An Adventurous Journey

[Toaster]

"Capitaine Cabbard," an engineer called from further down the hallway. "A shuttle just arrived. The pilot wants to speak with you."
Laurent and Tristan looked at each other and shrugged.
"See you on the bridge," Capitaine Tristan Cabbard said and walked down the hall towards the Ile de Re's small hangar bay. Laurent looked after him for a moment before turning on his heels and heading back to the elevators. Inside the cabin, he was rereading his new orders when his comm-link chimed quietly.
"Oui?" He spoke into the little devices microphone.
"Capitaine, pre-flight tests are complete," Lieutenant Marbonne's voice emitted from the speaker. "Dijon Control has given us green light to proceed; we can leave the dry-docks on your command."
"Très bien," the captain replied. "I'll be on the bridge shortly. Capitaine Cabbard is still busy in the hangar, we will wait for him to join us."
"Understood, Capitaine."
The comm-link clicked as the channel was cut.
A moment later, the elevator halted and Laurent stepped out of the cubical and onto the entrance balcony of the bridge once more. This time he quickly waved the lieutenant who was about shout Attention off and climbed down the short stairs onto the actual deck. Slowly, he walked from one workstation to the next, looking over the officers' shoulders as they finished the last checks before the ship could get on its way. One of them, a sous-lieutenant, stood up from his console and briskly walked up to the captain.
"Monsieur, the shuttle that had arrived for Capitaine Cabbard has left the hangar and is on its way to Dijon."
Laurent smiled at the young man and said, "Bon, then -"
"Capitaine, Cabbard is on the shuttle," the sous-lieutenant interrupted him rudely.
For a moment, Laurent just stared at him, blinking. Finally he said, "Quoi?"
"Look for yourself, Monsieur," the junior officer said and pointed at his console nearby. The captain did so, and indeed the shuttle was sending a written message that Tristan was onboard.
"Sous-lieutenant, hail that ship," Laurent spoke slowly. "I want to know why my second-in-command left the ship without notifying me."
"Oui, Capitaine."

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Olivia Sable