Pick up Sticks, Lay them Straight - Part 3

Posted on Fri Dec 28th, 2012 @ 6:49am by Lieutenant Jonathan "Jack" Mantell & Petty Officer 3rd Class Garth Macy & Lieutenant JG Paul Akron

Mission: Funzone
Location: Mark 7 Shuttlecraft/Main Shuttlebay, Deck 7
Timeline: Following "Pick up Sticks, Lay them Straight - Part 2"

The explosion that had blown his Mark 7 Shuttlecraft away from the convoy had also destroyed the port maneuvering thruster. Alarms were blaring, warning ligths were flashing, but the boy was ignoring all that. The computer was having trouble compensating, no matter what commands he input to it. A debris field was moments away, waiting to rip his vulnerable shuttle to shreds.

Jack's hands danced over the controls, nudging the starboard thrusters a bit into the red to slow himself down. Gripping the manual controls, he played with the outputs, nudging them here, scaling them back there, even pushing a small burst out of the impulse engines. Slowly, carefully, the shuttle began to reorient itself. The Miran youth settled back into his chair, sighing in relief, then began to take stock of the damage.

Shields were almost gone, structural integrity was down to 30% and besides the port thruster, the second of his two specially mounted phaser arrays were gone. Lamenting the loss of a weapon over his failure to act in time, the boy turned his shuttle back towards the convoy, and made his best speed back to them.

The convoy was shaken up, scattered. The convoy leader was nowhere to be found, and Jem'Hadar attack ships were circling to pick off the rest. The time was short, and Jack knew he had to act now. Besides, the incident with the Galor's torpedo had given him an idea. Opening his communications, Jack sent a wide-beam message to the whole convoy, "This is Lieutenant Jack Mantell, I'm taking command. Convoy, engage Defensive Pattern Theta, Shuttles 7, 12 and 18, load torpedoes."

It took a few seconds, but the convoy soon responded, and quickly formed into the specified flight pattern. Acknowledgements came over the comm, and Jack nodded silently as each of the three torpedo-laden vessels reported their readiness. His hands pointed the sensors below, where he knew the Kravaack was lurking, waiting for them. The Jem'Hadar ships had left to find easier prey, but Jack had a feeling this Galor was not going to leave them alone.

"Lieutenant Mantell to Convoy. Every shuttle with a working phaser array, be prepared to aim them at a torpedo on my mark. Torpedo shuttles, make aim on the Kravaack." He paused for half a second to let them. "Fire!"

A spread of Federation photon torpedoes launched from the bulkier shuttlecraft, spreading out into a makeshift wall between the hunter and its prey. The torpedoes were closing in on the Cardassian vessel, but at this range they wouldn't quite make it by the time Jack issued his order. Aiming his remaining phaser at one of the golden warheads, and praying that the rest of the convoy was doing the same, he activated the comms once more. "Phasers, fire!"

The black space between the convoy and the torpedoes was lit up with a dozen different phaser beams, of varying yields and strength, looking not so unlike a ribbon of brass tinsel at Christmastime. As each phaser beam found their mark, the torpedoes exploded in a wash of color, spraying radiation and magnetic havok to the area around the Galor. In the same instant, knowing he had little time, Jack signalled the convoy once more, "Convoy, break for waypoint gamma, full speed."

They moved. The school of fish was no more, but individual shuttles were darting forth, dogging ahead or behind other convoy vessels of like speed. Jack lingered to form up behind the slowest craft, but he knew that the Kravaack's scanners wouldn't remain fooled for long. They were probably clearing up now. The bonus was that the convoy was now several well outside the Galor's range, and it would take some time before it could reacquire them. The question was whether the convoy could make it to Waypoint Gamma, and the Federation squadron that was grouping there, or not.

Jack didn't have to wait long to find out. Soon after the convoy bolted out, two Federation cruisers engaged the Kravaack, tying it up in a more pressing engagement and giving the convoy ample time to break away. None of the Dominion ships were paying much attention to them anymore, worrying more about the Tenth Fleet's last offensive push. Silently, the boy thanked those brave souls who had given their lives at the real encounter at Betazed.

From that moment, until his shuttle waited outside the Federation base for docking clearance, the convoy had no further problems. Tired and worn, most of the ships were pleased to enter the docking bay, and uttered their thanks to Jack over the comm. As his own shuttle entered the bay, the simulation clicked off, and the boy found his craft settling back down into the Arizona's shuttlebay.

Jumping out of the back of the shuttle, Jack saw Lieutenant Akron already waiting with Petty Officer Macy. Moving to join them, he gave the Lieutenant a polite smile, and then turned to the Chief Support Craft Pilot. "Well, how did we do, Mr. Macy?"

"Well, sirs, you both completed the course with your crafts and cargo intact. Lieutenant Akron finished in 47 minutes and 29 seconds, while Lieutenant Mantell completed it in 58 minutes and 30 seconds."

At this mention, the Junior Lieutenant was beaming from ear to ear. Jack couldn't blame him, on the surface, it sounded like a great score. He pressed the Petty Officer, "What's the damage?"

The curly-haired pilot nodded, "Lieutenant Akron's shuttle suffered minimal damage, but of his convoy, only Shuttle's Seven, Nine and Eighteen remained." Akron's smile disappeared at this mention, and his face adopted a more somber look. "While Lieutenant Mantell's shuttle was moderately damaged, his convoy suffered only the loss of Shuttles One, Nine and Fourteen."

Jack looked up at his fellow conn officer, noting the reddened appearance to his face. The boy felt a twinge of regret for what he was about to do, Akron was like to take it personally or as further humiliation. Perhaps in time he would see it was neither. "Lieutenant, that's not good enough. This was not a test to see whether you could fly a shuttle. I know you can fly a shuttle because Starfleet knows you can fly a shuttle. My question is whether you can respond appropriately in a life or death situation."

Akron's face betrayed his confusion, and Jack continued, explaining, "When you take that shuttlecraft out of this bay, you're responsible for the lives of this in it. And the lives of those around you, regardless of your mission. You proved today that you can fly and look out for yourself. Now you need to learn to command, and look out for others."

The boy observed only muted acceptance from the Lieutenant, so he pressed forward. "Until further notice, you'll be serving shifts in the shuttlebay in addition to your regular duties. Petty Officer Macy here will be your mentor, and you'll be his assistant. What he does, you do; what he says, you obey. Got it?"

Expecting a protest, the Miran Lieutenant was pleasantly surprised to see Akron simply nod in acknowledgement. The boy dismissed his junior counterpart, and watched as he left the bay. Next to him, Macy let out a low whistle, "Wow, sir, that was impressive."

Jack whirled on the man, startling him. He kept a serious face for just a moment longer, just to see how Macy would respond. The Petty Officer barely even blinked. Able to hold it no longer, the boy started to grin. He leaned close to the Petty Officer and gestured for him to bend down. When Macy's ear was close enough, Jack whispered into it, "On his first shift, put out a sippy cup for him. He'll know what it's for."

With that, the boy skipped out of the shuttlebay, leaving the bewildered Petty Officer behind.