A Bad Start

Posted on Tue Dec 30th, 2025 @ 4:50pm by Ensign Zeve Navot

Mission: A Dawn on Drax
Location: Earth - Starfleet HQ

ON:

Ensign Zeve Navot was having a bad start to his posting on the USS Pandora.

It all started on the day he was about to ship out. The Shuttle Bay of Starfleet HQ was unusually deserted. When he had graduated two years prior, the whole dock was filled with people - new crew, families, friends - everyone getting their ship assignments and saying their final goodbyes to each other, before they boarded their shuttle to whatever ship, station, or planet they were going to. It was an event; the excitement in the air was palpable. People hugging, promising to keep in touch, vowing to stay safe, boasting about becoming the youngest Captain in Starfleet. The joy and nerves all combining with the frantic rush to get to your launch bay on time.

The day Zeve was due to leave for the Pandora, however, had none of that. The Pandora's re-launch was coming out of sync with most of the other ship assignments, due in part to some delay in her refurbishment schedule. The ship was trying to pull together a crew of who was competent and available. As such, travel to the ship was happening in eclectic rounds rather than in one big push, like most ship launches. But this had not concerned Zeve while he gathered his things and travelled to San Francisco for his departure. He had thought of nothing going wrong at all until he had arrived promptly at HQ's shuttle bay with his PADD excitedly in his hand and presented it to the officer there. He had already passed off his luggage to the Deck Crew and excitedly found someone to see about his shuttle transfer.

"The what?" The surly Dock Master looked at the PADD then back at the Ensign. "Pan-dor-a? Can't say I have any orders for the Pandora."

"The orders... are... well, there, sir." Ensign Zeve replied, pointing to the PADD. "I am to join the Pandora before her re-launch."

"Ree-launch?" The man repeated back Zeve's words, as if hearing any of them for the very first time in his existence. "Oh right yeah. You know, I thought that ship got moth-balled."

"No, no, it's still in service. Or at least, it will be when it relaunches. Which I will then be joining." Zeve insisted, once again extending his finger and pointing to the PADD that remained in the man's hand and very much within his sight. "As stated there. Right... there."

"Well I don't have a shuttle ready for you now, son." Came the unhelpful reply. "The last one just got sent off to uh... I don't know, it was some snooty Diplomat going to a Starbase somewhere. 109, I think it was. Not to the Pandora."

Zeve bristled at the officer's unhelpfulness , but he tried not to show it. "Then I shall transport myself." He stated firmly.

"Good idea, mate." The Dock Master shrugged. "Hope there's actually a ship there when you re-materialise." He laughed at his own joke. Loudly. "Ha ha, that'll be a bit of a bother, eh?"

Zeve put on a smile. "Indeed."

~~~~~

Thankfully, those in the Transporter Room at Starfleet HQ were a little more informed. They were able to locate the actual ship in its location at Luna Shipyards, and organised a transport over to her. Zeve was relieved when the blue lights dissipated and he found himself standing on the USS Pandora. There were two Operations Officers standing in front of him. One, was an older female with a Lieutenant pip on her lapel. Next to her was a younger Ensign, with noticeably ginger hair. Zeve took a double take at the Ensign as he stepped off the PADD, having never seen hair quite that boldly orange before.

"Ensign Zeve Navot." He stated as he approached the two officers, PADD in hand once more. He didn't mind using his first name first, despite the traditional Bajoran custom of family name first. It helped him to acclimate to a mostly human crew more easily.

"Welcome to the Pandora." Lieutenant J'Oh smiled broadly. "I'm J'Oh, I'm over-seeing crew embarkment for the Pandora until the new Chief of Operations arrive. I hear there was a mix-up with the shuttle?"

"Yes." Zeve replied, cautiously. He didn't want to appear to be criticising anyone, let alone the officers working within Starfleet Headquarters. "But we managed."

"He has no luggage." The ginger Ensign pointed out flatly.

Zeve felt his heart go into his stomach. He had left all of his belongings at Starfleet with the Deck Crew. Usually a man of few words, Zeve let a few choice Bajoran curses slip out.

"It's fine, we will organise for it all to come up as soon as we can." Lieutenant J'Oh replied warmly, "I assumed it was identity-tagged and labelled?"

"Yes." Zeve sighed. "It should be with the loading team. Going nowhere, hopefully."

"We will find it for you." J'Oh nodded reassuringly, before turning to the nameless Ginger. "See to it, Ensign?" He nodded and walked over to the console, starting to send down a communications back to Earth, while J'Oh gently guided Zeve to the doors.

Zeve looked over to the Ensign. "Thank you."

The Ginger just nodded, giving a backwards wave.

Lieutenant J'Oh launched into her orientation speech, "I've loaded your room assignment to your PADD. Please follow the maps to get to your deck. Your uniform can be replicated in the central corridor by the Turbolifts. Once in your quarters, give the computer your security information to activate your assignment and download any personal files. You'll find your shift assignment, meal times, activity schedule, and first duty shift details in your personal files."

Zeve was nodding, taking all of this in as they exited the room. He gave a fleeting look back to the Ginger Ensign who was busy with his console.

"We're still running in low-power mode," J'Oh was explaining, "Meaning not all facilities will be available at this time. Holodecks and portions of the Recreation Deck are out of commission. You can still access the main mess hall, we call it Pandora's Box, and the ship's bar. called the Luna Eclipse. Both are on deck five. You'll be expected to report to your primary medical assessment within the first two hours of coming onboard - please don't leave that to the last minute. It's an awful strain if we have to disembark you from the vessel when you've already settled in."

Zeve frowned, "Of course."

They were approaching the Turblifts and J'Oh continued, "As you don't have luggage, you'll have to make do with basic clothing. Again, in grey mode we don't have full replicator power just yet so you'll have to stick to the bare minimum for now. Try to use the ship's physical facilities, instead of replicators to conserve energy. Goodness knows the Shipyards are expecting us to launch at full capacity soon, they don't want any delays because an Ensign decided to overload the power relays."

"I would never...." He protested, more to himself as J'Oh continued talking.

"You will likely see the Captain out and about somewhere. Especially on deck five." The Lieutenant was saying, "He's everywhere. I do mean everywhere. Friendly fellow. Very hands on. He's been with the ship for the last several years so it's his baby now, really. He likes to get to know people, so expect a conversation if you run into him."

The lift doors closed as Zeve swallowed hard. He wasn't great at making conversations, he could only hope to make a good first impression on his new Captain if the opportunity arose. He realised Lieutenant J'Oh was still speaking.

"As an Ensign, you have the standard junior quarters," She was saying, "It's not exactly spacious but at least you're not sharing with anyone for now. Your Department head is - " She paused, then remembered, "Lieutenant Keith. He will be on-boarding shortly. Expect to receive instructions on your first shift from him promptly."

Zeve nodded, "I look forward to it."

"Any questions?" J'Oh raised an eyebrow as they reached a doorway.

"My belongings?" Zeve asked, "How soon do you think I'll get them?"

"No later than the soonest we can." She replied with a smile. "Once again, welcome to the Pandora."

~~~~~

Having decided to shake off the stress of his boarding, Zeve did what he always did. Hit the gym. Unfortunately, with the Holodecks unavailable, he was unable to go swimming - which was his preferred mode of exercise. However, the Pandora was equipped with a fully physical Gym. He had managed to make himself a basic pair of shorts and a singlet to train in, keeping his duty boots on despite how much harder they were to workout in. He had spent the last two hours changing through a few weight exercises, a bit of cardio, and finally a rigorous stretching and cool down program. His routine was clockwork by now and he was glad to have had the opportunity to workout. It calmed him, focused his mind, allowed him to de-stress.

Hitting the bathrooms, Zeve saw there was a row of Sonic Showers. He took of his training gear and placed it in a pile on a nearby bench before heading into the shower cubicle. He had gotten lost in the warmth and the process of cleaning for a while, before switching to a cold stream. He always felt a cold blast helped him to recover. Then, as usual, he shut off the shower and stood for a while. He had a mantra that he used, to help centre his mind when he was feeling uncomfortable or out of place. It was a prayer that he used to help him find peace again. He was in the middle of repeating his chant quietly to himself when he heard a chime over the ship's tannoy.

"Ensign Navot to Sickbay. Ensign Navot to Sickbay."

Zeve cursed again in Bajoran. So focused on getting in his full routine and working out his stress, he had unknowingly gone past the 2 hour time limit given to him to present to Sickbay. He cursed again and he shut off the Sonic Shower and grabbed a towel. As he stepped out of the cubicle, he was surprised to find his clothes were now gone. They were no longer left in a pile on the bench.

Rushing out of the bathrooms, still covered in a towel, Zeve found an officer on the treadmill. She was tall, beautiful, with dark black hair. She had clearly just finished a conversation with someone who had left the gym, as she was turned and waving to a closing door. She was wearing a Starfleet Academy pair of dark grey gym shorts and a top with gold lining.

"Excuse me?" Zeve approached with urgent pleading in his eyes.

"Oh my!" She called out, "Honey, this isn't a clothing-optional gym." Though that didn't stop the tall woman from casting her eyes down his chest and to the towel. She hit the stop button on the treadmill. "Which is a damn shame, really."

"I... I had clothes!" Zeve protested. "I went into the shower and I came out and they were gone!"

"Gone?!" She gasped. "Oh dear. I think Ian might have thought they were old clothes and threw them in the recycler."

"Who?! Did what?" Zeve sputtered, looking back to the door.

"Ensign Milkovich, my friend." She casually shrugged, "He's a nice guy, but very fastidious. He mentioned finding some old rags in the Men's Room and didn't think they belonged to anyone. He said no one was in the showers."

"I was!" Zeve protested, immediately hating whoever this Ian guy was with all of his internalised fury. "Or, ugh, I was praying."

"Honey, tell me which deity you're praying to because it's clearly working for you." The officer smirked, obviously flirting, but Zeve was in no mood to hear it. Finally she shook her head, "Look, I'm sorry darling but your clothes are gone. I have a hoodie on the bench there, you can use that to get back to the quarters, if you like."

Zeve grimaced, looking around. He didn't really have a choice. "Where's the nearest clothing replicator then?"

The woman thought about this, "Oh! There's got to be one - "

The ship's PA sounded once more, "Ensign Navot to Sickbay. Immediately."

Zeve cursed again. "Don't worry." He ran over to the officer's bag and grabbed her hoodie. He held it up with one hand as he tried to keep his towel up with the other. "I'll get it back to you." He called as he raced out the door.

"I'd rather the towel." She commented under her breath as he disappeared from the gym. "What a strange young man." She said, shaking her head and returning to her exercise.

~~~~~

As soon as the lift reached Deck Six, Zeve pulled his towel tighter around his waist and strode quickly into Sickbay. He had decided to live through the embarrassment of being in a towel and a stranger's hoodie in order to get through his medical, after which he would promptly return to his quarters and put on his uniform. Zeve strode into Sickbay with new determination and found a broad man standing with his back to him.

Zeve patted the man on the shoulder, took in a deep breath and announced, "I am Ensign Zeve Navot. I am here for my medical."

The man turned around, his tall, larger frame coming up to its full height. He was a wearing civilian clothes, a black t-shirt and pants, but there was something about him that made him still seem important. He was late 30's at least. He had piercing blue eyes and a single braid of hair over his right ear. As soon as the man took in the sight of Zeve, a bemused smile came upon his lips.

"Ensign?" The man remarked, a slight hint of an accent to his human tongue. "Is this how you would normally attend to your medical appointments?"

"No, uh, sir," Zeve replied, trying to keep his calm demeanour. He assumed this older man was a superior officer, perhaps the Chief Medical Officer? He could only guess without a uniform. "I have had an unfortunate series of events that have lead me to attend to my medical appointment in a towel and a hoodie, but I am here nonetheless."

The man clapped his hands together and let out a raucous laugh. "Wonderful! I like that." He slapped Zeve on the should joyfully, "It's a good thing we are pre-launch, my friend, as normally that would not be good enough but today? Today I will accept that."

Zeve felt his body relax somewhat. He was glad someone was finding the joy in his pain, though it did give him a reason to relax once more. "I appreciate that, sir. I will not attend on duty in this fashion again, sir."

"Probably for the best." The officer chuckled.

"May I have my boarding medical now, sir?" Zeve asked. He wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, lest he melt into a puddle on the floor.

The officer looked around the room before motioning to a Medical crew member nearby. "See my friend here gets a full evaluation." He leaned in, "Psych too." The man straightened up and looked over Zeve once more. He let out a laugh. "That's made my day." He commented as he sauntered out of the room.

Nurse Synnie giggled to herself as she motioned for Zeve to follow him to a bio-bed. "Oh you're lucky the Captain's in a good mood."

Zeve froze. "The... Captain?!" He spat out the words as he felt his heart meet his stomach once more.

"Yes, that was Captain Temple." Nurse Synnie smiled, "I thought you knew him?"

"Never met him before." Zeve replied hoarsely, as he looked down at his towel. "I wish I never had."

"Ah don't worry about it," Synnie shrugged, "He found it funny. Besides, he's got some big plan to entertain his kids tonight in the Sensor Pod, so he probably won't even remember it."

Zeve sank into the bio bed, looking up at the ceiling. "I hope so."

~~~~~

Arriving back into his quarters, Zeve was perplexed to see his belongings had not yet found their way to the ship. He tried calling down to the Transporter Room, but they said they hadn't heard from the Deck Crew at Starfleet just yet. He sat upon his bed and looked around. The room was bigger than his quarters on the USS Saratoga, with more amenities than his last assignment. He was happy to have space to be able to meditate, as part of his routine. He managed to replicate himself a new full uniform, which he slipped on with renewed appreciation. In his room waiting for him was a small black box, which contained his Ensign pip. He stood in the mirror and placed the pip on his lapel.

"First day, not so great." He said to himself. "But, look at me now. Ensign Navot. Of the USS Pandora." He broke into a smile. "Can only go up from here."

Using the computer system, which was prolonged due to the low-power mode, Zeve eventually discovered that the friendly officer who had loaned him the hoodie was Petty Officer Mattel. He discovered that PO Mattel was currently in the Luna Eclipse bar.

With his uniform on, ready to give the Pandora a better second impression, he boarded the Turbolift and returned to Deck 5 - the recreation deck. He quickly found himself outside of the Luna Eclipse, a tinge of nerves settling into the pit of his stomach. He pushed that aside. He needed to correct this day, make it end better than it started. And, according to every Starfleet professor he'd had, he also needed to work harder and making friends and socialising. He wanted to have friends onboard, he wanted to show that he wasn't some strange, half-naked, recluse. He had to.

Entering the bar, Zeve looked around. There weren't many people inside, much to his disappointment. The ship was still receiving her full crew after all. Finally he looked up and spied two figures on the second level. One was the dark haired girl from the gym, the other was the ginger Ensign from the Transporter room.

Zeve kept his eyes locked onto the balcony as he moved to the bar, ordering himself a drink.

'I have to do this.' He thought to himself. 'They've both already met me. The ice is broken. I can do this.'

After taking a swig, he started to approach the stairs. As he was ascending however, he caught wind of their conversation.

"They were killed when I was very young," The ginger was saying, dropping his head into his chest, "There was an accident... on their ship.... no survivors." He took in a deep breath, "I had no one left, my whole family was gone just like that. It took me years to pluck up the courage to travel off-world again, let alone on a Starfleet vessel. Now that we've got this bond on the Pandora, all I want to do is keep everyone safe as much as I can."

"I'm sorry." Mattel reached across and gently touched his arm, "That's very noble of you, Ian. But if you feel that way, why are you questioning about other opportunities?"

The Ginger took in a sharp breath and it got caught in his throat. After a moment, he whispered, "What if it happens again?"

Zeve heard the serious tone of their conversation and immediately paused. This was no time for re-introductions, he realised. The 'Hey remember me, I was in a towel!' anecdote was not going to land well. Nor would they 'Have my luggage yet?' question he was going to ask the Ginger. As their heavy talk weighed upon his ears, he knew this was a bad idea.

Before either of them could notice him, Zeve slowly back down the stairs again. He made a tactical exit to the bottom level and retreated to the bar.

"Another already?" The bartender asked with a smile, "Good thing this is synthenol."

Zeve smiled a little, "No, no, just uh, giving some people some space."

The bartender nodded, "Nice hoodie, by the way."

Zeve looked down and saw that he was still holding Petty Officer Mattel's hoodie, and he sighed. "Yeah. Comes in handy."

"Ah-huh," The crewman smiled, "You know, I heard there was some guy running around the ship earlier in a towel."

Zeve's face froze. He tried to swallow his embarrassment. "Actually, I think I will have another." He cut in. "Already." He added with as polite a smile as he could muster.

With his second drink in hand, Zeve moved over to the music panel, which allowed guests to request songs for the ambience in the room. The service was out of commission due to the grey mode of the ship, but he was still able to peruse a list of songs. As he was selecting through, he could hear voices getting closer.

"Looking for a ship romance are we, Raven?" The Ginger quipped, his lips parting into a genuine smile. "Putting out a welcome dish?"

"Just something to nibble on, darling," Raven Mattel shrugged her shoulders with carefree nonchalance. "I am not looking to put my boots under anyone else's bunk but my own."

The Ginger laughed, "Well there's no harm in making some new friends, is there?"

"That's more like it." Raven beamed as they clinked their glasses together in a cheers. She hooked her arm around his and lead the way back down to the main floor. "Come now, Ian. We must mingle!"

From downstairs, Zeve mumbled, "Ian?"

He realised the Ginger was Ian Milkovich, the fastidious Ensign who had discarded his clothes and caused him to run around the Pandora in a towel. Zeve felt flushes of embarrassment and anger, before nerves finally took hold.

"I can't do this." He said to himself.

As Raven and Ian were coming down the stairs, Zeve shot like a flash back to the bar. He practically threw the hoodie at the bartender. "Give this to Petty Officer Mattel!" He shouted.

Before he could respond, Zeve was running out of the door of the Eclipse. He hoped that Raven and Ian had not seen him rushed out like that. The last thing he wanted was to make a bad second impression as well, but fear had gotten the best of him and he didn't want to stick around any longer.

Zeve retreated back to his quarters and he didn't feel safe again until the door was closed. He laid down on his bed, breathing heavily.

He closed his eyes and began to chant a mantra to himself, praying to the spirits to give him calm and clarity.

"Tomorrow." He finally said. "Tomorrow I will try again."

It was a bad start.

OFF