Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Arriving at Shuttlebay

Posted by Ensign Kajhel (Security Officer) in Arriving at Shuttlebay

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in Arriving at Shuttlebay
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It had been a long trip. Just graduated from Star Fleet Academy, Kajhel hardly had time to say good bye to his classmates before already receiving his first mission. He was elated and excited. But it was a long trip from San Francisco to the USS Sentinel via three other Starfleet ships and four shuttle rides. Then, sitting in the fourth shuttle, leaving that last starship to go on the Sentinel, he could feel the presence of the Sentinel coming closer and closer, and the excitement in Kajhel’s body grew.

Finally, the shuttle arrived, and Kajhel departed the shuttle in shuttlebay. He moved his head around, trying to take in the way the shuttlebay was constructed, what objects and ships were there, and what people were there, and where… He sensed the many alien minds around him, but, the good Aenar he was, refused to use his curiosity to read their minds. Feeling their presence was enough. In a way, it made Kajhel feel safe, like he was part of a big family again. He smiled.

But now what? He knew he had to report to his department head, then do a medical evaluation, and then speak to the first officer. So much to do…

And there was a buzz of busy-ness in Shuttlebay.

For a second, he felt a bit anxious and invisible. What now?

– Ensign Kajhel (Security Officer)

Rand wasn’t familiar with the Aenear. She’d never met anyone. But she had read up and knew they were blind and extremely telepathic. That made her nervous. And that was horrible because she didn’t want this person to feel how nervous she always was or to find out her secret. She really really didn’t want to do this. It had nothing to do with the officer, she liked people even if she was extremely awkward, she just didn’t want them to know what she was really like…a total anxious mess.

She watched the shuttle land, power down and the access hatch open. She took a deep breath and tried to exude welcome and happy energy. How did one do that? She approached the new officer in security red, her boots clipping neatly against the floor of the bay. “Ensign Kajhel. I’m Ensign Rand, captain’s yeoman. Welcome to the Sentinel. If you have anything you’d like to carry with you we can get that, otherwise Chief Helpful will get your things taken to your quarters.” Helpful was the quartermaster on the ship and very efficient and had been around for a long time. The man was probably nearing retirement but loved the work. Heavy foot falls neared them with a feeling of calm and purpose. “Welcome aboard ensign. Anything fragile inside your crates?” Despite his age his voice was still deep and smooth.

Once that was settled Rand lifted her Padd, “If you can sign, Ensign. Acknowledgement of arrival and that your personal possessions arrived as well.” It was nitpicky paperwork that command insisted on, so Rand would make sure it got signed and filed. Did she need to show him where to sign? She didn’t want to assume and offend him or not help and offend him that way. Oh dear what to do?

Yeoman Rand

Kajhel moved his head in the direction of yeoman. He had learnt in his tween years in Paris that he had to move his nose in the direction of the speaker to make people understand that he’s actually listening to them. When among non-Aenar, that was his habit. It did not require much conscious energy to do so, but he was nervous now too, and feeling the nervousness of the yeoman made him feel even more nervous. He smiled for himself, thinking how they were both triggering one another, seeing the funny side in it. He took a deep breath. Humour is his way of calming down and defusing situations.

“Thank you! Very glad to meet you. It’s good to be here. I only have this one bag here,” he said, signalling to the rucksack he was carrying. He didn’t have many belongings with him, just a few pairs of “civilian” clothes, a small sculpture of his parents, and one of his best friend back home. The sculptures had the outlines of faces, so he could feel the faces or use his telepathic echolocation to see them. He already missed them. But he knew they were proud of him. Otherwise, the bag included some other objects of affection for him, like a few pebbles from Andoria, a stuffed ice-bore, which completely safe to touch but which would smell of his home… As a kid, he loved chasing ice-bores with his cousin and other friends – those were the good days.

When Rand asked him to sign, he laughed loudly. “I’m blind, I can’t sign anything like that.”

He dropped the bag onto the floor, and picked up his own PADD. It made letters stand out in relief so that he could read them through his telepathy. “Please just send it here to my PADD and I’ll sign it on my end. Would that be OK?”

– Ensign Kajhel (Security)

The relief was palatable from her that he had a solution. “I’m sorry, truly. I was told you were blind, but wasn’t given any information on any accomodations. Let me see…your PaDD isn’t connected to the ship’s systems yet.” Rand pulled open the storage drawer in her PaDD and ran a connector cable between his and hers and transferred the forms over. “Sign the first one and then I am also sending you a map of the ship, duty schedule, department roster, galley meal schedule, and senior staff roster.”

Kajhel glanced over the documents Rand sent. He now had a touchy map! And a schedule, flow charts, etc. It was good. He felt happy, as if he’s part of it all. It was exciting to be on board.

After that was done, Rand led the way out of the shuttle bay. “We’ll start with your quarters so you can drop your bag off.”

Yeoman Rand

“Thanks!” Kajhel exclaimed, and walked half a step behind Rand but also being next to her. She’d lead the way, and he memorized the way corridors would feel and smell.

Rand led the way toward the lifts. “Five lifts circle the inner ring of the ship reaching all 12 decks. Access ladders can be found to the right of all lifts incase the lifts aren’t working. You’re on Deck 8.” The lift arrived and stepping on Rand grabbed a handle, twisted, and gave the destination.

While walking, he turned to her, “So how long have you been on the Sentinel? Is there anything I should know – like – off record?”

– Ensign Kajhel (Security)

“Almost 2 years. I boarded at K7 when Sentinel was rechristened with the new Independence class.” Off record. “Cpt. Rogers has a background in tactical so you will see her a lot, she likes to do rounds of the ship so you never know where or when you will see her. She is very interested in her crew and can come off as intense. She’s a great captain though. Oh she has a cat. Black cat, super friendly and sneaky. Gets out a lot. So if you see her let me know and I’ll come get her. Name’s Willow. Cmdr Alden, our XO and CSO is a stickler. He has very high standards for everyone. He’s fair but he doesn’t put up with excuses. If you mess up, own it, and fix it. Don’t repeat. If you need help say so, and he will help you. His CSO office is on deck 9 but usually he is in the biology lab.”

Rand stepped off the lift when it came to a stop. “Chef Gorshin will ask what your favorite food from home is and he will make it. If you tell him nothing you will break his heart. He likes to cook for the crew.” She paused, “We were on lift 2. This is aft phaser control in front of us. Escape pods are every 3rd access panel on any deck. The gym takes up the forward section of this deck.” Rand turned left after checking her PaDD, “And this is you.” Rand had never paid attention before, but she was glad the numbers on the rooms were raised on the name plates. Most ships painted them flat, but it was a random aesthetic choice the designers of the specs decided on.

Yeoman Rand

Kajhel was grateful of the off-record notes from Rand. He felt like he could trust her. Maybe he’d made his first friend here today already. But then, maybe she’s just friendly to everyone? It’s her job, isn’t it? He decided to just wait and see. There was already so much happening. It’s all good.

“Thanks! I’ll remember all that!” He hoped he would notice Willow some time. Cats were the first Earth animal he noticed upon arriving in Paris as a kid, after his mother got a job at the Federation Council civil service. Curious little creatures, with tiny little legs. He’d never touched one though, only “seen” them blurrily through his telepathy. He never dared. He has too much respect for alien creatures, he wouldn’t want to impose on them. But he had a little desire that one day, when sitting down in mess hall, that cat would come up and jump up in his lap. He wouldn’t be startled (in his day dream; in reality he’d probably be terrified), and the cat would purr while he petted it across the back and belly.

“Happy to help. The cat is actually very friendly and very curious. But there is a lot she can get into and get in trouble. We try to keep her contained. I haven’t figured out how she activates the motion sensor on the door yet. She’s supposed to be too small.”

Was Rand telepathic? How did she know he was thinking of the cats? He had not consented to her reading his thoughts. But she was human, wasn’t she? She didn’t feel like an other species, but perhaps he was wrong. The only species he knew he had met that was telepathic was the Vulcan one, and Vulcans certainly had a special feeling around them, even though they say they have no feeling. They ooze of Vulcanness, you can feel it half a mile away. That sensation has a particular flavour, it’s like salt mixed with some ground spice. Yes, that’s the flavour of Vulcans in the room. The flavour of the presence of humans was more petrichor, with some hot sweetness to it, as if in a sugary steamy broth. At first, it was somewhat repulsive, when he was 11 and just arrived on Earth, but like many foods, it was an acquired flavour. Now he likes it. Rand’s presence gave it too, but with a small dose of awkwardness, masked with rigidity and structure. But that sense of rigidity and structure instilled peace and trust in Kajhel. No, she wouldn’t have violated him like that, and more so, she was most probably not telepathic. It must have been a coincidence, Kajhel concluded.

Perhaps curiosity would be the best, before he might accuse Rand of something. Perhaps she also likes cats.

“I was just thinking about the cat! What a coincidence!” he said with cheerfulness in his voice. “I understand then that the cat was on your mind too. Pray tell, how come?”

He opened the door. He felt the size of the room, it was much bigger than he had anticipated.

Junior officer quarters are half the size of the department head’s quarters in layout and contain a single twin sized bed, shower/bathroom sink, and a work area.

“Will I share this room with anyone?” he asked.

– Ensign Kajhel (Security)

“No, all junior officers billet alone. So you will have this to yourself. If there is anything you need for your quarters you can let me or Chief Helpful, our quartermaster, know and we’ll get it for you.” Which reminded Rand to make a note to see if they could get a console put in that did the same thing as Kajhel’s PaDD so he didn’t have to transfer everything to a PaDD first. Rand did, but that was because she was always on the go.

The feeling that that answer gave in Kajhel confused him. On one hand, he enjoyed the liberation, freedom of being on his own, of having his space, uninterrupted by other beings and creatures. For the past 3 years he had had a roommate in the Academy, a Tellarite, Bark was his name, who was awfully cheerful (almost annoyingly so) and somewhat messy. Bark had been allocated to a different fleet even. He wondered if they’d ever see each other again. They had promised to stay in touch, but would they? None of Kajhel’s Earth friends from his tween years on Earth ever stayed in touch with him after he moved back to Andoria. It was just the way, we fade away from another when geography is our enemy, as his father had said.

“Thank you, once more,” he said, with nostalgia in his voice, from the memories of his long-lost childhood friends and the not knowing whether his friend Bark and he would stay in touch or not.

When he was ready they took the lift to deck 2. “Torpedo and probe maintenance, storage, and control are up here. Escape pods are configured differently here than the rest of the ship because of the torpedo tubes and space they need. They are marked,” Rand pointed out one of the life pods and the label on the access hatch. Then Rand waited letting Kajhel explore a bit on his own and talk to any of the other officers on duty at the time.

Yeoman Rand

Rand was an excellent guide. She was so kind and patient with him. He tried to take it all in, memorize the details Rand gave him. It was a lot to take in. The ship was so clean, so sterile, that it was hard for Kajhel to find connotations as to what belonged where. Usually, something would have a little smell, a change in temperature, or something interesting across the echolocation, but the ship was annoyingly clean. It frustrated him a little, but he was certain people would be understanding of him. People always have. Why would the present be any different?

He moved his hand across the panels, and that comforted him. Ah, they have a particular feeling! Different uses of materials within panels, different sensations of temperature, texture and so on. He would figure this out. No one’s an expert on their first day.

“Will you introduce me to Mr Anders? I have been told to report to him. I’ve also been told to report to Sickbay for a medical evaluation. Which one should I do first? Or maybe we have more on our tour first?”

– Ens Kajhel (Security)