Fly Boy

Posted on Mon Dec 23rd, 2024 @ 11:36am by Commander Lucy Sharpe & Lieutenant JG Cihl Theidi

1,463 words; about a 7 minute read

Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Cihl Theidi walked casually down the corridors of Starbase 312, curious at the variety of things that he was seeing aboard the Celestial Class Starbase. Having been in Starfleet for only a short time, he had already had a wide variety of assignments despite his relative youth. Having had graduated second in his class from Starfleet Academy, Cihl had an array of opportunities when he was commissioned and started off as Chief Engineer of a California Class Starship. Starting on the Sacramento, in less than a year he had transferred to the Carlsbad and later Deep Space Station K-7. While they were all exciting prospects, none of them felt like home.

Maybe it was because his people were so uncommon in Starfleet. While he looked Human, Cihl was a Ventaxian and his species rarely, if ever, left their homeworld. When they did, like him, Starfleet fast tracked them and tried to make them a poster child to try to get other Ventaxians and uncommon species into the fleet. Reality, in his entire time at the Academy and as a commissioned officer only he and his uncle - the XO of K7 - were the only Ventaxians he'd encountered. It was a little lonely, but he was used to loneliness.

Continuing his walk, he thought more about what had led him here, into the command branch of Starfleet when he had been trained as an Engineer. When he decided to leave K-7 he had a long chat with his uncle and agreed that maybe he needed a fresh start somewhere else, away from the technical and in a more 'people' oriented role. When he transferred to flight control it didn't take long for a match to the Athena, but Cihl still wondered if his uncle had greased the wheels of his reassignment. Perhaps he would never know. He only hoped it was for the best.

Cihl's footsteps echoed slightly off the smooth cold floors and barren walls of the observation platform where Commander Lucy Sharpe, First Officer of the Athena stood observing her ship as it lay in berth awaiting its new chapter and Captain following the recent passing of Captain Paul Griffon. Lucy's gaze shifted from the stationary vessel to the figure that drew near reflected in the heavy glass window.

"Hello Lieutenant," she glazed over her should to speak to the Ventaxian directly. "Come to admire the view?"

"No," he answered almost reflexively to the question, even before he realized who he was talking to. Upon the realization that he was talking to a Starfleet Commander and, if his review of the Athena's records could be trusted, the XO of the very ship to which he was assigned. "I was merely getting in my daily exercises," he tried to excuse away, "but it is a good view."

"I see," Sharpe nodded slowly not believing his response was completely truthful. She returned her gaze to the dormant ship ahead. "I'm glad you agree. Some people romance the beauty and craftsmanship that goes into our ships, the sweeping curves of the saucer sections or the elongated nacelles." She shrugged her shoulders as if displeased by the idea. "Personally, I prefer the sleeker approach, built to hold its own and take no nonsense." She turned to face the new arrival: "Which are you? A romantic, a person of action, or something else I wonder?"

"I used to be the Chief Engineer of a California Class vessel, two in fact," the Lieutenant answered as he looked at the Prometheus Class vessel before him. "You would think that would have an impact on my viewpoint of starship design, but I am really agnostic toward the whole concept. The San Francisco School, the Utopia Planitia, the Beta Antares, they're really all the same to me really. As long as the engines work, the ship has power, and the crew are alive I have no thoughts either way." It probably wasn't the answer that Commander Sharpe had been looking for, but it was the truth.

"Huh," the woman replied with amusement. "You're properly the first Engineer or pilot I've met in a long time with that mentality. Direct and realistic, good. Why don't you walk with me and explain why a talented Engineer like yourself decides to make a carer U-turn."

The newly minted pilot motioned toward the corridor to allow her to start. He spoke honestly, "I needed a change. Engineering was not what I had thought it would be, nor the people that worked within it." It was fairly quick answer wise.

"How so?" Sharpe asked. "What were you expecting?"

"My people were once heavily industrialized, yet we embraced an agrarian society around your 14th century and had little interest in advanced technology afterward. I have always been, what you would call, different and I was expecting the people I met in Engineering to be similar. Instead, they all seemed more interested in their personal lives than technology. I found them unprofessional."

"That's quite a statement," Sharpe replied with a heavy tone. "I doubt you'll find many Captain's that would agree with you on that one. Most Engineering corps have great comradery with one another, perhaps it was this you saw was unprofessional?"

The Ventaxian shrugged, "Perhaps. My people honor order, synchronicity though. I can only hope that I did not make a mistake by choosing to switch to Flight Control if it is similar. Maybe there is a reason so few of my people join Starfleet."

"Everyone has had a similar thought at some point in their career," the Commander explained as they entered the gangway to the Athena. "What am I doing here, is this the correct path for me? I'm not ashamed to admit I've been there myself several times and again quite recently. It takes some soul searching to find the answer. My advice would be don't rush into a decision - it's likely you'll regret it later."

"I'll do my best not to," the Lieutenant said as they boarded the ship, "but it's not easy. Especially when you've moved around as much as I have."

Crossing his arms, the new Helm Officer looked around the ship, "So, Prometheus Class? Anything I should know?"

"The Athena is like most of the crew - still shiny and new." Sharpe smirked. "She's also more than the standard Prometheus Class - her teeth and sharper with experimental torpedo launcher that's smaller with an increased payload. We also have quantum-slip stream drive, cloaking device and selected elements of integrated Borg tech. Then of course there's the Multi-Vector assault mode - everyone's favourite."

"Integrated Borg tech," the former Engineer's ears were triggered. "Like what?"

"Enhancements to the Slipstream drive, navigation and increased AI capabilities," the XO led the new recruit to the Con and unlocked the display with her slight touch. "In the crude sense Lieutenant, we can go faster for longer and react to enemy threats 10% quicker than our sister ships."

Looking at the Helm Controls, the Ventaxian sat down and brought up the navigational controls. Pecking through the individual monitors, he looked up at the XO, "With the improved AI capabilities how busy am I going to be, or is the ship mainly on autopilot?" He was hoping he wouldn't be bored.

She smirked: "Don't worry it's an not automatic. We still need a talented pilot especially should the enhancements fail or are not up to scratch. Along with the torpedo launcher these enhancements are unique to the Athena, you'd have final say on how they perform and can influence how much weight they carry. The long term is to roll these enhancements we have across the fleet."

"That's reassuring," Cihl answered as they continued looking through the flight controls. "It's a fairly basic layout, which is good, and I don't think that there will be much of a learning curve for me with getting used to it. When do you think we'll be getting out on the road and when will I be meeting the Captain of the Athena? I'm pretty excited to get started," his tone betraying his enthusiasm, his answer almost perfectly monotone.

"Very soon," she smiled at his enthusiasm. "Captain Haines will be joining us hopefully in the next day or so and from there I cannot foresee a reason to delay our launch. In the meantime familiarise yourself with our set up and settle in your quarters. Until launch we have free roam of the starbase should you require any additional items."

Cihl examined the readouts, "Thank you, Commander. Anything else I can do for you?"

The human shook her head. "Not at this time. I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Understood, Commander," the Ventaxian answered with a curt nod of respect and understanding to the first officer.

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