Lt. Commander K'Lara Lataro waited patiently outside of Captain Maruu's office. She refrained from pacing thanks to her training from Telek, a Vulcan teacher on Earth. She took deep breaths to calm herself as she waited for the captain to see her. Finally, the doors opened and K'Lara entered.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" K'Lara asked, nervous and excited.
"Yes, please sit down."
She sat down, and Maruu began, "Commander, Loran and his engineers have re-built one of the shuttles and I need someone to test it. I think you best fit the qualifications."
K'Lara was glad she was sitting down at the moment. Her mouth dropped open. "You're serious?"
Maruu smiled, "Of course I am. I need a test pilot and you're the best for the job."
K'Lara returned his smile, "Thanks, Captain. I won't let you down."
The half-Klingon stood and made her way to the shuttle bay, a huge smile on her features.
K'Lara walked down the corridor to Shuttle Bay Two where the newly re-built shuttle was being held. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach as if they were attacking her with tiny bat'leths. She took several deep breaths as she briskly walked toward the doors.
When the bay doors opened K'Lara stopped short and stared at the shuttle she would be piloting. It almost seemed to sparkle with a mystical shine. It wasn't a very large shuttle. Only about fifteen feet long, but it was a fast little ship and easily maneuverable. K'Lara smiled and began to walk toward the shuttle. There were still crew members working on it, but they stopped when they heard her approaching footsteps.
"Is it ready?" K'Lara asked, feeling anxious to start.
"It sure is," an ensign said, moving aside so that she could enter. "It's all yours."
K'Lara smiled and entered the shuttle. She was too excited to bother with saying "thank you".
"Shuttle Dawn to Bridge. Am I cleared for take-off?" K'Lara asked, after she went through the pre-flight checklist.
[You're cleared for take-off Shuttle Dawn.]
The shuttle slowly lifted off the deck and backed up into space. The bay doors closed; K'Lara turned the shuttle around and began to move away from Virgo.
"Dawn to Virgo. All systems clear."
[Good. Take it out fifty meters from the ship and lets see what it can do.]
"Aye, Captain. Taking it out fifty meters."
K'Lara maneuvered the shuttle away from the main ship and began to put it through a series of spins and dives.
"Those are easy maneuvers," the ensign at helm mentioned. "If that is all she is going to do, then I should be out there."
"Hey, watch what you say about my wife," Commander Lataro warned. "She's a much better pilot than that. She's just warming up."
"Some warm up," the ensign continued not noticing the glares from the others.
The Bridge crew watched the show and ignored the warnings that a ship was approaching. Valdago didn't even notice the small blip on his console that warned of an approaching ship.
K'Lara was pushing the shuttle to its limits. She did another series of dives and loops that even made her dizzy. She knew that she was being watched by the crew, and she wanted to do her best.
The unknown vessel was dark against the black space that surrounded her. It was moving as if it was a lion stalking its prey. The ship seemed to watch as the shuttle went through its paces as if nothing was happening. It loomed in the darkness as if it was waiting for the right moment to strike. It didn't wait long as it attacked with phasers instead of claws.
K'Lara was taken by surprise when she jerked forward and the warning klaxons began to sound. She tried frantically to maneuver the shuttle out of the larger ship's phasers. She tried to signal to Virgo for help, not seeing that they were firing at the ship. The last thing she saw before the console exploded in her face was Virgo's phasers attacking the enemy ship.