Docking Control

Posted on Sat Dec 24th, 2011 @ 12:15pm by Lieutenant JG Sorik & Lieutenant Marcus O'Connell & Captain Alexander Gunning

Mission: The Pak'Leth Problem
Location: Deck 200 - Docking Control Upper
Timeline: MD01 - 0700 (Launch Hour -3)

[ON]

Docking Control was a virtual cascade of auditory and visual stimulae as Lieutenant (JG) Sorik stood amidst the sea of non-commissioned officers guiding a flood of vessels in and out of the Starbase's main docking bay. The massive control room was offset on all sides by huge display screens which showed both the live feed of each vessel and also the projected path of their docking procedure.

All being well, the vessels would not deviate from the set of docking coordinates given to them and would be guided into their berths with the clockwork precision of a synchronised swimming team but unfortunately the job was not always that simple.

In the absence of a Chief Operations Officer for the station, the Vulcan has assumed control of Docking for the station and had put a lot of time into finding a talented NCO to promote to take over the role of Dockmaster, meaning that he could pick up some of the slack which had begun to come up across the ship. While Starbase 332 was a little different in that she had an engineering department to take care of all the repairs and vital systems, meaning that the need for Miles O'Brien 'handy' types was all but redundant, it would surprise most to learn the sheer levels of stock that came through the base's cargo bays. At present, he had around thirty Operations staff performing inventory at all times.

From his raised control platform in the centre of the room, he looked down across the chattering masses of Operations staff who were slaving away, no doubt with their retinas burning from the constant staring at screens. From the raised platform, Sorik was able to override any of the docking control stations below and also had a couple of staff members relaying communications about successful docking and disembarkations to both Ops and the Communications Centre on Deck Ten.

Sorik believed he was running a pretty smooth operation in Docking Control and hoped that his incumbent superior would appreciate the level of effort that he had put in to getting things running smoothly. Now it was a matter of getting a Dockmaster and letting them get back to work. He looked down at his PADD. Lieutenant Marcus O'Connell, he thought, transferring from the Shiloh. He'll be used to a tight ship.

After arriving on SB332 Lieutenant Marcus O'Connell's shuttle had docked with the station He saw his Deputy chief of ops Lieutenant Sorik He brought along Lieutenant (JG) Lester Wilson the new dockmaster " Lieutenant Sorik this is our new dockmaster Lieutenant Wilson." Marcus said.

Sorik looked the two men up and down. "A pleasure to meet you Lieutenant Wilson. I'll show you around and get you up to speed on most of our systems over the course of your next two or three duty shifts." He quickly turned his attention to his superior, "Lieutenant, Admiral Gunning would like to see you in his office."

[Commanding Officer's Office - Deck 12]

After introducing the new dockmaster to his deputy chief of ops he went to see Admiral Gunning "Admiral Gunning Lieutenant Marcus O'Connell Reporting for duty sir." he said.

"Ahh, good. Lieutenant O'Connell." He said, shaking the outstretched hand of the Operations Chief. "I trust you're settling in well?"

Marcus said " I am settling in well Admiral " Marcus said.

"Pleased to hear it," Gunning replied. He felt like he hadn't slept in days and trying to be chipper in front of the new crew members was proving to be harder than he thought it would be. "I understand your last assignment was aboard the USS Shiloh?"

Marcus replied " I was assigned there Admiral " he said .

"Good. As you probably already know, we're due to depart for the Thane system within the next three hours and I need someone at Ops on the Antietam. It's a Lexington class like the Shiloh so you should be able to handle it. Normally I wouldn't ask a new crew member to take on a task like this so soon after coming aboard but these are desperate times."

Marcus said " I understand Admiral " he said then asked " what docking port is the antietam at Admiral?"since he was new he had to know the antietam is.

"You'll find her at internal docking port thirty six," the CO replied blankly, "you're dismissed then, Lieutenant. We'll see you on the bridge in one hour."

[OFF]

Rear Admiral Alex Gunning
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Marcus O'Connell
Chief Operations Officer
Starbase 332