He straightened his uniform nervously as the turbolift whisked him upwards, headed towards Deck 1, and the bridge. He had been on a bridge before, as long as the holodeck simulations counted, but this would be his first shift at a proper tactical station. He touched the shiny, new pip at his neck, suddenly afraid that it had fallen off. The turbolift slowed to a stop, and the doors whooshed open. The subdued quiet of the bridge was startling after leaving the din of the mess hall. Sensors pinged softly, and before him, the viewscreen danced and flashed as the Ashland warped through space.

“Ensign Giesbrecht, reporting for Duty!” He said, louder than he had intended.

“Take your station, Ensign, and take a breath. It’s alright to be a little nervous on your first bridge shift.” responded the cool, familiar voice of the First Officer, Commander Oliver. He took a deep breath, crossed the bridge to the Tactical Station, and took a seat.

“Report, Mr. Giesbrecht” She said, once he had gotten himself situated.

“Phasers and Torpedoes are looking good, Sir.” Aaron replied at once, “Nothing on scans either.”

“Very good” She replied. Aaron settled in to his shift, giving updates when asked, and carefully monitoring the screen. Most of the shift had gone by, when a voice from across the bridge piped up, “Commander? Our Long Range sensors have picked up a ship.” It was Lieutenant Midas, who was the Navigation Console.

“Elaborate, Lieutenant” Commander Oliver said, curtly.

“It’s a Cardassian ship, Sir, Galor class.” Midas replied. “It’s not moving”

“What the hell is it doing out here?”, she said as she stood up from the center chair. “Check for a distress signal.” The calm was seemingly vacuumed out of the room upon her movement, and her warm, relaxed tone had been replaced with cool, stern confidence.

“None that I can find, Commander,” He replied, “but there are life signs on board.”

“What is their position?” She asked.

“Ahead starboard, Commander. Should I adjust course to intercept?”

“No, Lieutenant, stay the course, We’ll see what they do when we pass. Stay alert, and notify me of any changes to their heading or systems.”

“Aye, Commander” Lieutenant Midas said dutifully, and turned back to his screen.

The next few moments were very tense as we made our way towards the location of the Cardassian ship. The commander, now back in her chair, had her eyes fixed on the viewscreen, and her chin resting on her hand. No one dared make any extra noise, and the silence became deafening, broken only by the pings and beeps of the consoles and sensors.

“Passing the Cardassians now, Commander” Midas said, “and it looks like there is no change in their systems or shields.” Aaron breathed out a silent sigh of relief, hoping his first shift wouldn’t result in actual combat.

“Wait,” came Midas’ voice, shakily, “They’ve powered up engines. They’re coming about.”

“Shields up, Yellow Alert.” The commander said, authoritatively. “Wake the captain”

“Cadet Giesbrecht, please report to Security” came the hollow metallic voice of the Station’s computer. “Cadet Giesbrecht, your shift is starting in ten minutes. Please report to Security for assignment”

“Computer, end program” Aaron said with a sigh.  The bridge of the ship around him melted away from view, and he was left standing alone in the familiar orange and black grid of the holodeck. His ensign uniform was replaced with his cadet one. “Just once, I’d like to get to the end of that” he muttered to himself and he walked through the holodeck door and towards the turbolifts. He had been here for a few weeks now, getting some practical experience while he finished up his fourth year as a cadet, but the size of the station always amazed him, and as often as not, he wound up lost and somewhere he wasn’t meant to be. Once he managed to walk himself into a conference room where there were more rank pips thank years in his life, it seemed, and none of them were happy for the unintended intrusion.  For all his aptitude on the parade field and in tactical situations, he was hopelessly awkward and clumsy. His friends often laughed and jeered when he would have to present in classes, and more than once he was late to afternoon classes due to mishaps in the mess hall.

He made it to the precinct office just in time, sweating slightly and a bit out of breath from the effort of getting here on time, only getting himself lost once….