Ensign Celandra Bastin stepped off the gantry that had connected the transport ship she’d been assigned to, taking her first steps into her new life as a full fledged member of Starfleet. The assignment she had been given, a member of the Security Division aboard the Guardian-class starbase, had come to her as quite the shock. She’d been asking for several months to be posted aboard a starship, and yet somehow she was looking around the cavernous space that was the passenger reception area.

With a short sigh, Ens. Bastin adjusted the shoulder strap of her small luggage container she’d decided to carry aboard with her rather than leave it with her other gear. Her other hand was currently occupied with clutching somewhat nervously to the PaDD that contained her transfer orders as she began the journey into the interior of the station. As she made her way into the station, she noticed a line with a lot of similarly lost looking young officers and decided to join it.

“Hey there,” Bastin said, smiling to the young woman ahead of her, “Did you just make it aboard too?”

Sonja had been tasked with leading a new Ensign to the duty officer for Security. Why she had been chosen she didn’t know, but she followed orders. She stood in the arrival area for a few minutes before a redheaded Ensign spoke to her. Sonja smiled at the Ensign and shook her head. “No I have been here a few days. Ensign Bastin, I presume? I was told to come and get you settled in.”

“Oh… wow… I hadn’t expected anyone to actually meet me here. I’m Ensign Celandra Bastin, but most of my friends call me Cel,” the young woman introduced herself with a kind smile. Having grown up with a diplomat for a father had instilled in her, subconsciously more than anything, that a friendly smile and a chipper demeanor were usually good things to have when meeting people for the first time. Whether everyone reacted to it positively was another story, but it hadn’t let her down just yet.

“Have you started doing any actual field work since you got here, or is there some kind of orientation period where we have to sit through briefs and such?” Bastin asked as the two began their journey through the station.

Sonja smiled back and led Cel out of the arrival area, “Well, there have been quite a few briefings, but they have tried to mix it up and we have been on a few patrols, though I am still not sure of every area here. It isn’t hard to get lost or turned around here, but I am sure you will pick it up in no time. Oh, where are my manners? I am Ensign Sonja Thompson or Sonja to my friends.”

Bastin couldn’t help but laugh at the sudden introduction. The woman reminded her of a friend she had when she was still going through school prior to the Academy, a fact that made Celandra feel a bit better about her posting.

“I was kind of shocked to find out I’d been put on a starbase. I kept requesting starship postings during the last few months of the Academy and then…” Bastin motioned around them pointedly, “This is where I ended up. I guess I got spoiled living with my father on a starship for so long that I just took it for granted that I’d end up on one.”

Sonja nodded, “It was a bit of shock for me as well, but as a Lieutenant told me there are people here living their lives and yes you may occasionally have a fight, but this is a home of 100,000 people. No ship can say that, so in a way it is an honor to be asked to work here.”

Celandra shrugged at the woman’s words, “I guess that’s true in some strange way. I guess I just thought my first post would be more… action packed… My mother started her career in security and from the few stories she told me, it seemed like being on a starship would let me see things that would get my blood pumping and my heart racing. Dad’s always stuck behind a desk and I just can’t imagine myself being happy doing the same.”

The pair finally arrived at the turbolift cluster, stepping inside one of the many available lifts scattered around the compartment. Once inside, Celandra set her luggage container on the deck and gave her shoulder a bit of a roll while they headed toward their destination.

“Were you lucky enough to get sent here with anyone you knew from the Academy?” Bastin asked, getting tired of the silence in the lift.

Sonja nodded, “I did, in fact one of the current deck officers is a friend from the Academy, but so far other than him that is the only person I know on the station.”

“Well, that’s something at least,” Celandra said with a small smile, “I came here by myself, unfortunately. Everyone I hung out with got shipped off to starships. I might meet some of my father’s old shipmates, but even then that’s probably a long shot.”

Ens. Bastin looked down at her PaDD for a second before returning her attention to Ens. Thompson, “I’ll just have to make friends while I’m here. Shouldn’t be too difficult once they let me out on patrols and such. I’m sure there’s all sorts of interesting people coming and going through here. Just have to get out there and find them.”

Sonja thought for a second, listening to the inflections of the girls voice, she sounded sad. She smiled at the girl, “Well, if you want a friend I will be your friend.”

“I’d like that,” Celandra said with a nod, “It would be nice to have a friend who is also a coworker. Most of my friends weren’t in the Security course, so it will be nice to be able to talk about things and not have someone gloss over when I start talking about something they don’t understand about the security world.”

Sonja smiled, “Well consider me a friend, Celandra. I know what it is like sometimes and it will be nice to have someone I can confide in if work goes south one day.”

Ens. Bastin couldn’t help but laugh, “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to be able to do that without having to feel bad for my friends who couldn’t seem to care less about our line of work.”

Sonja rolled her eyes, “Tell me about it. They have no idea just how tough this job can be nor do they know what we do to keep them safe on a daily basis. If they did maybe they would be more appreciative of us.”

“Funny, my father says the same thing about his job,” Celandra couldn’t help but grin at the odd manner in which the two radically different paths they’d taken suddenly seemed so similar, “I guess we’re all doing something right if people take us for granted.”

The lift finally slowed to a stop and deposited the two Ensigns on the deck that they’d been waiting to reach. Bastin lifted her bag and returned the sling to her shoulder as they two headed toward the Security Offices. It had been nice to have someone take the time to guide her, since she hadn’t had a chance to even begin to commit much of the station to memory.

“Thanks for your help, Sonja,” Bastin said as they reached the entrance to the offices, “Maybe sometime later we can meet up and hang out. Who knows, maybe we’ll even have quarters close enough that we can do something in our off duty time.”

Sonja smiled, “Well I don’t have a roommate yet so maybe that will be you, Cel.” She winked and waved as she headed for the gym while Cel went to report her arrival.

Celandra waved back at the woman as she departed, turning to the door and sucking in a breath as she prepared herself for what would be the start of her new life aboard Starbase Bravo.