An Ensign's Log: The Year of Hell

Chapter 15: Day 1

Ensigns Log, Stardate 51252.3. Today I'm starting my shift under the close, watchful eye of Lieutenant B'elanna Torres herself. Truthfully I'm nervous, but I believe the reason we're working together alone is so that she can see just how good an Engineer I really am. I don't know what we'll be doing but I'm sure it's going to be a lot more fun than running plasma checks all day...

Just as the digital clock turned to 0700 hours, Ensign (y/n) strode into Engineering with confidence. She headed for her usual station and found that the Head of Engineering was already there, talking quietly with Ensign Vorik. Tripping up the platform, she cursed to herself, making the two officers turn around to stare at her curiously. She gulped.

"Am I late, Lieutenant?" she asked worridly. To her surprise B'elanna Torres smiled a sympathetic smile and strolled over, folding her arms over her chest. She shook her head, her silky brunette hair brushing over her cheeks, "No you're not Ensign." Then handing her the data padd from the terminal to her left, she motioned towards the entrance of Engineering, "Shall we?"
"Yes ma'am," the Ensign nodded, taking the padd and following the half-Klingon out of the room. Glancing back at Ensign Vorik, he gave her a not-so-encouraging, typical blank Vulcan stare. That only made her stomach knot even more.

~

Cargo Bay 2 was readily full of supplies of food, equipment and a few small shuttlecraft. Walking in beside Lieutenant Torres, the young Engineer was clueless as to what task would be set upon her. What more was there to do in Cargo Bay 2 than routine checks on equipment and supplies?

Walking towards the shuttlecrafts, Lieutenant Torres scrolled intently through the list on her data padd before speaking directly to the Ensign, "Today we're going to run through the duty repair schematics on one of the shuttlecrafts. I'm aiming for you to be responsible enough to join away missions soon, and going by your progress over the last month, I believe that you're a fast learner. Am I right?"
She stared back shockingly at the Lieutenant and parted her lips wordlessly. Is this my chance to finally become the engineer I've been working so hard to become? Reeling herself back in from her excitement, she stood up straight and nodded in understanding, "Yes, ma'am."
"Great, let's get started then," Lieutenant Torres showed her round to the shuttle sidedoor and she paced up the ramp behind her.

~

Just as she had said, the Head of Engineering ran through every single repair and problem solving situation without fault, and without stopping. It was exhausting but the Ensign got a real adrenaline rush out of it, so happy to be finally outside of Engineering's four walls.

By the time they had finished, it had gone past 1300 hours and they both suddenly felt incredibly hungry. Collecting their padds, they got up from the helm station and sighed tiredly.
"That'll be all for today," B'elanna stretched her arms above her head and inhailed deeply, "I gotta say (y/n), you're really good at keeping up with all of this."
"Just doing my job, Lieutenant," the Ensign replied, deeply grateful of the opportunity. B'elanna shrugged her shoulders and pursed her lips in agreement before heading for the side door. As the engineer's turned to walk down the ramp, they abruptly meet two officers standing at the base of it.

"Are you two working on this shuttlecraft as well?" Torres asked as she proceeded to walk down the ramp, arms swinging at her sides as the Ensign followed quietly behind her.
"I'm working on shuttlecraft five," the one man grinned proudly, "This guy's working on this one." The man doing all the talking was short with curly brunette hair, and the other was a lot taller with darker hair and a stiffer posture.
"Excellent, well as you two are gonna be assigned to the same shuttlecraft, I suggest you begin to get to know each other," B'elanna smirked as she nodded at the young Engineer and strode off towards the hallway in search of a sonic shower and a bite to eat.

The Ensign was left to stand awkwardly in front of the two officers, hands clasped behind her back shyly. The shorter man was the first to make a move, "Hello, I'm Ensign Miller, and you are?" he asked whilst stepping forward.
"Ensign (y/n)," she replied with a subtle smile, watching as Miller looked up at his tall colleague as if waiting for him to speak. But he didn't. He just, stared at her. She should have felt uncomfortable but for some reason he didn't make her feel that way.
"And this is Ensign Lee," Miller announced for him, nudging his friend in the arm to get him to cooperate. A few seconds pause and Ensign Lee stepped forward, holding out his hand to her. She glanced down at his hand, a fuzzy feeling embracing her like a warm blanket. Biting her lip, she took it gently and they shook hands.
"I look forward to working with you," Ensign (y/n) stated with a nervous smile, her cheeks going rosy as she met his gaze. His eyes were so deep and mysterious she couldn't look away.
"As do I," he finally spoke, his voice low and silky. It was a long moment before they let go of each other's hands and stood gazing at each other thoughtfully. Ensign Miller on the other hand wanted to shift things along and cleared his throat loudly.
"Sorry Ensign, but we better get going. Our shift started ten minutes ago and we haven't exactly gotten very far!" he laughed heartily, making her chuckle at his impatient mannerisms.
"Of course, see you around Ensign Miller!" she waved as he jogged towards shuttlecraft five. Then she looked back up at the tall man in front of her and her heart suddenly skipped a beat. It was weird but she felt comfortable around him, and all she knew about him was his name.
"I guess I'll be seeing you onboard soon," she pointed back at the shuttle and he nodded back, combing his fingers through his thick hair.
"I hope so," he smiled.

After exchanging farewells, they both went their separate ways. He seems like a nice guy, she wondered to herself whilst she headed towards the Cargo Bay door, I think we're gonna get along just fine. Entering the hallway, she turned to see the security officer walking up the ramp and stopping at the top. He turned as if he had heard her thoughts to see her staring back at him and she gasped awkwardly, cheeks going pink. Ensign Lee chuckled at her adorable shyness, and as she swiftly disappeared from view she felt somewhat different inside, like there had been an emptiness that had been suddenly filled but she couldn't quiet put her finger on it. As she walked down the hallway to the Mess Hall, she grinned to herself, wondering about her new training and new handsome colleague. Glancing over her shoulder to find the hallway deserted, she jogged faster, finding herself even more excited to tell Neelix all about it.

THE END.