Pita and Stitch

Posted on December 28, 2007 @ 07:50AM

LT Blackburn shut down her FX-80 Lightning, popped the canopy and was greeted by her Plane Captain. PC2 Haley Dawnborn had been her PC for almost her entire career, and was almost as big a prankster as she was. Right now Dawnborn had one of those knowing grins that from some reason she just couldn’t suppress. Rolling her eyes, LT Blackburn asked, “OK, give, what’s up Haley?”

PC2 Dawnborn rapidly said, “The skipper called down, she wants you to swing by the Three, grab LT Delaney, then report directly to her office.”

LT Blackburn knew that what ever it was, it couldn’t be good, she had always been a thorn in the Captain’s side, hence her call sign, Pita, which was short for “Pain In The Aft”; but if the Captain wanted to see her right away, it had to be something that (a) was very important, (b) something to even up the score, or ( c) a combination of the two; the fact that she was suppose to grab Stitch usually meant that a new pilot was on board. The problem though was the squadron was at full T/O for flight officers. Maybe he was to be a witness for something. She hoped that Stitch knew what that something was.

Ducking into the hanger, she stopped by training, where LT Delaney was poring over some reports.

Trying to sound up-beat, she asked, “What’s the sitch Stitch?”

LT Delaney rolled his eyes and said, “You tell me and we’ll both know.” Pointing outside of his office, he continued, “What ever it is, I’ll wager it has something to do with the transport that came in early this morning. Heck, I had some guardsman challenging me to get into the Hangar this morning,” he picked up his report pad as he continued, “I had to explain that I needed to get into my office so I could finish these reports. But we need to get up there ASAP, or the Ol’ Lady is going to have our butts.”

Climbing the stairs, both officers could see a pair of armed guards posted by a Politia transport craft, and more than usual at points around the hangar. Arriving at the CAPT Yu’s office, they paused for about a heartbeat then heard, “Don’t keep me waiting and come in.”

As they entered, they saw a Politia Intelligence Officer standing by the Captain’s desk, before they noticed Mr. Caplan standing close by. Doing a double take, they realized almost simultaneously that Caplan was actually in uniform. They both stammered, “Uh, Captain, what’s with all the brass and guards?” LT Blackburn continued, “And Mr. Caplan, er, excuse me, uh, sir, uh, Commander, what brings you here?”

CAPT Yu gave a flashing mischievous grin as she said, “Why they’re here for your promotion Pita. Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander Serena Blackburn.”

Pita was taken aback, was this some type of bad joke? Swallowing she stammered, “Uh, skipper, the boards don’t come out for another month and I wasn’t on last years list, how is it that I’m getting promoted, not that I mind, but umm, what’s the catch.”

CAPT Yu knew that she had the upper hand for a change, and smiled disarmingly as she said, “Why all you need to do is train and keep an eye on your new assistant in the Two.” Walking around her desk her smile broadened as she said, “Pita, meet OPALMOX…”

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