Posted by Ensign Thollin bav Crirv (Engineer) in Side Sim: USS Hermes - En route to Starbase 157
The grass was cool and soft, and felt pleasant under his bare feet. Thollin looked up at the sky and closed his eyes, feeling the sunlight on his face and enjoying the sound of the birds singing. He took a deep breath of the fresh, clean air. Then he turned back toward the trees and walked slowly into the shade. On the grass next to the smooth trunk of one particular tree lay his boots and a PADD. The display was full of Tellarite characters, the collected works of Gral. He lowered himself onto the grass and leaned back against the tree. He then picked up the PADD and continued reading. The sun moved languidly through the afternoon sky and he read through several chapters. Then he heard the change in the ship’s background noise as they dropped out of warp.
=/\= Bridge to Ensign Thollin. =/\= He tapped his communicator,
“Thollin here.”
=/\= We’re approaching Starbase 157. We’ll be docking in ten minutes. =/\=
“Understood,” he snorted. “Thollin out.” He tapped the badge again and lowered the PADD into his lap. Twenty-eight days to travel to this station, but at last report there was still no word from the Athena. Perhaps he’d be able to convince the station’s operations department to let him fix their atmospheric recyclers? At least it would give him something to do to help pass the time. He pulled on his boots, then stood and stretched his arms, taking another deep breath of the fresh air. Then he took one last look around the arboretum. He was going to miss this place…
‘There’s always the holodeck,’ he mused. But deep down he knew it wouldn’t be the same. Simulated forests and replicated apples just weren’t any substitute for the real thing.

Thollin strode into the transporter room with a small bag slung from his shoulder.
“One to transport to the starbase,” he told the transporter operator. The young man nodded at him and set the coordinates. Thollin walked up the steps and stood on the pad. The door whispered open and a young woman walked in, holding a metal bucket.
“Ensign Thollin?” She asked.
“Yes?” Thollin replied. He had already seen a few of Ida’s apples peeking over the rim of the bucket.
“My friend, Ida, asked me to make sure you got this before you left.” Thollin set his bag down on the pad and walked briskly back down to the deck. He took the bucket and breathed in the smell of the ripe apples. He then snorted at the woman and climbed back into the transporter, picking up his bag.
“Energize,” he said gruffly. There was a moment’s pause and then the room dissolved in a flash of white, to be replaced by the transporter bay of Starbase 157 moments later. Home to the third fleet and a Federation repair dock, Thollin immediately sensed a change in the atmosphere. The air felt even more antiseptic than it had been aboard the Hermes, and the temperature felt cooler. There was a cough as someone cleared their throat.
“Ensign Thollin?” A male crewman asked.
“Yes?” Thollin responded clearly as he stepped down to the deck.
“Welcome to Starbase 157, sir. I’m crewman Baxter. We have assigned you guest quarters. Would you care to follow me?” Thollin nodded and followed the man into the corridor.
“Is there any word on the Athena?” Thollin asked.
“I’m not the best person to ask, sir,” Baxter replied. “Scuttlebutt is there was some sort of anomaly. A team from the Athena are aboard the station and investigating it now.” Baxter stepped into a turbolift.
“A team from the Athena?” Thollin asked in surprise as he followed the crewman. “How did they get here?”
“As I said sir, I’m not the best person to ask. Deck thirty-seven, section fifteen.” The lift hummed in tune with Thollin’s racing thoughts. The lift stopped and Thollin followed Baxter down another corridor. “Here we are, sir.” Baxter tapped the control pad and the door whispered open. “If you need anything just use the comm panel. The computer can direct you to any of our station’s facilities.” Thollin snorted at Baxter and walked into the room.

–Thollin, Eng.