Welcome to Purgatory.

Posted on Tue Feb 23rd, 2010 @ 3:32pm by Commander Dietrich Reinhart

I am in Purgatory. I now know the hell that my brother went through when he was Construction Captain of the Shiloh. The ship is near done, yet every yard engineer and welder has some question to ask the Captain and Executive Officer. And I just showed up in the nick of time to be bombarded by questions. So, welcome aboard a new ship, Dietrich. It certainly was not what I expected. It has been one hell of a trip getting here. It was just the other day that I finished my tour of duty on the Carthage. And then I get a call from Commander Gunning, a guy I knew years ago.

Let me start off by filling in my log with what's happened in the last 72 hours. I have spent three days packing, unpacking, and repacking. I was promoted to Second Officer of the Carthage just before the Change of Command ceremony. And I am not sure if it was a way to thank me for my service there, or just to fill a spot that needed to be filled. And quite frankly, I did not mind it. But it seems funny to have been in my shoes and flown through the galaxy the way I did. I started my career flying some of the oldest trainers in the Fighter Core, then flew some more 20 ton pieces of twisted steel and sex appeal, transferred to helm one of the oldest Excelsior refits in the fleet. And after going to Starbase 375 for the change of command ceremony and the end of my short tour on the Carthage, I hop aboard the USS Defender! The Defender was one of the only Miranda's to make it through the end of the Dominion War. That was my ticket back to Earth. The ship was over a hundred years old, and a testament to the fact that things do rust in space. And they do it from the inside out! The lounge on deck four of the Defender was closed due to malfunctioning grav-plating. There wasn't gravity on a whole quarter of a deck. The Captain had one of their cargo bays cleared out, the replicator placed in it and makeshift tables set up! I think the Defender was heading back to Earth to be a part of the Mothball Fleet, and it deserved it.

But my luck came through when I get ordered to report to Deep Space 9 to be Deputy Commander of Carrier Air Wing Forty-Eight. They launched their Runabout, probably the only thing on that ship capable of Warp Five. And then, yet another order change.

Commander Gunning ordered the Vesuvius to the Antares Shipyards. And I found out why when I showed up. A Defiant needed an Executive Officer, and I was uniquely qualified to helm her. Welcome to the Jackal, Dietrich. Whether or not I deserve it is up to higher powers than myself, but it is about damned time that I actually get to drive something that is right out of Space Dock. It is impressively rewarding to have driven such a historic ship as the Carthage, taken her into battle and flew from her white-hulled belly. But it is just as impressive to fly a loaded cannon right from her birth. And it is finally my chance.

Like I said before, as soon as I stepped through the small umbilical to the Jackal, I was hounded (for lack of better terms) by the yard engineers. They immediately wanted my help calibrating thrusters, propulsion, and the deflector. Granted, these are all in my area of expertise, I'd love a minute to put my bag down and report in. I spent the last two hours checking the thruster output's actual power to the theoretical, and recalibrating the computer's controls. It is a hell of a job. However, because of that, I now know perfectly the output of the engine.

My quarters are as I expected, about the same size of a junior officer's quarters on the Carthage, just that I do not have to share it with anyone else. It is a blessing, because I am sure that I will see too much of my new crew mates on this small rig. I'll set up my model planes and decorations tonight, perhaps. Until then, I need to report into Commander Gunning and get my hardhat back on.

Computer, end log.

::OFF::

Signed,
Lt. Cmdr. Dietrich Reinhart
Executive Officer, Chief Helmsman
USS Jackal