Darklis .. technically preferring to be called Castle, stood in the lift as it made its way up from her quarters on Deck 5 to the Bridge. She took a deep breath and unballed her fists with effort. A full Lt. At 23. Now a department head in charge of almost a dozen others. The normally confident woman contained a certain nervousness with this undertaking that, while small, was a step ahead and up. Her parents were unhappy with her in her pursuits in life. Her siblings were cautiously supportive. Neither of them all trusted space. So why did she? Bouncing a little on her heels, the lift came to a stop and the doors swished open. Cooler air wafted in and she took in the bridge for a moment only, stepping in before the doors closed on her and making her look like a schoolgirl.

The bridge was different than any she had seen. Sunken rather than elevated she stepped down into it rather than up. It had a feel of weight to it, armored, even though the lines of it defied that impression. Glancing along the aft auxiliary consoles around to the forward support stations she frowned. She had found her cabin and dropped everything, making a change into uniform and freshening up, but couldn’t deduce which was ‘hers’. Hers. That was another misnomer. She served here. She didn’t own anything. She was part of the greater whole. The independent collective. A crew member. Still .. which was hers? Another time .. her eyes looked about. Nobody in the Captain’s chair. Not unusual as they were attached to a space station. A crewman with a basket of isolinear chips - seriously!? - was heading to the lift - he had better not be one of hers. She stepped aside and, as he looked up she mouthed ‘Commander Claire’? He glanced at her pips that still had their shine, and then nodded toward another woman bent over one of the rear consoles with another crewman. Engineering by the look of him.

Stepping down Darklis softly cleared her throat as she approached the Commander. “Commander Claire?” she said. Once she had her attention she continued, “Lt Castle reporting. Permission to come aboard?”
- Lt Castle, CSO