Sitting alone in one of the booths in the cantina, Ensign Bollwyn was finishing his breakfast when he noticed a shadow form over the table. Looking up, he saw a fellow ensign from the science department. He didn’t recognise her so he smiled.

“Hi,” Bollwyn said.

“Hi there,” the young lady smiled with an awkward wave. “May I join you?”

“Please take a seat,” He offered, gesturing towards the empty seating in the booth.

“Thank you,” the brunette smiled as she took the offered seat. She then made her own offering of a friendly hand. “Natalia Donovan, astrophysicist,” she greeted him.

“I’m Samwell Bollwyn,” He stated as he extended his hand towards her. Though it wasn’t the typical Ventaxian way of greeting someone, he guessed by Donovan’s name she was human. “You must be new to the Columbia?” He guessed.

“Yeah, transferred aboard just before we departed,” she nodded in confirmation, a wave at the bartender indicating she needed a beverage.

Pushing the last remains of his omelette around his dish, he stabbed at it with his fork. “How are you settling in, ensign?” Bollwyn stuffed his breakfast into his mouth and quickly chewed on it. 

“Oh, just fine,” she smiled, taking ownership of a dark red liquid when brought to her by the bartender. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s a fine ship, but when you’ve been aboard something as new as the Hathaway, you find carpets quite peculiar… and it’s so much bigger, so much to see.”

After finishing his mouthful, he picked up his Alvas juice. “Well, if you ever need a tour of the best places, let me know. I’m happy to be a guide.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Natalia grinned, slouching back into the chair, hoping their conversation would go on for a little longer.

At that point, the PADD that Bollwyn had with him went off, as did the PADD that Donovan had with her. They gazed down to see if they had received their mission orders. Looking up, Bollwyn smirked. 

“Well, by the looks of it, I won’t be doing that tour anytime soon, but we’ll have plenty of time to get to know one another,” He said, raising his PADD to show they had been assigned to an away team together.

“Colour me intrigued,” the woman smiled, leaning forward and craning her neck to get a glimpse of the data PADD he was holding.

Piloting one of the ship’s Type-Seventeen cargo shuttles down to Villam Four, Bollwyn looked at his co-pilot, Natala Donovan and smiled. 

“We’re entering the upper atmosphere,” He reported as he took the shuttle down further. “The village we’re to help is about three minutes away.”

“Excellent,” the co-pilot smiled as her fingers danced across the controls of the craft. “I’m thrilled that we were given this opportunity to help the villagers. It makes a change from being stuck in stellar cartography,” she glanced across at her new friend.

“Have you ever met a Grazerite before?” Bollwyn asked as he checked on the shuttle’s descent vector. 

“Not yet,” the astrophysicist shrugged. “What should I know about them?”

“I hear they are very tall,” He remarked. “I just hope this portable hospital helps them. Doctor Carrillion seemed eager to get these photonic field generators operational so those E-M-H’s can help the injured colonists.”

“We’re going to have to get down there first,” Natalia grimaced, “I’m detecting a massive stormfront closing in on the village. We’ll hit it in several seconds,” she told her pilot.

As they passed through the atmosphere, heavy rain and thunderstorms hit the shuttle.

“Great, we’re going to get soaked,” Bollwyn moaned.

Natalia looked across at Samwell and smirked. “And to think I forgot my umbrella…”