The Captain Arrives

Posted on Thu Feb 13th, 2025 by Captain James Cohen & Lieutenant Amelia Baird & Paige Cohen

1,305 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: M01 - The Hooke
Location: Various Locations, USS Hooke
Timeline: Present

:: Runabout Humphrey ::

As the drydock berth where the USS Hooke came into view from the forward section of the runabout, James found himself looking intently up at the Intrepid-class starship. I wonder if it still has new ship smell on board?, He found himself thinking. A grin formed on his face as he looked at her, immediately feeling as if he was in love.

Paige peered from the back of the runabout, between the two seats in the front of the runabout. "Is that it Dad?" The twelve-year-old daughter of James asked her father. She had seen ships up close, but this was the first time she'd seen an Intrepid this closely. Paige had a thousand different thoughts going through her mind as she looked at the ship.

This wasn't the first time she'd been aboard a ship, she had practically grown up on the ship her father had been assigned to previously. Paige had also grown up without her mother, having to rely on her father to take on the role of both parents. Paige didn't remember her mother all that well, and her mother's face was all but forgotten. Despite this, her father had insisted for years that Paige was growing up to look just like her mother.

"Yes," James said. He looked over his shoulder toward his daughter as the runabout came closer to the shuttlebay. He temporarily ignored the pilot as they brought the small vessel into the back of the ship, his ship. He would soon find out if it still had that new ship smell. "That is the USS Hooke sweetheart."

"Sir," Chief Sanders said from the primary pilot seat as the vessel was lowered. "We have arrived and I understand that your belongings are already on board waiting for you."

James nodded, "Thanks Chief."

Paige spun around a little too quickly and had a moment of brief dizziness. She had to stop herself for a moment before continuing forward from the back of the runabout. Her emotions were still rather mixed having only just left friends behind on board the previous ship where she had lived. Paige understood this to be a fact of life, even if she didn't care for it very much. Though, the time she spent with her grandparents back on Earth while they waited for the opportunity to board the Hooke was nice.

:: On Board the USS Hooke ::

Lieutenant Amelia Baird had arrived on board the Hooke two days prior, as had many of her engineering staff. The day prior had been spent sitting through several briefings as the Starfleet Engineering Department's talking heads explained the various inner workings of the systems they were about to work on.

It had been a long, boring day for Amelia. Not that she wasn't interested in how the ship functioned, but because she would rather be out there doing her job than be in the drydock slip hovering near Earth in the Sol system. She had her arms behind her back as she watched the runabout enter the shuttlebay and land.

Amelia had read up on the new Commanding Officer, she knew he had a daughter so when the twelve-year-old girl with dark brown eyes and dark brown hair popped out of the back of the runabout Amelia was hardly surprised. The younger Cohen looked somewhat similar to her father, but perhaps not quite. The young Lieutenant had a difficult time really expressing internally how she felt about the two.

Then Amelia saw the Captain coming from the back of the runabout followed by the pilot that she didn't recognize. "Captain." She said with a nod.

"Hello," Paige said excitedly. She looked at her father for a moment, "Do I have to come with you on the tour or can I go unpack my bags?" She wouldn't go into details as to why she wanted to start fumbling through her belongings.

"I can walk your daughter to your quarters sir," Chief Sanders offered.

James looked at Paige and found himself rather curious, "Wouldn't you rather get to know your way around the ship?" He asked her.

"Maybe later Dad, please?" Paige asked.

James considered the request then decided that it would at least give him a bit of reprieve and a chance to see his vessel with one of his officers. "All right," He answered her. "Go with Chief Sanders to unpack your belongings."

"Thanks," Paige replied with her voice increasing in pitch from the sudden excitement. She then nearly bowled over one of the shuttlebay maintenance officers on her way out the door.

James watched her go before he turned his attention to the Lieutenant, "Hello Lieutenant. I'm assuming you're here to take me on the tour of my new ship?"

Amelia watched the twelve-year-old with a pique of interest before both Chief Sanders and her vanished. She turned her attention back onto the Captain, "Yes sir." She answered then held out her hand to him, "I'm Lieutenant Amelia Baird your Chief Engineer."

James took her hand and gently shook it before releasing her hand, "Captain James Cohen." He replied. Then indicated the doorway, "I've never been aboard this class of ship," He admitted.

"Understandable," Amelia replied as she led the Captain out of the shuttlebay. "There are fifteen decks with a pretty standard layout for any ship in the fleet. I understand your daughter and you came from a Galaxy-class starship?" She asked.

"Correct," James replied as they made their way through the corridor.

Amelia led him to the nearby turbolift, "We'll go up first then we'll go down. Bridge." She said just before the turbolift sped upward. "This is smaller than a Galaxy-class starship, though it has many of the same facilities of one. There's a small classroom on the crew deck, though I don't know of many children that will be aboard besides your daughter."

"Paige," James said.

Amelia nodded, "Yes, Paige." She knew the girl's name despite not using the girl's name in that moment. The turbolift doors opened to the bridge, "The bridge has a standard layout with the Ready Room over there, and a conference room across from it." She stepped inside causing the dimmed lights to activate.

"Have any of the other senior staff officers arrived on board?" James asked her.

Amelia shook her head, "Not so far. The ship won't be leaving drydock until tomorrow anyway so they've got plenty of time to arrive. Then I believe the Admiral had mentioned we would be orbiting Earth for another day or so?"

"Correct," James answered. He had seen the situation report before leaving his parents' house the day prior. So far, they had not been given an initial assignment and since the ship had already completed her shakedown with a skeleton crew there would be no need to do another one. They would simply be receiving their first assignment and heading that way.

"Do you know where we're going to end up sir?" Amelia asked.

James shook his head, "Not yet Lieutenant," He told her. "We should be getting orders in the next day or so." He wasn't quite sure on that, but there was some level of confidence as he spoke.

"All right," Amelia said to him while leading back to the turbolift. "I'll show you engineering spaces then we can go to your quarters."

"Sounds good to me," James said and stepped onto the turbolift. He was starting to pick up on how nervous the Lieutenant seemed to be acting. James made a mental note to look over her personnel file later, it was something he had neglected to do with any of the personnel that were going to be coming aboard. This was something he'd have to learn how to get better at by some point.

 

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