Joyride
Posted on Mon Jan 22nd, 2024 @ 10:58pm by Commander Jenna Ramthorne
Mission:
The Beginning of the End
Location: Earth - Spacedock
Timeline: Current-ish
Joyride
Starbase One was, to put it bluntly, massive. A hub of constant activity, thousands of travelers passed through her doorways each day. She moved through the main holding deck with ease, yet like a nubile duckling barely able to hold back her excitement. Beyond the large windows which separated the main hangar from the commons, sat three new line ships waiting to be boarded. Each one glistening with new paint and sparkling with vibrant colors of blue and white. Any one of which could be her designated station, of which she had yet to be informed.
Making her way across the familiar deck, she spotted the Quartermaster and made a B-line in his direction. Stopping short, she pulled out her PADD and offered it to him. He was so busy directing traffic, of a personnel sort, that he barely looked at her face before checking her PADD and then pointing her at the shuttles. “Shuttle Phoenix, landing bay 2C.” He responded and then carried on with the next.
“Thanks.” She replied as she took her PADD back and looked off in the direction of the shuttles. A shuttle probably meant she was not going to one of the newer ships in the bay, since they were connected to gang planks, long tethers for foot traffic.
As she picked herself up, her bag and all, and began walking away, the color of her hair and the tone in her voice caught the Quartermaster’s attention. He watched her walk away, his skin growing pale, his eyes wide, which normally wouldn’t have been abnormal as he was a Chamelloid, but this was different. This was as if he had seen a familial fear walking around with the living. Hand shaking, he tapped his comm badge. “Sir, you wanted me to report anything troubling? Well, she’s back.”
“Who’s back?” Came the response.
“Jenna Ramthorne, Sir.” His voice was shaky as though shit were about to hit an electrical turbine.
“Where?”
“Landing Pad 2C. Shuttle Phoenix.”
“Thank you.” came the simple response, and then the line went dead.
Jenna meanwhile, had traversed the landing steps, taken the lift down to the shuttle bay area and was looking at a map to refamiliarize herself with the layout. It was one thing to have worked this bay inside and out for 2 years, a completely different thing to board a shuttle as a passenger. She checked the map, looked out over the shuttle area, then checked the map again to be sure.
Confident in her destination, she hefted her bags and carried on, arriving minutes later at a Class IV transport pod. Just outside the pod stood a young man who was looking over a manifest like he was bored and would rather be anywhere else. Jenna approached within two feet, stopped, and offered the boy, by the looks of him, her data PADD with her official transfer paperwork and destination.
Without looking up, he snatched the PADD, flipped it and gave it a glance over. “USS Tecumseh, huh? Not a bad little ship. Took a hit at the battle to retake DS9, but she’ll get you where you need to go. I’m clutch and I will be your pilot… wait just a minute.” He looked up at her with a side eye, “You wouldn’t happen to be THEE Jenna Ramthorne, would you?”
She rolled her eyes and moved into the shuttle interior to stash her carry-on. “Depends on who’s asking and why, I suppose.” She closed the compartment and turned around to face a very up close and personal Clutch, in her bubble. The look on his face was one of joy and excitement. “Um, am I your only passenger or what? I’d like to get underway.”
He backed off a bit, “I have heard all about your exploits and I must say I’m a big fan. A few years ago, the deck Commander couldn’t stop talking about how you used to run cargo here. He called you the most efficient SOB he had ever had the pleasure to work with.” She didn’t respond so he continued. “He also said you were a hot shot who had trouble with authority. Did you really buzz the flight control tower?”
Jenna smiled broadly, “More than once.” She wrinkled her nose. “But those days are in the past now. I haven’t flown in years.” In her mind she quickly calculated the number of years since she was last piloting the shuttle Vendetta and realized it was maybe not long enough.
He frowned, “Would you mind showing me? I would really love to see how you manage to manipulate the controls, please?”
She shook her head, “I’m not sure that is a good idea.”
“Oh come on, please? Why not?”
She grinned devilishly, “Because I’m sure you haven’t pissed your pants yet today, and I would hate for that to change.”
He squinted, “Like that could happen. She’s a Mark IV transport pod, not a Class X Fighter or a Perigrin. For old times sake, you know you want to.” He played upon her heart strings, all she had ever wanted to do was fly and now he was practically giving her the chance.
She squinted at him in disbelief, “No tricks, no weird game? You’re not going to report me to the council are you?”
“What council?” He asked, sounding innocent.
She listened close but could not detect deceit in the beating of his heart. “Fine. But you better hold on to something, and you should probably authorize clearance for departure.” She said as she slid into the pilot's seat, with him sliding in beside her.
Her hands moved over the controls, a smooth to the touch tactile feeling. Everything was familiar and right where it belonged. Her senses were alive once more, ready to dance.
“Shuttle Romeo-Echo-Delta-Niner-Niner, Code Phoenix ready for departure from pad 2-Charlie. Destination U.S.S. Tecumseh using alternate routing.” Clutch called out to the control center.
“Go for launch Phoenix, wait, did you say alternate routing? Come again Phoenix?”
Jenna smiled as the engine whined, “Hold on.”
Shaking, the shuttle lifted off the deck with the grace of a drunken ox. The power of the engines rattled through the console and into her bones bringing to life an old feeling, one of pure and raw emotion. The ship was telling her it was alive and ready for flight.
Clutch reached out to the console, “Engaging stabilizers.”
But she stopped him, “Don’t. She’ll be fine without them.” She closed her eyes briefly and pictured the shuttle, the surrounding body of the bay, the doors and a flood of memories came rushing back all at once. She double-tapped the thruster controls even before her eyes opened, launching the shuttle forward.
What followed next was a kickstart double shot of adrenaline to her heart as the shuttle blasted past the docked shuttles one after another, then launched out of the bay into space itself. Her heart beat with every course correction as she dipped down from the bay, cruising the shuttle along a parallel line approximately a foot away from the station itself.
The people inside looking out the windows would only see a blur as the shuttle passed at full thrust. Jenna liked to imagine how many of them were scared enough to be knocked backward. It was smile-worthy.
As the shuttle passed the larger environmental ring, there was a sharp angle inward. Jenna used this to invert the shuttle so that now their heads were inches from the skin of the space station. Instead of going down and around the power core, she rounded the environmental section, once, twice and on the third go round angeled the pod upward towards the belly of the main docking station.
Not once did she look at Clutch until she performed her next feat. As they approached the belly of the docking port, she calculated trajectory and vector, inputted her calculations and pressed the controls as if she were still a shuttle pilot. The pod approached the belly, rotated 90 degrees, stopped briefly, mere inches from the station, then launched outward once more.
She took that moment and looked at Clutch, “Years ago I could stop within three inches. Must be losing my touch.” The rest of the flight consisted of up and around the docking ring, a close flyby of the command towers which had them screaming on the comms, then a lazy fly out to the Tecumseh.
As the ship docked, she stood up like it was an everyday occurrence. “Well, thanks for the ride, I suppose.” She watched as Clutch, shaking from fear, stood up. She eyed him up and down, “Oh dear, looks like I’ve fixed that piss in your pants issue. Sorry about that.” She smiled as she tossed her bag over her shoulder and exited the pod, orders firmly in hand. “Thanks again Clutch.”
TBC
