"A Jewel of Many Colors"
Posted on 28 Jul 2025 @ 7:52pm by Lieutenant Commander Riah Amberlyn XMD
741 words; about a 4 minute read
// Observation Deck #17A, Starbase 369 //
LtCmdr Riah Amberlyn stood at the observation window aboard the Space Station, looking out at the most beautiful sight she'd seen in a long time: The USS Arawyn, docked obediently to the station. It has been out on a shakedown cruise and returned. Surely there were some things that would need adjustment or replacement or upgrading or any number of changes before her full official launch with her full crew.
Amberlyn was a part of that crew and proud she was of it. Chief Medical Officer. It had been her dream since joining Starfleet right out of Medical School. She had been young for a medical school graduate, in much thanks to her eidetic memory, which made studying and remembering so much easier.
At 28, in 2414, she had joined Starfleet, attended Academy for Departmental Management Training for 2 years, and subsequently the crew of the USS Clevenger. After 3 years on Clevenger, as Medical Officer and Sr Medical Officer, she was transferred to the USS Venture, where she was promoted to Lieutenant and served 3 years as Asst Medical Officer, and 3 as CMO, leaving that posting as LtCmdr. After those 10 years of school and 11 years in the Fleet, she stood at the beginning of her current dream job: to serve as the Chief Medical Officer on a brand new ship of the Fleet, a flagship no less.
"Personal Log. I stand here looking out at the USS Arawyn and my heart just about stops. She is a jewel of many colors. Hovering there next to this massive station, she looks tiny by comparison, but I know she is massive in her own right. The ports sparkle like the stars themselves. I feel small. I feel alone. I have only met two other people on the station so far who are slated to serve aboard Arawyn. An accountant for Administration, who's cross-trained as a Security Officer. Strange combination, but he looked more the part of Security than accounting. Taylor is his name, Ensign Taylor Martinelli. The other was a woman who is very passionate about Communications Systems Design, LT Marjeanne McNabb. She told me to call her Jeannie.
“I am most anxious to meet Captain Corbin. I’m aware of her by way of a fellow medical officer, who served with her on a far-flung posting near the Cantara Cluster Nebula. The officer spoke very highly of her and her talent for invention when resources were scarce. From the looks of Arawyn, scarcity will not be an issue, at least to begin with.
“In my orientation videos for the Infirmary, I was more than pleased at the array of equipment and supplies, particularly the diagnostic equipment. But then we will be traveling to new worlds and that usually means new microbes and pathogens. We’ll need that diagnostic stuff. I’ve meet Dr McDavid over the vid-comm. He is a well-trained physician with a specialty in immunology. I liked him right away. His red hair would indicate a temper, but he seemed very well-rounded and stable. Good to know I’ve got quality people backing me up in Sickbay …. Infirmary. I swear you could fit the entire sickbay from Clevenger into my office on Arawyn. That info based on images and schematics.
“Gods she’s beautiful. This may be one of the only chances I have to see her from the outside. Soon I’ll be walking those corridors and sitting in meeting rooms, and eating in the Officer’s Mess and I almost forgot my quarters. I was given a choice of three floor plans. Can’t believe a ship has various floor plans to begin with, but then she’s a small city. There’s a generous botanical arboretum and I chose my quarters based on that, overlooking the garden from the second floor. I will be looking out my window at plants. I wonder if there are birds, and I understand there are even critical pollinators released periodically. I don’t know if that’s true, but I figured I’d rather look at a garden than a star field when I get home after a long, hard shift. I wonder if the windows open. Probably not."
A chirp on her personal comm alerted her to the time and she took a deep breath, breathing in the beauty of Arawyn. “Time to head that way,” she said. “End Personal Log.”
LtCmdr Riah Amberlyn, MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Arawyn
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