"New Beginnings"

Lieutenant M'rowl

Stardate: 58806.16, 16h00
Location: Main replimat, Deck 12, Starbase 45

***

M'rowl smoothed the front of her uniform, an old habit she picked up on her first deployment and muttered a soft Caitian curse at the cut of it, for all the positives Starfleet had, its inability to create a comfortable uniform for her people wasn't one of them, in her Grandmother's day at least they had the dress which allowed full movement and her tail to hang properly, she sighed and picked at the plate in front of her, the order had come early this morning, her application to be transferred from her post at Starbase 45 had been approved by Starfleet command, picking up her PADD she read the name of her new ship again, the USS Vanguard, Nova class vessel on a scientific mission, which she admitted didn't offer much in the way of excitement in her role, but it was better than here.

She smiled at some security ensigns from her shift as they passed, that pretend smile her people had perfected over the centuries, the polite one that said hello, she had learned at the academy that her full smile unnerved most people, it was the row of razor sharp teeth, or fangs as many called them, that people found unsettling, generally most humans found her species to be a calming influence, it reminded them of the small creatures they called cats, she wasn't sure how she felt about that, but in her line of work if it calmed people down it was a win.

The bigger issue however, was that the Vanguard was mid mission and could be some time before it was near Starbase 45 and ever since the war the number of ships available to Starfleet was still low, so diverting one for a single transfer was unlikely, that had meant either waiting or booking passage on a civilian freighter headed in that approx direction, that freighter left tomorrow and would be an uncomfortable journey to Alpha Centauri, her cases had already been packed aboard, and she had handed her old quarters over to the housing officer. She fingered her head dress, 3 blue and a single red feather woven into a beaded leather thong draped casually, the type of casually that took her 45 minutes this morning, over her right ear and falling behind her shoulder, most Caitians didn't bother with these displays anymore, but some still clung to the old, very old ways, there wasn't much more to do until then, she had said her goodbyes to the few people she cared to tell, and Commander Becker had given her leave until she departed, she opened her PADD flicking to the Orion pirate story she had been engrossed in for the last few days, this she figured would kill some time.