"You want to do what? Have you gone mad?" Jett Reno downed half a cup of hot coffee in one swallow trying to wake-up from what had to be a bizarre dream. Then winced as the scalding beverage burned her mouth and throat. Hell, I am awake after all. "Basically you want me to turn a shuttle into a paper airplane."
"A sailplane. And it can work." Detmer answered as she mimed a ship gently drifting to a textbook landing. "In the 20th century the space shuttle was essentially a glider with rockets strapped to it. It landed unpowered."
Reno tsked. "We have entered the twilight zone. Or a half-baked reality. Our shuttles are not designed to fly like that. They need a rather important little thing called thrust." Now waving her hands, she continued, "Which is supplied by a working engine." She turned to Saru. "You cannot possibly be considering this option."
"I am keeping an open mind Commander."
Reno turned back to Detmer. "How will you navigate without instruments?"
"The old-fashioned way, by looking out the window."
"OK. I concede that point. But our shuttles aren't built with the aerodynamics necessary to …" Reno mimicked Detmer's earlier demonstration of a ship floating to the ground. This time the pantomime ended with less control and more force as Reno's hand smacked onto the table. "to land successfully using only lift, drag, and weight."
Gen Rhys spoke up. "Theoretically they can."
"Perhaps, but what addle-minded flyboy would try it?" Reno shot back.
"Captain Pike." Rhys replied.
"Deliberately?" Reno asked, dumbfounded.
"Not the first time." Detmer pointed out.
When Tracy Pollard entered the ready room, Saru used the opportunity to refocus their conversation. "Doctor, Commander Nhan and Lieutenant Detmer have recommended a plan to take supplies to the Captain and Ensign Tilly while limiting risk to Discovery and the crew. Commander Nhan, please summarize your idea."
"Discovery jumps back to the planet long enough to launch a shuttle. We estimate it and the crew will be exposed to the geomagnetic storm for five minutes – do I have that right Keyla?"
"Four minutes which is well within safety tolerances." Detmer corrected and then continued. "The shuttle's engines and equipment should be operational for six or seven minutes once we enter the planetary system. That's enough time to launch, get one or two navigational readings and correct our descent angle based on the local conditions, such as wind shear. The landing won't be precise, but I should be able to get within a few hundred kilometers of their location."
Reno jumped back into the conversation. "The term landing implies having control. You will be gliding. And most probably tossed around by every wind gust, every changing air current."
"That sounds dangerous, perhaps even reckless." Dr. Pollard observed.
"Captain Pike, well back when he was Lieutenant Pike, managed it after he lost power during a test flight. In the prototype for the shuttles Discovery has on board. Without any of the modifications we will make. Later he perfected the technique and it's now standard training for test pilots." Rhys explained. "I created a simulation based on his method last night. Using it, Keyla has landed successfully 30% of the time."
Owo looked thoughtful. "Airaim, Commander Burnham and I could improve the simulation with up-to-date weather, atmospheric and topographical data. Keyla, that would also give you a physical map to use as a guide during landing. It's a long shot and risky. And the best plan we have so far."
"The strength of the geomagnetic storm has not changed for several hours. How long can they survive without water?" Paul Stamets asked.
"Seventy-two hours. And they've been stranded over two days." Tracy answered.
"And we have no way of knowing if their supplies arrived intact." Nhan added.
Reno had been reviewing and updating the proposed shuttle modifications as the others debated. "We can do this, and I added a few improvements. We should also implement the new shield modifications on Discovery and the shuttle. It might buy a few extra minutes before the equipment fails."
"How long?" Saru asked.
"Twelve hours." Reno estimated. "But I will find a way to get it done in six."
"I need another four hours in the simulator." Detmer answered.
"Very well. I am not yet ready to approve this plan but begin preparations immediately. Owo, please assemble and lead the team to create those maps. Commander Nhan collect the necessary supplies. Dr. Pollard, I believe a medic should go as well. Volunteer only."
After his orders were acknowledged, Saru concluded the briefing with "We will reconvene in four hours."
ooooo
As afternoon gave way to evening, Tilly's anger at Captain Pike cooled to a simmer and she pushed it to the back of her mind. Oh, there was still going to be a reckoning once they got back to the ship! She was already rehearsing the conversation in her head, eruditely pointing out his numerous logical fallacies.
But her thoughts were tugged in another direction. She analyzed their conversations about love and romantic partnerships with subordinates. The Captain had answered her questions as a teacher to a command trainee. To keep the discussion professional and, she admitted to herself, to minimize her embarrassment. But at the end he spoke more personally – or was that an accident, did he share more than intended?
He set an almost impossibly high bar for himself when it came to relationships. Was that necessary in any superior/subordinate liaison? Or unique to his command style? How would she learn or know what boundaries of her own to set?
Wait a minute! She backtracked … the Captain was trying to shield her from embarrassment! Then she remembered – he knew about her crush. How mortify…
But was it really mortifying? He had never, not even once, chided her or intentionally made her feel uncomfortable about her attraction to him. Instead he had shown respect. Had answered her questions, all her questions, carefully to be sure, but also honestly, in a way that felt like a conversation between two equals.
Was this crush becoming true affection? When did her feelings for him begin to change? It had started all about her – what it would feel like for her to be with such a sexy, powerful guy, how good she would feel if he liked her, how amazing the sex would be for her, how others would think she was lucky, how she wanted that dimpled smile to be reserved for her, how she wanted him to cherish her, how …
Now she was thinking about him. And as more than a hot guy. That it would be awesome to brighten his day with her smile, to make him laugh, to give him pleasure, to nurse him through injuries, to hold him when he cried, to choose to care for him, to love him even on those days she didn't like him very much.
Is this what love is? She asked herself. Is this what being in love feels like?
Twilight descended and then morphed into night. Worry set in. Captain Pike still had not returned to the cave. The fog outside was now a thick stew and the wind was howling. She tried to keep her mind occupied and focused, but her thoughts kept drifting to unpleasant possibilities. What if he was lost? What if the injury he had hidden from her was worse?
After what felt like days, Pike stumbled into the cave. Before she could question or scold him there was a bright flash in the distance followed by a deafening bang.