Chapter 1: Her Father Sure Knew How to Pick 'em
Felicity anxiously stood by the window of her hotel suite. More often than not, Felicity's eyes shifted between the window and the digital clock posted to the wall. In big fat red numerals, the clock read 2300 hours for military brats. But, for civilians, it read as eleven o'clock at night. And, despite the time, the entrance of the hotel still lacked the presence of the one person Felicity wished to see. And, that person in particular was Felicity's father, Christopher Pike.
"Dad, where are you?" Felicity whispered as she stared out the window.
She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, the room was surprisingly cold. The cold temperature of the room reminded her of all the times she waited for her father as a little girl. Being the daughter of someone who spent so much time off planet was not easy for Felicity growing up. Christopher Pike would be gone for months on end. Practically, missing the most essential moments of her life. But, at least, she was able to communicate with him through video calls and email. He hoped to compensate for all the time he missed by maintaining constant communications with her.
Christopher knew just as well that he would be missing the most essential moments of her life. He knew he would be missing important events like the loss of her first tooth, pivotal birth days, father-daughter dances or her first day of classes for the school year. He always made an effort to check on her no matter how far away he was in the galaxy. He would always check to see if she was doing well in school. He would always check to see if she had healthy relationships with her classmates. But, most importantly, he was always staying up to date on whether she had a boyfriend or not. Even though, he was thousands of light years away, he was always a concerned and protective father. He always made his daughter his first priority no matter the challenges both of them faced such as the passing of his late wife, Flora May Pike. It was many years ago in which tragedy struck the Pike family when Felicity's mother, Flora, had passed away. Flora's passing meant that Christopher Pike would be left alone to raise a ten year old girl all on his own. Life would be anything but easy for the both of them from then on out.
Now as Felicity stood in her hotel suite waiting for her father, she could not help but feel like a little girl again. It was a feeling she did not like.
"I'll be back home before ten," he said, but of course, it was past ten.
Tomorrow was an important day for both of them. Starfleet would be receiving a whole new batch of cadets. She could almost see it now, the San Francisco Bay Bridge, the morning shuttles landing on the grass green lawn of Starfleet Academy. Only seconds later, the shuttles would be emptying out a sea of red uniforms on the same grass green. She would be seeing a lot of cadets and hopefully she would see her father too.
Thirty minutes had passed making it even more difficult for Felicity to stay awake. She now sat on the windowsill struggling to keep her eyes open. Eventually, the hotel door slid open causing Felicity to be alert and stand on her two feet.
She called out hoping it was her father, "Dad?"
"Felicity? What are you doing up?"
Felicity rolled her eyes. It was definitely her father. As he entered the room, he switched on the light of the suite's living room.
Felicity exited her bedroom rubbing her eyes to adjust to the light. She blinked several times taking in the image of her father wearing his black Starfleet uniform. She noticed that it contrasted with her red pajamas. She definitely felt like a little girl again.
Growing up, many people said she was the spitting image of her mother. Felicity's wavy brown locks and honey brown eyes gave no doubt to the fact that Felicity was Flora April Pike's daughter. But, in contrast, no one could deny that Felicity held her father's chin, nose and icy stare. Especially, as it was the same icy stare she was doing a perfect impression of right now.
"What do you mean what am I doing up? I was waiting for you! What took you so long?" She demanded to know. Felicity then began to pace back and forth in the center of the room. Typically, when Felicity was upset she'd pace back and forth. Her body was capable of working in sync with her emotions. "Don't you realize we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow? Weren't you the one who said we had to be at the shuttles at oh- eight-hundred? We're not going to get our full 8 hours now! The least you can do is message me letting me know what you're up to. Seriously, I- "
Before she could continue to berate her father further, Christopher placed his hands on his daughter's shoulders stopping her from moving about the room. She wasn't facing him initially so he had to spin her around to face him.
He managed to look her straight in the eye. He was in the process of granting one of his famous looks of apology. His wrinkles took their familiar place on his forehead. It was a look he mastered by being a father for nineteen years.
"Felicity May Pike," replying first with her full name was the way he always managed to apologize to his daughter. "I'm sorry for arriving late. I didn't think you would be awake waiting for me. Forgive me?"
Felicity still held on to her father's cold stare. A good ten seconds had passed with Felicity contemplating whether she should immediately forgive him. She stood with her arms crossed glaring at him. No matter how much her father was capable of upsetting her. It was almost too easy for her to forgive him. "Fine," she said through practically closed lips.
"That's my girl," he replied with a half-smile. Christopher then released her from his hold and made his way to the sofa residing in the suite's living room. He began to remove his boots.
"So," Felicity started, she now stood adjacent to where her father sat on the sofa. "What kept you?"
"I had to break up a bar fight," he answered.
"Oh," Felicity replied, she tucked a stray hair behind her ear before inquiring further, "Please don't tell me it had anything to do with cadets."
Her father gave a slight frown, "Unfortunately, it had everything to do with cadets."
Felicity groaned and shook her head in disapproval. Stupid cadets, one night in a rural Iowan town and all hell breaks loose. Why can't cadets keep it together for one night? And, since they can't keep it together, why do they have to drag a Starfleet captain into it? "Who did the fight involve? How many cadets?" Felicity probed.
"Four cadets versus one civilian."
"That's not fair," Felicity said. She could only imagine how that fight ended. The civilian probably had no choice but to bleed out all over the floor. It must have taken someone with guts to take on four guys at once…or just someone really stupid.
"Yeah, but that civilian did a number on them."
Well, that's interesting, Felicity thought. Maybe that civilian wasn't so stupid after all. "Did you get physically involved?" Felicity continued her line of questioning. "Or did you use your-animal whistle?"
Christopher narrowed his eyes at his daughter, "'Animal' whistle?"
"Yeah, you know…" Felicity proceeded to allow the thumb and middle finger of her dominant hand to touch underneath the tip of her tongue. She then pushed back her tongue, closing her lips tightly around her fingers and finally blowing as hard as she could. A loud whistle sound erupted from Felicity's lips. She had years to master her father's technique. It wasn't too difficult for Felicity to do considering how he used this technique to call attention to himself in the most distracting and conflicting situations.
"Hey! Keep it down!" cried a hotel guest from the other side of the wall.
"Sorry!" Felicity called out. She then looked back at her father with a look of embarrassment, "That whistling sound."
Christopher chuckled at his daughter before continuing to speak, "Felicity if you really need to know I didn't get physically involved." He then moved to remove his datapad from his satchel.
"Then it must have been the whistle," she determined, causing Christopher to roll his eyes at her.
Felicity smiled. She had to admit she was glad to have her father back safe and sound, but she was still perplexed as to why he took so long getting home. His whistle technique was way too effective to not halt disturbances. So, nothing should have kept him longer than necessary. She noticed that her father was absorbed in his datapad. Absorption in his datapad meant that someone or something caught his attention, especially when that someone or something was a potential Starfleet recruit. She walked behind the sofa to peek over her father's shoulder.
On the datapad, she was able to see a mugshot of a man who had every intention of smiling promiscuously for the camera. He had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He was a pretty boy and he definitely knew it. In her school girl days, Felicity probably would have had her heart set on someone like him. But, she would have never acted on her feelings. She was too smart and focused on her studies to let boys distract her. And, yet, her intelligence could not deny the fact that she found herself drawn to the boy's blue gaze. Strangely, she felt that there was something hidden beneath his playful expression. He was hiding something. His expression was a farce. It was an act. Felicity sensed it. It was an expression that she shared.
"Felicity," her father's voice interrupted her thoughts, "I don't appreciate you reading over my shoulder," said her father giving her a disapproving expression.
"Sorry," she said leaning back away from her father. She hoped she hadn't been staring at the mugshot too long. The last thing she needed was for her father to think she was developing a crush on someone. However, she could not deny that she was curious about the boy in photo.
"I have to know, Dad," she spoke up. "What got you so interested in this…"she continued to read to find the boy's name, "this 'James-Tiberius- Kirk'?"
Her father's focus turned back to the photo, "I caught him drooling on the floor in the midst of that bar fight."
Felicity scoffed, "I'm guessing he was the civilian." A moment passed before Felicity realized what kind of person her father was recruiting. "Wait-you want a troublemaker to be a part of Starfleet?"
"Felicity," her father started. "You'd be surprised at how much he can do. Believe it or not, the kid is a genius…despite his repeat offenses."
"'Repeat offenses?!' Felicity said dumbfounded by what her father was saying. It seemed like her father was digging at the bottom of a barrel for cadets. She needed to talk some sense into him. "Dad, you should know better than anyone that a "genius slash misfit" is the worst type of cadet."
Her father laughed, "Maybe you're right. But, he has got potential. I just know it. He is hardheaded, a joker and he is no stranger to making mistakes. But, he needs someone to push him to be better."
I'm assuming that person is you, Felicity wanted to say, but kept it to herself. She didn't like the idea of her father having someone else to focus all his energy on and put all his faith into. She didn't want him to be disappointed again, especially after the last cadet he mentored. Christopher Pike was too good of a person, he was the one who deserved better. There was so much she wanted to say to him about how wrong he was being, but knew that when her father made up his mind there was certainly no going back.
"Is Kirk going to be at the shuttle tomorrow?" she asked.
Her father was silent in response as if he was unsure of Kirk's future actions. "We'll see," he finally said.
Felicity recalled the words her father used to praise the boy. She tried to connect his words to the picture of the boy in front of her in an attempt to see if the word "genius" blended with the physical image. "Don't judge a book by its cover," she remembered that phrase from her schooldays. Looks were certainly misleading in this situation just like in any other. And, somehow, she found herself getting lost in the boy's azure gaze again.
Suddenly, the screen of her father's datapad went dark. "Well, it is time to turn in, honey," her father said. He got up on his two feet and placed his datapad back in his satchel, "We've got a big day ahead of us."
She placed her hands on her hips, "I feel like I should be telling you that."
He laughed at his daughter, "Good night, Felicity. Try to get some sleep." He then kissed the top of her forehead and exited to his bedroom.
While her father was making himself comfortable for bed, Felicity remained in the living room eyeing her father's satchel. On the one hand, Felicity needed to go to bed. But, on the other hand, like her father, she was curious about this boy named "James Tiberius Kirk." Multiple questions popped into her mind. Who was this boy? Why was he such a troublemaker? But, most importantly, why was it that she saw such a familiar look in his eyes?
She reached for her father's satchel pulling out his datapad. She quickly made her way to her bedroom closing the door behind her. Felicity sat comfortably underneath her sheets. The glow of the datapad shined brightly in the darkness of the bedroom. Immediately, she was greeted with the familiar face of James T. Kirk she had only just seen moments before and scrolled through his file.
From his mugshot, it was obvious the boy was a troublemaker. She didn't necessarily need the information on his repeat offenses which began when he was eleven years old. As it turns out, the offense that began it all was when he stole his step father's corvette, running it off the side of a cliff and into a quarry. According to his records, he was practically a drifter, he was in between jobs from being an Iowan farm boy, a hustler, and a regular in the local county jail. He was no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. Even so, her father was right, the boy was a genius. His aptitude scores were off the charts. The boy had talent, no one could deny that. But, how could he let himself fall so far?
Felicity thought to herself for a moment, the name "Kirk" began to nag at her. Why does it sound so familiar? She flipped through the files of Christopher's datapad in an attempt to refresh her memory. After a while, Felicity finally recalled her father's dissertation on the destruction of the ship known as the U.S.S. Kelvin. She pulled up her father's essay and scrolled through the pages reminding herself of the story regarding the Kelvin's destruction and the origin of the name "Kirk".
It was the year 2233 when the U.S.S. Kelvin met it's destruction after being attacked by an unidentified vessel captained by rogue Romulans in the midst of a lightning storm. Upon leaving the Kelvin to negotiate a ceasefire with the vessel, Captain Robau , the captain of the U.S.S. Kelvin, left his first officer George Kirk in command. It wasn't long before all hell broke loose as Captain Robau's vital signs went dead and a full on battle took place between the Kelvin and the rogue ship. In consequence, the Kelvin was crippled. The battle wounded the Kelvin so badly that it forced newly promoted first officer, George Kirk, to make the order to abandon ship. George Kirk was the captain of a Starfleet vessel for twelve minutes and he saved over eight hundred lives. However, George Kirk was unable to save his own life. He had no choice. The ship's autopilot was damaged meaning that George Kirk had to stay behind to manually captain the ship while his crew escaped. Most importantly, George Kirk was able to save his wife, Winona Kirk, and their newborn son, James Tiberius Kirk. George Kirk was a hero. And, that fact was undeniable.
Finally, Felicity was able to decipher the look that was hidden beneath James Tiberius Kirk's eyes. It was the look of sadness and loss. It was the look she and her father had when her mother died. Felicity could not even imagine what it must be like living without a father. And, she certainly couldn't imagine what it felt like to live knowing that your own father died on the day you were born. Felicity had a hard enough time as a young girl living without her father being home so many nights after the loss of her mother. Just moments ago, Felicity was worried about her father not making it back to the hotel room. She was scarred too by an absent parent just like Kirk. No wonder he was getting into bar fights and getting into trouble with the law. Not having a father, made all the difference. She looked back at the photo of the young man. Strangely, she began to feel that the boy in the photo was staring right at her. She turned off the datapad and returned it back to her father's satchel. She settled back in her bed once more. Felicity wondered whether she would be seeing James Tiberius Kirk tomorrow.
"Dad, you sure know how to pick 'em," she thought before shutting her eyelids for a much needed slumber.