He sat at a table, alone, a tray of half-eaten food and an empty drinking glass in front of him. The sun beams drifted through the windows of the large cafeteria area, blanketing the area in a warm glow. The buzz of the social setting was soothing and brough a smile to his face. It had been months since he had felt such a calmness in his life. The headaches were gone, and he had finally come to terms with the damage that had been done to his memory. He had discovered a newfound joy in life, embracing every memory that he could still cherish, while enjoying the process of making new memories.

Sitting there contemplating was interrupted by the chirping of his comm badge on his chest. Reaching up a hand, he gave the badge a tap.

=/\= Lieutenant Wells please report to the Admiral’s office for your new assignment orders =/\=

His smile widened and he felt energized by the short message. =/\= Acknowledged. Be right there! Wells out =/\=

He stood up from the table. He stood at 6 feet tall, with a muscular build, and tanned skin. His hair was dark brown, cut short on the sides and a spiky, messy style on the top. His uniform was well fitted, but at present the sleeves had been rolled up, revealing tattoos of birds and fish on his forearms.

Grabbing his tray, he made his way to the recycling unit and deposited it there, carefully rolling back down his sleeves as he made his way towards the turbolift.
Shortly he found himself in the waiting area of the Admiral’s office. After checking in with the receptionist, he was sent through to meet with the Admiral. Standing at the office door, he tugged at the the bottom of his jacket. Then he reached out and rang the chime.

Sitting behind the desk was Admiral Thistle, a man in his 70’s. Despite his rotund figure, he was still a man of energy and enthusiasm. He smiled as the door opened and stood, offering a hand.

Tyler walked in, approaching the desk, taking the Admiral’s hand and shaking it warmly. “Admiral.” He said in greeting.

“Please, have a seat young man,” Admiral Thistle said, releasing Tyler’s hand and motioning towards the chairs in front of the desk.

Tyler took a seat in one of the chairs, folding one leg over the other comfortably. The Admiral also took a seat, taking a Padd from his desk and looking at the screen.

“I see you have been fully cleared to return to active duty,” The Admiral said, putting the Padd back down on the desk gently and looking up at Tyler.

Tyler gave a nod. “Yes sir,” He said. He had spent a full month here on the Starbase under the supervision of the medical and psychological teams. His recovery had been a lengthy process, over the span of months spent on the USS Boyce, and then here on the Starbase for an official review by Starfleet.

“I also see you have been brushing up on your marine and security trainings,” The Admiral continued. “You’ve received excellent markings in physical combat and weapons training.”

Tyler smiled. Those were accomplishments he felt especially proud of. There was a period of time in his life where fitness and training were pushed aside by the mental turmoil he was dealing with. It felt good to once again find his passions and spend time cultivating them.

“I wanted to put my time here on the base to good use,” Tyler said. “A little extra training was good for me.”

“Indeed it was,” The Admiral said, nodding. “Your efforts have been noticed and were taken into consideration when we looked at assigning you back to a ship’s crew.” He paused, looking back down at the Padd that now lay before him on the desk. Then his eyes shifted back towards Tyler’s eager gaze.

“You’ve been assigned to the USS Ogawa,” Admiral Thistle said. “She’s a medical ship, and I believe your time aboard the Boyce and here amongst our medical staff will be well in hand as preparation for such a posting. Captain Taylor of the Ogawa has reviewed your service record and has requested you as a science officer with special notation of your marine training to be called on in an as needed basis. As you know medical ships are not traditionally staffed with Marines or high numbers of security personnel, so your skills may be called upon in a crisis.”

Tyler nodded. “Understood.”

The Admiral rose from his chair once again, at which Tyler jumped to his feet.

“I am glad to see you’ve made progress in your recovery, Lieutenant Wells,” the Admiral said. “It is my honor to officially welcome you back to the fleet with your new assignment.”

The smile returned to Tyler’s face. “Thank you sir. I won’t let you down.”

The Admiral returned the smile. “Dismissed.”

Tyler gave the Admiral a nod, and turned, heading for the door.

“Oh, and Lieutenant?” The Admiral said, causing Tyler to turn back around, watching as the Admiral took his seat once more. He looked back at the Admiral eagerly, awaiting whatever he might have to add.

“Do try not to have too much fun out there,” The Admiral said, a sly grin creeping on his lips. Tyler smiled and chuckled softly. Then with a nod, turned back around and made his way out of the office.

Later that night, Tyler lay in the bed in his temporary quarters on board the Starbase. His uniform had been flung on the floor, and now his only garment was a pair of red boxer trunks.

“It was like he knew my personal reputation or something,” Tyler said with a chuckle. “I swear, no matter how big a starbase or starship is, the gossip chains move quicker than plasma through a warp core.”

From around the corner, in the bathroom, a figure appeared, a towel wrapped around the waist. The young man was in his twenties, a human/Betazoid with piercing black eyes and dark brown hair. He walked over towards the bed, a smile on his face.

“I’m sensing that you like this reputation,” The young man said, taking a seat next to Tyler on the bed. “The handsome newcomer with the mysterious past and strange medical condition.”

Tyler sat up, grinning. “Oh is that what people around here are thinking about me?”

The young man smiled. “That is one theory yes.”

“And the other?” Tyler asked quizzically.

“Oh, the other, more prominent theory is that you’re just a playboy who doesn’t want to settle down and just wants to have fun,” The young man said.

“Is that why you’ve been spending every night the past two weeks here in my quarters?” Tyler asked.

The young man shrugged his shoulders. “No, the real reason is that my roommate snores horribly and I can’t sleep.”

Tyler feigned shock, his mouth opening wide. “And here I thought you found me absolutely irresistible.”

The young man leaned in closer. “Incredibly irresistible.”

Tyler leaned in. “Good.” He said, before taking the young mans face in between his palms and bringing him in even closer until their lips were touching.

…. The next morning, the young man lay asleep in the bed as Tyler awoke and made his way into the shower. He was still asleep as Tyler dressed and finished putting the last of his personal belongings into his bag.

Tyler walked over to the bed, gently shaking the young man’s arm until he started to stir and opened his eyes.

“You know for an empath, you sleep like a rock,” Tyler joked.

The young man noticed the packed bag sitting on the floor near the bed and sat up. “Are you leaving now?”

Tyler nodded. “It is about that time.” He leaned in and kissed the young man on the forehead. “Don’t worry, you have at least an hour or two before security and engineering crews come in here.

Tyler stood, grabbed his bag, taking one last look at the room, before his eyes rested on the young man once more. “It’s been fun Greg. I’m off to new adventures.” He hated goodbyes, so for good measure he added, “I’ll be in touch.” Then he slung the bag over his shoulder and left the room.

The young man smiled. He didn’t need to be an empath to know that last statement was more a formality and not at all sincere.

Sitting in his seat on the transport ship, Tyler couldn’t help but fidget. He was always nervous about joining a new crew, meeting new people. This time wouldn’t be any different.

Except that it would be different. He was different. He had grown so much in the last year. He wasn’t the same Tyler that he had been before his assault. He was a better and improved Tyler. He did his best to push down the nerves, taking deep breaths and envisioning an exciting new chapter to his life.

There was a ship wide announcement that they would be within transporter range of the USS Ogawa momentarily and that all crew transferring should make their way to the transporter pad.

“That would be me,” Tyler said to himself, grabbing his personal bag and making his way through the small corridor of the transport to the rear of the ship where the transporter pad was.

“Lieutenant Tyler Wells, ready for transport to the Ogawa,” Tyler said to the transporter operator. Then he took his place on the transporter pad. One last deep breath. Then he said, “Energize”

-Lt Tyler Michael Wells, Science