New Crew

Posted on 04 Jul 2026 @ 12:50am by 1st Lieutenant S'earr & Lieutenant Alexandra Lee & Lieutenant Commander Samantha Smithson SB51 & Lieutenant Karyn Somers

1,667 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: S04 Episode 02 The Hackers Backdoor (Incidentals)
Location: Starbase 51/Various
Timeline: Prior to Meeting the Commanding Officer JP

OOC Somers: Okay, this one is set after any JPs that have happened on SB 51, so please adjust JP headings for a week to a few days earlier and then post those ones, thanks.

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[ON]

Karyn was at a cafe chatting up an attractive female human with the same outlook on relationships when her Commbadge sounded. She sighed, "Excuse me," she said and tapped her Commbadge.

=/\= Smithson to Somers =/\=

=/\= I am here, Sam. What is up? =/\= Karyn asked.

=/\= Your missions should you choose it... =/\=

=/\= Sam! =/\= Karyn warned, hearing the levity in the other woman's voice.

=/\= Sorry, duty shift has tagged you to fly two officers to the Tomcat, their names are S'earr and Lee, one is new the other is a returning officer =/\= Smithson responded.

=/\= Acknowledged, will contact them directly, Somers out =/\= with that she closed the link and looked at the woman she was chatting up and made apologies and left the cafe, as she entered the main area she tapped her Commbadge.

=/\= Somers to S'earr and Lee, report to departures with kitbags =/\= Somers said.

=/\= Lee here, Acknowledged and will be on my way. =/\= Lee responded as she finalised her office clearing and validated that all her artefacts were properly in storage.

S'earr was already prepared and ready, knowing his time would be brief on board SB51, he was not surprised when the comm link opened. =/\= Understood. =/\= He answered, then slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way to departures.

- Departures -

Karyn was waiting for her charges. She was standing there in a security uniform with the Rifle Regiment Crossbelt and a white band around the base of her shoulders, looking; she vaguely remembered what Lee looked like, but not the new guy, then her eyes fell upon the tallest Caitian she had yet seen, he was broad-shouldered and had muscles, he was not her type, but she gulped anyway, she quickly recovered and waved the pair over.

"You must be Lieutenants S'earr and Lee?" Karyn asked.

"Ma'am, Lieutenant Alexandra Lee reporting as ordered," Lee replied. "I am certain we have met before briefly. I am looking forward to rejoining the Tomcat crew."

S'earr approached the two females, pleased to see that one was Alexandra. "Ma'am." He bowed his head as his ways required him to. "I am."

Looking at Lee "You may have met my Sister, Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers at some point" Karyn said "I am Lieutenant Karyn Somers, former 95th Rifle Officer now SB51 Security and Lieutenant Lee, you do not need to call me ma'am we are the same rank" she said then looked at the big hulking Caitian "so you are the new RCO of the Tomcat, your time onboard will not be dull 'll wager" she said then looked at Lee again "the Tomcat looks a lot different from the last time you were onboard Alex, you may need to do a walk around to get to know where things are now" Karyn paused.

"Thank you, Karyn. I am sorry for the mix-up." Lee replied.

S'earr listened to the female explain a little snippet of insight as to what he could expect once he set foot on board.

*smiles* "Okay, you pair get you onto that docked Danube class shuttle, and strap in, we will be leaving in five minutes" she said.

"Understood." S'earr spoke as he stowed his bag in storage out of the way.

"Well, thank you." Lee then turned to put her duffel in a storage compartment and then sat on the seat across from S'earr our to respect to not bump against him if there was any turbulence, as she knew touching him could trigger something more.

As the pair headed for the runabout, Karyn turned to the dock master and signed off on some "paperwork" When that was done, she entered the runabout and closed the ramp, secured it and sat at the helm controls and prepped for flight.

=/\= USS Dex to Starbase flight control =/\= Karyn opened a channel and began.

=/\= Flight Control here =/\=

=/\= USS Dex ready for departure, do we have clearance =/\=

=/\= Affirmative Dex, safe journey, flight control out =/\= came the reply.

On the shuttle, Karyn went through the start-up sequence, activating the warp core and sub-systems, then she gently applied power to the RCS units, and the shuttle lifted up. She turned the ship towards the space barrier, and as she applied forward momentum with the RCS, she brought up power to the Impulse engines, and when she had momentum, she powered down the RCS and flew through the barrier and 1/4 impulse. They eventually cleared the defensive perimeter. This was where she brought the warp core to full power, set a heading for the Tomcat, and then jumped to warp. When she confirmed they were locked on course, she locked in autopilot and swivelled to look at the pair.

"I am going to get a drink, either of you want one?" she asked "It will be a few hours or more until we get to the Tomcat's location" she added.

"Thank you, but no." S'earr took the time to close his eyes and meditate.

"And you, Lieutenant Lee?" Karyn asked, pausing next to Alexandria.

"Thank you, a water would be perfect if it is not any trouble," Lee replied.

*smiling* "No trouble at all", she said and tapped the orders into the replicator, and two ice-cold glasses of water appeared. She picked up one and handed it to Lee, she took the other one and returned to the pilot's seat and swivelled to face Lee.

"I have a Sister named Alexandria", she said, looking at Lee.

"I believe she is to become the new commanding officer on the Tomcat, isn't she? I heard some chatter in the administrative offices when I was turning in some charts and reports before departing Starbase 51." Lee replied, then realised she likely should not have said anything.

Karyn looked at the Science Officer, "Where the hell did you hear that, Lieutenant Lee?" Karyn asked in a friendly tone, leaving her voice as she asked the question.

"It was something I just happened to overhear when in the director's office at the Starbase. I was not aware it was top secret. I was just finalising my departure and heard it mentioned in the back of the room as a door was open to another office." Lee replied with how she heard the information. "I will not repeat it outside of the three of us. But, honestly, I am feeling it will be a huge benefit to the crew. The Somers family is well-known, and a fresh face in the lineage would keep the Tomcat on par with the legacy that Fleet Captain Jasmine Somers has started on the finest ship in the fleet."

"Interesting, you ever thought about going into intelligence, Alex?" Karyn said with a smile and turned as a beep sounded, "Well, looks like we are arriving at Galen IV, the last location of the Tomcat," she said, turning back around and taking the runabout off autopilot. As the ship dropped from warp, she saw a pirate ship explode.

"Holy shit!" She exclaimed, then opened a channel to Tomcat flight control.

=/\= USS Dex to Tomcat flight control =/\= Karyn began

=/\= Flight control here, you do know we are busy here, shuttle Dex? =/\= an exasperated controller asked.

=/\= Yes, I can see that. I have your new MCO and returning Science Officer with me. If you need to clarify my identity, it is Lieutenant Karyn Somers, Security Starbase 51, sister to Lieutenant Colonel Alexandria Somers and cousin to your Captain. If I need to do a combat landing, I can do that, maybe not as gracefully as my sister=/\= Karyn clarified as the other end went quiet for a moment.

=/\= Welcome to the Galen system, Lieutenant Somers, giving you clearance to land, be quick, shield will open in the shuttle bay area in ten seconds =/\= the voice said.

She looked over her shoulder, "Okay, you pair, grab onto your britches and strap in, we are in for a bumpy landing" she said.

Surprised by the activity in the area of the Tomcat, Lee quickly took heed of that Karyn stated. "Roger that." She then secured herself in her seat.

S'earr opened his eyes from his meditation, sat in the slightly too small chair and strapped himself in.

With that showing her innate skill and timing, Karyn took the ship past the shield and entered the shuttle bay within the 10-second window. Now, she took time to orient the ship for leaving, then she decreased impulse power to zero and switched to RCS and landed the shuttle with a slight bump.

As she turned to face the passengers, "Return all tray tables to their upright positions. Should you wish to vomit, kindly do it on the ship. Thank you for flying Somers airways. Enjoy your stay," she said with a plain expression.

Lee looked across to S'earr and then to Karyn. "Thank you for an impressive landing for the situation. I appreciate a good pilot." She stated as she had been in a few "bumpy" landings before that were in much less of a tense situation.

S'iraa noted the landing, despite the conditions. Still, the time had come that he was aboard his new assignment, and he was looking forward to it.

With that, both picked up their kitbags and left the runabout. Karyn faced the controls again and put the shuttle into safe mode. She was wondering if she could get to visit Jasmine, but first she had time before she could leave, so she sought out the ship's bar.

[OFF]

 

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