Every free second that Carrie had became time to study. She located all of the books on Galactica with information on Raptors and practically memorized them, cover to cover. In about a week, she knew what every button, switch, and screen was for, and how to use all the sensors. The only problem was, for as much time as she'd spent in her life on the outside of Raptors doing maintenance, she'd never had spent much time inside one. And that's where having an accomplice came in.
"You busy?" Carrie asked as she walked over to one of the Raptors that were on deck. Evan twisted around to look at her, an eyebrow raised.
"No, Carrie; I'm on my back, under a plane, with the fuel line access door hanging open, but I'm not busy."
She grinned, "Good," and proceeded to sit beside him on the hangar floor. "I need a favor."
"If this is anything like when your brother says he needs a favor, I want no part of it."
"No, come on, Evan. Please?"
"I'm sure as hell not saying yes or no until I know what the favor is." Carrie sighed, looking around to make sure that no one else was within earshot.
"I want you to teach me everything you know about Raptor piloting."
He frowned. "Why?"
Carrie shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. "Never too early to learn, right?"
"Not necessarily, when it comes to you. What are you trying to…" And then it dawned on him. "No."
"What? Why?"
"I'm not gonna help you sneak out with a military plane. It ain't happening."
"You haven't heard the whole plan."
"I don't want to hear it. Forget it, and stick to shuttles. You'll take combat flight in two years."
"But I don't have two years," she protested, and that got his attention.
Evan sat up, putting down his tools. "Why not?"
She sighed. "I want my grandfather to be able to see me fly…And that means I have to learn now."
"What's going on, Carrie?" There was a long pause.
"I don't know how much time is left, but it's not a lot. So I can't wait anymore."
"Why don't you talk to your parents? Maybe they could work something out – "
"And if they said no, then what? I can't ask permission; I've gotta do it this way. So are you in, or are you out? And if you're out, then would you please keep your mouth shut about this?"
Evan thought about it for a minute. "Are you supposed to be on-shift right now?"
"No, I'm off until tomorrow."
"Fine. Meet me in the ready room at 2330, okay?"
Carrie smiled. "I'll be there…Thanks."
"Yeah. Now let me get back to work."
"Yes, Sir," she said and obediently left him alone.
After his shift, Evan tried to get together all of his old materials from when he did Raptor flight training, and then headed for the ready room. Carrie was already there and waiting. He rolled his eyes when she came to attention upon him entering the room.
"Don't start," he told her.
"Yes, Sir."
"Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into? I mean, other than knowing how to repair fuel lines and load drones, how much do you know about flying or Raptors?"
"I'll be done with basic flight in only a couple days."
"Key word being 'basic'."
"It's better than nothing," Carrie fired back. "And I've read everything I could get my hands on."
He wasn't expecting that. "You have the training manuals?"
"Yeah."
"Wow."
"See? My plans aren't quite as crazy as Zak's."
"Yes, they are, you just execute them better."
Carrie smiled. "So what else am I missing from Raptor training?"
"Air time," he replied. "Time in the cockpit to go over all the skills in the manuals."
"Well, that's not exactly an option. The first time I go up, I've gotta have everything down. The first time is probably the only time."
"You've gotta finish basic flight before you try taking out a Raptor. You're going to be in enough trouble already without adding to it the fact that you weren't a licensed pilot yet."
"Fine…but I think I can pull this thing off without anyone knowing."
Evan sighed. "Do I really want to hear this?"
"Raptor 248 went down for a total overhaul yesterday, right?"
"Yeah…"
"So how long does that take?"
"Probably about two weeks. Maybe a little less if the crews are really good."
"So…what if you were to volunteer for the check-out flight after they finish the maintenance. They only need a pilot, right? No ECO."
"Yeah…" And then he realized where she was going with that line of thought. "So there'd be no one else to notice if you snuck along as well."
She grinned. "Exactly. You do the talking, I do the flying – it all makes for a lovely afternoon"
Evan shook his head in disbelief. "You're an evil genius, Carrie."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"Says who?"
Zak wanted to prove to his sister that he wasn't totally incapable of visiting their grandfather without her prompting; one afternoon, once he had finished an early shift patrol and grabbed a quick lunch from the mess hall, he then headed for Adama's quarters.
"I don't suppose you're capable of getting through just one patrol without giving in to the urge to turn your fighter into a play toy?" he asked his grandson when he saw him. Zak was at first confused, but then noticed the sound of the wireless communications coming through the speaker above him.
"No, I really don't think I am," he replied with a grin. "Did Carrie redo your overhead system?"
"Yes, she did. I really am beginning to wonder if there's anything she can't fix."
He shrugged, taking a seat. "I'd rather fly than fix."
"Mmm. You would have been a natural for the aerobatics team if we still had an Academy."
Zak smiled. "It's more fun to sneak it in during a patrol."
"You are your mother's son."
"And damn proud of it."
"Oh, I'm sure. So what else has been going on?"
"Nothing really. Eat, sleep, fly, gamble."
"How have things been working out with your new squadron leader?"
He smirked. "I've known Sarah forever – she's one of my closer friends – but you know things are going to be…interesting when your squad leader is a girl with the call sign 'Ice'." Adama laughed.
"Yeah, I've seen several of those in my lifetime. She'll make better pilots out of all of you."
"I know. She tries to keep me in line, too."
"Is there any chance of her succeeding?"
Zak grinned. "I told her that I'd play by her rules if she ever manages to beat me at cards."
Finishing basic flight wasn't all that big of a deal on Galactica. Every pilot had to do it, and most tried to get it over with as quickly as possible so they could move on to the 'real fun'. Carrie was no exception; for her, passing meant that her secret plan was falling together nicely. She had a maintenance shift directly after her final check-out flight, and wasn't expecting anyone other than Evan or her grandfather to even remember that it was her last day of training. She was pleasantly surprised to find things to the contrary.
After a session with Evan (he was trying to pass along some of his experiences to her before her flight) she headed back to her quarters to discover that her bunkmates had decorated her rack. A sign reading 'Congratulations Carrie' was on the wall, and a paper cut-out of Raptor wings was hanging above her bedside shelf.
"Just so you can keep your eyes on your next goal," one of them explained.
Carrie had barely gotten a chance to thank everyone and check out her friends' handiwork when a voice came across the overhead, "Attention: pass the word for Caroline Adama. Cadet Adama, report to the XO's office."
"You mean you didn't go see your parents already?" one of her bunkmates asked her. She jumped down from her bed.
"No, I just got off shift. I didn't think they would care much. I mean, shuttle jockeys are about the bottom of the totem pole for pilots."
"That doesn't matter. You're their youngest kid, and you just passed basic. Get outta here."
So she obediently made her way up to her mother's office. Lee and Zak were there as well; "It's about frakking time," Zak ribbed his sister.
"You know, according to your mother, you're apparently not a child anymore," Lee told her.
"It's a practicality thing," Kara explained. "Because frankly, it would worry me if we were referring to those flying eighty-ton shuttles around as children."
Carrie laughed. "Where's Grandpa?" She didn't miss the fact that her parents exchanged a look before either of them answered.
"He said to tell you congratulations and that he'd see you in the morning," Lee finally said.
"Is he okay?"
Kara offered her a smile, but Carrie could see the tension behind it. "When was the last time that your grandfather actually stayed up to the end of mid-shift?"
"Was I born yet?" Zak quipped.
"Brat."
They all enjoyed a bit of time together, but Zak was on early shift, so he wasn't going to stay up long. As Carrie made her way back towards her bunkroom, she ran into Evan in the hall.
"I was just coming to find you," he told her.
"What's up?"
"They finished working on Raptor 248 – the flight test is tomorrow."
"Whoa. That's a lot earlier than we thought."
"Yeah, I know…Are you ready for this, Carrie?"
"I don't have much of an option, do I?"
"I'm not putting you in the pilot's seat if you don't think you can do it."
"I'll be fine," she told him. "I'm ready." Evan nodded.
"Then we'll do everything according to plan. I'll see you tomorrow."
"'Night."
"Galactica to Caroline. Anyone there?" Carrie looked up with a start at the sound of her grandfather's voice. She was seated beside him on his bed in his quarters, and he had the story they'd been reading in his hands. Judging from the fact that the book was closed, she assumed he'd finished it.
"Sorry," she said with a sheepish grin.
"Where's your mind been all morning?"
"I don't know. I was sort of listening…a little. I liked everything I heard."
Adama smiled, offering her the book. "Here, re-read it yourself later."
"I'll get it tomorrow; I'm going down to the deck now."
"I thought you didn't have a shift today?"
"Oh, um…I'm covering for someone."
"I see. Well, in that case, same time tomorrow?"
Carrie nodded. "Yup…Hey, why don't you get out of your room for a little while this afternoon? Head up to the observation deck, look around for a couple hours…"
Adama smiled. "What's Zak supposed to be doing today?"
"It's not Zak." He gave her a puzzled look.
"What's going on, Carrie?"
"Just go up to the observation deck, okay? There's a Raptor that's going out for a flight test. We'll talk tomorrow."
"Are you giving me an order, Cadet?" She laughed, saluting him.
"Yes, Sir."
TBC...
feedback is always welcome.
