Asking for an Appeal (part 2)

Posted on Thu Oct 1st, 2020 @ 6:59am by Lieutenant Bobbie Sue "Bobcat" Hunter & Lieutenant Commander Phyllis D'lar 'Sorceress' & Lieutenant Iowa Riverside 'Grey Ghost' & Lieutenant JG Mika Fujimoto 'Pickpocket' & Ensign Saeko Busujima 'Crazy Horse'
Edited on on Thu Oct 1st, 2020 @ 7:06am

1,055 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Elachi Return
Location: Fighter Lounge

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

"Oh, so you'd rather I'd died following orders then?" Iowa posed. "If I'd been out there for just a little bit longer, I would have been history, and you would have been perfectly okay with it? Jeez, I guess compassion is something you lose as you get older..."

[NEW]

Phyllis laughed. "So you're telling me you've never waggled your wings on the way in? You've never tried to use Morse Code? You've never made an emergency landing when you're being shot at? Rookies forget their training. Someone who's supposed to have flown as often as you have shouldn't--even if you spent most of that time in cryogenic stasis. I expect every pilot to know how to do an emergency landing. I drilled it into every cadet I trained."

Iowa began turning red. Now, this was getting personal.

"You're not the only one around here who knows Morse Code, you know..." She muttered, quickly pulling out a pen and paper and scribbling something in Morse Code. "I've performed countless emergency landings before: So often, I could do it in my sleep if I wanted to! The emergency landing I performed back there was textbook! The only thing preventing it from being so was the proper clearance I didn't receive! And you can go back and check my bird's black boxes if you don't believe me: I tried multiple times to get in contact with the ship, and I was ignored! I didn't forget my training; I did everything I was supposed to, short of getting proper clearance because of heat of the moment incompetence!"

Iowa finished her Morse Code and passed it to Phyllis.

"And you can note that I did it without consulting any kind of reference." She said.

The message read:

-.-. --.- -.. - .... .. ... .. ... - .. - .- -. .. -.-.

Phyllis looked at the paper and pushed it back. "If the radio operator had decoded the message and given it to the captain, the ship might have survived. By the same means, if you'd done anything else to report you were coming in damaged you might not have been grounded. I was the acting CAG. I would have recognized Morse Code."

She looked at Iowa for a long moment. "Why do you think you should get to break regulations without penalty? Why are you so afraid of taking the punishment and proving you can do better?"

"Ma'am, I'd take the punishment like a champ if I felt like it was entirely my fault." Iowa explained. "However, I don't feel like it was entirely my fault, which is why I'm contesting it, and the evidence is on my bird's black boxes: So tell me something, Sorceress; why do you feel I should have to shoulder the incompetence of some TIC officer who ignored my repeated requests to come in?"

"Blaming the TI?" Phyllis asked.

Bobbie Sue walked in and handed a PADD to Phyllis. "Here you go, Sorceress. This came from her fighter and the TIC."

She looked at Iowa for a moment, then sat down.

Phyllis thumbed through the text, then looked up at Iowa. "That's what Bobcat just handed me. Yes, you had some engine trouble--but you weren't using a standard engine." She shook her head. "Looks like you'll be back to standard issue from now on. It also says that when you heard the orders, which said, and I quote All fighters cover our retreat and return to the Tokyo." She looked down at the PADD again. "Your response was, Well, you heard him! Every man, woman, and child for themselves! Your friend even told you it wasn't what the captain meant." She looked down at the PADD and bit her lip to keep from smiling. "I won't repeat what she said."

Bobcat spoke up. "It was the head of the TIC who reported your unauthorized landing. There's no record of you contacting anyone about being hit, or being unable to get back. Even if it did, it doesn't justify you clearly disobeying orders and saying it was everyone for themselves. When you got the engine back online, that response was broadcast. You were even told by a fellow pilot not to do it. At that point, you could have contacted the TIC, or CAG, or anyone. You didn't."

"You know what I think your problem is?" Sorceress said thoughtfully. "You never really learned to live with your mistakes. You come out for an op, go back into stasis, come out years, decades later with the same skills, the same equipment, to fight a war you're not prepared for. Then, instead of letting you live your life and grow as a pilot, you're put back into stasis. I told them at the time it was a stupid idea, but they didn't put as much stock in what women pilots said at the time. They do now, but it's a different time and place."

Phyllis stood. "I had a feeling you weren't going to listen to what I had to say, so I asked Bobcat to bring the transcript." She tossed it onto the table. "That's so you can read it over. As far as I'm concerned, you're still grounded. Right now, no one's flying, so take the time to do some remedial courses and prove to me you can learn from your mistakes. If not, you can appeal to Starfleet when we get to earth. Just remember that the video and audio will be presented by the CAG and TIC."

Bobbie Sue stood as well. "I've done my share of stupid things. Nothing like Sorceress got up to in the early days, but I've had to take my licks. A word of advice, you always do better when you admit you're wrong and work to do better. If you do stay on the Tokyo, you won't be in my squadron. I won't fly with someone who abandons her wingman. Neither with Trigman."

Phyllis laughed. "Flying was a whole different ballgame back in the day. You should try barnstorming--just not in front of your superiors."

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Iowa Riverside "Grey Ghost"
Fighter Pilot

Ensign Mika Fujimoto "Pickpocket"
Fighter Pilot

Ensign Saeko Busujima "Crazy Horse"
Fighter Pilot

Lieutenant Phyllis D’Lar “Sorceress”
Deputy CAG, Fighter Pilot

Lieutenant Bobbie Sue Hunter “Bobcat”
Squadron Leader

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