Lt Commander Samantha Palmer Ship's Helm Officer USS Chimera NCC 96899-A = Deck 11, Holodeck 7 = Along with every new ship design deployed by Starfleet, came holodeck training exercises specifically developed to familiarise crew with the new ship. Samantha was running one of those training exercises in the small holodeck. With her helm skills being slightly rusty, she had to practise her tactical manoeuvres. The holodeck was an exact replica of the Chimera's bridge, down to every last detail=85 except for the officers. It was unnerving enough for Samantha to have Rangi Summers sitting behind her back all the time; having her as part of the simulation would just be too much. Currently the Chimera was engaging three Klingon birds-of-prey. Samantha's fingers flew across the helm controls, rolling the ship to port-side and diving below the belly of the closest bird-of-prey. A spread of torpedoes struck the Katana class ship, causing her to shudder briefly as inertial dampeners realigned themselves. Samantha pulled the Chimera's nose up, and then turned a sharp 60 degrees to bring her on full bear with the bird-of-prey. Tactical sent a spread of quantum torpedoes that crashed into the Klingon vessel, which exploded in a blaze of glory. The Chimera glided through the debris, and Samantha wondered to herself if the Klingons specifically designed their ships to explode in such a spectacular fashion. The ease and manoeuvrability of the ship was very impressive, especially for its size. The RCS thrusters were extremely powerful and allowed for much more intricate and precise manoeuvres to be performed. This was why Samantha was practicing, so that in the inevitable event of a battle scenario, her piloting skills would be up to standard. It hadn't taken her long to get accustomed to sitting at the helm; so far through the exercises she had made no major errors. Her father, her grandmother=85 both had been outstanding pilots, and she was sure those genes had been passed on to her. Why she had ended up in Science was perhaps more a result of circumstances than natural progression. Suddenly the second bird-of-prey decloaked right on top of them, firing disruptors through the weakened dorsal shields. The disruptor fire hit the bridge, shorting out the biometric circuitry and plunging the bridge into darkness for a moment. Emergency air vents burst open, filling the bridge with extra air supply and loud hissing noises. Samantha tried to get the ship to descend, but the helm controls didn't respond. Dim lighting and the ominous red alert glow brightened up the bridge when she realised she'd have to switch to manual flight control. =93Helm controls are offline, switching to manual!=94 she shouted. Pushing back the helm chair, she reached down to the floor and turned the manual override switch. A panel at the bottom of the console retracted, and the manual control steer extended from it. Samantha pulled her chair forward, pressed the activation button and grabbed the U-shaped steer. Immediately the ship responded and she realised just how sensitive the steer was. The Chimera dove and rolled to starboard as she twisted the steer, avoiding a volley of torpedoes from both bird-of-preys. =93Helm, offensive manoeuvre Delta-2!=94 The holographic CO ordered. For a moment Samantha froze. What the hell was manoeuvre Delta-2? Under normal circumstances, the helmsman could just enter the manoeuvring code, and the computer's autopilot would automatically execute it. But with helm controls off-line, she had to do it manually. If this had been a request to release Delta-4 particles, she would have known exactly what to do. Perhaps the switch from Science to CONN was harder than she thought. Think, Sam, think! she thought to herself. Delta manoeuvres are to maximize forward torpedo range=85 but what is 2 again? Oh, yes! Dorsal attack vector! Without a moment to spare, she pulled up the Chimera's nose, turning the ship 135 degrees on the z-axis so that it faced the oncoming ships with maximum torpedo exposure. =93Rotate the shields and fire at will,=94 The CO shouted. Tactical let loose a spread of torpedoes from the forward launchers; they travelled fast and quick towards the Klingon ships, with zero arc. The birds-of-prey tried to evade, but the torpedoes punched through their shields with maximum yield, causing their reactors to explode. Samantha pulled the ship away before the mild shockwave from the combined reactor explosions damaged the shields. Suddenly the scene around her froze and melted away, replaced by the ordinary holographic grid, leaving only her chair behind. =93Exercise series complete. Please consult the arc terminal for a detailed scoring result,=94 the computer announced. =93Computer, what is the time?=94 Samantha asked as she moved to the arc to view her score. =93The time is now 19:07.=94 Time for a nap, she thought to herself. She didn't want to be half asleep when they reached Sidos. Apparently the Counselor was planning a social event which she insisted everyone attend. With her luck, the ship would stumble into battle in the middle of the party. For all she knew those tactical exercises might just come in handy. =