Ready To Go

Posted on Mon Jun 30th, 2025 @ 7:46am by Lieutenant Nerex

730 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Project: Frontier Day
Location: USS Eminence

ON:

[USS Eminence, personal quarters]



Nerex sat in his quarters cross legged on his bed with several PADDs laid out in front of him. The ship had downtime while it waited for new orders in the next few days, but he still had trouble socializing with others. As a Romulan, he knew that other species were likely to have certain feelings towards him. Potentially strong feelings. He had ventured into Starbase 295 and gone to a bar there, but he found himself unable to approach anyone there. He had instead ordered a drink, consumed it quietly, and then gone back to the Eminence. He kept thinking about going back and trying again, but each time the thought came up he pushed it back down. Like now, when he was trying to focus on something else.

He picked up one of the PADDs. This one had information on the flight capabilities of the Eminence. He always took it with a grain of salt. Nerex believed that the ship could do more than the Engineers said it could. He liked pushing ships beyond what the specifications claimed their limits were. The warning alarms let him know he was doing a good job. On smaller vessels, he would disable safety protocols if he knew he could get more out of the vessel that way. He would never endanger the crew of a larger vessel like the Eminence, at least not if he didn't have to.

Another of the PADDs had information on combat scenarios that different Saber-class ships had been in, so he could analyze the flight patterns, evasive maneuvers, and combat flying. Another PADD had the latest technical journal on flight control. Yet another PADD had the latest studies on different nebulas and anomalies. He was always looking for new information to improve his own flying, and since he wasn't having a lot of luck being social he had plenty of time to look for it.

It wasn't that anyone on the Eminence disliked Nerex, as far as he knew, but he hadn't connected with anyone there. He knew he took his work too seriously, which kept him from relaxing while on duty. He was too nervous about how others would react to him to open up to anyone while off duty. Especially since he would have to continue to work with them. He was well aware of the irony of him being willing to fly near a black hole, but being apprehensive about starting a conversation with another person.

He couldn't wait for the new orders to come in. He was ready to be back at the helm, taking the Eminence wherever it needed to go. Maybe there would be some evasive maneuvering or, even better, combat maneuvering.

He glanced at the small table near the head of his bed. Among other things, there was a holo image of his father that Nerex had put there to remind him of his personal mission on the Eminence to make friends, earn respect, and do his part to improve relations between other species and his own. He wanted nothing more than to send correspondence to his father on Earth about it. He wished he was more like his father, who was a natural at starting conversations with strangers. His father was also easily able to address crowds, something Nerex preferred not to do. Maybe he could try going back into Starbase 295 again and start up a conversation with someone there.

He glanced back at the PADDs. The Starbase could wait until tomorrow. He decided that tomorrow he would either try to get time on it's holodeck, or else he would request permission to take a shuttle out. Maybe he would request the holodeck, so he would at least have to be around new people.

A quiet chime sounded in his quarters, which told him that it was late, and this would be a decision for the morning. He collected the PADDs and placed them on a small desk he had across the room. He was grateful his room had a desk. It was his understanding that his quarters would have been smaller had he not held the Chief position.

After preparing for the night, he laid down. Tomorrow would be a new day.

OFF:

Lieutenant Nerex
Flight Control Chief
USS Eminence
NCC-90008

 

RSS Feed