From:		Jorith
Date:		29 October 1995 23:30
To:		U.S.S. Lafayette (BBS)
Subject:		RE: Arrival onboard

<Lt. Cmdr. Chandy Ru Kindle - Arrival on the Lafayette>

The trip over had been uneventful. Chandy had spent most of her time catching up on her sleep - a precious commodity since she joined the Academy. She had waken in time to watch the approach to the ship. She had to remind herself to blink a few times - "What an incredible looking ship!" she thought. As she watched in awe, her mind raced over what little she had been taught of this new intrepid class starship. "Too little," she thought ruefully, knowing sleep was still going to be a fleeting thing until she had learned more.

Upon disembarking from the shuttle, she asked the computer for directions to the engineering section. "I'll worry about putting my stuff away later, I want to see this place." The lift doors open into a very dimly lit room. From where she was she could see several lights blinking in the darkness. "I must be the first one down here," she said softly to herself. "Lights please."

As the lights came on, Chandy dropped her bags and slowly walked among the panels and displays. The sight was awe-inspiring. "The Academy had nothing like this!" She almost felt sick to her stomach as the realization hit home. She was the chief engineer and this was "her" area. With quick breaths and sweaty palms, she turned a corner which brought into view the core of the ship - the reaction chamber. She put both hands on the plexiglass [occ: or whatever it is] surrounding the chamber, rested her forehead against it and closed her eyes. She did not feel well at all.

A loud voice brought her back to her senses - "This is 1st Officer Storm, all bridge crew to the bridge immediately." She rushed to the lift, feeling a little guilty about not reporting in as soon as she came on board. As she arrived at the bridge, something in the back of her mind kept nawing at her - "What did I do with my bags?"