Breaking Rocks - Part 2

Posted on Tue 8th Jun, 2021 @ 4:36am by Ignatius Collins & Sipov Boros

1,338 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Waging Peace
Location: Docking Bay--The Nameless Grace, Bridge
Timeline: MD-1, 2330 hours

Previously, on the Nameless Grace...

Ignatius nodded. "Once we get done with the ship tour and taking her out for a spin, you're more than welcome to make yourself at home," Ignatius said. "For now, I'll take you up to the bridge so you can get familiar with the pilot's console. Then I hope you'll tell me what Breen space is like. And, by the way, call me Ignatius."

---

The ship's bridge was the smallest and topmost of all the decks. It included a head and what might have been called a Captain's Ready Room on a Starfleet ship. On the Grace, it was just Ignatius' office. A rectangular table and set of chairs at one end of the office passed for a senior staff meeting area.

Deck 2 housed laboratories, manual grappling control, transporters for cargo and crew, the sickbay, and the sensor array. The long truss corridor was accessed from Deck 2. Decks 3 and 4 housed crew quarters, the crew lounge, a small mess hall that was primarily intended for grabbing packaged meals, and an even smaller exercise room. Decks 5 and 6 primarily consisted of mechanical servicing areas, the computer core servicing area, water tanks, plumbing, electrical, and raw materials storage.

Needless to say the ship layout gave Sipov the same impression as he got when first coming on board. The layout was simple and efficient. While that couldn't be said for every ship he'd ever been on it would once again make it easier for him to make his way around. "Is there any sort of dedicated workspace for the pilots? Something like a planning or briefing room? I understand there's only a handful of us but I'm just curious." Sometimes it was easier to go over 'work stuff' in a quieter, more dedicated environment as opposed to his quarters.

"That's on Deck 2," Ignatius said. "Staff conference room, workstations, and simulators. The mining personnel have to practice in simulation about as much as the pilots do, to stay qualified. Now that you've seen your quarters, I'll show you that area." They found the turbolift and took it up a deck.

Even with only a handful of people currently in it, Deck 2 looked 'busy' with regard to layout. It was clearly the 'working' deck. As they exited the turbolift, metallurgical labs occupied a chunk of area to their left, along with the grappling control and tractor. The reinforced hull was made evident here as thick bulkheads that buttressed the different sections of the ship. "Crew workstations and simulators are port and aft," Ignatius said, pointing. "On the other side of this deck we have sickbay aft and the sensory fore. Transporters are amidships."

Sipov gave a nod in acknowledgement. The simulators while underway would be something new for him but wasn't something he was against. The more practice, the better. "I'm guessing I need to make time for a flight physical then. How much sim time do the pilots need? I can make sure to schedule it in accordingly." One thing could be said about Sipov, when he was on the job, he was on the job. When it came to business and making money, especially when working for someone else, his composure and focus were as sharp as nails. He wasn't there to waste his time or anyone else's. "As for the shuttles that go out for mining, do we need to end up covering any shifts there or do you have another team for them entirely?"

"I have another team for them," Ignatius said. "It wouldn't hurt for you and the other pilots to learn how to operate a mining shuttle, but things would have to be bad indeed for me to need to pull you from ship duty to shuttle duty. As for simulator time--you're an experienced pilot with a high rating and a lot of flight hours. The Grace has a pretty standard console. Even though your experience has been primarily in Breen space, the console layout shouldn't be that different. Mainly, you'll need to practice maneuvering the ship itself, getting used to how she moves in the docking bay, loaded and unloaded. You're at one end of a long, skinny, unwieldy craft. I'd want you to have at least 24 simulator hours before you take her out on your own. I've done 120 hours on the simulator because I don't have nearly your pilot rating or your logged flight hours."

"I'll at least familiarize myself just in case. I can't promise I'll have the lightest touch but in a pinch I will do my best to fill in just in case. 24 hours is certainly attainable, I'll put in as much time as I can to make sure we have a smooth trip when I'm at the controls." Sipov did his best to recall the last time he flew a craft that lacked a lot of maneuverability, reminded of one of the waste transports he'd piloted a number of times and what an adventure that was. It certainly tested his skills and he hoped there wasn't too much rust to knock off. "It looks like I'll spend the majority of my time between decks 1 and 2 unless I'm sleeping. I'm game to start maneuvers when you are, Ignatius. I did make sure to get some rest earlier this afternoon."

"Smart man. I had a two-hour nap, but that's about it," Ignatius said. "Let's head up to the bridge; I can show you Engineering later." He led Sipov past a door and into a stairwell. "I always feel silly taking the turbolift up one deck," he said in explanation.

The Grace's bridge might best be termed 'cozy.' Unlike the bridge of a Starfleet vessel, everything was all on one level, and noise dampening was primarily done with wall paneling rather than distance. "Here's where you'll sit," Ignatius said and gestured to the main pilot's station. "It works like a PADD does. You can configure it for whichever is your dominant hand."

"I like the idea of that, although I was forced to learn to fly with my left hand so it might best I continue as such, I've developed a much lighter touch and use my right hand more for controlling other items. Maybe I'll give it a try in the SIM and see how it all pans out." The size of the bridge was something he liked, it would be nice to be in something that gave him more a of the feeling of being embraced, it was closer to a cockpit versus a large widespread deck.

"Are the Breen mainly left-handed?" Ignatius seated himself in the co-pilot's chair and began running the pre-flight check.

It was something that Sipov hadn't really thought about "Where I grew up, they their craft were all set for utilizing the left hand on flight so I never gave much thought in having a choice. I flew craft produced by various construction yards and companies as I got older but at that point if I had the option to reconfigure it was always my left. Old habits die hard."

Following suit the Vulcan took his seat as well and took a look to see what he might recognize while making his adjustments to the controls in front of him.

"I'm going to take her out of the docking bay. Once we're clear of 109's immediate airspace and the shipping lanes, I'll hand her over to you so you can get a feel for her," Ignatius said. "I'll take back the controls after you've had some time to get used to how she moves, and then we'll return here. External and SPARROW checks are already done; I'll run through the cockpit check now, and then we'll be off. Sound good?"

Returning a nod. "Sounds good, Captain. Ready when you are." Sipov was excited to get the feel for a new ship.

"Excellent!" Ignatius took the pilot's seat and donned the headset. "Flight Control, this is MDF-3611RHK34 preparing for departure...."

 

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