The Voyage

Posted on Mon Sep 8th, 2025 @ 6:23pm by Lieutenant Commander Deanna Celes & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Lieutenant Ashlynn Regan & Lieutenant Phlox Ph.D. & Lieutenant Sakonna & Lieutenant Ilia Mooi & Ensign Traci Kuzma

2,740 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Holding Pattern Hijinks
Location: Runabout Tuscon

Ensign Traci Kuzma sat at the controls of the runabout and guided the ship to its destination, the USS Washington. A few months ago, she had the opportunity to serve on the Washington in her final short training cruise. She could've gone to any ship on her first assignment, but she wanted the Washington. Something about the ship called to her, and she considered it home already, even though they hadn't arrived. She wasn't alone on this journey; she had a bevy of lieutenants aboard the runabout with her, and they all seemed to be in the sciences, except for her. The others were in the back compartments, likely relaxing on this two-day journey.

She set the autopilot and got up and walked over to the replicator near the rear of the cabin and ordered a strawberry lemonade. She took the drink, sipped it, and then returned to the controls of the ship and leaned back.

Ash had tried to keep to herself for the majority of the voyage, but unfortunately with how close together everything was for the voyage it was difficult. Most of the people she was traveling to the Washington with were new colleagues, so she couldn't really avoid interactions anyways despite her own internal protests with herself. She had lost so many colleagues on both the Saber and the Valiant, resulting in her finding it progressively harder to get closer to people she didn't interact with on a daily basis.

To be fair, the other reason why she kept to herself on the runabout was because her orange tabby, Reeve, had been snuggling in her lap for the last day and a half off and on, for a few hours at a time. The poor cat had seen some things during her last posting. He had developed a level of anxiety from the Terran incursion. He was able to survive simply due to his small size but after all of that he was more skittish and clingy than ever. This made Ash slightly concerned for how he was going to react to James. If he did react poorly, it wouldn't be too much of an issue though, as Ash would have her own quarters.

However, Reeve wasn't the only one who was anxious. Four years of intelligence postings did that to a person. Serving on a vessel like the Washington would help with this, but she wouldn't be able to avoid detrimental missions given the Washington had been through its fair share of them. It would be a little bit easier with her new billet and best friend. Eventually Reeve slid off of her lap and curled up in the corner of her temporary bunk. Ashlynn slid to the edge of the bed and rose up, rubbed her eyes before searching for something to eat from the replicator.

Sakonna was sitting in the common area reviewing crew biographies of the medical staff she was going to be serving with as well as reading up on all the available log entries for the last year. Anything to properly prepare herself for the new assignment. Based on what she was reading, this would be quite the challenge. Based on the log entries and mission debriefs, it appeared that the Washington was in as much action as any ship saw during the war. While she didn't show it and certainly wouldn't say anything about it, this appealed to Sakonna greatly. She could feel several emotions trying to leak out to the surface, and she recentered herself as she sipped her tea.

Lt Ilia had spent much of the trip in her cabin. It wasn't that she was antisocial, she just tried to avoid contact with humans. Even though the humans aboard the runabout were both females, she knew that her presence around them would cause potential distractions, and that was the last thing she wanted to do before starting a new duty assignment. But staying inside her cabin wasn't something she could do for the whole trip, and she was interested in speaking to the one person who could handle the situation, Phlox.

Phlox had eaten a small meal, more of a snack really, and made his way into the control center to check in with the young ensign at the helm. Phlox, despite his scientific mind, was still Denobulan, and greatly enjoyed being around most other people one normally encountered in StarFleet, especially humans. He understood why so many of his race were fascinated by the race despite some of their more juvenile mindsets. "Hello ensign. How goes our journey?" he queried as he entered the room.

Traci placed her beverage down and glanced at the controls before turning to look at the Denobulan. "Everything is status quo lieutenant."

Phlox didn't have to be a telepath or even an empath to recognize the rigid response of a new graduated officer. "Relax ensign, I'm not here to cause you problems. Just looking for a little social banter."

"Apologies lieutenant. I'm not normally this uptight. It has been a long 18 hours, and we still have another 6 hours before we rendezvous with the Washington" Traci replied truthfully.

"You need to learn to make the best of these types of situations. You won't be able to spend every moment in StarFleet doing something exciting, even if we are going aboard a ship that seems to find such excitement regularly" Phlox replied with a slight smile.

Ilia came into the control area from the other passageway. "I thought I heard a fun conversation going on up here. Anything fun to talk about or are we just discussing the beige points of life in this uniform?" she questioned.

"I was just telling the ensign to learn to loosen up a bit, appreciate every aspect of this life" Phlox replied.

"An interesting perspective, coming from a Denobulan. Your people have a reputation of not enjoying long bouts of silence or alone time" Ilia noted. "I'd say the only person on this little voyage that has enjoyed the relative peace and quiet is Dr. Sakonna, but you have to expect that from a Vulcan."

Ashlynn had also heard the conversation begin from the crew compartment and found herself in the doorway of the control area after she had replicated herself a slice of New York–style pizza. "The doc isn't the only one" Ash chimed in. "But compared to my last posting, this is peace and quiet" she said before taking a bite.

"Ah, Lt Regan. Do you prefer solitude or are you one of those humans that thrives in a crowd?" questioned Phlox.

"Solitude Lieutenant" she said. "But that's coming from someone who was assigned to two small patrol rated vessels in a row, so solitude was few and far between."

"So, this will be your first time on a ship of this size. I personally look forward to it" Phlox replied.

"It is a remarkable ship" Traci replied from the controls. "I did my last training cruise aboard the Washington. I think you'll all find it to be a remarkable ship. The senior officers are an interesting group."

While not usually interested in these "small talk" sort of conversations, Sakonna noted that they were talking about the Washington and experience with it, and that was of interest to her. She placed her PaDD down on the table and made her way up to the control area with everyone else. "Ensign, I was unaware of your knowledge of our destination. What insights can you provide about the ship and crew?"

Traci looked at the controls to make sure everything was alright before she turned her seat around to look at everyone. "Well, Captain Shran is Andorian and exactly what you would expect from somebody as decorated as he is. He definitely is the captain, no doubt. The XO is Cmdr Grayson. He is a bit of a hard ass but highly respected. Exactly the type you'd expect to be an XO considering the captain. He could easily command a ship without issue. For a human, you'll find him very disciplined. His wife is the counselor, and I think they have a child. My limited experience with the medical staff might show, but I know the CMO is Dr. Howard. She was fairly tactical for a medical officer from my experience. The senior Ops officer is Lt Cmdr Celes, Betazoid. She served with the captain when they were in intelligence and followed him to the ship during the war, I think. She might be the most powerful telepath I have ever encountered or even heard of to be honest. She seems to always know everything that is happening. And the head of the science department is also a Betazoid, Lt Senn as I remember. She is a cynical misanthrope, but she manages to fit in with the crew perfectly."

"Fascinating" Sakonna replied.

"Indeed" Ilia noted contemplative.

"They've got a world class security and tactical department" Ashlynn added. "Led by Lieutenants S'Niohun and Hillis."

Ilia sensed Ashlynn holding back as she mentioned the Washington security personnel. "Do you know someone in that department lieutenant? I can sense something emotional you are holding back."

Ash nodded. "My best friend serves under them" she said simply. She wasn't really trying to hide it, but she wasn't exactly refraining from downplaying the importance of it either. "Lieutenant Phoenix" she added.

*********

It was 1100 hours aboard the Washington as Deanna made her way down the corridor towards the main shuttle bay with her friend and superior Jon. "Seems nice of StarFleet to send this group of officer replacements in the new runabout. I understand the rest of the crew rotations will happen when the supply ship arrives."

Jon nodded and smiled at Deanna, "I agree Deanna, I wonder what we did to deserve Command being so considerate of us. Maybe they realized what we went through on that last mission and wanted to give us a break." He gave her a sideways glance, "At least it sounds good." He finished.

"I suspect the captain made it clear what we endured. To be honest, we basically just dealt with something that hasn't been seen since the war. And I'm sure Admiral Carroll wanted to make sure we were rewarded in some way for managing to complete that mission." Deanna reached the door and hit the panel to open it after making sure it was safe to enter. The runabout was just setting down as the two senior officers entered.

"I suspect you are right. We basically repelled a mini invasion and rescued another starship and crew. That should earn us some brownie points and I am thankful that it did." Jon finished as the pair reached their destination. "Perfect timing. Let's go and greet the kids."

Deanna grinned. Jon referring to the new officers as children amused her. She wasn't certain who all was going to be aboard that runabout, with one exception. She knew Traci Kuzman was coming aboard, mostly because she was her trainee a few months back. And it made her giggle a bit, because if anyone fit that kid remark that Jon had made, it would be Traci, who was just out of the Academy.

As the runabout powered down Deanna opened her mind to feel out surface impressions of the occupants, and she felt something that alarmed her just a bit. "Steel yourself Jon. One of them is a Deltan female."

Jon smiled at Deanna's giggle. He enjoyed seeing her smile and hearing her laugh. She was a good, good friend. He stood silently as the runabout powered down. He turned to look at Deanna as she mentioned one of the new arrivals was a Deltan female. "Thank you for the heads up, Deanna. I'm sure she's taken the necessary steps in suppressing her pheromones. Otherwise, there's going to be havoc on the ship."

Deanna chuckled. "She doesn't suppress anything. I'm guessing you haven't served with a Deltan before. This is going to be fun" she said with a smile.

The airlock opened and a Denobulan exited first. He seemed to be cheerful, exactly what one would expect. He walked up to Jon, "Greetings Commander. Lt Phlox, geology. I'd like to report that this was a wonderful trip. I look forward to serving aboard this vessel. Where might I find a Lt Senn?"

"Wonderful." Jon replied with a roll of his eyes at Deanna's statement. "Fun is not exactly the word I would have picked Deanna. More like interesting." Then the airlock opened and the Denobulan came up to him. "Hello Lt. Phlox, welcome aboard the Washington. May I also introduce you to Lt Cmdr Celes. As for Lt Senn, she is in the science lab."

The Denobulan smiled that large smile that only they could manage. "I will be happy to report in with her."

"I'll take you there" Deanna noted. "Once we have gathered everyone that is. If you wish to see your quarters, I can take you there as well."

A Vulcan and a human female were the next out. The human was a somewhat familiar face, but it was the Vulcan who spoke to Jon first. "Commander, I am Dr. Sakonna. I assume I can fine Dr. Howard in sickbay."

Jon nodded his head respectfully. "Greetings Doctor. Dr Howard is not currently on active duty as she is recovering from the last mission. You may report to Dr, Travis however."

Deanna nudged Jon. "Actually, Shon is still recovering. I believe Sam is back on light duty."

"That seems to be in line with the reports I read" Sakonna noted.

Jon nodded, "I stand corrected then. Thank you, Deanna." He finished gratefully.

Deanna noted the human female that had exited with Sakonna. "You are Ashlynn Regan as I recall. You are an acquaintance of Lt Phoenix."

"Lt. Regan was on the Saber, when the Mirrors took the ship over." Jon replied.

"Ah, yes. I am sure you will find things here quite a bit more tranquil and serene" Deanna noted as she looked at Ashlynn. She was aware that she was a security operative, but wearing that uniform, with the blue science division notation made her wonder. "Do you wish to see Lt Senn now as well?"

Ash gave a professional smile and nod. The meeting with Lieutenant Senn would be interesting for sure, based on the accounts at her new colleagues she arrived with, on top of what James said. "Yes ma'am, thank you."

And then the moment of truth came. As Ens Kuzma exited, she was with a Deltan female officer. While it was a little surprising to see a Deltan in such close proximity of a human, the real challenge was going to be seeing how Jon dealt with her as they both moved ever closer. Deanna both envied and felt sorry for Deltans. The females were beautiful to be sure, but more than that, their pheromones were so potent that they drove humans, especially males, insane with lust. Deltans viewed humans a sexually immature race, and while that might be true, it didn't change the fact that humanity made up the overwhelming majority of StarFleet. Deanna thought that at times, Deltans just enjoyed watching people squirm around them.

"Lt Ilia Mooi, counselor" she stated as she presented her orders to Jon.

Jon accepted the orders and then looked at Mooi, "Welcome to the Washington Lieutenant, you will be working with my wife who is the chief counselor aboard the Washington." His tone crisp, cool and professional.

Deanna could sense the rising tide of emotions that Ilia was provoking unintentionally. "Why don't we get you settled lieutenant, and then you can go meet with Callie. I think that might be for the best" Deanna interjected quickly.

"Very well commander" Ilia replied, looking at Deanna. She had to close her eyes and refocus for a moment as she felt the strong telepathic presence Deanna had. "You are quite the powerful telepath, even for a Betazoid."

"You have no idea" Deanna replied smartly as she turned and led the new arrivals out, leaving Jon to have a moment to regroup.

As Deanna led the group out of the transporter room. Jon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Thank God I am married and love Callie as much as I do." He said to himself. He also made a note to stay out of counseling complex as much as possible in the future.

 

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