Chapter Twelve: No Boundaries
Shannal Haldia eyed the fighter pods carefully as several of them were being loaded into the retrofitted landing bays of the station. She wanted to make sure her squadron vessels were handled properly. Starfleet had been in such a rush to mobilize the new team to DS13, many things were nearly left behind or actually forgotten including four pilots who had little time to return from the training camp in the Hromi Cluster and barely make it in time for the USS Victoria's departure. Two of the five specially equipped Type-6 fighter pods also left on a flight deck at Utopia Planetia Fleet Yards. Hopefully in the following week they would be delivered.
She watched as crews from both DS13 and the Victoria placed the last of the pods on the deck and she began to make her way through the engineers swarming in between the vessels as they took inventory and scans. Haldia glanced from each pod to another as she walked and smiled when she noticed the one she was looking for. She traced her hand along the bulkhead of the craft she had personalized for herself and felt a soothing sensation settle into her as she touched the smooth, cool metal surface with her fingertips. The tiny ship was more than just a fighting pod to her, it was an extension of her body and if she wanted, she could fly like a bird through space all day long.
Sensing a presence approaching her, Haldia turned to see the face of the mind she had felt and heard.
"Can I help you with something, Lieutenant?" the young male engineer asked her.
He looked at her curiously next to the pod and she could hear his thoughts go through the process of taking her in and wondering what she was doing there since he obviously did not recognize her as part of the engineering staff. She felt a sudden flash of emotion from him that was a possible subconscious lust with a much more obvious conscious revelation of attraction after a quick glance he took at her physical appearance. She felt an amused smile spread across her face since it had not been the first time it had happened since she had arrived.
"Don't mind me, Lieutenant Michael," she spoke, letting him know she knew who he was. "I am just making sure my fighter made it here in one piece."
Confusion. Revelation. Discomfort. They all flickered through him in one instant. Amazing how the mind works so quickly, she thought to herself, seeing him sort through his thoughts. He grasped the realization that she knew everything that he was thinking or had thought within the past couple minutes. After kicking himself mentally, he pulled himself together to act professionally.
"You must be our new squad leader, Lieutenant Haldia," he assumed after piecing together the fact she was with the pods but also noticing the stenciled name of ownership under the hatch.
"The one and only," she said with smile.
"How do you like DS13 thus far?" he asked in friendly curiosity.
He noticed as her eyes wandered about the cavernous bay and then come to rest on him again.
"Not bad," she shrugged. "I do prefer the openness of a station to the stricter confines of a starship. Though, it will take some getting used to."
"Good to hear," he beamed. As an engineer, he felt a bit of pride in the station he had helped rebuild. The thought reminded him of one of the reasons he was there. "You know, these pods are an amazing creation. After studying the inner workings and blueprints, I'm almost regretful that I did not become a more accomplished pilot."
Her grin spread, she felt as much of a great satisfaction and pleasure for her small fleet as he did for his machines and circuitry.
"There's always time to better ones skills," she sagely added. "And you have the best teacher in the Federation among your crewmates."
He smiled in return, his eyes agreeing with her assertion taking lessons to enhance ones abilities. He was about to speak when he was caught by surprise.
"Michael!" came a staunch shout from behind the engineer. Both he and Haldia looked to see Naetharr approach them, padd in hand.
The Jetallan turned to her assistant engineer and handed him the padd, "I want you to run diagnostics on all the pods with Kleran, Thompson, Cortobia, and Williams. After that, have the ground crew ready the pods for flight. Commander Serea wants a test run of the fighters as soon as possible."
"No problem," Michael said with a quick appearance and disappearance of annoyance through his mind that touched Haldia's senses as she watched the two interact.
The chief engineer then turned her attention to Michael's companion. She eyed the Betazoid woman cautiously and Haldia returned the stare from Naetharr with a small smile.
"Lt. Haldia," Naetharr said as she bowed her head in a slight greeting, not letting her eyes move from hers. "When Lt. Michael is finished doing his work, he'll inform you when your fighters are ready to begin their test flight."
"I look forward to the chance," Haldia responded as Naetharr turned to go about her other duties without another word.
"Did I miss something?" Michael asked slightly bewildered.
"Nothing of importance," she said taking her eyes away from the back of Naetharr's head. "I should let you get back to your duties, Lieutenant."
"It is no problem at all if you keep me," he responded. "I do not mind the company. Oh, and feel free to call me James."
"James, then," she accepted. "It was good chatting with you."
"As with you," he said as she started to walk away toward one of the doorways.
As she went on her way to prepare her gear, Haldia decided to make a point of having a small meeting with her pilots before the flight test and would need to contact them all fairly quickly before Michael's teams were finished with their diagnostics. Though, a small bothersome thought was still nipping at the back of her mind about her encounter with Naetharr. She did not recall ever reading or hearing that Jetallans were telepathic but she could have sworn that Naetharr had felt her attempt to link to her mind and erected a firewall of sorts to block the intrusion. It had caught Haldia by surprise but she did not let her companions notice. She had long learned how to not fully express her complete emotions on her facial features that she felt on the inside. At another time she decided she would have to look further into this interesting event.
* * *
Raleigh and Rilar approached the office at the top of the stairs in the Command Center. She had ordered preparations for a test flight to begin for the newly arrived pod squadron and wanted to be informed when the squadron would be ready, which they were on their way to inform her.
Raleigh eyed his companion a moment out of the corner of his eye as they made their way to the doors of Serea's office. The Bajoran officer had surprised Raleigh with the grand diligence he had readied the security department upon his arrival. His easygoing personality yet strong demeanor connected well with Raleigh's expectations and standards. In his opinion, Rilar would make a great command officer one day if he so desired. Starfleet needed good officers like him and were hard-pressed for getting them quickly into the captain's chair despite inexperience. Though, Raleigh was content with the fact DS13 could keep him in her grasp for the time being.
After pressing the chime to announce their presence, the doors slid open to let the two men step through the glass and metal paned entrance. Serea, her back to them as she stared out the large window behind her desk, stood still with her hands clasped behind her back as she took in the empty solitude of space. She turned to her arrivals, her eyes darting between them quickly as she took them in.
"Gentlemen," she addressed them.
"The squadron is ready for their test flight, Commander," Raleigh informed Serea. "They are waiting for orders to begin."
"Thank you for informing me," she acknowledged. "Would you two care to join me on the Promenade to watch the exercises?"
The two men glanced at each other and then turned back to her.
"I would like that very much, ma'am," Rilar replied.
"As would I," Raleigh added.
Serea nodded and came around her desk before motioning for them to step out with her. The three of them made their way through to the lift through the Command Center where a few crew members remained working on tasks at hand.
Serea stood between her Security and Tactical officers, remaining silent as the lift went on its way a couple decks down to the Promenade. After a moment she spoke, "What is the status of your transfers?"
"The new personnel charts have been drawn up and the details sent to the crew," Rilar chimed in.
The lift stopped as it reached the upper deck of the Promenade. A walkway opened up in front of them with a bridge that connected the inner circular portion to the outer walkway that ran underneath the large elliptical windows. They stepped off the lift and headed for the section of the Promenade that gave a good viewpoint of the beginning takeoff from the pod bay.
"The new shifts will begin tomorrow morning with Alpha shift," Raleigh continued. "Everything went smoothly and hopefully the crew will too as we will see tomorrow."
"The crew has adapted well so far," she noted. "I have high expectations for this crew and Starfleet will be pleased to have us so quickly ready and positioned in this sector considering the times we are in."
Rilar and Raleigh nodded their heads in agreement to Serea's assertion. They both knew tough times were coming in the time ahead and the better prepared Starfleet is in the Quadrant, the better. The three stopped at one of the large windows where several people, crew and civilians alike, already stood upon hearing about the squadron's flight run.
"Serea to Haldia," she said after tapping her comm badge. "The Command Center is ready for your takeoff. Stay in contact with them for recording of the flight instructions."
"Yes, Commander," Haldia's voice came across clearly on the comm. "We're heading out!"
Raleigh gave a slight chuckle at the woman's words and he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Rilar was grinning a little too. Both their eyes switched to looking outside the windows as they saw the first vessels exit into the vacuum of space. Haldia's pod set out first and led the way out of the station in a straight line.
As the last ship exited the bay, the formation began to change as the vessels caught up and formed a center cluster and two flanking groups. Due to the missing ships that yet to be delivered, both flanks had a missing portion where the other pilots would be flying. However, one would not have noticed the gaps because the pilots compensated for their missing crew mates and flew as perfectly as ever. The forty specks sped by in a turn against the star studded background and then crossed between DS13 and Jetal, the silver underlining of the ships glistening in front of the turquoise blue of the oceans.
"Amazingly acrobatic little ships," Rilar commented as he noticed the flanks break off from the lead central group and vault around the docking ring.
"Indeed," Serea agreed as she watched the center cluster split through the middle while pulling an extremely steep vertical climb that no runabout or shuttle could pull off at such high impulse speeds. "They are just what we need."
"Yelar to Commander Serea," came another call over the comm.
"Yes, Ensign, what is it?" Serea answered the young Jetallan crewman stationed at Tactical while she, Raleigh, and Rilar were away.
"We are receiving a distress call from a Ferengi trading ship approximately four light years away," he explained quickly. "They are under attack but are not saying by what or whom. They are asking for assistance from any ships in the vicinity immediately."
"Are there any other Starfleet vessels in close proximity to the ship's position?" she queried.
"No, ma'am," he answered. "The Victoria is the closest ship in range. Her captain has already informed us they can leave within ten minutes of recalling crew on the station."
Serea breathed in a deep breath as she contemplated the next decision she was going to make. Ten minutes could be a close difference between destruction and survival. She eyed her two companions who had listened to the call as well and stood ready for her to command anything of them.
"Stand by, Yelar," she said and then eyed Rilar for a moment. "Is the squadron equipped and ready for assisting and possibly engaging in battle?"
"Yes, Commander," he nodded.
"Yelar," Serea said calling back to the ensign. "Inform the Victoria's captain that we ask them to assist our patrol squadron in aiding the Ferengi ship. Contact Lieutenant Haldia and inform her of the attack. Her orders are to take the squadron ahead of the Victoria as she prepares to leave docking. They are not to engage in battle unless fired upon. Commander Rilar, Commander Raleigh, and I are on our way."
"Yes, ma'am," he said already filling out her orders.
"Serea, out," she commanded as she nodded to both Rilar and Raleigh to follow her back to the Command Center.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
~Authors Note~
I apologize to my readers for the lateness between chapters. The school semester has been very busy as has life lately too. I hope to get another section out soon enough for everybody.
Happy Valentine's Day!