Jessica Beadle, or Jessie as she prefered to be called, woke slowly as the lights in her quarters came up to daylight levels. She sat up and ran a hand through her hair, wincing and grumbling as she caught a snag from her rough bedhead. She'd been sleeping fitfully ever since getting the posting on the Prize. Not due to any sort of nervousness of course, this is what she'd dreamed of for years! But she'd been antsy and anxious while she waited for her term as the sips navigator to [i]officially[/i] start. While still in charted space, lower level crew members and Cake, the onboard AI, had been taking care of navigational duties. However, with today being the scheduled date for the ship to enter Kepler's Passage, Jessie was set to take over as the chief pilot for the ship. Thanks to her high marks at the academy (And no small part due to her... Enhancements), the young girl had been specially picked to help guide the ship through any tight spots they might face in uncharted space. Unfortunately, as she discovered after a brief glance at the duty roster on her communication pad, the plans had changed. Kepler's Passage would be another day, while the ship was being redirected to help with a pirate threat.

Jessie shuddered at the notion of pirates. Though it had directly led to her posting here, the pirate attack on her fathers cargo ship had been the scariest day of her life. She still had nightmares about it, all these years later. Thankfully, it appeared that because she wasn't yet [i]technically[/i] active duty, she had escaped the call to arms from the captain. She wondered what he was like. What the rest of the crew was like, for that matter. As she began to get ready for the day, Jessie surveyed her quarters. Practically every spare surface was covered in tools and bits of machinery. She'd spent a lot of time sequestered here, working on her projects rather than getting to know the crew. Hopefully that would change after today. Her duty assignment hadn't actually been postponed, so this would be her first day on duty, and her first experience on the bridge. She hoped to make a good first impression. 

After showering and making herself presentable, Jessie headed over to the tiny kitchenette in the corner of her quarters. She was lucky to be considered senior staff, most lower level crewmates had to bunk with each other and deal with the public kitchen and reconstitution areas of the ship. She scannned over the reconstituted cardboard boxes, printed with colorful designs and each holding a specially made recipe based on old Earth breakfast cereals. Though they'd been mostly phased out of modern life due to their lowish nutritional value and high sugar content, they were still available as cheap food sources on outskirt colony worlds, like the one Jessie had grown up on. Of course, with production being limited, Jessie had learned how to make her favorite cereals herself, with the help of matter reconstitutors and some basic ingredients. Picking one, she made herself a bowl and began to go over the navigation specifications of the Prize for what felt like the millionth time since receiving her posting.

An hour later, with her head buzzing with knowledge and itching to start work, Jessie slipped on her duty jacket and adjusted her rank pins. She slipped her comm pad into its holster and stepped out into the brightly lit corridors of the ISS Prize, walking purposefully towards the bridge. Though she felt like a badass, she quickly realized that she must look slightly ridiculous, with her short stature and tiny frame trying to push past people crowding the hallways. Grumbling to herself she took to slipping past people, taking advantage of small gaps to maneuver towards her destination.

Finally reaching the bridge, Lt. Jessica Beadle paused, straightening her uniform before waving the door open and stepping inside... Just to see the viewscreen filled with a tentacled pirate and a phase rifle trained on a young boy. For a second, her mind flashed back to the attack on her fathers ship, and Jessie cried out in surprise and panic. Captain Carabello barely reacted to the noise, merely continuing negotiations. Great. Good first impression, Beadle. Lowering her head, the pilot quickly made her way to the helm station, quietly dismissing the ensign sat there and slipping into her place, trying not to stare at the viewscreen as she imagined what was to come...