/ 1900 Hours, October 27, 2553 (Military Calendar),

Location Classified

The retrograde thrusters were a flash of light, intense heat, and a muffled pop. They burned for thirteen seconds exactly, until all forward velocity was killed, and the D79H-TC Pelican was suspended motionless in space. A push of the left pedal fired off the right mounted RCS thrusters and the nose of the ship turned left. Deceleration of the turn was controlled by the flight computer, as was any drift that may have been caused by Newtonian Physics. When the turn was completed and the ship stabilized, the pilot queued the comms by holding in a button located on the cyclic control.

'Oort Actual, this Pelican 030, requesting docking permission, over.'

'Pelican 030, permission granted, continue to starboard dock 003, over.'

'Much obliged Eugene, Pelican 030 out.'

'If you are not going to use the bloody handles Knight, don't bother calling.'

'Sorry Eugene, forgot you don't like when I mention your name on the comms, 030 out.'

'Try to remember it for next time 030, Oort Actual out.'

Dust and debris blocked out all hopes of a VFR approach, forcing Chief Warrant Officer Three Bryant Knight to rely solely on instruments for the docking procedure. Turning to his co-pilot Knight says,

'How about we traumatize the deck crew, Boyd?'

'Your lead sir, I just monitor the screens.'

'Nah, Boyd, your going to give me full retro-burn on my go. We might as well have some fun while we can. When Project Infinity is locked, stocked, and ready to go we won't have the same liberties.'

'Roger, sir.'

The doors of docking bay 003 measure 62 meters across, a D79H-TC Pelican is 30.5 meters in length, leaving plenty of wiggle room for drift. Knight pushed the thruster control to the full forward position. The Pelican's fuselage shook in protest as it clumsily slipped from inertia's grasp. The space directly around Project Infinity was cluttered with dust, making visual conformation impossible for both pilot and deck crew alike. To the unsuspecting workers of docking bay 003, the sudden appearance of a full forward thrusting Pelican seemed to spell disaster and many of those who had been calmly sitting and eating a mid-shift break snack, dove to cover, spilling both beverage and sandwich on the flight deck floor.

'Boyd, retrograde, NOW!' shouted Knight as the Pelican broke through the visually impairing dust screen, a mere one hundred meters from the docking bay entrance.

Both Knight and Boyd were thrown forward, caught by the harnesses strapping them to their seats. Knight reacted instinctively, pulling back the thruster control to 0%, pushing hard on the left pedal, and pushing forward and to the right on the cyclic control. The result was a drifting rotation that spun the Pelican counter clockwise through the door. When the nose of the ship pointed perpendicular to the bay's entrance Knight ran up the thrusters back to 100% until he could feel the Pelican's rearward momentum die down. Once the ship settle itself into a hover above the marked landing zone, Knight lowered the landing gear and the collective control until the Pelican gently rested on the flight deck floor.

'And that is how you land a Pelican,' chimed Knight, a smug smile drawn across his face, while he unbuckled his helmet, opened the hatch of Pelican and slid down its ladder onto the flight deck floor.

'And simultaneously get court marshaled,' Boyd breathed a nervous sigh of relief.

'Tell me you don't love being my co-pilot Boyd, surely some of my piloting skills will rub off on you.'

'It is the attention that you draw that I am more worried about, you know how long it took to work my way into an ONI clearance? Not to mention the performance reviews and interviews with spooks, and the calls in the middle of night to see my dependability and commitment to the job, I had to endure. Damn, Knight, I know you are a good pilot but you don't have as much invested as I do here.'

'No, you are right. It only took a tour to Reach and flying several sorties on Installation 00 to get me here. What do I know about commitment?'

'Enough gentlemen.'

The sudden entrance of a female voice, one that was recognized by both Knight and Boyd to belong the Commander Katherine Isakov, made them instantly react.

Snapping to attention Boyd calls, 'Commander on deck!'

Knight follows suit.

'Chief Warrant Officer Jason Boyd, do you mind telling me why you landed that Pelican so inconceivably idiotically, and not to mention a total breach of UNSC landing protocol?' accused Isakov.

'Commander, with all due respect, it was CW3 Knight who landed the ship, sir.' Boyd's tongue was in his throat, which caused his voice to crack on the word sir.

'Well *sir*,' mocked Isakov, 'your flight permission has been suspended for three weeks, during which time your selection for Project Infinity will be under review, and goddammit Boyd, I am joking, please do not have an emotional break down on my flight deck.'

'Yes, sir,' squeaked Boyd.

'And as for the real mastermind behind the mystifying performance, Knight, if I have told you once, I have told you one thousand, bloody times, you are not the best pilot under my command. Every pilot ONI has selected can fly as well as you can, so I don't need reminded of your inability to follow procedure every bloody day.'

'No excuse, sir,' Knight fought back a smile but lost.

'Don't make me have to walk down here again. And for the love god Boyd, don't be so up tight. At ease.' She returned their salute and walked hurriedly off the flight deck.

'She was impressed,' beamed Knight, who punctuated his sentence with a wink.

'Yeah, freaking right, Knight. She was going to suspend us from flight duty.'

'She might not be right about the whole *every pilot ONI has selected can fly as well as you* bit, but she is definitely right about one thing.'

'And what might that be?' Boyd asked with a concerned look on his face.

Placing his hand on Boyd's shoulder, Knight returned his look of concern, 'You do need to loosen up.'