Nate set foot on the Sovereign class USS Venture for the very first time. She was quite a thing to behold. He’d given the Sovereign fleet a bad assessment in his mind and unjustly so. Everything about the ship was spacious, and the designs and colorations of her bulkheads were active and vibrant. Nate had been used to the comfortable, carpeted interiors of a Galaxy class vessel. That type of ship was akin to someone’s living room; decorated and lived in. They even had a smattering of potted plants.

Early on, Nate had heard rumors that Sovereign were utilitarian and militaristic, with dark undertones, and low lighting. However, he was pleased to find that he was mistaken in that belief.

From here on out, his orders were clear. First he would report to the officer on duty, show his transfer of orders, dump his personal effects off with the quartermaster, get assigned some personal living space, and the head to the ships Chief Medical Officer and report for the standard embarkation physical. Nate hated physicals, but it was part of life in Starfleet. Nobody wanted to sit next to someone on the bridge who had attracted the Orion “foomy goomies.”

As Nate walked through the corridors and various levels of the Venture, he allowed himself to take the place in. It was something he did when reporting to a new post. He paid attention to the state of the ship. Was it in disrepair, or was it clean? Were things in a constant state of mess and disrepair, or was she up to Starfleet standards? It said a lot about her crew, but it also spoke to the mindset of its Captain.

Additionally, he looked at the faces of the crew persons. Did they look happy, eased, or were they distressed and running. Sometimes Captain’s liked to keep their crews cracking and at work. Nate was pleased to find that on both fronts the ship seemed nominal and in a normal state of function. He detected no faces at “red alert”. Everyone seemed aware of their duties and went about them at a reasonable Starfleet pace.

Nate took a brief moment, transferred his orders to the officer on deck, and proceeded to receive his room assignment from the quartermaster. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he didn’t have to share a room with anyone, and that he even got larger senior style quarters, complete with windows. He liked rooms with windows. He’d always been somewhat claustrophobic and the junior quarters always left something to be desired, and were sparse in their decorations.

Not that decoration mattered in the 25th century; humanity had largely developed beyond the need for self-identification through the accumulation of junk. However, Nate had some precious personal belongings that he had accumulated through his 25 years of service to the fleet. His soccer ball, for example, had been a personal belonging that he had carried with him, ever since he played on the academy team his freshman year.

Yes, he suspected he was going to like service aboard the Venture. All he had to do now was report to its Captain, and take his proper place at the ships helm.