Title: Star Trek Falcon –
Episode one: Spread your wings
Chapter: 2 of 10
Chapter: 2 of 10
Rating: Fiction K+
Summary:
Captain Danielle Dolch has just received her first
command, the newly upgraded USS Falcon. While the last few updates and tests
are being conducted she and her crew arrive at the space doc for their mission
of exploration near the Neutral zone.
Disclaimer: The Star Trek universe
belongs to paramount pictures; I’m just borrowing it and using it as a
playground.
Author Note:
Wow, it’s been a while
since I had time for my fanfictions. I’ve been so busy lately I didn’t have any
time to be at my computer, let alone write anything. Thankfully I have more
spare time now so I’ll be picking up where I left off. Please note (for the
people who read the first chapter a while ago) that I’ve changed the name of
the Captain to Danielle (Dani) Dolch, somehow it seemed more fitting. As always I’d really
appreciate it if you left a comment after you’re done reading. Constructive
criticism is always welcome as well as ideas for later chapters and episodes.
Chapter two - Flight to the Falcon
Emma
still couldn’t believe she had been selected to serve aboard a vessel of
exploration like the USS Falcon, let alone she’d be selected to be the Science
Officer. An inexperienced Ensign like herself on the senior staff, wow, she
just didn’t have words for it.
She had
read the message over and over again, not quite believing what it said. She had
always wanted to serve on a starship. As a matter of fact, it had been the main
reason why she had joined Starfleet after she graduated from high school. But
she had imagined starting out as a member of the science department, not as the
head of it. When she had called Captain Dolch she still half expected it to be
a prank pulled on her by one of her friends, but it wasn’t. She accepted her
assignment shortly after meeting with the Captain.
For
weeks she felt like she was walking on sunshine. She had told anybody who would
or wouldn’t listen about her new assignment. She was quite sure she had driven
her roommate mad as well as her colleagues, but shutting up about it had proven
to be too much for her. So she had happily rambled on. It even became worse
after she received details on her assignment. She was to investigate a small
M-class planet near the Neutral Zone. The goal was to determine whether it
would be suitable for establishing a colony. She couldn’t have been more
pleased, Geology was her field of expertise after all.
Another
pleasant surprise presented itself later that week when she received the list
of crewmembers who were assigned to the USS Falcon. When she scanned the list
for familiar names she discovered Mick Dolch was the newly appointed Chief
Engineer. She had worked with the handsome engineer when she was temporary
assigned to a research expedition. They had required assistance from a nearby
Starfleet vessel when the cold had affected their systems. Mick had been part
of the away team that came to their rescue. The two of them had immediately hit
it off and she had felt sorry when he had to leave. She hadn’t expected to ever
see him again. After all, the universe was a big place.
Now she found
herself waiting for the shuttle that would bring her to the USS Falcon. Due to
upgrades to the ship the transporters would be off line the whole week prior to
departure, giving the crew the rare opportunity to take a shuttle to board the
ship. Emma had been told the view was amazing so she hoped for a window seat. She
smiled briefly at a flight attendant who passed her on his way to the gate. It
probably wouldn’t be much longer now.
“Attention
please, this is a call for Ensign Zinck of the USS Falcon. Please report to
gate four immediately. I repeat, Ensign Zinck, please report to gate four.”
It took
a few seconds for the message to sink in, but when it finally hit her she
bolted to her feet. “Oh shoot!” The flight attendant who had just passed her
looked up. Emma threw him a hasty look as she collected her things. “Wrong
gate!” She exclaimed before she hurried off to the other side of the space
station.
As she
tried to speed up her pace she wondered what she had been thinking when she
decided to wear heels that morning. With every few steps she took she tripped
over her own feet. It wasn’t exactly contributing to the elegant image she had
been aiming for. After a near collision with a plant she decided it had been
enough and she stopped to take off her heels. At least she could actually run
now.
When gate
four finally came into view the man who made the final boarding call was
getting ready to close the doors. Emma quickened her pace again. “Please wait!”
She called out to him from the end of the hall. He looked up and watched with
amusement as she came closer. Emma felt slightly embarrassed but did her best
not to be too obvious about it. She slowed down and straightened her back.
“Thank you.” She tried to brush her hair away from her sticky forehead but it
didn’t really make any difference.
“Ensign
Zinck I assume?” Emma studied the man closely. He had vivid blue eyes and half
long curly blond hair. He was kind of short. Even on bare foot Emma easily had
a few inches on him. She extended her hand.
“I’m so sorry.” She apologized, “I was at the wrong gate.”
“No problem, could happen to anybody.” His
handshake was firm, but not too much. “I’m Ensign Spinn, Helm Officer.” Emma
smiled as she let go of Spinns hand. “I’m pleased to meet you.” She paused to
look around. “Am I the only one who’s late?”
“I
wouldn’t worry about that really, I waited half an hour for the Captain and the
First Officer when they were boarding the Falcon. Fortunately they came to the
right gate, otherwise it could’ve easily been hours.” Emma was unsure whether
he was joking or not but laughed anyway, it was something about the way he
described the scene. She could totally
picture the captain running around the space station with her First Officer
right behind her, just like Emma had done just moments ago. For some reason
though, she pictured them still wearing their shoes. Speaking of which, Emma
still wasn’t wearing any. She put her bags down and steadied herself to put her
right shoe back on.
“All
things considered” Spinn continued as Emma sought support of the wall while she
stepped back into her other shoe. “I’ll be happy when Commander Dolch gets the
transporters back online. I’m sick of being a bus driver.” Spinn held open the door
to the gate. Emma picked up her bags again and nodded her thanks as she entered
the gate. Spinn closed the doors behind her and followed her to the shuttle.
The
shuttle was a slightly older model belonging to the USS Falcon. The interior
was a little worn down, but for some reason it seemed fitting. It added
character to the shuttle. Spinn closed the shuttle door behind her. “Just find
a seat.” He told her before he sat down at the controls. Emma thanked him again
and made her way past the occupied seats. Many of the crewmembers were talking
to each other and Emma greeted some familiar faces as she passed. All the way
in the back she found an empty seat by the window.
As she
sat down the engines roared to life. She could hear Spinn checking in with the
board computer and contacting flight control for further instructions. The
flight to the Falcon would only take a couple of minutes since space dock was
right next to the space station. Emma leaned over to her window to see if she
could catch a glimpse of the space dock, but it was nowhere in sight. Instead
she had a gorgeous view of Earth. She smiled to herself. It didn’t matter how
many other amazing planets she saw, Earth would always be the most beautiful.
As the
shuttle started moving Emma did her best to catch a last glimpse of home before
it went out of view. For a while she only saw stars. Finally space dock came
into view. “For anyone interested, we’re approaching space dock. If you look at
your right you should have a pretty good view of the Falcon.” Spinn called over
his shoulder. The voices went quiet as everybody turned their attention to the
windows. Emma suppressed the urge to press her nose against the cool glass.
It was
just as pretty as anybody had said it would be. There was a certain sense of
peace to the ship as it just sat there. The Falcon wasn’t as big as most other
ships going on similar missions. Captain Dolch had told her the Falcon had been
build years ago to test whether smaller exploration vessels would be more
efficient. Emma guessed it wasn’t, seeing the newer ships were all bigger.
“USS
Falcon, this is shuttle one requesting permission to land.” Spinn sounded a
little bored but Emma didn’t really pay any attention to him. Now that they
came closer she could see a team of engineers working on the hull of the ship.
She found herself briefly wondering whether Mick would be amongst them but
quickly dismissed the thought. As Chief Engineer he probably had better things
to do.
“Shuttle
one, you have permission to land.” The shuttle turned and for a while the stars
were all Emma saw through her window. When she straightened her back a little
she could catch a glimpse of the front viewing screen. The shuttle was
approaching the open doors of the Falcon’s shuttle bay. She looked out of her
window again. That was going to be all she would see for a while, lots and lots
of stars, slowly moving away from her. She could think of worse things.
The landing
was so smooth Emma barely noticed the shuttle had set down at all. Spinn turned
around to face his passengers. “Welcome aboard.” He said as he got up to open
the shuttle doors. Emma got to her feet and gathered her things. Her adventure
was about to begin.
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