Command

Posted on Wed Aug 11th, 2021 @ 3:33am by Captain Calypso Skyie

Mission: The Boneyard Heist
Location: Starfleet HQ

The fuzzy yellow ball fell into the corner of the court and a disembodied voice came up overhead, "Forty-Thirty, Match Point." It was calm and unemotional, the hologram in the judges seat there more out of tradition than anything. The first set had been 6-3, this set was at 5-4, so it was really anyone's match.

Calypso Skyie, Commander, accepted the new ball from the side, since there was only one person actually there on the court with her, on the opposite side of the net and set her foot down just behind the baseline and bounced it. It was a nice, firm ball, bounced nicely. She reached up and brushed a lock of sweaty bright blonde hair out of her eye-line and bounced the ball again.

Across the court from her, the dark haired woman was bouncing on her heels until Calypso straightened up, when it stopped. She flung the ball high in the air, bent her legs and jumped, arm swinging sharply and it was great. The ball bounced in the proper quarter and she stole a glance at the speedometer, 96 mph, and almost cracked a smile, but the ball was already on it's way back. She sidestepped, swung a hard forehand, sending the ball back. The other woman returned it with ease, cross-court, making Cally move. She sent the ball down the sideline.

The dark-haired woman made as if to send it hard cross court again, but at the last moment changed her racquet angle and sent it short. Calypso cursed under her breath as she sprinted in, reached out and left her feet as her only chance to return the volley. The ball hit off the strings, sent on it's way back over, then hit the tape at the top of the net and bounced back towards Cally as she scrambled to her feet again.

"Game, Set and Match, Cadet Jade. Congratulations."

The dark haired woman, just over half of Calypso's age trotted up to the net and leaned over to the woman that was bent over her knees, breathing hard, "Not bad, ma'am, but you're dropping your shoulder when you make your returns. Also..." She gave a slight smirk.

"I'm about old enough to be your mother." Cally came back up to straight and wandered over to the cadet, where they gave each other the 'professional' hug that had become tradition in women's tennis, "I used to be ranked number two-twenty-five on Betazed, twenty-three years ago." She shook her head, "Perhaps we'll have to have another match?"

"Of course!" Jenna Jade said cheerfully, "But, if I remember right, you've got an hour before you go see Admiral Towers?"

"Don't remind me..." Calypso gave a moue of disgust. It was a weekly process from the last year, trying to convince the Admiral in charge of personnel that she was ready for space duty again. "Thanks for the match." She gestured to a dog that was laying out in the sun and had to give a slight whistle to get her attention. The beagle jumped to her feet, grabbed a stray tennis ball and trotted over to the Commander with a look that said, 'Finally, let's go.'

Both women went to the showers, one getting re-dressed in the uniform of a cadet in her final form, the other in the red of a Commander of command status. Cally took her time to get to the proper building and timed it to get to the secretary of the Admiral right on time, "Is the Admiral available, Chief?" She asked, properly turned out.

The Master Chief Petty Officer gave her a slight smile, it had become tradition at this point, "Of course, ma'am, he's expecting you... As usual." A light went on her console, "And he's ready."

Calypso first made a hand gesture that commanded the dog with her to stay and sit next to the Master Chief, who surreptitiously reached down to scritch behind the ears, then marched in like the Marine she used to be and came to an attention in front of the Admiral's desk, "Sir, Commander Skyie reporting, thank you for seeing me, sir."

The look the Admiral gave her from behind his desk could have melted steel, obvious distaste that he didn't even try to hide, "Yeah. What do you want?" It wasn't like he didn't know, but tradition was tradition in one way or the other.

"Sir, I was hoping that you'd found a position for me on a starship?" She asked as formally as she could, "I've been groundside for over a year and a half, sir, I'm ready, really really. I've got the psychiatrists sign-off as well as the doctors'."

"That's what you've said the last six months." The Admiral grumped, "And just like I've said since then, I have no commands for you and Captain Taylor, may she rest in peace, made it clear that you shouldn't be placed in any other position. As always, I'll keep you in mind for anything that comes up." He waved at her, a clear sign to go away.

"Yes, sir." She came back to attention and turned on her heel before he cleared his throat.

"One moment, Commander..." He said, this time something else in his voice, "I might have something." Oh yes, there was something devious there and Calypso turned back around, as sharp as she'd done before, "We've been reactivating some ships from the reserves, are you aware of the USS Aegir?"

"Somewhat, sir, she was in an incident that severely damaged her?" Calypso asked, really not quite certain.

"Yes... Due to Captain Barty, may he rest in peace, she died spectacularly, and the hull was recovered and has been being repaired while decommissioned. The name was reassigned to a new build Luna-class, but a Luna is too valuable to keep in mothballs. I've had potential commanding officers in and out of here, but none of them want this ship. She's had a nacelle and strut replaced, new pod, the bridge has been cleaned up and refurbished." He shrugged, "That took a good bit to do, it was a mess. They'd rather wait several more weeks for a different command."

He leaned forward in his chair, "You, on the other hand, don't have that luxury. Commander Skyie, this is your one and only chance at a command. Take it, or kiss your chances goodbye." He reached out a PADD, "Sign it and thumbprint."

There wasn't even any hesitation as she scrawled her chicken-scratch type signature, then planted her thumb in the designated spot, "Absolutely, sir, thank you sir."

He chuckled as he examined the signature, then drew out another PADD and glanced over it, "Congratulations on your command, Commander. These are your movement orders and other relevant information." The look on his face was now of glee, "You will take your ship, called the Chimera, because they didn't think that the Frankenstein was a proper name, out to Starbase 614 and push the border out by exploration."

He glanced at the PADD as he continued on, "You will have some of your senior staff within a week, plus a bunch of the graduating class of cadets and some enlisted fresh from basic training, a leavening of NCOs and sundry others, but you'll receive the bulk of your crew waiting at the Starbase for you. Ships in the area are being levied to provide them." He didn't have to say that it would be the ones that they wanted to get rid of.

"You will leave the boneyard within two weeks, then proceed by any means you see fit, to Starbase 614 and pick up your remaining crew within five weeks of departure. If you don't get there within that time, you may as well have not made the trip." His smile grew devilish, "I've even got an executive officer in mind for you, one that has plenty of experience. It'll get him out of my hair as well. He'll report on board shortly." He handed the PADD over, "Get to your ship, Commander, commandeer a shuttle or something." He waved at her again.

This time, Calypso gathered the PADDs and tucked them into the crook of her arm and threw a parade ground salute before turning on her heel and leaving. She stopped outside as the door closed and the Master Chief Petty Officer smiled over at her, "Good news, ma'am?"

"Good enough, Zoe, good enough." She looked at the beagle sitting patiently next to the desk, then patted her leg and she faithfully trotted over to the heel position, tennis ball in mouth with a gently wagging tail, "Did you talk him into it?" A slight smirk from the NCO answered the question.

"It gets you back out there, ma'am." She pointed out, "No malice intended, just... Trying to help, ma'am."

"Thank you, no really... Thank you." A grin crossed Calypso's face, "Can I have you call ahead to flight ops? I need to borrow a Razor Interceptor. The Admiral did say to commandeer... Something." She raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, ma'am!" The Chief laughed, "One'll be waiting. Happy hunting, ma'am."