My Fear Replaced by Total Faith

Posted on Mon Jan 1st, 2024 @ 4:22am by Ensign Jasleen Chakrabarti

505 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: First Deployment
Location: Transport Shuttle - Skipjack
Timeline: MD-00, 1200hrs

All crew brace, all crew brace, breaking atmo in five... Four.... Three... Two...

The whole shuttle shook as they accelerated, breaking away from the final layer of livable space on Earth, the planet seemingly to squeeze just slightly as they punched through. Grasping her jump harness tightly, Jas peeked out of one eye, glancing at the viewport and then furiously blushing as she noticed the mirthful grin on Ensign Kent's face. Sticking out her tongue at her friend, Jas smoothed out her uniform as she tried to compose herself. It's not that Jas didn't like space travel, she just didn't like that part, or re-entering the atmosphere. Everything else she absolutely loved, especially this next part.

As the shuttle broke the Karman Line it's boosters shut down, the constant rumble in the cabin came to a stop and they were weightless. It was so tempting to release her harness and float about the cabin as they hovered drifting into the space lane before the crew would bring the sublight engines online and activate the artificial gravity. For these few minutes they had to sit, relax and enjoy the view as the shuttle rotated and they could see the Earth out their viewports. It was beautiful, the blues and greens shining, it made her mind run with the possibilities of other worlds... Provided they made it out of this war.

How did she reconcile that part? She wasn't a soldier not even close, she was a scientist, all she wanted was to be a scientist. She and some of the others had been talking before take off, what were they really going to do in the middle of a fight? Jas wasn't a fighter and she barely passed her EM-33 or Phase Pistol qualifications. Maybe Medical? She could help people but she didn't want to shoot someone, she couldn't; could she?

Jas let out a little yelp as the engines seemed to roar to life. Pushed down into her seat she blushes harder at catching another grin from Zarah. Between her self consciousness and the sudden acceleration, she was distracted enough to take her mind off of the future; of all the questions and concerns, fears and hesitations... she was here, it was how she needed to focus. She was now a fully minted Ensign in the UE Starfleet. She was a Science Officer aboard a deep space vessel. Even with all that was going, all that was in her mind. Jas was excited. How could she not? This was her dream, this was her goal. Whatever happened, happened and it was up to her to make the most of it.

Letting out a soft breath, looking first at her friend across the isle and then out the viewport she caught her first sight of Unicorn. The new Yorktown class looked quite impressive gleaming in the light of Earth and the drydock.

Close and closer they crept and with each second her smile got wider and wider.

"Wonder if I'll get my own lab..."

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