Lt. T'Rokk Carter waited patiently in his temporary quarters. He was only spending 2 days on Deep Space Nine, and there wasn't much to do. He had heard good things, about it being the crossroads for a lot of travel. And that the bar, Quark's, was an exciting place. But he was too young to drink. He had entered Starfleet Academy at 15, and graduated early at 17. Some felt that he had been pushed through the academy because of his racial diversity. He was ΒΌ Klingon, and was in line to become only the 2nd Klingon to graduate from the academy. But that really had very little to do with the speed of his graduation. He had a very rich academic history, having attained 2 PhDs before entering the academy. One was in geology, and the other in warp field mechanics. He had also finished his pre-med degree. This combination of skills had allowed him to be fast-tracked through many of his courses.
Now, at barely 18, he was awaiting his first set of orders. He was continuing his education, and had decided to attend as many conferences as he could. There was a fascinating conference on interspecies behavioral health in the Alkalai system. He decided to attend. He was being met at DS9 by three travel companions. All he knew was that there were to be two Starfleet officers, and one cadet. Now, he just had to wait. He spent some time in one of holosuites in the bar. He watched from afar, as some of the patrons played a game called Dabo. He admired the body of the Dabo girl, Leeta. But he got the idea that just about everyone who stepped foot in that bar looked at Leeta the way he did. She had a tight body, with a plump ass, and very large breasts. She was gorgeous. He hadn't seen many Bajoran women. And the couple he had seen led him to believe that they were all very attractive. But he was too young to drink, and the allure of the bar quickly faded. He went back to his quarters, to sleep.
The next day, he finally received the transmission he had been waiting for. The shuttle he was boarding would arrive in just a few hours. His companions were running late, and eager to get back on track, so they wouldn't be departing. He was to be ready to board when they arrived. He gathered his things, and was ready to go. He was notified of the shuttle docking, so he quickly went to the airlock and boarded. As he got on, he was pleasantly surprised by some familiar faces.
The first to greet him was Nurse Alyssa Ogawa. When he was younger, Carter had spent a few years on the Enterprise, and Alyssa was always a friendly face. He had originally called her Nurse Ogawa, but she insisted he call her Alyssa. She met him in the airlock. She was genuinely very happy to see him. She greeted him with a hug, addressing him by his first name. At almost 2 meters tall, he towered over the petite nurse. She made a comment about how much he had grown and filled out, and Carter thought he sensed some flirtation in her voice. He told himself he was imagining things, and progressed into the shuttle.
The second person he met on the shuttle was another familiar face. Counselor Deanna Troi. Things had been awkward with her, aboard the Enterprise. He had always found her attractive, but was too young to act on it. As an empath, she could sense his pubescent lust toward her. It made her uncomfortable around Carter, and it showed. She was used to the thoughts of hormonal teenagers, but his were different. His Klingon blood boiled during puberty. His hormones and pheromones were almost unbearable. She was having lustful thoughts toward him, and he was only a teenager. So she had distanced herself from him. Now, here they were. Trapped in a shuttle together for days. She hoped he had matured, and had more control over his thoughts. She greeted him professionally, as Lieutenant Carter, and congratulated him on his commission.
T'Rokk put his bag into a stow away compartment, and entered the cockpit. The shuttle was being piloted by a cadet. An Orion female. She politely introduced herself as Cadet Zhalla Maraas. He shook her hand, and she smiled at him, calling him 'Sir'. As she was a 4th year cadet, she was 2 years older than him. It made him feel somewhat uncomfortable to have her call him that. He was about to correct her, but decided to leave it be. He had to get used to it, sooner or later. With a smile, he decided to sit in the co-pilot seat, next to her.
Carter caught up with Alyssa. She told him what had happened since he left the Enterprise for Earth. She asked about his foster family, the Rozhenkos. He needed a sponsor family to attend the academy, and Worf's parents were quick to volunteer. They were lovely people, and they had more experience around Klingons than almost anyone on Earth. He explained the process to her, with Troi and Zhalla listening on. They went on like this for hours, telling stories and laughing. She really was a lot of fun to be around.
They were at the edge of the Kalandra system when they heard it. A boom, followed by a massive decompression hiss. Sensors had failed to detect an old cloaked mine, from one of the many wars in the nearby Talarian region of space. The training kicked in, for all 4 passengers. They used force fields to contain the breach. They re-pressurized the cabin. And then they took assessment of the damage. Communications were shot. Warp drive was gone. They had thrusters and partial impulse, but no other propulsion. They weren't going to get very far. Navigation was still up, so they quickly scanned for a place to set down, and repair the shuttle. That's when they realized they had drifted into Talarian space. They found a moon nearby that was uninhabited, and headed that way. They discussed sending a distress call, but Carter advised against it. The Talarians would likely intercept it before the Federation received it. The only way to safely call for help would be to construct a subspace beacon. There were parts present, but it meant disassembling the shuttle.
It took hours of tense tactical and strategic discussion, but they finally arrived at their new temporary home. It wasn't a large moon, and was barely Class M, but they were able to locate a suitable landing spot. They set down next to a stream, with some minor vegetation nearby. The replicator still worked, and they had rations for days, so they didn't really fear starvation. They quickly set up camp. They armed themselves, and established a perimeter, in case there were large predators in the area. It was getting very dark, and they all agreed the repairs and beacon would have to wait until morning. Carter let the ladies have the bunk area, and he unrolled a sleeping back in the cockpit. He fell asleep thinking of the task at hand.
Carter awoke to the sun rising through the cockpit windows. He heard the women rustling around the bunk area, and politely knocked, before being invited in. They all sat and ate breakfast together. Carter explained that he felt replicating parts would be an inefficient use of resources, as the matter used in the replicator could be used for food, later. He would prefer to salvage parts from non-essential systems. As the highest ranking officer, it was ultimately Troi's decision, but she felt like the group as a whole should make most decisions that affected their survival. They agreed with him. He informed them that, sadly, one of the first things to go would be the sonic shower. They were all disappointed, but understood the necessity. The four of them quickly took turns, getting in one last shower. Then Carter began disassembly. Troi and Ogawa were working on general repairs, trying to fix hull breaches. Cadet Maraas was bouncing back and forth, handing tools to people, and adding another set of hands, when needed.