Welcome to Star Trek Simulation Forum

Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to contribute to this site by submitting your own content or replying to existing content. You'll be able to customize your profile, receive reputation points as a reward for submitting content, while also communicating with other members via your own private inbox, plus much more! This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
LeftEar JoNs

"Talk to me Goose"

11.23.07

Mika Four Colony Outpost

“Talk to me Goose”

 

**********

 

==== Starfleet Command ====

==== Personnel Office ====

==== Private Comm Line N7====

==== JoNs, M. - 20 N7 ====

 

To: JoN’s, Lieutenant Commander M’Vess

 

Effective immediately, you are re-assigned for a temporary tour duration to the flight training and test program on Starfleet colony outpost Mika Four.

 

 

==== End transmission ====

==== JoNs, M. 20 N7 Private Comm====

 

**********

“I am so being punished. Or something.”

 

Left Ear did a combination glance and glare out the port window of the transport shuttle, her gaze taking in the endless miles of plains grass, scrub trees, and rocky formations. She would have been admiring the view, that is, if the Caitian wasn’t so ticked off.

 

The shuttle pilot, a young dark skinned human by the name of Preston, glanced back at the feline from his spot in the main cockpit. “Tick off any admirals lately? It’s not so bad here ma’am, once you get used to the remote location of the base.”

 

“Aye, this is definitely remote.” They had been traveling at a steady warp two for the last half-hour, and the base still hadn’t registered on the grid sensors.

 

He chuckled. “Well, I will say it’s nice to be out in the middle of nowhere when we are flying our tests or training the recruits.”

 

With a sigh, JoNs unbuckled from her passenger seat and ambled up to the cockpit area, re-seating herself in the co-pilots chair. There really was no good reason to be a pain in the ass with her attitude to the pilot; he was just doing his job.

 

“What are the details Lieutenant? And don’t give me the tourist version that I read in the official Fleet data entry.”

 

Preston chuckled. “Yes sir – the official rundown of the post is a bit of dry reading.”

 

The officer banked the shuttle, and the course correction immediately came up on the twin console computers directly in front of both JoNs and Preston. The feline entered a quick series of commands into the co-pilot keyboard inset on a side panel, which enabled the secondary thrusters to power down and compensate for the course change.

 

“Hey, thanks sir. Now, as I was saying. Mika Four is primarily used as a flight training base, but we also get proto-type fighters to test about every six months or so. Typically, we keep ‘em for another six months, working out all the bugs and cataloging the crafts performance, quirks and all that. It’s a pretty nice deal. I mean, we don’t get experimental fighters or anything fancy like that, but we get to play with top of the line craft ranging from runabouts, to troop transports, to interceptor craft.”

 

“What about the training? What sort of officer do you get assigned here?”

 

“Mostly the senior midshipman ranks up through the junior lieutenant ranks. They’ve already rotated out of the academy and onto their training cruises or first official assignments, so they aren’t raw.”

 

“…you get the hard cases out here, don’t you?”

 

His hesitation told the Caitian all she needed to know. Her ears went flat.

 

“…aye ma’am. We do get the hard-cases out here. Now with that said? Every single pilot officer assigned here has the balls – pardon, ma’am – to be a pilot and do their job as a fleet officer, make no mistake. Yes some of them are sent here for disciplinary infractions, but most of the pilots just need some polishing up before they advance in rank or jump on the senior command track. And let’s just say that we all need to be a little tough out here on the frontier.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“Mika also does double duty as a listening post and patrol point. We are close enough to the three corporate research colonies established on Thrantos Three and Six, two M-Class planets located at the Terminus Vector Arm. The sites are minor corporations, but they get enough supplies and shipments in and out to sometimes attract un-wanted pirate attention, so us pilots run interference or go on hunting expeditions, if you get my drift.”

 

“Oh, aye, I’m just drifting right along with you Lieutenant.”

 

“Not happy about this assignment are you ma’am?”

 

“As far as I’m concerned, the Starfleet personnel office can kiss my furry rear end. The only thing that kept me from storming in there and telling them what they could do with this assignment was the fact that an uncle of mine works for them, and I’m sure he wants to keep his job.”

 

Preston cleared his throat. “Give it a chance sir.”

 

She tactfully changed the subject. “So what’s your story Lieutenant?”

 

“I’ve been here on Mika since right after the conclusion of my second training cruise. After being on two ships, I wanted to be assigned to either a ground posting or a station posting.”

 

“Not a fan of zipping around the galaxy Preston?”

 

“It’s not exactly that sir. Let’s just say I got tired of the fact that everyone, or at least some officers, tend to have the misconception that the only ‘dignified’ duty options are on the ships. Nothing wrong with a ground based assignment, and I can earn double career points doubling as a pilot and trainer. I couldn’t accomplish that on a starship, at least not as fast, depending on the ships assignment or if I was dividing my time between piloting and a department.”

 

The console closest to Preston blipped, indicating that Mika Base had finally registered on the proximity sensors.

 

“… one last question Preston. Who’s your commanding officer here? I had a devil of a time trying to pin a name down.”

 

“With all due respect Lieutenant Commander, you’ll have to wait a bit longer – I have my orders. They want it to be a surprise.”

 

And with that rather cryptic statement, the lieutenant brought the transport shuttle in for a smooth landing at the landing strip.

 

**********

Left Ear departed the shuttle, making her way across the landing zone to the hanger bay beyond. She carried a travel cylinder over a shoulder, and held her pilots duffle in one paw. A blond haired yeoman met her at the entrance, and led her promptly to the base commander’s office.

 

A few curious glances or welcoming nods from the various personnel as they walked through the cavernous hanger were thrown the feline’s way as she walked behind her escort, and JoNs nodded politely back.

 

After a few moments they arrived at the intended destination, and the yeoman chimed for admittance.

 

“Come!”

 

The yeoman turned and nodded to JoNs. “I will take your things to your assigned quarters sir. If you need anything, feel free to comm me.”

 

“Thank you Yeoman. Carry on.”

 

The Caitian officer entered the confines of the office and immediately adopted an at attention stance. “Lieutenant Command…”

 

The occupant at the desk turned toward JoNs and interrupted her, the office lighting now illuminating her face. “Hello JoNs. Fancy meeting you here.” The lean and lanky Earth woman’s long auburn hair framed her face, and she favored the feline with an impish smile.

 

Her jaw dropped, and all vestiges of her protocol induced stance vanished as the feline’s surprised gaze latched onto the post commandant. “Lieutenant Brennan?!”

 

“Aye. Don’t look so surprised Left Ear.” The Irish born human got up from the chair set behind her desk and walked around, facing the Cait as she crossed her arms over her chest. “And to be specific, its Commander now, transferred out of engineering, call sign Jinx, pilot instructor and commanding officer of this base. I am pleased to welcome you to the Mika Outpost.”

 

A full ten seconds passed. “You were the one that had me assigned here?”

 

“Yep. I…”

 

Brennan never got to finish the statement; a brown paw zipped through the air to connect with the woman’s cheek, much as it had those ten years ago. The base commander went down and landed hard on her backside. A full two minutes passed, with Brennan alternately rubbing at her jaw and rear and JoNs standing over her and alternating between panting and purred growls as she got her usually deeply dormant temper under control.

 

Commander Brennan finally broke the silence. “You know, it’s rare, but once you let that anger of yours loose, it can be a formidable force of nature.” Her Irish brogue was muffled by the hand clamped to her jaw. She removed the hand from her jaw and held it out to her fellow officer. The Caitian paused for only a fraction of a second, and then grasped the humans hand in a paw, pulling and helping her back up on her feet.

 

Both JoNs and Brennan had been assigned to the USS Repulse with the Cait as a midshipman serving in a pilot designation, and the human as a senior lieutenant attached to engineering. Brennan had done some work on the fighter craft that JoNs typically used, and one of the panels blew out on the feline during a flight run. She lost her left ear tip in the explosion – and got tagged after the incident with the ‘Left Ear’ call sign. JoNs accused Brennan of dereliction of duty; words were exchanged, eventually exploding into a mild scuffle. Brennan was cleared of any fault, and JoNs was cleared of assaulting a superior, but the two women still gave each other a wide berth until the end of the tour. They had not seen each other since their service on the Repulse, at least until now that is.

 

Brennan held a hand up in a placating gesture. “Let me explain.”

 

“I’m listening.”

 

The human leaned a hip against her desk and crossed her arms. “This isn’t the most glamorous of postings, but we do good work here. I need someone competent for the next few months; we have a new batch of officer recruits coming in, and I’m short handed. I checked the duty rotation rosters, saw that you had just been released from a duty tour on the Excalibur and were due to be re-assigned for a few months. So, I put in the transfer request, and here you are.”

 

“Aye, here I am.” The Cait’s bitter tone had died down somewhat, leaning more toward curiosity now; at least she knew her temporary re-assignment had come about due to a past acquaintance. That helped a little with swallowing the ‘ass end of nowhere’ assignment. And, the truth be told, she was starting to find the whole operation - and piloting full time again for a few months - rather intriguing. “So, what is the plan?”

 

“The plan is to assign you as a senior instructor. I remember that you always were good at long range recon and squad based operations? So we’ll start with that.” Brennan moved around the desk and started entering the necessary information in the computer as she spoke, as well as downloading the information to a Padd.

 

Left Ear cocked her head to one side and flipped an ear back. “How’d the Jinx sign come about?”

 

Brennan favored her with a wry grin. “Your fault. That dereliction of duty crap you leveled at me seemed to stick. Didn’t hurt my career any, mind, but it does makes the perfect pilot call sign so to speak.”

 

“…I’m glad I didn’t call you Boom Boom then.”

 

“Touche, my dear feline of the left ear.” Brennan walked back around to where JoNs stood, handing her a Padd. “That contains all the information to get you started. Your teaching schedule, a map of the base as well as the surrounding planet grids and planetary sectors; our patrol routes back and forth from the corporate posts are also included.”

 

She took the Padd and quickly scrolled through the various topics. “Aye sir, I’ll familiarize myself with the operation here.”

 

“It’s Jinx or Brennan. The ranking officers don’t stand much on ceremony around here unless we need to. Or we have a disciplinary issue such as fighting.”

 

Left Ear’s head whipped up at that statement, only to be impaled by green eyes almost as bright – and piercing - as her own.

 

“One thing we always seemed to have in common was our by the book predilections. So, with that said, senior officer or no, I do not tolerate brawling among and or being decked by my officers. Five demerits issued - you can work off the accumulated points through your flight runs.”

 

The lieutenant commander flipped an ear back, but that was the extent of her protest. “Aye sir, understood.”

 

“Dinner is at eighteen hundred in the main mess Left Ear, if you are so inclined to join me at the commandants table.”

 

“I look forward to it – Jinx.”

Edited by Kansas_Jones

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0