Santa Monica, California. 2249

The hot summer day was coming to an end. The neighbors were returning from their activities from the beach, some by themselves and others with their children. The chatter about boats and seashells filled Christopher Pike's ears, as he stepped outside onto the patio.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Christopher smiled, using one hand to block out the beating sun from his eyes.

"Andrea, what did we say about running?"

"We said not to do it, unless it was necessary!" the eight year old answered, as she moved quickly up the steps.

Christopher knelt down and Andrea threw her arms around him, "But this is very necessary, Daddy. I haven't seen you since Aunt Kitty's birthday!"

"Well, I guess it's alright then," he said with a smile.

Andrea brushed her damp hair away from her forehead, "So, what happened when you went away? Did you fight any bad space people? Did you go to Vulcan? Because Tommy from down the street said that you were going to Vulcan because Starfleet needed to find people to help with something big!"

Christopher was amazed at how much the little girl before him, knew so much about his job. Sure, the neighbors and her classmates knew about it. It was a daily topic in her everyday life. His life as well. Which was one of the many reasons why Andrea's mother ran off on them two years after Andrea was born.

"Well, I had to make sure all the cadets were ready to go up to the ships,"

"But did you go to Vulcan?"

Her father shook his head and laughed, "Not this time, honey."

Andrea smiled, "Good! We're supposed to go there together! I have so many things to ask them.." and she began to rattle off.

Christopher listened intently, watching the range of emotions that played about on his daughter's face. The excitement that filled her eyes when she talked about the Academy, and becoming a doctor.

"I'm going to be the best doctor and captain the Academy will ever see," she said, wrapping her arm around his neck.

"You sure will, baby. Now, I wanna show you something. Can you keep this a secret from all your friends at school?" he asked.

Andrea's eyes lit up as if it were Christmas, "Yes! I can keep a secret!"

Christopher smiled, "Alright. Because if word got out about this, I'll be in big trouble," he said, reaching into the pocket of his pants.

Andrea waited patiently and gasped at the small figurine in her father's hand.

"OH! Is this the new ship?" she asked, bouncing in place.

Christopher nodded, "This is going to be my ship.." he said, twirling the small piece of plastic around between his fingers.

Andrea held out her hand, and he placed it in her palm. He watched as she turned the toy around slowly, inspecting every bit of it.

"What will they call it?" she asked, finally looking up at him.

" She'll be named the USS Enterprise,"

"When she's done, can I see it? Can I go with you on your first mission?" she asked, as Christopher wrapped his arm around her.

"We'll see, Honey Bee. You might not find all of this interesting by then," he said.

But Andrea shook her head, "No daddy. This is what I wanna do. Since I was a baby! You're gonna be the best Captain in the whole entire universe, and I'll be your best doctor on board," she informed him.

He chuckled, "Oh kiddo, sometimes seem too old for your age," he said, picking her up.

"Aunt Kitty says I give you gray hairs,"

"Aunt Kitty is right,"

"When I become a doctor I'll find a way to fix it for you," she offered.

"Thank you, honey. But for now I want you to focus on being a kid. Now how about we find something for dinner? Afterwards, we can go get a snow cone,"

Andrea smiled, "Then we can look for my constellation?"

Christopher nodded, "Then we can look for your constellation," he said.

"I like it when your home, Daddy," she said, resting her head under his chin.

"Me too, honey bee. Me too," he answered, stepping into the house.