This is my first fan fiction.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1

A New Life

Rayla (first person POV) Stardate 22691.3,

"Lieutenant Rayla, Toral reporting for duty, sir!"

The captain looks over at me "You're the new Weapons Specialist and Tactical officer aren't you?"

"Yes Sir!"

Captain Archer was a tall man, with cold, dark eyes that make my knees shake as he scrutinizes me. His uniform is tight around the large muscles of his upper arms and legs, and the way his dark brown hair is combed back reminds me of my first Starfleet instructor, Admiral Floyd Atkins.

"Alright, enough with the formalities," he says, friendlily enough. "Welcome to the Enterprise. You're early; you don't start until 08:00. Should I have Sub-Commander T'Pol give you a tour of the stations and personnel here on the bridge?"

"That would probably be a good idea. Thank you s- I mean Captain," I nervously reply.

"T'Pol, give our new lieutenant a tour and introduce her around the bridge if you would please."

"Certainly, Captain."

Sub-Commander T'Pol is the first Vulcan I have ever seen, she has very short brown hair that clings to her small head like a hat. Her posture is straight and her manner serious yet simultaneously courteous.

"Right this way." She says, leading me over to the Communications station.

"This is Ensign Hoshi Sato; she manages communications with other species and organizes treaties."

"Hello, Lieutenant." Ensign Sato is a pleasant young woman with her long black hair and soft, kind brown eyes.

"Come along," T'Pol urges as Hoshi and I amiably converse.

"This is Travis Mayweather, he navigates the ship."

"Greetings," Mayweather said without looking up from his consol, his tall dark-skinned figure hunched over the navigation controls as he stares intently at the panel.

"At last, this is where you will be stationed, alongside Lieutenant Malcolm Reed."
"Hello, we'll be working closely together from now on. The Tactical station is one of the most multi-faceted stations on the ship, aside from some in engineering of course." He shows me to my side of the station, "Of course, working at one of the more complex stations of the ship requires a partner, I cannot do it all on my own you understand." At times it is hard to understand what Lt. Reed is saying on account of the heavy British accent that dominates his words; his eyes are sharp yet his demeanor calm and friendly as he brings me up to speed on the inner workings of the joint station. "The joint station is a might bit different than the solo ones you were accustomed to working at while you were a cadet. The way our workstation is designed is that you monitor and regulate the shields and environmental systems, while I manage the weapon systems. Now, the functions are transferable from one consol to the other, that way you can handle things up here in case I need to go to the armory." He cuts me off as I begin to ask a question, "Before you ask, no we will not switch stations, I don't really care how much you would like even to try managing the weapons. I don't want you to get attached to the work at my station, plus, I like blowing things up too much to give it up on your account." I would have been offended by his remark had it not been for his devious smile, causing me to smile as I saw the humorous nature behind his words.

"Rather fond of explosions, are you, mate?" I said, playfully mimicking his British accent.

He laughed, "You know, I might just enjoy working with you."

We worked the rest of the shift amiably chatting and afterwards, T'Pol escorts me to my quarters which I would share with a medical nurse-in-training by the name of Delaney Vallerious, a talkative girl, younger than myself, who can't go for a moment without speaking. My first day out of the academy and onboard a starship has been interesting in spite of the lack of action. Nevertheless, today was in no way uneventful, for I have met many interesting people and seen several fascinating things. I can only hope that tomorrow can be just as remarkable, if not more so.

Thanks for reading, everybody! :) This was my first Fanfic, I've been writing it for a couple years just for fun, but then I found and decided to publish it so that others may possibly enjoy it as well. Please review and leave comments and such. :D

Keep an eye out for the next chapter if you liked this! ;)