The view from up here.

Posted on Sat May 21st, 2022 @ 6:31am by Chief Petty Officer James Calmara

Mission: A Day in the Life
Location: Observation Deck

As the turbolift car came to halt once more, this time letting in only a couple of crewmembers. A lieutenant with a teal collar to his uniform, who was extremely engrossed in the contents of his data device, and an NCO who sported a yellow collar, who seemed a little more at ease. As they began to move again he remarked. “Not so many in here this afternoon, quiet time i guess.” James smiled recalling the noise and crush of previous decks. “You weren't here a few dozen deck ago, very excitable group of ensigns going off duty, I think, loud was definitely the word.” The seasoned man smiled back.”Oh I bet it was. You new or just from another part of the station?” He posed to James, a perfectly reasonable question, starbases this size it was likely you would cross paths with people for the first time almost daily. “Brand new today. Tasking up a posting in dock control. How about you, Type-2 or Hyperspanner?” He asked, a slightly different way of finding out a person's duty branch. “Oh Type-2 all the way, someones got to keep their eyes open.” He responded with a friendly if slightly proud tone. The car halted, this time with the deck James Calmara had selected. “Well at least someone is, this is my stop, figured I'd take in the sights before finding the boss and taskmaster. See you around, maybe.”

Stepping out onto the deck, that felt a little calmer than most others he'd visited so far, most certainly more so than the docking area, and the promenade areas. He was indulging in a little tradition he’d set for himself, if possible, visit and take a few moments at the observation deck of a new posting.

He paced leisurely down a corridor, following the gentle curve that spoke to the precise layout of the facility. A few moment later her found himself at a set of the double width and reinforced doors, commonly found on cargo or shuttle bays. Stepping though he found himself in a large room, the lighting was deliberately softer, the instinctive need to take slower more measured steps and use a lower tone when speaking was there. In front of him were three full length and massive viewports, allowing an expansive view of both the planet below, the system it belonged to and the vast expanse of open space that lay beyond. He did not quite have the room to himself. A Rigelin couple sat together in an embrace, on a bench quite a way into the area while off to his right a human male leant against a rail that ran along the central width of the space. James moved towards the same rail, but a fair distance to the left giving them both space. It was moments like this he cherished, they served as a helpful reminder of the privilege he had to be out here and to see all of this and help others to witness and discover its wonders.

He let the moments slide by, thinking of family and friends, the potentials of the new task that lay before him. The moment of reflection past, and he pushed away from the rail, he had procedure to follow, pacing to the door, he glanced back at the spectacle of open space before passing through the door and into life's next chapter.