Patrick Gets His Wings Back

Posted on Fri Mar 1st, 2013 @ 4:30pm by Admiral Lucius Hawke & Major Patrick Smith

Mission: The Struggle Within
Location: Admiral Hawke's Office

* * * Admiral Hawke’s Office * * *

The day would never end. That was Lucius’ thought as he requested a mug of raktajino from his replicator. Kai had been all but asleep on her feet and he’d sent her home to get some sleep at the side of the Klingon Security officer who could, Lucius was sure, use some sleep himself. Lucius was also in need of some sleep but it was a fact of Fleet life. The higher you climbed up the ladder, the more that meant that when the lower ranks went home to rest you were left to deal with the serious issues.

And serious issues had abounded today. Master Chief Marcinko’s discovery had led to the revelation of a massive plot on the part of the Prime Minister of Archadia, and then to her execution. That discovery also tied up the last loose ends regarding Mr. Lynch/Levin and Section 31’s recent actions. It had also had the surprising effect of revealing that Melanippe actually did have a brain in her head after all. All the twists and turns had left Lucius mentally weary. He’d gone down to visit with the Queen as a follow up and wished like hell he’d refrained from sensing her. What she was thinking regarding him was almost enough to make him blush, even as old and experiences as he was. Aia would find it amusing, that was certain.

Now, he had one other order of business before he could finally go off-duty and relax and it concerned Lt. Smith. Returning to his desk, he pressed the comm panel.

“Kai could you --” He stopped and shook his head, recalling that he’d sent her home over an hour ago. Habit. He re-routed his call to C&C and ordered them to recall Lt. Smith, who had been in orbit still of Archadia in case of escape attempts while the Queen’s guard and the Marines had gone about rounding up the last members of Aegina’s plot. Now, it was time to enjoy his raktajino and the quiet until Smith arrived.

Sitting at the helm of his ship Patrick was glad to get a recall. Thankfully it wasn’t a Valkyrie that he had been sat in because as every pilot knew they didn’t have a lot of room. His ship at least afforded him the opportunity to stand or at the very least plenty of leg room. Turning about he burned back to the station and docked up once again in the secured marine hangar which he kept his fighter when he used it for fleet operations. Once back on station he sneaked the use of a transporter to save a walk, after all it had been an Admiral who had requested his presence. Approaching the door he buzzed and waited for entry.

“Enter!” Lucius called out.

Patrick walked inside and up to the Admirals desk, “You wanted to see me sir?”

“I did, Lt. Smith. Please, have a seat.” Lucius motioned to the seat before the desk. “I trust there was no more excitement?”

“None at all Sir. Nice comfy flight around the planet for the most part. Everything cleared up down below I guess then?” Pat asked curious to know had anything gone wrong.

Lucius nodded. “Aegina was summarily executed. Once it was all done, I went down to check in with the Queen. She’s carrying on and planning to appoint the next prime minister within the next few days. She’s pulled through in a crunch and no one is more surprised than I.”

“Well occasionally those we have little faith in surprise us. Who knows maybe we have secured a much better position with them which if that’s the case will be no bad thing for us tactically,” the Lieutenant commented.

“Agreed.” Lucius fell silent for a second as he regarded the man before him. “Tell me, Lt. Smith, how did it feel to be back to your old activity?”

“Quite enjoyed getting the chance to break a few planetside speed limits today,” he replied.

A smile appeared on Lucius’ tired face and he nodded. “My oldest son is a flyer and he says it gets in your blood and never leaves it. Is that true?”

Patrick chuckled, “Yeah you could say that. Where I lived flying laws were a bit looser, heck most stuff was and I started lessons when I was 15 I think. Didn’t want to do much else from when I was even younger than that.”

“It’s impressive to find one who knows so very well what he wants to do. That makes this all much easier.” Lucius set his mug down as he addressed Patrick. “What would you say to an offer to take over the Flight Wing? You’ve seen the intel on the Tunisian War heating up and if we are to have official negotiations with the Dendrian Order, the flight officers’ time of waiting for things to happen may be over. Someone with both flight and Intel experience is going to be needed.”

“I feel slightly set up here,” Pat joked. “It would however be a yes. Without much thought. Although Intel has taught me a lot and there are massive similarities between the role of CAG and Chief Intel it’s not my area. To personal, something which in flight is reserved for the letters,” he stated trying not to think back to the few he has had to write over the years. “Though I must ask who is taking over in Intel?”

“Thank you. You’ll be doing this station a great service. Normally, it would be Admiral Wegener doing this move but given his absence, and the fact that it’s Intel related, it falls to me. As for Intel? I’ve had some thoughts on that. Tell me about Leto.”

“Professional and very good at her job. From what I’ve seen she will do whatever is needed to do the job especially if it threatens the operations in the Delta Quadrant in a major way. That being said her and Marcinko seem to have fallen out. That friction could be awkward and trust me I’ve been on his receiving end since I got here so I know.”

“I am aware of the current circumstances, and they are unfortunate.” Lucius reached for his mug once again. “Normally such a close relationship would be frowned upon, just for such an occurrence as this. But we are living on the frontier and sometimes we have to know when to give a little. I am also aware of the strain she’s been under during this whole operation. What is your assesment of her state of mind currently?”

Patrick lent back in his chair. “Stressed. But from Nick and not the operation. I’m not sure that he understands why she did it and went past what he considered was a line. I do think that she will manage in the role but maybe wait until they get things sorted otherwise it looks like we are rewarding her for what Nick is upset about.”

“That was my thought as well. I have someone in mind who could step in to run things in the interim, until she is ready. Once she is, he will be moved on to become an off-station adjunct to the department.” Lucius tapped his control panel and a face appeared on the screen. He turned it so Patrick could see. “If he accepts, that is.”

“Interesting. What can I know about him?” Patrick asked. “I still want to make sure it’s not someone who isn’t going to care because they are only there for a week.”

“I suspect it will take more than a week, and he’s one that I’ve worked with on occasion when things got sticky. He’s no pushover and his time in the field has given him both a rather open mind as well as a firm hand. Perhaps that’s what is needed to pull them back together again.”

“Well if you trust him to do it that’s plenty for me. I’ll need to get together with him ASAP to talk about getting rescue lines set up for this deployment. Don’t want intel officers stranded. I’ll get a few funny looks for looking out for the spooks but hey, those fly boys can deal with it,” he said matter of factly.

“Indeed. I think we may be in for some interesting times in the coming year. Once he’s confirmed, and has arrived, I’ll send him your way. Till then we have just one more order of business.” Lucius reached into his drawer and passed a small black box over to Patrick. “Congratulations, Lt. Commander Smith.”

Patrick took the box and opened it, “Thank you Sir. Most unexpected... but...” He looked slightly amused. “But ahh surely these are the wrong pips?”

“Your changeover will be official once we’ve all had some sleep, and at the rank of Major. I wanted you to have these as well in case you ever come back to this side.” Lucius smiled once more. “It’s been a long day for all of us.”

“Sir you make it sound like Marines and fleet are a world apart. In reality I feel we are two sides of one coin that can flip at any point. Though I certainly agree that it is a day that we will sleep soundly from. If there is nothing else Sir then I will let us both get some rest,” he said.

“Colonel Travis is looking forward to having you back. You are to report to him first thing in the morning and he will see to the correct pips. Now go get some sleep. Dismissed, Commander.”

******************

Admiral Lucius Hawke
Finally Wrapping Up Business For The Day

Lieutenant Commander Patrick Smith
Last Fleet of the Day