Story: The Lethe, pt. V

Dobbins walked up to the podium at the front of the room, amazed at how real the synthetic mahogany exterior felt. The boys at fabrication had outdone themselves on this one. Like the conference table, it had touch-sensitive controls and the ability to automatically interface with handhelds. Dobbins had just enabled the main controls and initiated the interface between the main computer and his handheld when Commander Brackers and Lieutenant Samuleson walked into the room, discussing the latest developments in weaponry.
Their conversation continued as the remainder of the senior staff filtered in. Marquél, Ella, and Sawyer all came in together, discussing something about the finer points of living in space with family members. Zhang entered alone, head down, reading something off of his handheld. Finally, at 0959, everyone arrived at the conference room, with the exception of Skylar, the helmsman. Right as the chronometer on the wall read 1000, he sprinted in, a half-eaten doughnut in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, and the top two buttons on his gray uniform still unbuttoned. He hurriedly shoved the rest of the pastry in his mouth while almost simultaneously gulping the drink. Hurriedly discarding the cup in a reprocessing bin, he dropped into the seat next to Marquél with enough force to cause it to rock backwards.
Marquél rolled her eyes at Skylar’s finish. She appeared to be about to make a comment when Dobbins beat her to it. “Nice of you to join us, Mr. Skylar. You made it in time, I see. Is it normal for you to make such a dramatic entrance?”
“Uh, no, sir,” Skylar replied in a voice that sounded far too contrite to be entirely sincere. “I was just up a little late after the party last night; I couldn’t sleep,sir. Too excited about our first mission, I guess.”
To Dobbins eye, Marquél appeared to suppress another wisecrack, instead settling for a slight sigh of irritation.
With his staff assembled and the almost-tardy Skylar sufficiently chastised, Dobbins began the briefing. He called up on the holographic display the image of an old starship.