Wings

Posted on Mon Dec 1st, 2014 @ 2:00am by Lieutenant JG Rayleigh Carver & Master Warrant Officer Everett Galloway

Mission: Bloodpath
Location: Starbase 80 - Shuttlebay 4

ON:

The doors leading into one of the station’s shuttle bays slid open, admitting a uniformed member of the intelligence department. The human male, who was a fairly recent arrival to the starbase, looked around for a moment - his eyes settled on another officer wearing the wine red of command. He gave himself a slight nod and headed in her direction.

"Lieutenant Carver," he called after her.

“Yes?”

"Lieutenant," he said, dipping his head slightly as he came to a stop between her and one of the ship's auxiliary craft. "I've been looking for you. I was hoping you had a moment?"

Rayleigh heard her name being called, but it did not register with a voice that she was familiar with. Then again, not many voices were familiar to the recent transfer. Recently, she had been so busy speaking with the shuttle bay chief that other conversation was simply drowned out by the older man's dry monotone. Looking around, she quickly spotted a figurative "fish out of water", a black-accented uniform floating through a sea of red.

"Good day Lieutenant," she knew the approaching officer by rank only for the moment. "Lieutenant Rayleigh Carver, at your service, I've got the time, what's up?"

"First, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself," Everett replied with a smile. "Everett Galloway, intelligence department. I know that your team has been busy for a few days, but I wanted to say hello and say that if there is anything that my department can do to support yours, please don't hesitate to let me know." He seemed to be hovering. Clearly, there was something more on his mind.

"I appreciate the support, Lieutenant," she smiled brightly in return. After staring at intake manifolds and auxiliary warp coils for most of the day, company of any sort was much appreciated. "If it suits you, please, call me Rayleigh. It's still a lot for a gal to get used to, being called Lieutenant all of the time."

Everett smiled politely and chuckled. "Oh, I understand. When I was promoted, I think my parents were the only ones who were proud - I was just caught off guard." The young man straightened his uniform out of habit. He seemed a little nervous.

"Oh, um, you can call me Everett or James. James is my middle name - whichever you prefer." He tugged on his jacket once again. "In any case, I was hoping to ask, um, well you see - what I wanted to ask was..."

Rayleigh tilted her head to the side and inspected the facial expression of her current conversation partner. She wasn't consciously aware of her action, but any of her close friends could tell that this was one of her trademark tells that she was studying the other person, looking for subtle facial expressions or clues as to what his or her motive might be. However, in this case, she simply waited for whatever it was that Everett was going to ask of her.

"Yes?" She arched an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"You see, I need your help," he admitted as he turned towards her, his expression warming. "I'd like to begin training for advanced pilot certification. It's something that I've always wanted, but I know I need some hands on training - especially with small craft." He looked at her, his brows rising.

"I was hoping that you could assist me with some training before I sit for the exam." He gave her a quirky smile. "What do you say?"

"A fellow pilot, huh?" Carver immediately smiled again and made a motion over her shoulder to the shuttle craft behind her. A playful note was heard in her voice as she spoke up again.

"So, how many hours have you got in the left seat. Count it all up, if I'm going to help you, I'll need to know exactly what is it that I'm working with here."

Everett's nervous smile expanded into a more genuine grin. "Oh, I can't say for sure. That's slightly complicated. I think my official log has about twenty hours on it since I graduated from the Academy. I started taking lessons, but I never had the time to finish acquiring my license. I'm sure those numbers pale in comparison to your own."

"Not by as much as you'd think," she laughed, wondering if he knew how old she really was. "Of course, I've been fortunate to fly naval equipment for the majority of my hours, and I've had the best training in the galaxy for it. Bottom line - I'd love to help you," Rayleigh walked around to where the hatch to the shuttlecraft was and opened it, motioning inside.

"In fact, if you have a second," she offered, "let's see how much ground work you remember."

Everett glanced back and forth across the bay for a moment. Well, this was certainly a moment of truth. He was surrounded by red-shirts, and this lone intelligence operative really could not afford to embarrass himself.

"Uh, right now?" he asked before he realized it had come out. "I mean... of course! Let's get started." His features spread into a broad smile as he moved alongside her, stepping up the ramp inside the shuttlecraft.

"Excellent," Rayleigh responded as she closed the hatch behind him. The shuttle was cold and dark, so the only light that entered was through the front viewport. The only light in the shuttle came through the front windows. Rayleigh scrambled through the narrow passage way, silently thankful to be as small as she was. A shuttle was a cramped space to most, but not to her.

"Okay," her voice trailed off momentarily as she leaned over to retrieve a PADD that was stowed under the copilot's seat that she was currently occupying. "She's cold and dark, but here's the standardized checklist, how much of this is familiar to you?" As she spoke, she handed the PADD over to her newest student.

Everett was certainly not a towering giant; however, he still stood just short of six feet with fairly broad shoulders and an athletic build. Maneuvering through the cramped cabin just required him to turn sideways a bit in order to slip into his chair. Once in position, he settled in.

"This is all pretty standard," he remarked as he took the PADD, "except, of course, for the weapons systems. I can't say the shuttles I flew were armed.”

"Don't worry about them too much. Admittedly, for most of the stuff that we're doing, we won't even need to worry about them. They're last on the checklist for a reason though," Rayleigh pointed. "Only after everything else is up and running do we start to worry about placing the extra load of the weapons on the EPS system. Now, let there be light." As she spoke, Carver flipped the master battery switch and the displays all roared to life, though many of them remained blank as the data flowing to them was useless.

"Alright, let's see if you can follow the list and check to make sure all of the visual and aural warnings are working and in place. If you feel like going for some extra brownie points, take us all the way up until just prior to engine start."

It felt good to be back in the pilot's chair. Everett had long since desired this training and certification, and he had intentions of pursuing it before now but the timing never seemed right. His recent transfer to the base meant that had all changed.

"Okay," he said, sitting up straight. He looked like a fifteen year old behind the wheel. "Main fusion generators are on standby, core reaction zero. We're operating on battery power only at this point."

Slowly, Galloway began to fall into a groove. "Space-worthiness, registration, and the operating handbook are all on board. Structural integrity is noted as being within operational range. Inertial dampening system is checked. EPS, checked. Deflector, checked Environmental systems - uh, let's see here," Everett glanced at some gauges above him, "green, green, and green. We can breathe, hooray!"

He paused for a moment, glancing towards Rayleigh with a smirk.

"One hot-rod lieutenant and a rockin' side-kick? Check. Looks like we're ready for powerup."

Laughing to herself, Rayleigh nodded as items were checked off consecutively, one after the other. Starfleet regulations required the co-pilot to cross check everything, but everything had gone according to plan. This was no great surprise, as the type-nine shuttle that they were currently occupying was the one that she had been working on for most of the day.

"Checked and checked," she smiled to her compatriot. "Well, whenever we get some downtime during the mission, or afterwards - whichever it may be - we'll have to schedule some holodeck time and get your hours built up. After that, I'll get you set up for a check ride. We've got several designated examiners aboard the ship, so when the time comes you'll get to choose."

"That sounds great," Galloway retorted. "I'll go by the holodeck tomorrow after my shift and see when there's some time available that we can reserve."

"Sound good to me," Carver replied.

"Hey, listen. I really appreciate this. I know that we've all got our own jobs to take care of, so thanks for making time for me."

"Anytime," she replied. "You know how it is with us pilots - we take care of our own. I don't know how busy I'm going to be with instructing, but we'll find some time to get your stuff knocked out - even if it means burning the candle at both ends to get it done."

Rayleigh was going to be busy with training what was essentially two separate departments, but that did not take away any validity from her statement. Her hands flew over the overhead panel as switch after switch was replaced to its cold and dark position. Soon, the two of them were left in their seats with just the light from the shuttle bay filtering in.

"Well," Everett began after clearing his throat and making a gesture towards the hatch, "I suppose I'd better be on my way. I have an early shift tomorrow, so I'd better get some rest. Thanks again!"

"Not a problem. Thanks for swinging by flight country. Come back and see us again. You're one of us after all," Rayleigh called after him.

OFF:

Lieutenant JG Rayleigh Carver
Certified Flight Instructor
Starbase 80

and

Lieutenant JG Everett Galloway
Student Pilot | Intelligence Officer
Starbase 80