Lucy in the sky

To someone from a more advanced civilization, say someone traveling aboard a spacecraft at warp speed, the stars would appear as streaks of light. If the craft were to drop out of warp then the light trails would shrink until they were no more than dots on the black canopy of space.

Arjay peered at the visage of stars on the view screen as his helmsman announced that they had arrived at the rendezvous. "Thank you Miss Quarette." He issued instructions regarding the parking of his vessel and requested that communications be opened to Lattice. After a short exchange with her captain, Arjay was satisfied. Arjay was about to issue instruction to Morgan, but Ensign Green spoke first.

"Captain, I volunteer to go to the transporter room to meet Dr. Tsui."

Arjay pondered that. The boy's duty shift was almost over, so he wasn't strictly needed on the bridge. The young ensign had made it a habit to volunteer for as many tasks as he could since Dawn left Earth, two weeks ago. Trying to impress his captain. "Permission granted," Arjay replied.

Green left the bridge and made his way down to the transporter room. He nodded to the transporter operator as he entered.

"It'll be a couple of minutes before the doctor's ready," the operator told him. The two waited and shortly thereafter, the operator announced that he'd received the ready signal. The operator manipulated the controls on his console and soon Dr. Lucy Tsui materialized on the pad.

"Welcome aboard Dawn, Dr. Tsui," Green greeted her. He pronounced her name like "Tsooey".

"Tsui," she corrected. The way she said it sounded like "Sway."

"Sway?" he asked, trying to get it right.

"Close enough," replied the doctor.

"I'm Ian Green, ship's navigator. I'm here to help you settle in."

"Well ensign, show me my quarters then."

"Certainly, doctor." Green picked up the large suitcase that had materialized with her. He noted that it was rather heavy but he didn't say anything. He used his free arm to make the after you gesture. Dr. Tsui followed his cue and stepped towards the door.

"Please notify Captain Walton that Dr. Tsui has arrived and I am escorting her to her quarters," he said over his shoulder to the transporter operator. The operator nodded in acknowledgement. "Thanks, Chief."

The doctor was not very conversant as the two traversed the ship's corridor to the turboelevator. Green tried to start a conversation. "So doctor, what is your background?"

"I am Chinese."

"Yes, I can see you're Chinese. Do you speak Chinese?"

"I know Mandarin."

"Right, I took Mandarin as an elective at the Academy. I dropped out after a couple of classes though. It's a tough language!"

"Yes, it can be difficult to learn."

"So where are you actually from?"

"I am from Toronto."

"Oh yes, uh, that's on the mainland, isn't it?"

"It's in Canada," the doctor replied.

"Oh! You mean, you're not from China?"

"No. The past three generations of my family have lived in Toronto." By now they had arrived at the doctor's quarters. "Thank you, ensign," she said. "Just leave my bag here."

Green put her suitcase down as she asked. "It was nice meeting you, doctor. If there is anything you need to help you get settled in, just call me."

"It's nice to meet you too, ensign."

Once alone in her quarters, Tsui collapsed on her bed. She was exhausted from her last few days on Lattice and desperately needed some rest. She thought about the tasks that were ahead of her. Although she had received a file containing Dawn's mission briefing while she was on Lattice, she hadn't much chance to give it more than a cursory glance. Now that her duties aboard Lattice had been fulfilled, she would have to take some time to review the Dawn mission briefing. It would be useful to know what the ship was heading into.

She also needed to review each and every crewmember's medical file. She would want to schedule an appointment with each crew member as well. There was only so much she could learn about the crew just by reviewing their medical records. She would want to run some basic tests, to make sure the files were accurate and up to date. With one hundred and twenty eight people aboard Dawn, she figured it would take about two weeks to go through them all. And the captain - well, it was usually next to impossible to get a captain to come to sickbay for a routine examination.

Speaking of the captain, when was she going to meet him? She briefly considered the idea of calling him to let him know she had arrived, but quickly dismissed the idea. By now, the captain must know she was aboard. She would meet him in due time.

As tired as she was, as much as she wanted to rest, there was one task she absolutely had to complete before she could relax. She opened up her suitcase, took out three items, then closed her suitcase and pushed it where it would be out of her way. The rest of her belongings she would unpack later.

She placed the three items she had retrieved on the desk. They were family photographs. Her parents, Little Margaret, and Tracy. Funny, she still thought of her sister as Little Margaret, even though she wasn't so little anymore. She was about twice the age of Tracy, yet in her mind she still held the young girl as an adult.

Now that she had found a home for her photographs she was ready for some much needed sleep. She was too tired to wash up or even change out of her uniform. Her uniform - she realized it still bore the Lattice insignia. Well, she would get that updated in the morning. She had noticed the Dawn insignia on the comm unit. A partial circle over a wavy line. The circle could symbolize the sun peeking out over the horizon. That would be a fitting design for a ship named Dawn. As for the wavy line...

She thought no more, not of wavy lines or suns or circles, not of patients or captains. Dr. Lucy Tsui was fast asleep, and the stars streamed by the porthole in her quarters as Dawn resumed course towards her destination.