An Interesting Start

Posted on Sat Jun 20th, 2020 @ 6:53am by Lieutenant JG Haru Hernandez

Mission: Into The Delta Triangle
Location: USS Astraea Crew Quarters
Timeline: Current

{ON:}

=^=Present Time=^=

Kaito stood in his new quarters looking over the ‘Stuff’ he’d brought. He’d left home with one bag but had added a crate of books and another two crates of stuff that he hadn’t even needed while waiting to get on the shuttle that had brought him to his new home.

He had to smile and shake his head as he recalled the day he’d left Earth. He’d been here for a while now and he had yet to unpack. He was looking forward to doing that today as he had a day off. Smiling he recalled his adventure to get here...


=^=Many Days ago…=^=

Kaito hugged his sister and his mother one last time before picking up his bag and heading to the shuttle that would take him to the Academy. From there he would catch a shuttle that would take him to his new home on a ship he had just learned needed an Assistant Chief TAC/SEC officer. It wasn’t a position that he was expecting but it was welcome. He was looking forward to being on the Astraea. It would be a new adventure for sure.

Kaito had two heroes in his life. Kirk and Pike and he wanted to command like they did. Starfleet was everything to him; it stood for everything that he stood for: Sacrifice, Service, Courage, Love, Compassion, Duty, and Honour. This new post got him closer to his dream of command. He had a sense of excitement that had begun to build in the pit of his stomach. It had started the day his former CO suggested applying for the position and had only grown since he'd gotten the acceptance.

Smiling he boarded the transporter pad that would take him to the San Fran Campus. He’d have a few hours there to have lunch and buy a few things before reporting to the shuttle that would take him the rest of the way to his new home, to the Astraea the ship that would help him begin a new chapter in his life. He was still smiling as the sight of his mother and sister shimmered before his eyes into nothingness that would last only a handful of seconds before the world would reform.

The day was unusually warm. As he materialized on the campus pad he stepped off and closed his eyes letting himself get accustomed to being in one piece again. He grinned nodded to a few people milling about and headed on his way to one of his favourite shops. It was one he worked in and all but lived in while he was a student here at the Academy. As he walked towards it he wondered if Helvig would still be running it. It had been two years since he'd been back. The idea of seeing the man who seemed to be his only true friend during his academic career made him smile broadly.

Within a few minutes he was pushing the ancient wooden door open. As he stepped in he stopped and took a deep breath allowing the sent of thousands of paper books of varying ages to wash over him. It was a stale musty sent but one that had allowed him to live a thousand adventures without leaving his dorm or the planet for that matter.

“Vell. Look who is coming back.”

Kaito laughed. “Helvig! You’re still here?”

“I tot I teach you. Evil no die.”

He laughed harder. “Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re about as evil as a kitten. So tell me have you been home as of late,” he asked refereeing to Helvig’s estate in Sweden. He owned several stores there and his family was there, both his daughters who were doctors and his grandkids.

“Ya. I waz home. Two new babies my daughter has. Not young one old one.”

“Well that’s great!”

Helvig studied the man. “More books?”

“You know it. I’d like to get the new autobiographies of ..”

“Ya I know. Pike and Kirk.”

“And Ambassador Spock.”

The old man sighed. “I got here.” He limped over to the counter. Kaito noticed that he seemed more run down. He was in his early hundreds but that was nothing. Helvig had some El-Aurian blood in him too. Who knew how long the old man would live. He hurried to the counter so as Helvig would not have to walk.

Kaito took the books from his hands and then put them off to the side. “Mind if I look around?”

“No. My store is open.”

Kaito smiled and then headed to the stacks which spanned two floors of the narrow musty shop. Soon he was lost in memories and old stories so much so that all track of time was lost. He’d made several trips down to the counter to drop off his prizes and soon he’d found that he had enough books to fill a small crate.

Helvig had just looked on with that sparkle in his eye. “I see you still hungry for books.”

“What can I say?” Kaito looked around and sighed. “What’s the damage?”

Helvig shook his head. “You work here four years all trru academy for free. Take. All yours.”

Kaito’s eyes widened. “No….I can’t…”

“You are friend. Take.”

Kaito was touched but also knew that he couldn’t accept it. They bargained for a while, had lunch and soon he found that he was dragging a crate of books and his bag pack and large bag of stuff towards the new shuttle. He’d miss Earth. He’d miss being here and he swore it wouldn’t take him so long next time to visit Helvig again. His trip to the shuttle had not been direct. In fact he’d made several stops purchasing a few more things to make his new home a home. When he finally arrived on the shuttle he had gotten quite the look from the pilot. Taking one last look he boarded the shuttle that would take him to his new home and his fresh start.


=^=Present Time=^=

Kaito sighed. “Well I better get to work. Time to unpack this mess…” He said mess but he was smiling. He was looking forward to setting up his space for the first time in a long time. It had been his sister who'd told him that he truly needed to make his quarters a home, something he'd avoided until this very minute.

{OFF:}