John let Alyssa control the grav sled and she had fun steering the humming tform to the new ship. John turned around to look at the freighter onest time and after ncing over his shoulder to make sure Alyssa wasn’t watching, he threw the Fool’s Gold a nostalgic salute.


    “Thanks for looking after me all those years old girl” he said quietly, before turning to follow his enthusiastic young shipmate.


    The door to the docking bay of the Invictus was huge and it yawned open in front of them impressively. It wasrge enough tofortably home a decent sized dropship, so the grav sled looked tiny and a bit pathetic parked by itself in the bay. John pushed the button on a wall mounted panel and the external door in the hull began to shut, a force field springing into ce to internally seal the huge portal.


    The couple walked hand in hand through a sturdy set of doors into an adjacent corridor. They found the waiting elevator, so they entered and John pushed the button to take them up to themand deck. The hum of the elevator filled the room as they rose upwards.


    “Has it changed much since you werest here?” Alyssa asked quietly.


    “Well there’s a lot less people around for one thing” John joked. “This ship used to house 300 rowdy marines and a navy crew of 40. Now there’s just the two of us!”


    Their conversation was interrupted as the elevator door opened with a smooth whir, ending in a soft click. They walked out of the elevator to look over the Command deck for the first time. John was ovee with memories, staring out across the bridge as he relived events from his past. Meanwhile Alyssa carefully peeled the Holo-reader from his distracted grasp and then went off to explore.


    The bridge was shaped in an oval, with the Commander’s chair ced centrally on a podium, surrounded by glowing consoles. To the right of the Commander’s seat and set slightly lower down, was a simr configuration set up for the Executive Officer. Numerous other stations were ced at regr intervals around the room, but they were all left dark, automation recing the crewmen who would have operated them.


    Alyssa followed the brightly lit steps that led up to themand podium and settled herself in the XO chair. It felt wonderfully soft and the chair’s ergonomics seemed to hug her lovely curves perfectly. She spun the chair happily in a circle, noting that being up here provided an excellent view of the rest of the room. She spotted two doors on opposite sides of the bridge that she hadn’t noticed from the elevator and made a mental note to explore themter. Stopping the spin so that she faced the curving consoles in front of her, she ced the Holo-reader on one of the consoles and began to learn how to operate the ship.


    John was roused from his memories by an ominous thrum of power as the brand new engines on the Invictus were fired up for the first time. He looked up to see that Alyssa had settled herself in to the XO’s position and had begun charting their course to Port Heracles. She pushed a button and their route was disyed in arge holographic disy that spun slowly in the centre of the bridge. he climbed the illuminated steps up to the Command chair for a better view.


    “Just under 4 days to reach Port Heracles John” Alyssa smiled at him. “This beast is a whole lot faster than your freighter!” she said happily.


    John turned to slowly sink into the Commander’s chair, feeling its luxurious fabric moulding itself around himfortably. He had served on this vessel for 10 years and it was proving surprisingly difficult, adjusting to having the right to sit here now. He spun the chair slowly to look back down the steps. He remembered standing down there over 20 years ago and saluting the Ship’s Commander for the first time. He had been green and naive then, but full of the eagerness of youth.


    Speaking of which, he turned to face Alyssa, watching her as she learned how to operate the ship. She was enthusiastically checking the Holo-reader then pressing buttons on her console, letting out excited squeals when the corresponding systems activated with a hum. Holographic Tactical grids and Gxy maps sprung into life around them, bathing the bridge in a soothing blue glow.


    “Courseid in and all systems look good to go. Just say the word Commander!” Alyssa said, as she saluted him respectfully.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content.


    He smiled at her fondly. “Take us out of here XO”.


    Alyssa grinned at him gleefully and the Invictus lifted smoothly from the floor of the Docking bay. The Cruiser pulled away from the shipyard, overshadowing the damaged destroyer as they passed it by.


    “What’s behind those doors John?” Alyssa asked curiously.


    “That one leads to a briefing room”, he said pointing to the door on the right of the elevator.


    “That one leads to the Commander’s ready room” he said, spinning his chair so he could point at the door on the other side of the room, to the left of the elevator.


    “Mmm, sounds intriguing” Alyssa replied. “Is the Commander ready?” she asked teasingly, as she got up and walked towards the door looking coyly over her shoulder.


    Johnughed heartily. “Your casual disrespect for naval traditions is going to take a bit of getting used to” he said as he followed after her, watching the alluring sway of the beautiful young woman’s hips.


    She waited for him at the door, letting him lead the way into his ready room for the first time. The room had a big window running the full length of one wall, offering a spectacr view of the shipyard as they departed. At the far end of the room was a big desk and afortable looking chair. On their side of the room was a seating area, with several sofa’s arranged in a square, a coffee table ced centrally between them.