
Subj : New Beginnings
To   : All
From : Skyhawk #1
Date : Thu Jun 29 1995 22:00:33 PST

                           New Beginnnings
                       by Daniel C. Harrison(Skyhawk)
    
     For a moment she stared at him, not really believing he was real. Long
continued to grin as he moved opposite her and sat down in Jerry's chair. This
was the trip from hell! She slowly reached for her coffee then promptly spat it
out as, she realized it was cold. He watched her, amused for the moment. "When
your co-pilot said you needed help, I didn't know what to expect. Certainly not
the pilot who destroyed my career!" his tone was bitter now.
     She nodded. "I didn't expect to see you again either, Long. But, fate
appears to be unavoidable. When I sent that report to Control Central, I had no
idea they would fire you. I assumed you would go back for more training. That's
the breaks, I guess." 
     "Your not even sorry, are you?" he got up and stalked about the cabin as
he spoke. "You ruined me, Candar!" he watched her reaction at the flippant use
of her name. They were far from friends. "You destroyed my career as a pilot
right before it even began. My trip with you was my first! I tried to tell them
but, you had written such a convincing report, I couldn't even get up to bat!
They blacklisted me and drummed me out of the Guild, as well as the company! I
haven't had a decent job since!" He was breathing heavy, his adrenaline pumping
as he spoke. 
     It was all true, and she knew it. But, he wasn't the only idiot who's
career she had wrecked. She believed in competence. Perhaps she was too good
and expected everyone else to be. But there was no time for that now."Look, I
did what I thought was best. We were in a life and death struggle and you
froze! You cannot do that piloting a ship. Suppose You had been the lead pilot
on that trip? You'd be dead! And so would all your passengers, if you had any.
Fortunately, I don't panic, and there were no passengers." She hung her head.
"But there are this trip, Long. And, if we don't find some way to cooperate and
forget our differences, I'm going to turn this ship around and they'll lose
whatever chance they have. Do you want that?"
     She had caught his attention. "No. I paid all I had to get on here. I
found it ironic that, the ship I was leaving on was owned by the company that
blacklisted me. Now, I find the pilot who initiated it. You have no idea how
many times I wished I could see you again. You have caused me so much grief,
captain, and I wanted to return it!"
     "I understand that." she said. She glanced out the main viewer. "Do you
want me to turn around? Or can we make it work?"
     "I have no choice." he gritted his teeth and stared hard at her. "I hate
you Candar! I hate what you did to me, to anyone who doesn't measure up to your
standards! But, I'll do all I can to help you in this." His fists were balled
up and, he slammed one down hard on the console.
     Nodding slowly she met his angry glare. "Okay. Now that we have decided we
can actually work together, what starships have you flown since I last saw you?
I know you have other flight experience."
     He snorted. "Thanks to you, the only thing I've flown since then is light
shuttles for non-guild companies and, one transport. Never got out of the Sol
system. Are you satisfied?"
     She ignored the return of his anger and checked their status. "Were about
a half hour now from jumping to hyperspace. You know as well as I, everything
has to be ready. This ship is a pile of crap and, I don't trust the computer to
do it without supervision. That requires both of us in case of any major
difficulty. I will instruct you quickly in the procedure. Please try to pay
attention." She stared at him intentely. He had traded his boyish looks for
that of a hardened man. Must've had as hard a life as he claimed. How many
others had she destroyed?
     For the next fifteen minutes, she worked patiently with Long to bring him
up to speed. It was surprising because, he seemed to grasp the concepts quickly
and his dexterity was excellent. But, this was a standard jump. There was
nothing dangerous or crucial about it. In normal cases. She wished again that
Kevin was in charge. Jerry was competent but, he had been correct in the fact
he was no engineer. And Outlander needed one.
     "Okay, I think were ready," she said. "Transfer all secondary systems to
hyperdrive." She had already set up the primary drive.
     "Got it." his hands moved deftly over the controls. "All six engines
appear to be operating within specs. Transferring now...minor power fluctuation
in number four."
     "What?" she looked up quickly. "That shouldn't be, the gravitronic systems
were nominal not even an hour ago." She hit the intercom, "Jerry, this is
Candar. Number four appears to be fluctuating, can you check it out?"
     She could hear some shouting in the background and, someone swearing came
on, "Damn it, were getting on it. Trying to figure out the manual! You may have
to hold off."
     "If I do, I'll miss my window and have to reprogram. Get it fixed one way
or the other. I don't care how."
     "Bitch." Jerry said and cut the link. She sighed. Long looked over amused
and started to snicker.
     "What?" she said angrily.
     "I love the respect you get from this crew, captain. It really shows their
loyalty." Suddenly, he grinned. "Okay, number four shows nominal now. Were ten
minutes away from the jump."
     "Thanks Jerry." she whispered. Pity he had cut her off, she would have
liked to of told him personally. He probably had his hands full trying to train
the others. Those other two who's names she didnt know worried her. She would
have to have a crew meeting once they completed the jump.                      
  


