Transition
Posted on Sat Mar 1st, 2014 @ 12:12am by Commander Eliana Masters
Mission:
New Frontier
Location: USS Bellerophon
Timeline: Four hours after "Exposition"
Eliana woke with a start. She had forgotten where she was, and the unfamiliar sight of her own face staring back at her in the mirror on the nightstand startled her. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes to try and coax herself into a more alert state of consciousness. Sliding out of her uniform, the cool floor on her bare feet served as the proper stimulus to wake her.
“I am starved!” Masters announced to nobody in particular.
Still not formally an active officer, Eliana still had a great number of privileges that came with her pseudo-civilian status. One of her favorite ego-boosting activities was to roam the corridors in civilian garb, seeing if she could blend in as a simple civvie. More times than not, she was successful, and those occasions had helped her learn much about her crewmates in the past. Of course, the Bellerophon was not her final destination, but Eliana deduced that there was still some fun to be had. Besides, jeans and a shirt were just. . . better than uniform.
Unfortunately, people were far and few between on her walk from the living area to the general mess hall. Surprisingly, even the mess was far from full capacity. Only a few pockets of the crew were gathered eating, and those that had gathered seemed to be keeping to themselves.
Spotting neither Petra nor the man from operations that had welcomed them, Masters picked up a tray and began loading it with the most appetizing selections from the ship’s kitchen. Eliana always gave chefs the benefit of the doubt until they committed one of two fatal errors. As long as her food did not move and chocolate milk was available in the mess, the chef was a Michelin star holder in her eyes.
Masters found a quiet seat with her tray full of comfort foods and started to eat, staring idly out the window just as she had been when Bellerophon pulled into dock. Watching the observation deck on the station go by from the other side of the window, Eliana was somewhat surprised at the lack of time spent by the ship at the station.
“This seat taken?” A voice, male, not the one from before.
“No, have a seat.” The reply from Eliana came with a smile.
“Booked passage aboard the ship, huh? How far you headed with us?”
This immediately filled Eliana in on a few clues. Perhaps things were harder on the frontier than she had expected. If crews were running passengers back and forth to continue operations, times were harder than the recruiter would have the potential recruits believe. As an extension, it could also explain the understaffed nature of the ship, and this was just one ship out of hundreds.
It made sense. After all, Starfleet had been willing to look over her past to gain another officer.
“Yes sir, I have,” Eliana returned, noticing the pips on the man’s collar. “A few days more until we reach the starbase, after which point my friend and I will be disembarking.”
“Ah, such a shame. Could always use a pretty face around here. Things have been tough since the last Romulan raid came through. They’ve got ships re-purposed for things they were never meant to do, but hey, you gotta make do with what you’ve got right?”
“That’s the right attitude to have,” Masters smiled. “Eliana Masters, a pleasure to meet you sir.”
“David Parsons, no need for the sir. You don’t work for the same folks I do.”
“Right, David, like I said, a pleasure. Thanks for opening your doors to strangers like me. It helps a lot being able to cross the quadrant on a fast ship like yours.” At least her guise as a civilian was working.
“No worries Miss Masters. It’s the least we can do for the honest folk out here trying to scratch out a living for themselves. Even with no recognized currency in the Federation, there’s always an imbalance between the rich and the poor. We’re here to help the every man.”
“A noble cause. Every bit helps, especially with the instability in the region.”
“Yes, yes it does,” Parsons nodded, his meal going largely untouched. “Pardon me Miss Masters, I have to go. I appreciate you taking time to chat.”
“It was my pleasure. Good day captain.”
The conservation gave Eliana’s hyperactive mind plenty to think about as she finished the rest of her meal. Of course, it was foolish to trust any of the mainstream media sources, but perhaps she had not prepared herself for the reality of life out on the frontier. The intel she did have from her connections had informed her that much of the region was still in turmoil. The stabilizing force of the Federation had yet to take hold, despite the nearly four years that had passed since the Hobus incident.
“Ellie, you’re doing that thing again. Are you serious this time?”
“Everything’s fine Petra,” Masters smiled, her friend’s arrival lifted her spirits. “We’ve got a few days until we arrive at the base, so we might as well enjoy ourselves. I’m surprised you recognized me in jeans.”
“Trying to see if anyone is going to hit on the Starfleet officer?”
“You make it sound so . . . childish.”
“Because it is.”
“Then call me a child,” Eliana stuck her tongue out. As she did, the unmistakable pull of the ship changing speeds to a higher warp factor caused a shudder to pass through the framework of the ship. The streaks of light outside the window elongated even further as entire star systems passed by in the blink of an eye.
“Well child, I’m going to head back and get some sleep. You should do the same.”
“Yes ma’am, I’ll do exactly as you say.”
“Good. Pick up your tray before you leave.”
This time, it was Eliana who rolled her eyes.
[2 Hours Later, Transient Quarters]
“Interesting.”
If she was honest with herself, Eliana had to admit that she had yet to read over the complete details of her new assignment. As far as she could tell, many members of the crew would be new to the starbase, cycling off of an extended deep space mission aboard one of the mighty Excalibur class starships assigned to this part of the quadrant. It appeared as if the CO would be leaving the ship to head up the base.
There was always anxiety in the days leading up to a new experience. Even after three centuries of life, Masters still felt the same emotions as her human counterparts. Amongst her own people, she was just coming into adulthood, a fact that most humans could not comprehend on their own shortened scale.
Do I look like I’m three hundred to you?
She had asked the question countless times. Invariably, the answer was no unless the questioner was attempting to be clever. When it came down to it, Masters had grown up and made mistakes during her teenage years just like everyone did, expect her teenage years were more like her teenage decades. Now, a little bit older and a little bit wiser, she had finally joined Starfleet and had made peace with her life decisions.
“So new assignment, tell me all of your secrets.”
Eliana’s attention snapped back to the assignment at hand. Many pilots with her certificates and ratings avoided getting assigned to a station if they could at all help it. The allure of sitting at the helm of the newest and sleekest that Utopia had to offer was often too much to ignore. But, the way she saw it, none of those flyboys and flygirls could come close to the variety of missions that Ellie was likely to face in her new assignment. Chances were good that she would fly just about anything and everything that called that starbase home.
Despite her experience, station-life would be something new for her. Being apart from one of her best friends was only going to add to the challenge. Fighting back a wave of loneliness, Eliana realized that she would have to find a way to say goodbye to Petra.
That problem would have to wait until tomorrow.
Eliana Masters
Second Officer
