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Posted on Thu Jan 26th, 2017 @ 4:18am by Captain Daniel Westphalen & Lieutenant Trei Jansum

692 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Rebuilding
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: Before Launch

A dark man appeared on the transporter pad, taking in the vista before him. Soon, he would be responsible for most of this.

Stepping off the pad, he took his duffels and headed towards his quarters. The ship seemed even smaller on the inside. Everything was cramped, almost claustrophobic. He had become used to larger ship classes for most of his career, and even the Prometheus class Archimedes was larger than this.

Reaching his quarters, he was a little dismayed to see how small they were. He had a replicator (of course) but his kitchen was much smaller, much to his chagrin.

Why couldn't they make the kitchens bigger at least? he grumbled to himself. He saw that his other possessions had been transported over, presumably with his motorcycle. Humans were a little odd at times, but they had had some fun inventions.

Stowing his bags on his bed, he started for the bridge, hoping to get through this assignment without screwing up too much. That was one of his biggest flaws: He took things too far sometimes and became reckless. Those two men will always haunt him.

He stopped outside the captain's ready room, and sounded the chime.

"Enter," the British baritone bade. Daniel had his eyes trained on his terminal, finishing the last bit of system checklists prior to launch. He tired of constant repetition of checks and re-checks, but he accepted it as a matter of course. At the chime though, he turned his chair toward the door, waiting expectantly.

Trei entered to find a man not exactly in his prime, but not much past it, and to Trei it said that he would be a man of action, rather than some of his previous captains who, in their advancing age, had become somewhat more reluctant to stand firm.

"Lieutenant Trei Jansum, reporting for duty."

"Welcome aboard the Aurora," Daniel stood, offering a hand to the lieutenant. "I've heard quite a bit about you," he said warmly.

Trei stepped forward and shook the man's hand, then stepped back a step or two. "Thank you, sir. All good things, I hope?"

"Mostly. A few mentions of an incident involving disobeying orders. Something I admit I was concerned about. But a few things caught my eye when you came across my desk for approval of assignment - first, that you're constantly volunteering for duties, and second, that you aren't seeking to make a name for yourself. You buckled down and did the work. I'm not going to pretend that your time on the Aurora will be action-packed, since most of our time is spent performing surveys and research."

Trei had to visibly stop himself from shuffling his feet. "Yes, sir. I was young and stupid, thinking about what kids think Starfleet is about rather than what it actually is. I've since learned what it really is: learning about people, helping people when they need it, and not going in phasers firing. It's more about friendship than battle." He seemed to stop himself from squirming for a moment, regret plastered across his face. He then put it aside and joked, "If there really will be little for me to do it's a good thing: it means there are more friends than assholes."

"In general, that tends to be the case," Daniel said with a small smile. "Nevertheless, the last XO of the Aurora rose from the security chief, so I can say that if you're willing to get your hands dirty, that this will still be a rewarding post."

Trei smiled. "I think I can manage, sir. If it's such a mess, perhaps I should get started?"

Daniel chuckled. "We're still in dock for a few more days. But by all means. I'll expect a security departmental report prior to launch."

The Betazoid nodded. "You'll have it, sir."

The captain nodded in return, satisfied. "Then dismissed." He turned back to his screen.

Trei headed out, making a mental list of things to do, and headed towards his office. He thought he could like it here.


Captain Daniel Westphalen
Commanding Officer
USS Aurora

Lieutenant Trei Jansum
Chief of Security
USS Aurora

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