Giant Steps

Posted on 28 Jul 2016 @ 5:09am by Lieutenant JG Felix Langston
Edited on on 28 Jul 2016 @ 5:55am

1,519 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: MD 3 - 2200 Hrs

Lieutenant Felix Langston walked down the corridor to the holodeck. He placed a hand on his neck and massaged it slightly. He looked up at the lights as he walked and sighed. The Black Hawk would be approaching the nebula within the next couple days. Man, I hope we're ready, Felix thought.

He reached the holodeck and cued up the console, linking his personal PADD to it. "PROGRAM LANGSTON-02 LOADING," the computer readout read as it displayed a status bar.

He looked down to check his wardrobe: as he was off-duty, he wore a pair of slim black trousers, a white shirt, loosened black tie, black and white sneakers, and a black leather jacket. It passed the dress code. "Okay," he said as he stretched his arms out, folded his hands, cracked his knuckles and rolled his head from shoulder to shoulder, "let's do this."

"PROGRAM LANGSTON-02 READY," the computer readout read after Felix unlinked his PADD. "WELCOME TO BIRDLAND."

The doors opened to reveal stairs descending into a large rectangular room with dim lights. There were pastel salmon walls with blue ceilings and white trim. Along the paneled walls were booths that housed young couples and people sipping drinks. People were dressed to the nines and gathered at tables with white linen tablecloths and seated in red chairs with floral backs. They laughed and reveled as they listened to the band onstage. Every so often, a man or woman would raise a glass and the table would cheer. Felix raised a half smile and walked towards the bar.

And what a band it was onstage. Felix looked to see a four-piece ensemble consisting of a pianist, upright bassist, saxophonist, and drummer. They were in the middle of playing "A Train" as he sat at the bar and they were really wailing. The band wore matching tuxedos and were almost aglow in the stage light. The pianist was hunched over the keys, hands moving in a furious flurry to guide and direct the band where to go. The bassist stroked every beat with a fire and passion, ready to ignite the stage while still holding the band together. The drummer seemed to make almost no heavy movement, yet a monstrous sound came with every blow to the skins and cymbals. The saxist's instrument gleamed in the stage light as the player wore shades to shield it. He was sweating but obviously enjoying playing every note that came from his alto sax. Duke would be proud Felix thought as he had a seat. The bartender, a well-dressed black man with a white shirt, black trousers, and black bow tie came up to greet him.

"Mr. Langston! Welcome back!" he said with a warm smile. "What can I get for you?"

"Hey Leonard!" Felix said. "I guess I'll have my usual: just a bourbon and cola. What's new around here? Anything I missed?"

"Nah, nothin much since the last time you were here," the bartender answered as he poured the drink with a flourish of his hands. "Oh, your sister left you a message. You can use the bar phone to check it."

Felix blinked and gave Leonard a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

"Your sister called here, said to dial 783-552 on the phone. That's all I know," Leonard said as he shrugged his shoulders. He put the black rotary-dial phone on the bar in front of Felix. He then caught sight of some other customers and went to go serve them.

Felix stared at the phone, unable to make sense of the current situation. He reached out and grabbed hold of the receiver and held it up to his ear. He heard a steady dial tone drown out the exuberance on and off stage. He took a swig of his drink and spun the numbers into the rotary. 7-8-3. The wheel clicked and whirred. 5-5-2. Then it hit him:

7=S
8=T
3=E
5=L
5=L
2=A

His sister didn't account for rotary phones not having corresponding letters, but he still got the point. He smiled as the phone rang twice. And then he heard his sister's sweet, sing-song voice on the other end.

"Hey Goofball, Sissypants here," Elizabeth's voice said. Felix shook his head as he chuckled a bit.

"Look, I know you're probably confused as hell trying to figure out how I'm talking to you through a rotary phone in a holodeck sim. Bottom line, your sister is an engineer extraordinaire and I snuck this alteration into your Birdland program before you left. I know you always cue this up when you're having a stressful day or when you really need to unwind. I don't know where your ship is or what you're about to do, but I know it's big - hence your use of the program. I'm here to tell you it's all right. It'll be all right. We both signed up and donned the uniform because we want to explore and discover and sometimes that's dangerous."

Felix rested the elbow of his hand holding the receiver on the bar. He lifted his drink from the bar and gave it a little sip. The sweetness and burn made him feel slightly more at ease. The band had just wrapped "A Train" as the audience erupted into unanimous applause. The drummer started playing a steady 3-beat as the band went into a rendition of Coltrane's "My Favorite Things." He smiled another half-smile and then turned his barstool towards the band as his sister continued.

"I know you've got people under you and that makes you nervous. Just know that I believe in you, and so does Ray, and Petey and Uncle Ulysses and everyone else at home. I'm rooting for you and I know that you're gonna do great things. And whenever you get lonely or homesick, just think of Aunt Imogen's restaurant back home, or how Ray always wants us to write 'go Ray' as 'G-E-A-U-X Ray' whenever we make signs for his football games at home. Now, you're taking on whatever the galaxy throws at you and kicking its tail in the process. You're taking giant steps, Fe. I love ya and I'm proud of you. Oh, PS, the band's about to do something cool. Later!" The line went quiet and Felix fought back a tear as he hung up the phone

With that, the band finished playing "My Favorite Things" as the crowd erupted into another round of applause. The pianist got up from his bench and stepped up to the mic at the front of the stage while clearing his throat.

"Thank you, thank you all," he said while flashing a toothy smile. "We hoped you've enjoyed yourselves and the music here at Birdland this evening. Now, if I understand correctly, we've got a special guest with us tonight and it'd make us happy if he could come up here and sit in for a couple songs. All the way from New Orleans..."

Felix felt a surge of adrenaline run through his veins as the pianist said "New Orleans."

"...Mister Felix 'The Cat' Langston!" the pianist finished. He led the crowd in applauding the young man as he walked to the stage, waving at the tables as he approached the stairs. He shook the pianist's hand and smiled, taking the moment in. He looked over at the piano, a black baby grand Yamaha glinting in the stage light. Its keys were nearly new and it had sounded amazing when the band was playing earlier. He sat down on the cushioned leather of the bench, using the knob on the side to slightly adjust it. He played a few chords and pressed the sustain pedal to test out the action and it felt amazing under his hands.

"So, Mr. Langston," the pianist said, still smiling, "what are you gonna play for us tonight?"

"Well," Felix said, contemplating. "I know it's a scorcher, let's play some 'Giant Steps' for these folks." The crowd erupted into applause.

The pianist raised his eyebrows, both as part of his onstage theatrics and partially due to the audacity of the young man's request. "You sure you can handle it?" he asked.

"Oh yes, sir," Felix answered. "It's my dad's favorite record, I used to play along with it all the time."

The pianist nodded at Felix and waved a hand towards the band. "Well, then, ladies and gentlemen of Birdland, I give you The Bon-Tones featuring Felix Langston playing 'Giant Steps' by John Coltrane!" The crowd erupted into applause again. The musicians all nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

"Alright, y'all," Felix said to the band, the audience, and himself. "Hold onto something."

The drummer clicked four times and the band was off to a quick start. The chord changes came fast and furious, each one a giant step from the last as the band kept time like a well-oiled machine. Felix smiled as his hands moved swiftly over the piano keys. He knew if he could handle this, the nebula wouldn't be a problem at all.

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July Off-Duty Writing Challenge Entry

 

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