Dawa tapped her foot as the turbolift traveled down, down, over three-hundred decks down to Sector Lima-Violet. Although lifts on a station as large as Starbase Bravo were fitted with small inertial dampeners, she still felt a bit dizzy when the doors finally slid open on deck 660.

This didn’t affect the spring in her step as she wove through the busy hangar, scanning the crowd for a face that matched the photo in the personnel file that graced her PADD. Her baseline good mood was bolstered by the fact that she was on an errand with a guaranteed positive outcome: she’d yet to meet a pilot that wouldn’t jump at the chance for extra flight hours.

Finally, she spotted a familiar face in the crowd and zeroed in on the officer that appeared to match her file.

“Excuse me, are you Camden Solari?”

“Yes, si’am, I am Ensign Camden Solari, everybody calls me Cam.” Cam’s eyes widened in terror when he realised what he just clucked out.

“Excuse me, I tried to say ma’am, sir.” immediately regretting his own correction he just ignored it this time, holding on to an idle shimmer of hope that this was all a dream and he just had to wake up.

Dawa laughed, though not unkindly, and reached out to shake the young man’s hand. “Don’t worry about it, ensign. I’m Dawa Vlček, commanding officer of the White Squadron. How’d you like to pick up some hours on an Apsara-class fighter?”

Cam’s eyes widened with surprise and excitement at the unexpected opportunity. “Wow, Commander Vlček, it’s an honor to meet you!” he replied, trying to contain his enthusiasm whilst shaking her hand. “I’d love to get some flight hours on a modern-day Memphis Belle. That’s an incredible offer!”

“Great!” said Dawa. “I’ll put you in the rotation; I’ve already confirmed your availability with your supervisor here in Flight Control.”

Cam’s smile grew even wider, and he couldn’t believe his luck. This was the perfect chance to showcase his abilities and make a positive impression. “Thank you, Commander. I won’t let you down,” he said with determination.

“I have no doubt about that,” Dawa replied, her confidence in him evident. “Come with me, and I’ll show you to the hangar where the Apsara-class fighters are stationed. We’ll get you up to speed and ready for action.”

As they walked through the bustling hangar, Cam’s heart raced with anticipation. This was a dream come true, an unexpected twist of fate that turned his initial disappointment of being stuck on air traffic duty into an incredible opportunity. 

Back in the higher levels of the station, Dawa pressed her hand onto an access panel and led Cam through the doors and onto the hangar deck. 

“I do enjoy getting the chance to show off my squad,” she admitted as she approached the nearest Apsara bomber. She keyed a code into her PADD, and the hatch on the underside of the cockpit opened for them. She led the way up the ladder. “I usually prefer smaller, lighter craft to be honest, but these fighters have really grown on me. Must be my ship-builder heritage: I can’t help but appreciate a well-designed vessel built in limited numbers.”

She made room in the narrow cockpit for Cam to ascend, and once he was up the ladder she gestured to the pilot seat as if to say, ‘Be my guest.’

Cam sat down in the pilot’s seat with a sense of relief. As he sat down his leg started to tremble with excitement and he immediately powered up the ship. Cam thought to himself ‘All my life I have never not been able to fly for such a long period of time, but now that is coming to an end!’

Cam checked if Dawa got seated and asked, “All set, commander?”

Dawa, who barely sat down herself, was impressed with the ease the young ensign readied the bomber. She nodded and matched his determination with a quick, “Go for it, ensign.”

Cam hovered the shuttle to the launching area and hailed flight control. “Starbase Bravo flight control, this is Apsara-class fighter B728 dash Ypsilon dash 4 ready for takeoff.”

“Solari? What the hell are you doing?” Cam could feel the astonishment in Lieutenant Janson’s voice. 

“Commander Vlček invited me to go on a routine patrol, we don’t want any surprises during the Frontier Day festivities do we Lieutenant?” Cam said grinning ear to ear.

“Uh, no uhm, offcou- uhm, you have all green ensign, have a safe flight.” The communique sounded.

“Well, thank you, Lieutenant! I will wave when we pass.” Cam closed the channel with his assistant shift leader and heard Dawa swallow a chuckle. 

“You know, you could have just sent out an automated request?” Dawa asked, though her smile hinted that she already knew the answer.

“Oh, I know, commander,” Cam replied, his eyes holding back tears of laughter.

Dawa shifted her focus to the console in front of her, but her amused smile didn’t waver as she calibrated the tactical station.

Cam played the control panel like a keyboardist that got reunited with his first piano. His leg now trembled in tune with the subtle vibrations caused by the ship’s engines. It felt great, almost like coming home. ‘The gravitational generator need’s some calibration,’ Cam thought to himself as he felt a small push in his stomach as the vessel propelled forward.

“So, about your ship-builder heritage, Utopia Planetia, or one of those smaller but equally impressive spacedock regions?” Cam asked Dawa casually, still trying to repress his nerves about her inviting him along on this incredible opportunity. 

“Oh, not Utopia Planetia, thank goodness,” said Dawa, the smile leaving her face at the mention of the doomed fleet yards. “No, my family’s from Christopher’s Landing on Titan. They’ve been working at the Sol VI shipyards for just about as long as the shipyards have existed. I just decided at some point that I’d rather fly ships than build them, but knowing how they’re put together has certainly come in handy. Perhaps you can relate? I’m sure having such a long history as a pilot–despite being so young–means you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of many a technical manual in your time.”

Cam chuckled as he reminisced the countless hours he’d shared with his father in the cockpits of ageless airplanes “You know, once my dad took me flying in this old, rickety plane he’d been fixing up. We were soaring over San Francisco Bay, enjoying the view, when suddenly the engine sputtered. My heart skipped a beat, but Dad just grinned and said, ‘Did you bring your swimming trunks?’ My heart skipped two more and then he said ‘it looks like we might get an unplanned dip in the bay today!’ Thankfully, he managed to coax the engine back to life, and we landed safely. I think that was the day I realized I inherited my love of flying from him, along with a dash of his knack for adventure.”