Runaround With The Runabout
Posted on Sat Oct 21st, 2023 @ 12:33am by Lieutenant Commander Devin Hadenbeer & Lieutenant Jin-soo Tae
3,091 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission: Untested
Small craft, as a rule, were supposed to be accounted for at all times. People could not simply roll on in, pick one, load it up and then fly it out.
And yet, apparently, that is exactly what someone did. They had bluffed the maintenance crew, talked a pair of them into loading a piano (with bench) into the back, then they promptly flew it out and to an outbound ship with the assurance "she would bring it right back".
Only...she hadn't. And now the ship it had been flown to was now gone. And after extensive questioning the ship was identified as well as the culprit who "borrowed" it. For the moment the situation was not enough to bother the captain about.
For now it was squarely in the lap of the Horizon's Chief Flight Control Officer, who received an irate communication from her opposite number, who was one rank higher...
If Jin-soo knew being chief of the flight control department meant waking up to livid communiques first thing in the morning, she might have just stayed on with the Cydonia. In an instant she was barraged with names, accusations, and questions to her own competency from a stranger she had only laid eyes upon a seconds ago. On top of that, she was in a state of early-morning delirium so all she skimmed from the brief assault was a name and some story about a stolen runabout with a piano tossed into the mix. She was left more confused than angry after that, but she also knew better than to allow such a problem fester. Thus after making a few quick promises along the lines of returning said runabout—even if it'll mean turning the Horizon about-face—and some right words to ease the already explosive tension, she closed the channel and began her inquiry into this strange problem.
Now fully lucid after a double shot of espresso, Jin-soo went about searching for the name Hadenbeer; the one graciously shouted at her over subspace communications. Her memory spoke of someone by that name on the bridge during the shakedown cruise a day prior, but that was all it offered though thankfully, that was all she needed. A quick search by the computer was enough to yield a Lieutenant Commander Devin Handenbeer, chief of the operations department. Easy enough, with the exception of the added pip. That’s something she’ll have to tip-toe around and certainly not something she can just delegate to an underling despite how much she wanted to shove this onto that bright-eyed Bolian Ensign. Grimacing internally, Jin-soo left her quarters and headed to where the computer had indicated Commander Handenbeer’s location.
"Right," Devin said as she checked her PADD. She could not speak to her entire staff so she had to do this at the end of every shift. There were...quite a few names and she was afraid she was not going to recall them all.
"Right," she said, again. Bad start, "I am quite cer-yes?"
Crewman Blinx had raised her hand, "Um, sir? Why are we meeting in the cargo bay?"
Devin had chosen the cargo bay because there were no chairs, which would help to induce a shorter meeting. But she was not about to admit that. She replied, "What better place to plan the mutiny, crewman?" she stared at the others, her face taking on a confused expression, "This...this is the mutiny meeting, correct? No?" she frowned and looked down at the padd, switched to the other one, visibly brightened, "Ah! right! Yes," she smiled, "Wrong list. Now, where were we?"
Several crew glanced uncomfortably at one another. Good, now Devin wasn't the only one. The senior chief hid a smile; likely he had done his job and had read up on her and her 'eccentricities'. The doors opened and Devin turned, noted the lieutenant. Chief Flight Control Officer? Yes, that was it.
"Mutiny meeting is in cargo bay four at thirteen hundred," Devin replied. She frowned, "But I don't think I saw your name on the list, lieutenant?" she looked down at her padd.
"Wrong, list, sir," the chief murmured helpfully. Devin's grin was hidden from her people but not the lieutenant.
Mutiny meeting? What exactly was she getting herself into now? Jin-soo wanted to cross her eyebrows and burry her face in her palms, but she doubt she had the luxury. Instead, she painted her expression with a smile, one quickly mobilised in the face of an awkward situation. When the computer said ‘cargo bay 3’, she had assumed she’d be meeting the Commander alone in the midst of some new assignment re-organisation frenzy, not her entire department standing around looking like lost ducklings. if she had learned anything from her mother, it was the fact that an audience had never done anyone any favours.
Quickly, the flight officer stepped forward, making a beeline towards the Commander now that she had been spotted. Her eyes scanned the crowd and offered them a brief courtesy nod, though her attention remained squarely upon the auburn haired officer who upon the two coming into closer proximity, seemed shorter than Jin-soo by a noticeable hair.
“Commander?” She began slowly in a soft whisper that curved upwards into a question, “When you are done here, I would appreciate it if we spoke privately, about a…” She paused for a brief moment to formulate her words, “A runabout situation. I’m sure you know what I mean.” With another nod now this time given to Devin, she stepped aside.
"I'm sure I do not, lieutenant," Devin replied, honestly perplexed. What was this about run-
"Oh...damn..." Devin muttered. Sighing, she closed her eyes, feeling quite the fool. Aloud she said, "Chief, meeting is canceled. I am quite certain you know what things to say on my behalf."
"I think I can fake it, sir."
"Thank the gods for non-coms," Devin murmured as she motioned for the lieutenant to follow her out the bay. In the corridor Devin turned to the woman and said, "Let me guess; there is a spare runabout in shuttle bay one, and the star base is now calling, demanding its return."
“Yes,” Jin-soo replied in the same tone as before, “I’ll leave out the details of what was said, but the officer that loaned you the said runabout was quite peeved.”
For the first time since their meeting, her eyebrows crossed as she folded her arms across her chest. Her demeanour seemed to relax now that they were no longer in the presence of a crowd, but her expression did seem to hold the gaze of someone who had been irked by a minor inconvenience.
“Pardon me for asking frankly sir, but why was this issue not taken care of prior to our launch?” Jin-soo’s voice had increased in tempo at this point, that look of irritation seen in her expression seeping into her voice. “You could have come to me or well…” She looked towards the cargo bay door before looking back, “Ordered anyone else in your department to drop off the shuttle at the starbase. It would have been an under thirty-minutes affair, even for the most incompetent of pilots.”
Devin remained quiet as she received the much deserved rebuke from the lieutenant. But at the use of the word 'incompetent' her eyebrows rose slightly. Even if it had not been directed at her hearing it was...irksome. She scratched the side of her nose, sighed, and wondered if perhaps nineteen years in a cell might be preferable to eating a rather substantial helping of crow.
Nevertheless.
"Lieutenant," Devin murmured quietly, "I am clearly in the wrong, and I will gladly fall upon this photon grenade to insure you do not incur any blow back regarding your career. It was my fault, I should have dealt with it. I will speak to your counterpart at the star base and see if we can arrive at a solution. We might be able to find a ship near us heading in that direction. Right now the important thing is to handle it in a manner that the captain does not wind up looking foolish and if we are fortunate it has not been escalated and we can handle this off the books."
She took a step closer to the lieutenant, "But please dial it down, hmmm? It will be a long voyage, last thing we need is any acrimony between us, eh?"
Jin-soo took a deep breath as Devin stepped closer. ‘So this is how it’s going to be,’ she thought as the other hissed her warning. It made her frown, but this wasn’t the first time and it certainly wasn’t the first time a superior officer attempted such a manoeuvre during a disagreement. In response, she leaned her head in closer by just an inch, her gaze fixed squarely upon the gold shouldered officer.
“I don’t need you to fall on any grenades for me,” Jin-soo bit back, “I’ve already taken care of that half bajoran/half klingon shrieker this morning.”
She took a moment to pivot her head towards the back right, seemingly on the lookout for any would-be eavesdropper though this was mostly an act to calm herself down as to not escalate this situation any further. “Look,” She spoke after a brief interlude, her gaze and focus returning to the Commander though her tone had changed into something more genial. “I get where you’re coming from. New assignment jitters, all that, you probably just forgot.”
“I’m willing to put this matter behind us,” She continued, a more genuine smile coming across her features as opposed to the one she forced upon herself just moments prior. “And besides, if you don’t want the Captain to find out, we better not linger any longer in this hallway.”
So, Devin thought sardonically, it has come to this: a junior officer taking pity on her. If Janeway knew she would probably be laughing. With her accursed hands on her accursed hips.
"Thank you," Devin replied, forcing a smile on her face, "Yes, I do appreciate it, lieutenant."
Devin wondered if it was too late to take up residence in that hole Janeway had threatened her with.
“Alright well…” Jin-soo started up again, “Finding a nearby ship going the direction of that starbase wouldn’t be a problem. I can probably convince their flight officer to do us this favour.” She stopped, her arms tightening slightly around her chest as she brought up her right hand to cup her chin.
“But how do you suppose we move this overgrown thorn? We can’t possibly stop the Horizon to fly it there, at least not with our current mission. Maybe one of those large cargo transporters?”
"Hmm?" Devin blinked, refocused, "Oh, I think it would be simple enough; we slave the runabout's operating systems to one of ours and pilot it remotely via sub space transmission. When it approaches the other ship we release control and they tractor it aboard."
She shrugged, "Not ideal in case any emergency maneuvers need to be taken, but space is largely empty," she grimaced, "Although knowing my luck lately we would discover an errant brown dwarf drifting between us and the other ship..."
“Then let’s just hope my string of incredibly good luck balances out your bad,” Jin-soo quipped as she gave the Commander a smirk.
“Shall we? I’ll find us the ship, maybe you can start up on linking the runabout’s systems to one of our’s?”
"That I can do," Devin replied. A task would get her mind off of feeling sorry for herself, she reflected.
The shuttle bay personnel were not happy to see her. Devin had the good grace to look contrite as she assured them that she and lieutenant...damn, what was her name? Had she forgotten to even ask? She shook her head and assured them they were working the problem, the runabout would be gone and no one would lose their heads over it. That was met with no small amount of skepticism, but when the shuttle bay chief heard the plan she immediately had one shuttle set aside for the project.
Devin entered the runabout with a borrowed tool kit. She shucked out of her tunic and crawled under the pilot control console. As she undid the panel Devin hoped this was the least stupid thing she was responsible on this voyage...
Jin-soo followed the Commander through the shuttlebay and eventually into the runabout. She noticed some of the looks given to Devin by the shuttlebay personnel and while she herself might have considered them warranted a few moments ago, Jin-soo did genuinely start to feel bad. She kept her mouth shut though and followed along, nodding with a small smile whenever a glance was directed at her.
She took a seat at one of the pilot consoles once inside, just adjacent to the one Devin had crawled under. Pulling out a PADD, she began cross-referencing the navigation paths of nearby starships, her right leg coming over her left as she settled into the chair.
“Medical ship, medical ship, medical ship…” Jin-soo droned on, “Oooo an Andorian escort! …but I doubt they’ll want to play ball.”
She remained quiet as her finger continued to scroll, finding most options unsatisfactory. After a while however, her eyes lit up. “Ah ha! USS Vallejo, one of those old Cali classes.” She grinned as she looked past the PADD to where the Commander was working. “They’re a support ship right? I mean, picking up errant small crafts is something they do, shouldn’t really be a problem.”
Devin grunted, "Give them a call from here, perhaps speak to your counterpart. Or perhaps mine; not all ships have a chief flight control officer. And..."
She crawled back out from under the panel and regarded the lieutenant, "I do not believe we were ever introduced. My name is Devin.
“Huh? Oh, my name’s Jin-soo,” She replied quickly with a smile. Turning her attention to the console, she leaned forward and began inputting the necessary commands to contact the Vallejo.
"A pleasure," Devin replied as she slipped back under the console. She added, "And I was serious about accepting whatever consequences may come of this debacle. Considering where my career is now nothing could make it any worse."
Although, she supposed, Janeway could always get...creative...
“Where your career is now?” Jin-soo asked, slightly perplexed though her focus remained on the console. “You seem to be doing pretty good by most standards, I mean, you’re on the Horizon! They’re not exactly giving out Century class postings like candy corn on Halloween. You could be stuck on some planetary outpost instead...”
"Ah, well, my situation is...complicated," Devin said as she found the proper adjustment. She pulled the engineering tricorder out of the kit and ran a diagnostic, "Although...I will reluctantly concede my posting could have been far worse," the tricorder made happy chirping sounds, "Ah, good! It seems we are ready at this end. All we need do it establish a sub space link with the runabout from a similar control console and we can pilot her at will. I am half tempted to fly her back to the station myself."
“Maybe if I was still an Ensign, I might have jumped on that idea,” Jin-soo chuckled as she offered Devin a hand once the tricorder sounded its satisfaction, “I’m good here as well, the Vallejo is willing to accept our little buddy. Think we can probably connect it to one of our Volga classes, they’re pretty much the same in terms of how they fly.”
Devin nodded. Outside the runabout the bay chief was waiting. Devin was about to explain they needed a Volga class runabout but apparently she knew her job and had chosen one. Inside the new volga Devin turned to Jin-soo and politely inquired, "Will you do the honors or shall I?"
“I’m not exactly one for showing off buuut…” Jin-soo began as she settled down into the seat, “We are in a time crunch after all and we wouldn’t want that poor runabout to get consumed by some brown dwarf on account of luck.”
“Kidding, kidding!” She added quickly with a snicker, “I’ll start plotting a course from here to the Vallejo, shouldn’t be too difficult. I think connecting the link should be your honor, Commander.”
Devin smiled wryly and took her place in the co-pilot's seat. She formed the connection and watched the console come alive, but the runabout remained silent. Across the bay she saw the bussard collectors slowly come alive.
"All right," Devin replied, "Let's get our errant bird home..."
“Okayyy…” Jin-soo narrowed her eyes at the runabout as she began powering up its systems. Soon, more than the bussard collectors began to glow and following several more inputs, the runabout floated gently above the duranium plated landing pad.
“Everything appears functional,” She reported, her eyes darting between the controls and the runabout just beyond the viewport. Not long after, the vessel zipped through the translucent blue screen that separated the insides of the shuttlebay with the vacuum of space, leaving the Horizon behind. “...and she’s underway, estimations claim it will reach the Vallejo in under thirty minutes.”
Devin finally relaxed. Well, that was one crisis averted...provided the captain did not make a big deal of it when he found out. She glanced at Jin-woo and said, "I was serious about taking responsibility for all of this. I owe you. And as a friend of mine once told me the only true commodity in this universe are favors."
“If I ever find myself in a Klingon detention centre, you’ll be the first person I call.” Jin-soo replied as she leaned back in the chair. “I’ll keep watch here,” She continued, her head turning to glance back. “My shift on the bridge doesn’t start for another few hours, I have the time.”
Devin nodded, "All right, I will see you later then," she rose from the chair and made for the exit. She hesitated in the doorway, then turned and said, "As for detention centers, I...might know a thing or two about that."
She departed the shuttle bay with a slight smile on her lips...then frowned. Damn, when was the mutiny meeting again...?
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