The night sky was a beautiful canvas of color, blues and greens, accented with millions of stars blinking high in the heavens and all three moons showing their full, pale faces. Catori had been to many planets, but Saei was the most beautiful. It was her home, where her and her father, despite his travels, had managed to build a life. But, in the morning, she would be leaving it and she wasn't sure when she would be coming back.
Tomorrow, Catori would officially become a student of Starfleet Academy, training to, hopefully, become a Head Officer of a starship one day. Her father supported her decision, he was good like that, and she was excited, but her nerves had kept her from falling asleep. So instead, she stood out on the balcony, taking in the beautiful scene, committing it to memory until her eyes grew too heavy and the air too cold. Retreating to her room, she slid into her tall bed, staring at the ceiling until, at some point, her eyes slid shut, her mind retreating into the darkness of her dreams.
As if on instinct, Catori awoke at five a.m. exactly. Sitting up, she stretched out her stiff muscles and yawned, attempting, and failing, to recall any fragments of a dream. After yawning once more, she proceeded to get dressed in the uniform that Starfleet had sent her upon her acceptance to the school. It was a green, symbolizing her studies as a Head Officer, long sleeved and rather short. Stepping into it and zipping up the back, Catori felt the dress was almost too short to be practical, but she supposed it was something she would get used to. She then stepped into her plain, flat, knee-high boots and zipped them up on the sides. She left her wavy black hair down, but braided a small crown around and down her head, as not to appear too plain. She wasn't quite sure how to appropriately present herself, but she didn't want to stick out more than she knew she already would. Examining herself in the mirror, she smiled, her nerves boiling away to excitement. Her eyes were a pale violet color today, the only giveaway that she wasn't human. She'd been mentally preparing herself for questions about her dead race that she knew would come up at some point, once her origin was found out. It wasn't as if she were the very last Shade left in the universe, but they were few and far between - she had never met another, that she could remember anyways, and documentation of her culture was scarce, repetitive and not very enlightening. The Shades seemed like very hush hush people and, from what she could gather, not fond of outsiders (hence the scarce documentation).
Deciding she had dwelled enough on her own reflection, Catori left the confinement of her room, catching a whiff of something that made her stomach growl and followed it to the kitchen, where she was met with a large stack of pancakes. Her father, a renowned man of intellect, sat at their small table holding an old-fashioned book with yellowing pages up to his nose. His white hair was a mess atop his head and the lines in his face were thinned in concentration, until he caught sight of his daughter, "well, well, well, there's my little cadet!"
"Morning, Father," Catori replied, sitting down across from him, plucking the syrup off the table and drenching the pancakes.
"Get much sleep?"
Swallowing a mouthful of food, Catori wiped the syrup off her chin and nodded, "slept fine."
"My, such a messy one you are," her father laughed.
"Sorry," she replied after washing her bite down with a gulp of ice cold milk, "I just love pancakes." They were her favorite, in fact. "Where did you even get them?" she asked, shoving another bite into her mouth. Pancakes seemed to be an almost exclusive human cuisine, generally found only on Earth and Earth Colonies - you couldn't find it on Alien planets and Saei was pretty alienated.
"I've been saving a box for a special occasion," he smiled.
"They're delicious. Do you think they'll have them at Starfleet?"
"Oh, I think you'll have pancakes coming out your ears once you get to Earth," Catori beamed at the thought of all the new things that awaited her. She'd been to Earth before, she'd been to many places, but she hardly got to stay in one place long enough to explore it. "I have something else for you, too."
Catori swallowed her last bite and downed the last drop of milk, "what is it?"
He reached into his pocket then and pulled out a small, wrapped box with a green bow before taking her hand, "Catori, my dear, I want you to know that I have loved you since the moment you came into my life. It was never easy, I know, but you have grown up to be such a beautiful and smart and strong young woman. I think, that if my Maggie hadn't passed away, she would have loved you with all her heart and would be just as proud of you as I am."
He placed the box in her hand and she stared at it for a moment before opening it cautiously, biting back sadness. Maggie had been Zane's wife and she had passed away only a few months before Zane had taken her in as his own daughter. She was the mother Catori never had, but dearly missed.
Eventually, Catori stripped the box of the paper, without so much as a tear, and sat it to the side. After removing the lid, she was a bit confused as to what it was supposed to be. In the box, on a soft pad of velvet was a metallic ring with two identical keys. "They're exactly the same," her father informed her, "one is simply a spare."
The keys jingled as she held them up, inspecting them as if she'd never seen one before. "What is it?" She finally asked.
"They're keys, of course. Honestly, dear, if your observation skills are that underdeveloped, perhaps you should consider a change of careers," he joked.
Catori squinted her eyes and looked across the table at him, "yes, I know they're keys. But what are they unlock?"
"It's a surprise," he beamed. She ought to have known he would pull something like this. He was always up to something mischievous. He was famous for it. As a Professor, he was known as Professor Zany, and still is, in some parts of the galaxy. "Look at the box a bit closer," he told her. Catori did as she was told and pulled the velvet setting out, uncovering a piece of paper with an address written on it. "When you get off the shuttle, you'll be escorted directly to Starfleet where you'll sit through big, long, welcoming presentations. Afterwards, there will be a tour and such and then students will be directed to collect their luggage and be assigned to their rooms. But not you. Just go to that address and it'll be fine."
"But what about my bags?" She asked slowly.
"It'll all be taken care of, just trust me."
Catori clasped the keys tight in her hand and nodded, looking at the clock on the wall telling her it was time to go.
Zane clapped his hands together and stood up, "well, I think it's about time we head off. Be a shame if you missed your shuttle."
Catori and her father arrived at the terminal a few minutes early. No sooner then they got there, were her bags taken to be secured. She still worried about leaving them after landing, it would be a right mess if she ended up with no clothes, no uniform or no anything on a planet she didn't know that well.
The pair stood by a large bay window in silence, until, "are you nervous?"
"Yeah, a bit," Catori answered.
"Good. If you weren't, then I would be even more nervous than I already am."
"You're nervous?" She asked quizzically.
"Well, by Joe, of course I'm nervous! I'm sending my only daughter off to another planet to attend a school that will teach her everything she needs to know to hop on a Starship and travel millions of miles across the galaxy," he gestured wildly with his arms as if they could demonstrate exactly how far away she would be. "But, I am also very excited for you."
"I'm excited too. I want to know what's out there."
"A lot, child."
"Do you think there will be Vulcans at Starfleet?" Catori had been to Vulcan with her father more than anywhere else. And she had always found their way of life, driven by logic and their unique way of communicating through conjoined minds, to be…well, as the Vulcans are fond of saying, fascinating.
"Oh, I imagine their will be. San Francisco is home to the United Federation of Planets. I suspect there are many Vulcan representatives, as well as others, attending to political business." Catori pondered just how many races were occupying Sac Francisco and how many of them she had never seen, when a voice came over the intercom warning her to board her flight.
Before she could say anything, her father swept her into a tight hug, "you're going to do just fine." He grabbed onto her shoulders and held her at arms length so she might see the serious look he was throwing at her. "The first chance you get, you are to contact me and let me know how things are…You have your keys?" Catori pulled them out of a small black shoulder bag and jingled them before him so he wouldn't doubt their presence. "Good. Don't forget, once Starfleet dismisses you for the evening, go straight to the address. You still have it?"
"Yes, father, I have it, I promise" she told him.
"Okay," he said with one last deep breath and vice-like hug around her shoulders. "I'm going to miss the shuttle," she complained, tears threatening to build up behind her eyes.
"Right. Yes," he confirmed, releasing her. "Call me! As soon as you get settled!" Zane yelled as she walked off.
Turning back and waving she shouted, "I will! I promise! I love you!"
She saw him wave back before she turned down a narrow hallway, loosing sight of him. After reaching the end of the passage and entering the shuttle craft, she was directed on where to sit. She plopped down in her seat and sighed, closing her eyes, preparing to simply nap for the next few hours until they arrived. But not a moment later did a new voice interrupt her meditation, "hi, um, are you going to Starfleet?" Opening her eyes, Catori saw a boy, perhaps her age, sitting on the seat next to her, wearing a red uniform shirt, the emblem matching the one on her own dress. Gesturing to the green thing she was wearing, he licked his lips nervously and said, "yeah, stupid question. I mean, obviously, with the uniform and all, that's where you're going. Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a crazy man. Just nervous, ya know?"
While Catori couldn't help but be a little agitated, she couldn't help but be a little sympathetic. "Yeah, I know. Me too," she reassured him. "Catori," she informed.
"Tristan," he replied. "So, you're wanting to become a Head Officer then? I hear it's the hardest thing to do- harder than being a captain, even, because you have to master every field. I don't think many people pass the courses."
"They don't," she said, "there are an average of three graduating Head Officers every four years. I believe only ten are signed up this year."
"You must be either a genius or a Vulcan. But, judging by your lack of pointed ears, I'd say it's the former."
Catori shrugged, "I guess we'll have to see."
"I guess so," he said.
"So, you want to do engineering? Red for engineer, right?"
"Yeah," he flashed an incredibly white smiled, seeming almost relieved that she had continued on the conversation. "Always loved to tinker, take apart and rebuild. Can you imagine building grand engines for starships? They're so immense but so exact right down to ever last detail."
"I should hope they would be built very exact," she grinned.
"Oh, yeah, every piece is constructed with-" Tristan paused, suddenly looking a bit embarrassed, "sorry. I get a bit...carried away. If I start, I don't stop. I just keep going and going and going."
Catori laughed, "it's alright, I think it's great you're so excited. And I find it very intriguing. Being a head officer entitles me to be proficient in science, medicine and engineering. We'll probably have the same classes. So please, by all means, ramble away."
The flight didn't turn out to be so bad and neither did Tristan. In fact, the four hours it took to arrive at Earth felt like no time at all. It was reassuring to know at least one other person walking into Starfleet. When the shuttle landed, Catori could feel her pulse flutter. "This is our stop," Tristan told her.
"Yeah," she responded nervously.
Catori didn't know what she was supposed to expect, but getting off the shuttle and being escorted out of the terminal, she was faced with the immense sight of the Academy. The building was huge and so many people in different colored uniforms walked past them hurriedly. Her doubt sung in her ears and there was a part of her that reminded her that there was still time to go back to her beautiful planet. But the other part of her was grinning from ear to ear, strutting into the Academy and ready to take the universe by storm.