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"The Fun Factor"
[Previous post - "Interesting Information"]
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The problem with today's technology is that you no longer feel the wind in your hair or the grass beneath your feet.

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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 1, Bridge
Stardate: 30145.0945

The Cardassian born Counsellor smiled as she casually stepped onto the Bridge to find the Native American sitting in his chair. The fact that he had been alone had not seemed at all strange to the Junior Grade Lieutenant.

"Always nice to see you in your natural habitat," Eve playfully chuckled as she made her way down the ramp to join the ANUBIS' CO at the centre of the Bridge.  Unlike many other ship classes, the SCARAB-class did not have a dedicated seat for anyone other than the CO, this of course made sense when taking into account the unique nature of the missions assigned to the ship and its crew.

"Doing a house call on me?" Morningstar inquired trying to hide a growing smile. "Should I be concerned?"

"Everyone says how much fun it is to be up here," Dalziel explained as she folded her arms across her chest in a rather successful attempt to come across as being hyper serious. "I just wanted to experience this fun for myself."

The Native American had been ready to offer some sort of retort when an audio signal echoed through the mostly empty Bridge indicating an incoming communication.

"I think it's for you," Eve offered playfully as she took several steps back to remove herself from the main field of vision of the view screen.

Erik sighed and acknowledged the incoming transmission with the press of a button, transferring the communication to the large screen located at the front of the Bridge.  "Morningstar here."

[/\] Hello Erik, [/\] Admiral Koniki said as his image filled the oversized view screen. [/\] With the positions of your senior staff nearly fully filled, I thought I would send you and your crew on a little mission. [/\]

"A *mission*?" The Native America repeated sounding somewhat surprised.

"Sounds like fun," Eve chuckled under her breath, having made sure that only the ANUBIS' Captain had heard her opinion.

[/\] Relax Erik, I'm just sending the ANUBIS to the moon of PI ALPHA III. On the way there you and your crew can work the kinks out of the ship.  Once in orbit you will take the VIPERS, LOCUS, SPHYNX and BARRACUDA down to the moon's surface to run a few tests. [/\]

"I'm guessing that you have a time frame for us to get this done?" The Native American rhetorically inquired.

"Smile!" Eve softly laughed from outside of the field of vision of the main view screen. "This is supposed to be fun, remember."

[/\] The ANUBIS is scheduled to depart at 1200 hours, giving you ample time to get everything ready.  You will be in the moon's orbit for 24 hours at which time you will head back to the barn. [/\]

"You want us under way in under two hours," Erik sighed knowing that the Admiral had actually been generous with his time frame.

[/\] This won't even be a challenge for you or your crew. See you all when you get back. Koniki out. [/\]

The screen went dark prompting the CNS to once again step into the center of the Bridge. "They were right," Eve grinned.

"About what?" The Native American queried, his thoughts already deep in the 'mission' they had received.

"That this is where the fun is," Dalziel said with a smile before she started heading towards the turbolift.

With the press of a single button on his chair, Erik Morningstar opened a ship-wide comm channel. "All senior officers are to report to the Bridge immediately for a mission briefing," then after having closed the channel the Native American grinned at the Counsellor.  "Wouldn't want you to miss any of the fun."

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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Deck 1, Conference Room
Stardate: 30145.1020

With all of the Senior Officers gathered in the Conference Room the Captain could begin the briefing.

"Our first mission is a simple one; to give the ship and its supporting crafts a once over. At 1200 hours the ANUBIS will be leaving for the moon of PI ALPHA III and I want every department ready before then."

"PI ALPHA III only has one moon," Maya jumped in with. "An F-Class geo-unstable planetoid that is surprisingly maintaining through severe and frequent volcanic eruptions a basic hydrogen atmosphere capable of sustaining basic life."

"Thick ash clouds will make flying any ship including the VIPERS difficult," Ensign Ttsok, the ANUBIS' FCO promptly added.

"The exercise is meant to not only test the support crafts but our ability to handle them in less than ideal circumstances," Captain Morningstar clarified.  "During the first leg of the exercise on the moon of PI ALPHA III, Ensigns Ttosk and Stark will be flying the VIPERS.  The rest of you will be spilt into teams to drive the two LOCUS to a rendezvous point. There we will board the BARRACUDA and make our way through shifting submerged underground passages in order to reach our final mark where the SPHYNX will be waiting for us."

"If I may Captain," the OPS officer chimed in. "If memory serves I recall reading that the ANUBIS has *three* VIPER-Class interceptors. You only named two pilots."

"Captain's prerogative," Eve chuckled as she leaned back in her chair. "The Captain will be the third pilot."

Erik smiled but said nothing in reply to the Counsellor's statement.   "Lt. Paquette, I will need you to make sure that the ANUBIS is ready for departure and that all support crafts are made ready before our arrival at PI ALPHA."

"That will not be a problem Captain," Sonja confirmed with confidence.  Getting her hands dirty in engineering work had never been an issue for the red-headed engineer.

The Native American nodded approvingly before he shifted his attention to Ensign Doyanne, the ANUBIS' CMO. "Doctor, I will need you to complete the senior staff's physical exams before we arrive at out destination."

"I will be happy to do so," Lillie stated adding a faint grin. "Shall I schedule you in for right after this meeting or immediately following our leaving NEW ALEXANDRIA?"

Erik hesitated for a moment, recalling the notes he had seen on the personnel file of Ensign Doyanne.  As much as he understood the situation, the Native American could not help but feel reluctant in being in close quarters with the ANUBIS' new CMO.

"Captain Morningstar already has an appointment following this meeting," Eve added, having noticed a slight, yet visible change in the Native American's posture.  Likely no one else had picked up on it, but as the Ship's Counsellor it had been her duty to notice these things.  "I need to complete my psychological review of each and every crew member... including you Captain, and as such you should be the first and set the example for everyone else to follow."

"You are not going to let me get out of that one will you?" Morningstar sighed with amusement.

"Of course not... the fun has just begun," the CNS added with a chuckle as she observed the CO's reaction.

Ignoring Eve's last words, Erik turned his attention to the Shillian.  "Maya, yours will be a dual role.  Since we do not have an ExO at this time, you will take over as second in command for the duration of this mission.  I will also need you to get us all up-to-date on what we are likely going to encounter on the moon of PI ALPHA III."

The Shillian remained silent as the reality of her situation came into focus.  Doing the scientific research would not be an issue, but being the acting ExO had not been something she had expected or been ready for.

"Alright," Erik began as he stood from his chair.  "We all have things to do and little time to do it. So let's get to work."

Everyone exited the Conference Room with the exception of Eve and Erik who remained behind and gazed at one another in silence for several moments.

"Would you like for me to start here or would you rather be in the safety of your office?" The Counsellor offered as she took a step towards the doorway having already figured out the Native American's answer.

Erik signed once again as he invited the Counsellor to step out first so that they could head to his Ready Room to deal with the *fun* task ahead.

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NM:

This should hopefully give everyone something to use for a follow-up post.  No worries as there will be lots of time to write more character interactions before we actually get to our destination.

So here is a quick recap and possible ideas for us to explore during our journey to the moon of PI ALPHA III.

Susan - Psychological review of the senior staff starting with Erik.  By the way, I hope that I did not go too far with Eve.

Ashley - Medical exam of every senior staff with the exception of Erik.  I want to make that meeting to be as interesting as possible, so it will need a little more work.

Lorraine - Techno-babble time - LOL.  I am sure that ANI can help ;-)

Scott - Once the ANUBIS is on its way, I am sure that Wydran would love to see the VIPERS before he actually takes one out for a spin.

Jayson - As the OPS officer, Jayson may want to check out not only the VIPERS for the rest of the support crafts.

Jessica - Fleshing out the environment of PI ALPHA III as well as Maya's dealing with being aExO for the mission.

As always, should you have any questions, concerns or flat out complaints, don't be shy and send them my way ;-)

--==(/\)==--

Francois Charette

Captain Erik Morningstar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC 18501

AND

Lt. Commander Elan Fairborn
Robotics Engineering Officer
NEW ALEXANDRIA