Um... That's My Chair!

Posted on Mon Sep 7th, 2026 @ 9:43am by Commander Zaiden Isaac & Lieutenant JG Evanora Drei

2,846 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: The Last Space Station on the Left
Location: Bridge
Timeline: MD 00

After getting settled into quarters, Eva allowed herself to be nosey and wander. Apparently she was the first department head aboard, so there weren't many people to meet aside from the skeleton crew and the command team. For a ship with few officers aboard, the CO and XO were surprisingly difficult to locate. Eva could have used the ship computer, but where was the fun in that?

Her wandering eventually placed Eva on the bridge. The turbolift door slid open and she stepped out, absorbing the layout and recognising that she was the only one here. "I don't think I've ever seen an empty bridge before," she murmured to herself. It didn't take long to find the science station, and she took a minute to visually scan the layout to get familiar with it. Then she just... wandered.

She was always curious what the bridge looked like from different stations. Eva stopped at the security station, being very careful to not touch anything but almost imagining if she were the Chief of Security. Next was the engineering station, which she actually felt comfortable at thanks to helping her father when she was younger. Ops was surpisingly less intimidating than Security, but there were far more buttons and things to watch than she realised.

Looking toward the front of the bridge, Eva's eyes hovered on the command seats for a few seconds before she shook her head. No, those are off limits. She instead went to the helm, looking over the controls before testing out those seats. Yeesh, they were too close to the viewscreen for her liking; she felt like she had to lean back. Standing again, she turned to face the back of the bridge, but her eyes wandered to those chairs, just waiting to be sat in. They were almost calling to her.

Eva pursed her lips together as she fought the losing battle against her own curiosity. Looking around to make sure she was alone, she inched closer to the chairs, namely the one right in the centre of the room. Looking at the chairs was fine, right? She stopped right in front of it, craning her neck to inspect the controls. The imp in her brain driving her curiosity whispered that it would be easier to see the controls if she sat in the chair. Looking around again, Eva confirmed she was alone before turning toward the front. Man, no wonder Captains stood. This spot was exhilarating. Confirming she was alone for a third time, Eva cautiously put her hands on the chair's armrests and slowly sank down until her butt met the cushion. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod, she thought, pressing her lips together tightly as if making a noise would alert someone to what she was doing.

Slowly, cautiously, Eva sat back into the chair, body tensed and ready to spring out at the first sound. The imp in her brain reminded her that she was just checking out the controls, so she glanced to her side to see that yes, the controls were easier to see from here. The chair was comfortable, but not so cozy that one could fall asleep in it. It provided a nice view of the helm, and turned a little to allow the occupant to see the stations behind the chair. Eva crossed one leg over the other and let her mind wander, imagining herself in command of a starship and issuing orders.

Zaiden had been touring some of the decks of the Equitas and enjoying the rare quietness that came with being a new ship waiting for its crew to come aboard. Albeit there were already a few eager people already on the ship and taking their time to get things ready He checked his watch for the time, an antique analogue automatic winding timepiece with a black leather strap and a black and silver face, that had been handed down from generation to generation on his fathers side before being given to him and eventually onto his son, and realised it was only a handful of days before everyone would be on board and preparing for the launch from the space dock.

There were a number of things he had been looking forward to that a command simulation couldn’t prepare him for, and one of them was being able to sit in the captain’s chair, in his chair, and give the first order to take them out into space for the first time. He could feel the anticipation starting to mount, and Zaiden realised this moment was what he’d been looking forward to for the longest time. This was his career defining moment: to be able to say his hard work had paid off and he'd made it.

He reflected on his visit with the Vulcan commander, T’Maas, and how a long conversation coupled with careful wording and a few admissions from himself had resulted in the Equitas gaining its Executive Officer. As Zaiden had admitted to T’Maas, it would be beneficial for both of them to have her years of experience by his side while he navigated the learning curve that was being in command. The pair had the beginnings of a great team.

“Commander,” the voice of a female yeoman caught Zaiden’s attention from somewhere behind him and was by his side within seconds and speaking again, “I thought it might be pertinent for you to know that the new Chief of Science, Lieutenant JG Evanora Drei, has arrived as of a few hours ago and is set to check in with you tomorrow at 0800.”

“Thank you,” Zaiden nodded his thanks to her and smiled. His first department head was on board and his carefully contained excitement began to grow. “I expect they’ll be either in their quarters or checking out their department about now, so I’ll give them a chance to get acquainted and settled before we have a meeting.” He watched as the Yeoman nodded her understanding and turned to dash off in the opposite direction down the corridor to complete her other tasks.

A quick trip upward and the turbolift took him to the Deck One: his Ready Room, the Observation Lounge and conference room. The Bridge. The moment he’d waited for and one that he would remember for years to come. A moment where no one else was around and he could enjoy it by himself.

Only that wasn’t to be the case.

As soon as the doors opened to the Bridge, Zaiden took a look around at how pristine and sleek everything looked… and how there was someone sitting in his seat. In his seat. They looked to be a female with just above shoulder length hair, and in a teal coloured uniform. I wonder, he thought to himself.

Zaiden took a deep breath and counted to five in his head before making his next move. He wasn’t going to go off at them, no, he’d just wait to see what their excuse was before doing anything. Clearing his throat loud enough to get their attention, Zaiden started to walk towards the center of the room with purpose.

“I believe you’re sitting in my chair.” He said, trying hard not to let his voice sound too annoyed with the person in front of him so he turned the sarcasm up a notch. "Unless I'm right to assume you're the captain? If so, then by all means, please continue sitting there."

The sudden presence made Eva launch out of the chair. Eyes wide, she stumbled over her own feet, then quickly turned around to see... oh god, a commander. For good measure, she took a couple steps back from the chair, which seemed to taunt her as the cushion took its sweet time poofing back up. She felt her face get warm as she tried to swallow the guilt lodged in her throat.

Wait. It was his seat?!? He was the captain?!?!?!

"S-sir!" Eva squeaked out, further embarrassed by the faint crack in her voice. It was always better to be honest, right? "I apologise... I was-I was exploring and-and curiosity got the better of me."

Zaiden cocked his head to the side and let a smirk creep up his face slowly before he chuckled and taking stock of the woman in front of him, noticing her partial Betazoid heritage. This must have been Lieutenant Drei. "You've stolen my moment and sat in my chair before me, so there's nothing I can do about that." He let the disappointment come through a bit, just to emphasize his point, "But I understand the lure of it, I've been chasing this for a number of years now. So don't apologize, I appreciate curiosity and honesty."

Stepping around the chair and still not sitting in it, Zaiden clasped his hands behind his back while facing the Lieutenant. "Now we've got surprises out of the way, welcome aboard, Lieutenant. I'm Commander Zaiden Isaac, your Commanding Officer." He decided he would adhere to whatever greeting customs she used instead of just offering his hand or getting her to perform a salute.

Oh god. Eva was the first one to sit in the chair. She took his moment. Her face turned a little redder in response. If the deck plating could swallow her whole, that would be great. "Lieutenant Evanora Drei, Chief of Science," she responded weakly.

Zaiden had to hold back the laugh at her embarrassment and smirked instead before looking down a moment then back up, "I had a feeling it was you, but I didn't think we'd be meeting until tomorrow at the earliest. I've got your transfer orders and personnel file sitting on my desk, so would you like to accompany me to my Ready Room and we can chat there?" It was still foreign to him to say things were his, but surely he'd get used to it, right?

There were multiple advantages to getting the meeting over with. The first was so Eva could deal with her embarrassment without interruption. The second was to explore the ship a bit more without interruption. "I think I have time in my schedule," Eva offered with a faint smile, in an attempt to divert attention away from the fact that the cushion was still poofing back into shape.

Zaiden quirked an eyebrow at the schedule comment and turned on his heel, hands still behind his back, and motioned for Evanora to follow before he walked off the Bridge. He was still mildly annoyed about what he would later refer to as "the chair incident", but ignored it in pursuit of duty.

Thankfully the Ready Room was also on the same deck so it was a short walk for them both. Stopping at the entrance, he entered the security clearance to open the door so they could conduct the rest of the meeting in private. Even though Zaiden had already checked out the office beforehand, Evanora didn't know that. "Do you want to be the first one to step into my Ready Room as well?" He chuckled as he kept the what would turn into a running joke going.

Despite her efforts to forget about her abilities, Eva sensed his annoyance and almost dreaded going to the ready room. So much so that she nearly embarrassed herself a second time before his words caught up to her. She stopped so fast that it was almost as if she hit an invisible barrier. "N-no, sir," she replied, making sure to stay very clear of the threshold. "It's your office, I wouldn’t want to... you know... make the same mistake twice..."

With the sudden stop of the Lieutenant before him, Zaiden almost crashed into her, causing him to step awkwardly. "Alright then, thank you for the consideration, Lieutenant." He laughed again after a moment as he opened the door and stepped inside ahead of her before making his way to the desk and choosing to sit behind it.

A quick glance at the room would show there was a framed photograph of him with his wife and children at one of his family's gatherings, a soft green stress toy next to it to help with his tremors, and a coffee mug on the opposite side of the desk. The walls around the room held bookshelves filled with various books and some easy to keep plants. A giant Starfleet logo was afixed to the wall behind the desk. The Engineering yellow framed black rug really tied it all in together.

"So, Lieutenant. Come take a seat." He offered with a motion towards the chair in front of him as he leaned back.

To be honest, Eva was expecting the standard --and in her opinion, bland-- set of decor that was typically provided for senior offices. To see the exact opposite briefly surprised Eva before it dawned on her that she had been pranked. He had clearly already been here, and he was poking fun at the chair incident. Yeah, ok, he got me there, she thought. Taking a seat, she recognised the plants he had chosen to decorate with and nodded to herself before her attention shifted to the number of books on the shelves. "How long did it take to build up your book collection?" She asked.

The grin on Zaiden’s face was full of glee as he watched her facial expressions go from cautious to shocked to surprised, and he followed her gaze to the bookshelves, "I've been building this collection for, I think, the last ten years?" He pointed to one shelf, "A few of these were given to me from various people, those ones are books for the kids if they come and visit, hence the brighter colours," and pointing to another, "and those are all Fleet issued training and Engineering manuals. Plus a few personal reads I like to have on hand for the quieter days really."

Squinting lightly, Eva visually skimmed the titles, recognising a few of the manuals in particular. "It's quite a collection. The Control Systems in Practice volumes were a doozy, though," she commented. Anticipating the possibility of confusion over why a scientist would care to have knowledge on systems engineering concepts, she gave Zaiden a faint smile. "My dad has a similar collection of manuals, and starships were not built to entertain teenagers."

"Indeed they are not," Zaiden admitted, his curiosity piqued by Eva mentioning about her father's collection. Was he an Engineer too? "But I'm thankful I still have a few more years before mine hit that stage and they still enjoy reading. Tell me though, what's brought about your curiosity for life?" He grabbed the stress toy and leaned back into his chair while he played with the toy and waited for a response.

Eva gave it a moment of thought, her eyes watching the stress toy in his hand for a couple seconds. "I suppose my dad played a big role. He would often let me see what he was working on. Then at the Academy, there was something about discovery that drew me toward the sciences. I guess I just... like answering questions."

"Do you have a particular area in science that appeals to you more than others, or is it more just like a general kind of appreciation for them?" Zaiden noted her eyes following the toy in his hand and it was eerily similar to how his son Finley would act too. "There are a lot of similarities between Engineering and Science, so I'm fascinated to see what can be achieved."

"Botany," Eva replied with a slight smile. "One could argue it's applied engineering. Botany in particular is fascinating to me because it's way more than just memorising classifications. I actually designed my own enclosed ecosystem and am working on assembling it."

"Wouldn't that be more bioengineering than applied engineering? " Zaiden questioned.

Eva's little smile widened. "It would be if I didn't design the physical enclosure as well."

"Should I actually be worried about you and what you're going to get up to if you're left unattended for a long period of time?" He huffed out a laugh in response.

Eva chuckled and shook her head. "I promise to give you a heads up before participating in any potentially chaotic activities, sir," she responded.

"That's all I ask, Lieutenant." Zaiden said before he looked at his watch to check the time: it was later than he had expected and he was now running late. "If you would excuse me, I've got a meeting to attend, but please keep me updated on your endeavours and experiments."

With that parting request, Zaiden gave the young lieutenant a nod before walking out the door and leaving her alone.


::OFF::

Commander Zaiden Isaac
Commanding Officer
USS Equitas

Lieutenant JG Evanora Drei
Chief Science Officer (former)
USS Equitas

 

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