Starfire
Copyright© 2025 by Mark Randall
Chapter 27
Once the rescue tug showed up and collected the Charlie team’s ships, attention slowly subsided. Most people on the ship drifted back to their jobs and, other than the periodic updates, returned to their everyday lives.
Thad, however, remained in Flight ops, refusing to abandon his vigil. Eventually, Commander Olivet was able to tempt him into his office with the offer of a meal. That meal included a well-stuffed couch and a celebratory shot of bourbon.
Thad was asleep before he finished half of his sandwich.
Susan Collier gently shook him awake. “Thad, it’s time to get up. The Tug is on approach now.”
It took Thad a moment to remember where he was and what was going on. When he did, he jumped up and sputtered, “I fell asleep? Did anything happen? Is there a problem?”
Susan patted him gently on his chest. “Everything’s fine, Thad. There are no problems.”
Thad began to blush, “Somebody should have woken me earlier, but I do appreciate you coming to do it.”
Susan also blushed, “My pleasure. We should head out front.”
When they arrived at the Operations room, most of the attention was on the main monitor that was showing the Tug bringing in Red Nine. The other Starfires had been released and already docked.
Thad turned to Captain Sullivan and Commander Olivet. “Sir,” he asked, “With your permission, I’d like to be there when they bring my people home.”
“Of course, Lieutenant,” Captain Sullivan said. “By all means, go collect your pilots.”
As Thad headed towards the door, it burst open and Max Eastman rushed in.
“Good, you’re still here.” He said to Thad, “Stick around, Sawyer. This is important.”
He then turned to Captain Sullivan. “Sir, I need a ruling on all this.” He waved his hand at the main monitor.
“I’m afraid you have me at a loss, Lieutenant. What kind of ruling?” Captain Sullivan asked.
“This,” Max waved at the monitor again, “This is a forfeit. It needs to be called a win for Blue squadron.”
The room was silent.
Commander Olivet spoke up, “Lieutenant, I don’t...”
Eastman continued, “The Red squadron team is unable to continue. That makes this a Blue squadron win. I need a ruling.”
Thad’s temper had started to rise, and he restrained himself with difficulty. In a deceptively mild voice, he said, “Max, if a win is more important to you than the safety and well-being of a fellow pilot, FINE, you have your win, I’ll forfeit, and I hope you choke on it.” He then turned and stormed from the room.
Commander Olivet looked at the stunned Eastman. “That could have been handled a lot differently, Eastman.” He then turned away from Eastman, as did the rest of the room.
In the time it took Thad and Susan to get to the landing docks, Thad’s temper had subsided, replaced with concern for Reggie Daniels.
Reggie was one of his pilots and a friend. This whole incident had been extremely stressful. When he arrived at the loading dock, he was surprised at the crowd of people waiting for Red Nine.
The first person he met was his maintenance chief, Barney Lambert. “Good, you’re here. I want to know what happened, Barney. I don’t care what it takes. If you have to strip that ship down bolt by screw, I want to know what went wrong.”
Barney nodded his head. “I’ll get on it as soon as the tug crew releases her.” He glanced over at Susan. “I expect I’ll need your help with this, Chief Collier.”
“That’s why I’m here, Barney,” Susan said, grim-faced.
The next person Thad met was Doctor Holland. “Doc, I’m surprised to see you here. Is there something wrong that I should know about?”
“No, Lieutenant. Nothing that I am aware of. I decided that this would be a good opportunity to check on my EMS team’s response. Get the dust blown off, so to speak.”
Relieved, Thad said, “I’m glad to hear that, sir.”
“However, I strongly suggest that Lieutenant Daniels take time to see our staff psychologist. Incidents like this can affect a pilot in ways that they are reluctant to admit or accept. Counseling can be very effective in returning a pilot to the cockpit.”
“Anything you think he needs, you’ll get it. Even if I have to hogtie him and drag him to sickbay.”
“Take it gently, Lieutenant.” Doctor Holland cautioned. “Forcing the issue could be worse than ignoring any problems.”
“You are the expert, sir. I’ll rely on your advice.”
Next was Katie Downs and Burt Lane. They were also concerned about Reggie’s condition. They had hurried over as soon as their ships had shut down.
“Ensign Downs and Lane, good job out there. What happened? Give me your impressions.” Thad asked.
“Well, Sir,” Katie spoke up, “We were just getting ready to link up and spoof the Bulldogs when Lieutenant Daniels went lights out. I tried to get a hold of him but couldn’t raise him.”
Thad was nodding his head at Katie’s account. “OK, thanks for that. You two go ahead and hit the showers. I’ll bet you’re exhausted.”
“If it’s all the same, sir, we’d like to hang around and let Lieutenant Daniels know we were worried for him,” Katie asked.
“If we could, sir, it’s kinda important to us,” Lane added.
Knowing that it was fruitless to argue with them, Thad relented. “Alright, just don’t get in the EMS team’s way.”
What followed was anticlimactic. The Tug and recovery crews were very good at their jobs. Charlie Nine was quickly secured, and the EMS team jumped into action.
Daniels was quickly and efficiently removed from his Starfire and was placed on a gurney. The medics ignored his loud complaints and continued with their evaluations. All while he was being wheeled off the landing bay.
As he passed, Thad fell in beside the gurney. “So, Reg, how are things going?”
“Oh, you know, boss, a little of this, a little of that. Is there any way you can get these chancre mechanics off my back?”
Thad smiled, “No can do, Lieutenant. You belong to them now. If you want my advice, you should consider this a paid vacation and behave yourself. Besides, have you seen some of these nurses? I can think of worse situations.”
Doc Holland spoke up, “Please, Lieutenant Daniels, my folks need the experience. We could use your help.”
Reggie had noticed the rather nice-looking redhead who was pushing the gurney. He half-smiled, which was returned. “OK, Doc, I think I can give you guys a day or two.”
Doc Holland gave Thad a wink.
As the EMS team started wheeling the gurney into sickbay, Thad, trying to follow, was intercepted by a formidable-looking nurse. Standing in his way with her hands on her hips, she said, “Sorry, Lieutenant, Medical staff only.”
Thad looked to Doctor Holland, who said, “Sorry, Lieutenant, that’s Della, she’s in charge. She’s also my wife.”
Thad backed up a step and raised his hands defensively. “OK, enough said. But could you please let my folks know when they can visit? I’ll let them know that they can only come two at a time.”
“That’ll be fine, I’ll let Margaret Norton know the visiting hours.”
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