Part of USS Opharus: First Steps and Bravo Fleet: The Lost Fleet

The Last Two

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Theo couldn’t help the startled yelp that escaped his mouth as the shuttle dove wildly down toward the superstructure of Starbase Bravo. They had dropped from warp only a few moments earlier and as soon as they were back at sublight speeds, the pilot, who he just found out was going to be piloting the ship he had been newly assigned to, threw the throttles on the shuttle wide open. His reaction just caused the pilot to beam widely.

“Where’s your sense of adventure sir,” Niobe said, as she slide around a Saber class in the parking lane. “I haven’t crashed once, hell I haven’t even chipped the paint.”

“I find that very hard to believe,” Theo replied. “Also, you do see that warp nacelle right in front of us, right?”

Niobe rolled her eyes. “Of course I do, you need to learn to lighten up a little.”

They coasted over the top of the nacelle. “I have everything under control. We’re going to have to learn to work together, especially since you’re the new chief engineer.”

“Of which I would very like to spend at least one day being,” Theo said. “Please tell me that you aren’t going to fly the ship like this?”

Niobe winked at him. “Only if the captain asks me to.”

Theo thought she was joking, but judging by her semi-sinister grin, she wasn’t. He made a mental note to double-check all of the ship’s flight control systems as soon as he got aboard, just to make sure that Petty Officer Watts hadn’t modified them. She dove to the side, narrowly missing a Cardassin freighter. 

“You might want to contact traffic control,” Niobe said, as she settled into a more appropriate approach pattern. 

Theo tapped his station. “Starbase Bravo this is shuttlecraft Camden, requesting approach vector for docking maneuvers.”

“Continue on the current approach vector, prepare for remote piloting.”

Niobe leaned back in her chair and kicked her feet up. “And now the computer takes over and does all the boring parts.”

At least with the computer flying they weren’t going to bounce off an engine nacelle, Theo thought. But he decided to keep his mouth shut. He’d have to work closely with the petty officer and didn’t want to start out with bad blood between the two of them. 

“Are you looking forward to this assignment?” Niobe asked.

“I guess so,” Theo shrugged. “I just wanted to get far away from ESD.”

“I don’t blame you, I’m so glad that I got reassigned out here. After the incident at my last post, I thought I’d be assigned to some backwater transporter post or something.”

“What do you mean incident?” Theo asked.

Niobe waved the comment away. “Nothing really, hardly worth mentioning.”

Theo opened his mouth to ask about it anyway but then quickly shut it. He knew that he wouldn’t want her prying into his own past so, he decided not to say anything, at least not yet. He could always see what he could dig up from her personnel file later anyway. Moments later, the shuttlecraft sailed through one of the smaller docking bays and then settled onto the deck.

Niobe stood up and stretched. “Alright, let’s go meet this CO and hope that he’s not a tightass like my last one.”

Theo said nothing as he stood up. He just hoped the CO wasn’t anywhere anything like their helmsmen otherwise he’d have to seriously reconsider his assignment. 

 

 

 

Comments

  • I truly enjoyed this chapter. The banter between Theo and Niobe was a humorous introduction to the dynamic between the two. I can't wait to see how this develops as the story progresses and read about the shennanigans the Opharus will no doubt get up to. Although humorous, every Commanding Officer often has those second thoughts and there is great potential coming. I can't wait to see what happens next!

    June 14, 2023
  • I enjoyed the free-spiritedness of the young pilot and the worry of the engineer. Kinda chuckled as I read the story, I can see that there is going to be a dynamic between the two, and love it already. Now you have me curious as to what this incident was as well, ya have to tell us some time as I am sure that would be a great story to tell. Everyone has their baggage, their experiences and I loved that the pilot seem so sure of herself as she flew the shuttle until she couldn't no more. The anxiety that was on the engineer's face, the worry they would bounce off another ship that was in their path was great! Can't wait to see how things play out! Keep up the great work!

    June 17, 2023