It was vast. Almost cathedral-like, if Luke had to describe it to his parents. The Docking Bay his shuttle had landed in was comprised with high-arched ceilings that stretched into a seamless combination of metal and transparent panels complemented by a huge opening into space that was secured by a force-field which offered a glimpse into the vastness of space. Some saw Starfleet’s ethos of exploration and precision in this architecture. Luke liked it, because it reflected order. And with the chaos in his head, order was something he needed outside of his head.

The docked shuttles were of many origins. The young Cadet had spotted designs from various species and a few Starfleet shuttles, too. Personnel bustle about in their Starfleet uniforms swarmed by visitors looking to disembark. The busy chatter was only complemented by a steady hum of energy flows and fields. Luke could not stop to admire the scenery, so he needed a not so young Chief Petty Officer to get him back to reality.

Elias’s heels rapped smartly on the deck plating as he walked across the bay with all the focused and determined manner of a drill sergeant on parade. Picking up a newly arrived cadet wasn’t part of his usual schedule, but the word had come down from on high. Someone’s boss had talked to someone else’s boss, and it had filtered down until the notice had arrived on his desk. And, it wasn’t any of his business to wonder why someone wanted this particular cadet picked up; it was just his job to get it done.

Scanning the bay numbers painted on the floor, he counted them down until he was three off the one he needed. A wide-eyed cadet coming the other way caught his attention. Elias glanced toward the civilian shuttle quickly. Empty, and it looked like the crew were prepping for the return journey.

“Cadet Olsen?” he asked, returning his attention to the cadet.

The fair head mustered the face of the CPO for half a second. He looked into the face of a man who took his job seriously and who had probably better things to do than picking up a cadet from the docking bay. An insecure smile showed on Luke’s face as he nodded almost invisibly.

“Yeah, that’s me…, Sir.”, Luke briefly closed his eyes to sanction himself for the unsusccessful attempt to adress a superior.

Young and very nervous. Most seniors would have offered a reassuring smile and some welcoming words. Unfortunately, Elias wasn’t that kind of CPO.

“No need to call me sir. I work for a living,” he said mildly, looking down and checking on his ever-present padd for his next job. He didn’t actually need to, he had today’s schedule memorized. “I have you reporting in at thirteen hundred today, and the quartermaster just sent over your accommodation assignment. Both have been sent to your padd.” He looked up. “Best to keep that on you for the first week. You will get lost. Come along.”

The Petty Officer’s words just contributed to Luke’s nervousness. It was like someone shoved more coal into the fire that heated the oven for Luke’s emotions – with both hands. He just nodded, agreeing to everything the Petty Officer had just said. His left hand opened a zipper on his back and looked for his padd.

“Yes, Si…”, Luke bit his lip. “Got it.”

As they started moving, his hand still worked its way through a ton of objects. Some of them felt totally foreign to the cadet while he could clearly identify others until his fingers clasped the padd he was looking for. He took it out of his bag and looked at it to study the orders that the CPO had sent. Nothing out of the ordinary. He still had to finish his final year of Academy studies and was glad to be able to do it closer to the action than he would have been on earth – all nervousness aside. So he did not mind the idea of a kickoff meeting at 1300.

The unlinkely pair exited the dock bay through a wide door that gave way as they approached. The CPO took the lead. And as Luke walked through the doors, a shrilling alarm sounded. Next thing he noticed was force fields coming up in front and behind him. A computer voice sounded through the speakers.

“Warning, unknown technology detected. Please remain patient and wait for our security personnel.”

Elias paused, turning to find the cadet stood between the two forcefields like a bug in a trap.

“Cadet? Did you bring anything on the prohibited list aboard the station?” he asked, already on his padd to see if he could find out how long security was likely to be. His lips compressed. This was going to put him back for the operational meeting. Sure, PO O’Connell was also rostered on for that meeting, but the PO couldn’t find his backside with both hands and a map half the time, never mind take notes that made sense.

“I would advise that you put your pack on the floor and step away from it,” he added. “It will make it quicker when security arrive.”

“I… I…”, Luke stammered. Hurriedly, he put his pack on the floor and took a couple of steps back, just to touch the force field behind him, his padd still in hand. One thought chased the other. He tried to assemble an inventory list of his pack in his head, but failed to get a full picture of what he had brought.

The Cadet looked up with a help-seeking look on his face as a team of three way-too-big security guards showed up behind the CPO. One of them was an officer, stepping forward while the guards remained in the background. He had steel-blue eyes and blonde hair that he seemed to tame perfectly in the morning.

“Petty Officer… What’s happening here?”, the leader of the security guards adressed Luke’s escort.

“New arrival,” Elias was, as usual, economical and efficient with his words. “Arrived on a civilian shuttle of a dubious appearance, I have already sent the docking number over. Given the cadet’s demeanour, I suspect that something was slipped into his pack untoward since most cadets are aware they should not be carrying anything through the base for others. Isn’t that right, cadet?”

Luke nodded fiercely and the security officer sighed. “Alright. Computer, deactivate force field.” And with this simple order, the field in front of Luke disappeared and the security guard nodded towards his minions who stepped forward and started to scan his pack. The slightly bigger one grunted something and the other turned the pack around and emptied it onto the floor.

The Cadet’s face turned red as his belongings were spread across the floor. It showed the usual things Starfleet officers carried – two smaller padds loaded with study materials, another standard issue uniform, and his personal hygene kit. And next to it small teddy bear was on the floor. His mother had demanded that he took it to his first off-world mission. Luke wanted to curl up and die as the enormous hand of one of the cards moved the toy aside and revealed a small charm a little smaller than a tricorder. It showed a golden bird on an emerald stone. Luke felt panic rising up.

“Nebulark…”, he whispered.

“Gentlemen, please be careful with the cadet’s personal belongings.” Elias moved closer as the blood drained from the cadet’s face. “Nebulark? I take it that is not yours?”

“I’ve not… There was somebody on the shuttle, a Vulcan… Well, not a Vulcan, he had to be some other species.” The words just blustered out of the young Cadet. “He tried to sell these charms on the shuttle. I did not buy one. He must have slipped it into my bag.”

Elias’s brows snapped together. “That is troublesome indeed.”

He looked toward the security officers, who had bundled all the cadet’s things apart from the object back into his pack. His lips compressed. They hadn’t done it neatly though. Everything had been jumbled up and was upside down.

“Since the object is not Cadet Olsen’s,” he asked. “And you have an entire shuttle’s worth of passengers to check for similar items, may we continue on our way?”

The officer just looked briefly at the CPO before adressing Luke. “We will confiscate the … charm. We will analyze it in the securities office. You are expected to show up there at 1500 hours this afternoon for a debriefing.” Then he looked at Elias again. “You’re both dismissed. Computer, deactivate second force field.”

And with that he turned on his heel and vanished around the corner with his two security minions. Luke took his pack and briefly looked at its contents to check for damages. He just saw his teddy bear looking at him with the same expression that he might have had a minute before.

“Well, this is something to phone home about.”, he tried to losen the tension.