Snippet #1425626

Marielle was impressed with the aliens' settlement. It was surprisingly well developed. At first, she had been expecting wooden cabins, perhaps a small power station, and a dirt airstrip for shuttles - much like newly founded Yiffierian colonies on uninhabited worlds. After encountering the alien forces in space, she'd thought of something bigger - like a full fledged civilization. For such a small number of aliens to develop such an advanced settlement, capable of producing installations on thier moon, this was quite an accomplishment. Marielle telepathically ordered the astronauts in the electronics station to begin a complete scan of the alien settlement. This was, after all, what the ship was built for.

"I think we can guide ourselves in," Marielle said. "We..."

Captain, ma'am, thought her first officer. The alien, Tasha, I think, is less concerned with guiding us in than seeing to the security of her aircraft. I think she fears we might try to scan it or disassemble it to steal their secrets.

What secrets? retorted Marielle. Even a first year aerospace engineering student could spot the many flaws and inefficiencies in that design. It's far inferior to anything we've ever had.

Still, just humor her.

"Very well, then," Marielle said aloud to Tasha. "I'll have the astronauts depressurize the fighter bay. I will see you on the ground."

With that, Marielle left the bridge, letting the first officer know he had the bridge. She arrived at the dock for the small personnel shuttle to find another marine honor guard already seated in the passenger area. They clumsily tried to salute her from their seats, but Marielle casually waved them at ease. She entered the cockpit, nodded to the pilot and co-pilot (who were reviewing the computer's preflight checklist), and took her seat behind them on a jump-seat.

It didn't take long to get clearance for launch. Unlike the fighters, the shuttles were attached to the exterior of the ship, tucked in shallow alcoves and held in place with docking clamps. The astronauts sealed the hatches and switched on the jet engines, then throttled them to full power the moment the clamps were released. The shuttle pulled away from the ship and settled into a level flight. They circled out over a range of mountains east(?) of the alien settlement to bleed off altitude as the pilots maneuvered in for their initial approach.