Disclaimer: not mine.
The Lorentian Officer
A young alien sighed as she looked out on the skyline of her homework Lorenti. The very modern, artistic skyscrapers dominated the scene, glinting in the sunlight against the purple sky. Even at this tremendous height, the buildings still rose higher and higher into the sky.
She looked down to the ground far below her to watch the pearl and violet fruit vines sway in the wind. These vines stretched in rows between the bases of the buildings shaded from the vibrant blue sun by those same buildings. These buildings ranged in height from a half a mile to a full mile.
Almost all of the prominent species currently, among them humans, Vulcans, and Klingons, would find the planet for too cold at an average of 35° F. However, the inhabitants, the Lorentians, were adapted specifically for this temperature and climate. After all, this was summer on Lorenti.
On the other hand, winter on Lorenti was drastically different. Temperatures plummeted to an average of -120° F. During this time, they imported all of their food from the next planet in towards the solar system's sun. They financed this by exporting Lorentian silk and Ferilat venom, an extremely powerful avid used for all types of manufacturing. These two goods were some of the most expensive goods in the galaxy.
The inhabitants of Lorenti were just as old as their environment and economy. They had pale white skin and eyes of purple, blue, or silver, though silver was extremely rare. Their hair was predominantly jet black or purple, though silver was again an extremely strange possibility.
Most Lorentians were between four and five feet tall. In general, their build was thinner and lighter but quite muscular. They were again unusual in that their lifespan was roughly 500 years. Also, they had spectacular hearing and vision, both in normal lighting and darkness through ultraviolet vision.
Despite all this, most of the Lorentian's similarities with other races were shared with Vulcans. Both species had pointed ears, though Lorentian ears pointed more diagonally up and back rather than curving to point straight up. Also, they both ate only fruits, vegetables, and such.
In comparison, the Lorentians were humanoid, though there was very little other than that. They, of course, were taught English as well as their native tongue, though nothing more than that could be guaranteed.
Back to the Lorentian, she drew all of the skyline, meticulously sketching every detail to commit it to memory. She had already drawn her parents, brother, and closest friend Meris.
Sadness overwhelmed the artist again, and she though or pondered rather, of how she was leaving tomorrow. She knew as a certainty that she would not see her homeland again for at the very least four years. In all probability there was little to no chance that she would be back within seven years.
Having now finished her final sketch, the Lorentian carefully packed her final sketch along with her others before walking across her rather large room to her writing desk. She pulled up the Star Fleet Academy letter again. Once more, she immersed herself in it.
First of all, it bothered her that they called her Cadet Anari Tresina, though she knew she was too used to being called Ari.
Next, she skimmed the whole 'welcome to Star Fleet' part of the letter. After that came the interesting part. The letter stated that the day after her shuttle arrived, she would be assisting a Commander Spock in his teaching of an Advanced Hand to Hand Combat class and an Introduction to Xenobiology class. Additionally, it said that she would be taking classes in Psychology to be the Ship's Counsellor. Apparently, someone had informed Starfleet of the Lorentians' empathetic qualities. The rest was just some gibberish about thanking her for accepting the commission.
She merely shook her head and finished packing for the next day.
oooooooooo
The following day, Ari woke early in the morning. She quickly donned her officer uniform before grabbing her single bag and hauling it into the entryway. She came back and ate a quick breakfast before taking her bag to a landing pad two floor up in the same building.
Two minutes later, a shuttle of glistening silver landed on the pad. A door on the side of the craft slid open and the pilot disembarked. "Are you Lieutenant Tresina?" the human asked. She nodded and picked up her one and only bag. The young pilot followed her aboard.
On the five minute ride to the space station, Ari made several observations.
The pilot did not smell nearly as bad as she thought he would, considering he was human.
The pilot was more than a foot taller than her.
The pilot had much darker skin than she had ever seen before.
The pilot had ROUNDED eyes.
Humans were strange creatures indeed.
By the time she had completed these observations, the shuttle had arrived at the space station. The pilot helped her unload her bags before escorting her in silence to the ship that would take her to Earth, the SS Vernacular.