Normally crew quarters like the one Jason was in would usually have two people sharing.  But right now at least Jason had this one too himself and had folded the top bunk up against the bulkhead wall to give himself a little more space.  His fellow cadet and roommate for the journey from Earth was currently in sickbay for observation. It was a modest sized room with limited storage space, a workstation, replicator and a couple of chairs along with the beds.

The room had two doors; one led out on to the corridor the other a washroom and sonic shower.  And it was towards this second door he headed.  After a quick shower and shave, Jason dressed himself in his Cadets uniform.

With the aid of the ships computer he brought up a holographic representation of himself.  Whereas a mirror was flat and afforded a person only a limited view of themselves, this allowed you to walk around your own image and make sure everything was in order.  Jason checked himself over from every angle before brushing a fleck of imaginary dust from his right shoulder.  Satisfied he couldn’t look any better he dismissed the hologram and started about packing the rest of what few items he had with him.

 A few moments later the ships intercom gave its familiar electronic whistle. “All cadets to main shuttle bay.” Came the gruff voice. “Departure is in thirty minutes.  That’s three zero minutes.”

As Jason stood by the door to these quarters for the last time, some ten minutes later, he was left to ponder before he exited his room.  Who was that mysterious man dressed all in black?  Despite having no visible insignia or marking of rank, he seemed to convey an air of authority.  Jason had witness Officers accepting this man’s orders without question, though sometimes begrudgingly. This was the man who’d kept him out of prison and given him this new name.  Jason hoped one day to discover who that old man was.  

He slung his kitbag over his left shoulder and headed along the corridor to the nearest turbo lift and entered just a few seconds after reaching the door. “Deck 13, Sick bay”.  Jason was head off to check on his roommate.

Dinari Lyambo was a tall slender young man with ebony skin of Namibian decent.  He was the youngest of six kids.  All the others like his parents had joined the medical field in some shape or form.  Dinari however was an Engineer, or at least hoped to be once his training was complete.  The family disappointment as he’d once said during a chat they’d had one night.

Jason checked with the ships doctor who confirmed the other cadet was fit and able to return to training, whilst Dinari finished dressing behind a screen in the corner.  As the other young man stepped out dressed in his own cadet uniform and holding his bag by his side, he flashed a bright cheery smile at the nurse as she passed by carrying a PADD.

“Behave” Jason called across the room just load enough for the nurse to hear.  The other man did his best to look both puzzled and indignant at the same time.  But failed completely as the smile returned to his face.  As the two of them closed the gap between each other, Jason asked the taller man a question. “How exactly did you manage to get food poisoning from a replicator?”

“It is not my fault the stupid machine is unable to understand my great old Oumas’ favorite recipe.”

Jason couldn’t help smile a little, Dinari had on more than one occasion mentioned what a wonderful cook his grandmother was and how she often cooked family meals rather than replicate them.

They both headed back to where the nearest turbo lift was and joined a half dozen other cadets who like them where all heading for the shuttle bay.  A short while later 37 of them where assembled together in a small room just to one side of the shuttle bays landing pads.  Through a large window Jason and a few of the others watched as a pair of Type 7 Shuttlecraft came in to land swiftly yet gracefully.  Neither appeared to be warp capable and showed slight signs of their age.   The closest carried the prefix ‘B’ in a maroon colour half the height of the craft, whilst the other had an ‘E’ in the same colour.

In one corner of the room a Lieutenant stood at a lectern   Reading out the names of cadets and which of the two shuttles they would be boarding, along with others that belonged to the Chaffee itself.  Roughly fifteen minutes later shuttle ‘E’ lifted up off the pad and followed its companion towards the planet’s surface.