“It’ll be good to get some shore leave.” he said. “It’s been a while.”
“It certainly will number one.” said Watt.
Then Amarus noticed something on his panel.
“Captain, I’m receiving a communication from Starfleet Security. Admiral McCarthy is ready to beam aboard.”
Watt sighed and got to his feet.
“You have the bridge Commander. Mr. Amarus, you’re with me.”
Watt and Amarus soon stood in Transporter Room Three. Watt then gave the order for the transporter beam to be energised. Seconds later a rather stern-looking man dressed in the uniform of a Starfleet admiral beamed aboard. The man was Admiral Joseph McCarthy, the head of Starfleet Security.
“Admiral McCarthy.” smiled Watt, extending his hand. “It’s good to see you again. This is my Chief of Security, Lieutenant Tamar Amarus.”
“We’ll dispense with the pleasantries Captain.” said McCarthy. “I take it Captain Queeg is in the brig.”
“Yes.”
Shortly afterwards Watt, McCarthy and Amarus were walking down the corridor towards the brig.
“The President had personally asked me to take charge of the investigation into the incident on Babylon 5.” said McCarthy. “I’m leaving no stone unturned. Something went wrong and I intend to find out what.”
Then McCarthy’s communicator sounded.
“This is McCarthy. Go ahead.”
“Major Kremmer here Admiral. The holding cell is ready. You can beam Queeg straight down.”
“Good. Wait for my signal.”
They soon entered the brig and saw Queeg sitting on the bed.
“So finally someone has come to take me away.” he said.
“I wouldn’t sound so smug if I were you Captain.” said McCarthy. “The list of charges against you is as long as my arm.”
“You haven’t heard the last of the Orks or the Eldar. You’ll hear from them very soon!”
“We’d better get this over with.”
Shortly afterwards Queeg was beamed back to Earth.
In his quarters Watt began to pack a small suitcase for his shore leave. A few seconds later the door buzzer went.
“Come in.”
The door opened and Magus entered.
“Going on a journey?” Magus asked.
“Yes, back to Cromer. It’s been a while since I went home.”
“And I’m afraid it will be a while longer. We’ve just had a communication from San Francisco. There’s a meeting of Starfleet’s senior officers they would like us to attend.”
“Us? Meaning you and me?”
“And Commander Pendragon. They said it concerned the new Pegasus Project.”
“The space station around the Time of Legends? It must be important. When is this meeting?”
“At two this afternoon. I can’t think why they would want me there.”
Two o’clock in the afternoon soon arrived. Watt, Magus and Pendragon soon entered the meeting hall in California. Magus was surprised when he saw three of his old friends from the Time of Legends, Aragorn, Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf.
“What are you doing here?” Magus asked.
“It concerns the Pegasus.” said Bilbo. “The final arrangements have just been made.”
Then Admiral Duncan McCloud entered and walked towards the podium.
“Gentlemen, if you could take your seats please.”
Those gathered were soon in their seats.
“Gentlemen.” said McCloud. “The President.”
President Watt then entered and took his place at the podium.
“Good afternoon gentlemen. I won’t beat around the bush. As many of you know for the past eight months Starfleet engineers have been working with engineers from the Time of Legends in the construction of a new space station in orbit around that planet, called the Pegasus. I am pleased to announce that in four weeks the station will be fully operational, and that the first crew members will begin to take up their new posts. The station will serve a number of purposes. One is to study the many different cultures upon the Time, and to see how such cultures could be incorporated into the Federation. Then, the station will act as a trade port for the many races who wish to enter into trade agreements, and the third reason is to provide protection for the Time in case some of those parties try to take the trade by force.
“After a meeting with the newly formed Time of Legends Council I am pleased to announce that Bilbo Baggins will serve as Ambassador on the station, acting as spokesman for the Time and safeguarding their interests. To represent the Federation Ambassador Benjamin Adams will leave his role at Starfleet and serve as Ambassador to the Federation on the station.
“Finally I would like to announce the choice for commanding officer for the station. To that end I would like to offer promotion to captain to Commander Arthur Pendragon.”
Pendragon’s jaw dropped. He was lost for words.
“I’m afraid I can’t give you an answer straight away Mr. President.” he said.
“Don’t worry Commander. As I said the station won’t be operational for another month. You have plenty of time to make your decision.”
After a short discussion the meeting began to break up. Watt soon caught up with Admiral McCloud.
“Duncan, may I speak with you?”
“Certainly.”
“If Arthur accepts this promotion who would be my new first officer?”
“That choice would be your. There’s been rumours of Pendragon being offering this promotion for the past few weeks, and, from what I’ve heard, several big names are interested in becoming your first officer. It looks like you’ll have the pick of Starfleet to choose from.”
“If Arthur decides to go.”
“He’d be a fool not to. The Pegasus station is a chance to explore new boundaries and frontiers. It’s a remarkable opportunity.”
“To be quite honest it’s one I would have minded!”
“Ah, but Pendragon was chosen for a special reason.”
“Which is?”
“I’d rather not say. Let’s just say though that it was a joint decision between the two major parties.”
The next day Watt sat in his small house in Cromer, taking a short rest, something he had not been able to do for some time in his home town. Then, shortly afterwards he received a knock at the door. Putting down the book he was reading he soon walked to the door. Opening it he was surprised to see Commander Arthur Pendragon standing on his doorstep.
“Arthur!” he smiled. “Please, come in.”
Pendragon walked into his house. He began to look around.
“You have a nice place here sir.”
“Please, we’re off duty, call me James.”
Pendragon sat down in one of the armchairs.
“Can I offer you a drink?”
“No. I just came to give you some news. I’ve decided to accept the promotion. I’m going to take command of Pegasus.”
Watt sat down in the other chair and smiled.
“I had a feeling you would. This is a great opportunity. I knew you wouldn’t let it pass. When do you leave?”
“I’m taking some time off and returning to Cornwall for a bit of shore leave. I’ll leave soon after that. Admiral McCloud is thinking of assigning the Valkyrie to take some of the personnel there. And you’ll never guess who my first officer will be.”
“I know. Lieutenant Greenleaf, sorry, Lieutenant Colonel Greenleaf contacted me from the Time this morning.”
Watt got to his feet, as did Pendragon. Watt extended his hand.
“Well Captain, you’ll be a loss to the ship.”
Pendragon grasped Watt’s hand, and the two of them shook.
“There are plenty of officers who would jump at the chance of serving on the Valkyrie. I know I did.”
The next day Watt took a trip to the President’s office complex in Paris. It was there he met a familiar face - Counsellor Trospheo.
“You wanted to see me Captain?” she asked.
“Yes Counsellor. I was wondering if you could help me with this task I have.”
“You mean selecting a new first officer? I’d be happy to help, you know that. But I am going to place one condition on this. I can only advise you as to who would be the best man for the job because the final decision is ultimately yours. You are the only one who can choose your first officer.”
Watt smiled.
“That is all I ask of you!”
No comments:
Post a Comment