A Day in Operations - Part 1

Posted on Tue Jul 9th, 2013 @ 12:02pm by Lieutenant Commander Francine Hart

Mission: Nothing Stays the Same
Location: Lieutenant Hart's Quarters USS Pacifica
Timeline: 0559 hours – 21st of December 2382

OFF: This is set the day before the last couple of posts. It is also the first in a series of posts that will covering a day in the Operations Department.

ON:

(Hart’s Quarters USS Pacifica)

The room was dark, draped almost completely in dark silhouettes and shadows, the only light came from the large lit up hulk of Starbase 456 that filled the window. There was no movement that could be seen or a sound to be heard outside of the familiar hum generated by the Pacifica’s powerful engines that were currently at station keeping.

Computer: The time is zero six hundred.

The almost mechanical voice of the ship’s computer filled the room, disturbing Francine from her peaceful slumber. At almost the same time the ceiling lights in her room came to life, but at an eye friendly low level of dimness that left the outer edges of her bedroom shrouded in darkness. Almost reluctantly Francine rolled onto her back and into the middle of her bed, pulling with her the bed covers that had became tangled up around her during the night. Still half asleep Francine slowly opened eyes, exposing them for the first time to the soft ambient light that filled her cosy bedroom. Her eyes blinked rapidly, allowing her vision to quickly adjust to the unwelcoming light and to sweep the last remaining shreds of her of sleep out of her system.

It had been an almost perfect night’s sleep for Francine and one that she had desperately needed. Long restless nights full of unpleasant thoughts and self doubt had been haunting her for the last couple of weeks. They were feelings that Francine long ago had tried to sweep away under the rug and bury in the back of her subconscious. At first she had been successful with that but now all of those thoughts had returned like a raging river that had filled her with cold and dread and left her feeling like a lost little girl. Last night had been the exception to the rule and that had left her feeling hopeful and optimistic about the day that lay ahead of her. Francine wasn’t sure what had brought about the change in her outlook but she intended to the make the most of it while she could.

Lost in her thoughts Francine continued to lay on her back with her head resting comfortable on her soft silky pillows and stared quietly up at the ceiling that had welcomed her back from the sleeping world. Slowly her eyes started to trace a familiar path across the dull coloured ceiling, down its gradually curved lines until it met the room’s large rectangular windows that appeared to hang almost above her bed. From her spot on her bed it was hard for Francine to see out of the window, but she could just make out the Starbase in see into the top corner of the window. That first view of the large space station, brought Francine’s thoughts back to reality, for the first time since waking up the young Starfleet Officer started to think about the busy day that she had in front of her which made her even more thankful for the good night of sleep that she had gotten.

A sigh of reluctance escaped Francine’s lips as she propped herself up on to her elbows and pulled herself up into a sitting position. Part of her wanted to remain in bed wrapped up snugly under the covers, but that was never an option that she would consider. With a bit of effort she was able to wiggle her way over to the side of her bed, at the same time she managed to dislodge and pull herself out from the bed covers that had encased her in a protective and delightfully warm cacoon. Perched on the edge of the bed Francine started to adjust her tight fitting camisole top that had crawled up her stomach during the night and was now bunched up around her chest. She pulled her top back down to her midriff and stood up from bed, then lazily went about pulling her unruly red hair up into a loose hanging ponytail with the help of one of the many colourful hair bands that she kept handy on her bedside table. The loss of her silky sheets left behind on her bed caused the faintest of chills to run down her scantily clad body. The air around wasn’t cold by any stretch of the imagination, but it did make for a stark contrast to the warm environment that had been with her under the blankets of her bed. She crossed her arms tightly in front of her chest in effort to recapture some of the warmth that she had just lost.

The soft plush blue coloured carpet felt good under Francine’s bare feet as she stepped out of her bedroom and into the living area of her quarters. No sooner had she entered the room that it quickly started to come to life around her and Francine soon found her bathed in artificial light. Hey eyes stung slightly at the sudden change in the lighting level, but it was not enough to cause her any form of real discomfort. The living compartment of Francine’s quarters was roughly twice the size of her bedroom and was pretty much standard issue for Starfleet with the only difference being all of the photographs and personal keepsakes that lined the walls and various shelves. Her most important keepsake, a recent family portrait that had been taken during Francine’s last visit home hung on the wall overlooking her desk and small workspace area.

The room was mostly clean with only notable exception being the sofa that was currently home to an untidy pile of towels and clothing that formed close to a week’s worth of laundry. The sight of the small pile made Francine outwardly cringe as she was normally a neat and tidy person. She did her best to ignore the mess and made her way over to her desk where she picked up the sole PADD that was sitting next to her personal workstation. With the PADD in hand she turned on her workstation and brought up the schedule for the day that she had prepared the night before and the latest departmental report as well. She started to transfer both items across to the empty PADD as she intended to look them over during breakfast. With the transfer underway Francine’s line of sight moved from the desk terminal and up to the smiling faces that occupied her treasured family portrait as her thoughts started to drift away to better times.

OFF: