Returning to the Tokyo

Posted on Sun Jun 27th, 2021 @ 9:53pm by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Commander Jennifer Daxer

1,331 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Allegations
Location: Shuttlecraft Athena

The Type Eleven Shuttlecraft was more of a small runabout rather than a shuttle. It was much bigger, had better weapons, shields and engines. The vessel was one of the most advanced small ships within the fleet and had been widely disributed. Most ships now carried at least one of these majestic vessels after their success on the Sovereign Class Starships.

Captain Taiga Aisaka sat in the co-pilots seat of the shuttle awaiting her pilot. She was due to be back on the Tokyo that afternoon and the three hour trip from Earth to Utopia Planetia was going to take up most of the morning.

* 30 minutes later... *

Having been held up by more updates concerning her attempted assassination, Jen had finally managed to tear herself away from Starfleet Headquarters.

She'd been putting a hold on the shuttle scheduled for her trip back to the ship throughout the delay, and profusely apologized to the scheduling officer on duty in the launch bay.

Approaching the shuttle, she entered the side hatch, closing it behind her, before making her way to the cockpit.

"Good morning, Captain." She said, taking the pilot's seat, and beginning pre-flight checks. "Sorry I'm late. I was held up by Starfleet security this morning."

Taiga didn't respond, she had dozed off in her chair. She sat slouched back slightly, arms crossed dozing peacefully. She almost looked like a doll when sleeping, so small and docile.

When Taiga didn't respond right away, Jen looked over, and sighed at the sight. She reached over, lightly slapping the side of her face to wake her up. "Better be glad the Tal'Shiar didn't find you sleeping on the job, Captain."

Startled Taiga shot up out of her seat. "What the..." she paused realising she had raised an arm in her own self defence. She cleared her throat. "What was that Commander?" she asked turning away her face.

Having anticipated Taiga's potential self defense, Jen had gently grabbed the woman's arm, before it could otherwise touch her. She let go, as Taiga regained her focus.

"I wouldn't want to be caught sleeping on the job, if the Tal'Shiar show up." she replied simply, returning her attention to starting up the shuttle. "I apologize for being late, but you could've at least locked the hatch, for your own safety."

Sitting back down in the co-pilots chair Taiga relaxed a little. "Well I wasn't expecting you to be... how late are you again?" she asked.

"Thirty minutes." Jen replied, without missing a beat. "Starfleet security detained me for more questions, and updates on my case." She tapped a button on the panel. "Starfleet control, this is shuttle Athena 1, ready for departure."

=/\= "You're cleared Athena 1. Have a safe trip." =/\= came the reply.

Crossing her arms Taiga simply sat there, she had been enjoying her nap. it had been peaceful and relaxing, something there had been a severe lack of these last few days. "I'm just glad they allowed me to have her back" she told Jen, referring to the Tokyo.

"She's yours... She should never have been mine." Jen said, seeming quite out of character, as the shuttle launched, and slowly began it's climb towards space. "I'm not ready to be a Captain."

A smile spread across Taiga's face. "No one is really ready to be a Captain. Making the big decisions isn't for eveyone. Everyone always aspires to be a Starfleet Captain however sitting in that chair comes with its own set of rules and cons" she explained.

"It also makes you responsible for the safety, and security of every soul on the ship, as well as the ship itself." Jen replied. She glanced over at Taiga, seemingly studying her for only a moment. "Because of the Tal'Shiar's spy, I failed to safeguard the ship's computer systems, putting us all at risk."

"I allowed a Tal Shiar spy to infiltrate my ship and cause all this in the first place. Its not all your blame" Taiga told her simply. "The bad thing is, I still to this day can't work out who it may have been"

"What makes that worse, is that they may still be aboard, and we'd never know it." Jen pointed out, setting the autopilot for Mars. "I think the safest bet would be for me to post teams from my department to stand guard in sensitive areas."

"Probably a good course of action" Taiga replied. "Although, I need to debrief the senior staff once we're back to operational status. Speaking of..." she paused for a second. "How is the ship?"

"Corps of Engineers were able to purge the virus from the computer core, but they had to wipe the entire core to do it." Jen explained. "Everything we've saved over the years is gone, and the computer will be like it was, when we first launched. With the exception of the TIC, which is in the final stages of being rebuilt, the remaining structural work is also complete."

Taiga let out a sigh. "Such a shame. However we've put her through the wringer these last couple of years. Borg, Romulans, Terrans and now these Elachi" she said as she lent back in the chair slightly. "It'll almost be like a new ship"

"Maybe, but at least we'll be able to trust the data." Jen replied. She sat back in her seat, looking over at Taiga.

Taiga said glanced over to Daxer. "So tell me something. How does a disgraced Starfleet Captain get a lawyer so quickly and without question...?" she asked sarcastically.

"Let's just say she owed me a favor." Jen replied, with a smirk. "I couldn't just stand idly by, and watch one of my closest friends go to prison for a crime she didn't commit."

"I appreciate it" Taiga said. She didn't realise that Jen actually considered her a friend. Could she consider Jen a friend? She pondered it for a moment 'I suppose I could. We've been through enough..'. "How long until we reach the Tokyo?" she asked.

"2 hours, 46 minutes." Jen said, looking at the console. "Long enough to relax a little, before we get back to business.... something I think we're both due for."

"I haven't relaxed in so long. Ever since that training exercise" Taiga said as she stretched slightly. "I don't know why but I've been uneasy ever since Lieutenant Nakazato came aboard. Its not that I hate him, I know his heart is in the right place. He just follows that stupid admiral too closely"

Taiga then began to laugh, it started at a little giggle before turning intoa full blown out hysteria. She lent forward holding her belly before calming down and wiping a tear from her eye. "It seems that the crew of the Tokyo have a 'thing' for putting Admirals behind bars. First it was Jepson, now Miyahara. I wouldn't be surprised if Starfleet Command start calling the ship and crew the 'Admiral Put-Awayers' or something". She couldn't helpp but smile, she knew that she had a fantastic crew and if it wasn't for the Knights she may not have been sitting here.

"Perhaps." Jen said, giving her a humored grin. "But keep in mind that such a practice can be extremely risky."

"No need to tell me twice" Taiga said with a grin. "Although, it's pretty tiring work" she pulled herself out of the chair. "Wake me up when we get to Utopia Planetia. I'm going to resume my nap" she yawned.

"Sleep well, Captain." Jen replied simply. "I'll try to keep the ride smooth for you."

Taiga simply smiled at Jen before disappearing into the back compartment. The last few days has worn her out and with the stress of the trial forever playing on her mind it had ridden her of the vital sleep she needed. Now she could relax a little, at least for now.

Posting by

Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer#

Lt CMDR Daxer
Chief Security/Tactical Officer (At time of the post)

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