Last shuttle out of San Francisco

Posted on Sat Jan 16th, 2021 @ 5:23pm by Lieutenant Commander William Rogers

For a moment Bill stretched his fingers out over the control console. The console surface felt slightly slipper under his finger tips: that new shuttle craft sheen.

"You're cleared for launch shuttlecraft Virgo." The voice of the traffic controller filtered over the comm, devoid of static or interference.

"Copy that." Rogers replied. The shuttle lifted off smoothly and began the climb into space. The transition from stationary to flight was so seamless that, were it not for the shifting perspective of the view screen, he would not have known it had moved at all.

As the shuttle climbed Buck dialled back the inertial dampeners. He relished the tug of gravity. The fist of physics forcing him into his seat. This was the flying he remembered. That he loved. All too soon however the blue sky blended into the blackness of space. In the crowed environs of Earth's orbit there was no room for revelry in sensation. Rogers leaned a little to his left and tapped away at the console. The sensor readings were double checked as the shuttlecraft threaded its way towards the new Astraea.

Before long the USS Astraea-A hoved into view. Ship was an ill fitting word for her: the design was too vast; too brazenly ostentatious; a projection of Starfleet's sense of arrogance and superiority. Rogers would be hard pressed to say he was looking forward to this assignment. While stuck in the hospital he'd put out a few feelers to see if there were any test pilot postings available, but nothing had come back before he received his orders. Buck pushed his misgivings aside: this was his posting and he'd execute it to the best of his ability. He reached for the shuttle's comm.

"USS Astraea; Shuttlecraft Virgo requesting permission to land."