Unpacking Memories

Posted on Sun Sep 21st, 2025 @ 3:44pm by Lieutenant Commander Sora Bernadotte

1,048 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Short Treks
Location: LtCmdr. Bernadotte's quarters
Timeline: 2439-06-15, 18:00

Sora exhaled deeply as she walked into her quarters. It had been a long first day on Enterprise. After breakfast with Commodore Targaryen, she had followed him to the ship's secondary bridge for the day's duties, where she had met her new colleagues for the first time. Of course, being unfamiliar with the rest of the crew, who had already been forged into a well-running machine, meant that working with them had been a little tricky. However, she was certain she would soon adapt and become part of a cohesive unit.

Slumping into an armchair in the lounge area, her gaze fell upon the chests with her personal belongings strewn around her quarters. With the late transfer last night, and the early start today, she barely had time to unpack the essentials - a half-empty trunk next to her bedroom had held her duty uniforms and toiletries, which had been put in her place as she would need them right away, but the rest was still packed up. With a sigh, Sora got up, took off her uniform jacket and threw it on the back of her chair, and got to work. "Computer, play the album The Fox and the Bird by Ok Goodnight." She would need some good music to keep her going, as the acclimatisation to the new ship had left her rather tired.

After taking a quick mental tally of what was left to unpack, Sora decided to continue where she had started, and headed to the bedroom. Before long, the duty uniforms in the wardrobe had been joined by a dress uniform and some off-duty clothing, both for formal and informal occasions. Having left all her possessions other than what she had carried on her person behind in the other universe, Sora was surprised at how much stuff she had gathered together in the two years since her crossover. Still, once the trunk with her clothes was empty, she quickly moved on to the second trunk in the bedroom, filled with things like underwear, spare boots, bedding, and a black travel bag.

She pulled the bag out of the trunk and placed it on her bed, hesitating. With a deep breath, she unzipped it, revealing a cropped, sleeveless black top with golden accents on the shoulders and a set of black epaulets trimmed in the same gold, bearing three silver stripes with a silver diamond-shape overlaid on top. Sora held the tunic up for a moment, before shrugging, throwing it onto the bed, and reaching back into the bag. Quickly, she pulled out a pair of thigh-high black leather boots, a short black skirt, and a belt with the buckle bearing insignia of an image of the planet earth impaled on a dagger, as well as a golden armband with the same insignia on a black background.

Finally, at the bottom of the bag, Sora found what she had been looking for - a small black box with no further adornment. She placed the box on the nightstand, before placing the rest of the uniform, except for the boots, back in the bag and placing it at the bottom of her wardrobe. Then, she sat on the bed and gingerly opened the box. Inside, she found a small assortment of medals, along with a black combadge in the shape of Starfleet's arrowhead emblem. Also in the box was a small PADD, which she took out before snapping the box shut and placing it in the drawer of her bedside cabinet. After a moment's hesitation, she turned on the PADD, and clicked the record button.

"Personal log, June fifteenth, 2439. First day of duties on Enterprise is done. Had breakfast with the CO before duty, interesting man. El-Aurian hybrid, according to what I learned from the public profile in the database. Seems confident. Many of the bridge crew are aliens, but that should not come as a surprise in this universe. From what I've seen, they are all entirely capable officers. I do not, and will never understand the Empire's prejudices. I do sometimes wonder what happened to Captain Mervillion and the Asha. We tried to do things differently. Things will be interesting on this ship, that much I am certain of. End log."

Her personal log completed, Sora put the PADD in the drawer as well, then got up. There was still a lot of unpacking to do.

An hour later, the Lieutenant Commander was back in her armchair, now holding a glass of single-malt whisky. She had surprised herself at how quickly she had finished - but then, all that was left to unpack were a small collection of bottles, some old-fashioned paper books, her bass guitar, and, of course, her archery gear, which was now hung up on the wall behind her. She leaned back and gazed up at the handcrafted wooden recurve bow and the black leather quiver, smiling at the memory of the archery competition on Earth shortly after her arrival, where she had won it as a prize. Leaning in the corner was an elegant rapier with a handguard designed in the shape of a snowflake finished in a blueish tint and, its hilt wrapped in polished white leather. It sat in a plain black sheath with shiny silver fixings. The sword had been one of the few things she had brought with her from the other universe, where carrying a bladed weapon was standard for senior officers. This particular blade had been forged for her on her homeworld of Nygard. She had named it after a flowering bush originally native to Terra's North American continent that had been brought to Nygard by the original colonists, the frost aster, or, as it was called in her native language, Myrtenaster.

She took a sip from her whisky and got up, taking Myrtenaster in her hand and drawing it from its sheath, the polished blade reflecting the dimmed light of her quarters. Swiftly, she performed some well-practised moves, the rapier dancing through the air. She would have to copy her fencing programme onto the ship's holodeck. After a few more exercises, she returned Myrtenaster to its place, and took her jacket from the back of the armchar. Time to find out what the ship's eateries had to offer.

 

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