Taking duty

Posted on Wed 28th Dec, 2016 @ 8:09pm by Lieutenant Colonel Brooklyn Wellington

620 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Murder on the Silent Night Express
Location: Fighter Bay

For once, the fighter bay had a quiet sense to it. From her office, Brooklyn could still hear the fighter engines and crew shouting orders but it seemed quiet in comparison to the past few days. To many humans, it was a day known as Christmas Eve. When off duty, she had set up a Christmas banquet in the nearby mess hall for her pilots and crew. Someone had even gone and placed a mistletoe above the mess hall entrance. She leaned forward in her desk as she activated her terminal. A 2nd Lieutenant Akio Kahae was scheduled for CAP for the evening. He was a recent transfer who was recently married with a child on the way. She stood and grabbed her helmet and flight gear from the personal locker behind her. Entering the flight deck as she donned her gloves and survival harness, she received several nods and "ma'ams" in greeting. She spotted Akio also donning his gear near his fighter. She motioned for the deck chief to come over.

"Yes ma'am?" the Andorian asked when he reached her.

"Staff Sergeant, get my fighter prepared for flight. I'm taking Lieutenant Kahae's CAP for the evening."

"Yes, ma'am," the deck chief said before turning and hurrying to the nearby parked fighters, yelling orders to nearby deck crew.

Brooklyn remembered her Christmases as a child--always so formal with her family being in the political arena. She and her family were always getting dressed up and attending balls or some other formal event. She wondered if her family were having such an event at this moment. A part of her missed her family but this was the sacrifice with being in Starfleet--it was often lonely, made even more lonely if you were single and/or a fighter pilot. Luckily for her, she had a new Weapons Officer, as her Valkyrie required a pilot and a WO to be most effective. Her WO at the moment was 2nd Lieutenant Shar Th'teqol.

She made her way over to Kahae who was now looking confused as his fighter was being brought off the launch area. "Captain? What's going on? Why is my fighter being pulled?"

She smiled at the Asian human. "Lieutenant, I believe you have a wife and unborn child to get home to."

"But I have a CAP scheduled, ma'am," Kahae protested.

Brooklyn nodded. "I know. I'm taking your CAP. Go home and be with your growing family."

Kahae seemed to be at a lost for words for a moment before replying. "Thank you, am'am."

"No problem. You're dismissed."

"Aye, ma'am," Kahae replied before heading for the pilot's locker room to change.

2nd Lieutenant Shar Th'teqol approached Brooklyn as her Valkyrie was moved into the launch position by the ground crews. "I'm honored to be your WO, Captain."

She had read Th'teqol's records. He had an impressive record with the Andorian Military before joining the Starfleet Marines. "The honor is mine. Now, let's get up there, shall we?"

A smile formed on Th'teqol's face. "Yes, ma'am."

The two made their way over and climbed into Brooklyn's fighter. She sealed her suit and her helmet as it linked with the fighter's computer, bringing up the HUD into her helmet. "Controls are green, engines are green, life support and emergency systems are green," Brooklyn called out, going over the flight checklist.

Seated behind Brooklyn, Th'teqol sat, doing the same. "Weapons and defensive systems are green."

Brooklyn then opened a channel to Operations. "Flight Zero-One to Operations. Requesting clearance to launch."

"Request granted, Flight Zero-One," came the reply.

The fighter lifted off the deck and launched out of the fighter bay as it increased speed to half impulse.



OOC: Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

 

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