Star Trek: Eclipse
Beginnings
Eve
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, etc. but the other characters are mine. J
AN: Bcause it was weird to have a little kid ask for a data PADD, it's sometimes referred to as a book.
-one and one half years-
Eve's first memory was of her mother. Her love, her caring. Her voice, her face. At the time, she didn't know her memories would be few. She was only very little, too young to understand anything beyond the current moment.
"Mama!" the young girl said, hugging her mother's leg.
"Hi sweetie. Did you have fun with Daddy?" Carrie bent down and picked up her daughter.
Eve laughed. She had not understood her mother's question, but wouldn't be expected to. Her father walked in the door.
"Hi Garrett. Did you guys have fun?" Carrie asked, before giving her husband a quick kiss.
"Sure did. Everyone agreed that Eve's the prettiest little girl they've ever seen." He grinned. "She some how got to a Comm station, hit the button and connected to a ship out by Mars, the Caesar, the one I told you about last night. But anyhow, she turned the Comm on, and started talking to them. Well, they did most the talking, she just demanded for a book to be read to her."
"Book!" Eve repeated, causing her parents to laugh.
"You want a story?" Her mother asked.
"Book."
Garrett pulled a data padd off a nearby table. "Look, sweetheart, it-." He didn't finish his sentence. She had spotted the padd.
"Teddy!" she squealed as she grabbed for the padd.
Her mother sat in a chair, putting Eve on her lap. "Theodore Teddy, that's right." Carrie to the data padd from Garrett, and began to read.
-Three years-
"It's wonderful to see you again." Her mother was saying to another woman.
"I know. It's so lucky the job was here. And finding a house so close to yours." Amber Gibson smiled at her friend.
"So, where's this Arik I've heard so much about?"
"Still outside with his father. They stopped to look at sand."
Carrie laughed. "Garrett just got home, if he's out there it may be a while." She paused. "I hope Arik and Eve will be friends. She's in the den." The two walked into the next room, where Eve was playing with a doll. "Eve, come meet Mama's friend."
Eve stood, and walked to the two, bringing the doll with her.
"Hi, I'm Amber." The woman smiled at Eve.
"Hi."
"How old are you?"
"Three!" She held up four fingers.
Amber smiled. "My little boy is the same age. Do you want to meet him?"
Eve nodded. From the next room, they could hear the door opening. "Daddy!" she yelled, running from the room.
When she got there, she gave her father a hug.
"Hi baby, how are you?"
"Not a baby. I'm three." She replied, stubbornly.
"That you are."
"I'm three!" Arik said, calling attention.
Garrett put Eve down. "Eve, dear, this is Arik."
"Hi." She said shyly.
"Hi" he answered.
"Wanna play with my blocks?" she asked.
He nodded, and the pair ran off to the den.
-5 years-
"Did you have fun at school?" Garrett asked his daughter.
"Yuh-huh. We read an' colored an' we got play outside, they had grass, like at Arik's house, not the tall kind like here."
"Sounds fun." He smiled. "Do you want to go to the beach?"
"Yes!" she cheered. "Please!"
"Okay, go get your mom. Do you want to invite Arik?"
"Yes."
"Alright, I'll go do that." He turned to leave.
"Daddy?"
"What sweetie?"
"What's the funny shaped thing on your shirt?"
"It's called a Comm badge. They use them where I work."
"Where do you work?"
"I work for Starfleet. I've taken you to work several times, do you remember?"
"Yuh-huh! I remember colored shirts like yours. And yellow ones, and green ones."
"Do you remember going to the academy?"
"With all the big kids!" she added. "Daddy, what does Starfleet do?"
"Well, some people go in space and some work at headquarters. And you get to meet people from other planets…" he stopped, thinking. "I'll explain it later."
-seven years-
Where's Mama?
She wondered. And why is Daddy so sad?Arik's mom had come over, but didn't bring Arik, like she usually did. So Eve was playing in the den with her dolls. Something had happened, and Eve still didn't fully understand what was going on. From her spot in the den, she could hear talking in the kitchen.
"…so sorry, Garrett… so sudden… all miss… how's…. handling…thing.. can do?" she heard from the next room. It was Arik's mom, and she sounded like she had been crying.
"…don't think… understands… just don't… what to do." His voice was unusually uncertain, and he sounded very upset.
"Do you… her at…house… for a… while you… arranged?"
"No, but… anyway… I… best… if she… me… to adjust."
Finally wanting to investigate more fully, she walked into the kitchen, and went to her dad, who was seated at the table.
"Daddy, when's Mama coming back?"
Her father had previously explained that Mama died, but Eve didn't understand. Squeakers the hamster had died, but her mama was most certainly not a hamster. She didn't see the connection.
"Sweetie, do you understand what happened?"
She shook her head.
"Eve-." He began, and Mrs. Gibson left to let them have a little privacy. "Eve, remember how we talked that Mommy was in the hospital?"
"Yes. She was in an accident." Eve looked up at him.
"Do you remember how I told you that the doctors said Mommy was hurt very badly?"
"I brought her flowers."
"Yes, you did." He smiled very slightly. They had visited Carrie in the hospital a couple days ago, and Eve had brought her flowers from the garden. "Sweetheart, Mama- she-." He knew only one way to put it. "she died. Do you understand what that means?"
Eve shook her head.
"Do you remember Squeakers? And how I explained that he was in heaven?"
The little girl nodded. "Mama's in heaven?"
"Yes, sweetie."
"But I want Mama here!" her eyes filled with tears.
"So do I, but we can't."
"Why?"
Garrett paused before answering. Why had Carrie died? He had asked himself the question over and over. "I don't know." He finally said.
"I want Mama!" she bit her lip. "Why did Mama die?"
"I don't know." He admitted. "No one does. It's just one of those things. There's no good explanation."
-14 years-
The teenager sat back in the overstuffed chair, glaring.
"Now, Ms. Bryce-."
"Shut up. You don't know what it's like." She interrupted the psychologist, who was beginning to be very frustrated with her.
"And I won't if you refuse to talk about it. Now, if you would please be so kind…"
"Fine. You want to know what my 'problem' is? It's only been seven years and my father is getting remarried. And to a bimbo at that."
"I've met Alexis. She seems very nice."
"But I don't want her as my stepmother, what is so hard for you to understand? I do not like her, never have, and never will. I don't see why I even have to be here. I do not have 'issues'!"
The psychologist sighed. "Why do you dislike her so much?"
"I just do, okay? This isn't fair, no one ever asked me if I wanted a stepmother." She paused. "And I don't."
He looked at his watch. "I'd really like to continue being yelled at, but your time is up."
"Good."
-17 years-
"I'm too nervous! You open it!" She pushed Arik to the Comm station, then yanked him away. "No! I'll open it! No, wait, you open it!"
He sighed. "Eve, make up your mind before I have to find someone to sedate you." He rubbed his arm. "And stop yanking me around. You've got sharp nails."
"Fine. I'll open the message." She closed her eyes as she did so. "What's it say?"
"Oh. I- Eve-." Arik started. "I've got some bad news and some good news."
"Well?"
"The bad new is you left a mark on my arm. The good news is… you were accepted to the Academy."
She opened her eyes and hugged him. "Yes! Yes! Yes! I got in! I got in!" she ran to her bedroom door and stuck her head out in to the hall. "Dad! I got in!" She yelled, and before waiting for a response grabbed Arik's arm and pulled him to the door. "Let's go check to see if you got accepted."
-18 years-
"Way too slow, Cadet. Had this been a real situation, you'd be dead. Ten laps." Nimembeh, her prep squad officer, ordered.
Eve glared at the phaser in her hands. It had taken her only sixteen seconds to dismantle, reconfigure, and reassemble it. And it still wasn't fast enough. It add to that he'd already made her run fifteen laps that day.
"Make that fifteen. When you're given an order, you follow it. I don't care whose daughter you are."
She took off running, then stopped. Already a total of thirty laps in one day, and he had made the daughter comment, as he often did when he wasn't approving of her work. Finally fed up, Eve threw the phaser at him.
"That's it! Thirty laps. Go! And then I want you to report to Admiral Gray." He yelled after her.
She took off. It was going to be a long day.
*
Admiral Gray looked at Eve with a slightly amused expression on his face.
"You threw the phaser at General Nimembeh?"
"Yes sir."
"Cadet…" he began. "Maybe you can explain to me why you did that."
"I was frustrated, sir. I wasn't thinking."
"What made you so upset?"
"He had told me to run fifteen laps, in addition to the fifteen I'd already run, sir. In my uniform and boots. He also accused me of acting superior because my father is a General, sir. It wasn't the first time he'd made the comment." She swallowed. Chucking the phaser at Nimembeh's head probably wasn't the wisest decision. It definitely wasn't.
Admiral Gray let out a laugh. "I think you're the first person who has ever had the audacity to do that sort of thing." He paused. "Someone suggested to me for you to be put on probation- but I'm not going to do that- it's your first offense, and I admire your boldness. Also, Nimembeh also said that although you almost injured him- he's not going to give you high marks, but not low marks either- he in fact recommended you for the pre-command class."
She blinked. "I don't understand, sir. I narrowly missed his head and he wants to give me privileges?"
He laughed again. "Starfleet needs starship captains who aren't afraid to take a risk… That and he's probably worried you'll take another shot at his head."
"I see." She smiled slightly at the Admirals joke.
"You are dismissed."
She turned to leave.
"Cadet?"
she turned back. "Yes sir?"
"I am, however, scheduling weekly appointments with the counselor for you. Watch that temper."
"Yes sir."
-21 years-
"Bryce, I've been following your performance at the academy ever since you threw that phaser at me- and other than that little incident, you've had a clean record." He paused. "So when I was asked to recommend senior positions for the ship assignment, I recommended you as Captain."
Her eyes widened "Sir- I don't know what to say. Thank you."
He smiled. "You're the only student I've ever had who has ever done anything more that yell at me when told to run laps. For a while I was worried you be kicked out of the academy or drop out. But you've managed yourself well. I had my doubts about you, but you've managed to surpass expectations."
She nodded.
"You'll make a fine Starfleet Officer- just don't screw up. And that means no more of throwing objects at people. I'm interested to see where you'll go with your career."
Feedback please! I want to know if it'd be a good idea to expand on their adventures at the academy.