Lift-Off : Part One of Two

Command Deck : Cargo Vessel, Firefly

Jack awoke still slumped in the helm chair on the Command deck where he’d fallen asleep. The stress of the previous day and the fact that there was a high probability that somewhere along the way, they could be captured and imprisoned for smuggling or worse was getting to him.

“Coffee !.” A female voice announced, passing Jack a mug. Jack took the mug and looked around to see t’Pek standing behind him.

t’Pek smiled, releasing the mug and walking away towards the operations console. She took her seat and started the pre-flight check, ready for lift-off in one hour.

“So did you sleep well ?” t’Pek enquired as she checked the ships systems.

“No.” Jack replied. “This chair is not the best place to take a nap, but it still beats sharing a room with Harper. What time is it anyway ?”

“Its O-Five hundred.” t’Pek answered. “And don’t worry about Harper’s nocturnal noises, he’s already set-up a hammock in Engineering. I guess you’re not the greatest room mate either.”

Jack took a drink from the mug of coffee and as the caffeine started to hit his system, he finally came fully to life. Quickly finishing off the drink, he rose from the helm and headed for his quarters.

“I’d better get changed and eat something before we leave.” Jack remarked. “I’ll see you at lift-off.”

“O-six hundred, I’ll be ready.” t’Pek replied.

As Jack walked through the ship, he saw the others slowly rising from their own sleep and headed for his cabin. It wasn’t large, but it did have a sonic shower, the only cabin to have one. Jack quickly took a shower to wash away the last of his sleep and changed, before heading for the mess hall for breakfast.

By the time he reached the mess hall, the sounds and smells of something good cooking hit his nose.

“Is that bacon and eggs I smell ?” Jack enquired as he walked into the mess hall.

“Compliments of our new employer apparently.” Trance announced, from the small stove in the corner of the room. “We’ve not had any fresh food for over a month, I’ve put half of it in storage.”

Jack took his seat at the table and Trance carried over a plate of food. Harper was already eating his own fry-up breakfast and soon after Jack arrived, Beka and Dylan appeared and took their seats, also surprised by the fresh food.

“So is our device ready ?” Jack asked Harper.

“I got it out of storage last night before I went to bed.” Harper replied. “It shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to configure. I was thinking of maybe using a Romulan science vessel this time, I get so bored of always using Federation vessels.”

“Don’t be too flashy.” Jack stated. “All we need is for the device to divert any patrol vessels we may encounter.”

“I know boss…..” Harper said. “It will be ready and it will work, you’ll see.”

Breakfast over, the crew quickly cleared up and headed for the Command deck. Everyone took their seats and within ten minutes, they left the surface of Serenity and headed back into open space.

“So Harper, are we going to have impulse engines this time ?” Beka enquired.

“I’ve fixed the problem.” Harper replied, mockingly. “We won’t be adrift in the Briar patch this time.”

Behind his back, Harper crossed his fingers. He had found the problem that had left them adrift for six hours and fixed it, whether they would hold was another question.

“We’ll need every ounce of speed we can get; this is going to be tight enough as it is without any delays.” Jack remarked.