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Charles Stratton - Enlisted Crewman - Operations - Starbase Columbus

Thank you so much! Appreciate your time in making it for me

[U.S.S. Shran

As Hawke mentioned he pointed at Statton and said "Mr. Stratton, do you mind taking us out?  No need for specific commands, we are on a state of "Emergency".  Hawke ordered with a smile as everyone should know that he was kidding as it was all fake. 

[USS Shran - Bridge]

Stratton had not been on the bridge two minutes when Lieutenant ... or was it Commander? It didn't matter... when his superior officer Hawke ordered him to the helm of the Shran. Helm control. He was to pilot the Shran. A Sovereign class ship! He grinned. He was loving this hallucination.

Somewhere in the back recesses of his mind, memories were at war with the reality of what was happening now. But Stratton wasn't paying to those memories, he had just been given carte blanche to just engage engines of a Sovereign class ship and go.. At his own discretion. This type of opportunity did not come twice in a lifetime.

Normally Stratton would have taken the time to process his orders in a thoughtful serious manner, plan the most logical course of action, double check it, then make copious amounts of documentation as to why he planned the actions he was about to do, then finally engage in the action of completing the orders.

But not today. Nope. Stratton lost no time in seating himself at the helm, quickly acquainting himself with the control panel, because the largest ship he had ever flown was a frigate class, and those were short hop supply runs. In short order, mooring clamps from the Columbus were disengaged, inertial dampeners set, backing thrusters were being fired in a series of short tiny bursts, allowing the USS Shran to back away from the Starbase in a controlled drift to clear space.

Hawke to ....the Ensign in Engineering....ummm...report to the Bridge, we are trying to fix the Matter/Antimatter here.  Drop Everything and head here ASAP...That's an order  

That was when he heard Hawke talk about matter/anti matter. His hallucination had a dark sense of humor it seemed. Matter/anti matter situation. Bah. Not real. If such a thing was real, they wouldn't have been given a two hour prep time to leave. Silly hallucination. Stratton would play along however, distance between the Shran and the Base was apparently the priority, according to the hallucination, and he wasn't going to disappoint.

As Hawke mentioned it  he then looked and said "Don't tell me is weird ordering someone to steal the ship" .
He then explained to everyone "All right this is what he know...  Aparently we are in a temporal displacement and we are all feeling like we are in two timelines.  We are going to take the Shran into the Anomaly, which I presume would take us to Earth in in the year 2019.  We need to find out what happened and how to stop it.  There are two timelines:  The Ferengi Alliance Timeline, Earth First Contact was in 2020 with the Ferengi Alliance, the alternative timeline Earth made the first contact in 2063.  Soo...we need to make preparations" . 

Ah.. They were stealing the ship. Nice twist hallucination or was it temporal displacement, Touche'. If they were stealing it, then it was even more imperative that it be done quickly. Stratton boosted the firing thrusters, allowing the Shran to take a concentrated path, rather than the controlled easy drift previously set. He guessed in less than a minute they would have room to turn, engage impulse and take off. He programmed the yaw rate into the console at the distance needed and waited.

That minute was actually more than two. Apparently his sense of timing calculation was off. He blamed it on the hallucination/temporal displacement. Absently Stratton was still somewhat bemused by how real everything seemed, but that thought was quickly shoved unceremoniously aside when the Shran reached the minimum safe distance to engage impulse engines. Which he did.

[Observation Lounge – Deck 1]

As Hawke began walking he looked at Stratton "Two Hours on the Shran.  We might need you to fly. .

2 Hours Hawke thought to himself.

2 Hours later [Shran Bridge]

Hawke arrived on the Shran as he headed to the Engineering Station.  He was going to make it look that there was a Warp Core Meltdown so that anyone that was not them would evacuate the ship and they can proceed towards the Temporal Anomaly.  He waited for people to report into the ship.  The last two hours he had been working to make it look like the Radiation Surge would be believable with Reporting Engine problems.

[Deck 1 – Observation Lounge]

Just as Stratton was becoming content with the realization he was experiencing an alcohol induced hallucination and it would eventually fade given enough time, Commander, no .. Lieutenant Hawke ordered him back to the Shran in two hours time. Either way, Hawke was a superior, and his orders were to be followed.

He closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep slow breath. When he opened them again Hawke was gone. He looked down at himself. No uniform. He was in civilian clothes again. Clearly he was experiencing ongoing symptoms. Had Hawke really ordered him to the Shran and to be ready to fly? Or was that the .. hallucination speaking?

Did he dare take a chance to presume it was the hallucination? But then again, he had four Roluman Ales, if it was an order, he was in no shape to report to duty like this. Yet, if he didn't report to duty, and it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him, he would be disobeying a direct order.

Right.

He knew what he needed to do. He needed a cold shower. Very cold shower. That is, if he could find his quarters.

[USS Shran - Bridge]

One hour and fifty-five minutes later, Crewman Stratton reported to the Bridge of the Shran. His step was far from confident as he left the turbolift. He fully expected to be glared at and summarily told to leave said bridge and consider himself on report.

If it isn't too much trouble please?

Crewman Charles Stratton
Starbase Columbus
Operations

Please and thank you.

[Deck 1 – Observation Lounge]

As Stratton drained the last bit of drink and moved to set the glass down. He frowned at the person who had shoved the glass at him, as the realization hit him. It hadn't been Synthale he had been drinking. He raised the glass to inspect the remnants that puddled in the bottom of it. It had been Romulan Ale. Well that explained everything!

He was in the midst of an alcohol induced psychosis. The Ferengi Alliance? No It was the United Federation of Planets. Merely a hallucination. A known symptom of the disorder. His personality change? That too was also a classic symptom. He knew this because he helped his brother Stanton cram for his Psychology exams when they were younger. There was another often exhibited symptom.. Fear.

Hadn't that young Cadet say she was fearful of the Ferengi? Perhaps though.. Since he was the one in the midst of the psychotic episode.. Maybe everyone else was perfectly fine.. And this was merely another hallucination manufactured by disorder.

Stratton felt the sudden urge to sit down. Perhaps it was best he didn't go wandering off on Starbase he wasn't truly familiar with. He glanced at the Welcome sign, it was now an artsy black and white. He remembered it having color before.

"Hmmm" He said to no one  in particular, "This is what a hallucination feels like."

[Deck 1 – Observation Lounge]

As soon as the offer was out of his mouth, Stratton wanted to retract it. What in the bloody hell had come over him? He wasn't wingman material. He had no desire to even try to attempt to be wingman material.. So why did he make that offer? And to a superior at that? Why did he speak up at all? That wasn't like him. No way.

Expecting to be placed on report by the Lieutenant, when the two walked off, Stratton nearly sagged with relief. Except, should their walking off together be construed as implied consent to his offer? He was horrified. He ran a hand through his hair in a frustrated, 'what do I do now' manner. Looking between the couple and the exit. He stood where he was staring at nothing in particular when he noticed the sleeve of his arm. Civies.. He was wearing civies.

His brow furrowed, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and looked again. The sleeve was now a back to being a uniform. That was it. No more drinks for him. Synthesized or otherwise. Apparently he had suddenly developed the side affect of waking nightmares from them.

Stratton glanced back at the Lieutenant and the Cadet, they were now separated. Alright.. This was good. Now he could have a clear conscience when he managed to slip out. As he edged toward the door hoping to make good his escape, his egress was stopped as a toast went up. Someone shoved a drink in his hand and although he tried to only take a sip, the unnamed person inferred they would be highly insulted if he didn't empty his glass. Sighing inwardly, he drank it all.

Never have I ever seen Game of Thrones

[[Observation Lounge - SBC]]

He thought he was a Commander but his uniform say otherwise.

"Computer Identify Me" Hawke ordered

The Computer Responded

"Lieutenant Hawke, Chief Engineer of Starbase Columbus under the leadership of the Ferengi Alliance"

He turned to Stratton and asked "Ferengi Alliance?  Do you remember them taking over the Federation"

[Deck 1 – Observation Lounge]

Stratton gave the Lieutenant a bemused look. 'Keep it together Chuck..' He told himself. 'First day at a new assignment.. You don't want to mess it up like last time. Short concise answers. Offer no opinions. Just the facts.' Though he couldn't really recall what he had actually done 'last time' to warrant being tossed off his ship. That was a puzzle. He jerked himself back to the present.

Aloud Stratton said, "Ferengi? No.. The Tzenkethi Alliance." He frowned suddenly. "That has to be a joke. One in poor taste I might add. The Tzenkethi will tear whomever pulled that prank, apart, slowly.. Painfully. Everyone knows how the Tzenkethi feel about being made fun of... and by a Ferengi, at that? I do not envy that poor bast.." He caught himself abruptly. "..person."

Stratton took a slow deep breath, while trying desperately hard, not to look like he was. He attempted to give the appearance of being thoughtful or contemplative of who might have hacked into the computer. He was really trying to oxygenate himself quickly. Whatever he drank was affecting him. He had never been this talkative. What happened to short concise answers?!

[Observation Lounge - SBC]

Luby blinked twice.  "I think I was mistaken Commander, my apologies.  I don't think shoes or boots would make a significant difference but you seemed like 6" shorter.  And I didn't realise you were a Trill."

The Cadet smiled and looked at her boots.  "This wasn't at all what I was expecting..." she muttered to herself.  "...and I'm a bit scared of Ferengis, I don't know why."

The last had just come to her, she started shaking, more like she was acutely terrified of Ferengis rather than just 'a bit scared'.

"I think I'd better sit down, could someone get me a drink?"

While Stratton fell into silence trying to sober up, the young Cadet spoke up, saying she was 'scared', needed to sit down and could use a drink. She was giving the Lieutenant one of those sultry looks that said, 'Oh yes.. You should protect me, keep me close. Very close'.

He couldn't help it. He leaned over toward the Lieutenant whispered. "That was an obvious invitation. She definitely wants something more than just a drink.. Not to worry James.. I will cover for you."

Stratton was saved from answering as the Commander was immediately hailed and had to move away due to protocol. He watched as the Commander strode off. He was horrified. The Commander wanted him to be the eyes and ears for former Shran personnels morale? Him? The newest and most inept Shran crewman ever?

Just exactly, how did he go about correcting the senior officer's thought process? Should he tell the Commander, he was not exactly what one would call chatty? That the bulk of the conversations he had previously had with Shran crew, outside duty hours, added up to precisely.. seventeen words?

Stratton recalled the past conversation.

"Excuse me.." Spoken to by a pretty redhead.

Stratton had looked up at her somewhat startled.

"Oh.. uh.. sorry.." he said absently as he collected his thoughts and dragged his attention away from PADD in his hand. "Hello.."

The girl dimpled at him "Hi.. so.. Is this seat taken?" 

"No.." Surprised, pleasantly so. "No.. no it is not."

"Then you don't mind if I take it?" Asked smilingly.

"Absolutely not.. Please.. Be my guest. Help yourself."

And she did, by taking the seat and dragging it to another table where the group was rearranging their chairs to accommodate one more. 

He sighed, reached over and picked up the drink he had just recently set down. He tossed it back in a single gulp.

He pointed at the Crewmen as he wanted him to approach the group with everyone.

He was approached by Doctor Kane and Hawke extended his hand to the Doctor.  "Dr. Kane, Commander Hawke.  I had the chance to read about you.  We are lucky to have you in Medical.  Follow me for a second, if you please" Hawke then pointed out to the group.

"Doctor Kane, this is Cadet Wentock, we will be working with you in Medical under the guidance of Dr. Lunn, which he is quite a ....character."  Hawke mentioned as he wanted to be diplomatic.  "Speaking of which, I might need to have my head scan, I would have sworn that the banner was different. "  Hawke made the comment as he asked everyone "Can I offer anyone a drink"

Stratton had only just set the empty glass down when he noticed the Commander pointing at him and indicating he should approach. He knew he should have changed into his uniform. Nevertheless, he attempted to straighten his attire, only to note he was.. Wearing his uniform after all.

'No.. this cannot be right.' He gazed around the room. His gaze stopped and pinned on the table with his empty glass. There were four empty drink glasses on the table. Stratton frowned. Synthale was not supposed to affect memory. How could he have..

He snapped himself out of his thoughts and back to the Commander. He would worry about the drinks and blackout later. Maybe.. If he didn't speak. He could bluff his way through this. He joined the Commander's group.