Red vs. Nova

Posted on 04 Jul 2016 @ 9:10am by Ensign Kelly Khan & Lieutenant JG Felix Langston

1,858 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Flight Control Office
Timeline: MD 3 - 1330 hours

Lt. Felix Langston made his way to the Flight Control Office after his shift at the helm. He loved the way the Black Hawk controlled. Even though she was an old vessel, she still handled like a ship in her prime - incredibly nimble and responsive. Now came the other part of his job, the administrative work.

Felix thought back to his meeting with the CO and what Captain Geisler had said in their meeting. "The only thing different between being both a chief and a member of a department is just that you have to manage people. As long as you're good at what you do, you should have no trouble."

When he reached the office, the doors slid open to reveal the rather spartan furnishings. Felix sighed; he'd have to find some more things to make the office his own. The one thing on display on his desk was a model of the USS Talon, the Steamrunner-class starship that served as Red Squad's personal vessel.

He sat down at the desk and opened his terminal. There were a few messages and reminders that he'd made. Chief among them was a reminder that he had an appointment with one Cadet Kelly Khan. He took a few minutes to bring up her personnel file to try and get an idea of who was coming through the door. As he absentmindedly used his fingers to control the scrolling on the screen, he leaned his chair back and put his feet on the desk. He'd always wanted a post like this.

A new Chief of Flight Kelly mused as she saw the appointment that had been made for her and she muttered and wondered if she would be able to get the same deal that she had gotten with Lieutenant Adan. There's only one way to find out she thought as she checked her uniform and made certain that everything was regulation. She took a deep breath and pressed the chime, put on her game face and waited to see what would be.

Just then, Felix heard the electronic chime of the doorbell. He wasn't used to this. His chair tipped slightly too far back, but he was able to steady himself and stand up quickly. He let out a sigh of relief as he stood up and straightened his uniform. Close one, he thought. "Come on in," he said.

Kelly entered and looked up at the taller male standing behind the desk who wore the pips of a junior grade Lieutenant and came to a stop in front of the desk. She placed her arms behind her and stood at parade rest. "Cadet Senior Grade Kelly Khan reporting as ordered, Sir," she said, deciding that she wanted to see which direction he would take the meeting in and how formal he would be.

Felix was taken aback. He hadn't expected to be so formally greeted. The next few seconds were crucial. Okay, just take it easy, he thought. "At ease, Cadet," he heard himself say in a tone of voice that almost sounded like his old man's. "I'm Lt. Felix Langston, and I guess I'm your new Chief CONN officer," he said as he walked around the desk. He stretched out his hand for the young cadet to shake and smiled warmly.

For a moment, Kelly was confused because her stance of parade rest was at ease and then his comment of guessing that he was the new Chief almost made her giggle. You are or you aren't, she thought, but kept her face neutral. She took his offered hand and gave it a firm shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Langston. Welcome to the Black Hawk."

"That should be my line," Felix said as he chuckled at the Cadet's comment. It was an odd thing that the cadet would have more time logged on this ship than her superior officer. He motioned towards one of the chairs in front of his desk as he walked around to his chair behind the desk and sat down.

"Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?" he asked. He leaned to one side of the chair, putting an elbow on the armrest and reflexively bringing a hand up to his face, resting his two forefingers on his cheek. "I'd like to get to know the person who had the honor of flying this ship out of space dock."

Kelly laughed at his initial comment, then thought on his question for a moment as she took the offered seat. His position beside the chair was a bit disconcerting, but she had seen officers with odder quirks. "I graduated in the top three percent of my Flight class. I made Nova Squad in my second year at the Academy."

She paused for a moment. "I took a secondary in Engineering and I also took Command School because it's my dream to be a test pilot for the newest ships of the line one day. I have the call sign of Conga and there's an embarrassing story behind it, but it's entirely inappropriate."

Nova Squadron, eh? Felix thought to himself. He raised an eyebrow as he sat up in his chair. "Well, there's a story behind every callsign," he said while chuckling. "Fortunately, we never have to tell anyone but our squadmates those stories." He felt himself slipping a little more naturally into the role of Chief, despite his first impression coming off as a little stiff and odd. "My callsign is Gamble. I got it from my buddies in Red Squad."

He picked up the PADD with the cadet's personnel file. "So, you've got quite the resume, very impressive," he said with a slight smirk, "but I can see one little blemish: Nova Squadron. In fact, I could tell on your duty shifts with the way you handle the ship."

"Gamble, huh?" Kelly asked him, curious as to how he got it, but she wasn't ready to tell him how she got her call sign. Her hazel eyes narrowed when he called Nova Squadron a blemish when all he had was Red Squad. "I guess you couldn't win them all, Lieutenant," she said. "I don't fault you for only being in Red Squad."

Felix sat further back his chair and raised his eyebrows, "Only being in Red Squad?" he said with a chuckle and a big smile. "We were the tactical elites! And I was at the helm of that ship!" he said as he pointed to the model of the Talon on his desk. "You Novas want to fly everything like a fighter, nacelles be damned."

"Red Squad...wasn't there something about a cadet group of Red Squad cadets that had a insane plan to attack a Jem'hadar battleship during the Dominion War and all but three were killed?" Kelly asked.

Felix breathed out a sigh of frustration. "That was in the past, just like Nova Squadron's incident with the Kolv..."

He stopped himself. This couldn't go any more poorly, he thought, ease up on the throttle, champ.

"I'm sorry," Felix said. "I didn't mean to make this into a big thing. I know our squads have had quite the rivalry in the past, I wanted to joke a bit with you. This is my first posting as Chief and I want to make sure that you can trust me and that I can trust you. We pilots have to have each others' backs, and the backs of the rest of the crew."

"I'm sorry, too," she said. "That wasn't called for. Each squad is excellent in their own right and each have their own merits. It's good to meet another elite pilot aboard the ship. My career path shouldn't interfere with yours, though."

"Really?" Felix said as he sat up in his chair. "Care to tell me more about these career plans of yours?"

"Yes," Kelly said. "I already told you. I'm going to be a test pilot for the Federation. I plan on being the best pilot that ever came out of the Academy and my name and fame will be told forever." The young brunette was extremely confident in herself and the pride she took her abilities as a pilot and it was revealed in her words and stance.

Felix smiled as the cadet talked about her hopes and dreams. He'd remembered what it was like to be in the Academy, full of inspiration and a can-do attitude. "You've done a great job so far, Kelly," he said. "I wanna encourage you to keep it up. I know flying a starship isn't as flashy as a fighter, but when you're at that CONN station, you've got hundreds of lives riding on your every move. The captain may give the orders, but you're steering the boat. Keep your cool and be confident in what you do."

Felix was surprised to hear those words come out of his own mouth.

"Thank you and I will," Kelly gave him a smile. "Actually, Lieutenant Command Walsh, the Squadron Commander of the Black Knights is teaching me to fly a Valkyrie, Sir. I've only had one lesson on the holodeck so far, but I like them. Sunbeam Kilmartin is offering to be my wingman when I learn, too."

"That's a high honor, indeed," Felix said. "Sunbeam is truly one of the greats. And Commander Walsh is no slouch either. He flew in some of the fiercest battles in the Dominion War alongside my father's starship. They must see some great potential in you if they're training you. Keep it up and I know you'll do great things for Starfleet."

He stood up from his chair behind the desk. "Now, there's one more question," Felix said to the cadet. "Can you trust a fresh Chief FCO from Red Squad?"

She beamed at his comments about Rocco and Sunbeam. "You wouldn't be sitting in the chair with that title if you weren't qualified for it, Lieutenant," Kelly said honestly. "I'll never deny someone their skills or position."

Felix smiled at the compliment. "Thanks very much for your honesty and enthusiasm," he said. "We need more cadets like you in Starfleet. Maybe if you have some time, you can show me what you're learning from those fighter pilots. Until then, Ms. Khan, your next order is to keep flying this ship the best way you know how. Dismissed."

"Until then," Kelly said as she turned and headed out, happy with the new Chief and looking forward to serving with him more.

Felix watched the cadet as she headed out of the office. "She's gonna be quite the officer one day," he said to himself. He then sat down behind his desk. He waited for a bit and when he was sure the coast was clear, he put his feet back up on his desk and went back to arranging the flight schedule.

I think I'm gonna like this post, he thought.

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