Title: "Surprises" (Part 1 of 2)
Author: Lt. Commander K'Lara
Stardate: 2459888
Earthdate: November 20, 2359
Location: USS Virgo

Lt. Commander K'Lara sat on her couch sipping a glass of wine. A smile crossed her lips as she remembered the promotion she was given. It was also a funeral. A funeral for the many officers that were killed.

Another smile crossed her face as she remembered the look on Lataro's face when he was given his promotion and his new position. It was both a festive and solemn occasion.

K'Lara took another sip of her wine and sighed. She wanted to celebrate with Lataro, but he was needed on the bridge. She had just gotten off her shift. Another sigh escaped her as she wondered if they would be seeing each other again, besides in passing.

*There's always days off,* K'Lara thought with a smile.

That smile grew as she thought of several ways to make their days off memorable.

Suddenly, K'Lara felt a sharp of pain in her stomachs. She dropped her glass as she clutched her mid-section. She slowly stood and stumbled into the bathroom where she threw up in the toilet.

After several moments, K'Lara washed her face and sat on the floor. She thought back to the last couple times she had thrown up. She remembered the steak she had replicated a few weeks ago. She had thought that it was just a bad piece of meat. Now she was not so sure.

She slowly stood and made her way to Sickbay.
_________________________________

Lt. Nori was working on some tests when she heard the doors to Sickbay open. She looked up to see K'Lara stagger into the room. She hurried over to the half-Klingon and helped her to a biobed.

"What happened?" Nori asked as she grabbed a tricorder and scanned K'Lara.

"I threw up."

Nori stared at her tricorder strangely. She then went into her office and turned on a terminal.

"What is it?" K'Lara asked.

Lt. Nori was too busy to answer. After a moment, the doctor came back to the biobed. She took a deep calming breath and said, "It appears that I forgot to log in a certain condition when I took some tests a couple days ago. I must have over-looked it and didn't record it."

K'Lara stared at the doctor confused, "What is it?"

"You, Commander, are pregnant."

K'Lara's eyes opened wide at the announcement. She blinked a couple times before she found her voice, "How long?"

Nori looked at her tricorder and tapped a few buttons. She then answered, "According to this, you are five weeks along. It would be a good idea to tell him."

K'Lara blushed and turned away. Was there anyone that did not know about her relationship with Commander Lataro. She wasn't sure if she could tell him. What would his reaction be? How could she tell him?

"Is there anything else?" K'Lara asked not looking at the doctor.

Nori smiled, "You can go now, but I want to see you back here for your prenatal exams."

K'Lara rolled her eyes at that. She was almost a regular to Sickbay. This would make it official. She slowly got off the biobed and looked at Nori.

"All right. When do you want to see me?"

"Next week at O900. Not a minute later. See you then."

K'Lara nodded and left Sickbay. She had several things on her mind. One of which was how to tell Lataro. More importantly, what his reaction would be. She suddenly wished she had a crystal ball.
 

Title: "Surprises" (Part 2 of 2)
Author: Lt. Commander K'Lara
Stardate: 2459890
Earthdate: November 21, 2359
Location: USS Virgo

K'Lara paced the main area of her quarters several times as she waited for Lataro to show. She had left a message for him at his terminal on the bridge asking to see him at his earliest convenience. He wrote
back saying that he could see her the next day. Now, she paced nervously in her quarters.

*Relax. I'm sure it won't be that bad,* K'Lara thought as she made another round of pacing. She always paced when she was nervous. Others paced when they were bored or angry, but not her. She fought when she
was angry or did something when she was bored. She thought it would calm her, but all it did was build.

*What is taking so long?* She didn't think she could take much more of this before she would scream.

She jumped when she heard the doorbell chime. She took a deep calming breath and said, "Enter."

The door slid open and Commander Lataro entered the room. They stared at each other for a few moments before they met each other in a bone-crushing hug.

"I missed you," Lataro whispered in her ear.

K'Lara laughed, "It has only been a day, Jon."

"To me it was a week."

K'Lara laughed harder. Only Lataro could make her laugh at the small things.

The two separated and stared at each other longingly. Finally, Lataro sat on the couch and K'Lara sat beside him.

"So what was it you wanted to see me about?"

K'Lara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe if she took the long way, she would be calm enough to say it.

"I've been having stomach pains and nausea for the last couple weeks. I finally went to see Lt. Nori yesterday after I had another episode."

Lataro looked at her with a concerned expression on his face. "Why haven't you told me about this or went to see the doctor sooner?"

K'Lara took another deep breath, "I thought it was what I've been eating. I tried to cut down, but nothing helped. Also, I've been too busy lately to bother."

"What did she say?" Lataro asked, sitting back into the couch. He could almost guess where this was going.

"I'm five weeks pregnant."

Lataro stared at her, his mouth open in shock. K'Lara almost wanted to laugh at his expression, but this was serious. It wouldn't do any good to laugh.

"There wasn't any record of it in your files."

K'Lara stared at him. Why would he go through her files? She let it go as she answered him. "She forgot to when she took those tests. I don't see how one would forget to log something that important."

"She had other tests to do, K'Lara," Lataro answered. "She had the whole male population of this ship to look over and see if there were any side-effects to what had happened."

K'Lara nodded. They've had some adventures during this mission to the Gamma Quadrant. She was more than sure there would be more.

"So what do you want to do about this, Jon?"

Lataro looked at her, his face serious, "I think we should let the captain know first. You might be stuck at the helm for the rest of the trip. No rough stuff."

K'Lara stared at him, surprised, "No rough stuff?!"

Lataro smiled, "That's right. No away missions for you."

K'Lara's eyes flashed and Lataro broke out in laughter. He knew just what buttons to push and he knew how much he could get away with. This was one of those moments and he was going to enjoy it.

"I'll show you an away mission!"

K'Lara pounced on Lataro and soon the two were a heap of laughing bodies.
 

Title: "One Down, One to Go"
Author: Lt. Garek Loran
Stardate: 2459918
Earthdate: December 1, 1999
Location: USS Virgo

Lt. Commander K'Lara kneeled next to an assembled warp nacelle. It was 20 feet long at this point. This would put the rest of the fighter at about being 40 to 60 feet long as far as K'Lara could figure. "Are you positive that the warp pylons will be able to hold this type of weight?" K'Lara looked over at the unfinished hull of the fighter.
Lieutenant Loran was on a crawler underneath the hull, doing some microwelding.

The two had worked side by side for the past few months putting the Lambda Flier together. K'Lara worked diligently to assemble this fighter. Garek was even coming to the point where he thought that the Flier was more K'Lara's then his. Rightfully it would be.

Garek was called away to fix *Virgo*'s fusion reactor. That occupied most of his time. That and working on Captain Maruu's special program for Lt. Valdago. To him, it wasn't work, it was pastime. That, and baseball.

Garek removed his face shield and slid out from underneath the hull of the fighter. "Yes, K'Lara?" Garek asked. "I didn't quite hear you."

"I wanted to know if the Lambda Flier's hull will be able to support these unorthodox warp nacelles."

"I'm not worried about the warp nacelles, I'm worried about the color scheme for the flier." Garek took the helmet off and slung it under his arm. He rose, and walked over to talk to K'Lara.

"I'm glad you know where your priorities are." K'Lara grinned slightly.

Garek didn't make a habit of using his Betazoid power to read other people's thoughts or emotions, but what K'Lara was thinking was definitely clear. ~He should get his priorities straight. I'm worried about a structural collapse, and he is contemplating on the thing's paint job.~

His emotion changed quickly. However, he kept his mouth shut. He didn't like starting fights, and didn't want to start one with a senior officer.

"Anyways, I have to go meet Commander Lataro for lunch. I'll leave you to work for awhile." K'Lara looked at Garek for a response. He was staring off into space, thinking. "Lieutenant? LIEUTENANT?"

"Oh, yes. I'll continue working. I have nothing else to do."

"Alright then. I'll be back later this afternoon."

"Yes, Ma'am." Garek nodded, then put the face shield back on and went to work.
_______________________________________

Ensign Thomas Galen sat in the Chief Engineer's Office. He and Ensign Ek'Ra had been assigned as Chief Engineers until Loran returned from his project. Both Thomas and Torias worked out a work schedule with
each other. Galen worked the morning/day shift, and Ek'Ra worked the evening/night shift. Garek Loran had told them that they could contact him at any time, but only when it was

Galen grabbed a PADD, and stepped out of the office. "ALPHA TEAM OVER HERE!" he yelled out. Slowly but surely, a small crowd had assembled in the main workstation area. (NRPG: I am referring to the Engineering
layout in the Star Trek Info page.) When all of his team was assembled, he began to address them.

"Alpha Team. As you know Lt. Loran has been assigned to making the *Virgo* a new shuttle. So, Ensign Ek'Ra and myself have been put in charge. I'm not sure about Ek'Ra, but I know they made the right choice with me."

Galen was in charge of the Alpha team. Usually made up of the best engineers on the ship. Ek'Ra was in charge of Beta team. The second best team and Alpha's back up and support when there was a major
problem onboard. Both these teams were also in competition with each other. Not just at work, but they were also known to play team sports on the holodeck with each other. This ranged from tournaments of Bajoran springball, to baseball, to flag football.

"Since Lt. Loran is in the shuttle bay working on this shuttle, I want to make sure that we do our best to make up for him not being here. That means I want everyone to give 110%. If you don't, that strange sensation you'll feel in the seat of your pants will be my boot in your backside!"

The group roared in laughter from the Ensign's statement. "Seriously, though, I do want to make sure that this ship stays in tip-top condition. So, let's get to work. Here's the duty assignments..."
_______________________________________

Lt. Valdago entered the bridge from the turbolift. Lt. M'Terrn was sitting at the science station. He was having a conversation with Lt. Tara. The two became silent as Valdago stepped onto the bridge.

"What?" Valdago asked, looking at the two.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Tara replied.

"You weren't talking about me, were you?" Valdago looked over at M'Terrn.

"Of course not. It was this really good joke about the Commander, but we didn't want to carry it on if he walks in." M'Terrn returned his attention to his panel.

"So I see." Valdago walked forward. "Is the captain in his Ready Room?"

"Yes, he is. He sounded rather busy though. He said that he didn't want to be disturbed unless it was absolutely important."

"Well, it's from Lt. Loran, so I assume it's rather important." Valdago walked over to the Captain's Ready Room door, and pressed the door chime.
_______________________________________

Captain Maruu sat on the couch on the upper level of the Captain's Ready Room. (NRPG: I'm assuming that the Captain's Ready Room is that of the one posted on the Star Trek Info page.)

The door chimed, and Maruu stood up. He stretched out a little, and replicated himself of cup of coffee.

"Enter," Maruu commanded. He walked down the set of stairs towards the Ready Room door to greet his arrival.

Valdago entered, carrying a PADD. "Lt. Loran wanted me to give this to you. He said that it is very important."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Maruu replied, taking the PADD. He held it up and began to read from it. Maruu held the cup of coffee up to his lips to take a sip when he stopped. He slowly put the cup of coffee down his desk and reached up to touch his communications badge. "Captain Maruu to Commander Lataro. Come in."
_______________________________________

Lataro was in the Mess Hall having lunch with K'Lara. K'Lara and Lataro were laughing at a joke that Lataro had told when he received the captain's message. He tapped his badge. "Lataro here, Captain."

[Commander Lataro. Lieutenant Loran has requested that we report to Cargo Bay Two immediately. I'll meet you there. Maruu out.]

"Aye, Sir." Lataro looked at K'Lara. She replied with a bewildered look. "I'm sorry to cut our lunch short. I'll be back shortly."

"I'll be waiting," K'Lara replied. They both smiled at each other as Lataro left the Mess Hall.
_______________________________________

Lt. Loran paced the cargo bay. He was slightly nervous, but he remembered how he was sure this would work, and he felt calmer. He took a deep breath.

The captain and commander entered the cargo bay. They did not have a clue about what was going to transpire between them.

"Computer, seal door to Cargo Bay Two. Authorization Golf Lambda 3."

<Authorization acknowledged. Cargo Bay Two is now sealed.>

"Now, I am sure that we won't be disturbed." Garek took another deep breath calming himself, trying not to show his excitedness.

"I'm sure that the captain and I am both wondering why you have called us here," Lataro said. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, not knowing what the Chief Engineer had in store for him.

"Of course, Sir." Garek walked behind a stack of crates, out of the view of the captain. He activated a hoversled, and then "wheeled" it in front of the two. "Gentlemen, you are the first to see this." He pulled a cloak off of a "garbage can" shaped object, roughly two feet high and one foot in diameter. "May I present to you the first
Federation cloaking device. Garek couldn't help but notice how the two men's jaws nearly went slack-jawed. "I have also prepared a demonstration." He picked up a PADD that was laying on top of the device. He plugged a long cord that came out of a panel on the device into the hoversled, and stepped back. Garek the tapped the panel and a sound similar to that of a Klingon cloaking device was heard. Then, the two pieces of machinery, were invisible.

The startling thing that both Captain Maruu and Commander Lataro were impressed about was the fact that the cloaking device was virtually silent. All they could hear was the faint hum of the hoversled. Garek then spoke up. "I have also made some slight modifications that is unique to the Federation-type cloaking device. Shield power functions at maximum while the cloaking device is running. However, if you want to go to warp, you must deactivate the shields in order to get enough power to enter warp. At this point, though, you're cloaked and it
doesn't matter. Or, your shields are up and the cloaking device is disabled. Another feature about this device that it is easily repairable. Each part of the device is modular, and can be replaced easily. You just simply remove the section that is not functioning and put in a new module. This is better the most Klingon and Romulan cloaking devices where the whole machine must be taken apart to address a function. The last thing that I am still tampering with is firing while cloaked. I am nearly there, but as of now, you must still decloak to fire."

The two senior officers stood silent for a moment. Then Lataro started to slowly applaud. "Bravo, Lieutenant."

"Indeed," Maruu added. "Superb job." Maruu walked over to where he could hear the hum of the hoversled. "The cloaking device itself is nearly completely silent. I can bearly hear it."

"It is double insulated to block out sound. I wanted this because after spending a year onboard a Klingon vessel as an engineer and having to listen to their damned device operate all the time annoyed the hell out of me." Loran gave a grin. "I personally like its quietness."

"As do I," Lataro added. Once again, bravo, Lieutenant. If you two will excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Maruu and Loran nodded, and Lataro left the cargo bay.

Maruu stepped back. "Decloak the machine," he ordered.

"Yes, Captain." Garek tapped in another command on the PADD and the cloaking device and the hoversled reappeared.

"Remarkable." Maruu drifted off. "Good work, Lieutenant. I'll remember this when you're up for your next promotion." Maruu gave Garek a pat on the shoulder and headed out of Cargo Bay Two.

Garek stood back, and gave himself a confident smile. He had done it. Now, on to the shuttle.
 

Title: "The Unveiling"
Author: Lt. Garek Loran
Stardate: 2459970
Earthdate: December 20, 2359
Location: USS Virgo

Lt. Garek Loran sat in the cockpit of the Lambda Flier.  It had been a rough few months, but this was it. He sat,
going over the pre-flight checklist. Needless to say, it was a long checklist. Everything from warp core power up to phaser modulation frequencies.

The Lambda Flier's final measurements made it bigger then a Class Nine personnel shuttlecraft.  It was slightly larger then a Danube Class runabout, and nearly took up a quarter of the shuttle bay. However, in Garek's eyes, it was the most beautiful craft in the bay.

Lt. Commander K'Lara entered the shuttle bay. Even though she was pregnant, she didn't show it. She didn't even think it. Garek didn't pick it up as she walked up through the cargo/passenger area of the Lambda Flier into the cockpit area. "Good morning Lieutenant Loran. You're here early."

"Early? I never left." Garek smiled, and checked off another item on his list. "Are you ready for the test flight this afternoon?" Garek tapped a panel on the controls. A small slot opened on the right side of the control panel, and another console slid out. A joystick control device folded up and locked into position.

"So, you've advanced the trial date? Looks as though someone is feeling awfully confident today." K'Lara sat down at the tactical/operations seat and activated the console. "The weapons cryogenic plant is online. Micro photon and quantum torpedoes functional. Phaser arrays functional. Phaser cannons?"

"Yeah." Garek rotated around in his chair. "I toyed around with the idea of using rapid fire phaser cannons on this ship, just like on Defiant Class ships. It didn't sound feasible with a regular power plant for weapons, so I created a new one."

"You created another power plant for the weapons suite?" K'Lara wasn't sure whether to be astonished or cautious. Multiple power plants on small ships were never very reliable. Sometimes even catastrophic. "You believe this will work?"

"Yes, I do," Garek replied. He stood up and walked over to the console. He then tapped a panel, and a diagram of the ship's power grid came up. "Each of the three power plants are fully functional on their own. The first of these is the warp core. The warp core powers the cloaking device, the weapons, sensors, et cetera. If for some
reason there's a drop in power, and you're in a combat situation, you bring the backup cryogenic weapons power plant online. This will supply power to the weapons system only, giving the warp drive less of a strain. The same goes for the cloaking device's power plant. That way, you can still go to warp, even if you are in a very bad combat situation." Garek smiled, feeling very proud of himself.

"A novel idea and work application to say the least," K'Lara said. She looked over the schematics again. "How do you account for the neural gel packs not overloading do to the extensive power regulations and feeds?"

"That's where the 'fun' starts." Garek brought up another schematic. Each gel pack has been rigged with numerous failsafe devices and backup isolinear optical chip backups. They are all grouped together in specific sections of the spacecraft. That way, if something goes wrong, the one section can be replaced with a new set of packs. With those systems, nearly everything on this craft is modular."

"Everything but the replicator, eh Garek?" K'Lara smiled.

"Actually, we have one of those as well. Come on." He walked out the door into the cargo/personnel area. Garek walked up to a small shelf attached to a strut on the side of the wall. "Computer, two cups of coffee. One black..." He looked over at K'Lara.

"The same," she said.

"Both black." Two mugs appeared after about 10 seconds. He handed one of the mugs to K'Lara.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." She took a sip of the coffee. "I noticed a delay in the replicator systems. Is it a glitch?"

"Well, sort of," Garek said. He put the mug down on a small table top that was next to the replicator. "Originally when I came up for the schematics of this ship, it was designed to be quick strike weapon. Used attack and reconnaissance missions. It wasn't a luxury liner."

K'Lara checked the chronometer strapped to her wrist. "Oh my. I'm late for breakfast. I'm sorry Garek, I must get going." She put the mug down in the replicator slot, and it vanished. She waved, and headed out of the craft.

Garek returned her wave with a smile, and went back into the cockpit of the Lambda Flier. After finishing some modifications to the flight control stick, he pressed a button, and the control folded back into the slot on the console, and then the flight control console slid back into the main control panel. Garek stood and walked out of the Flier.

Garek walked around the Flier, admiring the fresh, glistening paint over it's smooth surfaces. The phrase "Pilot: Lt. Garek Loran" was painted under the port and starboard view ports in black paint. He admired the Lambda symbol that was painted on the rear entry hatch in red paint. He could smell the clear coat on the new spacecraft. This ship would make a scene later that afternoon.
___________________________________________

Ensign Ek'Ra stood over a control panel near the warp core in Engineering. His duty shift would end in another hour, and his "enemy" of sorts, Ensign Galen, would be in to take over. The two weren't enemies. They were good friends. However, they always competed. Especially when it came to their engineering teams.

He picked punched in a few commands on his PADD and turned around. Still keeping all his attention on the PADD he started to walk towards the Chief Engineer's Office when he ran into Garek, who was standing in front of him.

"Lieutenant Loran!" He was startled at his presence. "I didn't realize that you were coming in today. You haven't been down here in a while, since you've been working on the new shuttle."

"Well, I thought I'd just stop by to see how things were going. Can I see the Engineering reports for yesterday?" Jacob looked at the Ensign with a smile.

"Of course, Sir." Ensign Ek'Ra handed over the PADD containing the data for the past eight or so hours. Garek looked over the reports. He noticed that the fusion reactor was only functioning at 93% instead of its usual 94%. The warp core was nominal, and every other system seemed to be functioning within normal parameters.

"Very good, Ensign." Garek handed the report back to Ek'Ra. "I noticed that the fusion reactor hasn't been 'up to par' as it usually is. Have you had Ensign Galen try kicking it?" Garek smirked. Both of the engineers had different ways of repairing things. Although, Garek thought that Galen's methods were more "unorthodox", he had to admire the ensign's flamboyance for his work. Ek'Ra however, seemed to incorporate the tactics of both Loran and Galen. However Ek'Ra's approach was more orthodox. Ek'Ra would approach the problem with care
like Loran, and if he didn't succeed, would then begin to smash and kick the machinery like Galen.

Ek'Ra grinned. "I wouldn't let him touch the fusion reactor. Not with his filthy boots. I'd get scuff marks all over the fusion reactor." He gave a confident smile. "If you'll excuse me Lieutenant, I'm going up to the bridge to turn in this report, then I'm off to bed."

"I'll take the report up, Ensign. Go and get some rest." Ek'Ra smiled and handed Garek the PADD.

"Thank you, Sir." Ek'Ra walked towards the nearest turbolift. The doors shut behind him, and he went off to his quarters. Garek stood, waiting for the next turbolift car to show up.
___________________________________________

Garek exited the turbolift. Some of the "second string" officers were on duty right now. Lt. Alysa Sinclair was at Ops, Ensign Sandra Bingham was at Tactical. Commander Lataro sat dignified in the captain's chair. Almost as though it was made for him. Garek smiled at the thought. He walked down into the captain's "pit" where the
commanding officers of the ship sat and addressed the Commander.

"Commander, could I talk with you and the captain for a moment, if he is around?"

"I believe that the captain was in Sickbay. Something about his leg." Lataro stood up. "Is it important?"

"It concerns the unveiling of the Lambda Flier." Garek looked down at his PADD.

Unbeknownst to Garek, Lataro's eyes lit up. "The Lambda Flier. This is important indeed." As the later parts of the Lambda Flier were being assembled, no one but K'Lara and Garek were allowed in the area. The project had gone up to a "top secret" type of project where only these two were allowed to work on the spacecraft. Even the Commanding and Executive Officers were in the dark as to what the craft actually looked like.

"I have arranged for a demonstration today at 1200 hours. That leaves me about..." Garek checked his chronometer. "...three hours to prepare myself. I have for the both of you reports both from Engineering, and on today's demonstration. Like I said, it's at 1200 hours, and you, the captain, and the rest of the senior staff are invited to attend. It's in Shuttle Bay One, so don't be late."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Lataro gave the engineer a smile. "Good work, Lieutenant. See you at noon."

Garek nodded, and headed back to the shuttle bay.
___________________________________________

K'Lara and Garek were standing in front of a blind that hid the shuttle from the group's sight. Most of it at least. The top of the shuttle could easily be seen over the blind, but it was the thought that counted.

"You want to address the pack?" Garek asked. He was looking slightly nervous. Although Garek was 25, and a great people person, he wasn't the best public speaker. Being surrounded by his peers in such a way scared the daylights out of him.

"It's your shuttle, Lieutenant. I think you can handle them. Good luck." K'Lara left him standing in front of the blind, and went to go stand next to Commander Lataro.

Garek cleared his throat, and began. "Well, I'd like to thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to come down here and check out my little toy." There were some scattered chuckles through the group.  "Commander K'Lara and I have been working on this project for the past month now, and I must say that it wasn't necessarily the most fun of all times. She knows how much of a stickler I am when it comes to these things, so I'd like to thank her for putting up with me."

"Just seeing this thing built in such short amount of time is thanks enough for me." K'Lara smiled. "You were right on the stickler part though." The remark raised some more laughter from the group.

"Well, at risk of embarrassing myself even more, I might as well show you the thing." Garek walked over, and pushed down the blind revealing the Lambda Flier. "May I present to you all the *Lambda Flier*. Featuring a Federation type cloaking device, an advanced sensor and weapons suite, and improved maneuverability over our other crafts, the *Lambda Flier* is substantially more powerful then any other shuttlecraft in Starfleet. The group gave a small applause. "However, that's where the fun only starts. Let's step inside."

The group made their way to the back of the *Flier*. Garek tapped a control on the rear panel, and the hatch slid open, revealing the main cargo/personnel area. Maruu, Lataro, K'Lara, Loran, Valdago, Nori, M'Terrn, and Zano had no problems fitting into the *Flier*. Garek spoke up over the group. "You are now standing in the personnel/cargo area of the *Lambda Flier*. It is larger then that of most Danube Class runabouts, and there will be more room if you fold up the small work table and auxiliary seat bench. If we'll just make our way forward, I'll show you all the cockpit of the craft."

Everyone broke up into groups of two or three and then entered the cockpit following Garek and K'Lara. Garek walked down the small ramp into the front "nose" of the fighter and took a seat in the control operators chair. "The cockpit contains all of the *Flier's* major functions. The control operator sits where I am at right now. Where
K'Lara is sitting is the tactical/engineering station. Across the way from her is the ops/science station." (NRPG: The layout is similar to that of the Delta Flier on StarTrek: Voyager.)

"Of course, each of the stations are found in a similar, smaller fashion at the control officers station." Garek motioned to all of the panels around the front of the craft. "One other unique thing about this craft is that every part of it is modular. The panels seen in this craft can be removed, and plugged into respective stations onboard any Federation ship. Also, each 'pocket' as I call them, of neural gel packs are also modular. Many of them are grouped together in one area throughout the ship, so that way you just open up one panel, remove a pack, and replace it. No having to dig around in one area for single gel pack. The same goes for isolinear optical chips."

"Impressive. Most impressive indeed, Lieutenant. What is the craft's top and cruising speeds?" Maruu looked at Loran intently.

"Well sir, the ship has a maximum speed of warp 9.4 for twenty-four hours. The normal cruising speed is warp eight for forty-eight hours. The ideal travel speed is warp 6.4."

"What is the standard armament onboard?" Lataro asked. He glanced at the tactical panel in front of K'Lara.

"The ship carries a total of 4 phaser arrays, two for and two aft. She has two torpedo launchers that can be equipped with either quantum or photon torpedoes, or both, one type in either launcher. The maximum load is a total of 30 micro quantum torpedoes, 15 in each tube, or 40 micro photon torpedoes, 20 in each tube. If you carry both, you can hold 20 micro quantum torpedoes in one tube, and 25 micro photon torpedoes in the other. The ship is also capable of launching one tri-cobalt device from our probe deployment launcher."

"And how many probes can you carry?" M'Terrn added.

"The *Lambda Flier* is capable of carrying one class eight probe, one class five probe, and one class one probe, all at the same time. You can mix and match probes as you please."

"What about the sensors?" M'Terrn asked. Garek could see that M'Terrn would be wanting to use this craft in future missions.

"All scaled down versions of that on normal Ambassador Class starships," Garek replied with a smile creeping across his face. "Are there any other questions?" Seeing that there were none, a sense of ease came over him.

"Well, I must say, Lieutenant," Maruu said, getting up from the ops/science station, "that this is one exceptional craft. K'Lara, you too have proven yourself a substantial engineer as well." Maruu smiled. "Good work to the two of you. I think that you both deserve a round of applause." The group of senior officers the applauded the two
officers' achievements. They then started to make their way out of the *Flier*. Garek arose and made sure that he was the last one out. He rubbed his hand over the red Lambda that was next to the access hatch and pressed a control, closing the door.

*The real gift is yet to come. This craft will be fully operational by Christmas. The captain will be most pleased.* He grinned and then walked out of the shuttle bay.
___________________________________________

(NRPG: Well, the drama of sorts with the Lambda Flier will be coming to an end shortly. By simulated date December 25, 2359, the Flier will be ready for active service, with an impressive demonstration flight by the friendly neighborhood engineer.)
 

Title: "Work Complete"
Author: Lieutenant Garek Loran
Stardate: 2459984
Earthdate: December 25, 2359
Location: USS Virgo

<The time is now 0600 hours. Merry Chirstmas, Lt. Loran.>

Garek awoke slowly. He didn't remember programming that awakening message. Maybe the captain or commander set it up. After all, it was a holiday. He wiped some sleep out of his eyes and sat up. He was
planning on taking the *Lambda Flier* out on its first flight today. K'Lara said that she would tag along to monitor the Warp core and the cloaking device.

He slowly went through the motions of getting ready for his maiden flight. Wearing only his boxers, he grabbed a towel off of a nearby chair and went to go take a shower. As he was drying off, he had remembered that he still needed to check the power up of the warp core and the cloaking device together. The last thing he would need is a critical overload, causing the systems to scramble. Seeing that it was nearly 0615, he remembered that Ensign Galen should be coming on duty in about 15 minutes. Garek figured that Galen might like to help him with some work, before he went on his duty shift. Garek picked up his communicator pin off of a nearby table, and tapped it. "Ensign Galen, this is Lieutenant Loran. Where are you right now?"

[I'm on my way to Engineering, Sir. Is there something I can help you with?]

"As a matter of fact, there is something. Meet me in Shuttle Bay Two."

[I'll be there in a minute.]
________________________________________

The doors of Shuttle Bay Two opened with a mechanical hum. The *Lambda Flier* could be seen, everything powered down. Ensign Galen was walking along the shuttle, running his fingers over its smooth surfaces.

"You want me to leave the two of you alone for awhile?" Garek smiled at his Assistant Chief Engineer.

Galen turned around, surprised. His face turned slightly red. "Hello, Lieutenant. I didn't hear you come in." He looked at the craft. "So, what have you called me down for?"

"I need your help on the warp core of the ship. Come on around." Garek walked around back, and tapped in an access code to the *Flier*. The back door swooshed open and he stepped in. Galen followed right behind him.

Galen whistled, and did a 360 while looking at the inside of the personnel area. "Very nice. Much better then those Type Eight cargo shuttles." He didn't see any warp core columns. "Where's the warp core?"

Garek smiled. He tapped a button and a small ladder came out of the ceiling. A roof panel opened. There, the warp core could be seen, laying flat.

"Remarkable," Galen said. His mouth starting to hang open. "But how do you keep the dilithium crystals from falling out?

"Watch." Garek stepped up the ladder slightly and pressed a button. A small "basket" (NRPG: For lack of better words) came down with the dilithium crystals in it.

"I don't know what to say." Galen smiled, and then pressed the button retracting it into the assembly.

"I'll power up the core. You monitor it." Garek walked forward into the cockpit.
________________________________________

Commander Lataro walked onto the Bridge. He looked to see K'Lara sitting at the helm. She turned and smiled at him. Lataro returned her smile. He then looked and saw Captain Maruu sitting in the Captain's Chair.

"Captain, Lieutenant Loran said that he is ready for the presentation."

"Already? The boy is ahead of schedule. I like it. What does he need?"

"Well, he just wants us to pay attention. K'Lara, I thought you were going on this one with him?"

K'Lara turned to face the two. "I wanted to stay here and see the cloaking device work. You can't do that from out there."

"Will he be able to handle everything on his own out there?" Maruu asked.

"I'm sure he will. He's a perfectly competent pilot, and an amazing engineer. Even if he is only twenty-five."

Maruu smiled. "Is that supposed to mean anything? I'm only twenty-eight!" The three looked out the forward viewscreen.

"He left the shuttle bay," Valdago said from Ops. He was quietly rooting for Garek, hoping this thing would work.

A shuttle, larger then a Danube-class runabout flew past the bridge at high speed, and settled about 100,000 meters off the starboard bow of the *Virgo*.

"I'm going to have to talk to that boy about fly-bys." Maruu smiled. Open a hailing frequency to the *Lambda Flier*.

"Frequency open, Sir," Valdago replied, tapping his console.

"We're ready whenever you are Lieutenant." Maruu looked out the viewscreen.

[I'm ready to go over here, Sir. Beginning sequence now.]

With that, the *Lambda Flier* gradually phased out of existence, leaving a hole in space. The bridge crew was awestruck. Finally, another cloaking-capable ship in the *Virgo*'s control.

"Excellent work, Lieutenant. Could you show us some of the craft's maneuverability?"

[It would be my pleasure, Sir.] The ship decloaked and began to throttle up. It wound and winded its way through a group of nearby asteroids. Garek brought the ship into a roll, and winded between another set. He then came back to his original position.

"And finally, I'd like to see a display of the ship's weapons capabilities."

[I'd thought you'd never ask, Captain. I'll take out a few asteroids for you.]

Maruu looked at his First Officer. Lataro was smiling at the the Lieutenant's last transmission.

The *Lambda Flier* maneuvered around quickly and began firing on a nearby asteroid with phasers. It then launched a spread of both photon and quantum torpedoes. Finally, it fired with phaser cannons, tearing the asteroid apart. The *Lambda Flier* then took up position at its original position.

"I don't know what else to say but excellent work, Lieutenant. You just bought yourself an extra three days worth of holodeck rations. Report back to the shuttle bay."

[Aye aye, Sir!]

Lataro could hear the excitement in Garek's voice. It had been awhile since Garek had actually had time to himself. Most of his time was dedicated to the *Virgo*, the *Lambda Flier*, or sleep. He felt happy for the kid.

"Now that we have two operational cloaking crafts, I think that we should put Garek right to work on a cloaking device for the *Virgo*." Maruu grinned.

"You're a mean man, Captain," Lataro said, returning his grin.