Star Trek Expanded Universe
Advertisement

Aboard the starship Nimitz, a young lieutenant takes command with the support of her peers.

Memorable Quotes[]

"Fix the plasma leak first and try to get warp engines back online. I don't want to be stranded out here. And unless anyone made it off the bridge, it looks like I'm in charge. Report all updates to me until further notice."
Andrea Riffin takes charge of Nimitz
"I'm Captain Patrick Ingrum, USS Baldwin. What seems to be the problem here."
"We're venting plasma heavily. Our warp drive is shot."
"I think we could figure that out looking out our windows. We brought the necessary equipment to fix the plasma leaks."
Patrick Ingrum and Andrea Riffin, discussing battle damage
"Hey Patrick – or should I say 'sir'."
"For you Katy, Patrick is fine. How have you been,"
"Well, you know: shoot a few Jem'Hadar, try to repair the damage, shoot some more. Our last foray got us in a major ambush. I think most of the other ships in our fleet were either destroyed or managed to retreat. We probably would have been toast as well if our ship weren't as sturdy."
"We've been on a few excursions against the Dominion as well. We just caught them trying to disrupt a 20th century football game."
"How did you do?"
"We shut them out."
Katy Cassoday and Patrick Ingrum, talking about battle action.
"Basically, Reinette, it's down to this: When it's absolutely time to step up, not everyone answers the call. Not only does Andrea Riffin have the capability to stand up and take command, but she has a crew that accepts her leadership."
"Kinda like you and Baldwin, or Jenna and Ottawa."
"Yeah, but in those cases, we had the semi-luxury of hand-picking our crew. Andrea has a crew that she can work with essentially picked out for her."
"You're right, Rich. If you think she has the capability of taking command, you should recommend her to Starfleet."
Patrick Ingrum and Reinette Hernandez, about making Nimitz Andrea's ship.
"How's your first week of command?"
"It's going all right. I've heard that sometimes when a new captain takes over a ship with most of her crew intact, the new captain occasionally receives a little resentment. I'm a little surprised that hasn't happened."
"I know what you're talking about. I noticed that when you took charge, the crew accepted your leadership. In fact, Katy thought you would be good in command — she had you picked out as a first officer, though."
"She told me that. I thought, what the heck — she was the next one behind me, I put her in that first officer's chair."
Patrick Ingrum and Andrea Riffin

References[]

Cassoday, Katy; Curtis, Lindsay; DeSoto, Robert Ingrum, Patrick; multi-vector assult mode; USS Nimitz; USS Ottawa; Riffin, Andrea

Background[]

  • From Baldwin's perspective, the first act of this story occurs immediately after the events of Time's Eagle
  • The Dominion invasion of Betazed from DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight" is mentioned.
  • The USS Nimitz and her crew are introduced.
  • This is the last story in USS Baldwin's first "season"

Links[]

Captain's View Full text of the story, on the author's website.

Advertisement