Captain Carnis was intrigued, he had been brought to his destination under the greatest secrecy. According to every official record, he had been reassigned to Starfleet Command, to help assist with the decisions of the war they now found themselves in. He himself had believed so at first, and had protested wildly, maintaining that he would be much more useful as a ships Captain. He had continued to protest until his mentor, Admiral Ark'Vor had contacted him telling him to trust the orders. He had still been fuming when he had been picked up by a shuttle a few hours ago. He had been so angry that he didn't even think to question why they had sent a Shuttle to ferry him back to Earth. But now that they dropped out of warp much too soon for Earth, he was intrigued. He stood up and looked out of the front viewport, "Utopia Planetia?"
"Yes sir." The pilot responded.
"I thought the war effort was being co-ordinated from Earth."
"Yes Sir, I believe it is."
"Then why am I here? I was supposed to be taken to Earth."
"Sir, our orders were to bring you to Utopia Planetia, presumably there is a vessel here that will take you to Earth."
"Presumably, hail them, tell them we've arrived."
"Aye Sir." The pilot tapped at his console and before long said, "Utopia Planetia Operations, this is Shuttlecraft 18 returning with our passenger, requesting further orders."
"Shuttlecraft 18, please dock in bay 12 and report to Ops. All of you."
"Yes Sir, docking bay 12, all report to Ops." The comms cut out and the Pilot quickly maneuvered the shuttle into the docking bay. Carnis had the sudden thought that the young Lt. would make a fine starship pilot someday.
"A nice landing Lieutenant."
"Thank you Sir, but it was just routine."
"Routine maybe, but I've had a LOT worse in my time, you'll make a fine pilot someday."
"If you say so Sir."
"I do say so, but come, we must report to Operations. I wonder what all this is about . . ."
When they exited the shuttle, they found two members of security holding the turbolift for them, to the annoyance of several civilians and some other Starfleet Officers. When they entered, the security men stepped in with them before Carnis could say Operations.
After a few moments, the turbolift stopped and they exited onto the bridge. There he saw someone he hadn't expected. "Admiral Ark'Vor! It's been too long Sir."
"That it has James, that it has. Still, we must waste no time, I have your new orders."
"New orders Sir? I thought I was supposed to be on my way to Earth."
"A ploy Carnis, in case anyone has been intercepting any of our transmissions. These are your actual orders."
"Why all the secrecy then? Surely they can't be anything dangerous."
"You have no idea Carnis, but I shall enlighten you soon, clear the deck please, transfer to the Auxiliary Operations room, I shall call you back when I'm done."
The room rapidly emptied, and shortly after the systems powered down as control was transferred to the auxiliary room. "Here is the situation Captain, we're losing ships, and we're losing crew. We're losing systems, we're losing spies, we're losing the war. The Romulans must have been planning this for some time."
He paused for a moment, tapping commands into the Library computer console, "As such, we have been constructing another prototype vessel of the Prometheus class."
"I'm not familiar with that class."
"No, you have no reason to have been told of it. The first prototype was the U.S.S. Voyager, under the command of Captain Janeway. It was lost with all hands during a mission, it is not believed to have been any fault of the vessels. Until now, however, the admiralty didn't let us construct another. That situation has changed, and we have been given leave to create another prototype Prometheus class vessel. If it proves to be a valuable addition to the fleet, it will be but the first. You have been chosen to command the vessel known as the U.S.S. Pandora."
"Admiral, it is an honour, but surely there are better candidates out there for this."
"Not so Captain, this vessel has a unique aspect to it. I believe you are familiar with the Galaxy class?"
"Yes sir, I have served on them."
"Then you will know about the saucer separation capability. That was mainly to be used as a safety mechanism for protecting part of the ship and crew, though it proved itself in battle on numerous occasions. The Prometheus class was designed to take advantage of the tactical benefits of ship separation." He tapped more commands into the computer and several schematic images of the Prometheus class came up on the viewscreen.
"You will notice the four nacelles, something that we have on some of our ship classes. The hull of the ship can split into three sections, the upper section comprises of the majority of the saucer, and has nacelles built into the hull to power it at warp. The lower section comprises of the bottom of the saucer and the lower two nacelles, whilst the middle is the rest of the saucer and the upper pylons. Each section has its own battle bridge, power supply, warp capacity, and facilities to act as a starship in its own right. We call the idea Multi-Vectored Assault Mode, MVAM for short, it is designed to give the ship an edge in combat. The ability to split and effectively become three ships is the reason it has been approved for retesting, it would be an invaluable asset for sending to system distress calls, able to take on a Warbird easily, or to fight several birds of prey, whatever the Romulans throw at it, it should be able to cope with."
There was another pause before the Admiral turned from surveying the viewscreen, "This is why you were chosen, commanding a single crew over three separate vessels is a task that few are cut out for, to be able to use those three vessels in co-ordination with each other in a tactical situation. That is what you were chosen for, we believe you are the best Captain for this vessel, prove us right."
"Yes sir!" James took a step forward, taking a closer look at the pictures of the class, it looked magnificent, he ran an eye down the specifications list and noticed it was armed with the newest weapons in Starfleet's arsenal. "What about a crew?"
"They are being assembled as we speak, they are being told that they're being reassigned to a newly constructed vessel, but nothing more."
James nodded, "When are we due to ship out for the shakedown?"
"Within the week, we're running the usual shakedown, followed by a debrief before you get sent out on the real thing."
"And these two?" He asked, gesturing to the other two Officers in the room.
"Section 31 Operatives, they will be accompanying the ship for security reasons, and in case you need them for any reason. To the rest of your crew, they are to be advisors in your testing of this prototype ship."
"Section 31? I don't like this."
"Nor does anyone who works with them, but they get the job done. The importance of this vessel is vast, we cannot allow the Romulans to get hold of any information about it."
"I understand, they shall be accommodated. Though I can't guarantee any more than that."
"We're used to it Captain, and let me tell you, we dislike working with those outside of our Section just as much as you dislike working with us."
"That makes me feel even better." Carnis replied sarcastically. "When can we expect the first of the crew to arrive Admiral?"
"We have a reasonable number here already, but they have been kept in the dark until you have seen the ship yourself, then we shall introduce the crewmembers to it. The relevant files for the ship and crew have been added to your security clearance, feel free to access them whenever you like."
"Thank you Admiral, until we meet again."
"Indeed. Live long and prosper Carnis." The Vulcan said, dismissing them.
"Live long and prosper Admiral." He said before striding back into the turbolift.
Returning to the shuttle they had arrived on, the men from Section 31 sat up in the cockpit again, whilst Carnis stood behind them, waiting for the first view of his new ship. It didn't take long, in the distance he saw a separate drydock, surrounded by several lights, among the lights were other vessels. He couldn't make out the classes from this distance, but he realised that those lights were probably turrets. Such defences for a new ship? They must be pouring everything into this effort, such cost, surely there could be no risk here, at the Fleet's main shipyards?
"What haven't they told me?" He asked the Section 31 Operatives, he didn't expect an answer, but maybe they would leave a hint.
"Sir?"
"Why is there such protection around the Pandora? Do they fear an attack?"
"Surely not sir. The Romulans couldn't be in striking distance."
"Too programmed Lieutenant, you know something."
"Need to know Captain, our hands are tied."
"How long have they been stationed here? Surely you can tell me that."
"A few days, we shipped in with them."
"And the ship has been under construction for just over a year. Why now? Why at the completion if there were no risk."
"Captain Carnis, do not think too hard on it, if you need to know, we will tell you, if you don't, concentrate on getting this ship working and in the field. Starfleet needs it to work, too much has been put at stake."
"I know my job Lieutenant, maybe you should stick to yours. If I think I need to know, I will find out."
"I have no doubt Captain, when we let you know."
"I'd heard about you lot, do not interfere with the running of my ship and I will tolerate your presence on it, you may even find yourselves becoming useful. Offer advice if you think it worthy, but don't waste my time, particularly not at inopportune moments. You guys aren't used to the way ships run I hear."
"We know our orders." Came a venomous reply from the one who was clearly in charge of the mission.
"Whatever." They were getting close now and Carnis wanted to pay close attention to the ship. It was a work of beauty, even more so than a Galaxy class, and to think that it had so much power hidden inside. He wondered what his crew would be like.