It's My First Day

Posted on Sat Feb 11th, 2023 @ 12:05am by Ensign Quinn Alka-Sutton & Lieutenant Alexis Ryan

Mission: Wrath of the People
Location: USS Athena, Science Lab 2
Timeline: MD-05
1455 words - 2.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Quinn had never been on a ship this size before. Even during the shakedown cruises at the Academy, they had never set foot on a vessel larger than a Nova-class and even that barely counted as eight decks. At fifteen decks, the Athena seemed gigantic by comparison. And getting around was confusing - according to their orders, Quinn was to report to Lieutenant Ryan, the chief science officer aboard the Athena, but there was one problem.

They were having trouble finding the lieutenant.

"Computer, this is Ca - I mean, Ensign Alka-Sutton. Please locate Lieutenant Ryan."

There was a chirp and the machine voice replied cheerfully, "Lieutenant Ryan is currently located in Science Lab 2."

"All right, that makes sense. Now... computer, where is Science Lab 2?" A series of lights lit up on the wall of the corridor, leading... to a door no more than thirty feet down the hallway. Well, that was lucky at least, the young officer thought, touching the right ear lightly. With a sigh, the young ensign followed the lights down the corridor to the lab, the door swishing open with a quiet hiss.

Within stood a red-haired woman at a console working on... Quinn narrowed their eyes slightly, unable to make it out at this distance. Well, it was likely none of their business anyways. Quinn cleared their throat, "Errr... Lieutenant Ryan? Ensign Alka-Sutton reporting for duty?"

It was rare to find the Science Chief outside the central hub, just as it was unusual for her to be alone mid-shift. As prone as any senior officer to chronic overtime, Ryan usually reserved any independent work for the hours after she'd clocked off, but here she was, staring down at a terminal in a lab entirely devoid of other personnel.

She didn't jump at the voice behind her, but there was a moment where she appeared to freeze.

And then, several taps removed whatever she'd been reading from the screen and the Lieutenant turned around, mustering a fairly typical open expression, calm and controlled, for the new arrival. "At ease, Ensign. Welcome aboard."

Quinn gave a slight smile and nod, "T-thanks, Lieutenant. Sorry I'm a little late... I got a little lost trying to find uhhh..." They gestured around with the PADD they held in their hand, "Well, everything kind of, I guess. It's been something of a hectic week with everything happening at the..." The half-Bajoran frowned slightly, "Er, at the Academy."

They glanced down at the PADD again, "Err... my orders said I should report directly to you before the Athena departs for its next mission? And that I should brush up on the illegal trade of..." Quinn glanced down again, wanting to be sure they were reading correctly, "Chirrutian mud frogs? Which is odd because I swear I've never heard of those before."

The arch of a single eyebrow conveyed not so much disdain as an impressed sense of bewilderment. Ryan, never in a hurry to speak at the best of times, allowed the air to settle and the Ensign's rambling to reassemble itself in her head to form some semblance of coherent reason. To be fair, they'd caught her preoccupied and furrow-browed with her own confusion.

"Well, I hope your orders also gave you permission to settle in and find your bearings before you have to worry yourself with the machinations of frog smugglers." The Chief didn't smile but her eyes suggested she wanted to. "I didn't think I'd scheduled you for a duty shift yet."

"Yeah, there's room in here for -" Quinn frowned a bit, realizing it had been a joke. "No, I don't have have any duty shifts scheduled yet but... well, the Athena is my first posting and I'm excited to say the least. And my classmates always said I was... eager. Among other things." That was the politest way they had put it, at the least.

"Well, we don't reprimand people for enthusiasm around here, at least as far as I can tell." If anything, the ensign's exuberance was a nice change from the slightly-frazzled pensiveness of the rest of Ryan's staff. Long-term instability hadn't been alleviated much by being dragged into a dog-fight with Romulans and then the sudden change in captaincy.

For a second, her expression clouded over.

"Do you have any questions yet that I can help with?", she changed tact. "First deployment can seem overwhelming but it's quite likely that you'll start to feel like you've always been here after a few weeks." That had generally been her experience in any case and it never seemed to change with age. The calendar told her that she'd only been with the Athena for a span of time still technically measured in weeks. It felt like far longer.

Well, aside from the mountain of question about what happened at the Academy - but something told Quinn that wasn't exactly what the lieutenant had been asking about. "I think I'm just nervous, lieutenant. I thought I was prepared after the last couple years but something about actually being here..." The half-Bajoran reached up and lightly touched their right ear, focusing on the subject at hand, "No questions yet though I'm sure I'll have a million after my first duty shift - I'm just really excited to get out there and make a difference. Oh - unless you or the captain have specific protocols or processes you'd like us to follow that're different from standard then I should probably ask about them now."

"I think we may all be a little in the dark regarding our new Commanding Officer's preferences, Ensign." There was something about the very measured precision of Ryan's tone that utterly failed to give anything away regarding her personal opinion of the change in leadership. "As for me," Alex continued, never one to directly grandstand about her intentions, "all I ask is that you make a commitment to collaboration and learning your own limitations. Set yourself goals, be flexible, ask for help." She smiled faintly. "And don't try to be someone you're not." Sensible feedback, and nothing particularly profound, but it was exactly the same advice she'd been given when she first joined the marines. Granted, back then it had been phrased a little more along the lines of 'get over yourself, Ryan.'

The biologist gave a quick nod, "Right! I... I think I can do that. I was always told that no one else could be like me so obviously there's no way I could be someone else. I'm not sure I'd want to be someone else anyways because I rather enjoy who I am - and I am rambling again, aren't I? Sorry, lieutenant." This was definitely not the first impression they'd been hoping to give.

Nerves amongst the fresh blood were nothing new, but the Bajoran's ramblings nonetheless took Ryan back to a time where sorting herself out had taken more energy and intent than she'd probably even have energy for these days. "I do remember telling you to be at ease," she agreed, amused. "Why don't you take the time between now and first shift to familiarise yourself with the ship?" In some situations, she may have offered a tour of the Science Division itself, but Alex had a feeling the Ensign might spontaneously combust if confronted with too many unfamiliar faces at once. "And unpack. Take it from me, if you don't make time for that now, you may still be facing a pile of boxes in a few weeks time."

"Familiarising myself with the ship sounds like a good idea. I don't think it'd be very sound if I were getting lost once I get on duty..." The ensign gave a sheepish grin. "I understand what you mean with the boxes. Every time mom came back from deployment... Uhm, that's not important. I'll definitely take the advice though... sir."

"Off you go then," Alexis directed, mildly amused that the Bajoran was still standing there despite the implied permission to dismiss themselves. Though not in possession of any form of precognition, the Lieutenant could see herself having to repeat the instruction in future interactions. It was refreshing, however, to deal with eagerness and excitement as opposed to the frayed and weary staff she'd inherited.

Quinn stood for another moment before finally processing that they had, in fact, been dismissed. They gave a quick nod, "I'll keep an eye out for the duty rosters then. Nice to meet you, lieutenant - I... I look forward to working with you." They gave a smile, lightly touching their right ear before doing a very sloppy on-the-spot turn and heading for the science lab's door.