The Return

Posted on Thu Feb 24th, 2011 @ 5:14pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Lieutenant Colonel Anastasia DeVries & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Marion & Lieutenant Commander Aiden Roberts (KIA) & Petty Officer 2nd Class Todd Sweeney

Mission: Hippocratic Hijacking
Location: Bridge, USS Arizona
Timeline: Several hours after 'Rest for the weary...'

Captain Nathan Cowell sat propped up in his command chair, still catching a snooze as the world around him continued on unhindered. Lieutenant Marion, having returned to Mission Ops after Three had returned from his run to the cargo bay to secure the cargo they had brought aboard some time ago. It had never been unusual for Nathan to drift off, given his advanced age, but she'd never seen him sleep an entire trip before.

Liz rose and walked over to Major DeVries, who was still manning her console, "How long do you think it will take for him to realize he's just slept all the way to the Brakken system?"

Raising her head to acknowledge the woman speaking to her, it took a few seconds before Stace realized that just as the Lieutenant had said... the crusty one was in fact still fast asleep. Never known to pass up a perfectly good opportunity, the Major relinquished herself from her station, issued Elizabeth a stern finger and began her extremely short descent towards the command chair. "About this long," she announced as she extended her hand firmly outwards and allowed it to connect to the nearby shoulder of the elder man - giving him a rather hefty shove towards the floor.

Nathan fell forward, being roused just in time to cushion an otherwise nasty fall. When he pulled himself back up onto his feet, he began the quick process of elimination as to who it could be. Turning about, he saw the smirking face of Major DeVries and the giggling facade of Lt. Marion.

"Let me guess, you thought it would be funny to knock an old man out of his chair?" Nathan asked in a somewhat rhetorical manner. The way she was smirking, he knew the answer, she thought it was hilarious, even if she wasn't laughing just yet.

"And I'm sure you had some small part to play in egging her on..." Doc Cowell glared at his adopted daughter.

"Not me..." Liz lied horribly.

Stace merely shrugged at the accusation. "What would have been hilarious was if you hadn't caught yourself. Though, if you'd like, I'm sure we could initiate an instant replay... you know... a double take?"

"I like my hips intact, thanks..." Nathan grumbled, "So what's the situation?"

"We've just entered the perimeter of the Brakken system," Liz answered.

"Oh good... at least I slept through the boring parts. Major, would you mind hailing the planet and seeing if you can get a hold of something to let them know what we've got for them?"

Stace raised an eyebrow and shook her head in defiance. "I don't... hail. Sweeney! Get your ass over here and hail!"

Yeoman Sweeney jumped at the sound of Stace's voice and hurried over to the console, pressing the commands quickly, "Someone should be coming up on screen now, Major."

Aiden walked toward the front of the cabin in the forward section of the Phoenix , having just replicated some tacos. He set them down on the console, causing the controls to fog up from the steam. He tapped the console, opening a channel. "This is Lieutenant Roberts, go ahead..." he replied as he sank down into one of the chairs.

"Joker!" the voice of Captain Cowell called out over the comm, "Put the food down and perk up them ears. We're back in the neighborhood and we have the stolen goods. Gather the troops and make ready to get this show on the road. Oh, and pass along to the kid that I want a full report of what's been going on. Can you handle that, son?"

"About time, I'll get word out and coordinate dispersing the goods throughout the settlement." Roberts, closed the line before tapping his commbadge.

"Roberts to Mantell, the Old Man is back and with good news.."