JP - Cadet Leenaya Edrei & Cadet Lyara Alroyo - Come fly with me! [PART 1]
Lyara Alroyo
((( Timeline - Last Week of Academy )))
((Starfleet Academy, Shuttle bay - San Francisco))
It was a beautiful day on the bay of San Francisco. The sun was high in the sky with partial clouds. From the sea, a gentle breeze blew across the coast. Waves swayed a gentle dance as boats and birds floated on top of the water.
Although it was busy in the bay, the same could not be said for the academy. According to the PADD Lyara had been looking at, there were only a handful of shuttles launching and landing other than the one she had reserved. She sat under the shade of a coastal oak as she looked to the bay and checked the time. Her company was expected to arrive at any moment.
The occasion was to help her friend Leenaya with a study of “Physiological Impact of Microgravity on Vestibular System Function and Spatial Orientation”. A bit of a mouthful to Lyara, but she was able to get clearance to use it until tomorrow. In her mind all she heard was “Great excuse for a joyride”, and a last hurrah for the two cadets before they were posted on their ships.
As Lyara sat under the tree she heard footsteps behind her in the grass. She turned around to find her Betazoid Co-Pilot. Alroyo got up and moved to greet her.
Lyara: I was startin’ to think you weren’t gonna show Lee.
Lee grinned at her friend.
Edrei: And miss this? You’re out of your mind, Alroyo. Besides, I’m ::looking at the time:: only 5 minutes late. That’s gotta be a record.
People who were acquainted with Lee knew she was often late. Humans called it being “fashionably late”, but even after spending nearly 12 years on Earth she still didn’t understand that idiom. The Cadet uniform was far from fitting the definition of fashion in her opinion, and being unfashionably late would be more of a suitable term. But even then, she couldn’t understand what fashion had to do with being late.
The Bajoran tapped on a PADD then handed it to her friend with a smirk.
Lyara: Your shuttle clearance my lady.
Lee made a mock bow before taking the PADD.
Edrei: Thank you very much my dear.
Lyara: It was a hard sell, but we got clearance until tomorrow. I had to really hone in on that “Extended” point.
Lyara laughed as she motioned Leenaya to follow her. Their reservation was soon and she knew better than to be late.
Matching her friend’s energy, the Betazoid put an arm around her neck.
Edrei: ::grinning:: Have I ever told you that you’re the best?
Lyara: ::Putting her arm around in response:: No you haven’t, but please, tell me more.
She followed her to the shuttle bays. It wasn’t a place she visited much, and she relied on Lyara to guide her. On arrival, she noticed some enlisted crew guarding the entrance to the shuttle bays.
Edrei: ::frowning:: Did they increase security? I don’t remember it being like this before.
Lyara: I guess they did. There’s been rumors of cadets sneaking in to steal shuttles lately.
Lyara looked around confused at the increased presence of personnel. Just last week there had barely been a handful of personnel to maintain shuttles and watch over flight control. As she looked around to see who was on staff she recalled what her squadmates on the flight team told her about senior pranks and how shuttles were often the target of those.
oO Oh yeah, can’t have cadets stealing shuttles now can we Oo
She spotted the guard at the check-in and saw it was the one her team gave a not academy friendly nickname. Lyara looked to Lee and motioned with her head towards the guard, and made a mean face and cutting motion across her throat, then she remembered her friend was a betazoid.
Lyara: ::Thinking hard for Lee to hear:: ~ This guard’s a… canine of the female variety ~
Lee looked at her friend in bafflement, trying to hold back her laughter, without success. They laughed together for a second then composed themselves. They approached the guard clearances in hand, which they handed him. He barely glanced at Lyara’s but halted on the Betazoid’s.
Security guard: What’s a medical cadet doing in a shuttle in her free time? Even more so on an extended flight?
Leenaya sighed and pointed to a few lines on the clearance.
Edrei: It’s written right there. It’s to collect some data for a medical study.
The guard gave her a suspicious look, and Lee could tell he wasn’t buying it. So, she decided to bring out the big guns.
Edrei: I don’t choose my assignments, my final one even less so. ::she crossed her arms on her chest:: Should I go and explain to Pr. Naabars that I’ve been denied shuttle clearance and thus am unable to graduate?
Pr. Naabars was an old professor of medicine. Despite her small size and her grandmotherly looks, she was terrifying, even to those who weren’t medicine majors. Leenaya sometimes wondered if the woman had ever smiled in her life, but she doubted that. Naabars was a bitter woman with the warmth of a replicator set to “room temperature”. Given the immediate change in the guard, Leenaya guessed he knew her.
Security guard: Uhh, no need for that. ::he gave back the PADD to Leenaya:: Here you go. Good luck with your assignment.
The doors swished open, and with a last nod at the man Leenaya followed Lyara into the hangar. Lyara looked around the bay and walked from shuttle to shuttle and checked their registration to make sure they had found the correct one.
Edrei: For a moment I thought I could say goodbye to our flight.
She trod on Lyara’s heels closely, trying not to bump or shoot into anyone or anything that looked important.
Lyara: I wouldn’t have let it happen. You asked for a flight, by the prophets I’ll get you one.
Lyara chuckled to herself as she searched for the shuttle on their registry. There had been a saying in her town growing up she subscribed to, “The Fire Caves hath no fury like a determined woman” and she felt particularly determined to help her friend.
Edrei: ::wincing:: Not if it meant you’d get into trouble.
Lyara: For you? I’d close the celestial temple if it meant you’d get in that shuttle.
Edrei: ::laughing:: That’s it? And here I thought that I meant something to you.
After a particularly blasphemous banter, Lyara finally found the shuttle she had been looking for. She checked the registry and unlocked the shuttle. Alroyo walked into the shuttle and turned it on. Once on she pointed to the conn.
Lyara: Since you wanted to fly it so bad, go set up the console.
Edrei: Are you serious?
She winked and patted the Betazoid on the shoulder.
Lyara: Just don’t break it.
Lee grinned at her friend. It wasn’t the first time she let her in the cockpit of a shuttle, even going as far as giving her piloting lessons here and there that went beyond the basic flight module at the Academy.
Edrei: Yes ma’am!
Once Edrei had situated herself in the cockpit Lyara knelt and checked the compartments under the passenger seat. The bags she had packed for the flight ahead of time were still there, just in case they got hungry or had to land and do maintenance. She checked the second bag and smiled, gently picking it up and placing it down on the seat, with it situated she sat down at the conn and looked to Lee.
Edrei: ::laughing:: Are you going on holiday?
She pointed to the bag Alroyo just put on one of the shuttle’s seats.
Lyara: What do you mean?
Lyara looked back to the bag on the seat.
Edrei: You didn’t have that bag earlier. What’s in it?
Lyara: How’d that get there? ::She scoffed and shrugged it off:: Alright co-pilot, stop worrying about luggage and get our checks going.
Lee gave her a suspicious look but focused on the controls in front of her once again.
Edrei: All systems functional, we’re good to go. ::she stared at Lyara:: You’re flying this shuttle out the bay, though.
Lyara looked at Lee with a smirk as she cracked her fingers and moved her neck from side to side, she had no idea what that actually did. She had seen it in a holonovel once and knew it was what badass pilots did.
Lyara: Fine then, but you get to pilot the shuttle out of the Bay.
Lee rolled her eyes but relaxed as her friend took the flight controls. While Lyara was speaking with the control tower, she lazily looked out the window. She took a great interest in the Cadet having some trouble opening his shuttle’s door. Frustrated, he ended up kicking it, which was obviously a bad move as he now was holding his pained foot. The Betazoid couldn’t help but snicker at the scene.
Lyara: This is Cadet Lyara, permission to take off?
She sat for a moment waiting for the control tower to respond and glanced over to Lee while she stared out the window. Lyara knew the boredom of waiting to take off all too well, her least favorite part of flight time was the 10 or so minutes (sometimes longer) of checks and clearances. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice over the console.
CT: You’re clear.
She smiled and pressed on the console to take off, lifting the craft off the ground and flying it out the shuttle bay.
Lyara: ::Looking to Lee:: Are you ready to dance?
Edrei: ::grinning:: Always.
Lyara laughed as she brought the shuttle up higher over the bay, once high enough she turned to Lee.
Lyara: So, you wanted to pilot the shuttle a bit?
Lee turned to her friend with stars in her eyes.
Edrei: I’ve waited for this moment all week.
Lyara tapped on the console to release helm controls to Lee’s side. She smirked as she leaned back to watch over her piloting in case anything happened. However, Lyara had full faith in her friend to not crash the shuttle and safely fly them to their destination.
Lyara: Just leave the stunts to me.
Edrei: ::suspiciously:: What do you mean exactly by stunts?
Surely she couldn’t be talking about-
Lyara: That means no barrel rolls.
Lee rolled her eyes at her friend.
Edrei: You’re no fun. I already told you that last time was a mistake.
Lyara: At least it was a fun one.
TBC in part 2
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Leenaya Edrei
Medical Cadet
Starfleet Academy
C240107LE3
&
Lyara Alroyo
Operations/Navigation Cadet
Starfleet Academy
D240108LA4