Captain's Log, Stardate 58092.4.
The USS Melbourne sits in drydock at Starbase 20, undergoing repairs and refit. With only a small roster of personnel needed to remain aboard to coordinate with the dockmaster, I have authorized the rest of the crew to take shore leave. Before everyone departs, however, there is one pleasant task to perform.
The senior staff and many other officers are gathered in the Cloud 9 crew lounge, where Capt. Mitchell oversees a promotion ceremony for Lt. JG Nal Tradis. After Mitchell finishes his speech, Cmdr. Partav replaces the hollow pip on Tradis' collar with a solid pip, giving her the two solid pips of a full Lieutenant. The Melbourne's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Thomas Singer, follows this with the announcement that part of now-Lieutenant Tradis' new responsibilities is her appointment as the ship's Assistant Chief Medical Officer. Once the congratulations are over and the celebration has ended, many of the crew start heading out on leave.
Capt. Mitchell remains aboard the USS Melbourne for the time being, but not long after the promotion ceremony he receives a transmission from Delta IV simply informing him that "It is ready". Mitchell understands the message loud and clear: his new Captain's Yacht is ready. As the Captain readies to depart for Delta IV to pick it up, several of the crew approach him volunteering to assist. It seems that word had spread of the fancy new spacecraft the Captain had requested and a few of the crew have a desire to see it as soon as possible. Lt. Stuart had already intended to go, as he was responsible for the design of some components added to the new vessel, but now the impromptu Away Team has added the ship's Conn Officer, Lt. JG Echo Reydon, as well as Engineer Shryra Thelles and Small Craft Specialist Kito Ainae. The Captain permits them all to join him and the five of them board the Sydney class transport USS Neill for the short trip to the spaceport on Seyann, one of the moons of Delta IV.
On the USS Melbourne, Cmdr. Partav is overseeing some cleanup of the destroyed Science Labs aboard ahead of the Starbase 20 repair teams coming aboard. Due to the damage sustained during the attack that destroyed that section of the ship, and the loss of the personnel present there at the time, there is some uncertainty if there are remains of any dangerous experiments still present. The area is repressurized and unsealed, with Partav entering alongside Lt. Cmdr. Ahn'Kress, Lt. Cmdr. Mera Tir, and Lt. Tradis; with Ens. Haral standing guard outside to prevent anyone else from entering until the area is cleared. Under Partav's supervision, the survey starts with Lt. Cmdr. Tir doing a security sweep and not detecting any threats. Lt. Tradis scans for any biological material that might be a risk to workers and does not find anything. Any bodies had long been removed, and if there was dangerous material it did not survive the hull breach and exposure to vacuum. Finally, Lt. Cmdr. Ahn'Kress has been reviewing the surviving experimental equipment, not only to look for dangers but also to determine if any of the experiments can be salvaged.
Just as the group is finishing their investigation, and before any of them can react, one of the experimental vessels ruptures and there is a burst of tetryon radiation that bombards the four of them, as well as catching Ens. Haral just outside the lab. Lt. Tradis scans everyone, herself included, with her medical tricorder and finds no immediate risk, but as a precaution they should all go to Sick Bay for anyon particle treatment. One final sweep is done and no other dangers are found so Cmdr. Partav notifies the dockmaster, a Tellarite named Leva Tennir, that her teams are cleared to start their work. He then orders everyone exposed to the tetryon burst to follow Lt. Tradis to Sick Bay, where they receive the prescribed treatment.
In the Delta system, the USS Neill arrives at Seyann and Capt. Mitchell and the rest of the officers from the USS Melbourne disembark. They are greeted almost immediately by an attractive Deltan woman named Viora Galin, who introduces herself as a representative of House Istari here on behalf of Joran Novor, majordomo for the Lady Inanya, aka Capt. Mitchell's mother. She tells the Captain that his ship is ready, while also hinting that the Lady Inanya had been in communication with Orion trader Telani Vartok about some of the custom modifications made to the vessel. This unnerves Mitchell slightly, as he was unaware that his mother had been in contact with Talani since they had all participated in the Pax Alpha peace conference. He covers his nerves quickly by asking that Viora show them the ship.
Viora escorts Capt. Mitchell and the other Starfleet officers to one of the many docking bays in the Seyann spaceport. Inside are several technicians, mostly Deltan, surrounding a sleek spacecraft of obvious Starfleet manufacture, though some elements seem off. Ens. Theless instantly recognizes it as a Waverider-type craft, but one of the newer models that has had warp capability added. The ship already carries the USS Melbourne's registry on her hull, and the name Nomad is blazened above it. Ens. Kito, with a keener eye for smaller craft, also notes that the ship's profile has been altered from the standard hull configuration. After a closer inspection she suddenly realizes that the Nomad has been modified with an Orion stealth profile, reducing its silhouette on sensors.
Before any other questions come up, Capt. Mitchell ushers everyone aboard the Nomad. In the lounge area, Lt. Stuart takes the opportunity to show off his contribution to the Captain's Yacht. Loto orders the Nomad's computer to activate the holoprojection system that he had designed, converting the lounge into a functional holosuite. For the first demonstration, Loto asks the computer to run program "choose your fancy", and the holosuite proceeds to alter the lounge appearance to a speakeasy from Earth's Prohibition era. At Loto's command it then proceeds to cycle through several other bars, including the Enterprise-D's 10 Forward lounge and a typical hole-in-the-wall drinking establishment. Mitchell is appreciative, though slightly embarrassed that the first thing his crew seems to think of for him is often alcohol-related. Lt. Stuart finishes up by showing the other feature he had installed, a set of holographic crew that consists of an emergency medical hologram (EMH Mark III), a holographic pilot, a holographic technician, and lastly a holographic concierge who can act as a host for the lounge.
Lt. JG Reydon gives the holographic pilot some side eye before making his way into the cockpit, followed by Ensigns Theless and Kito. While they are admiring the systems, Captain Mitchell turns back to Viora asking if they can take the Nomad out. She confirms that all modifications are complete and the vessel is his to take possession of. Mitchell thanks her, and asks her to pass on his appreciation to the technicians and to say hello to Joran for him. Viora and the technicians take their leave, after which Capt. Mitchell and Lt. Stuart join the others in the cockpit. Mitchell takes a moment to send a short message to Talani before taking the co-pilot seat next to Lt. JG Reydon and with a smile tells Echo to take them out. Lt. JG Reydon contacts the spaceport control and requests clearance to depart, gently sliding the sleek vessel out of the docking bay seconds after getting the okay from the controller. A few minutes later the Nomad is in open space and Echo takes her to warp for the trip back to Starbase 20 and the USS Melbourne.