Subject: Grail:"The Great Brightness"-'And it's off!'
<<Stardate:47307.30- 10:45>>
<<Chief Engineer's Office>>
Janice re-entered Main Engineering, walking towards the finished probe. She
was tired. There were too many thoughts running through her head - too many
things to think about, besides this mission. But she forced herself to
concentrate on the task at hand.
"Computer, level one diagnostic on the probe," she said confidently, but
feeling none of the confidence she appeared to have. The results were just
as she expected - the probe was ready to go into work. She tapped her
commbadge. "Hargen to Bridge. The probe is ready to go. Flight control,
I'm going to get it moving, then you guys follow my lead. Good luck." She
ended communications and turned to the computer.
"Computer, transport probe approximately 100 kilometers off starboard side
of the Grail." Her hours of hard work disappeared before her eyes. She
watched it slowly shimmer into nothingness before she moved to the console
beside her - its secondary remote control center.
"All systems functional," she mumbled to herself. "K'tel, come here and
man the secondary control panel," she ordered, motioning towards the panel
before her. The Klingon obeyed without a word, but glancing around
curiously, as if to find Lt. Brennan. She managed a weak smile at the
confused engineer. "Lieutenant Brennan has transported herself to sickbay -
she may have contracted the virus. It's just you and me," she added
encouragingly. Or what she hoped was encouragingly. "I'll be on the
bridge. Delagi, you have run of engineering while K'tel is working with
me. Good luck, crew." With that, she entered the turbolift and directed
it
towards the Main Bridge.
Once the doors closed, she sagged against the wall. Her thoughts flooded
in
on her the moment she didn't have to think about the probe. *Do they truly
think that Epic and I are lovers?* She shook her head, thinking of how
ridiculous that seemed. *Then why did I deny it so hotly? Why did it upset
me so much?* She ran a hand through her curly hair nervously. Luckily, the
doors finally opened onto the bridge, her mind focusing again on the probe
and the mission.
She walked directly over the engineering console, powering it up, and it to
access the probe's controls. "Okay, navigating the probe into the Great
Brightness. Here goes," she announced. The bridge went silent in
anticipation. She prayed the probe would function correctly.
She waited, tense, for the first information to come in from the probe after
it had entered the dense cluster of stars. Finally, a rush of information
flooded her console. Janice grinned brightly. "It works," she proclaimed
happily. The palpable strained atmosphere on the bridge eased suddenly.
"Routing information into the flight control console."
From here on out, it would be easy. All she had to do was make sure the
probe obtained readings from the appropriate locations, and they would be
perfectly fine. She set to work, following the directions of the flight
control officer on duty regarding where she should obtain the most
information.
{OOC: Okay, who's piloting the Grail?! <g> Whomever it is, we may want to do a joint post, or just reply to this one. thanks! I just wanted to get us moving...}