This is where the story of a drop emerging from a hail storm found her way bound to space. The name of a once courageous Canidin with a pure white pelt gets to narrate her story. Her name, you might ask? Alba Ayita Waban.

It all starts with her first posting onboard a starship, which she had once thought could only be bound to become a dream. By boarding a federation issued shuttle to what would become one of the greatest adventures for this sightless individual.

The 27 year old shepherd happened to be sitting patiently by the port side of the transport shuttle when it was time to abandon what had been the first posting she ever knew since becoming an ensign. Starbase 17, located in the Alpha Quadrant from a galaxy known as the Milky Way. There was a tight grip surrounding what appeared to be a snow colored pole with a red portion at the very tip, distinguishable as what humans had come to call a White Cane.

It was only the sound of thrusters which felt like a familiar melody to the junior grade officer. This meant a long passage leading towards a vessel as one few officers had gotten to experience before. Lt. Waban was as somewhat anxious, feeling static rush through every strand of fur scattered across her body. There happened to be a Trill ensign who had taken a seat right beside her. Ears silently shifting towards the sound source against those familiar leather seats she had grown familiar with.

While not being a really social individual, Alba could sense the tension in the atmosphere from the tight grip he had been providing the leather with. Her four digit traced the surface until a slightly smaller hand was reached. Face turning to where she could only assume he’d meet her sightless gaze half-way. A friendly smile pulling back on her hound features. This boy was a recent graduate from the academy about to begin his spatial adventure. One of which children looking at the sky through a telescope often dream about at night.

For a moment, Waban wondered if she had startled him. Her ears tilted back slightly, listening to the tiny changes in his breathing and the subtle creak of leather beneath him. He was nervous. Very nervous. She could almost feel it radiating from him through the contact of their hands.

“I apologize, Lieutenant,” came a voice that wavered with the raw, untested nerves of a freshly minted science officer. “It’s just… reading about subspace anomalies and stellar nurseries in a textbook back on Earth is entirely different from knowing you’re about to fly directly into one.” He shifted slightly, his breathing shallow, as he tried to mask the overwhelming scale of his newly realized dream. “I keep thinking I’ll miscalculate a tachyon field on my first shift and let the entire crew down. It is a lot of pressure for someone who has only ever analyzed simulated data.”

The smile almost faded from her face before that hand lifted to look for his shoulder and just resting a white paw. “Hey, it’s alright.” Her voice was slightly rough when burning down to a whisper. Experiencing the world through this kid almost made her feel small in the vastness of space. But this was her time to step up and make someone else feel safe. “We all need an anchor out here on our first deep space run. Consider me yours until you find your space legs.”

The hazel eyed Trill couldn’t help but thank her beneath his breath. Though adrenaline continued rushing through his fragile veins. As read on medical books, their skin was as much cooler than a human’s and something that had thrown the lieutenant off. But when he made the decision to talk again, Defiant looking ship came into view through the frontal viewscreen. Which meant they were about to dock beside a vessel known as the U.S.S. Wolverine.

Alba waved a gentle goodbye once the blast doors from the airlock were blown open. Not many people happened yo be currently walking around the repair bay. But without sight, it would certainly become a difficult task to report towards her newly assigned department head. She could hear the carpet beneath her boots before entering the work area, white cane rolling up front. By the moment in which the Canidin realized, happened to be a cold air vent right in front of her. An embarrassing move for the new girl.

With flattened ears, she turned around before finding one of the runabouts, leaning her back beside the familiar vehicle.

Lt. JG. Alba Waban
Engineering Officer
U.S.S. Wolverine - NCC-99199 (Brazen Class MK. II)