The Rocketman

Posted on Fri Aug 28th, 2020 @ 6:06pm by Lieutenant Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell

Mission: Welcome Aboard!
Location: Above Earth
Timeline: Before Launch

The ride from the ground to the edge of space was longer than any trip Bonnie had ever taken, a product of the age of the shuttle no less. For the most part there was only a mild vibration that was easily ignored but every 30 seconds or so the small craft gave a more violent unpredictable shake which made poor Bonnie squeal in her seat.

Cody focused on his job of shuttle pilot but kept looking back her way as though he was waiting for something akin to a response from her. She just felt like he was watching her with those eyes. As the atmosphere started to shift the shuttle shook violently. "It's about to get…" Cody started but was interrupted by a sudden drop in altitude. Bonnie let out a shriek "Well you get the idea." He finished.

Another layer, another sputter followed by another altitude drop. Then just as they were about to breach the atmospheric boundary everything went silent, everything except Cody who was coaxing the shuttle, "Come on ole girl show me you still have some life in you." The nose started to dip downward.

Bonnie stared in horror as they began to freefall, her body slowly rising from the seat along with a majority of the miscellaneous debris in the back. She reached out towards the front seat as the shuttle suddenly dropped pinning her to the roof. She closed her eyes and counted backward again.

Cody pressed button after button to no avail. Finally, in reserved desperation, he leaned forward and whispered "Come on Papy make this ole bitch work one last time. I need this." Then he punched the console with a ball of his fist causing something to spark. The shuttle stuttered to life, then shot forward and upwards with such force Bonnie was thrown down and backward onto the bed. Cody caught sight of her, "This is no time for a nap baby doll. Come on up here, I could use a hand with the controls for a minute."

Bonnie sat up in a huff of hair and clothes, blew the loose strands of curls from her eyes and stood before apprehensively making her way to the front of the cabin. She questioned what he could possibly need from her as he was the pilot, this was his ship and she was a mear passenger. She slid into the co-pilot position without daring to take her eyes off of him. Absentmindedly she pulled the restraints around her shoulders and snapped them into position.

He glanced her direction, gave a slight chuckle and said "Better late than never I guess." It made Bonnie blush again as she gave him the good old eye squint, brow furled look which he caught. "Okay Starfleet,” He said, addressing Bonnie. “Would you mind feeding the navigation coordinates into ole Debby please"

Bonnie smiled for the first time "Debbie? Who names a shuttlecraft Debbie?"

He grew serious "My Papy that's who." Then he relaxed back onto his normal demeanor. "Said it was the best name for the cheapest girl he ever knew."

Bonnie didn't apologize as she felt he wouldn't accept it anyway, turned to the console and began plugging coordinates in for Starbase 234. Analog buttons and dials in a digital age, she had only ever seen such things in her papa's museum. Continuing to press buttons she noted some oddities and made a mental note to recount them later should the need arise. "Done." She said while nodding to Cody.

He leaned forward and confirmed "Starbase 234. Nice. Should only take an hour or two at warp 3."

"Warp 3? Is that the fastest old Debbie can go?"

"Back in her day she could do 4.5 but these days it's pushin it to get 3 outta her. Now just sit back, relax and let Debbie take us to our destination" he finishes plugging in the autopilot information then hit a button dramatically. Nothing happened

Bonnie noticed. "Nothing happened. Was something supposed to happen?"

There was a pause where he continued to hold his pose. Then he deflated and released the button. Debbie began to whine then shot forward in a blaze of blue warp light. "Ah, there we go. Just needed a moment to catch her breath I suppose."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and turned back to her PADD.

TBC