Seize the Day! Part II

Posted on Sun Feb 5th, 2023 @ 2:14pm by Lieutenant Thraxina & Lieutenant Commander John Stryker II

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Mission 2: Rendezvous At Starbase 10
Location: USS Midway Class F Shuttle #2, somewhere in space
Timeline: During Midway's sojourn at SB10

You could say a lot of things about Thraxina of Stratos, and not all of them kind, but you could never accuse her of being ill-prepared for a mission; even so mundane a mission as acting as inter-ship taxi-driver for the Midway's new Chief Navigator. She had been to see the personnel officer, the Andorian Lieutenant Zon th'Tetz, deftly avoiding his new and rather irritating young assistant, Clumpy Pimple-popper, or whatever she was called, and asked to see the Lt. Commander's records.

She got the impression of a perhaps somewhat aloof disciplinarian who did things by the book and expected the respect of his subordinates as he himself gave respect only to those who earned and deserved it. Of course, Star Fleet records, while they recorded the facts, sometimes gave a false impression of a person's personality. Still, as they walked down to the shuttlebay together, she maintained the sort of rigid discipline that was usually expected on the Bridge or during a hazardous landing party, only speaking when spoken to until they reached the Class F Shuttle, now fully loaded with Stryker's gear, when she turned to him and formally asked.

"Sir, do you wish to take the Conn?"

"And why would I want to do that? You appear to be quite capable, after all, you got it here." He said good-naturedly.

"Aye Aye, Sir." responded Thraxina, somewhat mechanically.

"Besides, this is the first vacation I've had in, well, ever. Lead on Lieutenant. Oh, how far out is the Miday?"

"About an hour on full impulse, Sir." she replied, standing aside in the 'at ease' position, hands behind back, feet slightly apart to let him on first. She was mildly interested as to whether he would sit up front with her or lounge around at the back of the shuttle craft.

The walk down to the shuttlebay, one he had taken too many times he thought, Stryker was enjoying the quiet, at least for the moment. Leaving one assignment to another was, of course, nothing new for John Stryker, it had happened before, this was just another, what was it he'd been told, "Another opportunity for growth." Well, that was probably true.

It was odd though, he had never gotten a send-off by any of the other CO's he had served under, but the others were not Fleet Captain Manolis Chiotis. He would miss the man, but, the Midaway might just be where he could catch on.

Thraxina ran through all the pre-flight checks with as much deliberate care as she had when she had undertaken her flight proficiency test at the Academy during her conversion course. She wanted to impress Stryker with her efficiency and competence. Despite her service in the Andaran Fleet, she was not unaware that he was an experienced command officer of many year's service, whose Lieutenant Commander's braid grew faded on his sleeve, unlike the bright new gold of her solid Full Lieutenant's stripe, sewn on a mere two days before.

There was only one grade between them, but a Galaxy of difference.

She clicked the comms through to the shuttlebay officer.

"Midway Shuttle 2 ready for take off" she intoned in crisp refined tones.

"Talon Shuttlebay, Shuttle cleared for take off, bay doors open."

She manoeuvred the box-like craft out of the carefully controlled airlock and into space. It was calm, controlled but nothing fancy: just textbook stuff. She hoped the ruggedly handsome commander appreciated that.

He smiled, appreciating the efficiency that she displayed not only in the pre-flight check but in the maneuvers to clear the ship and head for dead for deep space, an hour at full impulse, he almost started the calculations in his head then let it go, it was not important.

He looked around the passenger space of the shuttle, comfortable, but nothing to write home about. "Lieutenant, do you mind if I take the second seat, sort of boring back here."

"Of course, Sir." replied Thraxina. She was determined not to make the same mistake as she did with the Captain when she first met him and she hadn't realised he was Captain, in his dirty overalls. That time she had done far too much talking.

She might not be one for idle chit-chat, not that he was under ordinary circumstances, but it was something of a long flight, these things were not built for speed.

She carried on as if he wasn't there, but there was a slight reddening of her cheeks as he seated his hunky frame next to her at the forward position. He certainly was good looking: short buzz-cut hair in the military fashion more redolent of the 2250s, and not so 'over-groomed' looking as a lot of the men on her own ship. He was a man's man, and she wouldn't bother him with any of her girl talk.

Stryker eased into the second seat, aging at the star field slipping by, white dots on a black field, not pitch, but black enough. "So, LT, what is it you do aboard the Midway, anyway? It would appear that we will most likely be a part of her bridge crew, by the look of things." It was not idle chat, if he was correct, then it was about getting to know another member of what would be the immediate crew.

He did find it interesting that they sent a gold shirt to fetch him, he would have thought that the Midway had regular shuttler pilots, but then, it would be a new command, and they apparently did things differently than aboard the ships he had served aboard before.

"Chief Helm, Sir." she replied, still formal but not unfriendly. She wanted him to take her seriously as a fellow officer, not just a bit of short-skirted fluff.

"Chief Helm, as a Lieutenant, now that says something," Stryker commented actually impressed. He had seen a lot of promotions in his time, not many moved to be the of Chief anything, though Lieutenants were certainly capable of any task onboard any Federation Vessel, except Command.

"Recently promoted, Sir. Had a lot of previous experience in the Andaran Fleet running Zenite convoys and did a conversion course at the Academy last year to transfer to UFP Star Fleet." She just told him information he might find useful to know, and resisted her usual habit, when off duty, of over-sharing.

A colourful, crystalline blue button light flashed on Stryker's side of the control panel. Normally she would just reach across to get that but that would mean reaching across her superior officer.

"I don't suppose you could get that, Sir?" she asked, sensibly.

"Sure," He responded and pushed the blue button "Midway shuttle, Lieutenant Commander Stryker." Hoping that would be good enough.

A booming recorded voice cracked over the in-shuttle speakers “Well helloooo there! This is Alcibiades Xon, your friendly local dealer, do you have a problem with your...” the message was cut off by Thraxina tersely bashing a button her side of the console. “Sorry about that, Sir. I wish there was a way to deal with these blaster nuisance callers! They’ve been jamming up our communications channels for days.”

"Sorry to say, but that sounds very suspicious to me. I can't understand why the Federation would allow that, unless perhaps they are unaware, or perhaps they have reasons we are not yet aware of. Are they commonplace? Other ships complaining?"

He could understand that communications out here would be an important part of any mission undertaken by any ship, or station for that matter. Interruption like the one she had silenced could prove hazardous. And maybe it was something he had just not encountered before, possibly only occurring in this quadrant. He needed to tread lightly out here.

"Believe me, they are trying, Sir. Apparently they are using interphase relays to get through. This Xon person seems to be the culprit. If they could just catch him, there would be no reason to have to come up with a technical solution."

"I would think we could trace where the signal is originating from unless of course, this is far more sophisticated than we think. I mean, maybe this is not just some nuisance caller jamming our channels for fun, perhaps there could be meaning to its annoyance. Just saying Lieutenant, it could be a ploy maybe by pirates or any one of a number of hostile or semi-hostile races. Then again, maybe it is what seems to be."

"Yes Sir, I hadn't thought about that, you're right." she nodded. "If I find out any updates on the investigation, I'll let you know immediately."

The rest of the trip was uneventful, the conversation spare and always around minor technical points. The Andaran woman tried not to even notice her passenger's robust good looks and well formed physique. It wasn't until they reached the ship and were called down to meet the Captain in some quaint and cosy coffee shop on SB10 that Thraxina really started to get an insight into the man she would be sharing the conn with on the next mission.

 

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