On Top of a Fighter

[Shane 0]

Shane was on top of one of the fighter craft in the shuttle, working feverishly to finish installing the long-range communications array that the captain had ordered put on. He had already attached the array to the fighters internal structure and was almost finished tapping into the power grid. Then, setting the array's power cord clamp against the main power conduit, he felt the magnetic seal engage as the end-piece jerked slightly. "Ok, Sarlen", Shane said to his team member, "Power up the communications array, let's see if it works." Ensign Sarlen tapped at the controls in the cockpit with his Vulcan face expressionless and the power cable lit up to a bright blue. "The array is online." Sarlen said. "Great," Shane said, "now we just need to bring the internal force-field online for this section to seal the hull. This panel won't go back on with the array sticking out like that." Sarlen looked back down at the console and tapped on it for a few seconds. A blue flash appeared around the array as the force field came on. Shane quickly flipped open his tricorder and looked at its screen. "Ha!" he exclaimed and turning towards another ensign a couple fighters down he yelled, "12 minutes and 32 seconds, beat that Darren!" Gathering his tools, he hopped down from the fighter as Sarlen exited the cockpit.

 

As they started to walk over to where Chief Scherer was working, Sarlen asked, "What were the terms for this 'bet' you have made with Ensign Darren?" "Well," Shane replied, "since we were supposed to be in a hurry with this project anyways, I bet that I could beat him in getting it done. He agreed and we decided that whoever lost would have to eat any plate of food that the winner replicated." "Did you have something in mind for your plate?" Sarlen asked. Shane grinned, "I have programmed a recipe of my grandfather's Texas Tornado Chili that's so hot it'll burn his toenails off." Sarlen raised one of his eyebrows, "Interesting. This is an event that I desire to watch." "I'll let you know when we do it," Shane said, "It'll be something you won't want to miss."

Edited January 1, 2009 by Shane