Prepping the Mississippi

Posted on 12 Oct 2016 @ 8:31am by Lieutenant JG Felix Langston & Ensign Kelly Khan

2,892 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: Flight Deck
Timeline: MD 8 || 0800 Hours

Lt. Felix Langston made his way to the flight deck, PADD in one hand and toolbox in the other. He was dressed in coveralls that were tied off at the waist and a sleeveless work shirt. His work boots clanked against the deck as he walked onto the flight deck. It had been a while since he had done shuttle modification and maintenance; he hoped he could teach some things to the young ensign in his department.

As Felix approached the Mississippi, he set his tool box down on a nearby workbench and took his PADD out to go over the work order again. "All right," he said to himself, "cargo conversion, seems simple enough. Maybe we can also squeeze a few more kph outta you."

He tapped his COMM badge attached to his work shirt. "Ensign Khan," he said in a pleasant voice, "please report to the shuttle bay. We've got a hands-on lesson on Danube-class runabout modification starting in T-minus five minutes."

Upon getting the summons, the freshly minted Ensign checked her new Command red duty uniform to make sure it was spotless and wrinkle-free, then checked HG before she tapped her combadge. =^=On my way, Lieutenant=^= she responded. She turned about and headed to the turbolift and took it down to the Flight Deck. When she exited, she looked around and then went to where the Chief of Flight was by the Mississippi.

"Ensign Khan reporting, Sir," Kelly said.

Felix looked up from his workbench at the young ensign who had just walked in the room. "Welcome, Ensign," he said with a smile, "thanks for dropping by. The ensign pins look good on you, congratulations." He took the PADD in his hand and extended it to her. "Know what we're getting into today?" he asked.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Kelly said as she looked over at the Mississippi. "You said we were going to be doing some modifications to one of the runabouts. May I ask what type?"

"Glad you asked, Ensign," Felix replied as he walked back over to the workbench. "We're outfitting the Mississippi with a cargo conversion, putting in these cargo pods," he said while motioning toward the awaiting cargo pods.

He grabbed a sonic power drill from the workbench and started walking over to the runabout. "There should be another one of these in my toolbox," he said. "First thing we're gonna do is take the brackets off the runabout and use the power loader to take them out."

Kelly went to get one and then a PADD to call the schematics of a Danube class shuttle up on it, then did an exploded view of it as she came back to set the PADD where it could be seen by both of them. "I love the modular design of the Danube," she said as she set to work. "We should be able to get this done inside of an hour if all goes well and these babies are well maintained. After we get these modules remoted, the cargo pods should slip right into place."

"Right you are, Ensign," Felix said as he started climbing a nearby ladder to get up to the Mississippi's ventral side. "I used to fly these all the time when I was stationed at Deep Space 4," he said. "Great design, if a little bulky. Nowhere near the level of maneuverability as the Delta-class shuttle I flew while I was on the USS Peregrine. Still, you can squeeze quite the performance out of one of these classy ladies if you know how to handle her."

"Anything with wings can be class if you know how to handle her," Kelly said as she moved to the other side and began to disengage the connections.

Felix then put his dark goggles over his eyes and set to work removing the runabout's brackets. He grunted as he came to some resistance and the drill jerked while in his hands. "Tight one there," he said to himself. He then turned his talking toward Kelly, trying his best to devise a pop quiz in his head. "So, Ensign," he said in his best teacher voice, "what can you tell me about this ship? Top speed? Armament capabilities? Go for it."

Kelly wanted to snort but restrained herself. That was a question that an instructor would ask a second year cadet and she had proven herself worthy and competent time and time again to the point where she had gotten an early promotion. "The Danube class runabout has a maximum speed of warp 8.3 with modifications and a cruising speed of warp 4 without modifications."

She paused to make another disconnection and stepped back to looked at him. "Armaments include six type-VI phaser arrays and two microtorpedo tubes. Additionally, she has standard deflector shields."

Felix chuckled to himself as he loosened another bolt. "Gold star, Ensign," he said. "Now what can you tell me specifically about the Mississippi? How does she fly? Any kind of quirks that separate her from the rest of the auxiliary craft? What's the best way to squeeze better performance out of her?"

"She's a solid craft, but when I was taking her to the Chimera, I noticed that I had to compensate a lot more than I should have had to when I was banking and coming in for the landing," Kelly said. "She has a strong engine, though and I think if we adjusted the timing a tiny bit, that would help."

"Good thinking, Ensign," Felix said as he loosened another bolt and put it into the canister beside him. It landed with a loud ka-CHINK as he moved on to the next one. "A good pilot always knows the ships he or she flies, inside and out, and it seems you do know this ship quite well. How's it coming down there?"

"I've almost got it," Kelly said as she removed another connection and heard the pneumatic hiss as the module released on her side. "Yup...that's it for this section. We should have this done in an hour or less. I'm really proud of this ship. She's done a lot and still going strong."

Felix unlocked the last bolt from the topside of the craft and walked over to the ladder. He wiped the sweat from his brow and began to climb down the ladder, jumping to the floor from the second rung. "All right, Ensign," he said, "do you want to do the honors and detach the compartments?" He motioned toward the controls for the power loader.

"Actually, Sir, I'm not qualified for that yet," Kelly said honestly. "I wouldn't want to make an error and damage one of the modules."

"Oh, sorry," Felix said quickly, "that's my bad. I thought you were trained on power loaders. No worries, we'll have an impromptu lesson on power loader controls as well." He walked over toward the console for the mechanism's controls. "When I worked at Deep Space 4, it was the station commander's requirement that all shuttle pilots be trained to operate one of these," he said. "His thought was, you fly it, you mod it."

"I was too busy learning everything else," Kelly responded as she followed him. "Engineering, Flight and Command school kind of took up all of my time."

Felix took a rag from the back pocket of his work coveralls and wiped the sweat from his brow again. He placed the rag on the top of the console as his hands moved to awaken the giant mechanical arms of the shuttle bay's power loader. The machine whirred to life and pneumatics hissed along the outside of its arms. Felix felt a surge of adrenaline that his years of training immediately kept in check. "Here we go," he said.

As Felix's hands moved along the console entering commands, the arms of the power loader moved in slowly and gently toward the loosened compartment of the Mississippi. Felix kept a steady gaze at his target, only glancing down at the console a couple times to check his trajectory as the arms lowered and wrapped around the compartment. "The key, Miss Khan," he said, "is to keep it steady. This isn't a job for the speedy. Kind of like flying a Ronin-class."

The arms of the power loader magnetically found their target and clamped down onto the Mississippi's loosened aft compartment. They connected with a satisfying ka-CHUNK that reverberated through the entire shuttle bay. Felix looked at Kelly and half smiled. "Now for the moment of truth," he said.

"At this point," Kelly said as she watched him and absorbed what he was doing to manipulate the power loader. "It's just a matter of removing the current module and adding on the cargo pods and securing it again."

"Right you are, Ensign," Felix said as he gently guided the power loader's controls. The compartment moved slowly away from the runabout, revealing the inside of the craft. Felix continued his work and the rear compartment found its place in storage. He released the locks and began to guide the arms toward the cargo module. The arms found their target and magnetically clamped on. Felix slowly guided the cargo module toward the incomplete Mississippi, not noticing his tongue slipping out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated.

The cargo module found its new home and magnetically clamped onto the seals. The pneumatics in the docking mechanisms hissed as they went into their rightful places. Felix breathed out slowly. "Capture," he said softly. "Now, it's back to work." He took his rag and stuffed it into his back pocket and started walking back toward the Mississippi.

Kelly wanted to laugh when she saw the Chief's tongue sticking out, but she knew concentration when she saw it and contented herself to a mental snapshot of it. When he clamped the last module into place, she picked up her tool once more and headed back over with him. "I think I have it now, but I'd rather not do it without a bit of practice," she said as she picked up the first bolt and began to put it in place.

"Understandable," Felix said as he picked up his sonic drill and the container of bolts. He made his way back to the ladder and steadily climbed to the Mississippi's top side. He pulled his goggles back over his eyes and set about going back to work. "So what do you think of all that's going on right now?" he asked, curious to hear the young ensign's worldview of the week's events.

The young brunette thought about the question and what she had been through recently as she worked on getting the bolts attached to set the module in place. "Honestly. this isn't what I expected for my senior cruise, Lieutenant," she said. "I never expected to take command of a ship or have to activate the self-destruct codes after helping to scuttle it. I never expected us to end up wherever we are, or a lot of other things. It's been an experience and if it's any indication of how the rest of my career is going to go, I'm torn between wanting to know what's going to happen next and preparing for anything. How about you?"

Felix finished the current bolt and then stopped for a second, contemplating the ensign's question. She wasn't that much younger than him and yet here he was as her superior officer; the person who was supposed to be the one who provided advice and insight for his junior officers. He hoped he was doing a good job. "Y'know, Ensign," he began, "this isn't what I thought it would be as my first post as Chief FCO. In Red Squad, we were taught to try and keep ice water running through our veins, no matter what. But under command of the Cochrane, I saw things I never want to see again. And I have to wonder how my dad dealt with it, you know? Like I have to wonder if I'll just keep seeing more of that stuff like he did during the Dominion War." He paused. "I'm sorry, Ensign, I'm probably not making much sense right now." He went back to work, finishing up his row of bolts. "How's it coming down there?" he asked, quickly trying to change the subject.

Kelly added a second bolt as she listened to the Chief of Flight both answer and avoid her question at the same time. A flicker of annoyance went through her before she dismissed it when he redirected the topic that he had initiated and wondered if Red Squad had actually taught him anything. "We're at war now with the Consortium, Lieutenant," she pointed out. "We just had to take on two Federation starships as well as a Romulan Valdore class ship. I think that qualifies as a wartime situation, don't you?"

"I do," he said dryly, "but that doesn't mean any of us have to enjoy it. But, then again, I guess we can't choose what situations come our way, we just gotta face them head on. We couldn't call ourselves pilots if we didn't." He began to climb down the ladder to rejoin the ensign on the shuttle bay's floor. He set his tools down on the workbench and tapped a few commands on the console. "Okay, Ms. Khan," he said, "I'm about to run a diagnostic if you're finished."

The short Ensign finished the last connection and stepped back. "No one is enjoying it," she said quietly. "If there was a single person who ever enjoyed something like this, they wouldn't be fit to wear a uniform. We should be ready."

"Got that right," Felix said, punching some commands into the console. "Alright then. Computer, run a Level 5 diagnostic on the Mississippi's new cargo compartment. I want to make sure it's all sealed and ready to go."

"AFFIRMATIVE," the computer's voice said after giving the acknowledging beep. There was a brief pause for a couple seconds, then came the result. "MODULE SEALS COMPLETELY INTACT. RUNABOUT HULL INTEGRITY AT ONE HUNDRED PERCENT." Felix clapped his hands together. "All right!" he said. "Good work, Ensign." He turned to the cadet and raised his hand for a high five with a boyish smile.

Kelly looked at his upraised hand and wondered what she was supposed to do with it. Finally, she reached out and pressed her hand against his before dropping it down again. "Thank you, Sir," she said. "With the fact that you're going on the away team, will I or another officer be assigned to the helm for Alpha shift when the time comes?"

Felix chuckled at Kelly's reaction to his offer of a high five. "Absolutely, Ensign," he said. "What, did you think I could fly two ships at the same time? I'm good, but I'm not that good." He smiled a bit once again. "Since you've shown yourself to be a paragon of flight, I've got you manning Alpha shift. Matter of fact, since you're an Ensign now, you'll be de facto Chief of Flight while I'm gone."

"Me?" Kelly asked, a bit in shock. "Chief of Flight while you're gone?" she managed after a moment.

"Why not?" Felix said. "You're more than qualified. After all, you did take temporary command of an entire vessel."

"Good point and thank you, Lieutenant," she said. "When you were in command of the Cochrane, what was it like for you being in charge?"

Felix paused for a second. "An incredible honor," he said. "It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time, but I had to try and keep the best poker face I could. Knowing that I had to be 'on' every second and that hundreds of lives rode on my every command, that's intense. However, you just have to keep your head on straight and trust your gut when you need to. I know you'll keep your cool, though. You're a regular Chuck Yeager."

Kelly nodded. "I agree," she said, wondering who Chuck Yeager was. "Although I wouldn't call it an honor and I'm not ashamed to admit that I was terrified most of the time. It was an experience I'll never forget, though and I'm going to learn from it. Is there anything else we need to do, Sir?"

"Not for the moment," Felix replied. "I'm gonna clean up around here and then draft up a flight plan for the away mission. Thanks a heap for the help, Ensign. Dismissed." He gave a warm smile of sincere gratitude as he began putting his tools back into the tool box on the workbench.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant," Kelly said with a smile, then she turned and headed off again.

Felix finished packing his tools and walked up to the Mississippi. "Let's take care of each other, okay?" he said to the ship. "I think we both want to get back here in one piece." He then went back to the workbench, picked up his toolbox and walked out the door.

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