Star Trek: Starfleet Cadets 1x05

Episode 1x05 – Emotions in Motion

Matt looked down upon the magnificent sight of Earth from orbit in deep thought. But even the beautiful oceans below and the flurry of small ships coming up from the surface couldn’t remove the thoughts that had plagued him for the whole summer. Had he given up the opportunity of a lifetime? When he had made the decision to pass up the prestigious assignments he had been offered by Admiral Andrews, it all seemed so simple, but as the time passed, doubt began to creep in.

His friends had always meant a lot to him, but sooner or later, he knew their paths would have to separate. As Starfleet Officers, they’d go where duty would call, so why had he given up the chance to spend a year on one of the many famous ships he had been offered, just to delay the inevitable?

He felt a small tremor and turned to the other side of the docking bay where a transport ship had arrived. A fairly large crowd had gathered there to greet the third year cadets returning from their summer break. Normally, he’d have joined in, talked to his classmates for what may be the last time in a long while, but he really wasn’t in the mood. He glanced from left to right, looking for any trace of Alex’s short-cut hair in the crowd, but just as he was about to turn back to the porthole, he noticed somebody was looking at him. It was a beautiful girl with shoulder-length coal black hair and the prettiest look Matt had ever seen. She had very sharp features, grayish eyes and was wearing dark lipstick. Her brow furrowed and she turned around quickly, realizing he had noticed she was looking.

He didn’t know why, but something inside Matt forced him into action. He rushed to the edge of the crowd and started pushing through. He could see her black hair moving away from him through the crowd.

‘Get out of the way,’ he thought in frustration. He had always hated people that clogged up corridors or would stand and talk right in the middle of a doorway, but this was too much. Just as he emerged on the other side, he saw her disappear behind a door.

He stared at the door, wondering whether he should follow when someone nudged him in the side.

***************************************************************

Alex paced behind the airlock nervously. What was she going to say to him? She didn’t have time to write to him the whole summer. Would he be really angry?

‘Come on!’ she thought as the docking procedures prolonged.

Finally the airlock opened and revealed a crowd of about a hundred people waiting outside. Some exclaimed as they reunited with their friends, others groaned in disappointment, but nobody seemed to be moving out of the way. Alex sighed and started pushing her way through.

Suddenly, she caught sight of Matthew. He seemed to be pushing through the crowd from the other side and her face lit up and stomach gave a flip. He was just a few meters away now, looking at her with a very strange look. He looked almost desperate.

Just a couple more bodies… and… she was about to shout ‘hiya’ and throw her arms around his neck when he passed right by her.

She stared into the crowd in confusion as he made his way to the edge. Disappointed, she followed, feeling foolish for thinking he’d make such an effort just to see her.

When she finally emerged from the crowed she noticed he was looking at some door leading to the Mess Hall.

‘Yeah, it’s nice to see you too,’ she said in a hurt tone, but he didn’t even turn around.

‘Hello? Earth to Matthew, anyone there?’ Was this some kind of joke?

She opened her mouth to speak again, but then just poked a finger in his side.

‘Wh… uh… Heeey, Alex!’ he finally turned and realized she was there.

He immediately transformed, the strange look left his face and he gave Alex a large hug.

‘Sorry, didn’t see you there,’ he said in his usual optimistic way as if that explained everything.

***************************************************************

‘It was nothing,’ Matt said for the fifth time as Alex pestered him. They were walking to the temporary quarters they were assigned. ‘Want a tour of the station?’ he asked, trying to change the subject.

‘I’ve been here before,’ she said dismissively.

‘C’mon, I’m sorry. There was this…’

‘Girl,’ she finished for him in a very cold tone. ‘What else?’

‘And what’s wrong with that?’ he asked confusedly. He felt a bit ashamed that he hadn’t noticed her getting off the freighter, he went there to see her after all, but what was with the third degree?

‘Oh nothing,’ she said and started fidgeting with the strap on her bag. ‘Forget it.’

He eyed her intently, wondering what was going on. Did something happen?

‘Everything alright during the summer?’ he asked, suddenly very protective. ‘You didn’t say anything over subspace.’

***************************************************************

Alex sighed. Would he never notice? ‘No, nothing happened.’

‘C’mon tell me,’ he persisted. ‘If there’s something wrong, I want to know. You won’t get any replicated candy from me for a week if you don’t tell me.’ He pouted his lips and put an arm around her.

Alex felt herself blush slightly and the memory of that weird incident in the docking bay was erased. Things like this made her like him so much. He could be so protective of his friends. Sometimes she though he’d worry more about them than his own problems. Suddenly, she remembered what had troubled her all summer. Was that what he was doing? Giving up his career for his friends?

‘Alright, no candy for you,’ he said in a mock-angry voice and removed his arm around her shoulder. ‘Bad, bad girl.’

She frowned slightly, missing the contact. It was obvious he was trying to cheer her up, but did he have to do it this way?

‘C’mon, that’s blackmail,’ she protested.

‘I’m a very evil person,’ he said with a smirk.

‘Alright, alright, I’ll tell you…’

***************************************************************

Starfleet academy, the largest non-commercial complex on Earth and only the second man-made object that can be seen from orbit, is considered by many to be the greatest achievement of mankind. It produces countless talents each year to join the best of the best in the United Federation of Planets: Starfleet.

With the recent threats of the Borg and Dominion, and the weakened state of the Federation, that need for excellence has become ever more dire. It will be up to the next generation to protect Earth, to protect the paradise that humanity has had over five millennia to perfect.

***************************************************************

‘I didn’t know your grandmother was sick,’ Matt said in a comforting tone, Alex’s head in his lap, and stroking her hair in their quarters.

‘And she was getting better too…’ Alex said quietly. ‘I’m sorry, I just overreacted, and I’ve been kinda soft lately.’ She felt really bad for lying to him.

‘It’s alright,’ Matthew said softly. ‘I shouldn’t have missed you back there.’

The guilt was overwhelming Alex. She wasn’t being fair. It felt so good to have him comfort her, but it wasn’t right. She was being selfish. Should she tell him the truth? This was all too much. Tears welled up in her eyes and she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

‘Alex?’ Matthew asked worriedly. ‘Don’t cry sweetie. I’m sure it will be alright.’

But the comforting words only made it harder for her.

‘I…’ she got up quickly. ‘I have to go,’ and she rushed to the door. It opened automatically and she ran out, almost colliding with a tall figure that was standing outside, just about to ring.

‘What happened?’ Steve asked, looking over his shoulder as Alex disappeared behind the corner of the corridor.

***************************************************************

‘I’ve never seen her so upset,’ Matthew was pacing the room, not sure what he was supposed to do.

‘You say her grandmother is really sick?’ Steve said in his usual calm tone. Hadn’t he seen Alex’s grandmother on subspace only last week? She only had one, so it had to be her.

‘I completely overlooked her on the docking bay too,’ he said worried. ‘There was this girl that…’ Matthew continued to speak but Steven didn’t need to hear any more. He had suspected that Alex felt more than just friendship for Matt for a long time.

‘I think I should speak with her,’ he said, an idea coming to mind.

‘Why you?’ Matthew asked.

‘He really is clueless,’ Steven thought, but felt there was more to this than just hidden feelings.

‘You’ve had your go, now it’s my turn,’ he said and put a hand on Matt’s shoulder. ‘I know that it’s more likely that Admiral Janeway will command another Intrepid class vessel into the badlands than hope you’ll stop worrying about your friend, but try it now.’

‘And open your eyes,’ he said to himself. ‘You’ll do us all a favor.’

***************************************************************

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ Alex said defiantly when Steven had finished his speech. ‘My grandmother…’

‘This isn’t about your grandmother Alex and you and I both know it.’

‘I…’ she began.

‘I know,’ Steve said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. ‘You don’t have to tell me.’

‘No you don’t,’ Alex said with a sob.

‘You love him.’

Alex turned to look at him, her eyes red with tears.

‘I know it must be hard…’ he continued, but she interrupted him.

‘I’ve… I’ve been in…’ she sighed and started again. ‘Those feelings have been there from ever since we got landed in the same dorm. I can handle it.’

‘Can you?’ Steven said doubtfully. ‘You know what he’s like: a flock of girls around him the whole time. How long do you think you can handle him coming back each week from a date with a different girl… that isn’t you?

‘I’ve seen him with plenty of girls. He doesn’t love them…’ she said defensively. ‘But that’s not the point,’ she realized Steve still thought this was only about her feelings.

‘And what is?’

‘I can’t tell you,’ she said, her voice very weak. ‘But it’s making me lie to him. And that’s what I can’t handle.’

‘I thought that was because of your…’

‘That too… But this is different. It’s one thing hiding your feelings and hoping that he will some day feel the same, but another to fear what will happen if he ever found out about the other thing.’

Steven frowned, wondering what could be so serious that Alex couldn’t even tell her best friend about.

‘Come on, lets go back,’ he pulled her up and put an arm around her.

‘You won’t tell…’ she began, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

‘Of course not,’ Steven smiled. ‘That’s between you two.’

‘Thanks Steve,’ she said sincerely.

‘That’s what friends are for.’

***************************************************************

When Alex and Steve arrived at the quarters they were met by another familiar face. Ryan was standing outside, talking to Matthew.

‘Look who I found lurking around,’ Matthew said triumphantly.

‘Hi guys,’ Ryan said timidly.

While Steve greeted Ryan, Matthew looked towards Alex and their eyes met.

‘You ok?’ he mouthed. Alex smiled and nodded.

‘So, when’s your starship arriving?’ Alex asked Ryan. ‘And did I mention I was very jealous?’ The trio was back to its usual joking self and a lot of the tension seemed to leave them all.

‘Well…’ Ryan began and looked at Matthew pleadingly.

‘Let me explain,’ Matthew said with a wink.

‘Explain what?’ Steve pitched in.

‘Ryan here and about forty others will be joining us on the freighter.’

‘What?’ Alex looked shocked. ‘I can’t believe you’d give up such a great assignment!’ Without wanting, she looked at Matthew again and their eyes met. She couldn’t make anything out of what she’d seen and quickly turned back to Ryan, hoping he didn’t realize she knew he’d done exactly that.

‘Wait a moment,’ Steve said, his analytical side coming out. ‘I thought only seven of us were assigned to Captain Harris’ freighter. I’m sure I’d have noticed if the list got quadrupled.’

‘Sorry to disappoint you, Steve, but Ryan and the others aren’t on the list. They’re not part of the crew…’

‘Now I’m confused,’ Alex said looking from Matt to Ryan and back. ‘C’mon, spill it.’

‘You know the first two week long trip?’ Matthew explained.

‘That didn’t have any cargo?’ Steven asked.

‘Yup, that one.’

‘Aaah,’ Alex said triumphantly. ‘We’re carrying the other cadets.’

‘Nice to see I’m not spending an entire year with a pair of trolls,’ Matthew smiled. ‘We’re taking Ryan and the two other third years that made the Chicago and a whole bunch of first years for some kind of trip.’

‘That’s not fair,’ Alex pouted her lips. ‘We never got a trip when we joined the Academy.’

‘I wouldn’t be too jealous,’ Matthew smiled. ‘I suspect they’re going to be going through the works... Steve?’ he asked his friend who was looking slightly absent.

‘Oh,’ Alex smirked. With all of his previous talk about feelings, she couldn’t help notice Steve was just as unsure about them when they were his own.

‘What am I missing?’ Now Matt was the one who was confused.

‘Wasn’t Kajsa top of the class?’ Alex said in a matter-of-factly tone.

‘She was,’ surprisingly, it was Ryan who had spoken. ‘But I heard she asked for reassignment.’

‘Oh, sorry,’ Alex said, now feeling foolish.

‘She told me she wanted to be with her brother,’ Ryan said apologetically.

‘What?’ Matt, Steven and Alex said in unison.

‘Wh… what did I say?’ Ryan said shyly.

‘Niklas is the Ops cadet assigned to our freighter,’ Steve said in disbelief. He suddenly looked overjoyed.

‘That’s great,’ Alex said, back to enjoying teasing Steve now that she knew she couldn’t really hurt him with this kind of news hanging in the air.

‘Looks like the entire gang is gonna be there,’ Matthew said, joining in the good mood.’

***************************************************************

After they had all caught up on their summer experiences, the group decided to go out and try to look for the rest of the third year cadets that they’d be spending the next year with. Ryan met the two other cadets from the Chicago in the Mess Hall and only after Matthew threatened to throw him out of the airlock, did he actually go over and say hello to the two girls.

They could see him shaking as he made his way across the hall. One of them, a very tall Vulcan, immediately stood up in greeting, which probably wasn’t the best move. She quite literally towered over Ryan’s barely five feet, not helping the shy engineer’s disposition in any way.

He looked back to Matt and the others, who motioned with their hands and struggled not to laugh.

‘H… Hi,’ he said meekly.

‘Hello Mr. Moore,’ she said politely.

Ryan’s eyes widened. Was she expecting him to know her name? How stupid of him, there were only two other Cadets on his list and he didn’t even looked over their names.

The other girl giggled and Ryan reacted by surveying his feet.

‘I’m sorry, I…’ he began.

‘T’Vral,’ the Vulcan said kindly. ‘And this is Moreena,’ who nodded in acknowledgement. ‘She is a Betazoid.’ There was the tiniest hint of annoyance in her voice that nobody noticed.

Ryan’s eyes widened.

‘I… I have to go…’ he was restraining himself from running away from the room.

‘Understandable,’ T’Vral said, looking at the empath. ‘Please stop doing that.’

‘Sorry,’ Moreena said innocently. ‘I didn’t mean to.’

***************************************************************

After they had reassured Ryan that he wasn’t the most pathetic creature in the universe, they decided to visit the Johanssons. They only had a few hours before the freighter would arrive and it made much more sense to go and see the cadets they already knew than try to make new friends in such a short time.

Matthew and Alex talked to Niklas, who they didn’t know as well as his sister, while Steve and Kajsa sat in a very uncomfortable silence. It seemed that the two were just as shocked to find out they’d be on the same ship as the trio had been.

Matthew found out that Niklas was a holosuite ice-hockey fan and that provided lots of interesting conversation.

‘So they really play this sport on the ice?’ he said, his interest peaked. ‘And it was invented on Earth? I’d have thought a cold planet like Andoria or Breen, but Canada?’

‘Yeah, the game isn’t played as much these days, but there still is an inter-planetary league that includes Earth and Andoria.’

‘You’re from what used to be Scandinavia right?’ Alex asked, not that interested in the sport itself.

‘Yeah, Sweden,’ he smiled and got up, removing a picture of his home town from a drawer.

‘Beautiful,’ Alex looked over the town that looked so much unlike the technologically advanced cities she had been used to.

‘We’re from a small town, never figured we’d some day be in Starfleet. Scared us to death at first, to tell you the truth’ he gave a nervous laugh. ‘Still kind of does,’ he looked at his sister subconsciously.

She was sitting opposite of Steven who had finally broken the silence on the other side of the room.

‘Why did you give up the Chicago?’ he asked, both surprised but also curious.

The freckled redhead shrugged and didn’t answer.

‘Something wrong?’ he asked.

‘Don’t worry Steve,’ Niklas said from the other side of the room. ‘She just hasn’t forgiven you for passing out when you were finally alone together,’ he laughed.

‘Hey, that’s not true,’ Kajsa protested stubbornly. ‘And you were there as well, you know.’

‘So? I was tied up, remember?’

‘But you were looking,’ she frowned but then froze as the other looked at her.

Matthew and Alex exchanged looks. ‘I think it’s time for us to go,’ they nodded to Niklas. ‘Those two have a lot to talk about.’

Niklas laughed again, ‘Yeah, they do.’

‘Do I get any say in this?’ Steven asked.

‘No,’ Kajsa said and before everyone had even left the room, kissed him on the cheek.

‘Thanks for what you did for me back then,’ she smiled.

***************************************************************

Nobody was too surprised when Steven and Kajsa joined them in the docking bay a few hours later, hands linked with big smiles on their faces.

‘Finally,’ Niklas said with a smirk. ‘You can’t imagine how long I’ve waited to be rid of all that Steven-worship.’

‘Hey,’ Kajsa pouted.

‘And when were you going to tell me about that?’ Steven smiled at her.

‘Never,’ she smiled back.

‘Well…’ Matthew began.

‘Don’t you dare!’ Steven turned to him and everybody laughed.

‘It’s safe to say that it wasn’t one sided,’ Matthew said with a smirk.

‘It’s here!’ Alex said suddenly and everybody turned. The freighter was approaching the station on thrusters.

‘Whoa,’ Steven said in awe.

It was a non-Starfleet design, probably from one of the border planets that had been integrated into the fleet when the planet joined the Federation. It had a triangular shape with a pointed front, the two warp nacelles attached to the bottom. What impressed Matt and the others most was the fact that the nacelles were red. This suggested that the ship probably came from Klingon or Lyran areas of space, where this technology had evolved. The hull of the ship was also quite different from the usual Starfleet vessel. It was a brownish yellow with no distinct deck separation, just a geometric, smooth design.

They watched the ship pass through the massive bay doors and into the station, then moved to the other side of the bay to wait for it to dock from the inside. This station design had been around for over a hundred years and had become very popular, since it served as both a means of hiding the number of ships in the sector and allowed for extensive repairs in a safer environment. Especially since the Dominion Wars and the trouble with the Romulans, Starfleet had to resort to more elusive tactics, such as hiding the true state of their fleet. Few would attack a Stafleet outpost if it could house a pair of Galaxy Class starships, but in fact, the constant state of conflict had stretched the fleet quite thin. Although it was planned that some of the smaller combat refitted ships would return to their usual specialization of exploration or research, circumstances simply didn’t allow for it since every hand was needed to protect the struggling largest power in the Alpha Quadrant.

They felt a slight tremor as the ship docked and a group of about a dozen middle-aged men came through the hatch.

***************************************************************

‘So, what did you think?’ Matthew asked as he Alex and Steve started gathering the few things they had unpacked during their short stay at the station.

‘About the crew?’ Steven asked, carefully placing his weights in the backpack. ‘Seemed alright.’

‘Yeah, I thought so too,’ Matt agreed. ‘Considering they’ve spent most of their long lives stuck on a freighter.’ He put emphasis on the word ‘long’, seeing as the entire crew seemed to be over forty and some a lot more than that.

‘I’d have thought you’d be disappointed,’ Alex said with a strange gleeful look on her face.

‘Why’s that Alex?’

‘No girls,’ she said and there was a slight hint of satisfaction in her voice that mirrored the look she was giving him.

‘There are plenty of girls from the academy going along. D’you see that Vulcan with Ryan?’ I wonder if there’s something going on…’

‘Is that all you can think about?’ Alex crossed her arms and her joyful look turned into a glare.

‘Hey, you brought it up, remember?’ Matt said defensively. ‘What’s with you lately?’

‘Have you seen my boxing gloves?’ Steven asked quickly, steering the conversation away from dangerous waters, while giving Alex a meaningful look.

‘I think you left them in the sonic shower when you were getting changed,’ Alex mouthed a thank-you for letting her know she was being too obvious.

When Steven returned with his boxing gloves, Alex and Matt were already climbing onto their bunks, but Matthew stopped as though in deep thought.

‘You realize this is probably the last night we’re going to sleep together,’ Alex let out a muffled cough and Matt continued, ‘without the constant hum of a warp engine?’

‘And here I was thinking you were about to say something meaningful,’ Steven laughed.

‘Funny, coming from you,’ Matthew joked.

Alex joined in the laughter. ‘I don’t even know why you’re telling it to Steven, he’d sleep through planetary bombardment.’

‘Ok, when you’re done laughing at my expense,’ Steven tucked the gloves away and climbed onto his bunk, ‘I’m going to call it an night.’

***************************************************************

The next morning, they each took a sonic shower, gathered their bags and with a final goodbye to Earth, the Academy and Starbase 001, made way to the docking bay.

Ryan was already waiting for them just outside the bay’s doors and greeted them in his usual rather shy manner.

‘Um, hi guys,’ he muttered.

‘You could have gone in without us you know,’ Matt teased, but put an arm around the shoulder of the short engineer.

‘Yeah… right,’ Ryan muttered again.

They walked through the door and noticed that the two girls who would be accompanying Ryan on the Chicago were standing right outside the docking port leading to the freighter. One of them, the Betazoid that had teased Ryan excessively during their ‘getting to know each other’ party of the previous night, was waving at him with a smirk on her face.

‘Oh,’ Matt smiled, realizing why Ryan hadn’t gone inside. ‘You do know that you’re going to have to get used to them you know?’

‘I know,’ Ryan resigned. ‘But do I have to do it right now?’

Matt and the others laughed.

‘Hello girls,’ Matt said as they neared the two girls. ‘You the first to arrive?’

‘Three have already entered,’ the Vulcan T’Vral answered, while her friend looked them each over intently.

‘So, are we going in or not?’ Alex said impatiently as the girl’s gaze lingered on her.

‘We haven’t even introduced ourselves,’ Matt pointed out.

‘I’m Moreena,’ the Betazoid girl responded quickly, holding her arm out to Matt. ‘Will you show me around?’ she said innocently and locked eyes with Alex.

‘Matt has to report to the bridge,’ Alex stood right between them and glared at the red-haired girl.

‘Sorry,’ Matt shrugged and, stretching an arm around Alex, shook her hand, completely oblivious to the outburst of jealousy.

‘Let’s go,’ Alex said to Matt and the others, still glaring at the redhead.

‘See you around,’ Moreena called after Matt as they disappeared inside the porthole.

‘You have done it again. How many times have I told you already?’ T’Vral said in an the emotionless and calm tone only Vulcans were capable of.

‘About a hundred times?’ Moreena rolled her eyes.

‘Sixty-Two.’

‘You have no sense of humor at all…’

‘Do you find disrupting human mating rituals entertaining?

‘So what if I do? Besides, what did I do that was so bad?’

‘Humans value their privacy. Their feelings,’ T’Vral said simply.

‘And what would you know about that? You’re a Vulcan. You HAVE no feelings…’

***************************************************************

‘I don’t like her,’ Alex said irritably, as they made their way to the bridge.

‘She was just trying to be friendly,’ Matthew pointed out, not sure what was bothering Alex so much.

Alex opened her mouth to retort but stopped herself, realizing that Moreena was just trying to provoke her… and that it worked. Suddenly, she felt foolish for being so easily manipulated into showing her feelings for Matthew. Besides, the girl would be leaving with Ryan in a few weeks anyways. A fact she suddenly found very pleasing.

The interior of the ship was just as unusual as its exterior. It certainly wasn’t of Starfleet design. The entire vessel, both exterior and interior, was strongly influenced by triangular motifs. Not only the consoles and portholes, but also the corridors were triangular, which made it quite hard to walk in any other way than single-file. On the other hand, the warm browns and oranges would be a nice change to the hospital-like interiors of Starfleet facilities.

The freighter only had three decks. The main deck on which most of the crew quarters, recreation areas and cargo bays were, an upper deck with the bridge and transporter room and a lower deck comprising of main engineering and antimatter storage. Both the lower and upper decks were accessed through hatches on the main deck.

When they reached the access hatch to the lower deck, they wished Ryan good luck and when he had disappeared in engineering, continued in the direction of the bridge.

As they were passing the medical bay, something told Matthew to look inside. When he turned his head, he stopped abruptly.

‘Hey!’ Steven had bumped into him from behind.

Inside the med-bay, a black-haired girl was looking right at Matthew.

‘What is it?’ Steven said, looking over his shoulder.

‘Just a familiar face,’ Matt said dismissively, but there was a definite spring in his step for the rest of the way to the bridge

***************************************************************

‘I thought I made it clear I didn’t want any of you kids down here!’ the elderly chief engineer shouted at Ryan, who was still a few ladder steps above ground and unsure whether he should continue or hurry back up. He looked around at the man who could have been in his seventies or even eighties and the fear on his face must have had an effect because he grudgingly motioned for Ryan to come down. However, as soon as Ryan had touched ground, the man started shouting again.

‘Just stay where I can see you and don’t go touching anything!’

Ryan opened his mouth, but no words came out.

‘This is my engine, I’ve worked on it ever since I was little and no matter what the captain says about the benefit of having young Starfleet cadets on board, I want none of that in engineering,’ he sounded like he was talking to himself rather than Ryan, who was extremely relived when T’Vral climbed down the ladder above.

When the old man saw that another student had invaded on his territory, he began shouting again, but it turned out that T’Vral wasn’t just a great engineer that came third in their class after Kajsa and Ryan, but also well versed in diplomacy. After a few minutes, the old man that had introduced himself as ‘Nonyabuzniz’ (Ryan didn’t find it necessary to point it out to T’Vral, that Nonyabuzniz wasn’t a name) had reluctantly agreed to let them stay and watch him work.

***************************************************************

Matt climbed up the ladder and looked around the bridge. It was empty all but for the captain, who turned to look at him with a broad smile on his face. Very much like the rest of the ship, the bridge too was influenced greatly by triangular designs. Matt couldn’t make out any distinct station, but there was a large triangular console with its tip pointing towards the back of the bridge like a large ‘V’ with three seats on both sides and the captain’s seat in the middle.

‘Welcome,’ the captain said, beaming, as Steven and Alex emerged from the deck below. He got up and, ignoring their salutes, walked towards them with his hand outstretched.

The three cadets were slightly startled by the friendly greeting and continued to stand in attention, but the man who seemed to be around his early fifties simply waved them away.

‘At ease,’ he said finally, when they still didn’t respond. ‘Can’t remember the last time I’ve said that,’ he joked. ‘This isn’t a military ship. Regulations and standard procedure aren’t what make a baby like this fly.’

The cadets relaxed, but still watched him intently, determined to give a good first impression.

‘I take it you know the flight plan?’ he asked in his friendly voice.

‘Yes, sir,’ Matt said quickly, still unable to adjust to the uncharacteristically relaxed atmosphere on the bridge.

‘Then you know that before delivering our precious palladium cargo to the oxygen-deprived world of Antexx, we first have to drop off our other guests from the Academy.’ They all nodded in unison. ‘You will be responsible for the first year cadets while they are here. This will mean, mostly, making sure they stay out of engineering. Besides that, they are free to roam the ship. My chief engineer doesn’t like visitors… of any kind.’

The three cadets looked at each other, realizing that Ryan was probably not having the best of times.

‘So, back to our flight plan,’ he smiled, realizing he had strayed from the topic. ‘Traveling at Warp 6, we will rendezvous with the USS Chicago at Station 024 fourteen light years away in...’ he deliberately stretched out the last word, allowing them time to think.’

‘Thirteen days and about five hours,’ Alex said, living up to her reputation of a good Conn Officer.

‘Very good. Thirteen days, four hours and forty-eight minutes exactly,’ he smiled. ‘Which will give us a few hours to spare before our two-week ETA.’

‘Once we drop off the three cadets assigned to the Chicago, we will continue another three light years to Epsilon Indi, where the rest of our passengers will get off.’

‘From then on, it will only be you, me, my crew and a 156 LY ride at maximum warp to Antexx. The whole trip should take about four months there and another four back, giving you plenty of time to gain first-hand experience in the field and still return on schedule for your final year at the academy.’

‘As for your duties, you will observe my bridge officers at work and assist them when asked. You may ask questions whenever you like as long as it doesn’t disrupt the smooth running of this vessel. My crew has been hauling cargo for almost twenty years and believe me when I tell you: they’ll appreciate the distraction.’

Matt smiled, wondering if asking a question now would somehow disrupt the running of a stationary freighter.

‘What is it, son?’ the captain asked.

‘Just wondering why you didn’t come to the party yesterday,’ even when he said it, he already felt silly.

‘I never leave my ship, son. I’d even sleep on the bridge if my night-shift crew didn’t complain about my snoring.’

The three cadets, now fully at ease, laughed and the captain joined in. Before the laughter had died down the hatch opened and Kajsa, Niklas and another cadet Matthew only vaguely remembered from one of his ‘command’ classes climbed in.

‘Looks like everyone is here,’ the captain beamed at the newcomers.

‘I thought there were seven of us assigned to this ship,’ Matt said confusedly.

‘Right you are Mr. Meyers, but I believe our intern from Starfleet Medical will undoubtedly find what our doctor has to say much more interesting.’

After discussing several topics such as the use of palladium as a means of storage of tremendous volumes of oxygen, or why it was impossible to replicate larger amounts of such complex metals due to the strain on the bulk material from which objects are replicated, they were joined by the rest of the bridge crew of the freighter.

‘Most of you have met during yesterday’s party, but I always felt that it’s a good idea to have a good old stand-up introduction. For this, I apologize to my crew. I’m sure the cadets are used to this from some of their classes.’

‘Who’s going to go first?’ he looked around hopefully, only to see a group of very confused faces. Some seemed to be wondering whether he was serious, others clearly thinking the captain must have finally gone mad.

‘I guess I’ll start,’ he continued unabashed. ‘I’m Captain Terry Mayweather. My family has been hauling cargo as far back as the Warp 2 days and I was born on a freighter very similar to this one on a flight between Lyra III and Earth.’
When the captain had finished talking, the rest of the bridge still had no idea what to think of the somewhat childish and silly scene.

‘So, who wants to go next?’ he asked enthusiastically.

‘I guess…’ Matt began but the unfamiliar cadet interrupted him.

‘My name is Jaroslav Svoboda, Stafleet Cadet third class…’ he droned on in a formal tone that may have been appropriate when reporting to a senior Starfleet officer, but seemed slightly humorous considering what it had followed..

‘I like this guy already,’ Matt said to Steve sarcastically.

***************************************************************

‘Now that we are all properly introduced, I think it’s time to get under way.

The six officers immediately responded and took their seats on either side of the captain’s seat. It was clear that behind the slightly eccentric exterior, he had a lot of respect amongst the crew, who had served with him for longer than the cadets were old.

When the captain didn’t sit down, some of them turned to see what was going on, but he was looking at Matthew instead.

‘Mr. Meyers, have you ever piloted a ship out of spacedock?’

For a moment, Matt wasn’t sure if this was another of the captain’s jokes.

‘Never, sir,’ he said calmly, trying not to sound too enthusiastic.

‘Well then, take her out, Mr. Meyers,’ he moved aside and Matt heard a distinctive snort from Jaroslav, which brought a whole new level of enjoyment into the moment.

‘Aye sir,’ Matt said and sat down in the captain’s seat.

‘For everything there is a first time, Cadet,’ he said and Matt heard another snort, ‘Don’t you agree Mr. Svoboda?’




Please vote for your favourite character:

ID: 1202391   (Rated: E) Favourite Starfleet Cadets Character  If you've read my series, which character is you favourite? by Filip Janik

Next Episode:

ID: 1202004   (Rated: 13+) Star Trek: Starfleet Cadets 1x06  Attacked by an unknown alien vessel. by Filip Janik