Shuttle Ride

Posted on 21 Jan 2020 @ 3:19pm by Lieutenant Zayna Ryler & Commodore Harvey Geisler

2,220 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Epilogue
Location: Gamma Command
Timeline: August 2389, after "A New Home"

Perfect. Just perfect.

Of all of the times for the Black Hawk's transporters to be taken offline for diagnostics, it was when Harvey was already half an hour late for dinner. The drydocks had been intentionally left out of transporter range from both the planet and the station in order to keep them secure, especially after the Consortium crisis. He was left with no other option but to take a shuttle back to his home.

Harvey arrived in the station's shuttlebay only to discover that the situation could get worse. The shuttlebay was empty, and the transit schedule shone mostly in red, announcing that the usual shuttle compliment was already in full employ. Harvey practically cheered when he saw that there was still a shuttle available, and that it's next scheduled stop was none other than the USS Black Hawk. He didn't care at all that it was an older Type-6. As long as it worked, what did it matter?

The Captain made his way to the shuttle, and found it unoccupied, save for an ensign at the helm. "Ensign," Harvey greeted the sole occupant as he walked up the ramp, "How many more are you waiting on?"

"Just one, sir," the pilot said after looking behind him. "A Lieutenant Ryler."

"Ryler?" Harvey echoed, not recognizing the name. He wondered the officer was some sort of engineering specialist or something due to work on one of many complicated projects the Black Hawk currently had to offer. Hoping he didn't have to wait long, he took a seat on the rear bench and started to look at one of the several padds he carried.

Hearing her name said as she got to the shuttle bay, Zayna peeked her head into the only shuttle she saw, assuming it was the one she was told to take. Her other bags had been sent ahead of her, but she had one still on her shoulder. "That would be me, Captain." She raised an eyebrow slightly as she stepped into the shuttle. "This is the shuttle to the Black Hawk, right?"

"The one and only," the ensign at the helm replied. He tapped a series of commands, and the ramp began to close. "Captain and Lieutenant, this is Flight Three Nine Zero Alpha, traveling today from Gamma Command to the USS Black Hawk. Please stay seated at all times, and keep your tray tables in an upright position throughout the flight. Thank you for flying Gamma Airlines, and enjoy your travels."

Harvey shot the ensign a look, even though he got it. It was a long day, and one had to find a way to make it enjoyable on occasion.

Unable to contain a smirk as she found her seat, Zayna glanced over to the Captain. "You wouldn't happen to be Captain Geisler, would you? If so, its a surprise to me that I'm traveling with the captain of the ship I was just assigned to."

"I am indeed," Harvey said with a nod, putting his padd down for now. Thankfully, it had contained a few notices about some personnel changes, including several to the science compliment. "And, as we've established, you're Lieutenant Ryler. And by the looks of it, you're in our sciences division."

"That's what I was told. Something about an assistant chief of the department from my understanding." She dug around in her bag for a moment, finally finding her transfer orders, "I've had quite a few of these so far this year. Hopefully I don't again for a while. I'm surprised they don't have the ship in transporter range though. When I heard I had to take a shuttle, it was a bit unusual."

Harvey skimmed the padd she handed over and was able to verify their authenticity. "You can thank the Consortium and their antics from the last year. We had kept everything within transporter range of each other, and that was used to accelerate their efforts to seize control of the planet. It's forced us to implement some extra security, despite how inconvenient it is for us regular working folks." He affixed his thumbprint and handed Zayna back the padd. "How is your first time in the Gamma Quadrant, then?"

Taking the PADD back, Zayna gave a small shrug, "So far it has all been work. But it is better than dealing with Klingons honestly. If I can avoid explosions like that for a few months, I'll take it. Plus, I just had to get away from things. But I'm glad to be out here, even if the ship is under repair at the moment."

"Klingons..." Harvey muttered prior to issuing a hearty chuckle of his own. "I would have traded all of the last eight months just to square off just once with the Klingons."

"Lost quite a few good people during the battle, but in the end we won. I heard about the adventures the Black Hawk had before ending up here. Well, rumors about it at least. That's what happens when all you've worked on for over a month is parts for one ship." She smiled softly, "Also, I'm hoping that someone doesn't realize I'm out here and doesn't go looking." She bit her lip, "Err..all that should be in my information too."

Harvey leaned back and rested his back against the shuttle's wall just as the craft shook a little bit from turbulence. The pilot didn't say anything of it, so Harvey left it alone for now. "It seems like everyone's running from something," he observed. "Hopefully whatever that is keeps its distance. What sort of rumors have you heard?"

Glancing to the pilot herself, Zayna shook her head, "It better keeps its distance, else it'll be arrested and sent back to Earth. As for rumors? Oh, more so just how much damage the ship took and how long it is taking to repair. Crazy travels and such. When science officers start to speculate on things, it gets interesting."

The Captain chuckled. "You should have seen my last command and what happened when we mixed a tricobalt, thalaron generator, and a Mutara-class nebula. We wound up punching a hole into an alternate universe. The damage we picked up on that mission was something else."

"That is a dangerous combination, Captain. Either one of those and a Mutara-class nebula, let alone both. Alternate universes are nothing to mess with." She shrugged slightly, "I might like temporal mechanics, but hate being a part of time travel or alternate universes. Studying it, to me, is more fun."

"That's easy for you to say," Harvey retorted, attempting to keep a smirk from forming on his face. "I swear, half of Starfleet is figuring out how to undo the things you did on accident, and the other half is keeping others from doing something just as stupid." He sighed, adding, "Well, for someone who enjoys temporal mechanics, we've got a handful of our own case studies that I'm sure you would find interesting. Probably could have used you on our last mission too, but I think we're all glad that one is behind us now."

Smirking herself, "Only if you feel like sharing, I wouldn't mind some reading material. The case studies I mean. But you're right on the Starfleet breakdown. Either undoing accidents or preventing them. We all have things, though, that I think we're glad are behind us."

"Coming up on the Black Hawk now," called the pilot.

Harvey turned and looked out the viewport and watched the sunlight reflect on the ship's hull. It was not a sight he often got to see, especially since most of his comings and goings to the ship had been through a transporter. In fact, that last time he remembered looking up at the Black Hawk from a distance, it was just before ramming the ship with a runabout. "There she is," he said to Zayna. "What do you think?"

Looking over at the viewport, a wide smile crossed Zayna's face. "Wow...That is just...wow." She glanced to the captain then back out the viewport. "That's seriously the Black Hawk?"

"Were you expecting something bigger?" Harvey asked, chuckling a bit. "She's no Nebula or Galaxy, but she's sleek, fast, and takes good care of us all."

"What else can anyone ask for? Doesn't matter the size of the ship as long as it doesn't turn on you." She glanced back to him, "A few of my friends have dealt with ships with system issues that seemed to turn it against them." She looked back one more time. "Didn't think I'd be anxious to get on board but, I am."

Harvey shook his head. "I've never had my ship turn on me. Had a few bad seeds though." He didn't mention anything about the Consortium or the Dolmoqour, after all, it wasn't worth scaring the new recruits, regardless of the two pips on her uniform. "Someone once told me that as long as you treat her right, she'll always bring you back home. Certainly is true."

Nodding, Zayna let out a soft sigh. "Hopefully this one will treat us all right once she's all fixed and has her crew again."

"Beginning final approach," the pilot announced to his passengers. By now, the massive flight deck doors could be seen, along with a couple workbees passing by them, carrying some new hull plating.

"Indeed she will," Harvey murmured confidently.

Looking at the workbees, Zay smiled. "I'm getting the feeling I'll be put right to work, especially considering what I was working on prior to the reassignment. Not that I'm complaining. At least I'll have a place to unpack my things."

"Plenty of amenities," the Captain offered with a shrug. "Arboretum, holodecks, gyms, performance hall. Believe it or not, we've actually managed to keep a swimming pool intact on the ship this whole time. The quarters are spacious too. With your rank and position, you'll be entitled to a private set of quarters."

"The pool stayed intact? That is impressive. Believe it or not, I'm glad there is a gym and a pool. Helps me relax, which might seem odd for a science officer. But, it truly does." She grinned at the information about her quarters. "I haven't shared quarters since I was an ensign, and that seems forever ago. Unless you count a few transport ships between postings. I'll be glad for the privacy."

"Doesn't seem odd at all. My own background is in medicine. We all have our own ways of relieving stress and relaxing." Harvey sighed. "Just don't get all caught up in your work that you miss life happening all around you. I made that mistake once, and I hope to never repeat it."

Zayna shook her head, "I've done that before, it wasn't a fun thing. I plan on making sure I do as much relaxing as possible. Though, experiments tend to help me relax."

"Then you should definitely enjoy our science labs. Every single unit was state of the art when we launched last year. If I know Commander Djinx, he'll be making sure they stay that way."

"State of the art a year ago? That's better than most things I've been in lately. Commander Djinx is the science chief, right? Looks like another meeting for me at some point before we launch."

Harvey nodded as the shuttle entered the flight deck. The viewport now obscured all of the action from its narrow viewpoint, meaning they would soon be powering down and free to board the massive ship. "He is. He's normally in the labs down on Deck Thirteen. Joined Trill, been keeping to himself a lot lately. I'm sure he'd love to meet you."

Zayna nodded, "Once I get a few things unpacked, I'll check in with him. He'll probably be glad to have an assistant chief on board."

The pilot landed the shuttle and began to cool down the engines. "Thank you for flying Gamma Transit Shuttle Lines," said the ensign, turning around in his seat to face the Captain and the Lieutenant. He stood a moment later and walked to the back of the shuttle to lower the ramp. "We hope you enjoyed our flight and that you will consider us for your next journey instead of the simple transporter."

Unable to contain another smirk, Zayna picked her bag back up. "Why thank you, ensign. It was a nice flight." She looked to Geisler again. "I suppose I'll see you again at some point. I'm assuming you have family of some type to get back to tonight?"

"I do," Harvey confirmed, leading the way to the aft ramp. "As for seeing me again, I'm sure of it. Don't think that just because I'm the Captain that I'm inaccessible either. You'll probably see me during my weekly inspections, or in various briefings, et cetera."

"That sounds like a plan to me, Captain. Now to see if I can find my way to my quarters so I can get unpacking."

Harvey nodded to Zayna, adding, "Of course, Lieutenant. And, officially, welcome aboard." With that, the Captain turned and disappeared into the crowds of personnel on the bustling flight deck.

"Thank you Captain," She said before he disappeared. She then found her own path through the crowd, hoping it was an easy path to her destination.

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