Lieutenant Lee Carter had heard the news. After Commodore Pike -- that is to say, Admiral Pike, Carter corrected herself quickly -- Admiral Pike had left the Knight for his new assignment at Starfleet Headquarters, he had made good on his promise to try to get Carter's old Banshee Squadron reactivated.
Lee was excited at the prospect of getting to see all her old friends again. Even though in a way, she had seen them only a few weeks ago during the Kelvan Campaign, that entire incident had been just an illusion created by the Talosians to test them. This time it would be for real!
Starfleet had already approved Carter's new ship design specs for her new-and-improved Peregrine fighter craft, and had initiated a flash-build program to crank out the first four ships for immediate field testing. At Pike's recommendation, Starfleet had reactivated all the old Banshees to active duty. They'd be the ones who got the exciting privilege of flying the newest addition to the Federation's defense fleet. And the best news of all was that the field testing was to be conducted off the Knight!
Carter quickened her pace. She was on her way to Captain Osagawa's ready room with the specs she had laid out for modifications to the main hangar deck that would allow it to accommodate the large fighters.
The turbolift deposited her on the bridge of the mighty starship, and it was a short walk down the ramp to the ready room door. Carter acknowledged the officer on watch with a smart nod, and proceeded to press the announce button beside the door.
Momentarily a voice from within barked, "Come!" and Lee entered the room.
She was taken slightly aback by the change of the decor in the ready room. The last time she had been here, it had been decorated with a few knick-knacks of the Commodore's -- souvenirs and trophies from past missions and the like. Now that was all gone, all that was left was just the basic furniture and a few functional necessities like the desktop computer terminal and Captain Osagawa's Starfleet Academy diploma on the wall.
Speaking of whom, Carter's attention snapped back to the present, and Captain Osagawa sitting behind his desk regarding her with those cool inscrutable eyes of his. "Yes, Lieutenant?" he asked.
"I have the modifications for the hangar deck as you ordered sir," replied Carter. She stepped forward and handed Osagawa the PADD she was carrying that held the specs.
Osagawa took the PADD from her and leaned back in his chair, reading the summary of Carter's report from the PADDs small screen. With a corner of his mind, Osagawa noticed Carter standing calmly at attention while she waited for him to finish. He liked that -- it showed she was disciplined and professional. Before, he had wondered at Admiral Pike's indulgences of her quixotic scheme to build a new super-fighter Peregrine, but now suspected he sensed the same qualities in Lee Carter that Pike had noticed and that had led Pike to trust her to the degree he did. He decided that he would trust her as well.
Osagawa finished the summary. He liked what he saw. He set the PADD on the desktop, looked up at Carter and asked, "How long will these modifications take, Lieutenant?"
"Well sir," said Carter. "The modifications are quite extensive, although not quite to the degree that would require layover at a starbase. If we fired up the industrial replicators full power, we could refit the old Peregrine we already have, and can do a majority of the work on the hangar deck before we reach the Zinak Cluster. During the actual mission, we'd cut back on the construction so that the hangar would be fully functional in case we needed to use the runabouts or shuttles. After the mission, we would be able to finish the modifications before we got back to Federation Space."
Osagawa seemed satisfied with this answer. He contemplated a moment, then nodded. "Very well, Lieutenant. Permission granted to begin modifications of the main hangar and adjoining decks."
"Thank you sir," said Carter. She was trying hard not to beam, but wasn't sure whether or not she was succeeding.
Inwardly Captain Osagawa smiled, but of course his face betrayed no emotion on the outside. "Dismissed Lieutenant," he said. He watched as Carter pivoted and left his ready room. Very professional.... he thought to himself. Still, he had seen the gleam in Lee Carter's eyes when he told her that her project was a go.
Still smiling inwardly, he returned to what he had been doing before the Lieutenant entered.