Stardate 52009.2

     Elea sat in the passenger area of the small warp shuttle bringing crew 
and supplies to the U.S.S. Equinox from Earth.  The small cabin was quiet and 
the lighting subdued, the others having settled down to rest after the first 
three hours of the trip.  Elea herself had tried to sleep, but she was just 
too excited, and nervous.  So she had instead taken to looking out the small 
porthole, watching the streaks of stars seen from warp space slide by.  She 
had remained so for several hours, her only movement being her slow breathing 
and the occasional blinking of her mismatched eyes.
     Without warning, the engine pitch changed. Elea glanced around the cabin, 
brushing a stray strand of her red hair behind an ear.  None of the others had 
noticed it apparently.  She looked back out the window as the stars returned 
to pinpricks.  The shuttle banked slightly and Deep Space 3 came into view. 
Visible at one of the upper docking pylons was the Equinox, her new home.  The
lights in the cabin returned to their normal luminance.
     "Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching DS3, please prepare for 
docking", the Captain's voice came over the loudspeaker, waking a few of the 
passengers.
     Elea straightened in her chair.  The other passengers had begun 
waking, some were gathering their things together.  Elea glanced down at the 
small fleet-issue pack that rested on the floor between her feet.  The shuttle
banked between the docking pylons and nosed over, flipping itself relative to 
its previous orientation.  The small ship nosed into the docking bay on the 
station, and came to a stop with a light bump. 
     The Captain's voice again came from the recessed speakers, "Thank you for
flying with us, and enjoy your stay on Deep Space 3."
     Elea stood and tugged her uniform, it had become wrinkled over the 6 hour
flight.  Satisfied that she looked presentable, she picked up her pack and 
joined the others as they waited to exit.  Finally she managed to squeeze her 
way through the small hatch, and stepped down onto the station's deck.  The 
others weren't wasting any time, they quickly were making there way out of the 
shuttlebay.  Elea sighed and brushed a strand of hair back over her ear, it 
promptly fell forward again.  She squared her shoulders, trying to look more 
certain and confident than she actually felt.  With a determined look on her 
face, she marched out of the shuttlebay, and into the halls of DS3.  Following 
the directions she had memorized earlier she started toward the Equinox's 
docking port, and her home for the foreseeable future.