Welcome Aboard

Posted on Tue Aug 6th, 2019 @ 5:19pm by Lieutenant Luke Osswell & Lieutenant Xenia Windsor

2,029 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Mission 2 - Love ORION Mistaken
Location: Outside Transporter Rm2

Xenia walked off the lift, her face in a PADD. She was barely aware that she had passed someone taking her place in the turbolift. The detective novel was good, especially if it held her attention as she was heading to the Crew Lounge. There was an accompanying holonovel, an interactive continuation to this one, that she wanted to give a try. The antagonist was truly devious, and yet, relatable, making for a reader with opposing emotions. And now that she was getting to the end, she wondered what his fate was.

She looked up from the PADD just in time to not run into a guy coming out of the...was that Transporter Room 2? That meant she was on the wrong floor. How had that happened? She was trying to replay her journey, whem she realized the guy, with bags in his hands, was talking to her. "I'm sorry! Who are you looking for?"

While Luke materialised in Transporter Room 2 of the USS Legacy, he just saw the Transporter officer leave holding a box of cargo, otherwise the room was empty. Hmm..., Luke thought, no grand welcome for the Assistent Chief of Security then.... Ah well, he could find his own way, or so he believed he could. He grabbed his PADD out of his backpack again, ready to use it for directions if he lost his way.

Just as he walked out into the corridor, he nearly bumped into a woman who appeared buried in a PADD. Interestingly, he recognised her face from somewhere. He quickly glanced back at his own PADD, and saw a picture of the same woman staring back at him, next to a bio from the crew manifest that he had been looking up earlier. What an amazing coïncidence!

"You must be Lieutenant Xenia Windsor," Luke repeated after she hadn't heard him the first time. Pointing at his PADD for her to see the crew manifest on it. "I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade Luke Osswell, I just beamed aboard. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand in greeting.

Xenia grinned as she shook his hand. This one did his homework, or he was a keener. And given that he was giving her his entire rank, she was leaning toward the latter, though she still reserved judgment. Either way, she was amused. "Nice to meet you too, Lieutenant Junior Grade Luke Osswell. I am merely the head pilot for this large tin can." She said the last with affection. "So you can be at ease. Welcome aboard the Legacy, though. You are probably going to be looking for your room assignment from the XO, and her office can be found on Deck 3." With official information out of the way, she moved to talk more personal. "So, what ship are you transferring from?"

Luke grinned back and her 'large tin can' joke. "Actually, the ship being reconstructed out of remnants from the ships destroyed at Vulcan was an inspiration to me. I've never forgotten how beautiful Vulcan was when I was there, and will never forget the friends I lost. In fact, that connection was the entire reason I applied to the USS Legacy in the first place."

Making a mental note of going to deck 3 after, he replied to Xenia: "I wasn't posted on a ship. I was on Earth babysitting the Chief Minister of India, but she travelled a lot, so I got around. I've been to some amazing places, but I wanted more room for personal and professional development, so I started looking for other postings, found the Legacy, applied for the position of Assistent Security Chief, and here I am." He finished the last bit in a Tadaa! kind of way.

"And you? What ships have had the pleasure of your presence?"

"Well," she started, "I was originally placed on the Regulus when I started in '54. After 3 years, I was assigned to the Hood. A year and change later, we were in spacedock when the events at Vulcan panned out. Most of the usual crew was unable to get there quickly enough, and she was stocked with brand new graduates." Her voice sobered. "It was a far reach to send so many newbies up against something so powerful. The regular crew was spaced around wherever they could fit in here and there, until I was stationed here a few months ago. Now I serve among the remnants of my ship and the others destroyed there." She looked around them, rededicating herself to finding out if anyone know which parts belonged to which ships.

Luke listened to Xenia's story, like him, she also had a connection to the ship and what happened at Vulcan. He felt she might need a hug, but he kept a professional distance. Instead he tried to comfort her with words. "The Legacy is a special ship, and it is my honour to serve aboard her with you. We can make sure history will not repeat itself, and build a better future."

Xenia mentally shook herself out of the memories. She hadn't meant to steer the conversation in such a morose direction, and she certainly didn't intend to keep up that tone. "Oh, come on, Lieutenant," she said with feigned annoyance, her usual grin returning. "Don't go gettin all sappy on me now." They arrived at a lift, and when it opened she bounced in, and turned around to face him. "So, are you familiar with Legacy's layout or do I need to show you around?" Her tone was not condescending at all, despite the wording, but rather playful. After all, sappy or not, she agreed wholeheartedly with his sentiments.

Luke switched his brain back to playful, indeed, a few seconds of sappiness was more than enough for a first meeting. He stepped into the Turbolift after her. "I can't think of a better way to get to know the ship." He answered smiling. He realised he still held the padd in his hand with her bio on the display. He switched it off and put it back in his backpack. He then noticed she still held her padd, and asked: "So what story were you reading?"

Xenia looked at her PADD, suddenly remembering it was still in her hand, but before she answered, she directed the turbolift. "Deck 26." When the it started, she returned to his question. "Suspense novel, called Not on Her Watch. It's been pretty good, especially when I almost ran into you. Sorry bout that."

Luke smiled. "That's okay. I love to read myself, and totally understand where you're coming from. I once ended up on Mars because I had forgotten to get off at the moon. Just one more chapter, I thought to myself." Luke grinned as he remembered. He was supposed to visit some friends at the Lunar Colony, but ended up making a bunch of Martian friends instead. All in all, it wasn't that bad of a weekend, he thought to himself.

The turbolift doors opened. "So, what's here on Deck 26?" he asked.

She stepped up behind him and stood up on her tiptoes so she could whisper in his ear, "Ghosties..." After letting that hang in the air for a moment, she giggled and slipped past him out of the lift. "Actually, there are some engineering sections, and fabrication facilities. It's not the bottom of the ship, but the only other areas lower are cargo bays. I don't imagine you need to see another cargo bay."

Goosebumps formed on his neck. Luke did always enjoy a little mischievousness now and then. He grinned at her joke and followed her out of the turbolift. "Well, I don't know, I hear cargo bays are often 'ghosties' favourite hide-outs, you know, them being dark and deserted most of the time. Makes them ideal for suspenseful storytelling... Speaking of which, Luke observed, "seems like this deck is quite deserted as well..." He paused, then, as if they were in a haunted house: "If you can navigate us through these dark and forgotten corridors, I will keep you safe from the ghosties..."

She grinned at him as he spoke with a little side-eye, glad that he stepped into playing along so easily. As she answered, she clasped both of her hands together and held them close to her. "My hero!" With that proclamation, she burst out into laughter, the sound echoing in the empty passageway. "C'mon. This and the next few floors are kinda boring. As we go further up, we'll get to the more pertinent areas.

"As my tour guide, I'll take your word for it," Luke grinned. As they walked, Luke committed their route and any peculiarities he saw to memory. It was a habit he had picked up during his years as a security officer. You may never know when it came in handy, and indeed, it had proved its usefulness once or twice in the past. "So," Luke started saying, "apart from reading and giving tours of the ship to strangers, what else do you do in your spare time?"

Xenia stopped dead in her tracks. 'Giving tours of the ship to strangers' was indeed what she had been doing. He had known her from the ship's manifest, but that wasn't exactly classified information. She looked at him with a brow raised. "Do you have your boarding papers? I'm realizing why I don't usually greet people." Bollocks, she was in trouble if he didn't belong here!

Luke grinned and gave her a wink. "No worries!", he said and quickly grabbed his padd again, typed in some commands and showed all his transfer files on there. As he saw the relief in her eyes, he smiled. "And I think you are great at greeting people. I've never had such an impromptu tour and you've made me feel most welcome, my dear Lieutenant." He made a show of bowing.

She was indeed relieved. "Thank you," she responded with a blush. "I apologize for being so abrupt, but your question reminded me that I didn't verify what is probably usually verified upon arrival. You know, wouldn't want a Romulan sneaking aboard or anything." She managed to grin and roll her eyes at the same time. She noticed he was still carrying his bags though. "Do you want the rest of the tour, or would you like to put your belongings away?"

"Well, actually, that was the job of the officer on duty in the Transporter Room, who I just saw running out of the door right after had beamed aboard." He paused and frowned a bit in contemplation. "I guess as Assistant Security Chief I should probably have a talk with him about that..." Then the frown disappeared as it was replaced by another warm smile. "I wouldn't want to keep you if you have other matters to attend to, but I enjoy your company, so I'm good if you are." He saw her looking at his backpack, wondering if it might be heavy for him, so he added: "I like walking and exploring, back in India I used to go hiking in the Himalayas every other weekend or so, with backpacks nearly three times as heavy. I guess I like the exercise."

She nodded, satisfied that she wasn't wearing the new guy down. And, well, if he liked her company, who was she to cut that short? With a smile she continued. "Alright, well, let's head up to the next level. Hopefully there are no ghosties there." She grinned wickedly at him as she entered the lift and turned around, waiting for him to catch up.

Luke couldn't stop grinning as he followed Xenia deeper into the bowels of the ship in search of ghosties. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed himself this much. He couldn't have hoped for a better welcome to the USS Legacy. He hadn't been on the ship for 15 minutes and had already made a friend. This was going to be a good time, Luke thought to himself, and he was looking forward to all the adventures awaiting him here.

RSS Feed