Ensign Jovenan – ... but the life goes on

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Jovenan

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Feb 17, 2023, 5:51:11 PM2/17/23

to USS Excalibur-A – StarBase 118 Star Trek PBEM RPG

((Deck 5, Compartment 0613, USS Excalibur-A))

((Time Reference: Just before the transfer announcement))

Music, played with Edo instruments following the ancient melody, filled Jovenan’s quarters. It was off-hours. She had removed her uniform and her thermal layers and donned the classic, light pink Edo romper. She had suppressed, even hidden parts of her culture for years because of what it represented to the off-worlders and how they reacted to it. When with other Edo or by herself, she had not given the clothing, or the music for that matter, any other meaning but comfort and familiarity. And in these quarters, she was alone.

She had had some emotional moments recently. Fears and doubts. Feeling of failure. Bashful pride when rewarded. Friendship. This was her day off of all that. Today, she wasn’t Ensign Jovenan, science officer, USS Excalibur NCC-41903-A, outsider in her homeworld, outsider off-homeworld, shy and anxious little pawn in the game. Today she was just Jovenan, who happened to listen to good music, wear skimpy clothes and be in extra-warm quarters, alone.

Ding.

Jovenan jumped a bit. Something was interfering with her being just Jovenan. She looked around for good few seconds, before walking to the computer interface. There was mail for her. Curious, she opened read the title of the transmission.

Immediate Reassignment and Transfer

She had a figurative heart attack reading the line. She was once again the anxious little science officer she always was. Reassignment? Transfer!? What had she done? She sat down and read the entire transmission.

To: Adea, G., Cmdr; Yalu, Y., Lt. Cmdr., Dakora, T., Lt., Silveira, V., Lt., Yellir, H., Lt., Sydin, A., Lt., Jovenan, Ens., Jones, H., Ens.

From: MacKenzie, A., Cmdr.

Subject: Immediate Reassignment and Transfer

To the above-mentioned officers: on orders of Starfleet Command, you are hereby requested and required to assume your same duty posts on the USS Artemis-A.

This transfer is effective immediately. When the Artemis arrives at DS 224, please see to it that any personal items are also expeditiously transferred. Any personnel or equipment requisitions should also be made directly to me at this time.

After reading the entire message, she was no longer nervous, but curious. USS Artemis. Why were they transferring there? She read the message again. Now she paid some more attention to the recipient line. She was there, of course, but so was Jones. And Doctor Adea, too. And some more officers she knew by now, to varying extent. In matter of fact, it looked like all senior officers were on the list.

She looked around the room. She had been on the Excalibur for only what, three months? During her time, she had only accumulated little personal items to her quarters. Clothes, some books, Edo symbols… service ribbons? Some documents? That was mostly it. Packing those wouldn’t take long. But during those months, she had grown into the Vesta class explorer. She might begin to miss it.

But like she had done to the Excalibur, she’d need to learn everything about the new vessel before she made it there. Artemis. What a cool name.

((Time jump))

((Docking Ring, Deep Space 224))

((Time reference: Artemis has arrived))

Jovenan straightened her new uniform. She was chilly wearing the short skant with short sleeves in the docking ring. While on board the Excalibur, she had worn thermal layers, provided by Doctor Adea after her medical check-up where she had pointed out the slightly lower indoors temperature compared to the Edo preference. The layers were still packed in her luggage, hopefully transferred to her new quarters, but the Artemis was a Luna class ship. The class was famous for going to the extremes for crew diversity and the life support system adaptability that necessarily followed that. She had made sure that she’d receive comfortable warmth wherever she was on the ship, not necessitating wearing thermal layers everywhere anymore. And the more revealing set of clothes? The very light Edo clothes were one thing. This was an official variant to the uniform, if somebody was uncomfortable with her wearing it, it was their problem, not hers. Besides, she had become more familiar with the crew and had learnt they were not all like some of the people in the university had been. She was more comfortable in that, and she believed the crew would respect her for that. Give an Edo a chance to wear a skant, and they’ll take it.

Artemis.

There it was. She could see it through the large windows of the ring. Its beautiful, round saucer section. Its marvellously sophisticated yet visually odd sensor pod. Its downwards angling pylons. Her home for the next God-knows-for-how-long.

She turned back. Somewhere there was still the Excalibur, her home for the previous three months. She had learnt some details about the transfer. The Excal had been given a new mission somewhere else, and many of the senior officers and others remained in the Borderlands, on this new ship. Not all senior officers. The Captain was to remain on Excal, lead her to new adventures. Jovenan believed some of the older officers had been celebrating their now-former Captain informally. She hadn’t joined them. They had known each other for years now. She didn’t want to inject herself to the party of old friends. She wished, nonetheless, all the best to Commodore Nicholotti in her hearth.

She turned back to the Artemis. People were already walking in through the docking umbilical. Smiling a little, she joined the queue. Walking through the small corridor, she stepped, for the first time, to her new home.