[h3]September 24, 2190
06:48, Central European Standard time
Three hours before departure
USF Arcadian, Starboard Mess Hall[/h3]
Astrid quietly approached the table where three Ranger pilots sat, gesturing for the two facing her to be quiet. She took a slow breath, slapping her hand on the shoulder of the pilot she stopped by.
“Gertie!” The pilot jumped at her voice and sudden hand on his shoulder, rolling his eyes as his two compatriots broke out in chuckles. “Last I saw you, you were a bomber wing leader on Mars, what are you doing here driving a bus?” She took the empty seat.
“And the last time I heard, you were a test pilot and yet here you are, driving the entire bus depot so who’s the loser, really?” The other Pomonan pilot shot back without swallowing his mouthful of scrambled eggs, a round of “Oooooh!”s from the other two pilots sounding around the table.
Astrid went silent, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Okay, this one’s yours, I walked right into that.”

“So, boss, what’s this I heard about the head bullet catcher thinking she’s a pilot?” One of the pilots Astrid didn’t know too well asked.
“What?” She asked flatly, mentally strangling whichever desk driver didn’t think to tell her.
“Not your regular ‘Likes to sit in the cockpit jump seat and thinks she learned by observation’ grunt, actually certified.” Gerhard filled in what he knew.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Astrid shrugged in doubt.
“Looks like the Major is in for a sim date she doesn’t know about yet.” Gerhard stage whispered to the rest of the table, earning himself a light jab in the ribs with Astrid’s elbow as she headed out to take her watch.

[hr][h3]September 24, 2190
13:02, Central European Standard time
On Route to Polaris System - Mid Jump
USF Arcadian, Bridge[/h3]
A message from engineering inquiring about the jump jolted her from the routine.
“Signals, helm, position check?” Astrid requested over her headset as she checked her own readouts, the situation still within the realm of ‘anomaly’ instead of ‘problem’ and thus not worth bothering the captain with.
Her own station only had limited position information available when it came to FTL - a system similar to an inertial navigation system someone in her department off-handedly called ‘Guesstimate Positioning System’ during the shakedowns and it stuck - working based on destination, starting position, speed and jump time whereas the signals officer had full access to the Arcadian’s sensors, including the prototype arrays that could detect celestial bodies during a jump - a revolutionary system Astrid had spent a whole week grasping the basics of because anything to do with hyperspace might as well have been magic to her.

After all: Any sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from it.

But Laina’s report lined up with what Astrid was seeing. They weren’t off course, they weren’t under or overspeed. “Engineering, helm, no issues on my end. Do you want updates if anything changes?”
Between the normal stress tests of the ship, leveling out uneven fundamentals in her department because the pilots and helmsmen got grabbed from both military and civilian spheres and one of the Rangers burning down in the hangar on day three about two hours before some pointless VIP visit, the shakedowns had unfortunately kept her too busy to pull the chief engineer aside for a drink - or sleep properly if she were to be honest - and hash out everyday procedures outside of SOPs, leaving her guessing what information the engineers did or did not have access to.

Astrid checked her thermos when the XO arrived, making sure the lid was closed and the magnetic base was holding it securely to the side panel. Scuttlebut said he was a micromanager who quoted regulations like scripture and she wasn’t risking anything until they were too far from port for his complaints to matter. Hearing the captain’s question and the XO’s comment, she waited for anyone else to speak, eyes flicking between her instruments.
“On track and on schedule, captain.” She leaned back in her seat, resigned to several more hours of this.