An Antares I class freighter lumbered slowly into the voluminous interior of the Canopus class starbase, guided by an experienced pilot from Archanis Station’s flight operations center. He thought nothing of the trip, this just one of a half dozen just like it that he’d conducted over the course of his shift, the only difference being that this one would be his last of the night.

Hangar operations personnel moved into position as the ship came to a halt and the umbilical clamped into place. According to the manifest, this freighter had originated from Acamar, and she was here on stopover before she’d continue her trip rimward. Owned by a civilian cargo corporation, she carried a mix of ore and other nonhazardous materials, along with a dozen passengers who’d booked passage for this leg of her journey. The Antares I didn’t offer the plush accommodations of commercial passenger liners, but it wasn’t unusual for it to ferry passengers. For some, the unusual legs it traversed provided convenience conventional lines didn’t offer, and for others, it was a cheap way to travel because operators typically charged low fares as they were making the trip anyway.

As the crew and passengers funneled off the ship, a Chief Petty Officer in yellow greeted them with a warm smile. “Welcome to Archanis Station. If you would please line up over here, we’ll get you all processed lickety split, and then you can get onto enjoying the shops and suites of our famed promenade!”

The chief and his team then went to work processing each of the new arrivals. Besides the freighter crew, there were three young men on a university sabbatical, a cute elderly couple off to explore the galaxy in their final years, a missionary from some far off world, and a random assortment of folks who seemed more down on their luck than anything else.

The last person off the shuttle was an elderly man. With a balding head and skin like aged leather, he squinted under the station’s bright lights as he approached. It had been a long time since he’d been somewhere so bright, so clean, and so Starfleet. Wordlessly and without looking up, he handed his identification to the boarding officer.

“Fred Kingsley,” the chief read off his PADD as he looked the man over. “What brings you to Archanis Station?” By his tattered clothes and the way he carried himself, the chief already had a sense for the answer that would follow.

“Just passing through,” the old man replied wearily, looking up at the boarding officer with tired eyes.

“Passing through on the way to where?” the chief asked, not out of suspicion, but just because it was part of the regular checklist.

“If only I knew,” the old man shrugged. “Wherever the galaxy takes me next, I guess? Once I get the credits to afford passage, of course.”

Ah, just another drifter, the chief thought to himself, and he noted it down as such. There were many like him out here, the sort who wandered from outpost to outpost, doing odd jobs to make ends meet. It was sad, but it was what it was. Out here on the frontier, life wasn’t as easy as it was in the core of the Federation. 

“Well, I wish you all the best with your time here,” the chief offered with a gentle smile as he handed the man’s identification back. “Enjoy your stay.”

And so off he went, the boarding officer none the wiser to who he really was or why he was really here.