Disclaimer: Star Trek and all associated characters and situations are the property of CBS studios. Star Trek Online is the creation of Cryptic and Perfect World. All are here used by myself for entertainment purposes only, without permission or intent to profit.
Author's Note: The USS Nautilus was a Miranda-class starship that appeared in the background of the DS9 episode "Tears of the Prophets," where it was one of three ships that assisted the Defiant in destroying the power generator for the orbital weapon's platforms in the First Battle of Chin'toka. ...Yup, I'm a nerd.
Edit: Stardates have been recalculated with the help of the TNG Stardate Calculator available on TrekGuide .com in order to provide more consistent Stardates across multiple stories. This does, however, make the Stardates here slightly out of sync with those used in the game's lore.
Arrival
Ensign Carlin Agran's Personal Log, Stardate 79770.9:
I'm beaming aboard the USS Nautilus, for my first posting. I'll be acting as a junior medical officer, assisting the ship's chief medical officer, Doctor James Howard. Honestly, it's a pretty boring assignment, and the Nautilus is an older ship used for lighter duties to boot. But this is almost exactly like the first posting of Jorel Quinn. If I can do better at it than him, maybe I can make him see he was wrong to leave me and mother in the first place. I should also be meeting my field docent, Drel. It's vital that I make a good first impression, and win Drel's approval as quickly as possible. With my field docent's approval, my selection by the Symbiosis Commission is virtually guaranteed, and their approval will the ultimate proof that my father was wrong when he abandoned me to court the Commission's favor himself, twenty-two years ago.
Ensign Carlin Agran materialized on the pad in the transporter room of the USS Nautilus just as man in a red commander's uniform walked in. His uniform was a little wrinkled and his blond hair was ruffled, partly concealing the Trill spots on his forehead. Nevertheless, he smiled disarmingly as he saw Carlin. "Ensign Carlin Agran, I presume?" he said, extending a hand.
"That's correct, sir," Carlin said, shaking his hand.
"Welcome aboard the USS Nautilus," the man said. He motioned toward a human man in science blues who was standing beside the transporter operator. "May I introduce Doctor James Howard, the ship's chief medical officer."
"A pleasure to meet you, Ensign," said the Doctor, stepping forward to take Carlin's hand. He smiled and wrinkles crinkled in the corners of his eyes. "I'm the old man you'll be assisting on this ship," he explained.
Carlin nodded. Though she was qualified for bridge duty as a science officer with her Astrophysics degree, she had requested an assignment that would use her Xenobiology degree: nurse and field medic aboard a small starship. It was the very same first assignment Jorel Quinn had taken, though of course his first posting hadn't been a decorated veteran starship from the Dominion War, like the USS Nautilus. This, combined with her making it through the selection process of the Symbiosis Commission and receiving a symbiont, ought to spark Jorel Quinn's ire and prove he'd been wrong to abandon her. The assignment shouldn't be too difficult, considering that Nautilus was a small Miranda-class ship. As for the symbiont selection process, that shouldn't pose any challenge at this stage, so long as she stayed out of trouble and impressed her field docent. Speaking of which…
"Where is Drel?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
The man in red cleared his throat. "That would be me," he said. He looked down and straightened his uniform self-consciously for a moment. "Sorry, I guess I never introduced myself properly. I'm Commander Antori Drel, first officer on the Nautilus, and—if I read my message from the Symbiosis Commission right—I'm also your field docent."
Carlin tried to smile graciously. "Of course, Commander Antori Drel," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You as well," said Drel. He motioned to the door. "Allow me to show you to your quarters."
Carlin picked up her cargo container and followed him. Internally, she cursed herself for her idiocy. Of course, he's Drel. If I'd done any research at all on Drel himself, I'd have known that. But she hadn't. The only joined individual she'd researched was Jorel Quinn and all she'd known about Drel was that he and Quinn had a disagreement, such that Quinn wouldn't like her choice of Drel as a field docent one bit. She'd had no idea what he'd looked like or was like, no idea he was so handsome…she cut that thought off. Would it have killed me to at least look up his personnel file? She berated herself, tugging at her pony tail with her free hand. So much for good first impressions.