The Falcon's Eye: A New Beginning An Anthropomorphic Short Story by Bookshire S. DraftWood (bookshir@mailandnews.com) All parts of this story including, but not limited to characters locations, and events are the property of the author. This story may be freely distributed through any electronic media such as web pages, FTP sites, Email and the like in it's original, un altered state. This work may not be published in any type of 'fan-zine' or other physical media without the permission of the author. The character 'Todd F. Riverden' is the property of Craig Fox (toddfox@megsinet.net) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan reviewed his orders for the millionth time as the shuttle whisked him through space at top speed. Even now, a week after he had received the transmission, he still found it hard to believe. He glanced down once again at the knee-length, dark purple robe he wore over his thin black body suit, with it's gold trim. Engineer, First Class...the highest position an engineer could achieve. As such, he had the option of choosing any assignment he wanted in the entire fleet. Now, most skunks in his position would probably have chosen to be the Head Engineer on one of the massively impressive Royal-Class transport ships which ferried the High Council around everywhere. Or they might even choose to be an Engineer on the large, but lethally swift Enforcer-Class Ships, charged with both offensive and defensive projects through the whole of Universes that had been claimed as territory. Jonathan, however, had a different dream in mind. His shuttle came out of hyperspace a few thousand kilometers from the Hectairian Station: First Light. Every time his assignments brought him to this place, the size of it never failed to amaze him. It resembled something along the lines of a very long rectangular block roughly 50 miles wide, 50 miles tall and over 300 miles in length. And running lengthwise right down the middle of it was the flight deck. The opening was 25 miles, by 25 miles and the deck ran for the entire length of 300 miles down to the other end of the station. Truly it was the pinnacle of technological achievement for the Hectairian Race. Jonathan's comparatively insignificant shuttle made it way steadily into the large flight deck. Once his ship was past the magnetic field, he found himself surrounded on all sides by all kinds of ships of various shapes and sizes, either coming in, taking off, or just sitting on the sidelines in their maintenance areas, or in their personal hangers set into the walls of the deck being worked on by their crews. The flight deck was designed to hold the entire fleet if need be, and it lived up to it's design admirably. Everywhere Jonathan could see from his small window in the side of his ship, he saw Enforcer Ships, Visionary Ships, Patrol Ships, Transport Ships... Then he spotted them. An entire section of the wall of the flight deck had been given over to two thousand individual hangers in which they rested. Explorer-Class Ships. They were just small, three-person ships...but they had one of the most honored positions in the fleet...at least in Jonathan's mind. They were more like unsung heroes. Explorer ships were charged with the preliminary exploration of other universes. For as long as he could remember, he wanted to be a crew member on one. Being one of the first to see a new universe or a new dimension was a special privilege...and he wanted that privilege. Jonathan gathered up his belongings as the shuttle finally set down in it's own small hangar and he disembarked. The first thing to do would be to check in and receive the complete details of his new assignment. The check in lines were long, but on a station that big, they usually tended to be. Jonathan, however, was patient enough and soon made it to a check in window. "Id please," the vixen on the other side said. Jonathan placed his paw flat down on the reader. "Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Anthony Wilde," he answered. The vixen looked at her screen and nodded. "Ok," she said "Here's your official assignment orders. Review them over the night. You begin at 0900 hours tomorrow. You living assignment is room 1257, deck 435, west end." She handed him a vid disc and set him on his way. Once he was outside the check in office, he paused a moment to look around. It had been a year since he was here last, and he was a little disoriented. He shrugged to himself, got a better grip on his bags and followed the signs to a turbo shaft. The shaft he found didn't get him all the way to where he needed to be, and soon, he found himself rather lost. He paused where a couple halls intersected and asked the central computer for some directions. However, the directions it gave him weren't that helpful and soon, he found himself wandering down a long corridor trying to figure out just what deck he was on. As he wandered, he saw a short grey-furred raccoon wandering down from the other end. He wore a light blue robe with silver trim over a thin white body suit, identifying him as a member of the Science Guild. Even though, he didn't want to sound stupid, the fact was that he needed some help. "Excuse me," he called as the raccoon passed by. "Hmmm?" the raccoon stopped and turned "Yeah?" "I know this'll sound really stupid, but what deck am I on?" Jonathan asked. The raccoon looked like he REALLY wanted to start laughing, but did manage to keep calm. "You're on deck 435," he said with an amused shift of his tail. Jonathan blinked. "Oh," he said "Oh, well...could you tell me where room 1257 is." The raccoon grinned widely. "Turn around," he said. Jonathan looked behind him at the door there...1257. "Oh," he said "Well...thank you very much." The raccoon chuckled a bit and nodded. "No problem," he said "And hey, don't feel bad. New people always need a couple days to get used to this place." Jonathan smiled and nodded. "Ok, thanks," Jonathan said. The raccoon nodded and went on his way. Jonathan stepped into his quarters and gladly dropped his bags on the floor. Flopping down into a nearby chair, he took some time to relax. Standing, he stripped out of his uniform, right down to his fur. After a quick shower, he got a cold drink and reclined on the couch. He liked quarters that were as big as this was. A large, five room section, with every last comfort a fur could want. He sipped his drink for awhile as he groomed his thick fur. He liked being a skunk...regular old black and white. Nice and simple. After he finished his drink, he looked over at the vid disc that he put down on the nearby table. He got up, popped it in the player and set back down as he grabbed the remote and clicked it on. The screen was blank for a few seconds, before it brightened into a scene of a small office where an impressive looking female badger sat at her desk. "Good Evening," the badger said "I'm Admiral Selia Cartwright, commanding Admiral of the Exploration section of the Hectairian Space Fleet. You, I presume, are Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Wilde. If you're not then you've got the wrong disc." She chuckled briefly a moment then continued. "First, let me congratulate you on your recent promotion to Engineer First Class. As I'm sure you know by now, only the best of the best get to the rank you've achieved. It's certainly something to be proud of. I'd also like to congratulate you on choosing the Exploration field in which to continue your tour of duty. You know, people in other sections will tell you that theirs is the best...and, come to think of it so will I. Exploration is where the action is. Discovering the truly unknown, seeing new things, people and places unlike anything you've seen before." "Now, you've chosen to take a position aboard an Explorer-Class Ship. A good move again, Commander. the crews of those ships are truly the ones who see everything first. As you may or may not know, the duty of these elite ships is to seek out completely new universes and dimensions, gather preliminary data, and report their findings back here so that large, more fully equipped Investigation-Class ships can be dispatched." Jonathan only half watched the video. The fact was he already knew all of this and was hoping she'd get to his actual assignment. "Now as to you're assignment. You've been assigned to one of the most...well...I don't know if should say famous or notorious...because the fact is that this ship and it's crew have survived more things, done more things against regulations, and gone the distance dozens of times to get the job done than any other crew I have on staff. You're assignment, Commander, will be as Engineering Officer on board the Explorer Ship: Falcon's Eye." Jonathan blinked awake and sat up at this one. He'd heard of the Falcon's Eye. The crew of that ship must either be insane or have nothing to lose. He'd heard stories about how they would do anything weather it was legal or not, in order to accomplish their objectives, weather they were job-related or not. However, in doing so, they had also single-handedly discovered forty-five new universes and dimensions, uncovered five plots of conspiracy in the fleet, and advanced the expectations of just how much an Explorer class ship could do before it conked out. Even more amazing, the managed to keep from getting court-marshalled...and Jonathan was going to be a part of that. He didn't know if he should be thrilled or terrified. He didn't have much time to think, however, because the Admiral was going on. "Your Commanding officer is Captain Todd F. RiverDen," she said "I think you'll find him to be a stable officer in a crisis, even if his methods are a bit...excessive and...well...off the wall, so to speak. Despite his unorthodox behaviors and actions, he's a good officer that'll bring you home every time." "The Science Officer on board, charged with gathering all the data of new places that your crew discovers, is Gatherer Bookshire S. DraftWood, of the Science Guild. He's about as excessive, and off the wall as Capt. RiverDen is, but they've consistently brought their ship back time and again...and in one piece too." Jonathan listened with intense interest. This could be fun, he thought to himself. "You begin your tour at 0900 hours tomorrow. The Falcon's Eye is located in hanger 115 of the Explorer Class Section...just follow your ears towards the music. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Good luck." Jonathan clicked off the viewer and popped out the disc. He was half tempted to go down there now just to have a look at it, but decided against it. What he could really use at this point, was sleep. He stood up, and dragged his bags into the bedroom. He'd probably unpack eventually, but just for now, he plopped down into bed, cut the lights and drifted into a dreamless sleep. * * * * Admiral Cartwright was jerked awake by the incessant knocking on the door. She glanced over at her clock and saw that is was coming up on 0100 hours. She grumbled to herself as she pulled herself out of bed and slipped a robe on to go to the door. Who ever was knocking at this hour had better have a damned good reason, she thought, or they'll end up with a demotion. She opened the door and was faced with a young Lieutenant. "Lt. Jefferson," she sighed "You better have a GREAT reason for bothering me." "Admiral," He said with a quick salute 'My apologies for disturbing you, but you wished to be informed when the former Engineer from the Falcon's Eye had left the station." "You could have left a message on my comm, you know," she said "0100, now that's late. I wonder why he stayed so long." The hare in front of her hmmmed thoughtfully. "It's hard to say, ma'am," he said "My people say he's been seen everywhere from the bar to the hangar deck to talking some female Lieutenant into spend his last night with him. All that HAS been confirmed is that he definitely HAS left the station on the transport we designated for him." The Admiral nodded. "Alright then," she said "Contact Hectairia Four, and be sure they have a full security contingent ready when he arrives. I want no chances taken with that one." The Lieutenant nodded. "Ma'am...with all due respect doesn't this incident prove that the remaining crew of the Falcon's Eye be kept under tighter survailance?" "Now don't YOU start in on me, Lieutenant," Admiral Cartwright said "I've been getting enough grief from Grand Fleet Admiral StoneWall on that. Just keep the survailance where it is for now, and for god's sake, keep it quiet. I've been protecting that crew for too long to let this situation fall apart." Lt. Jefferson nodded and dismissed himself. Admiral Cartwright then retreated back into her quarters. Engineer Gabriel Saxxon had been a loose canon...a trouble maker from the start. She knew that well enough, but RiverDen and Draftwood's reputations didn't help the matter. Those two honestly meant well, they were just a bit extreme. Unfortunately, when Gabriel's plot to rip off fleet property and sell it off had been uncovered, it had shaken even her. Thank god, she had managed to keep it quiet, or there would've been hell to pay. She was the only person standing between the crew of the Falcon's Eye and a full blown court marshall for their excessive behavior, violations of several fleet rules and regulations no matter how minor they usually were, and their complete disregard for the chain of command. The Admiral had known them personally, however. She knew that everything they did was for good a reason and was usually meant to benefit the Hectairian people. Heck if it hadn't been for them hacking the global mainframe on Hectairia Seven, they never would've found the plot to assassinate every member of the universal council until it was too late. This incident with the Engineer, though, had shaken her. She knew that, even though both she and Capt. Riverden had contained the situation quietly, rumors were flying around all over the place about how the whole crew were a bunch of treasonous dogs that fully deserved the court marshal so many people were trying to give them. She had to keep them safe, now more than ever. They were the best crew she had, and she wasn't about to let rumor destroy them. The Admiral flopped down into bed again and pulled the covers over her. So many people envied her position. Even she had envied it before she was promoted to it. Oh, if only they knew... * * * * Jonathan's Alarm jerked him awake at about 0700 hours the next morning. He had spent the night in a dreamless sleep and felt well rested for the day's activities, which he figured would prove to be interesting at the very least. Getting out of bed, he went to his bags out in the living room and began rummaging through them. He pulled out a clean black body suit and accompanying Engineer's Robe and headed to the bathroom to clean up. True, he had taken a shower the night before, but he always made it a rule to look his best the first day on an assignment, no matter how off-the-wall the commanding officer was described. After his shower, he spent another half hour grooming his fur down smooth and sleek as was becoming, and slipped into his uniform. Looking into the mirror as he combed his headfur, he saw a model officer looking back at him. He smiled to himself as he worked. He felt good. He always felt good on the first day of something new. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was 0750 and hmmmed. He grabbed a very quick breakfast and headed out the door for the flight deck. This time, he didn't have much trouble. The turbolift he found was apparently smart enough to know where the Explorer section of the Flight Deck was and got him there in about fifteen minutes. The second he stepped off the turbolift, he heard it...the very, very slight sound of music coming from far down the hall. He looked at the directory nearby for hangar 115. "Hmmm," he said to himself as he made a note of the location "Well...here goes nothing..." He walked swiftly down the hall, passing door after door all leading to the separate hangars of the Explorer Ships. As he walked the music got louder and louder. Once he was standing in front of the door marked 115, the music was rather loud and was obviously coming from the other side...some kind of hard rock type music. He shrugged to himself and went through the door. He stopped a moment once he was inside the hangar for two reasons...one because the music at this point was overwhelming and, second because, he was standing right in front of the ship... To Jonathan, it was a beautiful sight. The Explorer-Class Ship: Falcon's Eye was sleek and shiny as though just washed. Like all Explorer ships, the main body of the ship was roughly 25 feet wide, 50 feet tall, 200 feet long and slightly cyndrillicle, coming to a sleek, aerodynamic point at the front of the ship. The large wings extended out at an angle from the front of the ship all the way to the back, making for a wing span of over 250 feet. The two large hyperdrive engines could be seen on either side of the main body fitted just at the rear of the ship above the wings, while the sub-light engines and landing gear were fixed under the wings. And there, at the front of the ship, just under the Forward view port was the symbol...a sharp looking Falcon's Eye and the ship's name emblazoned jaggedly in red. The music at this point WAS a bit loud and Jonathan looked around, not only to see if anybody was there eye, but also to see if he could turn it down. It amazed him that Admiral Cartwright would let a hangar like this get so cluttered. He found the source of the music...a holochip player with speakers there were way too loud and turned it down almost to nothing, sighing with relief as the strain was taken off his ears. Almost immediately there was a response. A raccoon popped out of the ship's top hatch and looked around. "HEY!" he exclaimed "Who turned down my..." He looked around and saw Jonathan. "You?" he asked, more to himself really "So you must be our new Engineer." He got all the way out and slid down the side to the floor. Jonathan knew, just by the voice and face that this was the same raccoon he had met in the hall the day before. Apparently, the raccoon recognized him too. "Yes, my name is Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Wilde," Jonathan stated. The raccoon smiled and offered his paw. "Gatherer Bookshire S. DraftWood, of the Science Guild," he said "Funny us meeting in the hall like that yesterday...but then, you're new, so I guess it was bound to happen." "Yes, I guess it is a bit of a coincidence," Jonathan responded. "Yeah, really," Bookshire said "So the Admiral stuck you with us, huh? Well, we'll just have to see how you hold up." "What do you mean?" Jonathan asked. "Well, if you're not off the wall enough to be a part of this crew, you're not gonna last long," Bookshire said with a grin. Jonathan was quickly catching on to the raccoon's laid back manner and quickly adapted. "Well, I think I'll manage," he responded with a smirk "Just tell me what the ground rules are." Bookshire looked him over and grinned. "I like your style," he said "First, don't even bother saluting to the Captain when he comes in. It's just the three of us in cramped quarters for goddess only knows how long, so forget about being formal right now, because it won't get you anywhere." "Ok, I think I can cope with that," Jonathan said. "Good," Bookshire said "Now, the other thing is...well...you may have heard that we don't mind fracturing the occasional law or regulation to get the job done...no matter what it is." "Yes, I did hear something like that," Jonathan said. "And that's still true," Bookshire said "Don't worry though...if anything ever goes bad, we'll tell them you weren't involved." "Hey, I'm a part of this crew," Jonathan said "I sink or swim with it, besides, I've dreamed of having a position on this ship." "Goddess, the Captain's gonna love you," Bookshire said "I think you're gonna work out fine. Now why don't we step inside and I'll show you your station." Jonathan nodded and Bookshire took him up the ladder to the top hatch and slid down inside with him. Considering that the ship was only manned by three people it was surprisingly roomy. The interior was divided into two decks. The lower deck consisted of the primary engineering section, a small escape pod for all three of them and restroom and hygiene facilities. The upper deck consisted mainly of separate living quarters for the three crew members. However as Bookshire showed Jonathan around, he noticed that, rather than three separate quarters, two had been merge into one large living area with all the modern luxuries while the third had been left as is...perfectly comfortable for one person. Jonathan though about asking why it was like that, but Bookshire had taken him up to the fore-ward section of the deck where all the command stations where located. The command section was fully equipped with all the most modern instruments. At the front was the large open window of super re-enforced clear trex-tainium, allowing the crew to see a full range of 90 degrees around the front of the ship. Immediately in front of this was the main command station where the Captain worked and piloted the ship, all the controls giving him instant access to any of the main command systems present in the ship. Behind this on the right side was the science section where Bookshire operated. The consoles were covered with monitors, meters and numerous buttons. Obviously, Bookshire had one busy job. AS he looked over the controls, Jonathan noticed a sticker fixed to the metal by one of the monitors, reading 'I've been to a universe made of Iced Cappuchino, and all I got was this lousy bumper sticker.' On the left side was the Engineering Station which was Jonathan's position. It looked vaguely like other Engineering layouts that he had seen, so he shouldn't have any problems getting used to it. "This is your post right here," Bookshire had been saying "I think you'll find it's like most other Engineering stations on other small ships." Jonathan nodded and had a seat at the station and began to get a feel for the controls as Bookshire went around to his post and sat down. "If you need any help or anything, just ask," Bookshire said as he began going over some files "The Captain should be here shortly." "Certainly," Jonathan replied. He looked over the controls and hmmmed. Most everything was recognizable, but there were some things that weren't. He noted a large, red button by the engine status monitor and looked over at Bookshire. "You wouldn't happen to know what this is, would you?" he asked. Bookshire looked up at the button and thought. "Not sure," he said "The former Engineer installed it shortly before he left the ship." Jonathan nodded and looked at it curiously. Being the adventurous type, however, he went ahead and pushed it. Without warning the cabin was flooded with loud sirens and flashing red lights while all the monitors read 'EMERGENCY SELF-DESTRUCT'. Jonathan yelled in surprise and leaped out of his chair. "Damned it!" he screamed over the blaring sirens "Bookshire, let's get out of here!!!" Bookshire was laughing. Jonathan frowned in confusion. The raccoon leaned over and pushed a couple buttons and all was quiet. "Sorry about that," Bookshire laughed with a wide grin "Just our way of saying...'hey, you're a part of the crew now'" Jonathan blinked. A joke. He didn't know if he wanted to laugh or strangle the life out of Bookshire and the Captain....so he just laughed. "Good one," he said as he sat back down "Any other surprises you want to tell me about?" "Nope," Bookshire grinned "Gotta find them yourself." "Sure thing," Jonathan said with a smirk as he began looking over the other controls. Bookshire chuckled to himself and went back to his own work. Jonathan sat down as well and got back to work running diagnostics. He really couldn't believe how lucky he was to get this position...which made him think of something. "Bookshire," he said, looking over at him "What happened to the last Engineer? Did he retire or something?" Bookshire glanced at him a moment and hmmmed a moment. "You could say that," he said. He looked like he was debating on how much to let Jonathan in on. "He was arrested for stealing and selling fleet property," he said. "I didn't hear anything about that," Jonathan remarked. He usually kept up to date on the security of the fleet whenever he could. "We kept it quiet," Bookshire replied "With the help of Admiral Cartwright. I admit you've joined the ship at an awkward time. There are people in the fleet that would pay everything they have to see the Captain and I court marshalled right along with old Gabriel just on the basis of our excessive methods. That's one of the reasons that I said before, if we get in trouble, we can say that you weren't involved." Jonathan blinked. He had read about all the heroic things the crew had accomplished...yet it never occurred to him that a crew like this one would have enemies. Though, he could now see the reasoning, particularly if they were, indeed, violating fleet regulations by employing their particular methods. "Look," he said "I've been dreaming for a shot to work with the two of you. And if that means going to jail with you, or being cast out of the fleet...then so be it." Bookshire smiled a moment. "I think this is gonna be the start of a GREAT relationship," he said. Jonathan smiled too and went back to his work. The two had been going over the equipment for about ten minutes before another voice was heard from outside. "HEY! Who turned down the music!! I can't even hear it in my quarters!!" Jonathan looked up. "The Captain," Bookshire said as he got up and went outside. Jonathan smiled and followed Bookshire out in time to the see the raccoon go over to the Captain to greet him. The Captain was, obviously, Todd Riverden. He was a red furred fox, who stood at least a full head taller than Bookshire, putting him at about Jonathan's height. He wore the standard black body suit of all fleet members and the crimson red robe of a commanding officer, with two bands of gold around the ends of the sleeves, identifying him as a Captain. He had the look of a fox who'd seen more than anybody has the right to, but had taken it all in stride. He watched as Bookshire went over to the Captain with a large smile, and embraced him as they both kissed deeply. For a moment Jonathan blinked and then smiled, now understanding why the quarters were arranged as they were. Still, that was alright, such things had been accepted a long time ago. He left the ship and went over to introduce himself. By this time the two had stopped kissing and Bookshire nodded to Jonathan. "Todd, this here is our new Engineer, Lt. Cmdr. Jonathan Wilde," he said. Todd smiled and nodded, shaking Jonathan's paw. "A pleasure, I'm sure," Todd responded "Getting acquainted with everything alright?" "Certainly...Todd," Jonathan said. he felt a little strange calling a commanding officer by his first name, but he remembered what Bookshire said about formality and figured, what the hell. Todd seemed un-offended. "Good, you've been told about our lack of formality," Todd said "We all go by first names here, because...well, Book here has probably covered everything." "Yes, actually," Bookshire said "Jonathan here even found the little surprise." "Oh that's too bad," Todd said with a grin "I would've loved to see the look on your face when it went off...you mind if I call ya John? Simpler, you see." "Of course, not, Todd," Jonathan said "Go right ahead." "Good," Todd said "Well, onto business then. This being your first time with us, we're just gonna go out on a maintenance run, making sure everything's shipshape before we actually go out to discover one of those nice new dimensions you've heard so much about. Now snap to it, both of you, our launch clearance is in ten minutes." Both Bookshire and John nodded and went back into the ship, Todd following behind them. John sat down at his station and switched on the engines, warming them up as he ran a final systems check on the engineering sub-systems. Bookshire went over his scientific instrumentation, being sure they weren't reporting false readings, while Todd sat up front, doing checks of all other major systems. After a few minutes, Todd spoke. "Alright, we all ready back there?" "All ready," Bookshire said. "Yep," Jonathan said "All engines ready." "Alright then," Todd said "Let's get this show on the road." The Falcon's Eye gently lifted off it's resting place and turned towards the opening out into the flight deck. To Jonathan, it felt surprisingly smooth, almost as though they weren't moving. The ship slid quietly out into the flight deck and turned towards the exit." "Falcon's Eye, requesting departure clearance," Todd said, opening a comm channel." "You're cleared, Falcon's Eye," came the response of the Head Station Commander "But if you don't stop blaring that music in the hanger in the mornings.. *click*" Todd smirked as he clicked off the channel and shifted the ship into high gear. Before Jonathan knew what had happened, the ship shot forward, the flight deck just blurred by until, suddenly, the ship was surrounded by the black emptiness of space. * * * * Station Commander Maddox growled as he sat back in his command chair. The large wolf could barely contain himself as Admiral Cartwright arrived on the bridge. "Just who the HELL do those idiots think they are cutting me off like that!!" he fumed. "Oh, Saxtus, so they hung up on you," the Admiral said, coming up behind him. "Selia, I'm getting sick and tired of putting up with the way that damned Captain talks to me," he growled "He and that damned raccoon mate of his have both been abusing their celebrity status ever since that damned council assassination plot uncovery. I thought you were going to do something about that." "Look, I do what I can," she said "I mean, I'm sorry, but I've got a whole fleet section to look after. It's bad enough that I've got an Investigation ship out that I haven't heard from in a month, five Explorer ships docked for repairs, and the Grand Fleet Admiral asking me why my section's efficiency rating is only at 85%." "You could at least TALK to him," Saxtus responded "He needs to show respect even if I'm NOT part of the Exploration Section." "I'll do my best," Selia said "In the meantime, do calm down." Saxtus grinned up at her. "Maybe...how about dinner tonight and you can help with it." Selia grinned. "You're on. 1900 hours at my quarters," she said "DON'T be late." "Yes, ma'am," he grinned with a salute. * * * * "Alright Jonathan," Todd said "We put her through a few maneuvers, make sure you know what's what and we go back." "Sure thing," Jonathan said. Bookshire grinned as he did some work on his systems. "Don't worry, Todd," he said "I think we've got a good one here." "Well, we'll find out," Todd said "hang on!" Todd kicked the ship hard to the right and reeved up the engines to full speed, driving the ship to it's maximum sub-light speed. Jonathan, meanwhile, was getting used to monitoring the engine status on this new configuration of controls. When the Captain wanted power it had to be there for him, and it was Jonathan's responsibility to make sure it was. Todd smiled as he quickly reduced and powered the engines over and over, going through complex maneuvers, making sure that Jonathan could regulate engine usage so that no fuel was wasted, no matter how many times the operating environment changed. Eventually, Todd swung the ship around and throttled up to the light-speed range. The ship switched from sub-light power to full warp power in an instant as the ship shot forward faster and faster. Jonathan was sharp to keep an eye on all functioning systems as the ship moved. Making errors at anything faster than light-speed could be fatal...but Jonathan was too good for that. Suddenly, Todd called back to him. "Engine Efficiency?" "97%," Jonathan called in an instant. "Fuel load?" "98%," Jonathan called. "How much longer can we stay at this speed before running out?" "2400 hours." Todd nodded "Very good." He shifted the ship out of light-speed and swung around back towards the station and kicked it in again, returning to the station in minutes. "Well, Jonathan," Todd said "You've got the skill. When we start getting out there and getting to work, those'll really come in handy." Jonathan nodded. "Sure thing," he said "I'm ready." Bookshire grinned. "Let's hope so," he said "Meet us in the bar after we dock...we'll celebrate your new post." The Falcon's Eye returned to the station. As it did, Todd called ahead. "Station Commander, this is The Falcon's Eye requesting landing clearance," he said. "Oh, so NOW you're requesting clearance," Commander Maddox said over the comm "Promise to turn down the music first." "I report to Admiral Cartwright, Commander," Todd said with a grin "If you have a problem, yell at her instead of treating us like you got a stick up your ass." "Oh really?" Maddox said "Just for that you can wait in line. I've got an Enforcer ship to deal with first." This time, it was the Commander who closed the connection. Jonathan smiled "Do you live for ticking him off?" Todd smiles "Nah," he said "That's too easy." He then slammed the engines to full without warning and shot towards the station zipping right passed the Enforcer-Class WarShip sliding into the flight deck. Still at full speed, the ship shot down the length of the deck to the appropriate hanger and only then did it slow down enough to enter and come to a stop. "Well," Jonathan said "I do believe my tour on this ship will be one to remember." "Ain't that the truth," Bookshire said has he got up and left the ship with Todd. When Jonathan slid out, Bookshire called back to him "Remember, meet us in the bar later and we'll celebrate." Jonathan nodded and headed back to his quarters. He got a light snack from the replicator and flopped down on his bed. What a first day, he thought. Tomorrow, no doubt, they'd head out to do some real exploring. It should be fun he thought to himself...fun that was added to by the thrill that he was working with a crew that lived life on the edge. He smiled to himself. "You done good, Jon," he said to no one in particular "You done real good..." END Part One