Coming Aboard

[kyliegrasan]

Kylie sat in the shuttle, and looked outside of the window. Space travel frightened her, the thought knowing that one couldn't breathe in space. It scared her that the only thing keeping her from a certain death was a thin piece of window. She would have preferred to get stationed on one of the Alliance outposts, settling differences between civilians, but instead they send her off to the outer rim, to serve on a ship called the Esteem.

At times like these, Kylie wondered whether or not the five years of military university were worth it. Sure, the Alliance paid for her education, but at what cost? She had never longed so much for home. Persephone wasn't the best place to live in the 'Verse but right now, Kylie didn't want to be anywhere else but there. Home. To be with dad and Rade again.

Kylie lowered her head and closed her eyes. Rade... why couldn't he understand why she went away? Why did he never answered any of her letters, like dad did? She had been worrying sick about him the last five years. Knowing Rade, she could only hope he didn't get in over his head in trouble somewhere. And that Peter Henderson still looked out for him.

It wasn't like Kylie actually wanted to be where she was now, it was just something that was required of her. She didn't want to be an Alliance officer, but she had to. And there was no way of backing out from it. All she could do was hope the next four years would go by fast, and without much incidents or problems. Afterwards she would go back to Persephone and start her own diplomacybureau, to help the citizens settle arguments and disputes, and to adjudicate in sensitive matters.

Kylie opened her eyes and looked out the window again. An Alliance cruiser now came up on the side of the shuttle. Kylie read the name on the side of the cruiser: "Esteem".
She was here. Her new post. This was where she was going to spend the next four years of her life. Kylie sighed and shook her head. She couldn't believe she was actually going to do it. She couldn't help but feeling bad either. Her father had left the Alliance after he found out about Miranda, and Kylie felt like he betrayed him, even though he said he was fine with her serving. Kylie started to feel nauseous and was getting short-breathed. She didn't want to be here, she just wanted to be home.

The shuttle docked with the Esteem, and Kylie got up, even though she felt miserable. She couldn't show it now though, she didn't want to come off as weak to whoever was down there to greet her.
She stood up, grabbed her military issue duffelbag and walked down the stairs of the shuttle, only to find no one was there to greet her.

Kylie decided to wait. Someone could still be coming. If she wandered off and someone came, there was a chance of her getting disciplined already, and she had no interest in that whatsoever.

She put down her duffelbag and started scanning the docking bay for more officers.

[darkreaction3]

Thomas was not himself. His mind was numb, his eyes slightly glazed. The tables around him in the mess hall had mostly cleared out, and he sat alone, forearms on the table, head on his arms. He looked like a junkie. No. He was a junkie. Was there something he was supposed to do? What time was it? Where were they docked? His head lifted and he rubbed his eyes with thick, tired fingers. He had taken too much, too strong a dose. He felt bleary and disoriented. Standing, he stretched and blinked several times. The other officers didn't look up at him. He was invisible to most of them. They instinctively avoided him when he was like this. He checked the time and sighed.

Yes; he was supposed to do something. Pick up the new recruits that would be arriving via shuttle about...now. Okay. About five minutes ago. No matter. He'd get there, and it would do them good to wait. He walked purposefully out the mess hall and made his way out of the ship, to the docking bay. When he arrived, he glanced around as if to see where everyone was hiding. There was but one person there, clearly awaiting instruction. His brow furrowed in consternation. Just the one? Why had he thought there would be more? Shaking his head as if to clear it, he walked towards her.

His posture was straight, his held chin high, his eyes hard. He looked every bit the way most expected an Alliance officer to look. Pity they hadn't sent someone a little more welcoming to this woman, who was obviously nervous. He wished Amara was around. She would at least know what to say, how to act. Tom hadn't really, genuinely smiled in years. What could he offer this woman in terms of reassurance? He held out his hand in greeting, nodding to her. "I expect you're the new crew?" He asked, as if there were any question. "Name's Thomas Wright. You can call me Tom. I'll take you 'round the ship and bring you to meet Captain Olsen." If the captain was in any mood to meet a new crew member. Tom held back a sneer when he said Olsen's name. He certainly didn't want the woman to know his opinion of their slightly inept captain.

[kyliegrasan]

Kylie had been waiting for a while now, and started thinking about sitting down somewhere to wait. Her legs were starting to ache, and sitting down for a while would do her upset stomach some good. She had been concentrating on her breathing, because if she didn't, she was pretty certain she would start to hyperventilate. The nausea didn't go away, it just got worse the more she waited.

Then a big black man appeared, clearly an officer. Kylie couldn't help but to feel intimidated by him. This was exactly what she feared, and this was the last thing she was in need of: some big, moody guy who'd yell at her to get rid of his frustrations. Kylie didn't like it when people yelled at her, and in the state she was in at this very moment, she was afraid she might start crying, but only after she barfed out what little food she ate before she boarded the shuttle.

Then, the man stuck his hand out to greet her, and all of a sudden, she felt a bit more at ease.

"I expect you're the new crew?" the man asked. "Name's Thomas Wright. You can call me Tom. I'll take you 'round the ship and bring you to meet Captain Olsen."

Kylie didn't expect the man to be so friendly. This is not the way she'd expect a senior officer to behave. It seemed like there was less discipline aboard the Alliance cruisers at the edge of the 'Verse.

Kylie grabbed the man's hand and shook it politely.

"First lieutenant Kylandra Grasan reporting for duty sir." Kylie said. She noticed that the man had a higher rank than her, and decided to stick to the military codes when coming aboard a new ship.

She also hoped the tour of the ship wouldn't take too long. She really needed to sit down for a while and perhaps take something against her nausea, which was peaking at the moment.

[darkreaction3]

The young woman took his hand and shook it, seeming a little less intimidated than she'd look when he had first walked up. Tom was not one to bully people or pull rank. However, his lack of emotion sometimes made people just as uncomfortable as if he was trying to push them around. He was glad that she seemed not to be bothered by it so far.

Her response was the standard, and he waved it off. "Call me Tom, please." He bent down to heft her duffelbag onto his shoulder. "You should respect the others accordingly, but if anyone gives you hell about rank, you come to me." To him, pulling rank was a disgusting display of superiority that was usually unnecessary.

"Come with me. We'll do this fast; I bet you want to settle in." Leading her into the ship, he walked at a fast clip, though slow enough that she didn't have to jog to keep up. He decided to stop at the mess hall, first. "Kitchens and mess." He said, waving his arm into the large room of tables. There were a few officers in there still, but only a couple looked up and acknowledged them. "Most people keep to themselves, you'll find." He led her on, down a staircase, and to a rather large room with several empty beds and cabinets lining the walls. "Infirmary. Pretty self-explanatory. You come here for anything from headaches to gunshot wounds." He winked at her and brought her further back into the ship.

"We're coming up on the bunks, now. Most of us have to share rooms, so choose a roommate wisely." They walked along a hallway with several doors leading off of it. There were nametags positioned on the wall next to each door explaining who was in each bunk. He stopped and handed her a nametag that she could fit next to her door when she found her own bunk. "Captain Olsen'll be wanting to meet you sooner or later, but that can wait if you want to get settled in..."

[kyliegrasan]

Kylie definately felt more at ease now than when she first got out of the shuttle.

"Call me Tom, please."

Who was she to question an order given by a senior officer? If the man wanted to her to call him Tom instead of sir, she wasn't going to disobey.

Kylie was absolutely stunned when Tom picked up her duffelbag and carried it for her. He was quite the gentleman. Kylie had absolutely no idea people would be this nice to her. She wondered if it had always been this way with the Alliance, or if they got a helluva lot nicer after Miranda, to clean up their image.

"You should respect the others accordingly, but if anyone gives you hell about rank, you come to me."

Miranda or not, Tom was definately a nice man offering her help just like that.

"Come with me. We'll do this fast; I bet you want to settle in."

He had read her mind. As if he knew she wasn't feeling too well. Kylie smiled and nodded at Tom to indicate she'd follow him.

She followed him first to the mess hall. Fortunately she didn't have to jog after him, that just might've caused her stomach to go off if she did have to.

"Kitchens and mess." Tom said, and waved his arm into the large room full of tables. Eating was the last thing that was on Kylie's mind right now. She may have been more at ease after Tom welcomed her but the nausea wouldn't go away.

Not many of the other officers looked up to them though. It didn't matter to Kylie, she'd have four years to get to know everybody.

"Most people keep to themselves, you'll find."

Kylie thought that was regrettable. She'd like to get to know everybody, especially if she was going to work together with these people.

She then followed him again, down a staircase and into a big room full of beds and cabinets.

"Infirmary. Pretty self-explanatory. You come here for anything from headaches to gunshot wounds."

This would be her first stop as soon as she had settled in. But wait... did he say gunshot wounds? Kylie didn't like the sound of that. How in the 'Verse was she going to get gunshot wounds serving on a cruiser? Kylie didn't like violence, and always did her best to keep away from it, or to stop people from resorting to it. But the thought of getting shot made her even more sick to her stomach than she already was. She started taking deep breaths through her nose to try and keep everything down for just a little while longer. It worked, for now.

Tom then winked at her and brought her further into the ship. The longer this already short tour took, the worse her nausea got. Kylie was really just upsetting herself, but she couldn't help it.

"We're coming up on the bunks, now. Most of us have to share rooms, so choose a roommate wisely."

That was quite the relieve for Kylie. For starters she'd have someone to talk to, and it wouldn't be as bad as in the military university, where it was just one big all girl sleeping hall for every female cadet. The bunks looked rather cozy too.

Tom explained who was in each bunk and then handed her a nametag for her door. The tag had "Lt. Kylandra Grasan" engraved in it. Kylie figured she'd have a tough time getting people to call her Kylie, and also, if more officers didn't pull rank on enlisted men, she wouldn't either.

"Captain Olsen'll be wanting to meet you sooner or later, but that can wait if you want to get settled in..."

There was no way Kylie was going to meet the captain in her current state. First she needed to calm her stomach, and then she needed to freshen up a bit. All this anxiety had caused her to sweat, and she really needed to spray some deodorant under her arms.

"Well actually, can I get 10 minutes to freshen myself up a bit?" Kylie asked. "It's been a tough trip coming here, you know? Could you please point me towards the lavatories?"

Kylie smiled but in reality she was in hell. The anxiety had reached a climax, and if she didn't get to a toilet within the next twenty seconds, she was going to vomit right there and now.