And the Horse you Flew in On

Posted on Thu Feb 27th, 2020 @ 11:16am by Lieutenant JG Rachael "Ripcord" Yamaguchi-Cullen & Fleet Captain Torilla Yamaguchi

Mission: Mission 17: The Drug-Dimmed Tide
Location: Various Locations - USS Roanoke
Timeline: 0930Hrs - December 16th, 2390

Rachael Yamaguchi was sitting at the kitchen table, her meal forgotten about as she was focusing on a math issue that was driving her nuts. "I gotta get this right.." she whispered to herself.

She blinked before she looked around as one of the cats was in keeping her company on the next chair over while the kitten, Pufftail was keeping her mother company in her room, she could feel her mothers pain over what she had done.

Rachael had felt her mother reliving it in her mind while she slept, she had tried to help Torilla cope with it but she knew that in her heart of heats, she was seriously outclassed for this effort.

She regarded Zara Tane who was smaller then she herself was as the older woman came out of her mothers bedroom, in truth she was somewhat intimidated by Tane who was Captain of the ship. "Zara." she said quietly. "Whats up?"

"I got your mom to sleep again," Tane noted tiredly. Though she was glad her tiredness had nothing to do with Nalla's numbing. "I uh..."

Tane was nervous for she knew she had to have this conversation with Torilla's daughter. The girl had seen Zara in her underwear a few times, cuddling and calming her mother.

So uncomfortably, Zara restarted, "I'm not uh... Well your mom and I err... Not a couple." Tane shook her head vigorously to emphasize that.

"Well.. that's between you and her... being honest..." Rachael commented. "If Dad's okay with it then I see no need to get all bent out of shape over it..." she added

"Ah." Zara relaxed when she did not have to explain any further. "Well I promised him I'd help your mom. But I'm not here to take over any parental role... Friend? Sure. Need homework help, I can do that. But I'm not like... her girlfriend."

"I know Zara." Rachael said softly. "I can feel her pain from out here.." the teen smiled. "I'd like that... I'm not threatened by you're wanting to help mom...not in the least.." the teen smiled. "I'm glad you care."

"The burden of command is that few ever marry because we have to distance ourselves from others in order to do our jobs more effectively," Zara explained to Rachael. "I don't say that to deter you from command, but few COs have that success your parents have. And I will do everything in my power to help her through her rough time."

Rachael smiled. "Mom did what she did to protect me.." she looked down. "in a way... its my fault..."

"It's not," Zara countered off-offhandedly with a wave of her hand. "Lots of people would of killed him for going after you and Desert Fox... Because Roanoke folks take care of their own."

Rachael regarded Zara with an even look, rather then the self-pity a teen usually showed. "But Mom's still going to pay for it.... they'll throw the book at her for it... maybe cost her her career... and that's not right Zara... she was protecting me and everyone else from future harm.."

"Commander Saint and I have a couple of options to get your mother off," Zara assured Rachael and stood up to fetch something from Torilla's bedroom

When she came back she sat a velvet box on the coffee table, but left it there in order to finish the conversation on Rachael's mother.

"Basically, Kam only mentioned rumors. So all we have to do is discredit him. Which really isn't that hard to do since he told command codes," Zara told the younger girl.

"I'm still worried.." Rachael admitted quietly as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "I'm having something of an issue with math....and.. I was wondering... why are you repairing that fighter in the hanger.. the one that's cordoned off.."

Zara nodded as stood up again. This time she fetch some cold water from the replicator and handed it to her before she regathered her thoughts.

"Well math is better learned in practice, I think," Zara began, then frowned a little when she thought about the fighter. "I was forced out of the engine room several years back so I rarely get to use the talents I'm best at. Thus when I found out that fighter came from my very first posting, I had to save it."

Rachael raised an eyebrow. "I've been wanting to learn fighter maintenance." she commented. "in case I'm planetside and something goes wrong... so I can fix it or.. try to fix it.."

"This is a total rebuild, sadly." Zara sounded almost mournful by it. "And the voles set me back about four months. But with the blue prints I have, if done right, it'll be a fully functional scout fighter."

Rachael slowly smiled. "Would you mind if.... I helped you with it?" she inquired softly. "I'd like to know how to rebuild it.."

"You need to be crew to work on it," Zara spoke with a shrug, and then slid over the velvet box to Rachael. "Suppose that will make you crew enough to help out."

Rachael accepted the small box with a puzzled look on her face as she didn't understand what Tane was saying, until she opened it. "Oh...." the teen whispered. "A set of Wings.." she gently touched them as they gleamed. "Thank you.....so much..." she whispered.

"Phoenix requisitioned them and had a four page paper on why you deserved them." Zara held her finger to her lips with a bit of humor. "I don't think she wants to risk a one on one meeting. But she's right. So you are hereby assigned the rank of Flight Cadet Recruit."

Rachael smiled. "Thank you Captain." the teen responded as she gently plucked the wings out of the small box that they had come in, she looked down as she plucked the combadge off of her chest and she replaced it with her wings before she said a few words in her mothers native language.

"I think now is a good time to look over your math homework, yes?" Zara smiled, squeezed Rachael's shoulders warmly, and pointed to the girl's PADD.

"Ahh... yes." Rachael smiled as she placed her PADD on the table before her. "Calculus and Trigonometry are both a pain.." she commented before she turned her head to regard her mothers bedroom door. "I can't help her... and it upsets me."

"Just having someone to hug her when she's like this is really all she needs right now," Zara explained with a level of her own sadness. "Knowing you have someone to lean on is a big help."

Rachael nodded her head as she plucked her glass of whatever it was she had been drinking, she lifted it to her lips and drained a mouthful. "I know... still... it bothers me to see her like this.." the teen commented. "She did only what she thought she had to do... to protect me and yet.... " Rachael shook her head. "Anyway.... the homework.... given to me by Phoenix... she had said it would keep my math skills sharp..."

"Oh it will," Zara confirmed. "Most pilots learn to do the math in their heads quickly. Very few have instincts almost as good as math. Which, to be honest, both your fiery birds do well on precision without complicated math equations. But let's say you have to refuel and a runabout is the only craft in the area capable of doing that? That is where mid-flight refueling operations require those math skills."

Rachael nodded. "You make a fair point." she commented as she regarded the PADD in her hands. "Still.. it never comes easy..."

"Geometry is a much better mathematics course for you to take though," Zara spokes simply. "Once you know your formulas, it's really just smooth sailing after that."

Rachael nodded. "Fair enough.... the school wants me to get this first before they give me geometry, apparently my teacher thinks it'll help." the teen rolled her eyes with that statement. "Geometry is easy, compared to this."

"Well I'm telling you to fuck your math teacher's shit. You know what you want in life. So unless that changes, I suggest you look into geometry." Zara gave a simple shrug. "Engineers pretty much study all forms of mathematics, but kids shouldn't have to."

Rachael suddenly wanted to give the other woman a hug. "I see why Mom likes you." she commented. "geometry is easy compared to this stuff.." she commented before she reached down, her bag leapt up off of the floor as she caught it then she set it on the desk, she produced a second PADD before slipping the first one.

"Well calculus and trig are pretty gruesome," Zara agreed. But it helps when you put real world examples that folks can relate to, to the equations."

Rachael nodded as a smile graced her lips. "Alright... But the trouble is... I have no real world examples to use in these math issues.." the teen explained.

"Velocity times temperature will tell you how much and how fast a tank of deuterium will burn. And if you plan to travel at same velocity across a specific distance, that can give you a general range of how much deuterium your fighter will use," Zara began to explain to the young teen. "That help?"

"Velocity times temperature.." Rachael responded. "Okay... do I need to add in mass too?" she inquired.

"Yeah." Zara agreed and wrote the formula out in a PADD for Rachael to see. "This make since now?"

"Now... yes.. now I get it." the teen smiled. "Thanks so much..."
she responded.

"You're welcome," Zara smiled and pat Rachael's shoulder.