The distinctive whining hum of the transporter activating filled the room moments before the shimmering column of blue light deposited Captain Clara Myers on the transporter pad. She stepped down, extending her hand to greet the woman before her.

“It's a pleasure to meet you finally, Commander Vane.”

Vane reached forward, returning the handshake. “Welcome aboard Galaxy, ma'am.”

Clara looked around the room, taking in her first few moments on the ship. She knew she was in the stardrive section as the room was decked out in cool grey and blue tones. The refit to the ship had been extensive; nearly every panel, computer terminal, door, and carpet had been replaced and upgraded to ‘modern’ standards. It wasn't quite at the level of the new Constitutions or Sagans but it was a far leap from the previous stylings of the 2360s.

“Thank you, Commander.” 

Vane turned towards the door. "If you'll follow me, I'll escort you to engineering.

Clara nodded, following the women out of the room. The corridor was still a mess with panels off the walls as the dock engineers put the finishing touches on everything. “Your team does impressive work, Commander. You would barely recognize this as a Galaxy Class ship from the inside.” 

Vane pulled a PADD from her coat pocket. “Thank you, Captain. Galaxy was the first ship I served on after I graduated before I moved to the Challenger as Chief Engineer. All in all, I spent 17 years on Galaxy Class ships. It's been quite the honor to oversee her 50-year refit.”

The two women approached the end of the corridor, Myers pressing the turbolift call button. “It shows, Commander. I'm told the upgrades are quite impressive.”

Vane handed Myers the PADD as the two stepped into the lift. “Engineering.” The door closed and the lift took off. “See for yourself. We stripped down the corridors to the bulkhead substructure to accommodate the new Isolinear-Bioneural computer systems, we widened most of the corridors in all sections at the same time, and the new computer cores are 7% more responsive and can store 11% more data. We completely overhauled the M/ARM core to incorporate the new mark XX magnetic injectors, recoated her warp coils with the more concentrated form of verterium cortenide that they use on the Soverigns and we strengthened the dilithium matrix articulation frame. Her spaceframe limitations won't allow for an increase in maximum speed but high-speed travel should be less stressful on the warp system components. Then there are the EPS network upgrades but I'll let your Chief Engineer go over that.”

Myers scrolled through the PADD as the turbolift slowed to a stop. Virtually every single system on the ship had been touched on. Every single sensor pallet had been replaced. Transporter systems upgraded to the new standard. Completely new bridge module. Sickbay was gutted and expanded to almost an entire deck in the saucer section. Crew quarters expanded to allow for better long term comfort. Like many ships of her class Galaxy had had numerous ‘empty’ spaces that could be filled in if needed but now every single inch of the ship had been outfitted. Increased probe storage, enhanced replication facilities, and expanded shuttle maintenance facilities. Galaxy was ready to venture into deep space and stay there for quite some time.

The two stepped out of the lift and walked down a large corridor, bobbing and weaving between the shipyard staff. “This is beyond impressive, Commander. Not many people would take this much care on a nearly 50 year old spaceframe.”

The two stopped outside the large doors marked MAIN ENGINEERING. “Galaxy holds a special place with me. I know this ship, hell, I know the class itself, inside and out. I know what her quirks were and how to fix them or at least work around them. Every ship under my care will receive the best treatment but Galaxy is one where I will always oversee every inch of work done on her." She pointed a finger a Myers. “So bring her back in one piece, every time, understood?”

Myers nodded. “I promise the ship is in good hands. Knowing Lieutenant Commander Broheth, he would never forgive himself if the ship didn't stay in one piece. I would guess he's rather excited.”

“Like a kid in a candy store. Come one.”

The two stepped through the doors and into the loud room. Engineers occupied nearly every station, all talking over each other. The gentle hum of the warp core reverberated through the room. Main Engineering itself hadn't changed all that much from its original design but it was more open now on each side, the area around the warp core had more space to maneuver, the upper level was slightly larger and the pool table that was iconic to the Galaxy class was still there but larger with a holo display of the ship floating about it. It was at the pool table that Myers saw Broheth huddled with this staff.

“The EPS junction on Deck 12, section 882 is down again. Just replace the junction with a new manifold. Not worth the effort to repair it for a fourth time.” The Bolian turned and saw Vane and Myers walking into the engineering complex, a wide grin spreading across his face. “Captain! Welcome to engineering!”

He walked over to meet the two. “Thank you for requesting me for Chief Engineer. This ship is absolutely an engineer's dream.”

“Of course, Commander. I also knew the only way I'd get you to stick around is if you got to serve on a ship like Galaxy.”

Broheth laughed loudly, leading against the MSD. “You are right about that Captain. To think I was convinced that being on the Amundsen was going to just be a quick little trip around the block. Now I get to serve on one of the biggest ships in the fleet. Nothing better than this.”

“We went the long way around, but it all seemed to work out. Commander V'Rel probably disagrees with you but I think we'll get her to come around.”

Broheth waved a blue hand around. “Give me two weeks and I'll have her singing karaoke in the Sombrero Lounge.”

Myers paused. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to be there for that but at the same time, she wasn't sure that was something she was willing to miss. She'd have to remind the lounge manager to keep that real alcohol drinks to a minimum on that night. 

Vane cleared her throat. “Lieutenant Commander, what is the status of the ship?”

Broheth immediately straightened up, a sheepish expression on his face. It was clear that this was not the first time Vane had to keep the enthusiastic engineer on track.

“The warp core has passed all simulation testing. The new warp coils have been energized to 28% with no issues, can't do much more than that while in dock. One of the dorsal phaser strips isn't getting the power it needs to fire at full capacity but we should have the power junction causing the issues replaced by 2300. We brought all fusion plants online at 0700 this morning and as of 45 minutes ago we are no longer attached to Starbase power. There are a few hundred general maintenance bugs to work out across the ship but that is well within expectations and can be corrected on shakedown.”

Vane nodded. “Excellent work. Any issues with the new EPS network?”

The kid in a candy store grin returned to his face. “None at all. It's a thing of beauty. It's the envy of everyone back at the SF Fleet yards. I have no idea how your team squeezed an additional 5% power efficiency out of that system. I know you spent seven months ripping out the old network and replacing it but I haven't even seen this level of work done even during my time at the fleet yards.” He walked over to the wall, pulling the panel off. The EPS junction glowed a bright blue/purple as plasma was shunted off in three different directions. "You lined this sucker with a thin layer of tetraburnium; I've never seen that before. You see, Captain, that thin layer helps protect the junction itself because this close to the warp core the plasma is still superheated and the harder we push the EPS network the more plasma we push through the network and it stresses the system; this gives us another layer of safety if we have to push the network harder. At 144 millicochranes the stress causes the underlying..."

Myers raised her hand to stop the engineer. "I assure you Mr. Broheth that once you break out the technical details involving millicochranes it will all go over my head."

He laughed again. "Fair point Captain. I'm sure you've got other things to attend to anyway."

"Yes, she does." Vane said. "Our next stop is the bridge."

The lift slowed to a stop and Vane stepped to the side. “Captain first, ma'am.”

Myers took a deep breath and stepped forward, the doors parting with a soft swish. The bridge was dark, all work being done already, and the computer automatically raised the lighting to soft levels. It was clear to see the new module was an infusion of both the Galaxy and Sovereign class. She stepped around the tall, illuminated, collums that surrounded the conference pit at the back of the bridge, passing the wooden arch that sat behind the command chairs, before standing next to the captain's chair. She looked around; it was easily the largest bridge she had ever stood on.

She placed a hand on the cool leather of the command chair, the weight of what was to come slowly and finally starting to sink in. Decades of strife, death, and isolation had marked the Federation and Starfleet. A never ending cycle that had robbed them of their ability to see the galaxy as a place of wonder, their ability to adhere to the principles that the Federation had been founded on. Galaxy was just one ship among hundreds but she'd be damned if she was going to let the opportunity pass by. Galaxy would show that you could still venture out into the unknown, that the wonders of the universe were not to be feared but uncovered and embraced. 

She gave the back command chair a soft squeeze. It was time to get to work.