Checklist King (Part I)

Posted on Fri May 2nd, 2025 @ 5:09am by Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Xavier

1,240 words; about a 6 minute read

Xavier opened his small pocket sized notebook and pulled out the mini pen. So far it had been a day.

He'd met the annoying Vulcan next door to his quarters, T'Avia. He placed a check mark under meeting a neighbor. He'd retrieved his Raven's from quarantine on station and Deimos and Phobos were now exploring the new quarters. Their perches and toys were the first things he unpacked. That was another checkmark.

He'd seen Zero, and old acquaintance from the Academy. It had been a bit of an overwhelming experience meeting the man that saved his life when he was first on Earth and had been a presence in it for four years.

He'd toured the ship thanks to the Chief Science officer, a man who called himself Percy and who had brought him Forget-Me-Nots as a way to say hello. Tour of ship got a checkmark and then he flipped to the back of his list of things to experience and put a checkmark beside 'get a gift'. It had been his first gift in life, flowers. He'd taken one and pressed it in one of his books as a way to keep it forever. The feeling of getting a gift had been...unusual. He'd write about that in his journaling tonight.

He'd also had his head looked at by the local shrink...that had been an experience. He shuddered and placed a check mark next to onboarding counselor session. He still had to do a medical but that was scheduled for tomorrow. He scanned the next few things.

[ ] Tour the shuttles you will be flying
[ ] Visit the bridge
[ ] Get a Medical
[ ] Unpack
[ ] Write to Kerberos that I arrived
[ ] Meet the XO and or CO (If you socialize and meet both you are allowed two slices of cake tonight)

He would meet the CO first since he wanted to go to the bridge and say hello to Kian...that is what he'd named the soul of this ship. When he'd toured with Percy he'd been to Engineering and when he'd placed his hands on the conduit that moved power from Engineering to the flight system he'd known that this ship was not like the Lime House, whom he'd called Gurty. This was an Alpha ship and his name was Kian. He couldn't wait to slip off his shoes and slip into the chair behind the console to get to know Kian. This ship was wild, and untamed, unpredictable just like the crew but in a good way.

The CO visit would let him get a checkmark and the opportunity to visit his station. So that would be two items. He sighed as he got to the ready room. "Goal," he said to himself. "Meet the CO. Act normal. Socializing is important you are bad at it you can do it, though." Kerberos' words came to him Pluto you can do this. You need to open yourself to meeting more people. You have acquaintances but you need friends and I don't mean me who is lightyears away probably and whom you've only met through the Starfleet Letter Exchange Program.

In Xavier's mind he only needed Kerberos but he'd get the counseling people off his back if he made an effort no matter how much socializing made his stomach hurt. It hadn't been bad so far though. This crew had...surprised him. Rather than every man for themselves they seem to be seeking him out. He had a moment of panic before he got himself under control dropped his arrogant cold Vulcan face on and rang the chime.

Grace was sitting back in her chair, her eyes closed, enjoying a moment of quiet. All her reports were filed and there were no fires to put out. another moment and she'd go check the bridge. Then her door chimed. Well, since it had been a good day so far, she was hopeful this wasn't bad news. She stood and walked around the desk. "Come in."

Xavier had time for one more deep breath before the door hissed open and he moved into the room. He was struck by the presence that greeted him. The woman there, the Commander, he knew from the crew images was stunning. She was about his age and slightly shorter, a leaner and had these intense blue eyes. Her hair…it reminded him of his favourite season on Earth, fall.

“Hello Commander, I am Lieutenant Xavier your Chief Fight Officer. Reporting for duty and assessment.” He managed to hold her eyes for a moment. He did the typical Starfleet salute that had him at attention and not looking at her eyes….he had never figured out why eye contact as so painful for him so he’d learned tricks to avoid it. Also, those eyes were dangerous. They made him want to talk. Why was it with this whole crew it made him want to actually speak. This was bad. He’d have to figure out some meditative stuff to help him resist it. He swore there was a drug in the air…

"At ease and welcome," she said, smiling at her new pilot. "Please, have a seat." She indicated the chair in front of her desk. "Can I get you something from the replicator?"

Xavier slid into the seat gracefully. The question seemed to catch him a little off guard. His instinct was to say no but all this socializing and the counseling session where that damned women had pulled things out of him that he'd kept hidden for a while had him wrung out. "Perhaps a ... white mocha half sweet with a long shot of espresso?" Yes, his coffee addiction was coming in nicely.

Grace replicated the mocha and a cranberry juice for herself, then took them over to the desk and set the drink in front of Xavier. "Tell me why you chose to be a pilot." Grace liked to hear why her crew chose the positions they did to help understand them better.

He picked up the drink and took a sip. "Thank you Ma'am." He shrugged. "When I was seven for about three years my parents were invited to give lectures on Earth. The whole family would generally head there it was important that the institute on Earth see a functioning family unit so we all went. No exception. They would generally read or have debates. I was more interested in the shuttle. I remember asking the pilot a thousand questions but Sammy, she was the shuttle pilot, she never tired of answering. I read books at the library on shuttles and ships. I thought myself how to fly a hover car, then a shuttles. At 13 my school took a trip to a Vulcan colony on a runabout." He paused. "On the way back the pilot ... was in medical distress. We did not have anyone who could fly. I had flown shuttles so I took the controls, it was different and somewhat choppy but I got us to Vulcan. The man lived and for the next few years as a thank you he showed me how to fly anything. Once I relocated to Earth I knew that whatever I did I wanted to fly. It was almost as if I could understand the soul of each ship, each shuttle."

(To be continued...)

Commander Grace Vetur
Commanding Officer
USS Ontario

&

Lieutenant Xavier
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Ontario

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