Beta (Secondary) Bridge

The secondary bridge (also known as the Beta Bridge) of the Prometheus-class USS Malinche-A is located on deck four, section beta. It duplicates most of the stations and functions of the primary bridge such as a viewscreen, the captain's chair, flight control, operations, and tactical, but places emphasis on piloting, support, and defensive operations. Although the secondary bridge could potentially be used to control the entire docked starship in the event of damage to the main bridge, command is typically rerouted to Main Engineering.

Access to the secondary bridge is provided by one of four doorways, located two each on both port and starboard sides. The forward portside door leads to the standard turbolift while the forward starboardside door leads to a ready room located adjacent to the secondary bridge which is much smaller than the one off the primary bridge and lacks a window. The aft starboardside doorway leads to a dedicated emergency turbolift which can be accessed from other decks as well while the aft portside doorway provides access to the ship\'s corridor on deck four.

The officer-in-charge has a chair located at the very center of the circular bridge in a submerged location. To either side of the command chair is a console built into the structure that provides a place for information dissemination as well as operational command of the Beta Section during independent flight operations. Directly ahead of the command area and down into a further sunken area is an integrated Flight Control and Operations panel capable of performing the joint duties. This split console is just forward of the main viewscreen and houses enough space to be used in the traditional Flight Control/Operations arrangement.

Aft of the command area is an elevated platform on which is located the tactical control station. Behind Tactical is the Mission-Operations section of the bridge. Located against the aft wall of the secondary bridge is a large master systems display monitor similar to the one in Main Engineering. All relative ship information (such as damage, power distribution, etc.) is displayed on the cutaway image of the vessel. This dedicated area allows any officer to get an abstract picture of the ship and any problems that may arise. Its attached console allows certain situations to be dealt with right in front of the MSD without further intervention.

To the port side of the Master Systems Display lie the Science consoles. From the science consoles, officers have priority access to all sensor input coming into the ship. The science consoles can be used by any personnel and have access to all science, navigational, sensor, and communications systems. Opposite the Science stations on the starboard side of the Masters Systems Display lie the Engineering consoles. These stations provide an engineer or technician access to all data coming from the ship's internal monitoring systems as well as access (where necessary) to repair and adjust various systems throughout the ship.