Once Around The Ship

Posted on Wed Aug 4th, 2021 @ 8:45pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Lieutenant Samantha Leyton

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: Outside Of Ship
Timeline: Day 167 16:30
1098 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth motioned to Samantha as she came through the door of the shuttle bay. This was a secret mission, one that no one else could know about for a little bit or at least until they got back to the ship and announced their findings and that both senior officers had been off the ship. The second officer was fully aware but it would be disconcerting for the crew after the last time they had been off if more people knew than was really necessary.

“What pilot did you pick Lieutenant?” Beth demanded looking at the only pod they had available at the moment. Odysseus was still in pieces after the Vrav incident, one day it would be back in one piece.

Glancing at the shuttlepod Odysseus, Samantha let out a sigh--she hoped that engineering would get to it soon. She knew tha basics but she was far from being qualified to fully repair the shuttlepod. "I picked Ensign McArthur, ma'am. She's a damn good pilot."

Beth nodded wordlessly. In her opinion, the executive officer had made a good choice in who was going to pilot them over to the other Ship. She had hoped it was going to be Ensign Elspeth McArthur as she already had some experience as she has been the one who raised about deck 23. But she’d left that to Sam to sort out as she knew the pilots best. It had allowed the Captain to deal with other things around the ship to allow them to escape for an hour and see what they could see before they went over in force.

The door opened and Elf entered, she looked around and briskly walked over to the two of them. "Sirs?" she asked.

Beth smiled politely and pointed to the small shuttle pod. “We need a pilot for a secrete mission,” Beth said hauling herself up inside to talk privately. It was not like anyone could question but Beth wanted this to be private until she was ready to reveal what they were going to do.

Elf bounced into the pod and took the pilots seat "Aye sirs!" she said brightly

Beth settled into her seat and silently kept herself out of the way thinking through what she was asking the pair to do in the name of getting them some much-needed answers. The PADD in her hands had her list of requests that she had written to keep everything in order. The shuttlepods flight preparation was not long but Beth wanted it done properly especially as it was the only shuttlepod they had left at the moment. They needed to take care of it and keep it in top working order.

Samantha managed to smile at Elf's enthusiasm. It was one quality that made the woman a good pilot--one that would likely take her place a Chief Helm Officer one day. She sat down next to the captain behind Elf in the pilot's seat as she watched the woman begin the preflight checklist.

Elf checked off item after item in the preflight and when done, She sealed the hatch. "Ready for departure Sirs"

One of the most important habits to get into when learning to fly is that of performing checks. No pilot would launch craft without going through the relevant checklist and it was easy to see that the woman had developed solid routines. She had not deviated or questioned the other pilot taking it all on herself. “Let us roll then,” Beth said softly watching as the shuttlepod sealed and they took off through the shuttle bay in the dark space. “Let us just keep this as a normal fly by. Have you both done that before?” She wondered quietly hoping they both had in some capacity.

Sam managed to grin and look sideways at Beth. "Where's the fun in that, ma'am?"

Beth shrugged at the grin on the woman face. "I just want this to be safe as possible. No one drama needed this week." The Captain commented returning her gaze to the ship. It was huge and swamped them easily at least ten times over. "Lieutenant can you count down 23 from the bridge area?"

Looking out at the viewport, Sam gazed at the ship. It somehow seemed larger in person than on the viewer. "Yes, captain," she replied after a moment. "It looks very well made. Most of the stress points seem reinforced from what I can tell." The reinforced stress points would allow the ship to travel at a high warp without worrying about structural integrity failure.

Elf concentrated on her piloting, bringing them in casually close to have a look a what was on the outside of the ship and to see if they could see inside.

Beth nodded silently as she thought about what that could mean, she was not a pilot or structural engineer so her skills were limited in it. But it all was starting to paint an ominous picture in her mind of what the Foundation and its mission was. “How long do you think the ship is built for?” She inquired as they found the 23rd deck and moved along it slowly taking in each detail or lack of detail.

"Hard to say, captain," Sam shrugged. "I'd guess from their technology level and the size of the ship, at least five to ten years before needing resupply. If it's a colony ship--then possibly around fifty years."

"What if it was designed to be a generational ship?" Beth wondered thoughtfully watching the ship and how her crew could fit fifty times over if she needed them too. "How long in your opinion as a flight officer could a ship last?" It was so much better prepared than any ship that the woman had ever seen. it was hard to not think of the potential.

"At least a hundred years, likely more," Sam replied after a moment of thought. "Such a ship would only need to worry about power, fuel and navigation if the crew were placed in cryogenic chambers for the trip. No strain on the ship's resources of food and water and additional power consumption."

Beth looked at the woman and nodded. It was all very interesting and she wished they had more time but it was precious after what had happened to Aurelius. Beth did not want to send more people across when they now had fuel. "Thank you." She really had no idea how true some of what Sam had said was going to be and on reflection much later she wished she had asked much more questions.