Beg, Steal or Borrow – Flying Lessons - #1
by Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Chelsea Dunham
Post Details
ON:
After the meeting in the Commander's Office, Chelsea had returned to Sickbay. She had no official reason to be there, not being back on duty until 14:00hrs, but she wanted to tell Ryan about her promotion before he heard about it from anyone else.
She hadn't seen him in days what with their alternating shifts and his increased practising for his and Nora's show. They'd even moved back into their separate quarters because he said he needed his sleep with so much rehearsing to do and that as he was exhausted he 'wouldn't be good company'.
Chelsea had found this hard but tried to be understanding. Now, wandering into Sickbay, she imagined some of the medics looked almost startled to see her but she decided that was ridiculous and it was just that they weren't expecting her to be there right at that moment. Or was it that she was walking taller and more self-confident now she had earned herself a 'black' or 'hollow' pip to set beside the two gold pips of Lieutenant that she had worn before.
Smoothing her uniform in case that was what was making them stare and doing the same with her hair, she went straight towards the office and as she approached she heard Ryan laughing, the way she remembered being captivated by, when they first met. She smiled as she heard it, her heart warming.
She knew Ed wasn't there so she automatically assumed Ryan must be talking to some other medical staff over a coffee or reviewing cases, and sure enough, as she got closer she could see his back, through the window, as he sat behind his desk facing away from her. The unexpected turn of events was that, on the far side of the desk, sitting with a coffee mug in her hand, laughing just as heartily, was Nora.
Chelsea could think of no reason at all why Nora would be in Sickbay but somehow, instead of just going in and joining the conversation, which she knew would be the adult way to deal with this, she just turned on her heel and left without Ryan seeing her. She kept telling herself that was a stupid thing to do and tried to convince herself that the situation *must* have been totally innocent because Ryan would never have let it happen so publicly if it wasn't.
The trouble was, no matter how reasonable she tried to be, she was simply jealous. There was no denying it and it didn't make her very proud of herself but she couldn't help it, so walking away was the best way to deal with it.
She soon found herself heading towards the Promenade and simply because she had no particular place else to go, she sat down at one of the tables that she and Isha had shared when they'd had one of their wonderful lunchtimes. Staring at the chequered table cloth, hating herself for her jealousy, Chelsea didn't realise for a moment or two that someone other than the waiter had approached her.
Dunham was on the Promenade. He was exploring and this was his first trip to the hustle and bustle of this busy part of the station. He was taking it all in. Here he was reminded of far away places across the galaxy. He enjoyed watching people going about their day from place to place. It was while he was standing at a railing looking down below that Lt Adams passed behind him. He turned to say hello but she was already gone. He saw her sit at one of the local food court tables, she seemed to be deep in thought. Dunham pulled out a chair and sat down. It wasn't until he spoke in his friendly open manner that she noticed him. "Hi" he said.
Chelsea seemed startled, even though he had approached, pulled out a chair and sat down all without her registering his presence.
"Oh, Hi" she recognised him and smiled for the first time in many minutes. "I'm sorry, I was lost in thought" she stated the obvious, blushing a little at how foolish she imagined he must be thinking her to be.
"Richard, isn't it?" she had always had a good memory for names, it was critical in her profession.
"Yes" he replied returning the smile. "How have you been since last night? Medical seemed very busy after i left"
Chelsea shrugged but retained her smile. There was something about Lt. Dunham that made her feel better. Perhaps it was his infectious grin, or the sparkle in his eyes that implied some mischief in his soul. She wasn't sure.
"Medical is *always* busy" she said. "Nature of the beast, I guess. Have you had any after effects to all that relief you felt when you realised I wasn't going to attack you with needles?" Her eyes held a reflection of some of that glint of mischief.
Richard pursed his lips together holding in a laugh. He smiled warmly. "only exhaustion I'm afraid. Why what else were you going to attack me with?" Dunham paused a moment. "Have you given any more thought to some flying lessons Chelsea?"
"Oh, I'll reserve judgement on what I'm going to attack you with for *after* the flying lesson.... and did you mean it? Seriously?" she brightened. As for her grin, 'ear to ear' hardly covered it!
Dunham thought to himself that he really did admire the doctors spirit and sense of adventure. "Of Course I'm serious. We can go now if you like? Valkyrie Space Superiority Fighter has a two man cockpit we can take one of those."
"That sounds totally amazing" Chelsea's grin didn't waver, in fact it seemed to brighten more, if that was possible. She stood up, leaving her coffee untouched. "Lead the way, Sensei" she laughed, dubbing him with a nickname from martial arts, meaning *teacher* or *mentor*.
As they walked across the promenade towards the turbolift, Chelsea asked questions about Valkyrie fighters and bubbled over with enthusiasm about her up and coming adventure. As they neared the plane herself, the full size of her began to impress on Adams.
"Woh! I imagined it would be tiny!" she breathed, running her eyes up and over the imposing lines of the beautiful machine above her. "She's so much bigger than I expected"
Standing behind her as she looked closer at the vessel. Dunham used his hand and a small cough to hide laugh that had come quickly and unexpectedly to the for, due to the innuendo tearing through his mind. He hoped she hadn't noticed and so continued on. "The Valkyrie Class Space Superiority Fighter, crew personnel two, cruising velocity of warp two, emergency velocity of warp seven, ablative armour hull, micro photon torpedo launchers, type v and type u+ phaser arrays and onboard shield generator. It has a length 19.13 metres a width of 14.56 metres and a height of 2.89 metres. It is in essence a shark of space." the final comment said with just a hint of sadness in his voice.
"A shark? That almost sounds unpleasant. Surely you don't think of her as something predatory, do you?" Chelsea asked, surprised to hear Dunham describe the fighter as anything less than a matter of the pride and love she expected to hear.
The ship seemed awesome to her and she imagined if it were a part of her own craft in life then she would love it to bits. It seemed rather like a knight's steed, or a Magician's wand to her romantic imagination.
Dunham scratched the stubble on his beard in thought. "When your sitting in that cockpit on top of all that fire power, there is no doubt in your mind that you are flying the stick of a predator, a killing machine." Dunham sighed a little and looked at the star fighter. "I'm good at two things, talking to people and flying." He shrugged, opening up. "I wanted to be a counsellor you know. But I was better at flying, a lot better at flying and I enjoy it. Don't get me wrong I only have peace and love for everybody I meet but when you get out their in the storm you have a job to do and the training gets hold of you and well.........I don't like having to do that side of the job." Dunham was momentarily deep in thought about the battle yesterday that to him seemed very long time ago. An image in his mind playing over and over again of a enemy fighter before him erupting in fire and a burnt occupied Romulan Flight suite bouncing off his cockpit. He shook himself mentally. Turned back to Chelsea and smiled trying to get his mind back on track. "Congratulation on the promotion. Does this mean I have to call you Sir or Ma'am?" He said with another twinkle in his eye.
"Yes, most definitely!" she teased, responding to his obvious attempt to lighten the subject. "Both!" she grinned and winked at him.
"But seriously though" the kindness of a doctor who is concerned to see troubled clouds in the eyes of a patient returned to her face. "If it bothers you, the fighter side of your flying, why don't you retrain as a counsellor? If you have a talent for it, you should do well and we could always fly for leisure. I'd still let you teach me!" she grinned again, the sense of humour returning.
Dunham returned the smile with a wink and a grin. Appreciating the concern from his colleague." I'll give it a think, but flying, its in my blood. Sir Ma'am lets teach you how to fly." He said. Dunham opened a nearby vacuum crate. "First off this is a present for you." He lifted the lid of the crate got out and presented to Chelsea a Starfleet Flight Suit.
"This is for you. It all measured up to your size. We have to wear these while out in fighter craft as unlike runabouts or shuttle units its just a small cockpit between us and space. So if you go put it on we can get started."
A JP between:
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
ACMO
and
Lt Richard Dunham
by Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Chelsea Dunham
Post Details
| Title | Flying Lessons - #1 | |
| Mission | Beg, Steal or Borrow | |
| Author(s) | Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Chelsea Dunham | |
| Posted | Tue Jun 23, 2009 @ 8:14am | |
| Location | DS5 Space | |
| Timeline | MD9 - Approx: 10.00am onwards |
After the meeting in the Commander's Office, Chelsea had returned to Sickbay. She had no official reason to be there, not being back on duty until 14:00hrs, but she wanted to tell Ryan about her promotion before he heard about it from anyone else.
She hadn't seen him in days what with their alternating shifts and his increased practising for his and Nora's show. They'd even moved back into their separate quarters because he said he needed his sleep with so much rehearsing to do and that as he was exhausted he 'wouldn't be good company'.
Chelsea had found this hard but tried to be understanding. Now, wandering into Sickbay, she imagined some of the medics looked almost startled to see her but she decided that was ridiculous and it was just that they weren't expecting her to be there right at that moment. Or was it that she was walking taller and more self-confident now she had earned herself a 'black' or 'hollow' pip to set beside the two gold pips of Lieutenant that she had worn before.
Smoothing her uniform in case that was what was making them stare and doing the same with her hair, she went straight towards the office and as she approached she heard Ryan laughing, the way she remembered being captivated by, when they first met. She smiled as she heard it, her heart warming.
She knew Ed wasn't there so she automatically assumed Ryan must be talking to some other medical staff over a coffee or reviewing cases, and sure enough, as she got closer she could see his back, through the window, as he sat behind his desk facing away from her. The unexpected turn of events was that, on the far side of the desk, sitting with a coffee mug in her hand, laughing just as heartily, was Nora.
Chelsea could think of no reason at all why Nora would be in Sickbay but somehow, instead of just going in and joining the conversation, which she knew would be the adult way to deal with this, she just turned on her heel and left without Ryan seeing her. She kept telling herself that was a stupid thing to do and tried to convince herself that the situation *must* have been totally innocent because Ryan would never have let it happen so publicly if it wasn't.
The trouble was, no matter how reasonable she tried to be, she was simply jealous. There was no denying it and it didn't make her very proud of herself but she couldn't help it, so walking away was the best way to deal with it.
She soon found herself heading towards the Promenade and simply because she had no particular place else to go, she sat down at one of the tables that she and Isha had shared when they'd had one of their wonderful lunchtimes. Staring at the chequered table cloth, hating herself for her jealousy, Chelsea didn't realise for a moment or two that someone other than the waiter had approached her.
Dunham was on the Promenade. He was exploring and this was his first trip to the hustle and bustle of this busy part of the station. He was taking it all in. Here he was reminded of far away places across the galaxy. He enjoyed watching people going about their day from place to place. It was while he was standing at a railing looking down below that Lt Adams passed behind him. He turned to say hello but she was already gone. He saw her sit at one of the local food court tables, she seemed to be deep in thought. Dunham pulled out a chair and sat down. It wasn't until he spoke in his friendly open manner that she noticed him. "Hi" he said.
Chelsea seemed startled, even though he had approached, pulled out a chair and sat down all without her registering his presence.
"Oh, Hi" she recognised him and smiled for the first time in many minutes. "I'm sorry, I was lost in thought" she stated the obvious, blushing a little at how foolish she imagined he must be thinking her to be.
"Richard, isn't it?" she had always had a good memory for names, it was critical in her profession.
"Yes" he replied returning the smile. "How have you been since last night? Medical seemed very busy after i left"
Chelsea shrugged but retained her smile. There was something about Lt. Dunham that made her feel better. Perhaps it was his infectious grin, or the sparkle in his eyes that implied some mischief in his soul. She wasn't sure.
"Medical is *always* busy" she said. "Nature of the beast, I guess. Have you had any after effects to all that relief you felt when you realised I wasn't going to attack you with needles?" Her eyes held a reflection of some of that glint of mischief.
Richard pursed his lips together holding in a laugh. He smiled warmly. "only exhaustion I'm afraid. Why what else were you going to attack me with?" Dunham paused a moment. "Have you given any more thought to some flying lessons Chelsea?"
"Oh, I'll reserve judgement on what I'm going to attack you with for *after* the flying lesson.... and did you mean it? Seriously?" she brightened. As for her grin, 'ear to ear' hardly covered it!
Dunham thought to himself that he really did admire the doctors spirit and sense of adventure. "Of Course I'm serious. We can go now if you like? Valkyrie Space Superiority Fighter has a two man cockpit we can take one of those."
"That sounds totally amazing" Chelsea's grin didn't waver, in fact it seemed to brighten more, if that was possible. She stood up, leaving her coffee untouched. "Lead the way, Sensei" she laughed, dubbing him with a nickname from martial arts, meaning *teacher* or *mentor*.
As they walked across the promenade towards the turbolift, Chelsea asked questions about Valkyrie fighters and bubbled over with enthusiasm about her up and coming adventure. As they neared the plane herself, the full size of her began to impress on Adams.
"Woh! I imagined it would be tiny!" she breathed, running her eyes up and over the imposing lines of the beautiful machine above her. "She's so much bigger than I expected"
Standing behind her as she looked closer at the vessel. Dunham used his hand and a small cough to hide laugh that had come quickly and unexpectedly to the for, due to the innuendo tearing through his mind. He hoped she hadn't noticed and so continued on. "The Valkyrie Class Space Superiority Fighter, crew personnel two, cruising velocity of warp two, emergency velocity of warp seven, ablative armour hull, micro photon torpedo launchers, type v and type u+ phaser arrays and onboard shield generator. It has a length 19.13 metres a width of 14.56 metres and a height of 2.89 metres. It is in essence a shark of space." the final comment said with just a hint of sadness in his voice.
"A shark? That almost sounds unpleasant. Surely you don't think of her as something predatory, do you?" Chelsea asked, surprised to hear Dunham describe the fighter as anything less than a matter of the pride and love she expected to hear.
The ship seemed awesome to her and she imagined if it were a part of her own craft in life then she would love it to bits. It seemed rather like a knight's steed, or a Magician's wand to her romantic imagination.
Dunham scratched the stubble on his beard in thought. "When your sitting in that cockpit on top of all that fire power, there is no doubt in your mind that you are flying the stick of a predator, a killing machine." Dunham sighed a little and looked at the star fighter. "I'm good at two things, talking to people and flying." He shrugged, opening up. "I wanted to be a counsellor you know. But I was better at flying, a lot better at flying and I enjoy it. Don't get me wrong I only have peace and love for everybody I meet but when you get out their in the storm you have a job to do and the training gets hold of you and well.........I don't like having to do that side of the job." Dunham was momentarily deep in thought about the battle yesterday that to him seemed very long time ago. An image in his mind playing over and over again of a enemy fighter before him erupting in fire and a burnt occupied Romulan Flight suite bouncing off his cockpit. He shook himself mentally. Turned back to Chelsea and smiled trying to get his mind back on track. "Congratulation on the promotion. Does this mean I have to call you Sir or Ma'am?" He said with another twinkle in his eye.
"Yes, most definitely!" she teased, responding to his obvious attempt to lighten the subject. "Both!" she grinned and winked at him.
"But seriously though" the kindness of a doctor who is concerned to see troubled clouds in the eyes of a patient returned to her face. "If it bothers you, the fighter side of your flying, why don't you retrain as a counsellor? If you have a talent for it, you should do well and we could always fly for leisure. I'd still let you teach me!" she grinned again, the sense of humour returning.
Dunham returned the smile with a wink and a grin. Appreciating the concern from his colleague." I'll give it a think, but flying, its in my blood. Sir Ma'am lets teach you how to fly." He said. Dunham opened a nearby vacuum crate. "First off this is a present for you." He lifted the lid of the crate got out and presented to Chelsea a Starfleet Flight Suit.
"This is for you. It all measured up to your size. We have to wear these while out in fighter craft as unlike runabouts or shuttle units its just a small cockpit between us and space. So if you go put it on we can get started."
A JP between:
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
ACMO
and
Lt Richard Dunham