Noah was tired. His marathon trip had started several days ago, back on Earth, when he had taken a few days to visit his family. The visit had been lukewarm, at best, typical for his family since he had joined Starfleet all those years ago. His parents always nodded politely when he told them of his adventures and missions, but their eyes told the true story of disappointment and lost connection. From there, he had hopped several transports to fly across Federation space and then entered a wormhole which blasted him tens of thousands of light years away from everything he had ever known. Now, he stood, bleary eyed from lack of sleep, on the deck of a shuttle bay in the Event Horizon Station wondering what the heck he was doing here.

“Doctor Astor, I presume?” a young ensign said in greeting as he approached with a smile.

“Yes, that’s me,” Noah replied as he shifted his duffel bag slightly on his back. He really wanted a strong cup of coffee or a nap but severely doubted either of those things would be happening on the small transport shuttle he was about to board.

“I’m Ensign Warren and I’ll be your pilot for the trip to the Manhattan. We are set to rendez-vous with her in about 4 hours,” the ensign said with a bit too much excitement in his voice for Noah’s liking. “May I take your bag?”

Noah nodded and handed his duffel over to the other officer before following him to the shuttle. As he settled in for the last leg of his trip he pondered again how he had ended up here. The promotion had been a slight surprise, but a welcome one. There had been some second thoughts when he saw exactly where he would be going but the opportunity to be on the front line of first contacts and potential medical research had won him over. Plus, there was really nothing keeping him in the Alpha Quadrant.

Ensign Warren had thankfully caught on that Noah was not interested in conversation and left him to his thoughts. He tried for a nap but he had never really been able to sleep well on tiny ships. They finally dropped out of warp and the Manhattan appeared before them.

The ensign stood and gestured toward the small transporter pad, “Apologies, sir, but this is going to be a drop and run type of situation. I have to get back to the Event Horizon as soon as possible so I’ll be needing to transport you over to the Manhattan. They are ready to receive you.”

Noah nodded, slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and stepped onto the transporter pad. “Thank you, ensign. I hope you have a great rest of your day…Energize.”

In an instant the shuttle dematerialized in front of him and was replaced by the transporter room of the USS Manhattan. He took a deep breath of the sterile ship air and readied himself for this new adventure.

Lieutenant Commander Noah Astor
Chief Medical Officer