Bridge - Deck 1

The Commodore nodded his acknowledgement as he replied to the Chief Operations Officer at the Ops Station that was over his left shoulder, at the rear of the Bridge.

Como Carpathia: Excellent, William! Let me know as soon as they respond.

Looking towards his XO, E.J. still noticed how antsy Cmdr Delgado was regarding him not being at the Flight Control Station.

Como Carpathia: Don't worry, Alé. Joey is an accomplished pilot, after all, you trained him. We'll be fine, you'll see.

The CO smiled at his XO in hopes that his words would get Aléjandro to relax, after all, there was so much more to worry about regarding what was going down on New Bajor. E.J. still saw the faces of those young children contorted in expressions of pain and horror as their bodies were adhered to the walls of the energy storage containers. Imagery like that was not something the Commodore would ever let go of. It was positively horrid and they were going to do all they could to make sure it didn't happen to anyone else on New Bajor.
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Commodore E.J. Carpathia
Commanding Officer, USS Infiniti
Division 1 Commander, Gamma Fleet

Aléjandro thought about what Como Carpathia said about Joey knowing what he was doing, and realized the Commander had nothing to worry about. It was just that this was the first time Infiniti was on the move and Cmdr Delgado was not at the Flight Control Station. The situation wouldn't be impossible to adjust to, it was just going to take some time.

Cmdr Delgado: I understand, Commodore. I really do. It's just that since Infiniti was first launched, I've been the Chief Flight Control Officer. I know Joey is a good pilot and I don't anticipate any problems. I didn't mean to interrupt your focus on the mission at hand, Sir.

The XO watched their progress to New Bajor on the Center Console between Como Carpathia and himself, occasionally looking around the Bridge at the other officers at their stations. Aléjandro could see the tension on the Bridge was really thick and all they saw was a few images on their PADDs the XO showed them before the Commodore came aboard. It was obvious they were all concerned about the families living in the New Rakantha colony and in retrospect it made Cmdr Delgado's worries look insignificant.
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Commander Aléjandro M. Delgado
Executive Officer, USS Infiniti

As William continued to monitor all systems as they were moving at Warp 9.99, he saw there was a message received from Oriskany on the Communications Panel. Opening the text transmission, LtCmdr Trylon saw that the Sovereign Class vessel was on their way and also moving at Warp 9.99! Judging by their speed and position, Oriskany was just 11 minutes behind Explorer and Infiniti on their arrival to New Bajor.

Lt. Commander Trylon: Commodore, we've just received a message from Oriskany! They're moving at Warp 9.99 as well and are eleven minutes behind our arrival time at New Bajor! No update from Sutherland at this time, Sir.

The Chief Operations Officer maintained his monitoring of all the ship's systems as well as keeping an eye on the Communications Panel and his ears open for any orders coming his way from either Como Carpathia or Cmdr Delgado. William figured Sutherland hadn't launched yet due to their Warp Core being cold and needed the full startup procedure to take place. Intermixing the Matter/Anti-Matter flow was a delicate process that should never be rushed, however there were a few times in history that Chief Engineers have pulled off a cold-restart with a controlled Matter/Anti-Matter implosion in balanced engines, which was first completed by LtCmdr Montgomery Scott of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701, with the assistance of LtCmdr Spock, the Vulcan Science Officer aboard the Constitution Class vessel at the time. There had been a lot of Engineering achievements in the past 132 years since that first took place aboard the Enterprise, so William wondered if Adm Arayuss was going to order LtCmdr Ellis to attempt the same thing as Mr. Scott and Mr. Spock was able to achieve back in 2266.
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Lt. Commander William T. Trylon, III
Chief Operations Officer, USS Infiniti

E.J. was pleased to hear that Oriskany was on their way to New Bajor and only running 11 minutes behind Explorer and Infiniti. What concerned the Commodore was getting no word from Sutherland as of yet. Como Carpathia really hoped the Nebula Class vessel would be joining them to rendezvous with Whitestar. The capacity for evacuees in a ship the size of Sutherland was the greatest in the fleet, so it was desperately needed.

Como Carpathia: Thank you, William. As soon as we hear something from Sutherland, let me know right away. By the way, has Whitestar ever acknowledged our message to them yet?

The Division 1 Commander wondered why they hadn't received an acknowledgement from Capt Daqtorgh's ship. The Commodore hoped nothing went wrong and they were under an assault by whatever attacked the colony! E.J. was wondering if he should bring Infiniti to RED ALERT in anticipation of arriving amidst a battle!
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Commodore E.J. Carpathia
Commanding Officer, USS Infiniti
Division 1 Commander, Gamma Fleet

William was utterly embarrassed when he heard the Commodore ask if Whitestar had acknowledged their message. The Akira Class vessel did indeed send an acknowledgement, LtCmdr Trylon just accidentally overlooked it when he saw that Oriskany sent their message.

Lt. Commander Trylon: I'm sorry, Commodore! Whitestar did acknowledge right before the message from Oriskany came in. I was so excited to tell you about them being on their way, that I forgot to mention Whitestar's acknowledgement. Would you like me to acknowledge Oriskany's message for you?

The Chief Operations Officer was still flustered with embarrassment as he got an acknowledgement ready to send to Oriskany when Como Carpathia gave the word. Getting the Commodore so concerned over not receiving the message back from Whitestar really made William feel really incompetent. Perhaps LtCmdr Trylon was losing his edge and it was time for him to retire?
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Lt. Commander William T. Trylon, III
Chief Operations Officer, USS Infiniti

The Commodore was relieved there was no need to put Infiniti on RED ALERT when he heard from LtCmdr Trylon that Whitestar had acknowledged the message sent to them. This was a tremendous relief to Como Carpathia and he understood why William overlooked the return message from Whitestar.

Como Carpathia: Don't worry about it William, it's fine. We've all may errors in our lives that embarrassed us. Go ahead and acknowledge Oriskany's message to us.

With Explorer and Infiniti rapidly approaching the system New Bajor was in, the Commodore wanted to know if they absolutely had to use Impulse power once they got to the system or could they drop out of Warp once they came close to New Bajor.

Como Carpathia: Joey, do we have a clear flight path to make it straight to New Bajor so we can drop out of Warp within the system? Or are we going to have to use Impulse once we're just outside of it?

The Division 1 Commander waited to hear a response from Lt. Florenté on whether they could Warp into the system or if they were going to drop out of it so they could use the Impulse Engines and get to New Bajor that way. There wasn't much time left to go before they reached the system, E.J. figured their ETA was roughly 9 minutes if they were able to Warp straight to the colony.
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Commodore E.J. Carpathia
Commanding Officer, USS Infiniti
Division 1 Commander, Gamma Fleet

William went ahead and sent the return message back to Oriskany that their message was received by Infiniti. Since LtCmdr Trylon had the message already set to go, it took no time at all to send it off.

Lt. Commander Trylon: Response sent to Oriskany, Sir! Thank you for your understanding, Commodore.

The Chief Operations Officer was happy to hear the Commodore's response to his error regarding the overlooking of the acknowledgement from Whitestar. But retiring was still on LtCmdr Trylon's mind. William had a long career in Starfleet and he was feeling that a younger officer could do a better job at the Ops Station than he was doing. Sometimes a fresh, young mind is more efficient at a position than an aging one with too much experience.
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Lt. Commander William T. Trylon, III
Chief Operations Officer, USS Infiniti

The Lieutenant checked the NAV-COM for a clear flight path to New Bajor and found one that would make it possible for them to drop out of Warp around 250,000 kilometers from the planet itself. Using full Impulse power after dropping out of Warp would bring them in orbit above New Rakantha within 1 minute. Joey reported this to the Commodore immediately.

Lt. Florenté: Commodore, I found us a clear path to New Bajor where we can drop out of Warp which will bring us within two hundred and fifty thousand kilometers of the planet. We can use the Impulse Engines to bring us in an orbit above New Rakantha within one minute. Just waiting on you to give the word for me to alter our course, Sir.

The Chief Flight Control Officer readied himself to alter the course of Infiniti so it could bypass the outer planets and the asteroid field, once Como Carpathia gave the word. It wouldn't take much effort to change their course, even at Warp 9.99! With the colony being 9 minutes away, they should be able to hail Whitestar directly with a visual communication very soon.
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Lieutenant Joseph J. Florenté
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Infiniti

E.J. was thrilled to hear they were going to be able to drop out of Warp within the system, so close to New Bajor. The Commodore gave praise to Lt. Florenté for making it possible for Explorer and Infiniti to arrive even sooner by not having to maneuver through the system at full Impulse power.

Como Carpathia: Thank you so much, Joey! You're doing a great job...and...the word is given! Take us to New Bajor!

The CO waited for the course to be altered by Lt. Florenté so they could swoop into the system at Warp Speed! In a few moments they would be in range of direct visual communications with Whitestar. E.J. felt they should let Capt Daqtorgh know Explorer and Infiniti were Warping to the planet and not to be alarmed when 2 ships drop out of Warp so close to Whitestar's position.
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Commodore E.J. Carpathia
Commanding Officer, USS Infiniti
Division 1 Commander, Gamma Fleet

The Lieutenant altered the course of Infiniti so it could continue at Warp 9.99 into the system where New Bajor was located.

Lt. Florenté: You're welcome, Commodore! Course to New Bajor has been altered so we can remain at Warp while entering the system! Our ETA is eight minutes, Sir!

As they rapidly approached the system and began to enter, Joey could see that Infiniti was being hailed by Whitestar. The Lieutenant knew LtCmdr Trylon would be informing Como Carpathia of Capt Daqtorgh hailing Infiniti, so there was no reason for the Chief Flight Control Officer to do the informing.
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Lieutenant Joseph J. Florenté
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Infiniti