From conor@new.co.za Mon Jun 22 23:00:01 1998 Date: Mon, 1 Jun 1998 20:01:33 -0200 From: Conor Healy To: Jeffrey Jenkins , "Jeffrey (alternate) Jenkins" , Dana Loeblich , Conor Healy , Anna Cordray , Brian Suskind , Christian Stark , "Eric (alternate) Scott" , "Eric V. Scott" , Erin Kenny , Gabrielle Bubis , John Luerding , "Joshua J. Young" , Kevin Richter , Michael Natale , Mike Groner , Paul Menz , ### , Tim Fath , "Wendon B. Pettey" , "Treena L. King" , J'ymle Koretz , Yoni Levanoni , Mark Palumbo , Frank O'Conor , Tom Gladstone , Stefan Wiedner Subject: [DANTEXF] SB ALIGHIERI: Pike arrives ========== LOCATION: Austrian Alps, Terra FMD: 1.0800 Matthew Pike slowly picked his way up the rocky path which lead to the top of this mountain. The path went along a ridge which was covered in beautiful green grass. Here and there, small yellow flowers were visible - growing slightly taller than the grass. He wore a white shirt with black slacks and clutched a long walking staff in one hand. Matthew gazed ahead at the top of this mountain. Just about 500 meters more along this ridge and he would come to a rocky mound, marking the summit. He was on leave from his duties on the RAGNAROK and had chosen to spend the week he had been given in Austria on Terra. His foot slipped as he accidentally kicked a stone loose. Fortunately, Matthew soon regained his balance and continued the climb. He had come a long way since his days at the academy. Who would have thought that the shy ensign working as FCO on the GANYMEDE would progress to become an OPS officer on the RAGNAROK. Now he would be progressing. Shortly before he went on leave he requested a transfer - it had been granted. Now the personnel officers had been trying to find a suitable place for him to go. Reaching the bottom of the mound Pike placed the staff under his arm and reached his hand out, feeling each handhold to see if it was stable. Eventually he found a suitable hand hold and started to haul himself up the rock, slowly but surely. He gripped the rock as hard as he could - if he slipped now he would be in considerable agony on the ridge below him. [[Commander Johnson to Lieutenant Commander Pike]] His commbadge beeped into life as he hung from the rocks. This certainly wasn't a nice situation to be in. He eased forward slightly and knocked the badge against the rock to open the channel. "Erm... Commander I'm in a little bit of a tight situation at the moment..." [[Well - I've just recieved word from CINCINDIGO that you've got a position as OPS on starbase ALIGHIERI. Thought you would like to know as soon as possible.]] "Yeah... that's just _great_. Really - it is great. Pike out." Sweat was dripping down his brow. Having conversations hanging off a rock at high altitude wasn't couch potatoe stuff. He'd have to get down as soon as possible. They'd be expecting him at the shuttle pad in a few hours. ========== LOCATION: Shuttle pad, Vienna FMD: 1.1500 Matthew ran onto the shuttle pad - just in time. He had 5 minutes to spare until it would be time for departure. He had just arrived back in time to get into his uniform and to stow the two cargo containers which contained all he would need on the station. The containers contained nothing except clothes, a bed and a box full of isolinear chips which contained several custom made holodeck programs. He'd certainly have plenty of time for holodeck programs - being stuck out in deep space at SB ALIGHIERI. Matthew was really looking forward to some fun on SB ALIGHIERI. He had read some brief information on the base via a PADD he had been handed on his way to the shuttle pad. Now he had that PADD in his hand as he climbed into the small D-Warp shuttle. Matthew positioned himself in a large, comfortable seat next to a computer terminal - he'd need to catch up on all SB ALIGHIERI files if he wanted to impress this Greyclaw Yssar chap. The pilot turned to him and offered him a friendly greeting. He looked to be middle aged and spoke with an Italian accent. It turned out that his name was Chief Warrant Officer Lorenzo Corbonne - a D-warp shuttle pilot who claimed to have been everywhere in the galaxy. Lorenzo turned out to be a bit of a reckless pilot, he brought the shuttle up off the ground before the doors had opened and didn't wait for a proper sized gap to exit via. He just 'put pedal to the medal' and shot through the half opened doors and up into the night sky. Lorenzo claimed that if he wasn't a shuttle pilot he'd be a marine fighter officer. Matthew didn't doubt him for one second. Turning his neck so that he could look out of the window at the black sky Matthew's gaze was inexorably drawn to the Sagittarius cluster. His birth place and now - the place where he was going. Ever since he had recieved word of the attack on the New Frontier, Matthew had wanted to get out there and defend his birthplace. Sagittarius Delta VI, a 'rocky snowball' on a far orbit from the Sagittarius Delta star. It wasn't the greatest place to grow up but it was home. Home. The word didn't have much meaning to a starfleet officer. Wherever he or she was stationed at any given time was 'home.' He began to peruse the files on SB ALIGHIERI. It was an Indigo fleet base - located within the Dante system. The most interesting thing about SB ALIGHIERI was NC-17. An elite Naval fighter unit based there along with a marine battalion. NC-17 had recently seen action against Kraggon forces in the system. Seems like this ALIGHIERI place wouldn't be as boring as Matthew had originally thought. Anyway - it was a long journey, even by D-Warp. 3 days to be precise. He shouldn't read all this stuff at once. Stuck in this shuttle with 'Lorenzo Corbonne'. ========== LOCATION: Shuttle Bay 1, SB ALIGHIERI FMD: 4.1200 Lieutenant Commander Pike's boots klinked as he jogged briskly along the metallic floor of the shuttle bay. The base's transporter systems were beaming his few belongings into his temporary quarters. He was late. That darned shuttle pilot had decided to show off his piloting tricks and now Matthew was almost a full hour late. He would have to hurry to report in to his new commanding officer, a Commander Greyclaw Yssar. Greyclam Yssar? The name sounded like the commander was Kzinti or Caitian. It would certainly be interesting to work with a felinoid commanding officer. In the shuttle bay Matthew could see that several combat shuttles were being prepared for flight? What could be happening? That didn't really matter at the moment as he really needed to see Commander Yssar. He was late as it was and it looked like something _very_ important was going on. Along the corridors of the base Matthew was continually dodging technicians who scurried around carrying pieces of equipment. No doubt about it, Matthew had seen this kind of activity when he had been assigned to outpost SELTAR. There was definitely something about to happen. There would be a big, big bang. With the recent Kraggon threat in the system Matthew realised it could only be a matter of time until some serious fighting started. The doors to Commander Yssar's ready room opened and Pike stepped through them, quickly straightening his uniform beforehand. The large Caitian behind the desk looked at Pike through emerald green eyes. He seemed to frown momentarily and his ears flattened. "Hrm.. Lieutenant Commander Pike? You're late..." "I... I know, sir, the shuttle flight got, uh... delayed whilst we were approaching the system...." ----- NRPG: All: Here I finnally am... (Hooray!) ;) ---- Conor Healy Conor@new.co.za The voice of: Lieutenant Joseph Simons, MD CMO, USS EXCALIBUR Lieutenant Commander Matthew Pike OPS, SB ALIGHIERI ----