Posted by Ensign Ashlyn Trenton (Security Officer) in Side Sim: Unsettled Minds: Arrival
Something doesn’t feel quite right, there are just too many people in this shuttle. Everything is packed in here so tightly that it would be easy to suspect Ashlyn if not for the fact that her hands were on Sharah’s shoulders to keep their heads from slamming together. Which unfortunately means someone else is touching and that is probably less comfortable than at least knowing who was doing that. Not that there was much choice, the number of people in this shuttle would make any engineer’s head spin. How did they get into this position in the first place? Memory is fuzzy, can only remember there being so many people getting into the shuttle that four onboard security had to help force the door closed.

The shuttle lurched when it was dumped out the bottom of the ship, destined to take these graduates to…the exact same ship. Literally, same size, same layout, almost the same soul! Ships have souls. That sounds right, moving on! The only real difference is the people, and they were about to add seven…ty five more to it! How did they get so many into this one shuttle? Why not send more than one shuttle? Why not send the whole ship and teleport people across? Instead, they are stuck here to wallow in each other’s sweaty musk as the crushing number of people begins to heat the interior like an oven. Or maybe it’s because they are traveling so close to that star? Why are they so close to th- Oh hey the ship has arrived, or did they arrive? Why isn’t this more clear? It would be better if everyone would just quiet down though. It sounds like every person in the shuttle is trying to talk to them all at once making it impossible to hear just one person.

The purple shuttle…wait…since when did these shuttles come in purple? Well, the bay chief doesn’t seem to be surprised by this so maybe it’s normal? Oh wait, that isn’t the Shuttle Bay Chief, that’s the Chief Engineer, and the Captain, and the Second in command, and the whole crew? The shuttle bay isn’t that big, how does everyone fit? Why is everyone here? The Captain moves up to the shuttle with a big bar that has a ring at the end of it and with some effort, manages to somehow attach it to the top of the shuttle above the door. He tries to turn the ring for a long while then gives up. “I’ll be back, I have to go fix the computer.” The Captain casually wandered off like he hadn’t just been straining to turn a giant metal key. The XO is the next to try the key and with barely any effort, turns the metal bar and opens the door like the lid of a sardine can. Several graduates flop out onto the floor like fish flopping about trying to find water…which they do by flopping their way out of the Shuttle Bay and into space…to the applause of the rest of the crew.

This is clearly wrong, none of this makes any logical sense, that graduate has a sandwich that is revealed to be filled with peanut butter when some drops out the bottom. Why? Why a peanut butter sandwich?

Somewhere else on the ship, the Shuttle Bay Engineer startles awake in a cold sweat. Never had he seen so many energetic graduates coming out of the shuttle in his life. He struggled to catch his breath and let out a sigh, deciding it was better to get some water. He activated his replicator and took a long sip of the refreshing liquid, letting out a content sigh. He really did enjoy the simple things in life. He turned and to his horror, there they were. The newest addition to the ship, an entire platoon of Ashlyn Trenton! All with that mad stare and that twisted grin that could only be a sign of true insanity! They all spoke at the same time as a form of greeting, but the noise was too much, he couldn’t process any of what they were saying. Only one maintained her silence because she was eating a sandwich that dripped peanut butter onto his floor. Never before had he considered a nut crushed with oil to be so terrifying!

Then Sharah Fayth wakes up in a start, looking to her side she finds her friend, Ashlyn Trenton, sleeping peacefully, nibbling on her pillow. That is when the realization hits her, “The Conference of Trenton never sleeps.”

• Ensign Ashlyn Trenton
  Security, USS Europa

Sharah shook her head to clear it. What was that? That was the most bizarre thing she had ever…Oh wait… After a moment she realized it was Ashlyn’s head messing with her sleep. Sharah must not have been in a deep sleep yet, and Ashlyn’s thoughts had tumbled out everywhere and Sharah’s brain had tried to make sense of what it was ‘hearing.’ Sharah was going to have to talk to the doctor about something to help her sleep if she was going to be hearing Ashlyn’s dreams. Sharah thought back over their arrival earlier that evening.
~*The shuttle ride had been hard. Sharah spent the whole time trying to find a way to ride over the waves of the thoughts pounding at her, but everyone on the shuttle was far too excited, nervous, and boisterous. Then they got to the Europa and it was a slew of minds she didn’t recognize and didn’t know the rhythm. Ashlyn tried to help but her “conference” was more than Sharah could process at the time. She didn’t say anything though because she knew Ashlyn was really trying to help. The worst came when, out of instinct she reached for Joseph’s help and he wasn’t there, he was too far out of reach. She’d felt like a half ton weight had been dropped down on her chest. She forced herself to breath and reminded herself, rather forcefully, that she had promised to take care of herself. She was going to stop this craziness right now.

En Fayth, Doctor