A Calm before the storm

Posted on 31 May 2023 @ 1:48am by Lieutenant JG Margeurite "Maggie" LeFebvre & Sergeant Connor Sharpe
Edited on on 03 Jul 2023 @ 4:17pm

1,753 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: S3 Episode 5: Diplomatic Incident/Hydaransz Again (Incidentals)
Location: USS Roosevelt-Home
Timeline: During the current mission

[ON]

Maggie had changed into the correct uniform-ugly red undershirt under a black jumpsuit. She was sitting in the shuttle, doing her pre-flight checks. She looked up, and smiled, giving the ATC the "all good" signal. Her RADAR was working, her lights and systems were gone, and the airspace around them looked clear.

After a bit, she was cleared for takeoff. The shuttle actually handled quite nicely for how armed it indeed was, and she had no problems on takeoff. Smithson had been correct; the trip would take her roughly a week-seven days. This Sharpe must be a DAMN good rifleman if she was going this far into deep space to pick him up.

Through six days and nights of boring nothingness, the feckless blonde pilot arrived at the Hydaransz system. In several hours, she'd rendezvoused with the space station. 51 was a smaller station than 9 or 21, the ones she was most familiar with. Which was fine, smaller was better. She found LCdr Cahill, who introduced her to her charge and his magic rifle. It was too damn early to do much.

"Lt. Maggie LeFebvre of the Tomcat. I am supposed to drop you off on the Roosevelt and grab some supplies, I think, and get back to the Tomcat. Tell me about this magic rifle of yours," the tall Blonde said.

Giving a smile, Connor gave a shrug, "It's not the rifle, it's the Marine behind it. I imagine it's like being a pilot. how did you get to where you are? Lots of practice right?"

Maggie smiled brightly. "Yes. Since I was a young child, actually. I don't assume you've been a Marine that long, though?" She settled in. "Is Mess open yet? Or the Lounge, even?" Anywhere she could replicate some coffee. She yawned a little. "Sorry."

"I'm not sure, I only got to the station yesterday."

She sighed. "Alright, guess we find out." She led him out the door and towards the direction she'd come in. Someone had to know something!! She stopped a man passing by, and the bright smile she plastered on her pretty face was definitely noticeable. "Hello! My friend and I here are looking for the Mess hall or even the Lounge." She tossed her blonde head a little bit and smiled at him. The man gave direction, and she turned back to the Sargeant. "See? Told you someone would know."

Giving a sigh, Connor shook his head before adjusting his rucksack on his shoulder, “But where’s the fun of asking? You fleeters have no sense of adventure”

The flirty blonde made a face. "Yeah, but it's more air time for me." She led the way; after some coffee and a bit of breakfast, she was ready to head out and let Connor know. "Let me know how long until you'll be ready to head out; the Roosevelt isn't too far away; it should only take about 24 hours at warp. They're expecting you so we need to hurry, but please don't rush too much; if the command has to wait, they have to wait." Maggie cared very little for the pomp and circumstance of it all; she just wanted to fly and have a good time while she did it.

Connor gave Maggie a look of confusion before looking at his rucksack still slung over his shoulder, "Um, I've been ready since I got here. I'm a Marine, I can pick up and move at any moment. So how about this, we grab a quick bite and head out?"

"Well. I am NOT a Marine, and I am a woman; I require a little bit more to be ready," she said. Nonetheless, after a few minutes, they were back in the mess hall. She replicated a small breakfast of coffee, an apple, and yoghurt, and sat, waiting. She THRIVED on the attention she was getting; the addition of a new, pretty Blonde was definitely news to the far-flung ship in a far-flung part of No-Man's Land. Finally, it was time to go, and after her pre-flight checks were done, and final communications were sent, Maggie climbed into the cockpit and waited for Sharpe to board. "You ready? Buckle in. Astrometrics says there's a small solar storm nearby; I'm expecting a bit of fodder but we should be fine after that; I'll throw us into warp, and we're pretty much free to do what we wish for the last 23 and a half hours." She explained. Hopefully, Astrometrics was wrong. She set some coordinates, and started the shuttle, smiling at the noise the engines made. It was almost as good as sex-flying, that is.

Taking a seat and stepping in, Connor closed his eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath, “Let’s get this bucket moving LT. The Galaxy ain’t gonna save itself. We’ve got a full day of warp ahead of us so we better get to it.”

Maggie nodded and ran her flight checks. Once they got the all-clear signals, she got them into the air. Indeed, a few minutes later, FOD was flying about, and she had to focus. Luckily, the Marine next to her was quiet and self-reliant, and she didn't need to babysit him-a welcome change from Fleeties. After a few MORE minutes, they were back in safety, and she set the autopilot and settled back.

"So. We have about 6.5 days. Guess we better get to know each other. I am Lt. Marguerite LeFebvre, of Sol/Earth. I've been in the Fleet for about...seven years now? Just flying." She said, by way of full introduction. She figured she better knows his name, at least, before anything else.

“Sergeant Connor Sharpe, born on a nowhere colony in the Cardassian DMZ and adopted son of Bajor. Served Starfleet in the Corp for 15 years everywhere from Cardassian space to the Former Romulan Boarder.” Connor replied, sitting back in his chair, “I’ve served in the 33rd Rifles, the 212th Division and now the 95th Rifles. I’m a qualified Designated Marksman and in my time I have fought Romulans, Cardassians, Klingons, rogue AIs and Jem’Hadar”

Maggie nodded. "Well, that's certainly impressive." Maggie had fought in a battle, too, but not like that. Shuttle pilots didn't do much fighting; hers had been mostly defensive things. "Must be difficult to fight the Cardassians, being from one of their colonies." Maggie didn't know much about the relations between the Cardassians/Dominion and others. Wasn't her business. Plus, she didn't care. If a Cardassian was hot, she'd sleep with them. If a Bajoran was hot, the same thing. And so on.

"Anyway. We have about a day and a half to get to the Roosevelt, at full Warp; this thing is older than me, though. So pray to your prophets or whatever they're called is my recommendation." She paused. "And come up with things to do to keep yourself entertained. I don't babysit, only deliver." She didn't have time for that; her brain was filled with other, more important things. Like if her shuttle was ok, and if she could get away with nudity and for how long...

“Well, how about a quick lesson on Bajoran culture? Because yes we do worship the prophets and even some of us worship Captain Sisko, though I have a different perspective on it due to my Starfleet training and the colony I grew up on. Which was a human colony, by the way, not Cardassian”

Maggie nodded. "Sure. I like learning about other cultures. I know some basics-mostly just what they teach in the Academy about the Occupation." Maggie was smarter than she let on-the ditzy, flirty thing was mostly an act to keep people at arm's length. But she really did like learning new things. "And uh...Captain Sisko seems nice but is he really worthy of worship?" Perhaps that would come out. "I only met him once, though, in passing. I refuelled at DS9 and stayed a day on a manoeuvre."

“It’s a little difficult to explain to most people in the Federation. For most species, Religion is something that they have let go of as their scientific understanding of the universe expands. The Bajoran on the other hand have a constant and direct connection to beings that could represent anyone’s definition of what a God is. They are powerful, they accurately predict the future and have shown power that could be considered magic or miracles. While The Federation knows the Prophets as the ‘Wormhole Aliens’, these Aliens exist outside of time so predicting the future for them is as easy as you and I breathing air. You could say that Bajoran culture has been guided by these aliens through their orbs. That’s about as close to a god as we’ll probably see."

She nodded. "I see. So it's polytheistic." Maggie had briefly studied religion once, for a paper when she was in high school trying to impress a guy, actually, and had done a brief read into old Earth religions. "If you want my opinion, they remind me a bit of the old Earth religion of Judaism," she said. Maggie's distant ancestors had been Catholic. "Anyway. It makes as much sense to me as anything else, and who am I to question anyone else's beliefs?" She asked, more or less for a subject change. Deep conversations like this worried her people requiring her to use her brain for more than flying and pleasure was scary to the feckless pilot. "Say, do you want something from the replicator? I am going to get a snack, and then maybe a nap. You're welcome to join me for one, the other, or both," she said, her tone even but a smirk playing on her face. She stood up then and headed for the back area of the shuttlecraft. "Computer, one iced black tea, please, and an apple," she said.

Connor shook his head in response, “No thanks, you go get some rest. We should split the flight responsibility between us. I may not be the best pilot in the fleet but I can fly a hopper easily enough”

The rest of the time went thusly, and soon, her package was delivered. Right after, she made the trip back.

[OFF]

 

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