A Suprise Shuttle Ride

Posted on Wednesday 29 March 2017 @ 16:39 by Lieutenant Commander David Tan & Captain Melody Jones

Mission: The Perez Nebula
Location: Main Shuttle-bay / Space
Timeline: TBD
3086 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure

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ON:

When Melody had been over to the Tan's for a meal, she had promised a shuttle ride to his children, Mackenzie and Mia. Now she had the spare time to make good on her promise.

Melody had sent a message to David giving details of when and where to meet but suggested that it make a good surprise. She had booked time on a type 6 shuttle and was now in the main shuttle-bay, waiting for David and his children to arrive.

"What do you think ?" he asked Lana..

"I think it's a great idea. According to the message she wants to meet you in thirty minutes, I was going to take them to the holo-deck, there's yet another fairground Kenzie wants to try out, honestly, I don't know how she finds them all." Lana said as she moved the lunch plates away, "You could always say you're going with them, I'll make some excuse over having to mark homework." he grinned.

"Girls, get your shoes on, we're going to the holo-deck." he shouted.

~~~~~

As they stepped into the turbo-lift he requested Deck Thirteen ... At first they didn't notice as they were talking about which rides they were going on and in what order, but Kenzie finally mentioned it:

"Daddy, you're going to the wrong deck, Mummy booked holo-deck one."

"Yes I know sweetheart, we're just going to make a small diversion, then we'll go back up, OK." he smiled. even as young as they were, he found it almost impossible to lie, even the smallest fib seemed to be written all over his face. They looked at him for a long second then continued their chatting about ride speeds, fright levels, and whatever else. They stepped out of the turbo-lift and began walking along the corridor, he was wondering if he'd seen any signage indicating they were approaching the shuttle-bay, but thankfully there was none until they reached the door.

"Two minutes OK girls." he said, as the doors slid aside. He entered, his two Daughters behind him still engrossed in their conversation, "Hey you two, aren't you going to say hello to Melody ?"

They stopped speaking long enough to look around their Fathers' legs. They saw the ships Executive Officer leaning against a gleaming shuttle, at first they smiled at her, both glancing up at David as if for some unspoken permission, he grinned and they ran over to her ...

Melody grinned as the two girls ran up to her and couched down as they threw their arms around her. "Why hello you two. I said I'd get you a look at a shuttle. You wasn't to look inside?

"Hello Melody." Kenzie and Mia said in unison as they ran to the Exec. "This is what you fly ! ... Can we see, can we seeeee."

Before they had arrived, Melody had already cleared their departure with shuttle operations, stating they were on un-designated manoeuvres which basically meant they were free to fly at Melody's discretion. She had also programmed the take off flight path into the computer.

She led them into the shuttle. She spun the pilots chair around. "Here Mackenzie, you sit here and do exactly what I tell you, OK ? David, Mia, you want to make yourselves comfortable?"

Kenzie sat in the seat while David and Mia took the bench seat behind. "Don't touch anything Kenzie." Mia said.

"It's OK sweetheart, the shuttle isn't powered up so she can't break it." David whispered. Mia was more sceptical in her four year old mind.

She couched down next to the chair, pointing to each control as she explained. "Here you have the door controls. This one here closes the aft door. Press it please."

"You closed the door Kenzie !" Mia said, admittedly impressed.

"Press this one here." She pointed to another.

Mackenzie looked back at her Father who nodded discretely then winked. She turned back and placed a finger over the blinking light and tentatively pressed. Her hand shot away from the panel !

"Aww you've started it Kenzie, you've started it up !" Mia said, her enthusiasm almost overflowing as she jumped off the bench seat and ran to stand on the other side of the Pilot's seat. David almost brought her back but decided to let her remain with her sister for the time being. He certainly didn't need to wonder what the two girls would make of their sudden adventure, both were practically in their seventh heaven, Mia almost hopping from foot to foot while Kenzie's initial shock at activating the start sequence was now forward in the Pilot's seat and eager to do more.

The shuttle engines hummed to life as the pre-launch sequence was initiated. Melody had discreetly activated the bay doors which were now opening.

"You see the shuttle on-board computer handles most of the pre-launch checks, it only really needs help if there is a problem. And this button now" she pointed to another.

"This one ?" Kenzie asked, something in her eye saying she wasn't too sure of what might happen next. "Go on Kenzie ... Go on, push it !" Mia said. David recognised that same 'fight or flight' moment both girls always got when riding the largest fairground rides, both thrived on that excitement ..... She pushed the indicated button:

The shuttle lifted gently off and flew through the open doors, into space. "Very good Mackenzie, you're a natural."

Both Kenzie and Mia couldn't control their childish elation any longer and they hugged each other, Mia still bouncing up and down with her arms wrapped around her sister, both laughing extatically, David mouthed a 'thank you' to Melody as she looked in his direction ... The shuttle, now almost a kilometer astern of the ship began a pre-programmed turn to Port until it was aligned with the enormous Excalibur Class Merlin.

"What does this do ?" Mia asked, reaching over to the panel and pointing at a green flashing indicator which looked like a cross inside a circle. David knew it was the manual attitude control but remained silent. After all, this was their treat from Melody, so he sat back and relished in their excitement and enjoyment ...

"That one is the manual helm control, we don't need that at the moment. Right now, we're moving parallel to the Merlin at the same speed of 1/4 impulse. Pres this button we'll increase to 1/2 impulse. We'll get a nice view of the Merlin as we pull past, ok?"

Kenzi tapped the indicated control and the shuttle began to catch then slowly pass the Merlin. Neither of the girls had seen the ship so close, or from anything approaching this kind of view, and despite their young age seemed almost awestruck as they passed within one hundred meters of the Starboard side of the saucer section.

As the shuttle pasted the saucer section. Melody brought their attention down to the central console which was showing sensor information of the area. "Now then we're this dot here. This larger Dot is the Merlin, here. This here is a class 2 nebula about 2 lightyears away which I think will look very pretty and be quite safe for us to have a quick look at. Normally at impulse it would take us ages to get there, so how do you think we get there faster? she asked them.

The girls eyes immediately lit up:

"Faster faster faster !" Mia chanted as the Merlin fell out of sight behind them.

"You mean we can go to warp speed ?" Mackenzie said with the smallest glance back to her Father, who was happy to sit and watch proceedings.

"That's right. Makenzie you can fly us over to the nebula and we'll have a look, then we should let your sister bring us back to the Merlin and park the shuttle up, ok?

"DADDY ! ..... I'm going to get a turn at flying all on my own !" Mia said, having to catch her breath as the excitement threatened to get the better of her for a moment. David asked her to try to calm down a little as they couldn't have someone too giddy at the controls. Mia immediately put her serious face on, suddenly all business, "That's right Daddy, we could end up in the klingeron area thingy." Everyone laughed at her minor error.

"Right then" Melody said as she input the co-ordinates. "This button will bring the warp drive on line, then this one will take us to warp 3 on the heading I've entered. Ok Sweetheart, go ahead."

The six year old grinned, her hand hovering a millimetre from the panel, then with a shout of 'Readyyyy ... Steadyyyy ... GOOOOOO' she dropped her finger .... For the tiniest second it seemed that nothing was happening then the stars beyond the multi-layered plexi-glass window seemed to stretch themselves and the shuttle seemed to leap forward until the stars returned to normal.

"WOWWWW !" Mia and Kenzi whispered simultaneously.

The pre-programmed course had them dropping from warp almost within the nebula. The shuttle aligned itself so the spectacular phenomenon was filling their view. Mackenzie and Mia had obviously seen images and even holo-views of nebula, but the sight before them had both completely lost for words, their eyes aglow as they took in the magnificence of colour. David got up and joined them in the front, leaning against the back of the pilots seat to get a look himself. Melody had certainly picked something special for them, that was for sure. Mia had climbed onto the seat with her sister and put her arms around Melody. Kenzie got to her knees and held onto her Father's hand, squeezing so tightly he worried she would hurt herself.

"It's so, beautiful, isn't it Daddy." she whispered, wiping a tear from her eye as she put her other arm around Mia.

"It is Sweetheart, it certainly is." he replied, feeling himself filling up with her.

Melody remained quiet and let the girls and their father enjoy the view, while Mia was holding tightly on to her. She pondered for a moment. Will this be what it like when I'm a mom? Someday........ She thought to herself.

"You're up Mia, are you ready?" she asked before carefully placing the young girl in the pilots seat and moving it a bit closer to the controls so she could reach.

Mia slid down off the seat while it was adjusted, then grinning broadly she climbed back up, hands already hovering over the myriad of controls.

Melody quickly and deftly programmed in the return course with one hand. When she had finished, she pointed to the warp controls. "Right then it's the same buttons that your sister pressed, this one and this one, OK?"

"So first we are going to turn around and then go to our fastest speed, is that right ?" The shuttle banked to Starboard and jumped into the nether-realm of warp speed. Both girls again were fascinated by the sight beyond the window, then, almost as fast as it began, the shuttle dropped back into sub-light ...

As the stars returned to normal, the massive saucer section of the Merlin came into view in the forward window. She pointed to the helm controls "Ok Mia, just this one and this one twice ok?" That will bring us back past the Merlin on he opposite side so we can swing around and line up with he shuttle bay. She intended to use the Merlin's on-board systems to link with the shuttle and bring them in a pre programmed course back to the shuttle bay.

The four year old did as instructed, hitting the touch-sensitive buttons precisely, her eyes flicking between the multi-lit panel and the stars. Eventually the shuttle matched heading and velocity with the Merlin only one hundred meters astern. Mia had climbed onto her knees so she could see better. David had stood behind the pilot's seat quietly, Kenzie had took his hand and looked up as she was spoken to:

"Mackenzie, could you just press that button for me please?" Melody asked. Mackenzie did so.

The COMM System came to life =/\= Merlin the is shuttle 6 Requesting landing clearance bay 1 and auto landing.

=/\= Shuttle six, this is shuttle ops. You are cleared to land however auto lock-on is off-line for repairs. Please use manual approach and land at your discretion, bay 1 is free. Merlin out =/\=

Melody frowned "There's always something " she said to herself. "Sorry Sweetie, I'm going to have to land us............. "She saw Mia's face fall slightly "Here you can sit in my lap, ok?"

David lifted her out of the seat to make way for the Exec' then lowered her again. Mackenzie, having listened intently to the conversation between the shuttle and the ship came around the pilot seat to stand with her back to the windows. She had been frowning but had obviously resolved her inner quandary. She glanced at the panel, then the Merlin, and finally to Melody.

"Awww." she said, feigning urgency, "Does this mean you will need to use the manual helm controls now ? .... Can I have a little go, pleeeeeese ?" she said, her best 'Angelic' expression appearing.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but manual docking is very difficult, so I think we need to let Melody do this on her own OK."

"But Daddy. I know which contr ....."

"Daddy said no Kenzie, stop being annoying or I'll tell mummy !" Mia said, grinning at Melody, "She can be 'bossy' sometimes." she whispered.

The shuttle began to increase speed, very slowly closing the distance between her and the Merlin. David had the thought that Melody wasn't eager to end the adventure just as the girls didn't, but it couldn't go on indefinitely, besides, the Merlin would need to go to warp soon.

"Tell you what ... I'm sure there will be other opportunities, I'm a qualified pilot you know, so there's nothing stopping 'us' going out once we get some free time, and maybe Melody could join us if she's not busy with her duties. How does that sound to you both ?" The girls looked at each other, seemingly doing their 'telepathic' conversation thing that neither he or Lana understood given neither had any ability in said area, they came to a decision and smiled.

"OK ... As long as Melody can come along." they said. Then Kenzie's eyes widened, "MELODY ! ...." she said, pointing at the extremely close ship ahead.

During the girls conversation Melody had altered their approach slightly and now instead of the open shuttlebay, the hull of the Merlin was straight in front of them, the bay doors were above. Melody had been most impressed with Mackenzie's understanding and abilities, it was like she saw something of herself in the young girl. Melody decided to give her a little test to see what the she was capable of.

"Woah! That's not good. Our flight path is off, impact in 30 seconds Mackenzie you better do something about that!" Melody said in a calm voice then folded her arms. She knew she would have time to correct, but she had faith in the young girl.

Mackenzie stepped between her legs, eyes scanning the panel before her, after a second she placed her hand over the manual control and tapped the upper arm of the cross tentatively, tapping it again a second later.

The nose of the shuttle came up gracefully and they passed into the shuttle-bay right on target. Melody smiled "Very nice! Very nice indeed Mackenzie."

Melody brought the shuttle down into the landing zone without so much as a bump. She turned to Mackenzie "Do you think you can show me how to shut down the engines ?"

"I think i remember the sequence you used, it would just be reversed ...." Kenzie said, thinking intently, "No, that's not right ...." she said to herself, "I need to power down the warp core first, that's this one .... Then stop the other, erm, impulser ? engines, that's definitely that one." she said, tapping the panel then grinning as the shuttle fell silent. She scanned her eyes over the panel once more, finally tapping a control to the far left, the rear door of the shuttle began to lower.

Melody locked eyes with Tan as the young girl worked the controls and winked. When the shuttle was secured Melody raised her voice "Computer. Add to Ship's official log that on this stardate the Executive Officer is putting in a commendation for Mackenzie Tan. For showing quick thinking, keeping calm under pressure and showing natural flying talent. Also a special note of Merit for Mia Tan."

"Daddy Daddy ! ... Did you hear that, a commendation, all of my own. And one for me too." Mia said, both girls leaned in to hug the Exec' happily.

"I did girls, and you are both very deserving, you did very well for your first time flying a shuttle. Maybe next time we'll take a longer trip." David said, immensely proud of how his children had conducted themselves, they had happily took their turns, no bickering, no jealousy, both clearly happy to share their experience, he looked down at Melody.

"Thank you again Commander, I appreciate you taking the time out to do this, and I'm pretty sure these two do too ..... Computer .. Send audio visual log of the recent trip to my quarters."

"Transfer complete. the computer confirmed.

"I bet your Mum will enjoy watching, right ?" he said to Kenzie and Mia, both eagerly agreed.

Melody stood as the shuttle doors opened "Now then, we normally celebrate the successful return of a shuttle with a drink, I think you two have earned that."

"Yipppeeeeeee ! ... Can we go to the observation lounge, Daddy said we could one day." Kenzie asked, Melody agreed and both girls shouted jumping up and down. A crewman passing by the back of the shuttle looked in concerned but saw Lieutenant Tan and the Executive Officer smiling at the scene.

"It's No problem David, any time. I'd like to discuss some things with you in private when you have some time." She glanced over at Makenzie. The young girl had potential and she was going to see that she to the chance to realise that, just as someone had once given her that same chance.

While the girls were celebrating, Melody used the on-board computer and quickly checked to see if the observation lounge was free. "Looks like you're in luck girls. Come on." .....


OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Melody Jones
Executive Officer
USS Merlin

Lieutenant David Tan
Chief Operations Officer
USS Merlin

Lana Tan
Mackenzie Tan
Mia Tan