A Pioneer To The Last: Part I

Posted on 05/03/2020 @ 1:52am by Ensign Noah LeBlanc

Mission: Sum of our Experiences
Location: U.S.S. Pioneer: Ensign LeBlanc's Quarters and Main Bridge
Timeline: Day 0 at 0130

The gentle nuance of soft jazz music played through the speaker's in Noah's bedroom. He was lying on top of the covers reading This Side Of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Noah wasn't sure if he liked it or not yet. Fitzgerald had written it for the money not purely ars gratia artis. He set the book down on his chest and rubbed his eyes. He knew this could only be a short respite. The Badlands were a thing of horror for many ships over the centuries. It would only be a matter of time before an "incident" occured. It's what they were always called when something was destroyed, incidents. Praxis was an incident after all. Days like this he'd rather be sitting on the river with a glass of dry rosé. He looked over at the mirror on the wall, he was becoming even paler than normal being cooped up on the starship. He groaned as he picked up the book and set it down onto the nightstand. He got out of bed.

The bright lights of the turbolift burned his eyes. He rubbed his eyes as the door to the bridge opened. The bridge was manned with a skeleton crew, including his mentor, Captain Zon. The Andorian looked up at Noah with a puzzled look. "Can I help you Mister?" He asked, "The roster doesn't have you on duty tonight."

"That's because I'm not," Noah responded as he stepped down the steps to his station. "You are relieved Chief, take a few hours off," he said to the man, not much younger than he was. Noah sat down and tapped at a few keys, logging into the console. He heard movement behind him. He shuttered a bit.

"Something bothering you, Noah?" Zon asked, leaning over next to him.

"No not really," Noah responded, "Just can't sleep, I've been having a bad gut wrenching feeling all night."

"About anything in particular?" Zon asked. He would never admit it to the young man, but he also couldn't sleep. There was too much going on in this area of space. Thankfully their survey was almost over.

"The magnetic activity is getting worse," Noah responded, "We're not too far away."

"I wouldn't worry," Zon said, keeping a stern facade on his face, "Things will happen when that happen. I've never known you to be a worrier…"

"I'm not, not usually anyway," Noah said, "Oh well, it's probably nothing… Still, hoping work will get my mind off of it."

"Heh, I understand," Zon responded, letting a slight smirk crack through. Noah had the captain as an instructor at the academy. A fan of French food, Zon would frequent the restaurant Noah worked at. Zon became a mentor to the young man and plucked him for the Pioneer. "Try and get some rest at some point alright?"

"I will sir," Noah said, with a nod as the Andorian Captain stood up and returned to the command chair.

A Posting By:
Ensign Noah LeBlanc
Chief Operations Officer
U.S.S. Crazy Horse