USS Nellie Bly

USS Nellie Blye
General Information
Registry	NCC-57588
Class & Type	Challenger-class scout
Affiliation	Starfleet
Status	Active
Commissioned	2357
Assignment
Unit	Fourth Fleet Operations
Squadron	Arcturus Squadron
Role	Scout Diplomatic Courier
Template:Starship

USS Nellie Bly is a Federation Challenger-class scout/courier assigned to support Olympia Station. Commissioned in 2357, the Bly, as she is often referred to by her crew, is an aging but capable vessel, now so finely tuned after decades of refits and optimizations that she can run circles around her newer stablemates.

History

Construction on USS Nellie Bly began in 2355 and she was commissioned in 2357. She was pressed into service into conflicts with both the Talarians and the Cardassians throughout the late 2350s and into the 2360s, serving both as a scout and a high speed transport for flag officers. While not a combat vessel, she nonetheless participated in several fleet actions and minor skirmishes on both borders.

From the 2360s onwards, the Nellie Bly was based out of Avalon Fleet Yards in the Grazer sector. She did not have a direct role in the Dominion War, as she was part of a token force left behind the main theater of operations to maintain the security of the Federation's other borders. Over the decades, she received regular rounds of upgrades and refits to keep her up to modern standards, allowing her to perform well above her original design specifications.

In 2401, the Nellie Bly changed her homeport to Olympia Station in the remote Olympia sector, where she is used for exploratory scouting missions to systems near to the station and as a transport for the station's senior staff when their presence is necessary on an away mission.

Namesake

The USS Nellie Bly is named after Elizabeth Jane Cochrane (1864 - 1922) an American journalist and novelist who used the pen name Nellie Bly. She is considered to be a pioneer in investigative journalism for her undercover work to expose deplorable conditions in the New York City mental asylum at the end of the 19th century. She is also known for emulating the journey in Jules Verne's novel Around the World in 80 Days in 1889.

Configuration & Operational Parameters

Though nearly 50 years old, the underlying architecture of the Nellie Bly is solid and she has been upgraded many times to reduce the workload on her crew and improve performance. While she can't quite keep up with newest ship's Warp 9.99, she can easily hold Warp 9.6 indefinitely in a pinch.

The Nellie Bly spends about a third of her time in port at Olympia Station. The rest of the time, she is performing scouting missions within a day or so of the station, so that she can be recalled for missions when necessary.

Deck 01

Main Bridge

The bridge of the Nellie Bly, located on the aft end of deck one.

The main bridge of the Bly is largely in the same configuration as it was when the ship received its first major refit in 2371 and resembles a miniaturized version of the bridge found aboard Galaxy-class starships. There are two command seats partially circled by a tactical railing in the center of the bridge, with the helm and operations stations located forward. Stations for science, communication, mission operations, and engineering are located at the rear of the bridge, but these are normally uncrewed. Additional auxiliary stations are on the rear bulkhead, between a Jefferies tube junction on the port side and a head on the starboard side. Egress and ingress to the bridge is accomplished through two sets of doors to either side of the viewscreen. The rear doors lead to the captain's ready room on the port side and the mission commander's ready room on the starboard side. The forward doors lead into the deck one corridor, immediately opposite the turbolifit stations for that deck.

Ready Rooms

The twin ready rooms aboard the Bly are modest but comfortable.

As with many ships of her class, the Bly was intended to be able to serve as a transport for ambassadors and flag officers. As such, there is often someone aboard who outranks her commanding officer or is otherwise in charge of her mission. Thus, the Bly has two modest ready rooms to keep both of those individuals close to the action, the port side ready room being for the ship's actual captain, and the starboard side being for the mission commander or other VIP. They are connected directly to quarters on deck one as well.

Briefing Room

The circular briefing room is in the center of deck one, forward of the main bridge, and has seating for seven people.

The briefing room is located directly forward of the main bridge. This circular room is well-shielded and provides the captain with a space to discuss missions with the ship's senior officers. There are two additional diplomatic conference rooms located on the rim of the saucer section which are used to host negotiations, which keeps this room free for internal deliberations.

Officers' Lounge

The officers' lounge provides a quiet, comfortable place to rest near the main bridge.

Located amidships on deck one, the officers' lounge is a place for the senior staff aboard the Bly to socialize, relax, and take their meals close to the bridge. It is across the hall from the conference room, and mere steps from the bridge, so this is also where on-call helm, operations, and tactical personnel spend their shifts.

Deck 02

Sickbay

Well-lit and comfortable, the sickbay aboard the Bly is nonetheless from an older era.

Located at the center of deck two, the sickbay aboard the Bly is equipped to deal with most medical conditions and injuries, though it is less sophisticated and capable than the medical facilities back on Olympia Station. This facility can treat four patients at a time and has a dedicated examination and surgical bed, as well as an office for the ship's physician.

Transporter Rooms

The four transporter rooms aboard the Bly are the primary method to bring passengers aboard the ship, and its shuttles are mainly used in inclement situations.

All four of the Bly's transporter rooms are located on deck two, close to sickbay and just a short turbolift ride away from the ship's diplomatic facilities and guest quarters. While the underlying hardware has been upgraded, the transporter facilities aboard the Bly are showing their age. The main transporter platform is across from the control console, and the equipment bay is separated from the main room by a railing, which encourages guests (who are often aliens visiting a Federation ship for the first time) not to wander.

Deck 04

Auxiliary Control Room

The Auxiliary Control Room aboard the Bly provides similar functionality to the battle bridges on other starships.

As the Bly cannot separate, the secondary bridge, i.e. Auxiliary Control Room, is located in the center of the saucer section, directly connected to the ship's primary computer core. From this room, all command functions can be conducted, even if the main bridge has been destroyed. As with the bridge, there are port and starboard stations for helm and operations, as well as a tactical station behind the commanding officer's seat. Stations on either side of the small viewscreen provide functionality for science and engineering.

Main Engineering

Within this room, everything appears to be a standard Starfleet engineering compartment, but it is actually offset from the ship's normal orientation by 90 degrees, and the warp core is in the 'ceiling' of the room.

Unlike most Federation starships, Challenger-class vessels like the Bly have a horizontally-oriented warp core. Main Engineering takes up space on Decks 3 and 4 within the secondary hull of the ship, with the "floor" of the compartment aligned towards the aft end of the ship, so that the warp core is actually in the ceiling of the room. Otherwise very similar to the engineering compartments found aboard other contemporary ships, the double doors on either side of engineering lead to a "gravity lock" that allows crew members to transition 90 degrees through a small room similar to a turbolift which rotates from the ship's normal orientation to that of engineering in about 30 seconds. In emergency situations, the gravity locks can be set to null, to allow crew members to push themselves across under their own power.

Notable Crew

Commanding Officers

As a starbase support ship, the Bly is regularly used for missions commanded by the station's senior staff members, many of whom have the substantive rank of captain, but the ship's actual commanding officer is in day-to-day command of the vessel. When aboard, other senior officers may function as the mission commander, issuing orders through the commanding officer.

• 2401—Present: Commander Adir Goodman