The New Arrival

[Ensign Doherty]

The Starfleet Academy, despite being a consistent source of strain and hardship for the Minnesota native had, in the last few years become home. The well kept lawns, the bustling students rushing to exams or leisurely strolling back to their dorms had become a welcome and comforting site. So it was with an understandable mix of melancholy and excited trepidation that the young Ensign carried his few belongings to the teleportation building of the Academy. Normally, a class would take a shuttle to the large craft waiting in orbit over his blue planet, but Michael had only just gotten his orders confirmed, and his enlistment aboard the U.S.S Enterprise finalized. As such, there were no waiting vehicles to shuttle him to his new habitat, and he instead had to be "beamed up" to the craft using the teleporters. It wasn't that he was scared to be broken down at an atomic level and mailed to a computer floating in space. By all accounts it was the safest form of travel in use today, he just really really wished he could have made that shuttle.

With a deep breath he entered the building and informed the receptionist of his name, rank and purpose before giving his serial number. A few nervous moments later his orders were confirmed and he found himself standing aboard a large platform, in front of a polite if unenthusiastic engineer operating the controls. The room was quiet with the exception of the subtle humming equipment and the sound of his own anxious fiddling with the strap of the duffle bag he was using to carry his belongings. The small town boy made sure to keep his eyes on the floor, or the engineer or the ceiling, but he refused to look at the door, or the glass viewing window behind the technician. He had always been friendly, had made a number of acquaintances, but what few friends he had accumulated had already shipped out, and those that remained he seriously doubted would be here to see him off.

"Are you ready Ensign Doherty?" came the bored sounding voice of the teleporter technician.

Without well wishes or support the Ensign sighed, adjusted his uniform casually, and nodded.

"Very well." he said before looking up at Michael as if the Ensign were a malfunctioning machine," Don't look so nervous, just close your eyes, count to three and you'll be aboard your new home. Good luck, Energize"

He wasn't sure if the warmth in his face or tingling in his stomach was normal, but heading the mans advice he closed his eyes pushed his second thoughts away, and counted to three. He didn't even have to try not to focus on the swirling light that surrounded him in the moments before his arrival aboard the Enterprise.

Lifting one eyelid experimentally he caught a glimpse of the Enterprises Transporter room. it was, shiny, to say the least. He had to clear his throat before addressing the the highest ranking individual in the room.

"Ensign Doherty, reporting for duty sir," he stated in the most confident tone he could manage. Regardless of the fact that he was obviously an untested crew member, he tried to present himself in a manner that hopefully conveyed professionalism and experience.

[Ensign Tsalea]

Transporter detail. Not her most favored task, but every engineer had to do it for at least a portion of their shifts. So she had made the transporter room her workstation for the day. Her work itinerary was settled to the consol on her left and her data pad and stylus were settled atop it. She had been going over a few calculations when the order for a beam up came through. She punched in the numbers and confirmed it on her end. Giving the go ahead, she alerted the senior staff that they had a new arrival coming aboard.

Not sure who would show up, she began processing the transport, punching in the coordinates on her end and kicking the transporter pad online. Linking up with the one at the Academy she rolled her eyes at how routine it all was. She’d much rather be working on the engines with the few companions she had made aboard the ship. Hell, she'd rather sit in sick bay than deal with routine, run-of-the-mill work. Had she not had the computations to work through she likely would have found even her vaunted Vulcan patience greatly strained.

She heard the doors swish open just as the pad lit up and she set to work completing the transport. Didn't want to miss any stray molecules. It might be routine fore her, but that was no reason to just go through the motions. She did have a reputation to uphold. Once she was sure that everything had gone perfectly, she alerted the Academy that he had arrived unharmed and set the transporter pad back into it's sleep mode.

With a nod to the young man now standing there with his duffle bag, a place she had occupied not so long before herself, she let him know it was alright to get down. Realizing she had yet to acknowledge the arrival of the senior officer, she turned and stood at attention, inclining her head in respect before lifting her eyes to see who had even arrived.

[Captain Kirk]

James had almost nothing to do these days. Ever since Nero had attacked Starfleet, all the NCC-1701 had encountered was empty space. That and desolate desert planets that all looked exactly the same as one another, making his job boring. All Kirk wanted was a little excitement, maybe discovering a new lifeform for once, or at least running into another Starship. The Antares Mk II was something he still needed to see, since the last time he saw an Antares, it was in hundreds of pieces floating through galactic flotsam.

New recruits.

That would be fun. Kirk pushed himself away from the desk that rested at the window in his study. He'd just been informed that he'd be getting several new crew members by an admiral whose name he'd already forgotten. James walked briskly through the pristine white halls of the Enterprise, heading for the transporter room to check out the new recruits. They were like shiny new toys after months of boredom to Jim.

He pulled a little on the end of his gold command vest, straightening it out as he entered the transporter room, to make a good impression as Captain. An Ensign was at the controls as the recruitsbeamed into place from several different academies. There was one of them. Kirk was excited for "recruits" not "recruit". Well, it was something anyway.

Good to see it Ensign. Well trained huh? He said jokingly to the Ensign at the controls. Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the USS Enterprise, you're gonna like it here. Although I was informed Ensgins, plural. Are there anymore of you? He asked with a smirk.

[Ensign Doherty]

The young crew member hesitated briefly at the noticeable tone of disappointment in his captains voice. Was there supposed to be more people with him? he wondered frantically as he glanced to either side of him, despite fully knowing there was no one else on the platform.

"No, sir." he said experimentally, casually shifting the weight of his duffle bag. “I’m the only one who was scheduled as far as I know. It’s possible they rescheduled.” He added hopefully as he tried to assuage any disappoint on the part of Kirk. Captain Kirk was, well famous, especially to the Starfleet students, and despite the fact that Michael was trying very hard to maintain his reserved appearance he couldn’t help but feel slightly awed at the moment. He wasn’t exactly a fan boy, but he was willing to give credit where credit was due, and saving the planet, was certainly deserving of recognition. He glanced impulsively in the direction of the technician and had brief moment of difficulty in looking away. If all the female’s on this ship were as attractive as she was then he was probably going to have a handful working security on this ship. Say what you would about the advancement of mankind, human beings were just as stupid and emotional when it came to love as they had ever been.

“I’m sure I will sir. I was told that I would be briefed on my duties, and the ship once I boarded the vessel. This my first assignment and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t eager to get to work.” He said as he returned his gaze to Kirk.

[Ensign Tsalea]

It was none other than Captain Kirk. She had yet to cross paths with the ship's Captain and she was already letting her boredom and annoyance with her assignment to the transporter room show in front of him. Fist the Commander, then the Ensign who gave her the pre-duty physical, and now the Captain. She already had an impressive track record it would seem. At least he had a sense of humor about the whole thing. At his joking tone she gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes and with a smirk of her own, turned back to the controls to pick up her itinerary while shooting right back at him. "The Academy will do that to you. I'm sure you'll have me broke of it in no time, however."

Actually he was right. There were a couple more transports, but they were later in the day. She waited for the new Ensign to finish speaking first before nodding. 'They were indeed rescheduled, sir. The others will not be arriving until later this afternoon." This left her with a four hour gap of complete and utter boredom. Perhaps she could run some of the maintenance checks while she was there. It would be a couple days early, but it would also save time.

Glancing up, she caught the look from the Ensign and barely stopped herself from arching a brow. Turning back to the Captain, she clasped her hands behind her back and waited patiently, her face the perfect blank Vulcan mask once again. She could understand the Ensign's words as she too had been excited to get to work. She was a propulsion specialist and the data pad she had sitting at her consol was full of complex computations for a theory she was working on. She had hit a wall with it however and in doing so had caused four warp core breaches according to the simulations.

After the Ensign had finished speaking, she addressed the Captain as well. "Sir, since there is such a gap, would it be acceptable if I begin the diagnostics? I can perform some of the less invasive ones before the next transport is scheduled. It is a far more logical use of my time than just sitting here. Unless you have something else you would like for me to do?"