ZE/D01 - Bridge

[Sebastian Cortez]

Sebastian made his way to the Bridge; his heart was racing with a mixture of excitement and uncertainty. Excitement from the standpoint that the Zephyr crew is legendary. Uncertainty from the standpoint that these people have worked together for years, and he was the newbie, would they accept him into their close-knit family? But the crew of the Zephyr was, in fact, the legendary crew of the USS Titania. The rumor was that the USS Titania was sent on an Ultra Top Secret, Classified mission and that a especially trained crew was assigned to the Titania and the original crew was assigned to the newly commissioned USS Zephyr, Sebastian wasn’t sure if that was true, but back at the Academy everyone heard the stories of Captain Ameen were the stuff that inspired young Cadet. Ameen was what Picard was to the cadet in the 2360’s. Sebastian wasn’t sure how true those stories were, but there was usually a grain of truth  in those stories

But it stood to reason that the stories had to be true as a Star Ship Captain had to be a skilled diplomat, a brilliant tactician, a hard as steel warrior, a cutthroat negotiator, and an exemplary officer, but a Star Ship Captain had to be all things to all people. 

Sebastian was amazed at the efficiency of the crew. How had the First Officer  Keir77 known that Sebastian had arrived? Clearly the First Officer had the crew monitor all access points to check for new arrivals, especially replacement or new crew members and they in turn reported the new arrivals to the First Officer, Keir77, that was a Hermat name; the voice that came over his com badge sounded female. The Hermats were one of a few hermaphroditic species that the Federation knew of.  Sebastian found their use of personal pronouns fascinating; they used terms like hir rather than 'him' or 'her, or hish for the possessive forms of his and hers, or s/he' with a separately accented H rather than she or he. That brought to mind, do they switch between genders?

Sebastian knew this was his moment to shine, to start his Star Fleet career, but he was scared; this wasn’t the Holodeck, where if you made a mistake, you could always rest it. Sebastian had a problem with Holodecks, in that the programs had everything perfect, Perfect Officers, who were programmed with all the right answers. In holodeck simulations, complex algorithms controlled a character's response, governed by elaborate software.

Relax, Sebastian, relax, you've trained for this. YOU can do it.

Sebastian stepped off the turbo lift and onto the Bridge, the noise hit him like a tidal wave. Officers were calling out orders, calling for pre-flight checks of all systems, weapons inventory, medical supplies, and engineering readiness.

The Zephyr was a new ship; it had a very sleek, efficient design, it even had a new ship smell. Sebastian, realizing he was in the way, stepped to the left of the turbo lift entrance, where he saw the Zephyr’s Dedication Plaque, he read the dedication quote: "Fair laughs the morn, and soft the zephyr blows." That line was from the 1757 poem, "The Bard: A Pindaric Ode" by Thomas Gray. It describes a beautiful and pleasant morning, which serves as a contrast to the poem's tragic and violent backstory about the massacre of Welsh bards by King Edward I. The line is often quoted in reference to the beautiful imagery of a peaceful morning at sea, particularly a ship sailing in "gallant trim" with "Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm". Which made sense, the Zephyr was a gallant ship well well-trimmed, and it’s crewed by youth

The Bridge was the standard Star Fleet layout, a large multifunction view screen, and a few feet away was the Operations Station, which was vacant at the moment. He then spotted a Tall Vulcan sitting at Tactical. He had jet black hair and brown eyes with typical short Vulcan hair; his complexion was a dark olive tone.

Sebastian brought up the crew manifest in his mind. He had studied it, that had to be Lieutenant Torock Powl. Sebastian watched as the Vulcan's hands graced the control of his station with decisive, logical movements.

Normally, he didn’t enjoy the company of Vulcan’s as everything revolved around Logic, but that changed when he became friends with his Academy rival, a Vulcan named T’Sel. She was brilliant, but the two of them didn’t hit it off at first.

Sebastian's attention was then drawn to the area behind the Command Center. There was a Klingon; he was at least six feet tall, he had dark brown eyes, shoulder-length black hair, and a dark complexion.

That’s when Sebastian remembered the Zephyr crew manifest listed the Chief of Security as a Klingon named Gath.

Sebastian found it hard to work with Klingons as everything they did, everything they said, was governed by Honor, which made collaboration difficult if not impossible, but he was willing to work past it.

Come on, Sebastian, clearly Gath isn’t a typical Klingon, after all, he’s a Star Fleet Officer and not in the Klingon Defense Force.

Sebastian looked past Gath to the rear of the Bridge, where he spotted a Saurian. The Saurian stood between six feet six and seven feet tall, and it had rich black eyes with emerald flecks in them. He seemed familiar in some manner. The Saurian was a Midshipman just like Sebastian; chances were, he probably had more than a few classes with the Saurian at the Academy, but many of the Academy classes had a large number of cadets in them. Reptilian species Sebastian knew a Saurian back at the Academy, her name was Ss’Veta, her last name was impossible for non-Saurians to pronounce, she had pinkish green scales, and this Saurian had green-gray skin.

The only Saurian that Sebastian recalled seeing on the manifest was A’kilees Peleus. Next to the Sarurian stood an Orion, she was beautiful, she had auburn hair and the most brilliant violet eyes, that's when he recalled his Supervisor was an Orion named Amila Ra'an, Lieutenant Commander Amila Ra'an.

Sebastian's attention was drawn to a lovely human, she had brilliant green eyes and red free free-flowing hair,

Sebastian then remembered that the Zephry’s Chief  Medical Officer was a brilliant redhead with incredible green eyes by the name of Evie O’Fee.

That's when Sebastian's attention was directed to the Command Center of the Bridge. There in the Center Chair was Captain Morad Ameen, he looked to be about five feet ten inches tall and between one hundred eight and two hundred pounds, but it was hard to tell as he was sitting. His hair was black with a few streaks of grey. The Captains were black, they had a vulnerability to them, they were deep, soulful eyes, at least that’s how they appeared to Sebastian; he felt a chill run down his spine. Sebastian wasn’t intimidated easily, not that Captains intentionally intimidate their junior officers, it’s just Sebastian didn’t want to disappoint the Captain.

Yes, Sebastian had never met  Captain Ameen before; it's just that the rumors around the Academy that  Ameen was just that Brilliant an Officer and would soon make Admiral, it's just he felt inspired to just be in the presence of him.

Sitting next to the Captain was a very exotic-looking female; she had brown eyes and black hair, pulled back into a ponytail, revealing she was about five feet five inches tall and between one hundred and forty pounds; she looked fit. So it stood to reason that had to be the Hermat First Officer Keir 77.

Sebastian looked around, and he could see that this was going to be a very interesting assignment. She adjusted his uniform jacket, double-checking it to make sure he was presentable.

Sebastian made his way towards the Command Center. His pulse was racing, his heart pounding; it was like everything was going in slow motion. He reached the Command Center in a few seconds, but to him it seemed like thirty minutes, and came to attention,

Breathe, relax, and breathe. 

" Science Midshipman Sebastian Pedro Cortez reporting for duty,” said Sebastian as he handed over his Data Padd containing his orders.



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