SD241712.03 - Duty Log - Sails - "Tango Forbes"

Posted on Sun Dec 3rd, 2017 @ 6:23pm by Sails-at-Dawn Mr

882 words; about a 4 minute read

... Last time, on Versailles ...

Admiral Cerywyn met with Sails-at-Dawn, who was hired to represent three civilian companies. The Admiral kindly agreed to provide a fighter escort for their transport ship, containing 73 extra staff for the companies' local branches. Sails headed off soon afterwards to meet the ship and facilitate the escort.

And now the adventure continues!

=^= Civilian Shuttle Idaho Gonzalez =^=

Pipes rattled, steam billowed, alarms blared, and Sails genuinely feared for his life.

"Fine ship, fine ship. Small maintenance concerns. No mind, no mind..."

"Yes, no mind. I'm definitely getting that impression from you." Sails snipped, gritting his teeth and holding his gorge as the inertial dampeners fluxed once again. At impulse this might go unnoticed, but they were at warp, and a bigger flux was liable to tear them all into tiny fragments. The fact that the stars were passing them at a slight angle was really wearing on his nerves.

"...Oh dear, oh dear." the Ferengi pilot murmured, staring at his console with a worried expression.

"What now?" Sails inquired, with the last ounce of his civility.

"The deflector is failing. No worry, no worry."

"Yes worry. Besides, we're almost there. Drop out of warp. Now." Sails commanded, channelling his discomfort into a steely glare.

"Of course, of course."

The shuttle rattled, banged, hissed, and shook its way out of warp and emerged into a little parcel of empty space between the stars, just four light-years outside of the Yadalla sector. They were a few million kilometers short of the rendezvous point, but they were also quite early, so Sails figured it would be safer to make the last leg at sublight speeds.

This theory was not to be tested, however, as the transport ship was also early. It dropped out of warp next to the shuttle, cruising to a graceful stop despite its bulk. The ship was a patchwork of squares where armour had been added, but it was a coordinated patchwork. It was symmetrical down the middle, and was basically a long, blocky, green cylinder with thick, retractable nacelles.

At forty meters thick and almost two-hundred long, it was definitely out of the shuttle's weight class.

"This is the Armoured Carrier Vessel Tango Forbes. Identify yourself." boomed a voice over the comm, underlined by the weedle-weedle alarm from a powered weapons system tracking their ship.

Taking a moment to center himself, Sails retained enough presence of mind to intercept his pilot's attempt to answer the comms. While the ship out there was almost certainly a civilian ship, and therefore not armed with anything remotely fighter-esque or military-weapons-grade, they were entitled to carry enough weapons to break up asteroids and discourage bandits. Since their shuttle was made mostly of rust and shame, it was a good idea to make sure the first voice they heard was the one they were here to meet.

"Tango Forbes, this is the Civilian Shuttle Idaho Gonzalez." Sails replied over the comm, "My name is Sails-at-Dawn, your contact. Authentication Peter-Romeo-Lemon-Armadillo-45159."

"Roger Idaho Gonzalez. Authentication confirmed. We have opened the shuttle bay for you to land."

"Confirmed. En-route." said Sails, giving the nod to his pilot, and hoping there was enough left in the shuttle to dock without crumbling.

Fortunately the Ferengi (whose name was "Fork" by the way) was able to manhandle the shuttle through the open bay doors and into the illuminated spot, between two other shuttles (no doubt the source of the comm voice's delusions of "carrier").

"Please keep to yourself until we arrive at Versailles. You will be paid the remainder of your fee then." Sails instructed the pilot, who recognised the moment and simply nodded in response. There, at least, was a clue as to how this Ferengi was still in business.

The door to the shuttle swung open and fell off, hitting the deck with a clang. Sails resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and emerged from the stricken craft as systems shut down (or simply failed) behind him.

With a huff of effort, a crewman jogged up to the stricken shuttle and signalled to Sails. The two men moved off to the bay's turbolift and stepped inside, the doors closing on them as the crewman thumbed a button.

The turbolift hummed for a few moments, and Sails luxuriated in the lack of sensation. Were this ship run by Fork, he would no doubt be feeling random g-forces as the inertial dampeners failed.

With a hiss, the doors opened and revealed a bridge as green as the ship's exterior. This was a polished green however, and reminded Sails of a Starfleet bridge. But greener.

"Ah, good. Our liason is here." came a plummy voice from one side. Sails turned on the spot and recognised the speaker; Coral Trask, Regional Manager of Hepple Spacewagons, one of the three companies sending personnel to Versailles in the Tango Forbes.

"Good morning ma'am." Sails replied with a smile. "We're running a little early, but I have assurances that the escort fighters will be here on or before the allotted time."

"Indeed. One is quite relieved." Mrs Trask opined, folding both hands regally over her purse and sitting back down in her chair. "Nothing to do but wait then." she added with a smile.

"Yes ma'am."

=^= End of Log =^=

Sails-at-Dawn
Handyman
USS Versailles

RSS Feed