First Day

[Rachel E Garrett 0]

A Rachel Garrett Log

Stardate 6174.3

 

 

First Day

 

 

"…and, lemme tell ya, Rach, this job is uber cool. I mean, it's awesome. And this place – food, goods, guys . . . real eye candy, girl. You name it, I got it." Tanya beamed over subspace into Rachel's quarters. Rachel stared at the screen and nodded, trying to look enthusiastic.

 

She had met Tanya in the academy, one of the few people who actually realized Rachel existed. She was tall and blonde, and she had attitude. Everything was a challenge to her, like it would be the end of the universe if she didn't do it just right, didn't come out victorious as she put it. Knights had swords and shields; Tanya had spanners, converters, and regulators. Knights conquered dragons; Tanya conquered engines.

 

Suddenly Rachel realized it had been a while since Tanya had said anything. Tanya's expression on the monitor had changed from enthusiasm to a worried frown.

 

"That's . . . nice, Tanya. It's real nice," Rachel managed, with a half-smile.

 

Tanya perked up. "Ok. Tell me about your post. Sky Harbor Aegis? I hear they have some really interesting stuff going on out there. Around Cardassia." She said Cardassia like it was some kind of cloak-and-dagger place, like Rachel was working in the middle of a holo-novel or something, cloaked in mystery and intrigue.

 

"Well, it's . . . ok."

 

"Ok?? Just ok?? Rachel!" Uh oh. Here it comes. The lecture.

 

"Well, what am I supposed to say, Tanya?" Rachel cut her off, hoping she could defuse the bomb. "It's not the best post. It's so far away from anyone I know or anything I've ever seen. It's just not like I thought it would be."

 

"Ok. Listen. Forget what you thought it would be and listen." Tanya looked like she was hugging the screen and her voice took on an intensity reminiscent of a wacky psychologist in one of those old-timey movies she and her mom used to watch. The kind that said loooook intoooo my eyesss in some weird accent.

 

"I know about one of the guys you're working with."

 

Tanya had begun to whisper. It made Rachel want to turn around to see who was listening, but she was in her quarters for the first time since she'd come aboard Aegis. She leaned forward, unable to help herself. "Yeah?"

 

"Yeah." Tanya grinned. "His name is Scott Coleridge." She held up a photo. "Saw him once, when I was passing by the main engineering station. On the chief's console. He was ordering something, explaining what was going on or whatever. And girl . . . he is hot. I mean really hot." She paused for effect, pointing at the photo.

 

 

Oh, gees.

 

Tanya commenced a tale of strategy that would make anyone in PsyCorps proud, but Rachel had already turned her off, resolved to hear her out without actually hearing.

 

Truth be told, the first engineer she had met was Scott Coleridge. And he was nice. She figured he'd be good to work with. And he had lots of equipment, really cool equipment that Starfleet sent to make what they called the "Vips and Dips" wing. Well, it wasn't really a wing, more of a secure area, he said.

 

She'd also met a lot of others, like the build team – Kari, Tory, and Grant. They had pretty much shown her the ropes and she was slowly getting the hang of it. They were pretty cool. Grant showed her his robot – that was even cooler. Rachel had already decided that she and Grant would make a good team, mostly because it seemed to her that they thought alike. At least he liked to build stuff, and so did she. And not just any stuff. Neat stuff. Cool stuff. Stuff that made their work easier, stuff that was different, that hadn't been thought of before. And the robot meant she wouldn't have to work close to the fusion reactors, something she really didn't want to get up-close-and-personal with anyway.

 

She hadn't met the chief yet, but that was ok because she really wasn't looking forward to it. According to Scott the chief was a shadowy metapresence. She didn't figure she was into meeting any shadowy metapresences any time soon.

 

Rachel had also been to the Control Tower and, though her first experience was eventful, it wasn't exactly overpowering. Mostly. She only froze for a minute or two, probably because of the humongous Klingon security officer who stared her down as soon as the lift doors opened. And there was a lot of brass there. And she'd never been on a bridge or a control tower, or anywhere else that was really important.

 

She'd met a few more. Damian Porter. He was nice, too. And he was a Midshipman, same as Rachel – that made it easier for her to talk to him. And a new girl, but she didn't know her name. She almost got up the courage to ask, but she looked like she was busy, and she seemed a little awkward. But so did Rachel. She had found out later that the girl's name was Leilani Feretti and she was a science officer.

 

And she'd met Captain Muon, the commanding officer of the station. She was Ferengi, with a kind of snarling voice, pointy teeth and a piercing stare. Scared the b'geesus out of her. And she'd met Commander Brown. He was nice enough, but he was a commander and, well, way out of Rachel's pay-grade to even look at much less talk to unless it was yes, sir or no, sir.

 

While Tanya continued to extol the virtues of companionship – especially in deep space and in such an intriguing place as orbiting Cardassia, where you never know what is going to happen or if you'll ever survive, Rachel's mind wandered until she was finished. Finally.

 

"Well, girl, I gotta go. Don't be scarce, ok? And hang in there."

 

Rachel nodded, Tanya waved, and the Starfleet logo filled the screen. Hang in there. That was about all Rachel could do at this point. Except maybe hide somewhere in a conduit. Or under the OPS console in . . .

 

Oh, gees…the OPS console. And she was late!