Reality

Posted on Thu Mar 19th, 2015 @ 6:46pm by Commander Eliana Masters

Mission: Bloodpath
Location: Taranok IV
Timeline: After "Into the Maelstrom"

Moonlight filtered down through the atmosphere, illuminating the landscape just enough so that walking about the encampment could be accomplished without any great hazard to health or dignity. The jagged peaks of the distant mountain range could not be resolved as such during the dead of night, but the crisp wind blowing through could be felt by all. Tarakan families were deep in slumber, many of them resting after another day of simply surviving the circumstances that had been forced upon them.

A cosmic blink of an eye ago, aliens were nothing more than the work of fiction to the Tarakans, playing out their roles as hero and villain safely restricted to the printed page or the silver screen. Then somewhere, some night, some innocent child had silently wished for his favorite stories to turn to reality. He wanted nothing more than to see his action figures come to life and save the world from some unknown alien menace.

“I just want to go back to sleep.”

Eliana stepped out into the Tarakan night. A summons had disturbed her slumber, and the reason behind the late night call guaranteed that the night’s rest was over. Her end goal was to get off the planet (again) with one of the new Arrow runabouts. Bonus points for keeping the entire situation as quiet as possible. Masters set off towards her goal, but the going was slow. She was a quart low on energy and even lower on enthusiasm and verve.

For a split second, the thought of walking back across the encampment and crawling into a bunk crossed her mind. Or maybe someone would crawl into a bunk with her and they could forget about their problems together.

“Ma’am?”

Masters froze to the ground, stricken immobile by the sound of another voice.

“Ma’am, are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Just up a little early. Trouble sleeping, you know how it goes.”

“Alright ma’am. If you need anything, we’re on duty until alpha shift takes over. You know where to find us.”

“Thanks,” Masters managed, swallowing the knot that had formed in her throat.

The petty officer disappeared into the night, leaving Ellie alone with the Tarakan night once again. Refocusing herself, she began to make her way towards the staging area for the various shuttlecraft and runabouts that had found their way to the surface. It was going to be difficult to leave without anyone noticing, but steps could be taken to minimize the disturbance. There was nothing to it, nothing more complicated than sleight of hand, albeit on a much larger scale.

“Where’s the supervisor?” Masters queried one of the line technicians. She already knew exactly who she was looking for.

“Over by the 11 there,” he replied.

The gears were turning, and the plan was in motion. There was a little more determination in Ellie’s gait now. She stopped in the cargo hatch opening of a nearby type 11 shuttle and called out.

“Ensign, come here,” she waved over to the senior shuttlebay manager.

“Yes ma’am, just a moment while we finish inventory.”

Judging by the indifferent tone he was using, he had either not recognized whom he was responding to, or simply did not care. A bold strategy.

“Ensign, if I ask again, I’m going to be disappointed.”

This caused him to look up. That caused him to drop everything and scurry over.

“Apologies ma’am, Ensign Grady Bitetto, night shift manager.”

“I know who you are, now sit down,” Eliana replied as she motioned for him to join her in the shuttle. She closed the hatch, checking around for anyone who might have seen the pseudo-kidnapping, and returned her attention to him.

“Now look, I need to tell you a secret, but you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Anything,” Bitetto nodded.

“No hesitation, I like that. Now, about those Arrows that came in, is it true that they arrived with the flight restriction still active? As in, they should not even be on the ramp in the first place?”

“Yes ma’am. We’ve got them isolated away for now until we get a chance to get to them,” he responded, still not quite seeing the light.

This could not be going any better.

“Okay, here’s what I need to happen. One of those Arrows never arrived. There will be no log entry or mention in any manifest of any kind. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“There can be no record of this. This conversation never happened. You will note in the manifest tomorrow that all craft are present and accounted for,” Eliana leaned in closely, casting her jacket aside and letting her hair fall down. A low cut, form fitting tank top showed just enough to set the imagination ablaze.

“Yes ma’am,” Bitteto gasped. He was gripping his seat as tightly as he could manage.

“Okay, that business,” Masters’ voice changed as she tugged at the bottom of her top, “is done. Now here’s what’s going to happen. I need to get changed into my flight suit and I happen to know someone who’s currently a little short of breath. You can sit and watch, but you should know and understand that this shuttle is sealed up and soundproof. The rest is up to your imagination.”

Perhaps fantasy and reality weren't always mutually exclusive.

OFF:

Commander Eliana Masters
Director of Flight Operations
Second Officer
Starbase 80