First Impressions

Posted on Sat Jan 24th, 2026 @ 12:50pm by Lieutenant JG Ethan Cole & Lieutenant Keira Heartly

1,137 words; about a 6 minute read

Lieutenant junior grade Ethan Cole stood just outside the entrance to Operations, staring at the closed doors as if they might suddenly object to his presence. They didn't of course, they simply remained shut and unbothered by his hesitation. Ethan exhaled slowly and adjusted the collar of his uniform for what felt like the fifth time since stepping off the turbolift. The Endeavour was overwhelming. He’d served on only one other starship since joining Starfleet, the Chula Vista. But the Endeavour was different. A sovereign class like the Endeavour didn’t just exist in space it dominated it. Even at an idle he could still the ship felt alive beneath his boots, the ship humming with quiet relentless precision.

And now he was assigned to operations on the Endeavour. He had been recently promoted, the new pip still unfamiliar on his collar. The transfer order that had come had been filled with congratulations, reassurances and absolutely no instructions on how not to feel completely out of his depth. He finally decided that he needed to just take the first step and reached up and tapped the door chime.

Keira Heartly barely glanced up when the chime sounded, her fingers never stopped moving across the padd she held as she reviewed power distribution efficiency metrics from the last shift. Operations never slept, and the Endeavour’s recent crew influx had given her no shortage of numbers to reconcile. “Enter,” she called out, her voice calm and steady with just enough warmth to take the edge off the formality.

The doors slid open to allow Ethan time to enter the operations office. The woman standing in the middle of the room looked busy but he didn't see any signs of her being overwhelmed. 'I hope one day I'm that calm,' he thought. Snapping to attention, he decided to try his best to not show how nervous he was. "Lieutenant junior grade Ethan Cole reporting for duty, ma'am."

“Lieutenant Keira Heartly,” she said as she set the PADD down and turned fully to face him. “Acting head of operations.” She smiled, not indulgently or dismissively, but just enough to soften the moment. “At ease, Lieutenant,” she said. “And you can drop the formalities. I promise I won’t take offense.”

The words at ease didn’t immediately translate to action. Ethan relaxed only slightly as he stepped fully into the operations office, his eyes flicking briefly across the displays and the wall panels alive with data feeds, power flow readouts, system coordination, and resource allocation matrices that made his Academy coursework feel suddenly theoretical. Lieutenant Heartly moved with practiced confidence, the kind that came from knowing exactly where everything was and what it meant. She didn’t rush him, didn’t scrutinize him like a specimen under a scanner.

“Thank you, ma'am,” he said, trying to relax.

Keira felt her lips forming a smile as she indicated for him to sit down as she moved to sit down behind the desk.

Ethan took the offered seat, his hands clasping loosely together in his lap to keep them from fidgeting. “I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me,” he added. “I know the department’s been busy since the transfer.”

“It has,” Keira agreed easily. “But I like to meet everyone under me so I can get a feel for them, and sometimes that helps me place them in a position where their strengths play into how smoothly the department runs. You’re newly promoted, from what I noticed in your service file,” she said. "The the Chula Vista was your first assignment. You had high marks at the academy as well, so clearly you're capable or highly experienced in the field of operations."

“I've always been interested in learning how things work, and of course how they fit in with other things. How complicated systems operate. Naturally, that led to me going into operations,” Ethan replied. “But I won’t lie. Being assigned to the Endeavour was a bit of a surprise. It’s,” He gestured vaguely. “A lot of ship.”

Keira chuckled softly. “That’s one way to put it,” she said. She remembered her first day aboard a capital ship. The way every system felt less forgiving. She folded her hands on top of the desk. “You’re not wrong,” she said. “The Endeavour is a lot. But that’s not a bad thing. It just means you’re not expected to carry it alone.” She studied him more closely now, not critically but thoughtfully. He reminded her of officers she’d mentored before, officers who were capable, intelligent, quietly terrified of making the wrong move. “You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t ready,” she added. "So tell me, what about being assigned to the Endeavour worries you?"

Ethan hesitated before he answered. “I don’t want to be the weak link,” he said quietly. “Operations is central to everything working. If I miss something, it could hurt the entire ship. I’ve been in ops roles before,” he continued, “but not on a ship where every decision feels like it could have strategic consequences.”

“You’ll learn,” Keira said calmly. “And if you make a mistake, we’ll correct it.”

Ethan blinked, surprised. Just like that?

Keira nodded calmly. “You’ll begin with being assigned to monitor secondary power routing and coordination systems. Nothing glamorous, but essential. You’ll get familiar with the ship’s systems by keeping an eye on things from a nonessential position,” she said as she tapped a control, bringing up a simplified schematic. “The Endeavour has redundancies layered on redundancies,” she explained. “Your job isn’t to memorize all of this overnight. It’s to understand how it flows.”

Ethan nodded, eyes tracking the display. “And if I get stuck?” he asked.

“You ask,” she replied immediately. “Preferably before something breaks. There’s no competition here. We succeed as a department, or not at all.”

"I understand," he said.

Keira nodded as she stood. "Your shift lead can answer any questions, and if not then they can find someone who can," she said. "I don't expect you to learn everything about this ship in a single day. I expect you to learn, ask questions, and if you make mistakes learn from them."

"Yes, ma'am," Ethan said as he stood. "When do I start?"

"Right now," Keira answered as she handed him a padd. "This will help you get started. It's a list of everything I want you to complete."

Ethan took the padd and blinked at it for a moment before he nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said before he braced to attention and quickly left the operations office. Outside, he looked at the first thing on the list and sighed before heading off down the corridor.

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