“Welcome
aboard, Captain.”
The
Captain stepped from the transporter platform and accepted the Starfleet First
Officer’s handshake. “Thank you,
Commander Picard. I trust everything is
in order?”
“We
are merely waiting for you, sir.” Jean-Luc Picard gestured for the ranking officer to proceed him
out of the transporter bay.
“Very
good. How has the bridge crew been
getting along?”
“Splendidly,
sir.” Picard fell into step beside the
Captain as they headed down the uniform beige walkways towards the
turbolifts. “You could not have chosen
a better executive staff.”
“That
remains to be seen, Commander.” The two
stepped into the lift. The doors slid
shut behind them.
“Bridge,”
Picard said aloud. The lift began to
move. He brushed his too long dark hair
off his forehead and tugged at the hem of his uniform shirt.
“You
look fine, Commander,” the Captain told him. “Anyway, it is I who should be
worried about my appearance. You have
been on board for a standard week, while I’m meeting everyone for the first
time.”
“Ah,
but your reputation precedes you, Captain,” Picard said. “Whereas this is my first post as the First
Officer.”
“I
have every confidence in you, Jean-Luc.”
The turbolift doors opened and the Captain nodded to Picard. “Shall we?”
“Attention
on the bridge!” The four senior
officers stood at attention as the Commander and the Captain walked onto the
bridge.
“At
ease,” the Captain said, though no one stood down.
“Captain,
Lieutenant Jordan Rather, our Communications Officer,” Picard introduced the
young redhead nearest to the lift.
“Sir,
it’s a pleasure to be under your command,” Rather said, shaking the Captain’s
extended hand.
“Good
to have you on board, Lieutenant.”
Picard
led the way down to two steps to the command floor. Two identical officers in matching red uniforms nodded in
acknowledgment.
“Our
Navigations Officer, Ellen Millar, and her twin sister, Sarah, who is our Helm
Officer.”
“Captain,”
the two sisters chimed simultaneously.
“Finally,”
Picard continued, introducing the young man on the opposite side of the
bridge. “Our Chief of Security,
Lieutenant Commander Clark Kent.”
The
Captain shook Kent’s hand, holding onto it longer than necessary. A slight frown creased his brow. “Lieutenant Commander, have we met before?”
“Depends,”
Kent said. “Do you believe in fate?”
“I
believe anything is possible, when I am in control.”
Kent
chuckled. “A very, very long time ago,
a man by the name of Lex Luthor told me that our friendship was going to be the
stuff of legends.” He smiled at the
surprised-looking Captain. “I have a
feeling he was more right than he could have imagined.”
“Captain,”
the Communications Officer said.
“Command has just informed me that we’re cleared for launch.”
“Very
good.” The Captain released Kent’s
hand, walked over to the control consol and pressed a button. A whistle sounded throughout the starship,
causing all hands to stop and listen.
“This
is Captain Lex Luthor. I’d like to
formally welcome everyone aboard the Stargazer. We’re about to embark on the first of many
voyages as a crew.” The bald young
Captain glanced over at Clark. “I
believe we have a future together, and I intend to let nothing stand in the way
of our friendship....”
End