Old Friends and New Acquaintances

[Simon Ljungberg 0]

The group of young men was walking down the street somewhere in San Fransisco. They were laughing and talking loudly, not caring for the people they might wake up with their noise this early in the morning. It had been the last time Simon would be with them so they had made sure he'd not forget the night too quickly. The party had involved a fair amount of alcohol which was obvious now that they were making their way noisily to Simon's appartment.

 

When they arrived at his door Simon turned around and smiled at his friends. He was feeling sorry to leave them but also excited about his new assignment aboard the U.S.S Reaent. They were saying goodbye now and Simon knew he'd miss them.

 

"Hey, Steve are you sure you'll be able to deal with old Hager without me?" Simon asked his best mate with whom he'd spent quite a few uncomfortable hours standing at attention in front of Dr. Hager's desk trying to explain their latest misconduct. Steve grinned impishly and nodded.

 

"Sure, mate. I'll just tell him now that you're gone I have to fill in for you." Everybody laughed.

 

"You know Hager would love get you for something like that. I bet you'd spend the rest of your service cleaning bed-pans."

 

Steve shrugged. "According to Hager that's all I'm good for anyway." Simon grinned back at his friend then he turned around to open the door.

 

"Alright folks and now get lost before I get too sentimental." The general laughter that ensued was mixed with calls of good-bye. Simon stood on the threshold of his appartment and watched his friends make their way down the street. The racket they made was still enough to wake the whole neighbourhood. When the group turned the corner at the end of the block the noise abated and he entered his appartment. The clock in the kitchen area showed 7:23 am. He'd just have enough time to take a shower before leaving to get to the ship.

 

Stepping into the shower he suddenly felt very tired. He wished he could just go to bed but he had to report for duty in 90 minutes and he hoped he'd get a chance to drop by his quarters on the ship and drop off his bags.

 

 

60 minutes later

 

 

Simon had just been beamed aboard the U.S.S Reaent, his new home. At first he had been excited to be assigned to a ship but this excitment was quickly replaced by disappointment as he saw the state the ship was in. The Reaent was refit but it looked like the work would still take at least two months, not a couple of weeks.

 

He sighed trying to find his quarters on deck 18. Finally, he found the right door and stepped in. He stood in the living area of the standard quarters. There were already some bags standing next to the couch indicating that Simon's roommate had already arrived. Putting down his own bag next to the door he looked around the room. This was better than he had expected. They didn't have a viewport but at least there were two small desks, a table with two chairs, a couch and a replicator. Granted the small room looked cramped but it could have been worse. There was one door on each side presumably leading to the bedrooms.

 

Just as Simon started wondering which of the bedrooms was his, a man about his own age stepped out of the right hand door. The other man smiled and extended his hand. "Welcome aboard. I'm Finn Ryan, obviously we're sharing quarters."

 

Simon took Finn's had and shook it. "Simon Ljungberg." He pointed to the left hand door. "Suppose that's my bedroom then."

 

Finn nodded and looked curiously at the newcomer. "Are you a medic, too?" he asked trying to make conversation.

 

"Yeah," Simon answered. "And I have to report for duty at 0900 hours." He picked up his bags and walked towards his room.

 

"Me, too," said Finn cheerfully, walking to his bags and pulling out a small box. He gave it to Simon. "Here you'll need at least one of those, trust me."

 

Simon took the box with a puzzled expression on his face. "What's that?" he asked opening it.

 

"Breath mints," Ryan answered, smiling broadly.

 

Simon blushed and took one. "That bad, huh?" Finn just nodded. "Why don't you go ahead, Finn? I'll be right there."

 

The other man shrugged and walked towards the door. "As you wish but if I were you I'd not be late. I hear the chief's the kind of woman you don't want to mess around with."

 

Simon nodded and walked into his bedroom. "I'll be there don't worry. Thanks." He sat down on his bed and wished he could just lie down and sleep a few hours. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option. After a moment he got up and walked into the tiny bathroom that was attached to the bedroom, which was not much bigger. Splashing some water onto his face he hoped he'd at least seem a bit more awake than he actually felt.

 

The water had helped a bit and a few minutes later he was on his way to sickbay. In the Turbolift he looked at his chrono and then cursed under his breath. He was 15 minutes late. Simon just hoped his breath wasn't smelling as bad anymore. A minute later he stood in front of sickbay, drawing a deep breath before entering.