Because 'Hey you' doesn't cut it ...

[Shalin 0]

New Topeka Station

 

Shan sat in the center chair, noting shipment after shipment as the station resupplied the Comanche Creek. The duty wasn’t too bad; as punishments go it wasn’t too bad. Heck, it was worth it for the sheer fun of barrel-rolling the ‘Creek in front of New Topeka’s orbital monitoring station.

 

“Ensign Rennet reporting for duty, Captain.”

 

Shan turned the chair to face the newcomer. “Yes, the chair makes me look good – but the stripes say ‘lieutenant’, not ‘Captain’.” He took a datapad from her to check her assignment. “So: you’re our new navigator. What have you done so far?”

 

Ensign Rennet shrugged. “Actually I’m a sensor technician with stellar cartography experience. Sorry: Starfleet is still short-handed. Still, charting courses or charting stellar abnormalities – how different can it be?”

 

“Well, the chief difference is that navigation is that navigators work off of maps rather than writing them, and getting it wrong means crashing into a star as you enter system.”

 

Jenna remained focused. “If you get a map wrong, a lot of ships could crash into abnormalities …”

 

Shan smiled. “Point taken. So: we’ll get you on drills right away so that you’ll be familiar with the controls by the time we head out, but first things first … I’m Shan, sometimes called Deathwish.”

 

She nodded in reply. “I’m Jenna, sometimes called late to meetings.”

 

----

Cold Station 12

 

Ensign Rennet proved to be a competent, if procedural, navigator. Her courses tended to sacrifice promptness for safety, but that was probably for the best until she really got the feel for starship navigation. Exercises were run for hours, focusing on the mission at hand so that she was sure to be able to respond when needed. As the final canisters were secured on the Dover Castle, the bridge crew of the ‘Creek proceeded to exit Cold Station 12’s space.

 

The Ensign began the process. “Navigational systems synchronized with Dover Castle.”

 

Shan nodded in reply. “Awaiting course for CS-13.”

 

“Plotting course … locking into systems.”

 

“Course received … proceeding at quarter-impulse … will engage warp after exiting system and retrieval of escort.” Shan eased back in his chair; he loved it when assignments proceeded smoothly.

 

A red light suddenly chimed over the helm and navigation systems. Ensign Rennet quickly deciphered the report. “Sir – sensors report a fighter out of formation; vector predicts a tight crossing close to our dorsal hull spar. Beacon identifies it as Hornet 13.”

 

As Wesley turned about to Lieutenant Kvar with a somewhat terse message to the fighter squadrons, Jenna turned to Shan. “There was nothing in our training runs … what do I do?”

 

Shan looked over to her and smiled. “Step one: no sudden movements. Continue on steady as she goes.” Jenna nodded.

 

“Step two: lean back in your chair.” Jenna followed Shan’s lead, looking confused.

 

“Step three: look up at the dome …” She followed Shan’s instructions, though certain that this wasn’t in the manual.

 

“… and three, two, one, waaaaaave to the Captain.”

 

Still following Shan’s lead, Jenna waved, then straightened to see Hornet 13 come into view on the bridge’s main display. “It gets weird here, doesn’t it?”

 

Shan smiled back to her. “Welcome to the Comanche Creek.”