Lines, Lines, Everywhere A Line

Posted on Sun Jan 8th, 2023 @ 11:24am by Ensign Tobias "Toby" Dienstag & Ensign Syvar Delton
Edited on on Mon Jan 16th, 2023 @ 8:34am

1,699 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Fool’s Errand
Location: Transporter Room 15, Starbase 1
Timeline: M1 MD03 (2268.17.05) 0700

Every transporter room aboard Starbase 1 was filled to capacity and it was easy to get lost in the shuffle. Multiple ships were scheduled to launch within the coming days and each needed to fill their rosters. Transporter Room 15 on the starbase was designated for officers heading destined for the U.S.S. Midway, NCC-1743, Constitution Class. The line stretched through the transporter room door and out into the curved corridor. The line was a sea of Red, Gold and Teal. One of the officers in teal was Ensign Tobias Dienstag. Toby was wide eyed and fresh from the academy, excited for his first deep space assignment. He was at least half a foot shorter than the officer clad in red standing in front of him. He peaked his head out of line to get a look. The transporter room doors were finally within sight.

Inching forward with every passing moment, Matt Delton felt the hustle and bustle of all of his uniformed colleagues around him. Today was the day he was getting sent on his first official assignment. He felt that same energy flowing around him with all the bright faces and eager new officers and crewmen. Everyone was ready to go. He was in line for the Midway, one of the new Constitution class ships. He was incredibly excited to have had the opportunity to be stationed on a deep space explorer. What a dream come true!

As the doors to Transporter Room 15 got closer, Matt noticed a young man in teal directly behind him, straining to look over his shoulder to see how close the doors were. Matt appreciated the eagerness, they all needed it.

"Ready to ship out?" he said, turning to his right to engage the young man.

"Yeah, how about you?" Toby asked with a smile, although he already knew the answer, "Oh and how far back are we?"

"I've been ready since I got accepted into the Academy," Matt replied. He looked ahead and gauged the line. "Shouldn't be long now. They're sending them off six or so at a time looks like."

"Of course they didn't give us one of the 12 person transporter rooms," Toby responded with a sigh and a slight eyeroll. He set down his Starfleet duffle bag, "Since we aren't going anywhere anytime soon, Ensign Tobias Dienstag, Sciences... Toby," he said with a smile. He extended his right hand.

Matt extended his own hand to accept his new crewmate's. "My pleasure indeed. Matt Delton, security."

"Delton?" Toby responded with a slightly perplexed look on his face. The name sounded familiar. He soon realized and then smirked, "How perfect is this, I think we're both assigned to the same quarters. Deck 5, Section 3."

"Is that so?" Matt asked. "I hadn't even looked yet. What are the odds of that one?" He lifted his left arm, after dropping his own duffel, to confirm the young man's fact. Sure enough, the two would be rooming together. "Small world."

"Long line," Toby responded with a chuckle, "I read through all of the automated messages while waiting to get aboard the starbase. Seemed like as soon as my status went from pending to assigned, I was sent hundreds of automated messages. I bet you're dealing with the same."

Matt chuckled. "I stopped listening for the pings after twenty. Most of it is housekeeping anyways. Anything important will be flagged as priority." He also got the same slew of messages, something most likely everyone in that line also received.

"Yeah, I get it," Toby said. He looked down at his wrist chronometer. It was barely 0710. They weren't going anywhere anytime soon, "So where are you from?" He asked, starting the usual 20 questions.

"San Fransisco. Born and raised," Matt answered triumphantly. "My mom is a primary school teacher. You?

"Baltimore, although my parents are both from Vienna," Toby responded, "They own a resturant in Baltimore near the Inner Harbor. They wanted and still want me to take over, but..." He shrugged his shoulders, "But I'm too much of a computer nerd, clearly," he finished.

Matt nodded, fully understanding the sentiment. "My mother would have loved to see me become a teacher like her. But sometimes, your life path just leads somewhere else, and," he paused a moment, "here we are."

Toby nodded and then noticed they were at the door, "Well that made things go by quicker," he commented as they walked inside.

A rather haggard chief petty officer stood inside the transporter room and looked at them. He was holding an ID card reader. The two officers produced their IDs and he scanned them. "Step on the pad, sequence will begin once loaded," he said in an almost robotic voice. It was clear he had said the exact same phrase one hundred times.

"It might have been more efficient to load us all onto a cargo tug and shuttle us over," Toby commented as he and Matt stepped onto the transport pad.

Matt smiled as he stood solidly on his portion of the transport pad. "Oh please, efficiency is for Captains and up. The rest of us must climb up through the dregs."

As the other crewmen settled, the transporter chief locked onto their signals and said "Energizing." The familiar whir of the transporter came to life.

They materialized onboard Transporter Room 7, one of the massive 20 person emergency transporter rooms located on Deck 8. As Toby stepped down the pad he looked down at his wrist chronometer, "Well, I don't have a meeting for another two hours... So I suppose I have enough time to check into the hotel," he said.

Matt noted the time as well. "Mine's quite a bit sooner. I might have time to drop my stuff off."

"Well, we are going to same way," Toby responded as he motion ed towards the door and started to head towards it, "So do you have a preference which side side room you want? Port or Starboard?

Matt shook his head. "Not a bit," he replied. "I'm what I like to call an active sleeper. Everyone else would see me tossing and turning all night long, laying on my right and left side, stomach, back....all of it. But what they don't realize is that I'm sleeping like a newborn baby, getting the soundest sleep of the day."

"Alrighty, I'd like the starboard side then, if it doesn't matter" Toby responded as they both stepped into the corridor and headed towards the turbolift, "Hopefully our dunnage showed up. I'd hate to have to wear the same two uniforms for a week. Nothing worse than getting to a new assignment and all your stuff gets lost... Or at least so I've heard."

"Oh, that's the worst. I've been fortunate to not have that happen to me, but a good friend of mine was not so lucky on our last outing." Matt smirked a little on the recollection. "Of course, I thought it was hilarious. She was not so amused." The two exited the transporter room and start their trek to their new home.

"Yeah I can imagine," Toby responded before they stepped into the turbolift, "I have to admit that I've never been aboard a Constitution class starship before... Have you?"

Matt shook his head. "Nope. I've only seen recordings and images. Specs and the like. That's about it. What do you think so far?"

"Very impressive. I sort of wonder what we did to get assigned here right out of the academy," Toby responded, "I suppose right place right time... Although I know someone in the medical staff. Don't know if that helped at all."

"I'll tell you what, whatever we did, I'm grateful that we did it because this is the dream of a lifetime." As they walked along, Matt looked out one of the aft facing view ports and the sheer size of the ship. "They're just so damn big!"

"Largest so far," Toby responded, "Although you'd figure there would be more space aboard. Still feels so cramped. Not sure how anyone with claustrophobia could serve aboard a starship... Probably can't." They reached their shared quarters. "After you," he said, extending a hand to usher Matt in.

"Thank you," Matt said as he took the invitation and entered their quarters. His first glance, fixed straight ahead, was of a smallish table in the corner that seemed to serve as an all purpose table. To the right, in the near side corner, was their shared desk space. Now, one thing he was not prepared for was the pleasant surprise of a separate bedroom setting. He walked into the room not selected by his roommate and placed his carryon onto the bed that was centered in the room. There was no sign of his remaining belongings. "Hmmm," he said to his companion after poking head out the door and raising an eyebrow, "no luggage. Any luck with yours?"

"No not yet, but I'm sure..." Toby started and then looked around, "Hope, it'll be here soon. Could be services are overwelmed with all of the new personnel. We are just junior officers after all. Don't know what your schedule is like, but I already know I'm going to be on Charlie shift, so 2300-0700. If I need to I can wear ear plugs to sleep, had to freshman year at the academy. All the damn parties." He chuckled.

"I'm on Alpha. As far as I know, I sleep pretty quietly and we are separated by two doors, but I suppose you never know." He laughed back. Looking at his chronometer, he said, "Alright, I have to head out. Can't be late for my first staff meeting."

"It should work out, I'll be passed out while you're on duty and you'll be passed out while I'm on duty," Toby explained, "Yeah no problem, I'm going to hang around here. Hopefully the rest of our stuff shows up soon."

Matt nodded. "I'm sure it will. See you later." He then grabbed a data pad and walked out into the corridor towards his brand new job.

Well, things were looking up anyway thought Toby before dropping his duffle bag onto the floor any lying down onto the bed.

 

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