Conn Men

Posted on Wed May 7th, 2025 @ 6:48pm by Lieutenant Commander David Erickson & Lieutenant JG Sung Jin-Woo

1,034 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: ARYL 1X01: Bound for Cold Frontier
Location: Bridge

David smoothed his uniform and his hair as the lift brought him up to the bridge. He couldn't even recall the last time he'd been in something larger than his shuttle, and he wondered if it'd feel cavernous after all this time. As the turbolift doors opened, he stepped out and looked around. The first thing that hit him were all the little sounds he'd missed. The chirps, clicks and whistles of the bridge instruments was like listening to insects out in the field on a summer night and gave him a similarly calm feeling.

He took the long way around behind the command chair and down the side of the bridge, looking around and admiring the sleek lines of the ship design, before coming to the navigation station. He sat down in the empty seat, getting himself used to a bridge chair once again, and typed in his access code on the keypad. His board lit up and he adjusted a few settings to his preference.

He looked up at the viewscreen and sat back, smiling to himself. After a moment, he glanced to his left, watching his new flying partner studying his readouts. "Hello. David Erickson," he said, leaning over and extending a hand, smiling.

Jin-Woo had been flying in peace and hadn't noticed the new arrival to the bridge or the other man sitting down next to him, so when suddenly someone was talking right next to him, the Korean man was naturally spooked.

"Er... Hi... Sung Jin-Woo." He awkwardly introduced himself as he accepted the handshake.

"Sorry if I startled you there," David chuckled. "I have a light step for my size. Or were you 'lost in the charts'?" He had been in that zone many times himself.

"Well, flying is a job that takes a great deal of concentration to do well." Jin-Woo explained. "Whether that's flying a big starship through the stars or a little work bee around a shipyard."

"So I've learned," David said, letting out a breath. "I've spent more hours piloting a shuttle than I ever thought I would, and it definitely taught me new levels of focus. To be honest, I'm happy to be back in the right-hand chair exclusively. Have you served here long?"

"Only since we left Spacedock about... Three weeks ago?" Jin-Woo did the calculations in his head on how much time had passed.

"Ah, barely enough time to irritate the Captain, then," David said with a bit of a grin. "How's the ship handle?"

"Still getting used to the fact that I have more mass to move around than a Miranda class." Jin-Woo admitted. "But, I think I'm starting to get the hang of it."

"Good to hear," David said. "And thank you for saying mass. When I was fresh out of the academy, I was paired with a veteran helmsman who loved to say 'well, you know, it's not the mass, it's the inertia' and then laugh like he'd just heard that one about the Andorian with the three antennae. I love a good physics joke as much as the next man, but..." He shook his head, bringing up local traffic lanes and reviewing what traders were logged in the area.

"Inertia really only applies to atmospheric conditions." Jin-Woo said. "And even then, it depends on the atmospheric composition. I couldn't necessarily go into detail about different atmospheric compositions, that's something I'll leave to the scientists, but I am familiar with the different ways in which it affects atmospheric flight. But, not like that'll be an issue here: If a Constitution class somehow gets into an atmosphere, we're most certainly minutes away from crash landing."

"Well, if that happens, be a pal and let me know," David said.

"Hopefully when things get to that point, no one will be on the bridge." Jin-Woo muttered before noticing his new colleague's rank pip. "So, I see Starfleet has decided to pair up a junior Lieutenant with a Lieutenant Commander. Quite the rank disparity, don't you think?"

"Nah," David said. "It's just a matter of age and experience. From the look of you, I've got a half dozen years on you, and therefore ample more experience in kissing some brass." He smirked as he observed traffic in a shipping lane they were passing near. "You'll be a full Lieutenant before you know it, and it's all downhill from there."

"How so?" Jin-Woo asked. "You mean to tell me Lieutenant Commander isn't all it's cracked up to be? I've heard among other lower deckers that that's the rank where you could be selected for an Executive Officer position. Granted, it'll likely be under a junior CO, maybe only a full Commander, but still, my understanding is that once you make Lieutenant Commander, you've effectively 'made it' in Starfleet."

"True, from one perspective," David acknowledged. "But you lose the freedom of being a lower decker. It's all responsibility and the 'burden of command' from then on. Life is a tradeoff, my friend." He leaned over and whispered, conspiratorially. "And being a First Officer is nice, but you know how uptight they can be." He grinned at the viewscreen and didn't turn around as he heard the Captain make a small sound in what he assumed was the Vulcan equivalent of an eyeroll and scoff.

"Oh, please; you can't seriously tell me you grow nostalgic for being a lower decker." Jin-Woo sarcastically rolled his eyes. "As often as those guys get drunk and into fights... Hell, if I had an hour of shore leave for every time I was offered some kind of alien narcotic, I'd be able to take a comfortable trip to the Risa Disney Resort."

"Well two things to say to that. One, Risa Disney is way, way overrated," David said. "And two, exactly how many times were you offered and what department are they in?" Another throat clear behind him made him sit back up straight and wave a hand as if waving away his own question. "Anyway," he said, "maybe you're right. Nostalgia isn't what it used to be, anyway."

"I suppose only time will tell..." Jin-Woo agreed. "Though, on the subject of the Risa Disney Resort..."

 

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