The Great Bird of the Black Hawk

Posted on 19 Jan 2016 @ 6:47pm by Ensign Kelly Khan & Commander Terry Walsh

1,595 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Rude Awakening
Location: Flight Deck
Timeline: Shortly after Leaving DS11

Once she had been cleared and assigned a quarters on the Black Hawk, she immediately headed down to the Flight Deck to inspect the various shuttles and runabouts that the ship had on her. While she wasn't really impressed with being assigned to such a small ship, she had to admit that for its size, it had a nice compliment of shuttles on it and seemed geared to handle most things. It was also a very maneuverable ship for its class and wouldn't have been sent to the Gamma Quadrant if it couldn't handle the turbulent scenario currently playing out.

Kelly arrived at the flight deck and began to approach one of the Danube-Class Runabouts, intent on giving it a thorough check to see if it had been modified.

Terry had just arrived on the Flight Deck. He had been so busy with duties as the Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer that he hadn’t had much time to really take a walk around the area where the shuttles and runabouts were housed. He most likely wouldn’t be able to actually get into one for quite a while, either. He really had a lot to do in Flight Control. But for now, he was able to get a quick look at least.

As he was taking in the scene, he saw a Cadet approaching a Danube-Class Runabout. Time to get to know some of the crew, he thought. He made his way up to the runabout.

“Afternoon, Cadet. How’s it look?”

Kelly came to immediate attention where she stood by the runabout. "Sir! It looks good, Lieutenant," she snapped crisply, terrified that she was going to be sent off the flight deck.

Terry grinned and then replied, “At ease, Cadet. You can take it back to one quarter impulse. Lieutenant Terry Walsh at your service,” he said jokingly. “So what brings you down the Flight Deck?” He fully remembered what it had been like in the Academy for him, though it was a long time ago in comparison.

"I just wanted to check out the shuttles and runabouts, Lieutenant Walsh," Kelly said as she relaxed a fraction. The guy was big. Really big. He was a giant next to her and she had to crane her neck to look up at him. "A pilot is only as good as the craft they fly, Sir and the only way they know how good a craft is, is to inspect it from the ground up."

“Agreed,” Walsh nodded. “Proceed with your inspection.” It was sort of a test and she was probably smart enough to figure that out. “So you’re in the Flight Courses at the Academy? Is that, uh, what was his name...Breckinridge. Yeah, that’s it, Breckinridge. Is that old guy still teaching Advanced Warp Systems?”

"He's still there and beating down cadets verbally for the slightest mistake," Kelly said. "I had a Commander Bannerman for Flight. Guy thought he knew everything and that being a pilot was...sexy. I personally had another name for him." She began to make her way around the Tigris. "Looks like she's equipped with Science sensor pods, which means no standard flights for her."

“Yeah, I remember those verbal beat downs all too well. His class was one I could never completely wrap my mind around. But you’re right, most of them did think they knew everything. ‘After all that’s why we’re at Starfleet Academy, to pour everything we know into the next generation of pilots.’ I got so sick of hearing that.” He watched as the Cadet walked around the Tigris. “Good catch. I don’t see this one being used for standard flights too much, either. Standard missions or general use would probably the Mississippi over there.” Terry gestured a couple of spots down where the other Danube-Class runabout was sitting.

"I took engineering as my secondary," Kelly said as she looked down at the Mississippi. "That one looks like a standard Danube class. They're really versatile and can be modded out pretty easily if you have what you need. Some people rave about the Type Eleven shuttles, but they still can't stand up to a runabout in my book."

“I imagine the Type Eleven’s more as a diplomatic sort of a thing. You know, when the Captain wants to show off a bit.” Terry paused and realized all he knew to call the young Cadet was, Cadet. “So Cadet Pilot, would you like to inspect the inside?”

"I would figure that a Sovereign Class yacht would be more suiting to the PADD pushers." Kelly suddenly realized that she hadn't introduced herself. "Kelly Khan, Sir. Cadet Senior class. I would love to. I was in Nova Squad when I was at the Academy and since you're a pilot, my call sign is Conga."

“Cadet Khan, huh. Well, this way to the inside.” Terry led the way around the runabout to the entrance. “Conga...like the dance. That’ll be easy to remember. Mine’s Rocco.” He stopped and stepped back to allow Cadet Khan in first. “After you.”

Kelly blushed. "Yeah...like the dance." She stepped inside and headed for the cockpit. Since it was powered down, she glanced at him. "Permission to do a pre-flight, Sir?"

“That’s as far as we’ll go, Cadet. We can’t take her out. But go ahead with your pre-flight.” Terry had no idea why she was blushing, but decided not to press the matter. A Nova Squad Cadet should have no problems with a pre-flight.

Kelly sat in the pilots seat and began to run down the checklist. She checked the last maintenance sign off to ensure the craft is listed space-worthy. After that, she performed a visual and physical checks on all instruments and the plug in joystick if being used. Once that was done, she began to power up all the systems began to run diagnostics to make sure that everything was in running order. "It looks like this beauty is fully operational and ready to fly, Sir."

Terry looked over the readouts to confirm. “Yep, ready to go, good job Cadet. Now power her down. Maybe I can put in a request sometime for a Cadet Training Flight during some downtime.”

Kelly smiled and began to power down all the systems and made an entry log to indicate that she had checked it out. She looked at the massive Lieutenant and gave him a bright smile. "I would love that, Lieutenant. I have about three thousand hours of flight time in total between simulators and actual hands on."

“That’s a lot of hours,” said Terry. “We need to see if we can get you more hands on than simulator, though. On a different note, you said earlier that you took engineering as your secondary. Plan on working on your own runabouts? Or fighters?”

"I took it as my secondary so I would know what the exact tolerances of the vessels I plan to fly are," Kelly said. "I want to know the precise amount of stress I can put on structural integrity fields. I want to be able to understand what the engineers are telling me, and I want to be able to do work on them myself. One day, I plan on being a test pilot for the newest ships of the fleet."

“Not to sound like the Academy, but you have great goals. You’ve got plans and the desire to see those plans through, Cadet. Keep at it. There’s not much an Assistant FCO and Chief Support Craft pilot can do, but if you’re serious about Flight, keep me in mind. I’ll help when and where I can.” Then he smiled his trademark half grin and said, “I wouldn’t be me, though, if I didn’t tell you to enjoy life. Do your job and do it right, but know how relax and have fun. There are already too many ‘starched collars’ in Starfleet with pips on them. They don’t need anymore. Got it?”

"Oh, yes, Sir!" Kelly said, her eyes bright and mischievous. "If there's one thing other than flight that I do well, it's have fun, Lieutenant. I know exactly how short life is. When I reach my goal, I fully plan to implement policy dictating that personnel in my division get fun breaks if there isn't an emergency going on."

Terry laughed. “Fun breaks during regular days and duties, that sounds like fun.” He sighed a little bit, catching his breath. “I think we’re done here,” he said, moving towards the Tigris’ exit. “If you’d like to browse the Flight Deck some more, I can arrange for an escort. Just so there are no problems. I’m not sure how anyone else would react to a Cadet on the Deck.”

"Understood, Lieutenant," Kelly said. "Really, I just wanted to take a look around. Thank you for letting me run through the checklist and power the Tigris up, Sir." She exited the Tigris behind him, noting that he had a nice butt.

“Not a problem, Cadet.” He motioned to an Ensign standing near one of the Type-18 Shuttlepods, PADD in hand. “That’s Ensign Donavon. She’s one of the shuttlecraft pilots. If you need anything or want to keep looking around, she’ll help you out.” Terry turned to walk away, “Enjoy the rest of your visit.”

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