can be in orbit of Vulcan in a couple of minutes, just say the word, sir."