Midnight Ride

Posted on Mon Dec 26th, 2016 @ 12:25pm by Commodore Kathleen O'Shea

"...wake up, dear. It's time."

He opened his eyes, slightly disoriented for a moment, but rapidly regained full consciousness. Jumping out of bed, he located all of his uniform and quickly dressed. "I need to get a new alarm clock...maybe next year." It was getting a bit harder to wake up on time as the years progressed...but then again, his predecessor had always had the same problem, as did his...so it just seemed to be a part of the job. As he finished dressing, his wife handed him a steaming cup. Taking a gulp, he frowned a bit. "This...sorry dear. I just miss the real thing. This replicated stuff just isn't the same."

"Your always such a grump when you first wake up. Your lucky I made anything for you at all, as busy as I am." She started to leave the bedroom, but stopped at the door. "Oh, the Chief said to tell you that the new payload delivery system still has a few glitches in it, so you need to watch it closely. Any signs of malfunction and you need to switch to manual."

"Great...just what I need." He followed her out of the room and headed for the launch bay. Grabbing the manifest PADD, he quickly scanned the main screen for any last minute changes and, seeing none, walked around the ship for his pre-flight inspection. As he finished, his wife walked in and handed him his coat. "Your gaining weight again...I'm putting you on a diet when you get home." She leaned up and kissed him. "Have a safe journey, my love...I'll be waiting by the fire." Giving her a hug, he entered the ship. Walking passed the cargo holds and replicator bay, he made his final checks before finally making his way to the cockpit. As he started the engines, he contacted flight ops for takeoff clearance while putting his finalized flight plan into the nav computer. As he waited for clearance, one thought flowed through his mind;

"I miss the reindeer."

Merry Christmas

Chris