Kirk smiled. "You know, I'd really like to fly one of those one of these days." His mind drifted back to his days as a fighter pilot in the Marines, when the most he had to worry about was keeping the nose up when he landed.
"Me, too," Ensign Bristol added. "Those things look like fun." Tyler was young, and a throttle jockey like Stephen was. Although Stephen never had an urge to try hyperbiking, watching Tyler at a competition a few months ago gave him a bit of an adrenaline rush.
Richards shook his head. "Those things are in there pretty snug, aren't they?" He had watched as the computer systems automatically docked the two Corvettes in spacedock. Even for a computer, a number of minor adjustments had been necessary. Each Corvette had a pair of warp nacells that folded down and retracted underneath the rear of the ship. Using thrusters, they gently glided into a hole in the top back of the Warlord's superstructure that was just barely bigger than the ship itself. It made Kenyon slightly nervous just watching.
"Yeah, but leaving's the easy part," Kirk replied. "Once the crew's aboard, we raise the bay doors, then drop the force field around the opening. The decompression shoves them out nice and easy. Landing's the hard part."
"I thought the docking computer landed them," Elaine asked, truly curious. She hadn't had a chance to go back and visit with the Marines. She had, as everyone had, heard stories of how Marines behaved. The stories reminded her of her friends back on Earth... friends part of her wanted to forget, but another part missed them dearly. She had been struggling for the past couple of weeks with the notion that she needed to 'grow up'. After all, she was only two months away from her twenty-ninth birthday. Still, to her, there was an inherent admission of defeat if considered leaving her partying days behind her. Perhaps spending time with the Marines would be a good mental compromise.
"Well, yeah... technically," Kirk admitted. He had been a Marine long enough to know how things worked. "But neither of those pilots will ever use it." He pointed to the forward viewscreen, which was currently observing the closed, top/aft docking bays on Warlord's back. "Lieutenant Davies, clear them."
"Aye, aye, Sir." She confirmed with a smile. Apparently, the commander had some experience with Marines, possibly this group. She'd have to ask him about that, eventually... possibly when she pressed him on those ship scans she took back on Romulus. She had completely forgotten about that. He owed her an explanation, after all. The thought made her grin. Shaking the thought from her mind, she turned back to her panel. "Sting Ray, Manta Ray, you are cleared for departure."
Everyone stared at the viewscreen. Silently, the two garage door-looking portals opened as red bars of light outlining the doors, began flashing. Several seconds later, with the doors fully hidden, a blast of white smoke shot from each door. Barely noticable was a corresponding shake of the Warlord with the expulsion of air from the bays. Amidst the smoke came the two Corvettes. They appeared similar to Runabouts, a standard long-range shuttle Starfleet uses, except wider and much longer. The insides were completely modular and could be configured to seat up to forty human sized people each for short periods, or up to twenty for a longer term stay; with living and sleeping quarters. The white, rectangular tube shaped ships slowly maneuvered their way around so they were facing behind the Warlord. From the aft sections, two oval, blue colored warp nacells stretched outwards. When they reached their full distance, they turned themselves upwards to an angle and began to glow brightly.
Commander Kirk's comm badge popped. "Commander, this is Colonel Prichard, over."
Kirk tapped the repaired communicator, back attached to his chest. "Go ahead, Colonel."
"The 'Vettes are launched. I'll take it from here." The southern drawn voice stated.
"Gotcha. We're transferring the communications now. Kirk out." He tapped his badge again and turned to Elaine.
"Sir?" She questioned.
Kirk nodded. "I need you to transfer the Corvette's communications to the SitCon room on deck six."
"Aye, Sir," she answered, the curious look still on her face. Obediently, she complied.
"The Marines are only using the Warlord as a base of operations. They don't answer to us, Lieutenant," he explained thoughtfully. He pointed to the viewscreen as the two vessels sped off. "Those two ships are under his command. If they need our help, they'll ask."
"Ah," she answered, somewhat understanding. This was going to be a unique relationship, she thought.
In a pair of white flashes, the two Corvettes sailed off into warp speed and out of sight.
"Here's hoping that call for help was just a prank," Kirk said aloud.