The fingers on Tanna’s right hand tingled as she opened her eyes and found herself in the transporter room on the USS Cromwell, and she reached up and touched her right shoulder, running her hand over the cold steel of the implant. She winced, not from physical pain, but from the painful memories attached to it. She was back from a transfer meeting, looking for a new commission. Over the last couple of months, during the recovery, the Cromwell had started to feel less and less like home, and Tanna couldn’t stand to be in her quarters alone, without Abigail. The transfer had been approved, and she was only on board long enough to collect her personals and load them in to the shuttlecraft. It took a few hours to pack all her personal belongings neatly into boxes, and transported into the shuttlecraft. She said her goodbyes, boarded the shuttlecraft, and set off to her new posting.

She input the coordinates to the Valkyrie, which was her new posting, and went to warp. The journey would take about 36 hours, so she unpacked the box that contained a working replica of a small CRT monitor with integrated DVD player and put on one of her favorite movies and then she crossed the small space to the replicator. “Pepperoni Pizza and a diet coke” she said to the machine, then turned around to watch the movie. Abigail, who was something of an engineering whiz, had worked tirelessly to properly replicate all of the foods Tanna’s mother recalled from her childhood in the late 1900’s: pizza, popcorn, breakfast cereals, candy bars, potato and tortilla chips, and all kinds of flavors of soda pops. “Pepperoni Pizza and diet coke” the computer voice confirmed, moments before producing the meal in the small window. Tanna retrieved the food and sat down to eat.

The trip went much like that, with a stream of classic movies and ancient snacks, punctuated by bathroom breaks, one night’s sleep, and at least two fits of uncontrolled sobbing. Tanna loved these things, but so did Abigail, and so everything was bittersweet. Eventually, “Approaching destination” came the computer voice through the quiet calm of the shuttlecraft. Tanna turned off the movie, and packed away her belongings.  She changed back into her uniform, tied her hair up, and prepared herself for her new life and her new crew.

She opened a channel to the Valkyrie and spoke to the viewscreen: “Ensign Irovin to Valkyrie. On final approach, requesting permission to come aboard.”

“Ensign Irovin, this is the Valkyrie, you are cleared for landing in the main shuttlebay, and welcome aboard” a voice confirmed back over the comms. Tanna found herself relived and excited as she landed her shuttlecraft in the bay. Excited at the prospect of living on a much larger ship, with so many new people to meet and collaborate with, momentarily even took her mind off Abigail. She felt some warmth spread through her body, and she moved towards the back of the craft, opened the door, smiled wide, and took her first steps onto the Valkyrie.