Shuttles Away

Posted on Sun Apr 26th, 2026 @ 12:53am by Lieutenant Commander Sabastian Walker & Captain William Abernathy & Lieutenant Commander Elyse White & Lieutenant Malcom Hunt & Lieutenant JG Karri & Lieutenant JG Nasir Patel

1,302 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Forgotten Wounds
Location: Shuttle Bay | USS Arcadia
Timeline: Shortly before Arrival

ON:

Sabastian stood on the deck with the other pilots. They were meeting about an hour and a half from when the shuttles were due to leave, and a half hour before Sabastian left. This was the final briefing with the pilots and White and Abernathy. He sat at the small table off to the side in the shuttle bay and waited for everyone to arrive.

White soon arrived and saw Sabastian. "Be grateful that I am not a violent person. I should hit you for what you did!" She kept her voice low, but then smiled, "But thank you. No one else here yet?"

He laughed. "Cupid is my cousin. What can I say?" He smiled. "You are the very first. My little skiff is ready to go. I'm going to need your help the most on this."

"Yeah... No... Cupid may not be the right term," Elyse chuckled before easily changing to duty-related topics. "The whole Comms team is ready to go. I'll oversee everything, don't worry."

"I'll be sending the mapping data to you to give to Poe, but also to transmit to the shuttles for a safe route to the transport and back. Klingons will send their own shuttles and they will offload the passengers here. The bay will have to be guarded and contained so that they don't make a play for the ship."

Elyse nodded, "I've got everything set up and everyone ready. Just about. I'd like to see the Klingons try. I've been wanting a new Baleth for my kitchen. They make great pizza cutters."

He laughed. "That I'd like to see." He sighed. "We'll get all this sorted. Engineering-wise, Thol is your man. He'll be on the bridge running the team; they know to take cues from him."

Elyse nodded and smiled, "Alright, well, as soon as everyone is here and debriefed, I'll get back up there."

He gave a nod. "Have a seat. I was just about to get a coffee. Can I get you one?"

"Black, no sugar," she nodded, taking a seat.

Sabastian hurried and got her coffee and one for himself just as the rest of the group started piling in.

Karri walked into the shuttle bay and stretched her back. It felt good to see something other than a supply manifest. She whistled at the impressive shuttles that she saw. "Greetings, everyone." She said.

Sabastian smiled. "Karri. Welcome. Coffee?"

Elyse smiled over at Karri, "Morning, Ensign."

Karri smiled back at Elyse, "Morning." She said, happily. She turned to Sabastian. Her ears perked up. "That sounds great!"

Sabastian handed Karri a coffee. "How are you holding up? Ready to pilot the shuttle?"

"Thanks!" Karri said. "And I'm doing just fine, sir." She said, "I'm very ready! Looking forward to it."

Sabastian smiled. "Ensign, call me by my first name." He sighed. "Once the others get here, we'll go over the plan. You all will launch an hour after me. I'm going to clear the path for your shuttles and then dock to help load people. It will be several trips." He looked at Karri. "Do not doubt yourself for an instant. You are capable of this, and you will do well. I promise you."

"Thanks, sir ... Sabastian," Karri said. "And thanks for the confidence. It's been a while since I've flown anything." She began. "It really helps. Oh, and call me Kar, too." She smiled.

He smiled at the Ensign. "Will do. We're just waiting for a couple more people, and then we'll start."

Stepping into the shuttle bay, Malcom looked among the group. "Is that coffee that I am smelling in the air?"

Sabastian smiled. "It is. How do you like your coffee, Mr. Hunt?" Sab stood walking over to the coffee station he'd set up.

"With three scoops of sugar," Hunt answered. "Eager to hear what the Captain has to tell us about this mission."

"It will be a rough one for sure, but we'll get it done." He said getting the coffee for Hunt.

Captain Bill Abernathy walked into the shuttle bay with tactical officer, Lieutenant JG Nasir Patel in tow. Patel was also chosen as one of the six officers to pilot a shuttle on this hopefully death-defying mission into a mine field. His experience was what led Bill to add him to the list, as well as his fearlessness.

Abernathy greeted the others with a simple nod. In his hand, a warm mug of steaming mulled cider. He looked around and mentally started counting heads. "Just waiting on Sawyer Leighton," he commented. "Gentlemen, ladies," he said, addressing them all. "Out of all the places I do not want to send anyone, an active minefield is by far towards the top of that list. Your senses need to be keenly focused today; response and reaction time cannot be delayed. One navigational error could be costly."

"Since I have the skiff, we needed one more person, and Forest will join us, too, sir. Plus, we have two others ready to go on the Klingon shuttles so that our people will be at ease." Sabastian added.


With everyone assembled, Bill gave a small nod. "Commander, I am not sure any of our people will be truly at ease with the Klingons, but we will make do with what we have. The Klingons say they are here to help us. The Federation wants to believe in that, and so that's what it will be. Faith and trust."

Abernathy stiffened his posture a bit, not that it was ever truly slacking. "Commander Walker will take his skiff out first and start making some progress in charting a path to the transport. The Klingons will launch when we receive Walker's go-ahead. Our shuttles will then proceed along the flightpath relayed to us."

"This sounds a hell of a lot simpler than it is," he said, addressing the pilots. "Do not deviate from the flightpath. We'll be working on ways to deactivate or disable some mines, but these mines will affect your navigational readings. They will disorient, and once they do that, you'll find yourself torn to shreds, setting off several more mines in your wake. We cannot allow that to happen. You each will have several civilian passengers aboard. Multiple trips, kids first."

Sabastian spoke up. "Poe has accounted for the sensor issues. We have probes that will emit colored lights. I will deploy them as I chart the path, and I will escort each shuttle group in and out. This way we can...ensure that there is less chance of error." He looked at the Captain. "I do have a suggestion...perhaps the Klingon shuttles can take only the healthy. I say our shuttles take care of the women, children, and injured if we can."

Looking over to the Commander, Hunt nodded in agreement. "I cosign that idea. Also, how many trips altogether are we anticipating overall?"

Bill nodded. "I am fine with that. We just may need to remind the Klingons this is a rescue operation first and foremost, not an attempt to battle a minefield."

Sabastian snorted. "They can battle it all they like once we get everyone back safely." He turned to Hunt, he said. "Each shuttle is expected to take three trips, but it will be hours since it's slow going."

"Slow and steady," Malcom responded. "Not really sure if the Klingons are capable of moving at that pace."

"If you stab them enough, they do actually slow down," quipped Captain Abernathy. "Problem is, you can't stab an ally these days. The Federation frowns upon it, and a wounded Klingon is a pissed-off Klingon."

Sab snorted. "True enough." He looked around. "We can do this. We'll get this done and get everyone home. Nobody left behind."

Abernathy was in full agreement. "Let's get to work."

OFF:

 

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