Ensign Corwin Adler stood at the threshold of the Captain’s quarters aboard the USS Pulsar, his eyes gliding over the room’s contents but his body resistant to the prospect of actually entering. While the Emergency Command Hologram had assured him that this was, indeed, his current living arrangement it didn’t feel like the room was meant for him. Between how spacious it was and how well furnished it looked, Ensign Adler couldn’t help but feel that such a space was wasted on him, especially if he was merely Captain by twist of fate rather than merit.

The long, agonizing pause between his arrival and his eventual intrusion into the space felt like an eternity to Corwin. It wasn’t until his shoulder began to ache from holding his bag in such an awkward position that he was finally able to surmount his doubts and actually breach the interior. He set his pack down in a small lounge chair resting in front of what Adler could only assume was a work desk that might also have been a substitute for the Captain’s Ready Room, since there wasn’t one on the bridge that he’d seen. The space even boasted a small replicator, which felt all the more luxurious given that there was only one mess hall on the entire ship.

The Ensign walked deeper into the room and cast his gaze on the rather large bed dominating the rear of the quarters, a rather large view port carved out above the head of the bed offering a rather impressive view of space outside of the ship. It felt like luxury beyond opulence to Corwin, far more than he ever dreamed he would have on his first posting in Starfleet. If circumstances had been a little different, he might have been able to appreciate the experience a little more. Sadly, he was too frazzled and too confused to simply accept it all at face value.

“It’s just one little training mission,” he muttered to himself, “Then they’ll send someone else to be the Captain and I’ll go back to being the engineer I’m supposed to be.”

His words felt like a mantra that, if he repeated it enough, would bend heaven and earth to make it a reality. It made things feel a little less overwhelming, even if briefly, and allowed him just enough courage to actually unpack his few belongings and stow them where they seemed to fit the best. An old technical manual here, a small model of a ship he had put together with his siblings growing up. Small reminders of hearth and home in the strange world he now found himself.

A scant ten minutes flitted by, and the task of putting his small touches on the room found themselves complete. Ens. Adler looked upon his work and nodded to himself, “It’s enough to make it look a bit more livable… and won’t be hard to pick up when someone else needs this space.” Another small nod followed his words before he turned toward the door that had seemed so difficult to pass through just shortly before. Now he could make his way to the Engineering section of the ship without having to worry after where he might have left his things.

Given the distance between the bridge and the main Engineering compartment, Corwin opted to use the turbolift. He already felt like he’d spent enough time wandering the empty corridors of the ship, a little shortcut wasn’t at all unwarranted in his mind. And true to form, the turbolift whisked him from the upper most deck to the bowels of the vessel in almost no time at all, which prevented the young man from getting too wrapped up in his own thoughts before he needed to exit the lift and make his way along to his destination.

His arrival and entry into the beating heart of the ship was the polar opposite of his entry onto the bridge or into the Captain’s quarters. His excitement was plain to see as he all but dashed up to the master display console that sat in front of the machinery that encased the signature dual warp core configuration of the Protostar-class starship.

“Excuse me, young man,” a now all too familiar voice called out from somewhere behind the Ensign, “That is not a toy, it is a highly sensitive piece of equipment and it does not need your drool getting all over it.”

Corwin stumbled backward at the voice, turning to find himself looking at the person… or rather hologram… who’d just addressed him, “Sorry, I just read about the dual warp core design a few months ago and was so absorbed in seeing it in person that I forgot where I was.”

“I can see that,” the hologram responded in a dry tone, “I take it you’re our new Captain.”

Corwin winced a bit at that, “I’m just acting Captain… until we finish our training mission…”

“Is that right?” the hologram murmured before shrugging slightly, “Well, I am the Emergency Engineering Hologram for the ship. It’s my job to make sure that it doesn’t fall apart while you and the ECH up there gallivant across the quadrant.”

“Oh… well actually, I was hoping I could spend a bit of time down here. Maybe learn a bit about the ship and how to maintain her since I’ll be an engineering officer once they send us a permanent Captain,” Corwin looked at the hologram with expectant eyes.

“I’m an engineer, not a babysitter,” the hologram snapped, “If they’d wanted me to train people, the would have included an instructional subroutine. You’d be better off focusing on learning how to be a commander rather than poking your nose down here. We can save the apprenticeship for when you actually belong down here.”

“Can I at least help out?” Adler asked, not willing to be chased away so easily from the one place he felt like he belonged.

“It is your ship, I suppose…” the EEH huffed before considering his request. Given how new the vessel was, there wasn’t much that currently needed to be done. Almost every task could already be taken care of by the ship’s automated repair functions. His enthusiasm for the craft did, however, spur the EEH to settle on a task that wouldn’t take too much time to complete, but would still give the young man that sense of accomplishment that he seemed so desperate to grasp hold of.

“There is a sensor pallet that I was going to replace,” the EEH began to explain.

Ens. Adler practically lit up, “I’ll do it! I came in third in my class for system maintenance.”

“Really now?” the hologram didn’t seem nearly as impressed as Adler might have hoped, “Then the job is yours. I already have the new equipment replicated, and a toolkit sitting right beside it. Maintain away.”

“Yes!” the Ensign pumped his fists in the air before rushing over to the toolkit and equipment. He gathered the items then turned back to the hologram, “Uh… where is it?”

The EEH smirked, “That would help, wouldn’t it? It’s one deck below us, farthest aft sensor suite. Junction 124-Bravo.”

“Got it!” the Ensign chirped, practically bounding off toward the cluster of stairs not far from the Engineering compartment.

“At least it won’t be hard to fix if he screws it all up,” the hologram snorted just after the Ensign moved beyond earshot.

Corwin hurried through the empty corridors, his mind so focused on the task at hand that he didn’t even register that he hadn’t needed to weave through any people as he made his way along. He reached the small maintenance room in short order, setting down the tools and replacement part before looking for the piece of technology that had failed to meet the Engineering hologram’s rigid standard. The Ensign was so happy to actually be doing something productive that he started to hum a little tune while he disconnected the various couplings and power connections.

Adler pulled the defective pallet out of the slot it had been occupying, setting it well away from the new one so as not to get them confused, before hoisting the replacement up into the slot to begin the task of making sure everything was hooked up properly. He continued to hum softly, his song acting like a mnemonic device to help him remember where each of the couplings and lines were meant to go. When he felt confident that he’d gotten it right, the Ensign slid the device backward into the cradle and tossed the tool he’d been holding back in the toolkit.

“Ensign Adler to the bridge,” the man said after striking his commbadge.

“Go ahead, Captain,” came the reply from the ECH.

“Could you check the resolution on the aft sensor array? I just replaced the sensor pallet and I wanted to make sure it was working properly.”

A short pause ensued while Corwin waited for the ECH to carry out the task, “Aft sensors are as finely calibrated as the rest of the sensor grid. It would seem you were successful.”

“Thank you! Adler out,” the Ensign said before gathering up the tools and defective part. His trip back to the Engineering section was no less empty as before, but his spirits were still too high for it to bother him. The happy little tune that was escaping the young Ensign’s lips softly gave the EEH a few second’s warning before he came into view.

“Well?” the hologram inquired as he folded his arms in front of his chest, “Did you manage to swap it out without breaking anything?”

“Yes I did, and I even confirmed that the pallet was calibrated as finely as the rest of the sensor grid so there wouldn’t be any anomalies if we needed to do any comparative analyses at different resolutions,” Corwin said proudly.

“If only I had an automated redundancy system to do the same thing…” the hologram said in an exaggerated tone before remarking, “Oh wait… I do.”

Corwin looked crestfallen at the remark, spurring the hologram to follow up, “I sympathize with your desire to get your hands dirty down here, Ensign… but you’re not an engineer right now, you are our Captain. Trying to escape that by turning wrenches and spinning spanners does a disservice to your crew and to yourself as well.”

The EEH’s tone softened… slightly, “Your enthusiasm for the art of engineering is plain as day, it warms the very coding of my program to see such diligence in such a young man. But we all have our place here, Ensign… and this isn’t yours. At least… not today.”

Corwin let out a frustrated sigh, “The ECH keeps saying that… I just…”

“If you’re struggling with all this, I suggest you head to Sickbay,” the EEH offered, “It might be helpful to talk this over with someone who specializes in feeling your feelings. I can fix just about anything… but I can’t do a thing for malfunctioning emotions.”

“Oh… right… he mentioned a Counseling hologram,” Adler uttered softly before looking back up at the EEH, “Thank you for humoring me. I really did enjoy getting to help out around here.”

“While I may have undersold it a bit earlier, your help was appreciated,” the hologram replied with a half-smile.