ST:END201 | "Swings and Roundabouts Part 1"

Amy stood on the bridge and stared, wide-eyed, at the viewscreen in front of her; a starship warping into the nearby space and then moving towards the drydock. As it turned, saw the light from the sun reflect off the long nacelles, with the starship's name emblazoned on them. It was not as if she actually needed to read what was written; she could spot that ship's profile from anywhere.

The first time seeing the Endeavour out of drydock, she was watching her return to drydock.

"What have they done with my ship?" she muttered quietly.

"Oh hey, the Endeavour's here!" Ashley turned to look at the viewscreen.

"Did you know about this Ensign?" Amy asked the intel officer, who looked away, slightly ashamed.

"No, Commander..."

Amy closed her eyes very briefly. Clearly, this crew needed a lot more work. "Ensign Greene, put us on a course alongside the Endeavour. Miss Runad, hail them,"

"Yes ma'am," the pair chorused and Amy took her seat, mainly to stop her legs from shaking and betraying her feelings of seeing the Endeavour again. Four years ago, she had been part of the team that helped to create the ship, before having their hopes dashed as the ship was drydocked following her maiden voyage. Amy wasn't even given the chance to find out why the ship had been drydocked, as she was assigned a new project, and then reassigned completely. She had felt a mixture of guilty anger and frustration when she heard that the ship had been fixed and deployed. The only project that she had failed to complete successfully had been given over to someone else, and it pained her that she had this failure on her mind. Try as she might, she could never wipe the stain on her record away, a blot of oil that would never come off, no matter how hard she tried.

And then the offer came, of a First Officer position on the Endeavour. She had been at a crossroads, stuck between her dream job of working as a Chief Engineer on a starship, or joining the ship that she had failed on. It must have been madness that compelled her to accept the offer. Packing her bags and turning her back on a job she had hoped she would have stayed a while at, she arrived at DS13 with trepidation. Events did not ease her fears.

She was immediately told that the Endeavour was out on an extended patrol, and she would have to wait for the ship's Aquarius escort, the USS Bark, to return with a crew rotation. As she waited for the Bark to arrive, she immersed herself in knowing this new fleet inside out, so that she could start her job as First Officer well. A job she had no preparation for. A job that she had no idea what to even do. Then the Bark arrived, and she was told that the ship would depart in a week. It was okay, she could wait a week. She tentatively took her position on the Bark, and managed the day to day activities. It wasn't much, but it helped to settle her nerves somewhat.

And now this.

Less than 24 hours before they were scheduled to depart, the Endeavour turns up at DS13 with no prior warning and heads towards drydock. Amy wasn't able to spot any damage from her viewpoint, but she did not like what her gut was telling her. Her gut was proven correct as the Bark manoeuvred towards the larger ship and Amy was able to catch a glance of the back of the ship in full. One of the docking pylons for the Bark was missing, the other looked badly damaged. The hull around the back had also buckled, creating an uneven shape, as if something that exploded from the inside.

"Commander, the Endeavour is on the line,"

Amy swallowed. "Put it..." she stopped, her voice was clearly shaking. Taking a small breath, she tried again. "Put it onscreen,"

The viewscreen changed from the back of the ship to the bridge. The man sitting in the centre wore four pips on his collar.

"Captain Bishop?"

Sam narrowed his eyes briefly. "Speaking... who are you?"

Amy stood. "Commander Samaras reporting sir,"

Sam's face softened in realisation. "Commander... I should have expected you on the Bark,"

"Yes, sir. It is a surprise to see you here with the Endeavour... we did not expect this,"

Sam raised his eyebrows and shot a look at someone offscreen. "You did not? I had expected you to be informed,"

Amy looked at Ashley again, who was seemingly very busy. "We were not,"

"Very well. The Endeavour has suffered some critical damage to Deck 20, including her docking bay for the USS Bark. I have placed a request for the ship to be fixed quickly so that she may rejoin Task Force Raven. We've been given priority clearance for repairs, and we will be receiving a full timeframe this evening,"

"Understood sir,"

"Once the ship is in drydock, I will meet you onboard the Bark to give you a full briefing. In the meantime, I want you to prepare the Bark for immediate deployment; if the Endeavour's repairs take more than a week, we will rejoin the Task Force in the Bark,"

Amy did not like his precaution... it meant that the damage to the Endeavour was worse than what she could see. "Yes sir,"

"Very well, Bishop out... oh, and welcome to the Endeavour, Commander,"

Amy closed her eyes briefly as the viewscreen blacked out. "Ensign Greene... take us back towards DS13. Lieutenant Sh'zeliss, prepare all hands for disembarkment. You have the bridge, I shall be in the ready room,"

Amy left the bridge and waited for the door to close behind her before slumping to the ground and taking a deep breath. She hoped that her entire posting here would not remain like this.