Back in the Air

Posted on 18 Jun 2024 @ 4:36am by Lieutenant JG Margeurite "Maggie" LeFebvre & Lieutenant Leland Hawksley

3,574 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: General Sim Postings
Location: Hangars
Timeline: SLD-4?

[ON:]

Maggie was finally cleared to fly-her leg had healed and so had the nice goose egg she'd gotten. Risks of the job, really, but medical freaked out every time a pilot presented with injuries. She had fought Donovan all the way to medical and even through her first hypospray-which KO'd her, so she couldn't argue anymore.

She was dressed in a flight suit-the dumb red uniform wasn't required when they weren't on cruise-and she was doing pre-flight checks. The stations' flight control officer had been nice enough to let her fly today if she wished, and provided she didn't interfere with incoming pilots. She promised to behave. She crawled under her shuttle to check it out-looked good. The station engineers were really the best, she had to admit.

She stood back up, and pulled her wavy blonde hair back into a bun-it's safer to fly when you could see fully, after all. She filled out some paperwork-her manifest, flight path, and signed off on checks. She was ready. She looked around the hangar while she waited for her turn. She could offer to fly with someone if they wanted-she never minded sharing her love of flying.

Hawksley entered the flight deck of Star Base 51. Leland held his helmet at his side. Using his Tomcat ID card, he grunted, presenting his Flight ID card to the Officers in charge. Originally, Leland was the Chief Helm Officer of the Tomcat, and he flew well.

The Flight Card passed, as the green ID passed. Leland walked into the room, spotting the Fighter Crafts available. The Star Base had a robust arsenal, and he was longing to check out the craft. The Cockpits and interfaces were a step above the fighters he had trained in simulations on the Tomcat. Ironically, most of his Engineering skills transferred from the helm position to Chief of Engineering. Now, he was redesigning the Starship.

“Well… Well…” Hawksley leaned aside to LeFebvre and whispered. “Mags.” She was checking her padd of pre-flight information. “I’m here on a special assignment. We need to take this fighter out and test her to the limit.” Leland slyly grinned and snorted. “From one pilot to another.” Hawksley looked at his silver chunky analog wristwatch and then back to Maggie. “I just need to get away from this place.” Hawksley was feeling the need to blow off some steam. It was building for him for a long time.

Maggie looked up. "Ah, Lieutenant. Nice to see you again. You're needing an escape? I TOLD you Engineering was boring," she said. Had she? Maybe she'd only thought it. At any rate, she wasn't going to wait-she hopped into the Cockpit. "You can have the RIO spot if you want, or grab a CONN," she said. "I'll have you in the air shortly, let me just turn this in," she said, raising her PADD. A quick push of a button, a reply, and her helmet strapped on, and she was ready to go. "Get in, sit down, and hang on," she said. "Put your belt on, too. I don't need a Mrs. Hawksley coming down on me," she said. "Do you want to review my pre-flight checks?" She asked. She was antsy to get in the air but she wasn't stupid-she didn't want to harm anyone.

Leland jumped up into the RIO spot placing on the helmet that was sitting on the side support craft equipment. Each fighter was lined up in the bay in stalls surrounded by advanced computers and support equipment.

“I review your pre-flight. Psshhhh!” Leland handed back the padd to Maggie. The action would reek of superiority, and that was something Leland didn’t need to do with LeFebvre. She was one of the most skilled pilots in the fleet, she had the drive and tenacity to do what she wanted, to fly as if she were the craft itself.

Cracking his knuckles Leland watched LeFebvre. He did have an alternative motive. Todd Hewitt was asking about her and blackmailed Leland into finding out if Maggie was seeing someone now. Leland had broken a helix conical cylinder unit, and somewhat embarrassing as it was, he thought he disposed of and erased the error from Engineering. That was unless Todd hadn’t seen him do it.

Hawksley deplored getting involved in other couples’ affairs, it just was not in him. So, the task was as covert as possible. Slapping the cowling around the cockpit windows and framing, Hawksley pressed his button for his upper seated RIO spot closed.

“Where are we heading? How fast?” Hawksley relaxed back in the craft awaiting the onslaught of superior G forces, even though the dampeners were set to max, these fighters were packing.


Before she fully launched, she cast a glance at the man. "Where do you want to go? I was planning to just orbit a few times, get my sea legs back, as they say," she said. "But we can head for a nearby destination; there's a moon close by," she said. "I forgot what it's called, but don't worry, I saved the co-ordinates," she said, strapping into her seat and pressing the pedal. "Ready?"

Leland spoke over his com, as he watched the plotted course come up on the screen of the nearby moon. They would be able to stop since the atmosphere may even be hospitable.
Pressing in some tunes and jacking up the speakers in his RIO-contained unit, ACDC began to play “Back in Black.” Just in time, Leland called out to Maggie. “Baby. Kick the Tires and Light the FIRES!!!” An old Earth Jet Fighter slang to full power the craft as soon as possible.

“And if we do break down. We’re just around the corner of that big hulking thing. They’ll get us.” Leland grunted. He always admired Lefebvre’s piloting skills!

"Break down?" She laughed. "Not around here!!" With a gentle lurch, they were airborne, and Maggie's blue eyes were trained on the horizon, looking for incoming fodder or anything else she would need to account for before they were on their way. "Going to pull a couple of Gs," she said. "Hope you're ready," she said. Once they were at a safe distance above the Starbase, Maggie gunned the engine, pushing the bird to its limits. She lived for speed. A cute guy, a day to fly, and no where to be? The Gods were smiling on her today.

Leland became excited. There was no way he would let this ride not turn into a roller coaster!

“Baby!” Hawksley gawked cocky. “Oh, bring er’ on!” He had coaxed Maggie to let loose, let loose the way he knew deep down she was passionate about jet fighters. Leland didn’t have the time not to be thrilled. Just as they cleared the moorings of the outer berthing fleet vessel routes, Leland started revving up the auto dynamic isolating plasma constrictors. Each constrictor revolution of plasma engaged the main drive, supercharging a fighter's breakaway speed.

“Chargers are locked and cycled. She’s all yours, Mags! Take us into sweet, sweet G Rhythm!” Hawksley grunted, buckled into his aft fighter RIO seat, holding the G Force handles.

As soon as he spoke, they were in the air, nearly sideways, as she throttled the engine, a look of pure joy on her face. She loved to fly. She would give her limbs for it or something equally drastic. Within a few seconds, they were at full speed, the drag of the engine quietly humming below her feet. She took it to warp 2; the fastest she was comfortable going with a passenger-if SHE died, that was fine. Someone else? Not on her watch. Still, it was fast as hell. They could be to the moon's orbit in a matter of minutes-a regular worker bee would take about a half hour. Out here, things were closer than they were in the other quadrants. "How are you doing?" she shouted down the comms.

Hawksley was relaxing from the moment the forces had redirected his body movements to that of a northern geometry of gravity. The graviton polarity plants onboard the fighter kept them all from becoming splatter against the inside walls. Leland’s eyes were at the back of his head as his body lay limp in his seat to the G forces. The craft vibrations had almost plastered his biceps, upper shoulders, and chest.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Hahahahahahahaahhahahahah!!!!” Leland belted out in pure happy laughter. He was letting loose and resetting. The feeling was 10 times better than any holodeck program or Earth mega coaster. You couldn’t recreate these amounts of energy cycles on the holodeck; you could, but just not as raw as this.

“Rock it, Baby RocKKKK IT!!!” Leland kept shouting outward as he felt the incredible forces of the Starfleet Fighter Craft's aerodynamics. The engines were updated and powerful, and torque was on-demand with 360-degree deviations.

Maggie laughed. "Excellent!" she shouted. The noise of the engine was loud as hell. "Ready for some fun?" She asked. Now was the fun part-for HER-scaring the crap out of her seat mate with aerial stunts. Besides, it had been several weeks of sitting around in the hangars so Mags was excited to get some fuckery going.

After a moment, the bird was upside down, and they were rocketing through open space on a sideways axis. She could feel the blood rushing to her head, but she didn't care. She could do this for hours.

Leland belted out in laughter. His forehead was red from the upside-down vertigo of the body's blood. The Gravity Generators were on auto and allowed for such drastic moves.
“AHGGHHGHh HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhhh!” Leland belts out, his chest hurting from the intense feelings of roller coasters back on Earth, yet gravity takes control in the most unexpected places. He loved the sentiments of just hitting it hard, the afterburners of the fighter delaminating every molecule of hydrogen condenser deuterium tanks to the very last atom…

"AHAHAHHAhhhhhhh Hahha hah hah hahahh ha hhh hhah….” Leland found it incredible as they had done a half 360-degree corkscrew dive, in circular moto-metrics in reverse, entering the planet's atmosphere.

“Omhghh… ommhhhhhHhgghhhh….” Leland watched how long Maggie was beginning to leave them in free fall. Before universal breakfree, break speed would become insufficient, becoming an accident in earth's atmosphere…

With precision and quickness, Maggie righted them. "I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention," she said, with a laugh. "We're close, so. Just regular flying from now on," she promised. She kept the plane straight and steady, her blue eyes focused and intense as she checked the horizon and docking rings. Her eyes ran over her consoles. Everything was good.

Leland breathed a satisfied, relaxed, whole body to every cellular level of exhilaration that had been achieved. Leland lived for these moments of testing the boundaries, feeling the walls of their impenetrable 3-D cage. Hawksley worked on bending the physics and time daily within the Tomcat's Chief. He was now overseeing its redesign.

"Speaking of which. Homework..." ((Add in? Leland had sent LeFebvre mail. We can add here that Leland had sent Maggie, the Flight Officer, a questionnaire regarding her FCO position and how it relates to the technological avenues for its future upgrade vs. other additions or subtractions and changes to subroutines suggested by Starfleet Utopia Planetia. Her suggestions, etc. ))

"You get to take a look at that report I sent you regarding the Tomcat FCO position changes, etc?" Leland had his own padd handy if one needed be to Maggie.

She nodded. "I did. I haven't had much time yet to sit and reply, but we can discuss it now. Firstly, it's ugly as sin," she said. Aesthetics mattered to her. Probably not to anyone else. "But the panel is interesting. One thing I'd find helpful is some sort of way to interface with the propulsion nerds," she said.

Hawksley laughed. He rubbed his chin, writing down Maggie's comments on the pad. “Got it,” Leland added report identifiers and additional materials. See interface with econ, egress, ignitor pre-fire burn, burner control, impulse navigation, and tactical identification sub-systems. New Weaponry integration.” Hawksley added a report from Lieutenant JG LeFebvre to his report.

Enjoying the horizon, Leland was quiet. The view from the position of the fighter craft was excellent. The various moons within the system far off shone like stars.

Maggie nodded in confirmation as he spoke. "Yes, exactly," she said. "You got it," she said. She brought them down to the docking ring with a soft "click" and smiled. "Here we are," she said.

“Awesome…” Leland relaxed back into the fighter seat. He flexed his biceps and shoulders slowly, checking that all his limbs indeed were intact. His breathing and blood pulse were nominal.

Stepping out of the fighter he visually made an after-flight check of the fuselage and cowlings. “Incredible piece of machinery. You got a damn good job.” Leland shook his head and whistled, as the atmosphere and coolant vapors caressed off the craft.

“I’ll let you get back to work!” Hawksley had stopped and looked around. “Need any help with anything?” He thought he would ask, be helpful.

Maggie shook her head. "Thanks! No, I am fine. I travel light," she said, hopping out of the cockpit after properly securing everything. She ran her eyes over the outer hulls of the plane-nothing seemed nicked or damaged, and the internal systems were working fine. "This is an inhabited place, so. Maybe poke around a bit, then meet back here in...an hour?" She said, glancing at her wrist chronometer. "There's a Bazar I like," she said, heading in a Southerly direction. "There's food carts and stuff. Might meet someone cool, too," she said.

“You…” Leland laughed. And he grinned. “Mags. You keep those plans. I think you might have someone bump into you for company.” Hawksley raised his eyebrows in haunting, anticipatory teasingly.

“I think I know someone who needs their crush crushed.” He joked.

Maggie looked at him. "Who?" She said, with a smile. "Let's go!" She said. She moved to the west a little. "We can transport, just a moment." She pressed a couple of buttons on her tricorder and soon, they appeared at the entrance to a bustling outdoor market. She smiled. "I hope you brought some Latinum," she said. This market accepted StarFleet's replicator points, as well, but she didn't share that information.

Leland joyfully went along with Maggie. She was a good friend, someone he could level up with and bounce ideas off of, and she knew her mechanics, which helped.

“So, where or what is this place selling?” Hawksley followed Maggie through the bazaar market-style atmosphere. Many traders and buyers were conducting transactions on everything from food to finances to data crystals to anything a space station would offer.

Hawksley sidestepped his way, following an alleyway with crates of goods and exotic spices.

"Everything," Maggie said. She was here for textiles-she kept her quarters very bohemian-silky type sheets and bedding, woven wall hangings, and so on. Florals everywhere. She needed new toss pillows.

"I am looking for textiles. How about you? They sell things your wife might like," she said. "You have a wife, right?" She asked. She thought so, but wasn't 100% certain, actually.

Leland grunted and then chuckled. Yeah, Maggie was bohemian! That was true. “Yes. I have a Wife. We've been married for almost a year now. Five months to go, and we’re due for a baby. Staff Sergeant Lilliana Hawksley.” He beamed.

He looked around. “I have to say. I am not a shopper. Unless I am in front of the Federation Engineering Mechanical Trades Template Replicator Unit TRX-9000.” “That thing replicates literal dataline crystals.”

Maggie smiled. "Aww!" she said. "That's great." Then she laughed. "I can help you if you'd like," she said. She headed straight for a certain stall, piled high with various vibrantly colored fabrics. "Hey!! Honk!! It's LeFebvre!" A Ferengi appeared. "This is my colleague, Leland. Got anything new this week?" She asked.

Leland did not say anything. He watched Maggie and then the Ferengi. They always looked like greedy walking. He turned into his stall, waving the two forward into its tightly packed storeroom past the stall exterior. “What could a Ferengi find appropriate for my Wife?” Leland asked Maggie. The situation warranted further attention; he could provide something worthwhile, as Maggie believed in him.

Maggie smiled wickedly. "No idea, but I can," she said. "I am a woman, after all," she said. "Tholian silk headband. Show him the yellow floral," she said. "And also the Bajoran Lilly embroidery on that shirt," she said. "What size is your wife?" She asked him. "The blouses are pretty. Made by a Bajoran family here that are refugees," she said.

Leland rubbed the back of his neck. He knew the size of his wife but… not the size that Maggie was looking for. “I would know a size. But not the size you’re looking for.” Hawksley chuckled.

He looked around, letting his hand touch the silk fabric. He had to admit the silk did feel good. “How about a Silk robe for Lilli? Small size? And something exotic. Something aromatherapy.” Leland lent his right hand to his mouth, stating, “We find it stimulating in the bathtub!” Hawksley then slowly winked right eye to Maggie.

Maggie laughed. "Hmm," she said, and shook her head. "Then that will be perfect. I suggest the purple color," she said. "Honk!! Where's the purple?" She asked the Ferengi. A moment later, the man produced the robe, and Maggie smiled. "Ok, I'll take this blouse, and I'll also take a robe," she said. "Make mine white, please," she said. She handed over a few slips of latinum, and then turned to Leland. "Want to poke around more or should we head back?" She asked. "It is SO nice to be mobile again."

"Oh hell no!" Leland deeply appreciated the thought of what Maggie was doing, but these were expensive products. He could at least pay for himself for his own wife, but he understood.

Leland expertly dunked his two large platinum bars into her bag. He appreciated that the Lieutenant had taken the time to show him this groovy place and something for Lilli. "Thank you for showing me this place. I would have had no idea. I should do a lot more of these things for her." Hawksley smiled as he looked at the brown-bagged merchant bag.

"Wait..." Hawksley had paused. He thought. "Where are their vibrators, Maggs? Me and Lilli burned out ours." Leland mocked a frowny face and then shrugged his shoulders. "There has to be a sex shop on the station."

Maggie shot him a LOOK. "I wouldn't know," she lied. "But...that was waayyy more information than I needed to know," she said. She laughed then. "I actually don't think there is one here...but there is back on the Station itself," she said. "Promenade space 124-D." She nodded.

Leland cocked his head back in shock, surprised. A bit chuckling at Maggie. “What. All that tough exterior, cockitude is just bark?” Leland winked. “Com'mon Maggs, you can’t be THAT white hot of a prude?! I digress. Thank you. I will check on the station at Promenade space 124-D.” Leland laughed.

“Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. I am sorry, honest.” Hawksley said, trying to keep a straight face. “I shouldn’t have said the word vibrator and burned out.”

She shook her head. "I am not a prude, I am just...private." Maggie was FAR from prudish, but she believed that there was a time and place. "It's ok, I am mostly just surprised that there are others that are as bold. I am usually the one embarrassing people!" She laughed. "Really, it's fine. But I am being honest-there is no shop like that here. There is a place on the Station I can show you, though." It was ran by a Klingon woman and her human husband, and they were very nice and discreet. Maggie had made friends with both.

Hawksley stopped, and then his face went to a flat deadpan. He watched Maggie. "I am so sorry. We don't even own a vibrator. I was seriously pulling your chains Maggs." Hawksley bubbled out a bit of a good chuckle. He loved screwing with people's minds, especially people he knew could handle it.

Maggie smiled. "Ah, well..in that case...I guess I'll take my new friend," she said. "Are you ready to head back?" She asked him. "People will talk if we don't get back soon," she said, winking at him.

"That is the Tomcat for you!" He winked back. Leland gestured, Ladies first. He then walked forward with Maggie back to the concourse of station quarters. "It was fun, Maggs." He smiled.

Maggie nodded. "It was!!" She said. She led the way back to the shuttle. "Alright. The ride back won't be as crazy," she said. "You ready?" She started the shuttle and began the ascent back into the air to head back to rendezvous with the ship. What a good way to spend an afternoon!!

[OFF]





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