The Yellow Rider Rides Again?! (Part 1)

Posted on Wed May 8th, 2024 @ 4:26am by Lieutenant Naoe Kanno & Chief Petty Officer Nikka Katajainen & Commander Hikari Karibuchi & Captain Takami Karibuchi & Yulena Shastakar

1,583 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Season 1, Episode 0: "A Time To Heal"
Location: USS Yorktown (NCC-91781)- Holodeck 2, Deck 5
Timeline: After "Song In The Deep"

"...As you can probably imagine, recreation is a vital part of day-to-day life aboard the Yorktown," Takami explained as she led Hikari and Yulena down the corridors of Deck 5. "With missions that could take it away from Federation space for extended periods of time, it's necessary for the crew to find ways to break up the monotony of the daily grind and keep up their morale. Fortunately, we have no shortage of recreational facilities on board, ranging from the Moonlight Oasis, a library, a joint dining/entertainment venue, two performing arts theaters, and five holodecks, including the two you see here. To keep costs low, the holodecks were sourced off an old Norway-Class that was destined for scrapping, so the software's a bit out-of-date, but it can still run approximately 95% of programs without any considerable performance issues."

Out of the corner of her eye, Takami observed a tall, voluptuous quartermaster making her way up the hall.

"Ah, Nikka!" she called out. "You wouldn't happen to know if Naoe's using one of these, would you?"

"Lieutenant Kanno?" Nikka responded, pointing down the hall. "She's in holodeck two. Though she's requested not to be disturbed... I thought I saw her holding a camera."

"It'll be just a couple of minutes," Takami assured her with a smile. "Thanks again, Nikka."

And with that, the three of them moved over to Holodeck 2.

"I thought she just told us not to disturb!" Hikari was quick to point out. "What if she's running some weird sex dungeon program?"

"Let's just say this is someone that I've known long enough to know that she isn't the kind of individual to be running those kinds of programs," Takami winked as she punched in a Command Override.

---

When the holodeck doors opened, darkness met the three officers. However, once the doors closed and the arch vanished behind them, their eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness as they found themselves at dimly lit pullout, evidently high up in the mountains somewhere due to the atmospheric composition. The only light source illuminating the area was the warm orange glow of the lone streetlamp with bugs circling around the source of the light.

"What is this place?" Hikari inquired.

"A holographic recreation of Mount Akina, circa 1992," Takami explained with a mischevious smile. "The Eugenics Wars were in their earliest stages, and while Khanate forces would ultimately never reach Japanese shores, the threat of an Augment invasion was very real at the time. Japanese parliament voted to instate a curfew in May of that year, to mitigate the chances of an aerial bombardment; but while many spent the summer nights hunkering down in their homes, a brave few risked the night- and the threat of capital punishment- for a bit of thrill-seeking..."

The night seemed peaceful, with crickets chirping. However, moments later, the peace was interrupted by a distant squealing sound, followed by the roar of an antique internal combustion engine.

The three of them turned to see a pair of headlights bearing down on them at full speed.

"Shit, get out of the way!" Takami shouted as the three of them dove for cover.

Evidently, whoever was driving had also seen Takami, Hikari, and General Shastakar, for the engine note changed to a higher pitch, indicating the driver was downshifting as a blur of black and white skidded past as an antique earth automobile, recognizable to anyone into 20th century Japanese automobiles as a Toyota Sprinter Trueno, skidded to a stop just beyond the three at the edge of the pullout.

"Ardec Kralotov, ă naybe de hyg!" General Shastakar shouted angrily after the Trueno as it skidded to a stop.

"Do I want to know what that means?" Hikari muttered as Takami helped her to her feet.

Takami shook her head. "You don't."

The Trueno's driver side door, emblazoned with a business name, opened and out stepped a rather short east Asian woman wearing period-accurate clothing with a camera strapped to her forehead.

"Hey, watch it, dumbasses!" She yelled at the three of them, shaking her fist. "Holodeck safeties might be a thing, but that's no excuse to stand in the path of a moving car, idiots!"

"Me?! I'll have you know that if you were caught operating a ground transport like that where I'm from, you'd have your operator's license suspended for a year!" Yulena berated as she stormed her way over to the Sprinter. "And furthermore, if you had been found guilty of attempting to run down a government or military official- which you just did- they would have you shot!"

"Oh yeah? Well, remind me to never order a pizza on your planet, because all your delivery drivers probably suck!" The short woman responded, clearly not interested in backing down. "And let me be the first to tell you that crappy delivery drivers only deliver cold pizza, and nobody likes cold pizza!"

"The people of where I come from have a lot more to worry about than a cold fucking pizza!" Yulena anarled. "Surviving disease, famine, injustices propagated by a government that hates them- if a pizza's the worst of your concerns, then open your fucking eyes to reality!"

"You think I'm just some naïve kid??" The short woman roared. "Well, go on! Keep talking shit to me, and I'll show you how we rumble in the United Earth Crimea Penitentiary!" She pushed up her sleeves as she said so.

"That's enough, Naoe!" Takami called out.

Like an obedient dog, the short woman, Naoe, relaxed from her combat stance. Though she still retained her sour expression; as she was still very much displeased that her supposed 'private' holodeck session had been interrupted only for her to be talked down to.

"Computer; remove late 20th century clothing filter." She simply instructed.

Within seconds, Naoe's late 20th century clothing vanished, and she was standing there in a red Starfleet uniform with two rank pips on her chest, indicating her rank as Lieutenant.

"Hikari, while I've already introduced you to several outstanding officers who have been sponsored on behalf of Captains and Admirals greater than I, I think it's time I introduced you to a sponsee of my own," Takami explained. "This is Lieutenant Naoe Kanno, Starbase Dutch Harbor's ever-dependable Conn Officer- and effective this week, the Yorktown's."

She turned her attention to Naoe. "Naoe, this is Commander Hikari Karibuchi, my baby sister; I believe I've mentioned her in the past?"

"You have." Naoe said, tilting her head. "Though, she's a lot shorter than you made her out to be..."

"Well, excuse me!" Hikari frowned, evidently not all that amused by Naoe's not-so-subtle dig at her height.

"Naoe, I believe we talked about this before you transferred?" Takami whispered. "Blunt commentary is only going to get you so far with your superior officers."

Naoe folded her arms.

"Sig always said a good captain should be able to take a little bit of shit from his subordinates." Naoe responded.

"Well... yes, but there's a time and place for that," Takami was quick to point out.

"Well, when you sell someone like they're larger than life, expectations are going to be developed to match." Naoe countered. "I'd hate to think what would happen if you hyped me up as some larger than life figure only for disappointment because I'm actually a pipsqueak."

"Well, I can see you've found me a real charmer, Takami?" Hikari muttered, with not even the slightest attempt at masking her sarcasm.

"Forgive her, Hikari," Takami apologized. "I know this doesn't look like much, but believe me, I've seen what Lieutenant Kanno is capable of; in her senior year at the Academy, she flew the pizza delivery service that was sponsored by Quark's, and was recognized as one of the top delivery pilots when she graduated."

"That's because I used to deliver them professionally." Naoe added. "Whether it's with a Twingo or a shuttle, you'll get your pizza a lot warmer than you will with the competition."

Hikari was glaring at the both of them like they were a few crayons short of a full box. "What does any of that have to do with piloting a Starship?!"

"Because, as Sig once said; if you can't pilot a shuttle, then you have no business piloting a starship." Naoe responded. "And what he means by that is that if you don't start out flying smaller, slower auxiliary craft, then you don't have an appreciation for larger starships."

"Well, statistically speaking, Starships flown by CONN officers without prior experience flying shuttles tend to be in more frequently for engine repairs..." Takami admitted.

"Exactly; because they don't have the respect for capital ships!" Naoe agreed.

Hikari pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Okay, so what I'm getting out of this is that she can fly a shuttlecraft; how is this supposed to convince me that she can fly a top-of-the-line capital ship?"

Naoe sighed.

"I can see you're unconvinced by words." She said, holding up the keys to the Trueno. "Perhaps what we need is a live demonstration!"

To be continued...

 

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