Can Old Dog's Refresh their skills?

Posted on Sun Jan 27th, 2019 @ 5:31pm by Captain Andreas O'Shaunessy & Lieutenant JG Daisy Skie-Cloud

Mission: R&R
Location: Alabama/Shuttle

Andreas had spent most of his time since back at Iota in meetings with various personnel getting things lined up for their next meeting. Now that they were done, he thought it would be prudent to meet with his Chief Flight Control Officer for a refresher in piloting shuttles.

"O'Shaunessy to Skie-Cloud, do you have a few minutes to refresh an old dog on today's shuttles?"

Daisy leaned back in her chair as she responded, "Will this be a Recertification flight, O'Shaunessy?" Her work momentary forgotten before her. Nothing but last minutes reports and scheduling for her department and shuttles. She brought up Captain's flight certifications from records.

Andreas was initially caught off guard by the question, but quickly realized he couldn't remember the last time he'd even checked on whether he was due for a recert and checked his records before replying. "I'd originally planned it to be just a refresher, Lieutenant, but we'd better make it a recertification flight to bring me back up to date."

Daisy nodded to herself as she looked at Andreas records. "Yeah, your records show you need to be recertified on shuttles." She looked thoughtful as she could pass this on to her subordinate or do it herself. "Clear your schedule for the rest of the day. Meet me in the main hanger bay in an hour."

Daisy pulled out a blank pad and hooked it up to the console. She typed in commands. Soon the Recertification Flight Checklist was uploaded on the PADD. She called to the shuttle bay and have them put a shuttle on the ready pad. She smiled to herself wondering what the Captain was thinking as most Recerts were done in the holodeck, not actually getting out and actually fly the craft.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Andreas replied. He pulled up his schedule for the day and spent the next 45 minutes rescheduling his appointments. Getting up, he headed down to the hangar bay.

It took him a moment to find his CFCO and headed over to her. "I know you're busy, Lieutenant, and appreciate you taking the time to help me out. I understand that using the holodecks are SOP for recert's, but am using Captain's prerogative to use the real thing." Andreas said with a smile.

Daisy just looked at him and nodded. "There was nuttin urgent that couldn't be put off. And my Second can handle it." Waving a hand towards the waiting shuttle on the ready pad to get started on the Recert process. "Let's begin."

Andreas did a quick walk around of the shuttle and noted the paint was still as fresh as the day it had come off the line. Shaking his head, he looked over at his CFCO. "How much grief will I get if I put the first dent in this shuttle?"

"That will be up to the Review Board. In the meantime, you'll be denied access to any helm, with the exception of an emergency." Daisy smiled at him as she followed him around the shuttle, making a checkmark on her PADD.

Andreas grimaced. "Let's hope you won't have to put me up before the board, Lieutenant." Entering the shuttle, he finished his pre-flight checks and got everything up and ready to go. "Time to see how rusty I really am."

"There's a Satellite Relay Station Number 14. We're hauling supplies out to the personnel there." Daisy settled in the Co-pilot seat, "That is our destination. Killing two Aardvarks with one stone."

Daisy knew the route consisted of a small asteroid field with a low danger rating, but unpredictable as any. A small nebula near SRSN14 personnel was studying.

"Sounds good, Lieutenant." Andreas replied. Obtaining the final clearance to take off, he gently lifted off and glided out of the hangar bay, whispering "so far, so good" as they left.

Andreas entered the coordinates of their destination and followed the flight plan, narrowly missing a number of asteroids along the way. Pulling into position next to the Relay Station, he entered the commands to keep them in orbit.

"Care to take care of the transfer of of supplies, Lieutenant?"

Daisy nodded and stood up as she got in contact with the Relay Station 14 as she moved to the transporter controls within the shuttles. Within minutes, the supplies were beamed over and Daisy heading back to her co-pilots seat. "Return to the Alabama..." speaking as she settled in her seat. "..Sir."

Andreas reversed course and headed back to the Alabama. 2 minutes into the return, a proximity alarm went off. His fingers danced across the controls and was able to miss the asteroid by a few centimeters.

After muttering a few profanities under his breath, Andreas obtained clearance to bring the shuttle back to it's spot in the hangarbay.

Landing with a mild thud, he powered down the shuttle and opened the rear door.

Looking a little sheepish, Andreas turned to his CFCO. "I know I leave a lot to be desired in the pilot seat, Lieutenant, but how did I do overall?"

Daisy winced a little at the thud of landing. She tallied up the marks and made a funny face, which turned thoughtful as she looked over the data.

At the sound of Andreas voice, she swiveled her seat to face him. "You have room for a lot of improvement. 59.9 / 60% score. Just barely to keep your flight status as pilot." She looked at him. "The full report is awaiting for your leisurely review in your personal inbox. As for flight status, you still have it. Sir. Under advisement. Take along a skilled pilot."

She stood up and walked off the shuttle, back at him over her shoulder at him. "Don't forget to do the post flight checks or you'll definitely lose you flight status. Make sure you write up sensor arrays need to be recalibrated on this shuttle." Disappearing off the shuttle into the vast hanger full of gleaming shuttles.

"Yes, ma'am." Andreas replied as he performed the post flight checks, including the need of sensor recalibrations. Handing his PADD over to the deck officer, he headed back to his quarters.