A/N: As a reminder, this weird version of Star Trek is based on my life, so there's no telling what will happen because life is unpredictable.
Ode to A Starship by Lina Shay
Chapter Twenty: Jaded
Andrannon thought it would be a good idea if certain members of her staff went to a lecture on astrophysics, namely the one's who were bad at it. So I had to go to Deep Space 4 for this lecture. I was nearly falling alseep only halfway through. By the time it was over, my brain felt numb.
I was heading back to the transport with my colleagues when I spotted Joel. I felt this rush of excitement and nervousness. Then I saw that he was talking to a Ktarian woman. My heart dropped. Who was she?
Joel spotted me standing there and came over, the Ktarian woman following him.
"Hello, how's it going?" he asked, without introducing me.
"Fine," I shrugged.
The Ktarian woman remained at his side, but payed attention to other things. I wondered at their behavior.
"How's atrometrics?" Joel asked.
"Not too bad," I muttered. "Are you leaving the space station soon?"
"Pretty soon," he nodded.
"Us too."
There was an awkward silence.
"Lt. Shay!" Called one of the other members of the Wasatch's atrometrics team. "The transport's about to leave."
"Thanks," I called back. I turned back to Joel. "I'd better go."
"See ya," he waved.
I caught the transport. As soon as I was back on the Wasatch, I went to Tiffany's quarters.
"Hey, Lina," She greeted.
"Is Joel seeing anyone?" I asked her.
"No," she said in confusion. "Why?"
"I saw him on Deep Space 4 with a Ktarian woman," I told her.
"Oh, that's probably just Freya," Tiffany insisted. "They used to date, but now they're just friends."
"Oh! He must think I don't like him by the way I acted," I muttered, smacking my hand on my forehead.
I seemed to get distracted quite a bit after that. Of course, it wasn't uncommon for me to be distracted by something or another.
"Jayde, could you get me spectral analysis of the gastro-cluster," I asked, staring at my screen.
"I'm not Jayde," said a human woman at Jayde's station. "But I'll get you that spectral analysis anyway."
"I'm sorry," I told her. "This is usually Jayde's shift."
"I'm taking over his shift from now on," she informed.
"Why?" I asked curiously. "What happened to Jayde?"
"He transfered to the outpost on Risa," Jayde's replacement said, handing me the analysis results.
"Transfered to Risa?" I asked in surprise. "How could he just transfer to Risa? That's impossible."
"Not recently," she shook her head. "It seems that they need more officers stationed on Risa. So when someone asks to transfer, they get the position."
"Why haven't you transfered if you know so much about it?" I queried.
"I already sent in my transfer request," she smirked.
I went back to my duties, but I wondered about the idea of Risa. It would be a relaxing environment, a change from my normal life. After my duty, I sent in a request. If I was denied, it was no big deal. If I was accepted, I could still back out. There was no harm in it.