Welcome Aboard!

Chekov put on his yellow uniform for the first time. He scrutinised himself in the mirror. His fingers stroked gently over the insignia that identified him as a crewmember of Ship's Operations- a golden arrow pointing to a golden star. That's where he was now, where he had always wanted to be. Among the stars.

A proud grin appeared on the youngster's face. Even though he had only set foot on the Enterprise yesterday, he already knew why the flagship was supposed to have the most loyal crew in the fleet. It was because on the Enterprise,the crew was not only loyal towards their captain, but towards one another.

As Pavel sat down at the table in his quarters to have a cup of tea before embarking on his first shift, the ensign replayed the previous day, and the events leading up to it, in his mind.

When Chekov's application had been approved by Captain Kirk 8 weeks earlier, a letter from Mr Sulu had accompanied the conformational message by Starfleet. As Kirk had been on very challenging landing party duty on the planet Deneva at the time, Sulu had taken it on himself to write to Chekov. No interstellar memo, no electronic message, an actual letter written with real ink, on real paper! Chekov had never seen anything like it outside of history museums on Earth. Written in beautiful, rather old-fashioned, handwriting, the letter communicated Captain Kirk's greetings and compliments and noted that he was very pleased that Starfleet had approved of his choice to assign Chekov. The main reason for the letter however was so that Sulu could personally introduce himself to his new colleague. The helmsman believed it was only sensible to volunteer his assistance should the navigator have any queries regarding his new environment. After all, they would be working side by side from now on and it would help to get to know his new shipmate as soon as possible.

Pleased and excited by such a personal and totally unexpected direct communication from the Enterprise ,Chekov had replied straight away. Impressed by Lieutenant Sulu's old-fashioned but stylish way of communication, Pavel had sat down in his quarters on Toluna 7 to write a letter back. In actual fact, it was the first letter he had ever written on paper.

In his first letter, he simply voiced his gratefulness and honour to join the Enterprise crew. He was too shy to ask the many questions he had. In actual fact, he felt a little embarrassed by his own curiosity regarding the ship. Pavel had countless questions about professional as well as recreational procedures on board, but he felt he could not waste Mr Sulu's time with such infantile musings as to what the galley had to offer for breakfast or if the Enterprise had a swimming pool. Not to mention his youthful curiosity regarding the female contingent on board, a curiosity he was reluctant to admit to anyone as he deemed it to be a rather unprofessional concern.

However, Chekov soon realised from Lieutenant Sulu's regularly delivered letters during the 8 weeks gap until his assignment would commence, that he needn't worry. The helmsman was more than happy to answer the ensign's questions, a mission he fulfilled thoroughly during his seemingly abundant recreational time. Chekov was amazed to hear that Sulu found time to entertain various, and very different, hobbies ranging from botanics, to martial arts and collecting historic Terran weapons. Consequently, the young Russian felt encouraged to ask most of his questions and even received a deck plan. With a relieved smile, he noted that his own quarters (lovingly marked by Sulu with a red X like on an ancient treasure hunt map) were next to the helmsman's. How convenient to be housed right next to the all-knowing Lieutenant, Pavel thought to himself.

Mr Sulu's entertaining letters gave the young recruit a personal insight into procedures on board the ship he would call home for the next four years. But most importantly, they also gave him the notion that he already had a friend, even before setting foot on the Enterprise.

His first day aboard the ship had been busy, but his new colleague had warned him that it would be. Shaking his head with a bemused smile now, Pavel recapped what had transpired during the last 24 hours or so.

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The previous day

Grinning mischievously, Sulu came up the first step of the transporter platform to greet Chekov with a strong slap on the back as soon as he had materialised. As Pavel wasn't accustomed to the beaming process yet, he felt a little dizzy and Sulu's friendly slap made him stumble down the last step. In that precise moment the doors opened and the ensign found himself involuntarily catapulted into the arms of the man that had just entered.

" Hello to you too, my son!"

Thankfully, the man had caught Chekov just in time, preventing him from crashing straight into the wall of the transporter room. Sulu shrugged his shoulders innocently and exchanged an amused look with the transporter operator, Lieutenant Kyle.

Blushing, the navigator took a step back. He quickly straightened up and held his head up high to report to the older man, obviously a senior officer, who had come to greet him.

"Pavel Andreievich Chekov reporting for duty. Permission to come aboard, Sir."

"I believe you've already flown aboard, ensign", the man mumbled with an undisguised US-American southern drawl. He sounded rather grumpy. Probably he wasn't too keen on catching new recruits mid-air that weren't able to stay on their feet, Pavel thought gravely.

Sulu looked like he had expected the Lieutenant Commander and he nodded knowingly towards Chekov. But the youngster was momentarily occupied with studying the transporter room floor, probably more out of embarrassment than actual interest.

"See, what did I tell you, Chekov? Dr McCoy wants to run an additional medical on you!"

Ah, so this is Dr McCoy, Chekov thought as he stared at the floor, not knowing where else to look. Sulu had already warned him about the doctor's thorough medicals (his quarterly conducted examinations of the crew significantly exceeded Starfleet standards of one annual check).

And about McCoy's reputation for emotional outbursts.

Chekov hoped one of such wouldn't follow his involuntary display of clumsy Russian ballet on the transporter platform.

But when he finally managed to look up, he was relieved to see an amused glint in the doctor's eyes. McCoy scrutinised him and seemed to bounce slightly as he directed a sideways glance at Sulu:

"I have to! All those space travellers cramped into one place - it's a hub for viruses and bacteria down there! If you're not ill already, you will be after a medical on Starbase 2!"

With that he gestured Chekov to follow him out of the transporter room. The ensign dutifully complied and after a quick nod towards Sulu he followed McCoy into the busy corridor. Before the door closed, Sulu managed to shout after Chekov that he would oversee his belongings were beamed aboard and taken to his new quarters. Chekov was grateful for that, because according to Sulu's warning, he didn't expect to leave sickbay any time soon.

"The Captain is currently engaged in a conference call with Starfleet, Chekov. That's why you had to do with Mr Sulu and my good self as a welcoming committee", McCoy explained as they walked towards the turbo lift.

"Zank you, Dr McCoy".

Pavel had to smile at this. The thought that Captain Kirk had wanted to greet him personally on arrival filled him with pride. He was just one of many new recruits that joined the Enterprise on a regular basis. Surely, he couldn't greet all of them personally whenever one of them came aboard?

Distracted for a second by his musings, the ensign noticed that he had fallen behind, as the doctor was a few steps ahead now. He was hardly able to take on all that was going on around him, the labyrinths of corridors, populated by dozens of men and women in blue, yellow and red uniforms that seemed to know exactly where they were going. Chekov quickly caught up with Dr McCoy and asked himself if he'd ever find his way around this gigantic starship. The confusion he felt must have been reflected on his face, because the doctor suddenly laughed and put a hand on Pavel's shoulder as they entered the turbo lift.

"We're going to Deck 4 now. And as long as you know where that is, you'll be just fine!"

The lift rushed upwards, quickly passing Deck 2 and 3.

"Zat's because sickbay is on Deck 4?", Chekov offered with a quizzing look.

"Because the Cafeteria is on Deck 4!", McCoy replied with a wide grin. "But yes, you're right, sickbay is located just around the corner".

The lift doors slid open. "Oh, I see. Zank you for informing me of zis, Doctor." Chekov said as he followed his superior into the corridor.

Sickbay was just a few doors away. As they stepped into the tidy and quiet area, Pavel noticed immediately that contrary to the abrasive reputation Dr McCoy had, his place of work transmitted an atmosphere of tranquillity and safety.

"Don't thank me too much, Ensign. Before I let you go there or anywhere, you gotta stay here for a bit. I don't trust those medical facilities on starbases. God knows what kinda hybrid bacteria is breeding down there, with all those travellers constantly coming and going."

Chekov suddenly felt an uneasy rumbling in his belly. If it had to do with Dr McCoy's predictions or if it simply were nerves, he didn't know.

Without further ado, the doctor grabbed his medical scanner and gestured towards a diagnostic bed.

"You don't want to spread any starbase bugs around the ship, do you?"

"No, Sir." Chekov said and shook his head. There wasn't time for any more exclamations, because McCoy promptly got hold of his arm and placed the ensign onto the bed.

To Chekov's surprise the medical Dr McCoy conducted was actually the most pleasant he had ever endured. Not for the actual examinations and tests themselves, they were as boring as usual, but due to McCoy's friendly chatter. The good doctor didn't seem to be so bad after all. Not only did he want to know about his medical past and general physical and mental condition, but he also seemed to display an honest interest in his upbringing and training at the Academy. Due to the doctor's gruff but warm welcome in the transporter room, and because of his professional yet pleasant conduct during the examination, Chekov immediately felt at home onboard the Enterprise. And he had arrived only an hour ago! The attractive and lovely Nurse Chapel who assisted Dr McCoy was another reason why, after a while, the young recruit leaned back on the diagnostic bed with a relaxed sigh and crossed his arms behind his head. He was already looking forward to his next cold so that he could spend some time in sickbay under Nurse Chapel's supervision.

"So, apart from navigation, do you have any other areas of expertise, Chekov?", McCoy asked while checking his blood pressure on the diagnostic screen. He gently retrieved the ensign's left hand from behind his head, forcing him to lean forward again. McCoy put his fingers on his wrist to confirm the screen's showings. Pavel had to grin at this old fashioned method no doctor had ever performed on him.

"I'm also trained in General Sciences, Doctor", Chekov answered with undisguised pride, "I'm to directly assist Mr Spock."

At this, McCoy took his eyes off the screen. For a moment, he observed the young man's face that beamed with pride, before he turned his attention back to the screen.

"Oh, happy days!", the doctor muttered sarcastically.

Chekov frowned and scratched his head. What did the doctor mean?

McCoy seemed to have read the concern on Chekov's face. With a wry smile he padded his shoulder:

"Nothing to worry about, Ensign. You'll just have to get used to working with a computer on two legs."

McCoy chuckled at Chekov's puzzled look. "You'll be all right, Chekov. Knowing Mr Spock, he will take good care of you!"

The second part of the sentence sounded more like a threat to the Russian and he leaned back, feeling a little exhausted all of a sudden.

McCoy left the room to undergo a few tests with Chekov's blood samples. The navigator noticed that a deep frown had crept upon Nurse Chapel's soft face. Alone now, she seized the opportunity to rectify her superior's harsh comments:

"Don't let Dr McCoy scare you, Ensign. Mr Spock is a wonderful First Officer. I'm sure you'll get along just fine." She smiled and followed McCoy into the lab.

Pavel was on his own for the first time since boarding the Enterprise .He had just arrived but felt that he already got to know some key personnel aboard the ship - the enthusiastic helmsman Mr Sulu, the very kind head nurse Chapel and the direct and sharp Dr McCoy who didn't seem to be on the best of terms with Mr Spock.

Although he was aware of Mr Spock's shared human and Vulcan heritage, Chekov wondered if the doctor's apparent reservations towards the FO was because the latter race was known for not displaying emotions. Maybe, this could cause conflicts with such an openly emotional individual as Dr McCoy... But as he leaned back on the biobed, Chekov decided that the CMO's issues with Mr Spock wouldn't need to bother him as long as he would get on well with his new departmental supervisor. And as long as he wasn't stuck with McCoy and Spock on some deserted island, any personal quarrel they might have with one another would not need to affect him in the slightest.