Shuttle Shakedown

Posted on Fri Dec 9th, 2022 @ 8:25am by Lieutenant K’lar & Lieutenant JG Deezell Vox
Edited on on Fri Dec 9th, 2022 @ 7:37pm

3,507 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 113 - No One Left Behind
Location: Deck 290 - Shuttlebay 20
Timeline: One Day Past Ops Welcome Meeting

=/\=1533 Hours=/\=

K’lar had not been excited when hearing of his team’s shuttle assignment. The type-7 was not glamorous and was easily forgotten. It had the long shape of a stretched and rounded type-6. It utilized a crew of two, but had room for up to six passengers.

As he helped oversee the retrofit of this particular shuttle, it became his pet project. The passenger space was replaced with a small xenobiology lab. Sensor suite technology was updated to the latest science department specs.

K’lar even chose the Klingonese name of the small vessel. ‘Sov Nuv’ was emblazoned on the side of the type-7. It meant “knowledge-dark knowledge” in his native language. To the ears of a Klingon, it was poetic. Even a warrior could appreciate knowledge.

The process to prepare the shuttle was a long one. Various staff from Engineering, Operations and Science helped upgrade the ship.

Lt. JG K’lar and Ensign Deezell Vox were the last two to finish up the project. A new warp core had been installed and was ready for testing.

They both stood near the side of the shuttle separated by the shuttle’s bulkhead. K’lar was inside, the hatch open, which he’d been using to shout out to Ensign Vox. She needed access to the nacelles and several exterior panels.

The Klingon science officer popped his head out, looking for the Trill propulsion specialist. “How are we looking, Miss Vox?” There was excitement in the Klingon’s voice. “The lab is fully connected and awaiting EPS input.”

"She's looking great Sir. Just a few more things to sort and then she's ready to stretch her wings." Deezell replied.

The Electro-Plasma System ran from the core to the nacelles and back around the shuttle to power it’s systems. They were about to bring this old shuttle back to top form together. The core was ready to be switched from isolated mode back to system flow.

“I must say”, said the crimson eyed Klingon as he moved closer to Ensign Vox. “I am honored to breathe life into this shuttle with you. I’m sure this is routine to you”, he said through a wide, toothy smile. “But I have never been a part of a test flight.”

If the warp core functioned well enough in the bay, the plan was to test the ship in flight.

"Test flights can be fun but tricky. You have a lot of checks to do so it's no leisure cruise. My previous host, Jorran was a test pilot but sadly he was killed on his last flight. The investigation that followed concluded a fault in the engine which he could not have seen or found using any of the preflight checks. " Deezell commented.

The excited look on K’lar’s face widened. There was still a warmth to his face as he turned back to face the shuttle. “There are some who say a Klingon science officer never faces risk. They question my honor.” He turned back to the Trill engineer. “It will be my honor to take this risk with you”, he added.

K’lar had learned to trust Starfleet engineers. As much as he would like to find Sto’vo’kor, today was not the day. Yet he knew the risks were real.

"It will be mine also, as the well known Klingon proverb states." She said clearing her throat. "nItebQobqaDjup 'e' chaw'be' SuvwI'."

(A warrior does not let a friend face danger alone.)

The tall Klingon burst into laughter. “Very surprising, indeed”, he said while laughing. “I forget you must have lived many lifetimes. Tell me. What is it like to exist as so many.. in one?” He was surprised at her perfect use of the phrase. K’lar remembered she was far more experienced beyond her experience.

His wide eyes looked into hers for a moment as he moved to stand alongside her. There was now a curiosity in his look.

"Normally when a Trill is chosen to be joined with a symbiont, they will have spent several years training as an initiate, so they are prepared for life as so many in one as you so perfectly put it. But I didn't get that training as I had to join with Vox in order to save their life on route back to Trill. It can be confusing at times but I am doing better with each passing day”, Deezell replied.

K’lar hrumphed in thought. “That cannot be easy”, he said while turning back towards the shuttle for a moment. “I have never heard of a transfer under such circumstances. Throughout all of my life, the Trill have been a mystery to me”, he said gruffly. “How rude of me to not have learned by now.” K’lar sounded disappointed in himself.

The scientist turned back in her direction and smiled.

"You are always welcome to ask me anything you want and I will do my best to answer. In the meantime, let's finish here and get this lady out into space for her test flight." Deezell replied.

"Yargh", the Klingon grunted in acknowledgement. "Yes, let's.. I 'll run the Input-Reboot sequence and see if it functions with the new core." After one last head nod, he clamored back into the Type-7.

K'lar sat and focused on the controls. His heavy handed fingers typed a sequence of flashing panels which began to bring the ship to life. "How's it looking?" K'lar called out as the main viewer flashed on, back off and on once again.

Deezell got her tricorder out and started a diagnostic scan as the shuttle's systems started to power up. "Looking great so, the core is powering up fine. Plasma flow stable and looking good. In a few minutes she will be purring like a kitten." Deezell replied.

The pair shouted to the other through the open side hatch.

“Most excellent”, the Klingon replied while continuing the start-up sequence. The ship around them seemed to glow. More panels lit as ambient light increased. “The shuttle has power”, said K’lar. Turning to her he grinned. “It has been so long since I have piloted”, said his gruff voice happily.

As the checks continued to run, he scrolled through the controls to find the comm link. Soon he’d have to call for shuttle clearance before flying out of the spacious bay.

Deezell put her tricorder away and stepped aboard the shuttle. Once seated she put her harness on. "Shall we get going?" She asked.

“Strap in” replied the Klingon figuratively. Tapping the comm button he said, “Starbase tower, this is Shuttle 2-8-5 requesting launch from Shuttlebay 20.”

“Shuttle 2-8-5 this is tower”, the voice responded clearly over the intercom. “You are clear for launch vector 0-9-0, time now, over.”

K’lar responded an affirmative before bringing the engines to low impulse and creeping the Type-7 from its mooring. “How long have you been flying?” K’lar turned to Vox as he spoke. The shuttle hovered down the flight line, every light reflecting off the outer front canopy. The bay door grew larger ahead of them in their viewscreen.

"That's a good question. If you are referring to me personally, I'd say a couple of years but over my five lifetimes, it's probably around 60 years of experience of flying various craft. "

“Yorg”, he exclaimed excitedly, the random sounds escaping as he gasped rushing to speak. “Trill life is so different from my own. I cannot fathom several lifetimes. Five?”

"Yes. There have been five hosts before me. Lerani, Azrel, Torbin, Jorran and Raekwon. "

As the shuttle drew nearer the holographic bay door, it sped up. K’lar punched the impulse control and threw the shuttle into a tight vertical climb. Internal dampeners made the directional change feel relatively smooth to the two officers. They were jostled slightly as the shuttle took on a new direction of flight and pushed towards .23c impulse speeds.

“I have not flown much… At least not in Starfleet”, K’lar said. “I took a basic flight course at my last post”, he said. “Useful skill”, he said before grunting and smiling. His crimson eyes looked up from the controls to hers for a moment before turning back to the viewscreen.

"You are doing just fine. Once we have a good distance between us and the station, we can start the shakedown tests." She replied noticing the gaze of his crimson eyes. She smiled.

As she smiled the Klingon felt his cheeks tighten as they reddened into a slight blush. Still a dark tan, K’lar was still relatively fair for a Klingon. “Thank you for your trust”, he said about her compliment.

The shuttle slowly pulled away from the station. He tapped the controls to maneuver an arcing movement around a parked Luna class starship. They couldn’t read the registry number from below as the stubby shuttle flew under the starship’s belly and up and around its saucer.

“Strong names”, he said while still in thought of what she’d said. “Strong names from your past lives. I can sense it.”

"Well they all lived very different lives with different experiences which enriches both the life of the symbiont and future hosts." Dee commented.

“Indeed”, K’lar responded warmly. “Us Klingons must rely on the bonds between House and kin for such knowledge.”

The shuttle continued to pull away from the station and its docked ships. “Impulse controls and all standard shuttle functions are operating normally. We should be clear of the station soon”, barked K’lar. His eyes constantly scanned the viewscreen and panels ahead of him, fingers tapping reassuringly.

"Based on where that Luna Class ship was, I think that was the USS Essex." Dee remarked.

“There are so many ships parked here”, the Klingon replied. “Have you been assigned to one for a mission here?”

The station began to shrink smaller and smaller behind them as K’lar re-routed more power from the core to the Type-7’s engines. He monitored an EPS flow diagram on a smaller viewscreen. All signs were looking well so far. Warp flight would be the real test.

"For a recent mission, I was assigned to the USS Buccaneer as Chief Engineer. " Dee commented.

“How exciting”, K’lar responded. He knew this meant he might have the chance to be assigned as a science officer for any given mission.

He noticed something attached to her neck, just below her ear, as she turned her head. Her hair opened away to reveal some kind of device. Not wanting to ask about what could be a sensitive matter, he said, “I believe we are ready for warp testing.”

"Great. I will bring the warp online, run a few checks and the like. We can start with Warp 1 and work our way up to her maximum." Deezell advised.

“Affirmative “, the Klingon replied. “I have already begun the pre-startup power transfer. The ship is ready to receive the warp core.” The power transfer ensured that once the core actually went online, the sudden power transfer wouldn’t compromise ship system. The warp core itself would also be partially warmed up and ready for a more balanced start.

As Ensign Vox carried out her tasks, K’lar looked to her and said, “Like science, engineering is looked down upon on Klingon vessels. Both departments are run so differently.” He turned quickly to check engine power readouts.

"I would imagine that they are. " She commented. " Warp core ready for test flight. Go ahead, take us to warp 1." She added.

"I wonder what life would be like on Trill.", K'lar said as he quickly tapped at the controls. "So many people within every person in sight." A control button flashed on the panel in front of him. He tapped it to engage the warp core.

He'd set a course to join a nearby transit corridor. The shuttles glowing nacelles powered up as the ship whirred into action. In a flash the tiny type-7 skipped across space encased in its warp bubble.

"Warp one engaged", the Klingon called out as the ship banked to join its banking course. "All systems appear normal", K'lar added. Turning to Deezell he asked, "Tell me Ensign. What are your goals in Starfleet? What do you hope to accomplish here? On the Starbase..." He kept shifting his glance from Vox back to the controls and up to the viewscreen.

"Well, I am still finding my feet being my first deep space posting. I guess I would like to aim for a Chief Engineer posting somewhere, perhaps even here on Starbase 400. Ideally, the life of a joined Trill has to be one of fulfillment and experiences. Warp core is looking good, we can probably take her up to warp 5 but going through each speed for a few moments on the way up." Deezell advised.

K'lar nodded as she spoke, taking it to warp 1.5 tentatively. As she mentioned a new target speed he said, "Understood." He quickly set a new course, one which would send the shuttle on a wide oval around Starbase 400. They had pulled far enough into deep space to be out of the way.

"I see the role of Chief Engineer in your future", K'lar added. "Here you are putting so much extra time into the warp core of a shuttle... For a scientist." He knew the task likely came up on her duty rosters. K'lar also knew such tasks could often be indefinitely postponed due to their potential low priority.

Both officers could read the speed and warp core readouts on both central and independent side panels. All seemed well with the shuttle, if not a little rocky on its first flight. The internal dampeners felt a little rough and night need calibration for more challenging flight conditions. They had reached warp 3 and were slowly climbing, holding each speed for a few minutes on the way up.

"Things a looking good." Deezell commented. But the success started to run out. There was now a noticeable judder as the shuttle continued up the warp scale which got progressively worse.

"Hmm, Pull her back to warp 3 would you and let me check the inertial dampers." Deezell advised.

"Understood", K'lar said through reluctant chuckling. "It felt like a Klingon vessel.. My apologies." He should have realized the dampener situation could become a serious issue.

His long, dark hands quickly dialed back on the throttle's touch-panel control. The shuttle rocked and popped a bit through deep space before seeming to settle into flight. "Operations is reading suboptimal flow from the main EPS relay... And relays here."

The location of the Electro-Plasma System conduits which needed adjustment were shown flashing on a diagram of the shuttle. The computer's diagnostic testing sensed the issue and had presented a potential remedy. "EPS flows always misalign!" K'lar spoke loudly but smiled with warmth towards Deezell's direction.

"Sounds about right." She replied. Getting out her seat she got into the floor on hands and knees and headed to a large panel in the floor, giving K'Lar a good view of her cute butt. Unlocking it, she lifted the top off. Inside was the main access to the Inertial dampening systems with their EPS power taps.

"K'lar, drop us out of warp. If I'm remembering this correctly, you can't adjust the IDS whilst at warp. Once we are stationary, I should be able to reconfigure them. " Deezell advised.

K'lar stammered and snapped his attention back to the displays to try focusing on the task at hand. "Uh, ah yes... Coming out of warp." Too distracted to compensate for the dampening, K'lar quickly brought the shuttle to a stop.

The small type-7 rocked and bucked as the systems meant to cushion the maneuvers of space flight needed adjustment. Luckily for K'lar he seemed to have gathered himself as he stood and crawled alongside Deezell.

"I've always been curious about Engineering work", replied the scientist.. "So this is what an EPS relay looks like, hmm?" His cheeks were blushed almost as scarlet as his fair crimson irises.

"Yes. You should treat them with the greatest respect. The plasma flow is under extreme pressure and so great care is needed whenever any adjustments are required and doing such adjustments whilst at warp is a big no no. " She said getting out her tricorder to scan the IDS and EPS systems.

"Indeed", replied the Klingon as he looked up and crawled to face Vox perpendicularly. "I try to always... be respectful." K'lar added. Standing quickly, he moved to search for storage compartments along the side of the shuttle.

"If I can find a tricorder, I'll follow on through scans", K'lar said.

"Ok." Deezell replied. "Looking at the diagnostic logs, it seems that the plasma flow to the IDS goes slightly out of balance as we pass warp 4. We should be able to correct this by adjusting the flow regulators to correct the balance as the flow increases. Sit tight, this might take 30 minutes. " Deezell advised.

K'lar quickly found the marked panel and pressed to loosen it. It slid open to reveal two standard tricorders. There were also slots to hold two Type 2 phasers. Both of those were empty, with only the tricorders being loaded.

K'lar grabbed one and quickly returned to Ensign Vox. With a humph he said, "I will stay out of your way". He laughed a little as his booming voice echoed off the shuttle's bulkheads. He'd always had a tough time properly adjusting power flows. It always looked so simple but wasn't.

"Tell me then, Ensign", K'lar continued. "How do you enjoy your free time?" Since they would be here for some time he hoped to get to know her more.

"Well, I enjoy trying different foods from other races. I am particularly into Bajoran food right now. I go for walks around the station for exercise. My last host, Raekwon, had a thing for classic Earth Horror Films, specifically Hammer Horror, so I tend to visit the holodeck, recreate a classic movie theatre and watch something. At the moment I am watching films based around Dracula. "

"Ah yes.. The vampire", K'lar responded. "I learned of this beast during a Halloween gathering."

She paused for a moment to reconfigure her tricorder and to pick up a small tool which she then plugged into a socket on the control panel and then switched on the tool which began to pulse with blue lights.

"We should have this done in a few minutes. Just making the finer adjustments. We should then be able to get above warp 4 without any bumps in the road." She commented.

"Very nice work, Ensign. I'll have to pass a grateful review up to the Chief Engineer." The Klingon grinned warmly as he sat with his back to the panel and one knee up. "I'll have to show you around my workspace as well."

"I've got to examine the biosphere's ecosystem and tend to the umm... Arboretum." K'lar realized late in that sentence that he didn't sound very Klingon. It made him terribly self-conscious.

"I look forward to it." Deezell replied." Alright we are done." she announced as she removed the tool from the controls and put the cover panel back on, sealing up the floor. "Lets get her up to her maximum cruising speed, do a lap around the station and then head home. We can run a full diagnostic in the shuttlebay for good measure." she added,

"Right then", K'lar said as he quickly rose to his feet. "Your plan is solid." He waited for her to finish before heading back to the long shuttle's cockpit. "And I want to test a hard jump.. Straight to the new cruising speed."

K'lar sat and began immediately tapping new flight controls to take the shuttle back along its wide ellipsoid warp oval around the station. Ensign Vox wasn't far behind him.

"Preparing to jump on my mark", K'lar said as they finished situating themselves. The shuttle accelerated smoothly and quietly. "Mark!" The tiny nacelles whirred into action before the shuttle leapt back into subspace and away fast.

Deezell turned to face K'lar. "When we get back to the station, care to join me for a beverage?" She asked.

"Certainly!" He was so happy that K'lar almost shouted. "We must explore the promenade. There are so many options. I can always show you fine Klingon food and drink." After a pause he added, "and you the rest to me." Deep chuckles escaped from his stomach while he remembered her interest in alien cuisine.

"Do you have a favorite place yet?" K'lar looked over to Vox while asking. The shuttle's flight was much improved.

"Not really. I tend to have a wander round and see what peaks my interest and then head there for a few drinks." Dee replied.

"Let's start Klingon then... I'd recommend a nice firewine", K'lar said. "I can be a genuine guide."

"I look forward to it." Dee replied with a smile.

End.

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