"For the Betterment of Planet Earth" (closed)

[MarieDavisRPs]

Queen Valla's Chambers
Troyna Mothership
High Earth Orbit

Valla listened intently to Alex's explanation of Human males; he spoke of how, for example, his concern that his social class as a Military Officer and Syleen's as basically a maid meant that she lacked the right to request sexual interaction with him, while a Troyna like Dyah -- also a Military Officer and, presumably, of Alex's social class -- could.

The mention of the other Troyna female brought up other thoughts for Valla, of course: the first was that the Troyna Pilot surely wished to spend time naked with her Human counterpart. Valla had seen it in the way Dyah reacted around Alex, in the subtle changes in her skin and her scent, changes and reactions of which a Human could not sense.

Dyah was not the only other Troyna female who, in Human parlance, wanted to fuck the Emissary. Valla, of course, had a deep desire to experience what it felt like to partake of a Human male, and as Alex was both the only Human male she'd ever met and very acceptable as a lover, it made sense that she'd want him.

The only thing keeping her from requesting him was that she was the Queen of the Troyna. Picking a lover for herself was ... complicated.

Speaking if desiring Syleen or even Dyah led Alex to ask, "Perhaps this is one of those things that we are gonna need to discuss later, yeah?"

"Yes, perhaps," Valla agreed.

He spoke again about Human males, this time about their nature of being more dominant than their female counterparts, particularly with regard to sex. Valla knew this, of course; it had not only come up during her education on the species but had been spoken of in great detail.

"But typically they at least speak of their desire to drive you and the Troyna off the planet," Alex warned, "and if it takes the spilling of some Troyna blood, then that's all the better for them."

Valla knew that to be true as well; all across the planet, in nearly every political State and every ethnic Nation -- the two being slightly different from one another, of course -- Humans were protesting the Troyna and, as Alex had said, threatening violence against them.

"It is my duty to protect my people from harm, of course, and I will do my best to do that," Valla said, "but it is also my mandate to do so with the least amount of harm to Humans, even those who wish us harm ... or even death. After all, I cannot convince Human Beings to voluntarily leave their known planet behind for a new unknown home if our visit to Earth is seen as an invasion."

Alex brought up the organization that would come to be called The Fifth Column. The horrible thing about the5C -- just one of the things the group would be called -- was that they had no problems whatsoever killing either Humans or Troyna to get what they wanted: control of Planet Earth, the Mothership, and the Throne.

"We will need to speak about these things in much deeper detail, Emissary," Valla said as she stood, smoothing her dress down her petite, perfect frontside, "but for the moment, I believe you have a mission ahead ... and a limited number of hours available to you to sleep."

She politely gestured Alex toward the exit of her little nook, then reached out to slip her hand into his crooked elbow as they slowly walked. "I want to thank you, Alex ... for everything that you have done and will do ... for me ... for the Troyna ... and, in particular, for your own people ... even those who might disagree with you."

Ryla saw the pair emerging from the private space and came closer in case she was needed. If Alex had nothing more of which he needed to speak, Valla would salute him and send him on his way.

 

[desperado1089]

Queen Valla's Chambers
Troyna Mothership
High Earth Orbit

Alex agreed with everything Valla had said, and expressed his admiration and respect for her desire to see this through with as few lives lost as possible. "That," he said, "is why we will prevail. Because we are not bloodthirsty, power-hungry killers. We do not celebrate the death of innocents. We mourn them and demand justice if and when their end is brought on by the malice of others."

On the subject of the upcoming mission, Alex couldn't agree more, and stood at the same time Queen Valla did. As they walked together, he smiled when she thanked him. "It is my honor and privilege--and, apparently, my pleasure as well--to be here, as your Emissary to my people. If those who disagree with me live better lives as a result of not sharing Earth with an overabundance of people and thus not having to deal with a scarcity of resources, then I will consider that to be a very good thing. If, however, they squander that chance and shun your gifts, continue to use fossil fuels and fight over petty differences, then, well, I encourage you to research the concept of karma, if you have not done so already."

With that in mind, Alex saluted Queen Valla in return and made his way to his quarters. Without further ado, he stripped to his underwear and slid into bed, letting sleep claim him. In eight hours he was awake before anyone or anything prompted him to be, and was already in his OCP uniform with belt and pistol ready to go when it came time to report to the shuttle bay.

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Queen Valla's Chambers
Troyna Mothership
High Earth Orbit

"That, is why we will prevail," Alex said when Valla spoke about not killing innocent civilians or, even, a large number of military personnel. He spoke of the honor, privilege, and pleasure of being Emissary.

"I believe I picked the best Human for the job," Valla told him, adding, "And not just the first Human who became available to me."

It had worried Valla from the beginning that Alex might have thought that she'd selected him to be Emissary simply because he'd been handy. Nothing could be more untrue; Valla had known almost from their first conversation that this Human was the right human to serve as the liaison between the two species.

They went their separate ways, heading for their individual bed chambers and, subsequently, beds.



18 September 2030
0100 hours GMT; 0300 hours in Ukraine, over which the Mothership is near to passing

The Guard pressed the doorbell to Alex's room, expecting to get no response and have to enter to awake the Human. He was surprised to have the man answer the door, fully dressed and ready to get to work. The Guard escorted Alex to the Auxiliary Shuttle Bay, where Paula was waiting outside the vessel in which Dyah was preparing.

"You look tired, Colonel," Paula said with a knowing smirk; he probably didn't realize it, but he'd only been in bed for 5 hours after the plan to descend to Gaza had been pushed ahead 3 hours. She stepped closer to him, saying, "You're gonna love this."

She showed him a device that looked similar to many of the most popular VR headsets, saying, "Just put this on. Trust me. You'll like it."

Paula gestured Alex to sit on a nearby stool, then helped him don the device. She tapped an icon on the device's side, causing a bright, powerful light to flash; it would be so powerful that it would temporarily overwhelm Alex's ability to even think, let alone stand, therefore the stool. Paula took one of his arms to help steady him as a subsequent series of flashes and designs went to work.

"It's a bit much," she told him after she believed that his brain was once again working, "but it'll do wonders for you. It resets your circadian rhythm and hypes you ... like drinking ten cups of coffee laced with No Doze. Take it off after you see the green flashing light."

Paula could see that Alex had control of his body once again and let go of her hold on him. When he took the headset off, she smiled to him. "You'll be dizzy a sec', but wow ... I feel great!"

"Colonel?" Dyah called from the top of the open Shuttle gate. She smiled, asking, "Ready to go?"

The Shuttle was ready for departure and descent to Earth. They still had to pick up the NEST team and other Humans accompanying them on the mission, and that was all in Alex's hands.

 

[desperado1089]

Troyna Mothership
High Earth Orbit

Alex somewhat literally hopped aboard the shuttle, and seamlessly helped Dyah run through the pre-flight checks. He had gotten a translator from the guard that escorted him down here, in case he needed to use it for the mission. So he was able to fully communicate with Troyna flight control and when they were cleared to depart, Alex smoothly piloted the shuttle out of the bay and into the void. "Co-pilot's bird," he said as he set an atmospheric entry vector that would take them to Andrews, where they were picking up the SEALs and the NEST personnel.

The latter turned out to be two scientists, hand-picked for their familiarity with foreign-designed nuclear warheads. The CIA had attempted to obtain the plans for Israel's nuclear arsenal, but hadn't pulled it off. So it was a matter of being able to improvise, which these two could do real well, according to their files. They were dressed in simple civilian clothes with body armor and helmets, both of which featured the NEST logo in subdued colors. While Alex was donning body armor and his own helmet, the former of which was covered in pouches for ammunition and other gear, the shuttle was being outfitted with a swing-out mount in the rear hatchway for an M134 Minigun which was to be crewed by members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Alex himself would be carrying an HK416 rifle with sound suppressor, foregrip, and holographic sight. When he was set, he performed a radio check. The way this was going to work was that the US Army Rangers, British Royal Marines, French Foreign Legion and German EGB would conduct the actual search through their assigned sectors of Gaza. The US Delta Force, British SAS, French 1er RIPMA and German KSK would move through each country's sectors and essentially cover their countrymen, hunting and killing any armed enemy personnel. The leader of each unit checked in, despite holding position on civilian ships in the Mediterranean Sea. Meanwhile, the SEALs were loading up onto the shuttle along with their NEST charges; the leader, a gruff Master Chief Petty Officer named Hayes, clapped Alex on the back and said, "Try to keep up, flyboy." Smirking, Alex thought back to his days in the 24th STS and shot back, "Just you wait, squid! You ain't seen shock and awe yet!" The men all laughed, Alex included, as the latter took his place in the copilot's seat and the shuttle lifted into the air, heading east.

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Troyna Shuttle en route to Gaza

Dyah was having a difficult time concentrating on flying her craft; the Shuttle was filled with Human Beings! Dyah hadn't seen more than one of them at a time until now, and the stimulation from their mere presence, combined with their noise and scents was overwhelming.

What was amazing was that they were all so different from one another: they came in multiple skin colors, multiple hair colors, multiple body styles, and even multiple ways of speaking, from language to accents. Regarding their body styles, Dyah was amazed at how very much they differed; the armed men were so much larger and muscular, while the men whom Alex had identified as being scientists were much less so.

Dyah observed how Alex's manner of speaking changed in the presence of the armed men, saying things like squid, which -- because her translator hadn't been programmed for such slang; and shock and awe, which her translator did properly translate as meaning rapid and often violent dominance ... overwhelming power meant to paralyze the enemy.

After lifting off from the Troyna Station at Andrews Air Force Base in DC, Dyah accelerated the Shuttle to Mach 4. At that speed, they'd cover the nearly 6,000 miles to Gaza in less than 2 hours. She left Alex to talk with the soldiers and scientists until it was time to get back to work. She directed him out of the Secondary Seat to the Tertiary Seat; she needed the Co-Pilot to help her with navigation, cloaking control, and other tasks while Alex did his job: commanding the Human Forces.

"Passing over Alexandria ... decreasing speed," Dyah announced, her report also being sent up to the Mothership. She tapped at the appropriate controls, instantly causing the vessel's speed to begin dropping. "Arrival over Gaza in 6 minutes."

The sun was beginning to rise over the eastern horizon, leading Dyah to tap a control that darkened the Shuttle's windows. She announced, "Taking her down."

As she nosed down the Shuttle and its altitude rapidly decreased, Dyah artificially delayed sunrise. She told those inside the the vessel, "We're cloaked, but if you find yourself needing to go down onto the ground, you're only going to have 54 minutes before the sun crests the horizon."

She was concerned that they'd begun too late for Alex and his people to complete the mission. She looked back to the Tertiary Seat, smiled to him, and said, "Okay. It's your show now."

 

[desperado1089]

Outskirts of Gaza City

"Right." Alex pulled a tablet from a pouch on his vest that showed the locations of every national unit leader and any known locations of IDF forces based on their radio broadcasts. "All callsigns, this is Eagle One. You are cleared to commit. Weapons free and good hunting." He switched channels to NATO headquarters. "Eagle One to Nest, I pass Footprints Erased, over." On a screen at NATO headquarters, various mission objectives and milestones were marked with various references to sci-fi movies, this one being when the alien mothership first passed the Moon in Independence Day and the resulting moon quake erased Neil Armstrong's footprints. It indicated the NATO forces were entering the city and jamming was in place to prevent remote detonation.

Over the next quarter hour, each nation searched and eliminated hostiles, some of whom were fighting each other when the NATO forces came upon them. Geiger counters were issued to every man, and after nearly twenty minutes the bomb was located by the British Royal Marines. "Coordinates locked in," Alex said and as he forwarded them to Dyah he called NATO HQ again. "Eagle One to Nest, I pass Make it So."

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Central Command aboard the Mothership

Valla strode into the heart of Troyna operations to the sound of a senior officer calling out, "Queen Valla ... salute!"

Throughout the room, any Operator, Officer, or other Troyna who wasn't glued to their chair for operational reasons popped tall and simultaneously bowed and saluted. She stopped aside her chair -- what Humans would call a throne -- and returned the salute before announcing with a voice and tone that both seemed to powerful for such a small creature, "When we arrived in this System, in orbit of Earth, we erased the scourge of Atomic Armageddon from this planet forever. We did this on our own, we, the Troyna..."

There was a cheer through the Center that was loud but short, after which Valla continued, "In Ukraine, after the detonation of an atomic weapon that we missed, we came to the aid of millions of Humans across the region ... not just Ukraine, but Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Moldova, and even Russia, whose criminal leader is now in custody and facing punishment by the people of Earth..."

There was another short cheer. Valla added to that incident, "In Ukraine, the Troyna began the Relief ... but within days, as many if not more Humans had come to the aid of their own people."

Again, a cheer, and again Valla continuing, "Today, we are tasked with preventing yet another atomic disaster ... and while the Troyna are providing important and key technology that will help this mission succeed, we are joined ... no, no ... we are led by the Emissary ... who, unlike our previous efforts in bettering life on Earth, will lead his own people ... Human warriors ... Human scientists ... in preventing this horrific event from happening..."

This time, before Valla had even concluded, the Command Center was awash with a lasting, raucous cheer. Valla let the cheer continue for nearly half a minute before casually raising a hand and bringing the massive room to a sudden silence. Smiling with pride, she slowly scanned from left to right, attempting to make eye contact with as many of the 100+ Monitoring Officers and their 50+ Supervisors and Message Runners as she could.

Then, crossing her fisted hands over her chest -- which led the entirety of the room's occupants to do the same, causing a bit of thumping sound -- Valla called out, "For the betterment of Planet Earth!"

One last short cheer filled the room, followed by all of the Operators dropping into their seats. A moment later, after a Senior Officer pressed an icon on a panel, they heard Dyah's first report from the Shuttle, "Passing over Alexandria ... decreasing speed."

Valla looked to the large map of the region and found the icon indicating the Shuttle's position. Over the next few minutes, they heard additional reports from Dyah, her Second, and even Colonel Stewart.

"Okay. It's your show now," Dyah reported.

Valla understood that to mean that she was putting further command in Alex's capable hands. The Queen was justifiably nervous about having an alien in command of a mission that was essentially against his own people so early in a Betterment mission; it hadn't ever been done in Valla's lifetime and possible never before to the best of her knowledge.

But she had faith in Alex, faith in the team of Alex and Dyah, and faith in both the Humans on the ground and the Troyna in the air above them. Valla listened to his voice over the speakers: All call signs, Eagle One, cleared to commit, Weapons free, good hunting.

She had feared not understanding the meaning behind what the Humans might be saying during the mission, so she'd had one of her most skilled and educated Linguists join her on the dais. In almost a whisper, he did his best to translate what was happening, occasionally apologizing for not understanding the meaning of such things as I pass Footprints Erased, I pass Make it So, and other very Human terms and phrases.

"They found the atomic device, My Queen," the Linguist whispered with a tone of delight.

Valla had already understood that, but she didn't correct him. She looked to the Command Center's Senior Admiral and asked, "Can our shuttle disable the device?"

"I will ask, My Queen," he said, immediately turning to speak to the Operator before him.

Over the speakers, in Troyna, the Operator asked his assigned question. The answer came back in Troyna and English, though; Valla had also invited Paula Reed to stand with her on the dais, and she'd wanted the Agent to hear everything in real time as well.

Dyah's voice returned, "Shuttle One to Central Command, standby. We're trying to determine an answer."

A rather tense two minutes passed before Dyah's voice returned: "Shuttle One to Central Command, no joy, no joy..."

Valla looked to her Linguist, who only shrugged. She looked next to Paula, who filled in, "It means they can't--"

But Dyah's voice returned, "We have made two passes over the device. The ground team reports that the Shuttle's fission stabilization device has had no effect. The nuclear core is still active."

Valla and Paula shared a concerned look with one another before the former looked to her Senior Admiral for an answer. He very unceremoniously shrugged his shoulders.

"Shuttle One to Central Command," Dyah's voice returned. "Colonel Stewart has directed the NEST team to tend to the weapon. Standby."

"Tend to...?" Valla said, looking to Paula again. "What does that mean?"

"I think it means that they are going to try to diffuse it, Your Highness," Paula said.

Even though there were still reports coming in from Monitoring Officers all through the room regarding the Human ground units and the Troyna air units providing them cover, a full eighteen minutes of silence would come from the Shuttle.

 

[desperado1089]

Gaza City

Alex directed Dyah to a landing zone approximately one hundred meters northeast of the weapon's location, which she was just about to touch down onto when a drone came out of nowhere. Just before it hit the shuttle's hull, however, a machine gun opened up, smashing it to bits. The shooter was not on the radio network, and it wasn't made apparent until a man in Russian military fatigues with his face concealed--a hallmark of the Spetznaz--emerged from cover and waved his hand over his head. Five others did the same, including a huge trooper with a modified version of the PKP machine gun in his hands. None of them looked like they were about to start trouble, especially when the military forces of four nations began to come out of the woodwork. "Take her down, Dyah, and face the rear hatch towards them."

When the rear hatch opened, the doorway was bristling with weapons, both held in the hands of the SEALs and the minigun that hung menacingly in midair. The Spetznaz leader walked forward, having laid his AK74 aside and holding his hands aloft. "Sorry we are late to party, Colonel Stewart," he called out. "Ran into traffic around Kyiv. Horrible shit, as you Americans say. We escort Putin to Geneva then come here to help Troyna. If we lie, we would not be having this conversation, da?" Over Alex's radio, the current NATO Secretary General came on the line. "He's right, Colonel. The same Spetznaz Alfa Group team that's right in front of you escorted Vladimir Putin through NATO-controlled Europe to Geneva to face justice for his war crimes." Alex acknowledged the transmission, then told everyone to stand down. "Fall in, gentlemen," he said to the Alfa Group team leader and they formed a perimeter around the landing zone as the SEALs and NEST scientists disembarked.

The two former enemies moved as one over the hundred meters separating the landing zone and the device until they reached it. All of the remaining troops, regardless of nation, were forming concentric perimeters around the LZ and the nuke, and it didn't matter if they were Rangers or Royal Marines, German or French. They did not divide themselves by nation, but dug in together to defend their allies, both Human and Troyna alike. Around the device itself, SEALs and Spetznaz formed a final defensive line, with Alex himself watching over the NEST scientists as they worked to disarm the bomb.

After nearly twenty tense minutes, the scientists declared the device safe. "All call signs," Alex said into his radio, "I pass Yoda, I repeat, Yoda. Device disarmed. Can someone please transmit our objective list to the Troyna? I bet they're a little confused up there."

 

[MarieDavisRPs]

Gaza City

Dyah's feelings were conflicted as she brought the Shuttle in for landing. Her first time actually on Earth had been when her Attack Vessel crashed into the Pacific Ocean, killing the rest of her crew. Her second time -- just yesterday -- had been peaceful, of course, and yet her stomach had turned over several times at the knowledge that just days earlier, a suicide bomber had killed a heroic Troyna Guard, as well as himself.

Now, they were landing in a city that had been raging with war for years, decades, even centuries. Queen Valla had demanded that all combatants -- Israeli, Palestinian, and otherwise -- evacuate Gaza. Most had departed, and yet the Human Forces were still engaged in deadly combat all throughout and around Gaza City, and there was still an active atomic weapon just 100 yards from where Dyah was putting the Shuttle down.

The encounter with the drone and the Russian Unit -- both unexpected -- didn't help with Dyah's anxiety. They got through it, though, with additional allies on their side. While Alex and the other Humans departed the Shuttle to tend to the bomb, as someone had so casually referred to it, Dyah contacted the Mothership, "Shuttle One to Central Command, requesting direction on deploying my vessel's shielding with dome energy boost from altitude."



Aboard the Mothership

Paula's face screwed up with confusion at the Dyah's request. She asked Valla, "What does that mean, Your Highness?"

Valla looked to the Human Agent, then -- with an expectant expression -- to a nearby Troyna Officer. The man explained, "The Shuttle's spherical defensive shield ranges in diameter from 7 to 16 meters, depending upon the amount of energy expended to it. It is intended to prevent incoming ordinance from damaging the Shuttle ... incoming missiles and even energy weapon attacks.

"However, while the Shuttle is on the ground," he continued, using his hands to illustrate his explanation, "the shield can be converted from spherical to dome-like ... and expanded to as much as 40 meters. This would protect the shuttle from attack ... and -- as was seen in Ukraine when the heroic Troyna Guard ran toward the suicide bomber -- would contain or at the least minimize any blast occurring within that dome."

Valla took over for the man, explaining, "We have several cloaked shuttles flying cover above Gaza City that could direct energy directly to Shuttle One, enabling that vessel's shield to expand to as much as..."

She looked again to the Admiral, who stepped in, "Two to three hundred yards, My Queen." He looked to Paula, continuing, "Enough to enclose the location of the atomic device within the dome."

"So ... if the bomb goes off..." Paula asked, "the blast would be contained?"

"Not fully," the Admiral said. "But it would be ... diminished."

Paula was conflicted about this news: containing the blast could save most of Gaza City and save hundreds, thousands, possibly tens of thousands of lives; but anyone inside that dome -- Alex, Dyah, and all of the allied troops with them -- would surely be vaporized.

"There is another issue, My Queen," the Admiral began.

Valla ended his concern for him: "The Shuttles would need to uncloak and drop their own shields."

The Officer nodded, saying what she already knew: "It would make them vulnerable to attack, My Queen."

Valla considered the choice, then ordered, "Admiral, explain the plan to the Flight Crews. Instruct the Primaries of each vessel to make the decision for their crews. Explain to them that the lives of an untold number of innocent men, women, and children depend upon them."

The Admiral hesitated a moment; he wasn't used to Queen Valla leaving such a decision up to Officers of such relatively lower rank and status as he himself, let alone the Queen herself. But he turned, explained the situation, and gave the orders.

A minute passed before Dyah came back over the Comms, reporting, "Shuttle One's defensive shield holding at ... full power ... now at 520 meters."

"How much?" Valla asked the Admiral in surprise.

He looked to her, smiled with pride, and reported, "Every shuttle in the air over Gaza uncloaked, dropped their shields, and directed full power to Shuttle One, My Queen."

Valla couldn't contain a wide smile; she noticed that a large number of Troyna faces were turning for her reaction, leading her to salute the Admiral, then the whole of the room. She looked to Paula, who couldn't fully understand what was happening, and smiled again. She was going to explain what the Human female was missing.

Before she could, though, the familiar voice of Lt. Colonel Alex Stewart returned, saying, "All call signs ... I pass Yoda, I repeat, Yoda. Device disarmed. Can someone please transmit our objective list to the Troyna? I bet they're a little confused up there."

Just the words device disarmed was enough to cause a cheer to rise through Central Command. Valla yet again smiled, nodded to her saluting Admiral, and turned to Paula to say, "I knew they'd be successful."

Paula laughed, wiped the beads of sweat that had begun building on her brow, and said, "Sure, me, too."



Shuttle One

Dyah smiled with delight, then laughed aloud. She looked to her Second and lifted a hand in the air before him, palm his direction. He stared at her in confusion, only continuing to do so more when she said, "Slap it ... with your hand. It's called a high five. The Humans do it when things go well for them."

"Why?" he asked.

"It's a celebration of joy," she told him. When he still just stared at her, she turned away and mumbled in English, "Oh, fuck it."

She called for the discontinuation of the energy boost to her Defensive Systems, then reduced the size of the dome shield, keeping it large enough to protect Alex and his allies.

Over the next hour, a Second Shuttle would land to take possession of the weapon; its core would be neutralized after it had been taken from Gaza. With the bomb no longer a threat, additional Allied forces would engage to root out both Israeli and Palestinian forces still in Gaza City and the rest of the Gaza Strip.

It would take two days to bring a full end to hostilities, but that didn't stop the Troyna from landing their Relief Forces. By high sun that same day, more than 3,000 Troyna were on the ground, distributing food, water, and medical aide, as well as using their advanced 3D technology to begin the creation of thousands, then tens of thousands of homes for the people of Gaza. It would take months to fully implement Operation Gaza, but it would be completed.

 

[desperado1089]

Gaza City/Troyna Mothership

Alex spent the first hour or so of Operation Gaza--the part that came after the danger, the part that would be remembered as the second time that Troyna and Humanity worked together to bring aid to those in need--handing out supplies under the protection of, as Dyah had put it, men with automatic weapons, who had remained to both guard the relief efforts as well as help with their implementation. Another US Marine Expeditionary Brigade was already on its way to bolster security, as well as another Army Corps of Engineers unit to help rebuild, but the Royal Marines and the French Legionnaires were staying, as were the Rangers. Both German units were being recalled, as there was some troubling developments at home that required backup to the GSG9 units that were dispatched to handle it. The SEALs would escort the NEST scientists home and took Alex's battle gear with them.

When Alex finally re-boarded the shuttle, he gave Dyah a high-five (he'd never leave her hanging) and offered to fly them back up to the mothership so she could take a break. When they arrived, he smoothly docked the vessel with a salute to the flight control officer in the control room above the shuttle bay.