-= Platform Two, Utopia Planitia =-
She was a curious looking vessel, the Insignia class, but Felix loved
her. “Every time I see her, I still get a bit of a boner. Even after ten
years.”
“Yarwg,” Lester moaned. The Bobcat swung around underneath the
insect-like metal structure that mounted the Lone Star at present.
Captain de l’Isle performed a Perelli Flip, bringing the yacht around
180 degrees and bouncing on thrusters a good way upward. She sat a dozen
kilometers from the Lone Star’s hull. Here they were: home.
She was a beast. A hugely versatile one, with interchangeable modules
for different mission profiles. Felix hadn’t seen her gleam like this
since he’d first taken her out, ten years ago. As he guided the vessel
in, he noted the early signs that many of their structural requests had
been granted: regenerating shield emitters, reinforced sensor housing,
vents that weren’t accessible from the outside. Someone had been winning
the battle with Operations – and he was on his way to find her.
“Edie.” Felix grinned. He couldn’t wait to see her.
Edie was standing in the Lone Star's sizeable arboretum, bare foot and
swaying back and forth to some old earth music. She wore a comfortable
summer dress, clad in large clashing floral print. There were several
large work boards set up vertically around her, which she used her
finger to write on - its translucency not taking from the atmosphere of
the work space. There were pages and pages of hand written equations and
various diagrams. The most prominent being a break down of the current
slipstream core.
"And her memory is all that is left for you now... You see you're a
gypsy, oh... You see you're a gypsy... Ooh ooh, oh oh, oh oh oh." Her
singing voice was much to be desired but as she did so, her hand glided
across the surface of equations, making small adjustments and completely
redacted other parts. There was an almost artistic flare to it.
It took moments for the captain to sweep his way past the various
personnel stationed between the Bobcat and the Lone Star’s access hatch.
An officers manager had attempted to engage Felix but, as far as he
concerned, he needed three things. He needed his encrypted orders; he
needed an update from his Chief Engineer; and he needed the helm.
“Where is she?”
There wasn’t much question about who ‘she’ might been. “Deck 11. The
Arboretum.” The speaker sounded exasperated, with a hint of relief. An
entourage shadowed Felix to the turbolift.
Edie leaned down now, lifting a small cylinder like paper which had a
little stream of smoke rising from it. She put it to her mouth and took a
large puff, dancing in a circle to the chorus once more as she embraced
the sweet tasting exhale. There was a rush of thought now, on one of
the previous equations she had worked on. Turning directly around she
used her finger to backtrack on that string of numbers some and modified
the equation several times.
Squeaking with personnel, the turbolift hissed its way silently through
the Lone Star. Felix assumed they were staff from the shipbuilding
facility because nobody dared speak. Facing forward, and at the front of
the column, he started to chuckle. Lester gave him a tempering look.
“Stay. Not you, Lester,” Felix said, once they’d reached the Arboretum
door. The crocodile paused. He and the dog strode forward into the
largest shipboard park space in the fleet. Sure enough, it was
unoccupied – save for a smoke signal emanating from its centre.
Every so often, during one of these 'idea' sessions she had. Her mind
came up for air, and she would tune in to what was around here. One such
moment took place when she had realised that Felix de l'Isle was
standing near her. She gave him that stiff, deer in the headlights type
of look.
“At ease, Commander.” Felix chuckled broadly at the lit cigarette in
between her fingers. “You’ve been around normal people for too long.” As
Lester battled for her attention, he gestured to her thinking space. He
could recognise most of the quantum navigational physics and slipstream
equations, but the rest was lost on him. He’d learned, over the last
four years, not to ask. “How’s Lonie? Have they been good to her?”
It was certainly too late to pretend that she was not smoking. The woman
took another puff before setting it down in a small tray, in which the
remainder dissipated. "Him. Or have you been away that long?" She
grinned and waved her exhale around to try and make the smoke dissipate
quicker; its skunk-like scent would still fill up the space around them.
"Purely medicinal." The woman seemed the float in her dress as she made
her way closer to Felix and Lester.
It had been some time since Felix had partaken but the scent still
appeared. Cannabis still wasn’t approved of on most of Starfleet’s
vessels. But, as he’d once explained to a befuddled Commodore, where
there was an arboretum, there was a way. These days he couldn’t to
afford to fail a medical – not unless the doctor could make it go away,
anyway.
“Purely medicinal,” de l'Isle agreed, beaming.
"See. That's what I always liked about you. Now get over here!" Edie
pulled the man in for a friendly hug and patted his back several times,
then knelt down to give Lester the attention he was demanding. "How is
Lonie? Depends on the day, the hour... Even the minute these days." The
old woman sighed a breath as she stood back up.
"You know, I had this ship working to peak efficiency before we brought
him in for upgrades and repairs. Hell. I know I fought for half of these
upgrades myself." She clasped her hands behind her back and took the
grass between her toes as she walked closer to her workspace. “But,
Captain. Lonie was happy just the way he was. I haven't convinced him
otherwise yet."
Felix had rationalised Edie some time ago. Most captains
anthropomorphised their ships; why shouldn’t an engineer? Hell, as she
might say, she knew how to talk to them. Lonie not being happy
represented, to him, a concern. “He doesn’t always take change well. But
he does like a good upgrade,” Felix suggested, quickly. “How’s he
getting on with the V3 drive?”
"The new slipstream core?" Edie groaned and dramatically threw her head
back. "I designed the bastard myself! And I told Starfleet it wasn't
quite ready yet. At least not this variation. I needed more time. Yet
here were are." She continued to rant for another few moments before
stopping for air.
“You need to leave that here at UP, Edie.” Felix touched her shoulder
sympathetically. The Commander was a genius and a perfectionist. “At
least your baby’s here where you can see him.” The captain clapped
twice, loudly. “Tell me more.”
"It's not all bad. He likes his new weapons systems. His teeth are
certainly a little sharper than they were before. You lot and your
toys!" She grinned at Felix before continuing to pace some and artfully
wave her hands about as she talked. "Not just that. The sensors have
been upgraded too and he does like his new eyes. It's not all bad but
don't be surprised if he sours your coffee some! All this commotion and
fuss has made him quite the grump."
At the top of the arboretum, sunken into the ceiling, was Felix’s
quarters. Already he could see the few additional fittings he’d
requested – not visible, nor ostentatious, but he could tell from the
skirting and venting what had been fitted. Edie hadn’t let anything slip
by her.
"And don't get me started on those twits from Utopia. If they had just
followed my instructions to the letter, a lot of time and pain could
have been avoided. One Lieutenant got Lonie's wrath in the form of a
third-degree burn from a feedback loop." She shook her head. "Poor guy.
If only he had listened.”
“Ouch,” winced Felix. He had started to glaze over. Being with his
veteran chief engineer had made him breathe the air properly and realise
where he was. He was on the Lone Star. He was at home.
"Indeed." She sighed briefly once more but followed that with a
big-bright smile. Before continuing to speak she dusted her hands off on
the sides of her dress. "It's nearly done though, thankfully. Until the
next round that is." Truth was - Edie didn't know if she would even be
around the next time the Lonie would see an overhaul such as this. Her
future in the fleet was never a solid one these days, given her age.
Correcting himself, Captain de l’Isle’s bright blue eyes locked onto
their mirror image in the Commander’s. He’d said it before: she was the
youngest commander in the fleet. And there was a sparkle in them,
presently, that suggested their meeting was not yet over.
"Well. I have figured out something I need to do with the programming
matrix. I should get that in and done before I forget. My memory isn't
as good as it once was, you know." Though she was technically off-duty,
it wasn't uncommon for Edie to show up to her engineering area dressed
casually - especially if a thought had come to her and she needed to
act. "Care to join me Captain? You too Lester." She strode past the
Captain and gently tugged on his shirt sleeve - clearly, not giving him
much of a choice in the matter.
All Felix wanted to do was explore the ship, inspect every rig and
panel. He figured that Edie had been alone amongst the normal for nigh
on a year, though; the only one of his senior officers not to have
received any shore leave. He could find some time for the old girl.
Before he could acquiesce, the comm pounced. Felix had learned to guage its tone. This didn’t seem like a good one.
“Bridge to the Captain. Sir, I’ve got an Admiral Kreik on a priority line. She wants you up here.”
de l’Isle shared a forlorn look with his chief engineer.
“I think you need to get to engineering,” he told her, on a hunch.
It was if a switch went off in Edith's mind - she knew all too well when
something was amidst and this certainly had that feeling. "Right." She
gave the Captain a light touch on his left shoulder, a final gesture to
say 'welcome back' before she made her way to Engineering.
-=-=-
by Commander Edie Freelove, CEO
and Captain Felix de l’Isle, CO