Introducing: Ensign Kurtzman

Posted on Fri Jul 8th, 2011 @ 2:39am by Captain Vorn Krace

Mission: The Fate of the Swiftsure
Location: USS Iapetus - Transporter Room, Shuttlebay, Crew Quarters
Timeline: MD04 1950 hours

As the blue sparkle effect of the transporter faded away, Natalie (NPC) found herself standing on the transporter pad onboard the Luna-class starship to which she was to attribute the name 'home' to. She was the only one beaming over at this time, and the only other occupant was the transporter operator who politely greeted her after she finished materialising. As she nodded sheepishly to him, she pulled the strap of her bag up high on her shoulder, tucked her chin in, and made a bee line for the door.

Natalie didn't really have a problem with people, if she was honest with herself. She was fine moving in amongst and working with a whole array of different people; since she started flying as a shuttle pilot for Starfleet, she'd had many a stranger in the back of her shuttle craft as she ferried them from A to B. Natalie's problem lay in trying to converse with people she didn't know, which of course led to the problem of finding it difficult to make friends. She had avoided talking to people that she didn't know for as long as she could remember; afraid of making herself sound like a fool or a child in front of them. Oh, she'd be able to talk to them for work-related duties; reporting in to superior officers, acknowledging orders and so on and so forth, but it was the personal interactions that she feared.

Thankfully, it was to a professional interaction that she headed first; she had to notify the officer of the deck in the shuttlebay that she had reported onboard, so that she could be called upon if a shuttle pilot was needed, and it was her turn on the roster. The schedule of a shuttlecraft pilot onboard a starship was hardly a regimented one; most of the time she would only actually be needed if a shuttle was to be taken out. Other than that, the only actual duties that she had were the regular flight simulations the department head usually put the pilots through, the monthly maintenance checks on the ship's shuttles in collaboration with Engineering, and the occasional shift looking over the shuttlebay, if it was a busy night, or the usual officers in charge of the bay were unavailable.

The interaction in the shuttlebay was brief; a simply check of her identity through the ship's bio sensor readings, a confirmation that she was assigned to the Iapetus, and adding her name into the roster and she was done. With that simple necessity out of the way, she set off to find her quarters.

As always, Natalie relied on the computer's guide to get her to her quarters - she had even downloaded a map onto her PADD so that she didn't have to feel silly asking the computer which way every two minutes around other crewmembers. As she reached the assigned room, she privately hoped that it would be empty of another occupant. She had known since the day she joined up at Starfleet that she would have to share quarters with at least one other person until - or unless - she could make it to either senior officer or day shift bridge officer status, in which case she would finally get her own room - at least on a ship like the Iapetus, which was large enough to have that commodity. Unfortunately as the door slid open, it revealed another occupant sitting within.

"Oh, hi!" Bonnie (NPC) said cheerfully at the sight of the other woman in the doorway. "I'm guessing you're Natalie, my new room-mate?" she asked, standing to greet her. "Please, come in, come in. I'm Bonnie, by the way."

"Natalie," the pilot mumbled needlessly, as the science officer had already known and stated her name. As she moved slowly into the room, the door sealing shut behind her, she slowly removed her bag from her shoulder and lifted it onto the top bunk. It was clear that was the empty one - Bonnie had an old teddy or two on the bottom bunk, and it had been where she had been sitting when Natalie had opened the door.

"Don't worry, I won't bite," the stellar cartographer said, trying to make friends quickly with her new room-mate. She flitted about the room slightly, picking up a few personal effects from surfaces, and a couple of dirty clothes off the floor and put them away. "Sorry about the clutter. I've had the room to myself until now. Hey listen, I'm about to head off to the mess hall in a minute; me and a few of the other junior officers are going to have a few drinks. Do you want to come?"

"I think I'd like to stay here and settle in," Natalie replied quietly, hoping that the other Ensign wouldn't be offended by her wish to stay here, especially if the room was going to be empty shortly.

"OK, no worries then," Bonnie continued, as she traded places with Natalie for the position closest to the door. "You should join us sometime, though. I'll make sure to introduce you to them all, let you know who to stay away from," she gave a cheesy wink and nudge with her elbow at that comment, before her enthusiasm finally died down a bit in the face of Natalie's uncooperativeness. "Well, I'll see you later then."

"Yeah..."

As Bonnie left the room, Natalie finally relaxed, releasing the tension she had not realised she had built up within herself. She hated to be thrust into that kind of situation; shut in a small room with somebody new, her arms full of her stuff. She knew that she'd have to get to know her room mate at some point during the journey, though. That is, of course, unless she could work out when to find something elsewhere on the ship to occupy her so as to avoid her...

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Ensign Natalie Kurtzman (NPC)
Shuttle Pilot

&

Ensign Bonnie Myers (NPC)
Stellar Cartographer
Both played by Captain Krace