The soft chime of the alarm Luke had set broke through the haze of sleep. Throwing back his covers he let out a yawn while stretching. 

“Good morning Ensign, it is now 0500 hours.” the cool voice of the computer cut in between the chimes.

“Acknowledged, activate lights.” Luke murmured as he made his way to the bathroom, squinting slightly at the glow from the lighting, grabbing his uniform as he went. A sonic shower and some coffee from the roastery he had seen the day prior was on the agenda before reporting to his department head.

After his morning ablutions were completed and he was looking a bit more presentable, Luke grabbed his padd and made for the nearest turbolift. Waiting patiently for the turbolift car to arrive, Luke took a quick  glance at his orders to commit the most important parts to memory. Starbase Bravo was a hive of activity, even more so than usual as upgrades to the station’s reactors are underway. Personnel and supplies were rotating in and out in near constant cycles to get the work completed in time.

“Upper Promenade” Luke requested as he entered the now waiting turbolift cart. Exiting the turbolift when he arrived on the promenade, the first thing he took note of was the amount of crew members finishing shifts or getting ready to start the next one. Life on a starbase doesn’t really stop for anyone, let alone the flow of time. Taking care not to collide with anyone, he made for the direction of Brew for a real cup of coffee. Replicated coffee was pleasant enough, but nothing beat a freshly brewed coffee to get the day started.

Quickly standing in line, he joined the queue of other crew members in waiting for their caffeine fix. Thankfully at this time of the morning the line was moving fairly quickly, and before too long, Luke found himself facing one of the holographic barista’s. Starfleet technology was truly a marvel when you stopped to think about it.

“Good morning Ensign Daniels, what can we get started for you today?” the barista on duty enquired.

“Good morning, can I order a large mocha please?” Luke responded.

“Of course sir, take a seat and we will bring this over in a few minutes.” the barista acknowledged.

Spotting a small table near the entrance, Luke took a seat and watched the comings and goings of the promenade while he waited. The smell of roasting and grinding coffee beans filling the air.

“Your mocha, Sir.” the barista announced as the steaming mug was placed on the table.

“Thank you.” Luke replied as he brought the steaming cup to his mouth. The delightful mix of coffee and chocolate being more tempting than it was not five minutes ago. Taking a sip, he savored the caffeine now flowing through his veins as he gave the drink a minute or two to cool to a more drinkable temperature. Noting the time, Luke quickly downed the mug and set the dishes neatly to the side. He definitely did not want to run late and make a bad impression on his department head.

Getting to his feet, Luke’s stomach grumbled a wee bit. Perhaps a trip to the replicator banks for a quick walking breakfast was in order. Well would have been in order if he hadn’t overheard the stations announcement.

“Attention all hands, the replicator banks on the promenade are currently offline for a database update. This outage should only last up to 10 minutes.”

Shaking his head slightly, Luke instead redirected back toward the turbolift. He would have something to snack on later today, time permitting of course.

“Sector Lima-Violet.” Luke requested entering the turbolift. In a few brief moments he was whisked away to his destination. Exiting the turbolift, Luke quickly consulted the station directory to track down his department head. Entering Auxiliary Cargo Bay 1, he made a beeline for the lieutenant in charge.

“Ensign Lukas Daniels, reporting for duty, Sir.” Luke reported in.

“Welcome to the madhouse Ensign.” the lieutenant responded with a smile. “As you can see we have our work cut out for us.”

Motioning toward the backed up supplies and cargo crates. “We are doing some pretty heavy maintenance on the reactors, and with all the comings and goings, some much needed supplies have been relegated to the auxiliary cargo bays.”

Looking around the cargo bay in front of him Luke couldn’t help but notice things were in a bit of disarray.

“Where would you like me sir?” questioned Luke.

Tapping a few commands into the nearby terminal, Luke’s department head turned to him. “I have downloaded some shipping manifests and cargo transfer orders to your tricorder.”

“I would like you to liaise with the Quartermaster and Cargo Operations to help get these supplies from here to the main cargo bays.” he continued. “And don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.” the lieutenant finished with a lopsided grin.

“Yes sir.” Luke responded, eager to get some outstanding work orders finalised and free up some additional storage space.