First Impressions

Posted on Sun Jan 7th, 2018 @ 12:03am by Captain Remas McDonald

1,412 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: S0:1: What Is Past, Is Prologue
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: Utopia Planitia, USS Traveller refit dock. 1 year previous.

Loren wasn't nervous, or if he was, it was only a little. Meeting people, even superior officers, was something that came naturally to him. It was part of his personality. Still, he thought it prudent to make sure he looked his best. He glanced in the mirror finger, combing his hair. He brushed off an imaginary piece of lint and adjusted his collar. He smiled to himself as he admired if only for a minute his new rank pip.

His previous Captain had approached him rather tentatively about transferring to the Traveller. Jonathan York had started out by giving him all the negatives; leaving known space, new, unproven technology, being in harm's way, the possibility of never coming back. But Loren didn't see any of those things as negatives He felt rather neutral about the danger part, the other things he viewed as positives. The further he was away from Kiros Prime, the better, and this journey would take him very far away. So, he had jumped at the chance.

He'd been told that he was being promoted to Head Nurse, a challenge he was looking forward to, but not that, he was also being promoted in rank. He'd not found that out until he was aboard the Charlotte, his transport ship. The journey to the Traveller had taken ten days but had been uneventful.

He'd been on board his new ship just long enough to stow his gear and change into a fresh uniform. He checked his computer and found out the Captain was in his Ready Room on the bridge.

After checking on the best route to get there, he left his cabin and made his way to the bridge. Once there, he crossed to the Ready Room and pressed the chime.

The door opened and three Op's tech's left, pushing past Loren with what could only be considered a glower. The fact two of them were manhandling a chair out of the room didn't help matters.

"Ah, Lieutenant JG Finanahad. Welcome to the Traveller and the mess," a voice from inside the room prompted. Remas stood beside a collection of boards, glass sheets and held a padd in one hand. The ready room was a bare affair, with only the collection of items Remas was currently standing over. Outside the floor to the ceiling window, a view of a Work Bee manipulating a dozen cargo pods into position dominated the view.

"You'd think they'd let a commanding officer dictate the layout of his office, but apparently that's an affront to a small office of planners at Utopia," he muttered and turned to hand Loren the padd. "See if you can make sense of that? I can navigate a starship but instructions on how to assemble a desk seem beyond me."

Loren took the padd, if a bit reluctantly, "You're probably asking the wrong individual," he stated. "I'm a nurse, not an engineer. But between the two of us, we should be able to figure it out. I appreciate the opportunity to serve here, I won't let you down, I give you my word. Well, at least I'm going to do my best. I can't promise I'm going to be perfect."

"Then why did you apply for the Traveller?" Remas asked, picking up one of the large wooden pieces and leaning across to look at the padd. He then set it down on the floor. "We're going where no one has gone before, at least gone and come back sane. Our method of transport is experimental, its operation theoretical, and the dangers exceptional."


He stood back up, nudging the wood with the toe of his boot.

"Appreciating an opportunity and understanding the enormity of what you're now a part of our two very different things," Remas said, turning to look at the nurse out of the corner of one eye. He pointed to one wall, where hung the rooms sole piece of decoration. It was a framed piece of paper, written with ink and care, with a list of names.

USS Valiant.
USS Venture.
USS Horizon.

"Traveller could land on that list very easily. And I can think of no finer company in the hereafter than the explorers who came before us, lost out among the stars," Remas said with a smile. "Maker Of Ways put me here. What made you be here?"

"It intrigues me, Captain. The novelty of it, Starfleet going back to her roots of exploration. It's all new, all cutting edge and it's a great opportunity.I want to be part of that, part of history if that doesn't sound naive, I want to effect change and I can't do that on a routine assignment. Plus to be honest, my parents and I don't exactly see eye to eye and this gives me a legitimate reason to be away and not to have to marry the man they want me to wed."

"And here I thought Bolian familial hierarchy was something to be feared. I think this bit goes there," he nodded, poking the padd's screen and gesturing to one of the legs. "Well regardless of how this mission pans out, we'll be making history don't you doubt it. I think I've got half of Starfleet's High Command betting on three likely outcomes. Firstly we return with pride and knowledge, Secondly, we're never heard from again and become a cautionary tale around the Officer's Club. Or thirdly..."

The leg snapped into place, and Remas stood up, looking the nurse in the eye.

"We return with dire warnings having bought the Federation time to make peace with whatever power give them comfort," Remas said with a smile. "Warms the heart to know the splits about even on all three."

Loren smiled as he watched the Captain walk. Then when he'd finished speaking he asked, "That looks about right to the naked eye. Did you want me to help you turn the table upright and bolt it into place?" He took a few steps back so he could do just that if requested, "I don't know much about Bolian family interactions, but there are still arranged marriages on my world. I'm supposed to be royalty and we have our duties to perform. But that's all behind me now."

"By the way, is there a pool going? I'd like to bet on Option Number One."

"Wouldn't we all?" Remas mused and nodded. The two men knelt and turned the table over. "There. Only took a starship captain and a nurse to make it, but don't it look better for the work?"

He turned and extended his hand to Loren.

"It's a pleasure to have you on my crew, though a word to the wise. Nicknames stick, so I'd keep the royal marriage thing under wraps unless you want to be called Your Highness," Remas warned. "I served with the member of the royal blood of Sylbin's World. Someone larked about with the replicators so that every year, on her birthday, every order placed made a pair of cinnamon rolls. I'm told it's a Dirter joke, never got it myself."

Loren gave the offered hand a quick shake, he really didn't like too much physical contact but didn't want to be impolite. "I'm not sure I get it either, or that I want to try. But it's sound advice, I don't really want to get stuck with that kind of nickname or that kind of reputation. I'll keep the story to myself. I don't consider being royalty an honor and I think I'm there's about seventy-ninth in the line of succession. I won't be missing much. Good to meet you, sir."

"And you too Mister Finanahad. And who knows, when we return that number might be in the low teens. One of the first interstellar voyages my people undertook saw us leave a United Earth Government and arrive to a United Federation Of Planets. Lot can happen in the span of a voyage."

"I'm sure it can sir. I bet you have a lot of stories you could tell, I'd like to hear them sometime. Stop by sometime and I'll fix you a nice, non-replicated dinner sometime."

“I’ll hold you to that, even bring my partner along if that's not too much trouble?” Remas smiled, setting the instruction padd back down on the desk that gave an ominous creaking sound.

"It's not too much trouble at all. She, or he, are welcome. I'm sure I'll see you around sir."

 

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