Strangely Welcomed Aboard

Posted on Wed Dec 3rd, 2014 @ 11:17pm by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Mackenzie

Mission: New Frontier
Location: Starbase 80 Docking Bay & Turbolift

Ethan stepped off the runabout. The door closing behind him. In front of him was a corridor approximately ten meters in length before intersecting with another corridor. He stopped after taking a several steps down the corridor and reached inside his bag that was held by a strap that rested on his shoulder.

He juggled around in his bag for a few seconds then pulled out a PADD from the bag. He closed the zipper on the bag and looked down at the PADD as the screen light up. Few lines of text filled the screen with the top line titled “TRANSFER ORDERS”. His eyes quickly skimmed through the rest of the information before turning off the PADD.

After reaching the end of the corridor he looked both ways as one would when crossing a street however in his case he wondered which direction would get him to the turbolift the quickest. The answer wasn’t a clear one as each corridor seemed to go on forever.

He sighed. “Well, so much for my welcome committee.” He chuckled at his next thought. “Hopefully, this starbase has a suggestion box. I might have to put one in for a welcome committee.” He shook his head ever so slightly. If someone was to see him they might think that he was slightly off. After all here he was talking to himself.

“Computer, what is the direction of the closests turbolift?”

“The nearest turbolift is 75 meters to the left of your current position.” A female computerized voice responded to his inquiry. “Follow the arrows on the bulkhead.”

Ethan followed the arrows that displayed on the bulkhead. He passed several more docking ports on his way to the turbolift. Each empty. It didn’t even seem like there were vessels docked at them. ”It must be a busy place… He thought to himself as he reached the turbolift. He waited for a few seconds after calling for the turbolift then the doors opened and he stepped inside.

He was the only occupant of the turbolift as the doors shut. The turbolift began moving after Ethan advised of which floor he wanted to head to. Leaning on the back wall of the turbolift he knew that it might take a few minutes to reach his destination.

As he traveled, the lift stopped several times. Various crewmembers and civilians joined him and disembarked on various decks. Approximately 30 floors from his destination the lift stopped again. The doors opened and an Ensign wearing a blue uniform joined him in the turbolift.

She was an attractive younger female. His eyes wondering ever so slightly as she stepped to his right turning his back to him. After a few seconds later the lift began moving again.

“Coming or going?” She asked as her head was turned in his direction ever so slightly.

Ethan looked down at his bag then back up. His eyes meetings hers. He smiled at her as he responded to her question. “Just arrived. Heading to report to the Commodore O’Shea.”

The young Ensign smiled back at him. “You must be a big deal if you get to report in directly to the Commodore O’Shea…” Her playful statement was followed by a wink.

Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle at her statement. He gently shook his head. “I don’t think that I am…”

She interrupted him before he could complete his statement.“Oh come now.” She turned around to where she was fully facing him. “Don’t under estimate yourself sir.”

Ethan found himself wanting to allow his eyes to wonder again but she was looking directly at him. It wouldn’t be very gentleman of him if he did so he just continued to look her in the eyes with a smile on his face. “Alright...maybe I am a little bit.”

“See, I knew it!” She said with a sudden excitement in her voice. The lift had stopped at this point and the doors began opening. She turned towards the doors. “Well, this is my stop. It was a pleasure.” She said as she took a step out of the turbolift. She turned around and smiled at him again. “Welcome aboard! I’m sure we will see each other again, sir.” She added as the doors to the lift closed.

“Thanks…” It was all he could muster up as the doors closed. The lift began moving yet again. The rest of the ride was very silent. Ethan was disappointed that he didn’t even get her name before she stepped off the turbolift. He hoped that the two of them would run into each other again.

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Lt. Commander Ethan Mackenzie
Chief Operations Officer
Starbase 80