He’d gotten up early and packed his bags three times.  He’d paced the floor reading the PADD about his assignment.  He’d had three cups of coffee while looking at the reference photos for his assignment, zooming into the various details of the warp core, consoles, and anything else they’d been willing to share once he’d learned of his assignment.  His leg bounced wildly while sitting in the waiting room outside the starbase transporter room, busily sending officers, crewmen, and civilians to their destinations.

His mother had sent a video with his dad wishing him luck.  He’d watched it five times, touching the screen absently.  They had been cheering him on since he’d followed their advice to pursue the academy.  It had been a whirlwind of four years as he’d learned what he thought he knew about Starfleet Engineering was nearly backward.  There had been a lot of red-faced moments where the answer he’d given was several hops and skips from the correct answer.

He’d doubled down and worked hard to get to this moment. He glanced up as the array of faces passed him in the corridor, the sound of shuffling feet echoing through the corridor while bland announcements were made about reminders of security and process.  His nerves continued to jangle up and down his back, the tenseness building as he wondered and worried.  Would they like him?  Would it be a nightmare?  There were stories aplenty of first assignments being hell on the psyche either due to a terrible commanding officer or an indifferent crew.

“Ensign Ambrose Harris?”  The transporter assistant walked up to him, “They’re ready for you.  Come with me.”  The young woman led him into the transporter room, glittering and glowing with energy.  She checked her PADD, “To confirm, you are assigned to the USS Garrison, Miranda Class, as an engineering officer.  Your duty station is Gamma Shift to start.”  He gave a hesitant nod as he tried to remember everything.  It was in his orders on his PADD, but he was keen to try and have as much as he needed to know ready without dragging out his device.  First impressions were important to him.  “Excellent.   Your assistant chief will be waiting for you on the other side.  Let’s get moving.”  Harris followed her direction and stepped gingerly onto the platform, his stomach beginning to spin like a merry-go-round that wasn’t very merry.  “Standby…energizing.”

Harris opened his eyes and found an older officer intently staring at him.  He hesitantly stepped down and extended his hand, “Ensign Ambrose Harris reporting for duty, Lieutenant.”  He had studied the ship but neglected to study the crew.  The sinking feeling of regret washed over him.   

The tall assistant chief engineer looked him up and down with a sigh, not returning the handshake, “Lieutenant Roberto Pascual, assistant chief.  Follow me.”  Harris fell in beside the man, feeling as if he wasn’t wanted.  Pascual continued, “Your quarters are a shared room with three others.  Your bunks are in separate rooms but share a living area and kitchen.  The officers you’re allotted with are not on the same shift as you, so you’ll need to figure that out.”  They turned a corner and soon arrived at a door marked “Quarters 020”.  The assistant chief gestured to the door, “Your shift starts in an hour.  You’ll be working with Shift Lead Theo Barnett.  Don’t be late, ensign.”  The lieutenant turned and stalked off, leaving Harris with several questions.  He took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

Three officers glanced up from the table in the center of the room.  He put a hand up in greeting, “Ensign Harris, your new roommate.”  They stared at him for a moment in awkward silence until one of them pointed to a door to the right, “That’s your bunk room.”  They returned to their poker game while the three seemed to forget that Ambrose was there at all.  The new roommate shuffled to the door and keyed in his codes.  The door rumbled open, and he stepped in, letting it close behind him before he let out a long sigh.  He had been hoping for something resembling welcome or friendly faces.  Nobody seemed interested in him or his reason for being here.  He unpacked his bags and arranged his belongings in the small space. He was heartened that there was a small desk with a console where he could work.  Given the frigid reception, he had a feeling he’d be spending more of his time in his bunk than out there.  He sat down at the console and began reading up on his new assignment roster.  He wasn’t going to be caught unaware again.