An Introspective Break

Posted on 241601.21 @ 5:02am by Cadet Sh'eik

Mission: Agua Mala
Location: Deck 24 - USS Enterprise-F

=/\= Junior Officer's Quarters - Deck 24 =/\=

Sh'eik sat back with a sigh, he tossed down the last PADD of the day on the table and rubbed his temples.
'Business as usual' was something he'd been hearing a lot during his rounds.
While he had no frame of reference, it just didn't feel like it was so.

For his time on the Enterprise, Sh'eik had spent the bulk of it sick, in stasis, working or studying. He almost never saw Balman anymore. Which he suspected was par for the course after what had happened back at the stenelli home world, seeing as the Bolian was an engineer.
Every so often, during his daily rounds, he'd still come across a scorched panel or some melted carpet. The ship was back in one piece, but still having her wrinkles ironed out.

Except for the immense paperwork load, related to all the repairs, personnel transfers, requisitions, and the change of command, Sh'eik supposed he had indeed found a rhythm in his yeoman duties. And his grades were holding steady, he was even up to a class 2 pilots certification. Lieutenant Zhang was pleased with his progress, and had him shadowing more with her, so he'd be ready, once certified, to take a shift at the helm. Everything was progressing.

Sh'eik made a point everyday, of visiting the department heads, to catch up and receive the reports personally. It helped him interact with the crew, and build a rapport. He'd grown a comfortable professional relationship with most, but still felt isolated. The families aboard were few, and all of them young. There just seemed to be an age gap he was trapped in. Everyone was respectful and professional, but seemed distant.

The new command crew wasn't permanent, he could tell. They just didn't have any particular vision to steer the ship, only get it back up to snuff. Another command change was in the air. To that effect, he simply kept up his work ethic, which was praised and appreciated, at the very least.

Dhej wasn't around anymore, but kept in contact. Their weekly updates were something he looked forward to, but he knew they would only last as long as the Captain felt necessary to check in on him. With so many people around him, it felt odd to feel so... Lonely.

His weekly checkups in Sickbay were down to monthlies now, his condition mostly stable. With his body healed and functioning properly, the undersized Cait/Kzinti youth had begun to sprout up, as if his final growth spurt had been simply holding on the other line. The doctors had told him to eat as often as he felt hungry and to disregard mealtimes, as they wouldn't offer him sufficient nutrition for the changes he'd be going through. He also had a calcium/protein supplement he was administering to himself through hypo spray each day. He'd snookered an early round of field medicine training so he could use it. It saved them time, and got him an extra credit.

Still he was growing almost a centimetre a week... His father had been a tower of a man, standing so tall he had to duck slightly to get through the doors on the Persephone. Sh'eik briefly wondered if that would be something he'd have to worry about.

"Well, time to turrrn in these rrreporrrts, I suppose." The youth said, getting to his feet, tugging his uniform shirt into place. He scooped up the PADD, signed it quickly on his way to the door and thumbed the lights off as he went through it.
'Back to the grind...' He thought to himself.

=/\= End Log =/\=

Cadet (1st Year) Sh'eik
Yeoman
USS Enterprise-F

-=/\=- United Confederation of Insterstellar Planets -=/\=-