A New Job

Posted on Sunday July 5th, 2020 @ 10:39am by Lieutenant Commander Paul Sharpe

1,735 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: S1-A1-Ep. 1: Spectrophobia
Location: Starbase 47/Various
Timeline: Current

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After getting the news that his Captain was stepping down Paul knew that he would have to put in for a new position, so during a downtime period, he was in his quarters on his computer looking through what positions were available. As he scrolled through the options he caught sight of a position he had never thought to try out again after the last time some years prior, so he enrolled for a refresher course then began to pack his stuff, the ship had not long pulled into the nearest Starbase. The moment he could he had his larger stuff placed in storage and returned to earth for his refresher course, which for him would be an eye-opener as things had changed a lot since he was last in an engineering room. Back on earth, he stayed on Academy grounds while he reacquainted himself with engineering and the updated aspects, he knew that most of it would have to be learned on the fly, but the core basics he flew through. All too soon his refresher was over and out of the few areas he selected and he decided on a Miranda Class, he admired the fact that they were the workhorse of the fleet, but the ships hull and structure could only accommodate so many upgrades and changes before the ship would have to be decommissioned, serving on such an old class of ship would be very different for someone who has served on Galaxy, Prometheus and Akira Classes, but he figured a small ship would be easier to do engineering in, he wondered how he would feel being back in engineering again.

A week later he had booked a passage on a transport going to Starbase 47 where the USS Poseidon was due to dock thereafter its last mission and he would finally meet the new Captain, he was glad it was not a Ship Command position as he did not feel ready for such an event, so here he was looking out of the window as the transport approached the Starbase.

"Attention all passengers, we will be docking with Starbase 47 in half-hour, please have all your belongings and ID cards ready" came the pilot's voice over the tannoy sighing heavily he stepped away from the window and did as instructed.

"I just hope I do not almost blow the ship up this time, I must admit I never thought that I would find myself back in engineering, but one must make sure one has other avenues," he said to himself. Thirty minutes later the transport docked with the Starbase and it took only a moment for the walkways to extend and attach to the starbase docking hatches. Hefting his main bag and the other one he headed for the docking hatch, the transport was not packed, but then this was probably the downtime season as he was on the gangway between ship and starbase his small padd bleeped alerting him to a message, he would have to wait till he was in the arrivals area on the Starbase before he could check it. It was not long before he arrived in the Arrival and Departure area, he immediately went up to the security officer and showed his ID and was thus directed to the Transit Section where they would assign him some temporary quarters until his ship came in. Walking up to the desk "Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, hello I am told that you would be the one to see about getting temp accommodation! I am waiting for the Poseidon to arrive" he said.

The young female rating looked at this officer, she was a beautiful woman, but something enamoured her towards this senior officer, she thought that there was something gently about him. "Please wait a moment Sir, I will sort out your room for you," she said and got to work with all the forms and such to fill out, her feeling had gotten her into trouble before, this was why she was extremely nervous, the officer looked at her with a friendly smile. As Paul waited for his room assignment he did notice the look this young rating was giving him 'Oh great!' He thought 'Ever since I got married I attract the good looking single women!' He despairs he smiled at her "Crewman, I am flattered if my situation was different I might consider something, but I am a married man and quite happy with my wife. However, I do hope you find a partner to build a life with" he said and noticed her body language change and gone was the open friendly smile to a dutiful polite smile as she handed him his room card and directions.

'Smooth on the take-off, a little shaky on the landing' he thought to himself if the person was not called Somers or Kildare he had no trouble talking to them, but an attractive young rating taking a shine to him, he tended to put both feet in his mouth when he tried to let them down gently. He hid a sigh and gave a polite nod "thank you Crewman" he said politely and left the station and headed to his room. It only took him a short time to find his room and dump his stuff in there, then he was out again, and heading to the nearest Cafe, he wanted some real food, he approached a wall-screen and called out dining services and it pointed out a seemingly nice little human orientate Cafe, that served real human food, his stomach growled, so he headed that way via numerous walkways and to the Café that he had chosen.

Entering the little café he took a seat and a pretty young waitress came over to him ‘Oh what I would do if I was still single’ he thought to himself as he gave a smile to the waitress. He looks at the old fashioned menu and made a mental note to let his wife know of this place, she was a fan of old-world stuff. He scanned the menu and made his choice as he looked up at her “I will have the ham salad with the apple tart and some custard for afters and a post of tea please” he said. The waitress smiled as she nodded and took notes, then left to put his order in, while he waited his Padd bleeped, he pulled it out and pulled up the waiting message “so the ship is eight hours away, does not give me much time to eat and get my stuff, though I would have me a little longer!” he said to himself and sighed and could only imagine what a mess the engineering room was on the ship.

It did not take too long for his order to come to him, with a polite nod of thanks he tucked in, he found real food a luxury after having a lot of replicated stuff, one knew when you had real food as it had the proper taste, not a blandish taste like replicator food had. An hour and a half later Paul pays for his meal and compliments the chef and café and does a quiet burp after the waitress had removed his dishes, he must definitely tell his wife of this place, the question was would he remember. Still, with not much time remaining, he walked off his meal as he headed for his transit room. A half-hour later he enters his room and picks up his stuff, he only had two bags and a suitcase and a carry on bag. The other items were waiting at the station's outgoing cargo bay, he made a note on his Padd and sent it to the Cargo bay with the alert his ship was coming in and he wanted his stuff delivered to his quarters, now prepared he made his way to departures just as the tannoy sounded.

“All personnel waiting to board the USS Poseidon can do so in an hour, the ship is currently in docking procedures” then the tannoy fell silent Paul shook his head in resignation, the CO must be some commander to get here sooner than expected, he had horrifying visions of what the engineering room looked like and despaired. When he finally arrived at departures the stations catwalks were extending to the ship as it was securing from docking manoeuvres Paul took a seat and put away his personal Padd and got out his assignment Padd ready to hand to the Captain he had to admire the old hull, he had read up on the vast renovations the ship had undergone, but the Miranda hull could only be adjusted and strengthened to a point where no more updating the systems would work. He wondered yet again how much more life the ship had before the Captain was forced to ask for a more modern ship, but while he was its CEO he would do his best to keep the old girl running, he did not know what that was exactly, but he would do his best.

“The USS Poseidon had now docked, those embarking may do so, those disembarking may also do so,” the tannoy voice said startling Paul out of deep thought he tended to go into unwillingly, “son of a!” he exclaimed and picked up his carry on and walked towards the entry catwalk to the ship. He pulled out a modern version of a pager something he created, it was linked to only one place and that was Cargo on the station they notified him that his stuff will be waiting in his quarters as would the mini-fridge he requisitioned before arriving on 47. With this done he headed into the ship, a new chapter was waiting for him, he just hoped this assignment lasted longer than the last ones, but he could not be blamed for the former COs failing due to personal reasons, he was glad to be back in a yellow shirt he felt it suited him better than red, eventually, he entered the ship proper along with other new crew assigned to the ship, still with carry bag in hand he headed for where the Captain would be to report into him and see what would be waiting for him and the like, hefting the bag onto his shoulder he continued on with purpose.

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