DL | CDR Jake Satie, XO | "First Steps"

Posted on Fri Oct 6th, 2017 @ 6:19am by Captain Jacob Satie
Edited on on Fri Oct 6th, 2017 @ 8:24pm

Mission: The Round Table
Location: Docking Arm 2, XO's Quarters, Operations | Cold Station Theta
Timeline: 06:30 SD 241710.05

The Abilene kissed the station gently at precisely half past six, Zulu time. Jake had risen a hour before docking to shower and stow his personal items for transport to the station. He had also shaved the goatee he had been growing, deciding it wasn't the impression he wanted to make. Now, he stood at the air lock in a freshly replicated uniform of red and grey, colors he was still not used to wearing. He had been a lawyer, a damn good one in his opinion, but countless cases of minor infractions resulting in the loss of rank or in the few extreme cases he had argued, imprisonment, had beaten him down. He had lost his love for practicing law and decided to make a career move. He would never admit that the break-up had anything to do with his decision, but it had, he knew. He had asked Rosaline to marry him. She looked open mouthed into his eyes and laughed. "Jake, I know you care about me, but I don't think you have enough love for anyone but yourself." Those had been the words that ended a relationship two and a half years in the making. The next day he filed the papers to transfer out of the Judge Advocate Corps and into the command pool.

Jake knew he had messed up his career path. He was one cycle away from his fourth pip and was a shoe in for a division command with the Judge Advocate Corps when the time came. Law had been in his family since his great grandfather fought for universal civil liberties seventy years ago. Law had been all he had thought about for the first four years of his career. He had started out as a civil lawyer and worked his way into criminal prosecution and had made commander within six years. The last three years he had been the lead prosecutor for the Attorney General of the Sol sector stationed in London. He had met Rosaline there and it had been love at first sight. He had been blinded by her and she had thought he was blinded by himself. What did she know about him anyway, he thought as the doors hissed open to reveal his new post.

The turbolift ride to his new quarters took six minutes and had to be the longest ride he had ever taken in an elevator. Even his time at Earth Space Dock didn't require travel time like this. When the station beefed up to full capacity it would be a metropolis. Jake needed to know the fastest routes to the various parts of the station and put that on the top of his list of things to discover about his new home. When the doors of the lift at last hissed open on deck three a massive corridor curved off into the distance. His quarters were close to the lift, thankfully. They were spacious and well appointed containing a suite of five rooms including a master suite with king size bed, living, and dining area, bathroom, and the adjoining private office. His life of leisure would come with a price he knew. He would be hosting many diners with diplomats of various cultures and his quarters were set up for just that purpose. His office was equipped with a standard sphere style fish tank and a nice double window with a clear view of the nebula that framed the station in a golden hue. Jake sank down on to the couch across from the desk and it's two visitor chairs. It was comfortable and when his eyes opened again it was eight forty-three.

He chastised himself at first but then for them moment, he had no superior to answer to, as the new Commanding Officer had yet to arrive. There were duties he could be preforming and he stepped into the bathroom to refresh himself. His business concluded in his quarters, Jake made his way to the Operations Center on deck one. The stations were woefully undermanned and the duty officer didn't even notice he was there until he asked, "Lieutenant, what is the status of of the apparatus?" The man had jumped up and nearly taken a swing at Jake before reason had settle back into his weary eyes.

"Sorry, Sir. I'm port and starboard and the schedule is killing me. It's hard to stay focused." The Lieutenant said with heavy lidded eyes and sleep slurred speech.

"You're telling me that on a station this big there are only two qualified operations officers? Why are you port and starboard, Lieutenant?"

"We're not fully staffed, Sir. You are the first new officer to arrive since Starfleet deemed this station worthy of manning up. We have been running on a skeleton crew for years. This bucket used to be a refueling station back in the Dominion wars. When things became heated with the Ascendancy, Starfleet expanded her from forty three decks to twelve hundred and fifty. Only thing left of the original are the refueling pods. Most of the station's systems are still not fully tested." The Lieutenant sank back down in his chair having said all he physically could at the moment.

Jake walked around the nerve center for the station he would be calling home for the next four years, at least. He spoke with the other three officers, all in similar states of exhaustion. When he left Operations he was overcome by a sense of dread at the situation he had put himself in. Rubbing his temples, he decided to start calling in all the favors he had left. The station needed staffing and he was the only one on-board who could do get that ball rolling. "It can only get better now." He told himself as he said, "Deck three, starboard concourse." Down he went again to his office to take the first steps of the next chapter in his career.

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Commander Jacob "Jake" Satie
Executive Officer
Cold Station Theta, SB-1170