Captain James T. Kirk always made a point to greet all new joining crewmembers, and to bid all leavers farewell in person. This was partly because he believed that this helped to engender loyalty to the ship and to encourage crew cohesiveness. But also, perhaps mostly, it was because he genuinely enjoyed doing so. Kirk loved people. He was good with people. He cared about people. And his crew especially. So, he always made a point of personally greeting newcomers, whether they were a Starfleet admiral, an administrator, or someone below decks in general maintenance.
Lately - "Lately?" Kirk thought to himself. "For the past three years at least. Where did the time go?" - Spock had begun accompanying him during these introductory meet and greets. Kirk appreciated that more than Spock probably realised.
Three and half years into their five-year mission they were still picking up new staff every now and then. This latest batch of recruits were a mishmash of veterans and youngsters, from a broad spread of departments and specialisations, ages, and species. They were picking them up from a large and somewhat remote starbase, and Kirk had given the rest of the crew the opportunity to take a brief shore leave whilst the new additions were beamed up and briefed.
A small greeting party had been arranged for the new joiners. Kirk and Spock were in attendance for the more formal greetings portion. After that, everyone would be encouraged to eat, drink, and mingle with each other and some of the skeleton crew who remained on board. For now, the new recruits were lined up and waiting to introduce themselves to the Captain and the First Officer of Starfleet's Flagship.
Kirk always greeted everyone individually. Asked their name, their position, sometimes other questions, too. He treated them like people. He felt that he owed them at least that. But it was unusual behaviour for a starfleet Captain, and it was not always appreciated. Some people, too many people in Kirk's opinion, treated rank like dogma. Usually the lower ranks even more than the higher. A superior officer being congenial sometimes bristled more egos than the sadly commonplace supercilious ones.
The first in the line-up also appeared to be the youngest, looking not much older than 17 or 18. Strikingly ginger hair, freckled skin, and a scrawny frame were the first things most people noticed when they looked at her. Kirk noticed her eyes. Though an unremarkable greenish-greyish-hazel, not too dissimilar to his own, they were lit up like stars. Her gaze darted restlessly around the room, devouring her new environment with an enthusiasm which reminded Kirk of his younger self.
Unlike the other new crewmembers, her demeanour was neither nervous nor cocky, disinterested nor suspicious. She'd stood to attention as professionally as her compatriots, but she sparkled with enthusiasm and energy. Kirk walked up to her and extended his hand, which she enveloped within both of hers in a gesture which had more in common with a hug than a handshake. Her expression was sincere and open. She maintained eye contact with Kirk near continuously, breaking only occasionally to smile beatifically at Commander Spock.
Kirk extricated his hand delicately from her overly enthusiastic grip, and asked the girl her name.
"I'm Anneriis, sir," she replied. "Or Anne for short. Anneriis Shirley. I've been placed in Security. I would like to transfer across to the Science branch, or maybe Communications, eventually. I'm not really much of a scientist, or at least, I haven't been trained, but the Science branch is so fascinating, don't you think? Communications is inside, talking out, and although I am ever so good at talking, I think I would rather be out there finding things to talk about. The scientists, they are the ones who go out, who document, who discover… I am sure that the science branches must always uncover such deliciously intriguing stories. At least the in the stories I have read it is always the science personnel in the thick of new discoveries and grand adventures. And archivists and librarians and xeno-sociologists and archaeologists and historians and all manner of not so scientific sciences fall under the science umbrella, so I am sure I could find a place to fit in, somewhere. And I'm ever so interested in outreach projects, and they are usually led by science personnel... I've read that Starfleet is trying to improve its outreach programme, is that true? Encouraging active recruits to moonlight as teachers and writers and public speakers in order to re-inspire all peoples within the Federation back onto the wonders of space exploration... Isn't "moonlight" a wonderful phrase? And so deliciously apt in this context. I would so dearly love to write and to teach. To share the adventures and experiences and lessons found through exploratory space travel…"
She sighed, somewhat melodramatically, but apparently sincerely, as her gaze began to soften and grow distant, her smile whimsical and delicate. Kirk was about to utter some slightly awkward perfunctory platitudes and move on, when she snapped back out of her reverie with a jolt and a look of wide-eyed concern.
"Oh, but obviously I'm pleased to serve in any capacity, even if it is Security. Security is very respectable, I have nothing against it. I just don't know if it's where I can be my most useful. I will still be useful though. And I suppose Security get to join landing parties occassionally, although I doubt you'd let a cadet join you, but if you just let me have the tiniest glimmer of hope that one day you might let me join a landing party then I just know I can endure just about anything. Hope is a wonderful thing, you know, it can sustain you through all manner of adversity. Oh! Not that being in Security will be any kind of adversity. And I don't mean that I won't be an asset in Security, because I will, I always work very hard. And I'll work extra hard to make up for any shortcomings that I might have in Security instead of something else. I know I'm quite small but I have been told I can be rather intimidating when I am riled up, I think that is probably a good thing for a Security cadet, right? And I am excellent at standing still for a long time. When there are so many wonderful things to dream about it's easy to get lost in your own mind almost indefinitely. So as you can see I won't cause you to regret your decision to allow me to serve with -"
She stopped mid sentence, breath catching in her throat, frozen like a wild targ in headlights. When she spoke again, her voice was cooler, more subdued. Restrained, even. At least for the first few sentences, anyway.
"Sorry, sir. Sirs. I've been told I talk far too much when I am excited. And when I'm curious. And nervous. And… all of the time, actually. I do try to be quiet, but when your mind is so full of things to say, it's quite impossible, at least most of the time. It is a burden I have been forced to bear most painfully since childhood... Have you ever been so desperate to express a thousand things all at once, only to be told that children should be seen and not heard? The immediate and cumulative wounds it causes are almost too agonising to speak of out loud. I know that my soul is ever more tarnished each time I'm told to be quiet… But I will try to hold my tongue."
She paused, chewing on her lip. Kirk blinked, and closed his open mouth. Spock raised an eyebrow, ever so slightly. Then her eyes lit up once more, with a clearly irrepressible joie de vivre. She spoke like a waterfall, relentless and tripping; a force of nature not to be reckoned with.
"I am just so excited to be here. And to meet you, Captain. And you, Commander Spock! The Captain Kirk and Commander Spock! I've read so much about you, both of you! Your ship, your adventures, your feats of heroism... like that time when you - but, of course, you know. You lived them. I never dreamed that I could possibly end up here, with you! Or rahter, I have dreamed about it, of course, but it was one of those dreams one only allows onesefl to dream secretly, and without any real belief that they will ever come true. But now I am here, I truly am here! I keep pinching myself, I'm so afraid that any minute now I will wake up and be back in the ward school. But this is real! And now I can live some adventures of my own, or at least live in the shadow of yours. This is such an remarkable opportunity, I am eternally grateful. I know I was only put on board because the Federation ward school didn't want me anymore, and the Enterprise was around and willing to take on new crew, but regardless of why I'm here, I plan to make the most of it. I won't let you down. Captain. Commander."
She nodded for emphasis, quite sincerely.
In spite of this deeply unconventional, borderline unprofessional conduct ("or, perhaps," he thought, "because of it"), Kirk had to use a great deal of self-restraint to maintain a professional facade and to avoid smiling with too much affectionate amusement. Her earnestness was quite endearing. The corners of his mouth twitched.
"Well, that's... quite the introduction, Cadet Shirley."
Kirk glanced at Spock, amused, keen to catch his friend's reaction to the girl. Spock's expression, though carefully neutral and stoic to most, spoke volumes to Jim. He'd long since learned to read Spock's micro-expressions like a book. Now, whilst amusement and slightly bemused annoyance threaded as undercurrents, intense curiosity was clearly at the forefront of his friend's mind. Kirk knew why. He'd read her file. And could see her ears.
"I'm Romulan," she said, suddenly, as if she had read his thoughts. "Spock needs to school me on my poker face, if it's so obv-" Kirk began to internally chastise himself, before his thoughts were steamrolled once more by the garrulous red-head in front of him.
"Well, half, anyway, so they tell me. But personally I think I'm more human than Romulan, if personality is anything to go by. Although, I haven't met many Romulans personally. Or any Romulans, actually. But from what I've heard they don't sound very like me at all. I suppose genetics can't solely account for personality though. Unlike…"
With an air of resignation she gestured to her pointed ears and upswept eyebrows, her hand wave simultaneously dramatic and delicate.
"I'm completely loyal to the Federation though, if that's what you are worried about. I was actually brought up in a Federation-run institution, so I'm really not Romulan at all, apart from the biological bits... I do hope this won't be a problem. I know some people can get a bit..."
Her eyes unconsciously, anxiously, flickered across to some of the older recruits in the line-up, grizzled veterans of the Fleet, before falling to stare at her feet.
"I don't want to cause any problems. I... " Head still down, Anne glanced up at the Captain, anxiously, imploringly, "I don't want to be sent away."
Something in her tone told Kirk a great deal more than her worryingly vague official file ever could. In spite of himself his heart swelled with pity, and with an almost overwhelming urge to protect this girl - and "girl" she was, for in truth she was still little more than a child, though in her short life she had probably been through more trauma than most fifty year olds.
Kirk unconsciously stepped forward, and when he spoke, he did so with a quiet intensity. But not quite quiet enough to prevent the rest of the line up from hearing his words. Quite deliberately.
"Cadet, if anyone so much as implies that your heritage prevents them from working with you in a professional manner, you send them directly to me, or to First Officer Spock, you understand? You have enlisted and been accepted into the Starfleet off-world and on-duty apprenticeship programme. We have accepted your request to board our ship, and as such expect that you behave as, and are treated the same as, every other member of this crew. Andorian, Denebian, Vulcan, Human, Romulan, regardless of where you are from, or where your family is from, once you join my ship you become a crewmember along with everybody else. I expect, I demand, that everyone on this ship treats you as such."
Turning and casting a steely look down the standing line of the Enterprise's newest recruits, Kirk continued, this time explicitly addressing everyone in the room.
"Anyone who has a problem with Cadet Shirley's presence aboard this vessel has, by extension, a problem with Federation protocol, Starfleet command authority, and with me. I would recommend that anyone here who anticipates having such a problem, speak up now, or put professionalism ahead of petty bigotry and behave like the elite Starfleet personnel I have been assured that you all are capable of being."
Kirk commanded a great deal more authority than might be expected of a short, blonde, baby-faced man in his mid-thirties with his hands on his hips, Captain or otherwise. The reaction from the new recruits was mixed. Some stared at their new Captain with open-mouthed admiration. Others took a sudden interest in their shoes. Two met Kirk's eyes with barely masked challenge. He'd have to keep an eye on them.
Glancing over to Spock, Kirk was relieved to find a look of warm and appreciative approval on the face of his second in command. He allowed his posture to relax ever so slightly, and breathed out slowly, allowing the tension in the air to dissipate, at least a little, anyway.
A glowing, admiration-filled smile now lit up the face of this unusual Anne. However, her eyes still betrayed, just barely, the ingrained trepidation no doubt instilled in her by years of hard-taught and sorely-learnt lessons in people's capacity to lash out at what they don't understand. Pausing only to dart a quick, reassuring smile at the girl, Kirk moved on to greet the rest of the new recruits.
Once the rest of the formalities were over and done with, the new recruits were dismissed to enjoy the small welcoming party put on by the rest of the crew. Before making an unobtrusive exit with his First Officer, Kirk cast a look back over his new group. Not a bad collection, on the whole. A couple of seasoned veterans returning to starship duty after serving a few years on a border-zone space station, a handful of lieutenants transferred from the Wanderer, a promising young medical student assigned to continue fieldwork training under Dr M'Benga... Kirk wondered, as he always did when fresh blood joined the ranks, how they would all fit in. How he could keep morale up, keep everyone positive and happy. Keep everyone safe. As safe as he could.
And then there was Anne. She constituted an entirely new problem. That in itself was a novelty to Kirk. After three and half years as a Starfleet Captain, and yet more still than he wanted to count serving Starfleet in lesser command positions, he thought he'd encountered every crew-related difficulty that existed. And now he had a half-Romulan cadet on board.
He hated referring to her, to anyone, by their species and much less as "half" anything, even in his own mind. But he did so in order to keep himself harshly aware of the way certain crewmembers aboard would inevitably view this bright, albeit unusual, young cadet. It was all too easy to forget that not everyone thought and felt the way that he did, so naturally seeing people and personalities instead of appearance, race, heritage, or species. And as confidently as he had claimed that any would-be bigots and dogmatists would soon find themselves in direct opposition to Federation top brass itself, he had learned by now that reality rarely reflected his idealistic aspirations.
Kirk was concerned for Anne. He would have to keep an eye on her. She'd had a hard enough life as it was, and he was determined that, as far as it was in his power, her time on his ship would represent a break from that past.
According to her perplexingly scant file, she had been sent to the Enterprise from a Federation Ward school; places where all orphaned or otherwise abandoned children coming from too personally, politically, or socially volatile backgrounds to be adopted or fostered were sent. The quality of such institutions varied wildly, but in a boondocks region of space like this, Kirk couldn't imagine Cadet Shirley's school had been at the higher tier end. Or even the mid-tier. Reading between the lines, Kirk believed that she had been assigned to his ship more for political reasons than because of her aptitude or skill. She was clearly intelligent, but whether she was suited for a life in Starfleet remained to be seen, and she certainly lacked the training.
But, of course, political necessity superseded all. When she was first found as a small child - the details of which, like so much about her life, were not included in her file - it was within Federation territory. According to the region's governor, the Romulans wouldn't recognise her as one of their own, and neither would anyone else. Kirk knew that even as a small child she would have represented a huge problem. Too Terran for the Romulans and too Romulan for the Federation, she would have been seen as the responsibility of neither and a cause of concern for both. Her very existence had the potential to undermine military, political, and propagandic interests on both sides. None of this was outlined in her file, however. Her documentation listed her as a half-Romulan orphan, under Federation care in this backwater region, until now, when her school signed her care and education over to Starfleet and the Enterprise. Exactly how and why this had happened Kirk was still unsure.
But, in any case, here she was, on the Enterprise, ostensibly as part of the experimental "Off-World and On-Duty" apprenticeship scheme for promising Starfleet applicants who, for whatever reason, were deemed unsuitable for traditional academy training. Whether the official reason married up to the actual reason for her presence on this specific starship… Well, who knew. Kirk certainly didn't. He'd find out, one way or another.
But for now, at least, everyone all seemed to be getting along well enough, Cadet Shirley included, to set his mind at temporary ease. Everyone was engaged in conversation, some boisterous and showboating, others intimate and intense, but all apparently as friendly and sincere as small talk at such events can ever be.
Sensing the opportunity to exit unnoticed, Kirk caught Spock's eye, and his friend nodded in response to his silent suggestion to leave. Glancing briefly back across the room, Kirk unexpectedly met the intense and curious gaze of Cadet Shirley. She stared intently at Spock and the Captain for a few moments, before raising her hand in the Vulcan salute. Her serious expression quirked into a lopsided grin, and she bowed her head in their direction, before turning to the small group behind her.
"Fascinating…" Kirk heard Spock mutter under his breath. Turning a quizzical look and a teasingly raised eyebrow at his friend, Kirk received a withering expression tinged with badly concealed amusement in reply. Kirk laughed, and briefly resting his hand on Spock's shoulder, the First and Second in command disappeared into the labyrinthine corridors of the USS Enterprise.