[Shuttlebay]
"=/\=Looking forward to it, captain. Congolese out./\=" Stafford had already landed, flipped off the comm, and logged out of the shuttle's computer.
The ground-pounders on the Flight crew were already fluttering around the shuttle, while the pilots looked on in tolerant bemusement of their deck bound brethren. When Stafford's cane made contact with the hard metal of the ramp an officer stepped forward.
"Welcome back to the Athena, captain," the young man said. "I'm here to escort you to the bridge."
"Thank you, ensign." Stafford replied. "This brings me back. I'm happy to be here--"
His reply was cut off by a flood of surprised shouts. Immediately, the majority of the Flight crew ran to the other side of the bay. Curious, Stafford followed them, his cane clicking along the flight deck.
He pushed his way to the front of the circle and saw Commander Torngate fussing over some spilled bio-neural gel. Sighing, Stafford tapped the bottom of the wooden cane on the deck.
"Ensign, I know the way to the bridge. Help out the commander here with his spill." Stafford said, snapping back into officer mode easily. He did so easily, despite the fact that he was not in uniform.
The young man, suddenly relegated from easy escort duty to clean up crew, obeyed, if a bit sullenly.
Stafford took one last look at the man with lieutenant commander pips on his collar and nodded. He knew Torngate fairly well, but Lafayette was expecting him. He would have plenty of chance to meet with everyone later.