A Change of Venue - Part Two

Posted on Sun Jun 30th, 2024 @ 8:40pm by Captain Samantha Walking Bear & Fleet Captain Heather Walking Bear & Colonel James "Gryphon" McTaggert

Mission: Mission 120: All Along the Watchtowers - Part Two
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 1115Hrs - January 26th, 2394

The three of them approached their shuttle. Walking Bear turned to her husband. "You go on aboard, and I'll show B'Elanna how to do a quick walkaround." she smiled.

McTaggert nodded his head and proceeded ahead without a word. B'Elana regarded Walking Bear in silence as she waited for the other woman to speak.

Walking Bear drew a PADD from her pants pocket. "Alright B'Elanna. Here is how we're going to do this. We'll slowly work our way around the shuttle, looking for any issues or blemishes that we see. Then we'll note them down for the tech guys to tend to. The first rule of flight of any kind is safety. Do not toy with it for any reason, for if you do. Then you will die."
she explained. "I will train you as if you were a starfleet cadet. None of my other children wants to learn how to fly. It's hard to do and it's even harder to master. But those who do often become career pilots. We often don't wish to do anything else at all. Some people B'Elanna, were meant to fly." Walking Bear grinned at the younger woman.

B'Elanna nodded her head. "I understand," she answered quietly. She began doing the slow walk around as she watched Walking Bear while she went through the procedure. After a short time, the two women were finished as McTaggert had already gotten departure clearance.

"I am curious about something." B'Elanna inquired. "Why do you and your consort not have the same last names?" she indicated McTaggert with her hand as she asked the question.

"Consort?" Walking Bear inquired, a high amount of amusement in her tone. "Well. It's mostly because of professional reasons. Plus all of our children share my last name rather than his, as we met when I was still a cadet at the academy." Walking Bear decided to share the full tale of what happened between her and James when they had first met. "Marie, our eldest, was an oops baby, but many would call her a Dominion War victory baby. I fucked up and I didn't tell him at first. It was when we met the second time we were together that I informed him of the details. I was so afraid he would run away and not give me the time of day. I was fully prepared to call it and raise Marie alone." she paused a moment. "Jame decided that the two of us would discuss it over a small meal together in the academy commissary." Walking Bear smiled as she recalled the memories of those events. "I informed him that I was with child. The child was a girl and she was his child." Walking Bear explained. "Needless to say. What he did was a real shock. He proposed to me rather than run away as I had expected. I think everyone in the lounge cheered us on." she added with a grin. "Imagine it, two hundred people or so screaming and cheering for you. It was the middle of the dinner rush and the room was full." Walking Bear grinned at the younger Klingon woman. "Now that was a real ego boost. Two hundred people screaming and cheering for you. So I accepted. We were married quietly the following day, and he's been at my side ever since. He said that my wars were his to fight. My foes were his to slay, and my burdens were his to carry. Of course, I don't let him fight our battles alone. That goes against my religion." Walking Bear then giggled softly. "I fight them with him. I looked after our kids and raised them as best as I could. He so often helped me with matters and we've been together ever since." she smiled. "We were then reunited when we were assigned together to the Courageous. Then we could make it official. I recall walking funny for a week as a result of that first night." she added with a wide grin.

"It sounds very Klingon." B'Elanna smiled. "It also sounds very romantic," she added, after a moment to consider her words.

"He and I would go on to have four children in all. We shared raising them between us, but when we were reunited on the Courageous. It was something else." she commented as she went about the walkaround. "Mmmm. Looks like no blemishes of any kind," she added. Any time you fly anything. You need to make notes like this. Then you keep a record of them. I have tens of thousands of reports like these in my files." Walking Bear explained with a gentle smile. "You will want a dating system that works for you. I simply use the Terran calendar, rather than the stardate. For me, it works. But for you. You might want to try something else." she paused a moment. "B'Elanna. I mean it. Safety outranks all and nobody can overrule it." she then smiled. "This walkaround is complete." as she went about making a copy for her records. "I will send you a copy as well. So you have one. Get into the habit of note-taking. You'll be doing a lot of that." she added as the two of them boarded the shuttle.