Tales of Starfleet
Angels and Lionesses
Part 2
by Phillip Barlow
(p.barlow@ic.ac.uk)

Angels and Lionesses - Part 2

Sigma Engadine V was an unremarkable Class M planet in an unremarkable star system with a Sol type star at its heart. The planet was dominated by three large landmasses, with a smattering of island groups in the two main oceans. It had been colonised over 250 years ago by people from the old British Commonwealth, who had given their new home the name Britannia. But, what had started out as a colony had grown and grown, with the planet's population now at 800 million and outposts on several moons in the system. The growth was due to Britannia's one remarkable feature - its position at an almost equidistant location to all of the major Federation worlds. This had brought about the development of the largest spaceport in this part of the Federation.

Hampton Orbital was a shipbuilding yard, passenger and freight terminal and military base, with each part centred in a geostationary orbit above one of Britannia's major cities. The commercial shipbuilding facility, which itself was divided between seven different private companies, was located over the city of Buckingham. The passenger and freight terminals, again divided among different companies, was over the city of Churchill Cove, and served as the home port for some of the most prestigious commercial starships in the Federation, not least the giant starliners Mauretania and Lusitania of the New Cunard Line, and the Oriana and Aurora of the rival Orient Line. The third part of Hampton Orbital was over the capital, Empire City, and was carefully removed from the rest of the facility. This was the military and naval base.

Initially designed to house and maintain Britannia's own small Space Defence Force fleet, in the last ten years this had seen significant expansion to allow it to house the much larger vessels of the Federation Starfleet, in preparation for Britannia's acceptance as a full member of the Federation. It was for this reason that the flagship of the Britannian fleet, the Jovis, along with two other Britannian vessels, were escorting the starship USS Enterprise into Hampton Orbital.

On board the Enterprise were representatives of the Federation Council, including the President, and the Heads of Government of five different planets that had all applied for membership of the Federation. The final parts of this process for the five, along with Britannia, would be discussed at the forthcoming conference that Britannia was hosting.

None of these things though were of the least concern to Captain Jean-Luc Picard as he sat in his ready room. Instead his thoughts dwelled on one of his passengers. When he had accepted the assignment to collect the various dignitaries and bring them to Earth, before taking them the short distance to Britannia, he had done so without looking at the list of planets he was going to. It was only after leaving Angosia III that he realised what was coming - the next two planets on his list were Krios and Valt Minor. He had welcomed aboard his old acquaintance, former Ambassador Briam of Krios, who now served as Krios' Chancellor, before setting off for Valt Minor.

He had spent the entire time praying that Chancellor Alrik would be too wrapped up in planning for the conference to bring her along. But no, when Alrik's delegation transported aboard, there she was, as lovely as he remembered.

Kamala.

And so, following the official reception, he had studiously avoided all but the briefest contact with any of his passengers. To her credit though, Kamala also remained anonymous for the entire voyage. Evidently, the nine years she had been married to Alrik had mellowed her. Or, was it the sense of duty she had gained through her bonding with Picard? In spite of himself, Picard could not help wonder what her life had been like; Alrik had said at the time that he was more interested in the treaty negotiations with Krios than their gift of Kamala as his bride. Would her life have been better if...? No, he had made his choice and accepted it. Although there were regrets in his life, Starfleet was not one of them.

"Bridge to Captain Picard."

"Yes Number One?"

"Sir, we're on final approach."

"Very well, I'm on my way." Picard rose from his desk and strode onto the bridge. His first officer, Commander William Riker, rose from the centre seat to allow his captain to sit, taking the chair to Picard's right. To Picard's left sat Commodore Carlos Hernandez who, like the dignitaries, was a passenger, but for a somewhat different reason.

"We are approaching our designated berth Captain," said Lt Commander Data.

"Very well. Lieutenant Perim, stand by umbilicals." The massive ship's forward momentum slowed as it eased up to the newly completed Sovereign's Berth, the name given to the four berth facility that had been built to accommodate the Sovereign class vessels, of which the Enterprise was one. As the ship came to a halt, tractor beams down the length of the berth activated and drew the ship closer in to allow the airlock to extend and attach to the access port, while at the same time allowing the Enterprise's mooring umbilicals to attach to the berth.

"Captain," said Data. "We are receiving a signal from the dockmaster."

"On screen." The screen changed to show the image of Hampton Orbital's dockmaster.

"Enterprise, allow me to welcome you as the first user of our brand new Sovereign's Berth. Welcome to Britannia."

Claire struggled to fasten the collar on her dress whites for the reception down on the planet. When Hernandez had told her, Faye and Lisa that they were expected to attend, they had all protested vehemently. But, Hernandez explained that their role here was part of the process for Britannia's admission into the Federation - besides, every off duty Starfleet officer in Hampton Orbital was expected to attend; not only was the Enterprise there, but the starship Columbia had just arrived, while the Eagle was getting ready to leave.

Having fastened her collar, Claire stalked to the transporter room to find Faye and Lisa waiting for her.

"What are you two still doing here?"

"Waiting for you. We thought a show of solidarity would probably be a good idea," said Lisa.

"Fair enough," replied Claire as they all entered the transporter room. They didn't have to say anything to the operator, who had beamed down several members of the ship's company to the same location.

That location was the entrance hall to the Royal Palace in Empire City. Faye, Claire and Lisa were met by a security man, who checked their passes before escorting them to the main reception room. They walked in to find it full of people, which was somewhat difficult for them to comprehend, since the room appeared to be as long as one of the Enterprise's warp nacelles and four times as wide. How anybody could find someone specific in the sea of faces was beyond all three of them - most appeared to be human, so they were probably Britannian mainly, but there were a smattering of Bajorans, which was one of the worlds applying to join the Federation, and a fair few women who were very tall and powerful; they were evidently representing another prospective member, Angel One. Then, Lisa saw that Hernandez was pushing his way through the crowd to meet them.

"You're just in time," he said as he drew up to the three of them. "The King is about to make an announcement." The room fell silent as a large bell rang out. A man rose to the top of a dais in the centre of the room and held his hand up to quiet the last smatterings of conversation.

"Honoured guests," said King David III. "Allow me to welcome you into my humble home. I would like to thank you for coming to what will hopefully be the start of a new period in history, not just for the people of Britannia, but also for our friends from the other prospective members of the Federation who are here." He looked at each in turn. "First Minister Shakaar of Bajor, Mistress Beata of Angel One, Prime Minister Nayrok of Angosia III, Chancellor Briam of Krios and Chancellor Alrik of Valt Minor. To all of you I say 'welcome'."

There was a round of applause as the King raised his glass in salute. He then held up his hand again for silence, and the applause died down. "I would also like to welcome President Jaresh-Inyo and the members of the Federation Council who are here." There was another round of applause. "As you may know," the King continued, "in preparation for our entry into the Federation, we have been expanding the Empire City navy yard at Hampton Orbital for use by vessels of the Starfleet. In conjunction with that expansion, we were given a contract for the construction of two new starships."

Screens activated all over the room to show an image of two of the dry-docks in the Empire City yard. Both were occupied; although one of the ships was little more than a spaceframe, it was evident that it would eventually become an Andromeda class starship. The other one though, also an Andromeda class vessel, appeared complete, with the image zooming in on its name, USS Orion. At that point the King spoke again.

"As you can see, the starship Orion is ready to begin space trials in preparation for us to hand her over to Starfleet. However, we hope that, in addition, you will accept a gift from the Britannian people." The image switched to that of more dry-docks, smaller this time. Two of them contained incomplete spaceframes under construction, this time of the Intrepid class. The other three contained complete Nova class science vessels. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the science vessels Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, Britannia's first contribution to the Federation's search for knowledge. In time, we will also present the starships Prince of Wales and Duke of York." The whispers and gasps from the assembly had grown until another round of applause broke out. It was at that point that Hernandez turned to Faye, Claire and Lisa.

"That's the reason you're here. Ladies, they're all yours.

Mr White looked across the main reception room to see Mr Black and Mr Brown in quiet conversation. While he didn't trust any of them, so far, Mr Big's plan was being followed by all of them. The three in the main reception room had somehow managed to be admitted to the Federation delegation and had travelled here aboard the Enterprise. The other two meanwhile had arrived at Hampton Orbital independently; their task was to scout out the security around their two objectives. But, although he hadn't seen that much of Britannia so far, he felt assured - the Britannians were arrogant enough to believe that no one could pull off what the five of them were attempting at Hampton Orbital. As for the other part of the plan; well, if one part came off, then the other would as well. It just made sense.

Claire stepped off the shuttlecraft and onto the deck of the Queen Mary. Although she wasn't sure if all ship captains felt the same when they first set foot aboard their new commands, she felt a sudden urge to take a deep breath and survey her surroundings. And they were her surroundings; for the duration of the ship's trials, which were expected to last four to five weeks, she was this ship's captain, just as Faye was aboard the Queen Alexandra and Lisa on the Queen Elizabeth.

"Captain Richards?" A young officer had walked up to her, interrupting her musings. She noted he bore the rank of Lieutenant (j.g.).

"Yes Lieutenant?"

"Sub-Lieutenant The Viscount Churchill sir. I've been appointed your first officer." This caused Claire to raise her eyebrow.

"Very well Mr Churchill." Claire gained a kind of perverse satisfaction as she saw the boy stiffen slightly as she put an emphasis on the 'Mister', instead of using his title. She began walking towards the line of officers standing by the shuttlebay door, making note of the fact that none of them looked much older than her XO.

"Allow me to introduce Sub-Lieutenant Gallagher, Chief Engineer." Claire shook hands with the tall, dark haired girl. "Sub-Lieutenant Brook, Chief of Security." Another dark haired girl, but shorter than Gallagher. "Dr Stevens, Chief Medical Officer." 'Is there anyone on this ship who isn't dark haired and female?' thought Claire as she shook the Doctor's hand. "Sub-Lieutenant Hurlington, science officer," finally someone of the male persuasion. "And finally, Chief Rutherford." Rutherford was an exception to the others - clearly an experienced NCO, as he seemed to have 20 years on everyone else in the shuttlebay, Claire included. However, he, like the others, looked at Claire expectantly, evidently waiting for her to say something memorable.

"I'll make it brief, as we all have plenty to do before we get under way. We're not an operational ship and crew, but I expect us to act like one. In the short time I'm with you all, I'll try my best to mould this ship into one Starfleet can be proud of. I want each of you to have your department's readiness report to me in one hour. Pre-launch countdown will commence in 20 minutes. We'll launch in three hours. Any questions?" There were none. "Very well, dismissed."

Faye stood on the bridge of the Queen Alexandra looking ready to explode into a fit; whether it was a fit of rage or a fit of sobbing remained to be seen. Although she had made her reluctance at being one of Hernandez's 'fast track captains' clear when they had first met, not least because of the abrupt way she had been forced to leave Risa, her career was important to her and doing this would give it a boost. So, she was determined to make the best of it. It had started well enough; she had disembarked the shuttle to be greeted by her first officer, Sub-Lieutenant Burke, who insisted that Faye call her Hannah. Burke was a friendly girl, younger than Faye and just graduated from the Portlake Naval Academy. It was the same with the rest of her officers; they were personable, if a little stiff, which was only to be expected when faced with a new captain. All of that was fine. The trouble only came when she got to the bridge. And it was mainly centred in the rather obese form of Sir Arlington Ramsgate.

"Ah, you must be Captain Tozer. Sir Arlington Ramsgate, project director of the Nova Batch 2 program. How do you do?" Faye shook his pudgy hand lightly.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Oh, you know, just came to see you off and all that. But, seeing as you're here, I wonder if I might have a word?" Faye was immediately suspicious. "As this project is the first step towards Britannia's entry into the Federation, I just want to make sure that we can rely on you will provide a favourable impression when it comes time to turn this ship over to Starfleet. After all, the whole quadrant is aware of Britannian reliability and quality when it comes to shipbuilding." Well, it seemed to Faye that he was asking her to be favourable when it came to assessing the ship, whether it deserved it or not. It was at this juncture that Faye decided rage would be the best way to go, but in a quiet, menacing fashion.

"What you can rely on is my foot hitting your fat behind on the way off my bridge. I don't appreciate civilians coming on to my ship and 'suggesting' what I should think." She turned to her Chief of Security. "Mr Bowles, please escort this 'gentleman' to the airlock and ensure he disembarks. If he tries to re-board the ship, arrest him." The tone in Faye's voice made it clear that any failure to obey would provoke serious consequences, so Bowles stepped forward and took the stunned Ramsgate by the arm, leading him to the turbolift. As the doors closed, Faye turned to Burke. "Signal the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth; warn them about him and make sure they don't let him aboard." As Burke set to her task, Faye sat in the captain's chair. Hopefully, this would leave nobody, either on her crew or otherwise, in doubt as to who was in command.

Lisa sat in the captain's chair on the bridge of the Queen Elizabeth feeling extremely pleased with herself. She had just completed her first inspection of the ship and found that it was a very well put together machine. She had also gone over the records of the 39 members of her crew. The officers were all newly qualified, but had graduated near the top of their classes at the Academy, which made sense - this project had significant prestige for the Britannians, who would not want sub-standard officers aboard. The crew were mainly trainees, which again Lisa had no problem with; everyone had to start learning sometime, and if this was the first generation of Britannians to serve in Starfleet, then learning on Starfleet equipment would do no harm at all. She herself had learned from the finest teacher, Captain Richter, and so could use all that he had taught her, and if there was a problem that all of their combined experience couldn't solve, she could always make it up as she went along. Starfleet captains were supposed to be good at improvising.

"Sub-Lieutenant Deeley, time's a wasting," she said to her first officer. "I think we should be on our way."

"Aye captain. Mr Roberts, seal the airlock and detach umbilicals." Along both sides of the ship, the umbilical pylons connecting it to the dry-dock's power supply detached, leaving the Queen Elizabeth running on internal power. On the bridge, Lisa rose from the captain's chair.

"Clear all moorings and engage thrusters," she said, approaching the conn station. "Hold station."

"Aye Captain, moorings cleared, thrusters at station keeping." The mooring lines connecting the ship to the dock retracted, with only the ship's manoeuvring thrusters keeping it in place.

"Thrusters ahead Mr Roberts," said Lisa as she sat back down. "Take us out." The Queen Elizabeth slowly began to inch its way forward out of the dry-dock and into open space. Lisa glanced at the command station monitor and noted that the Queen Alexandra and Queen Mary were just behind her own ship. "Steer course 41 mark 151, stand by impulse power." As the ship turned onto its departure course, the planet's smaller moon passed across the viewscreen. On close inspection, Lisa saw that set into its surface were two giant hangers. In each was contained what appeared to be an old Constitution class starship.

"They're being refurbished for the Nyberrite Alliance," said Deeley helpfully. "They used to be the Antares and Independence." Lisa nodded but said nothing. Instead she turned her attention to the helm. They had reached the edge of Hampton Orbital, where they could engage the impulse drive.

"Full impulse power," she ordered. The Queen Elizabeth jumped to fully 1/4 of the speed of light and sped away from the Orbital.

"We have cleared the planet's influence and are clear for warp speed," said Roberts.

"Set course for the Draylon system, warp 4."

"Ready captain." Lisa sat back in the captain's chair.

"Engage."