Disclaimer: Italics are © to Charlotte Bronte. George and James Tiberius (Ty) Kirk are © by Star Trek creators.

I would have asked who wanted me – I would have demanded if Mrs Reed was there; but Bessie was already gone, and had closed the nursery door upon me. I slowly descended. For nearly three months I had never been called to Mrs Reed's presence, restricted so long to the nursery, the breakfast dining, and drawing-rooms were become for me awful regions, on which it dismayed me to intrude.

I now stood in the empty hall; before me was the breakfast room door, and I stopped, intimidated and trembling. What a miserable little poltroon had fear, engendered of unjust punishment, made of me in those days! I feared to return to the nursery, and feared to go forward to the parlour ; ten minutes I stood in agitated hesitation; the vehement ringing of the breakfast bell decided me; I must enter!

'Who could want me?' I asked inwardly, as with both hands I turned the stiff door-handle which, for a second or two, resisted my efforts. 'What should I see besides Aunt Reed in the apartment? – A man or a woman?'

I opened the door to see Aunt Reed sitting beside a seemingly tall and lanky man with dark brown hair clustered on his head and bright blue eyes gleaming at me. Beside him sat a young boy, about my age, looking the exact same as the man beside him.

"This is the child I applied to the Academy for Academically Gifted Men and Women," Mrs. Reed said, locking eyes with me. Her eyes told me to behave. I narrowed my eyes at the men and then at Mrs. Reed.

"I'm Captain George Kirk and this is my son, James Tiberius Kirk, but we call him Ty. We have come from the academy your aunt named, but we usually call it Space Academy," the older man, Mr. Kirk, said.

Ty's eyes skimmed me, but they shifted to Bessie, who had just joined us in the room. I noticed he had darker blue eyes than his father and his hair was a slightly shade lighter. My eyes were almost the same color as his.

"Jane!" Mrs. Reed yelled at me. "Are you paying attention?"

I nodded. "Sorry ma'am. I was just trying to figure out why they are here."

"We want to take you back to SA for you to learn and train to be on the maiden voyage of the USS Yorktown," Mr. Kirk said. Only then, did I notice he didn't have a British accent which meant he must be American. "Your aunt, here, said you were a gifted young woman and suggested you would be a great candidate."

"Yes sir, I'd love to go," I said. My body was literally jumping for joy at the idea of getting away from Gateshead. It was the downfall of my existence and I dreaded staying here. "When do I leave?"

Mr. Kirk looked at Mrs. Reed and then back at me. "If you can be ready in about half an hour, we can leave today. If that's alright with you, Mrs. Reed," he said.

"It's fine with me," she said, but her eyes displayed something different. "Bessie, can you go help Jane with her things?"

Bessie nodded and dragged me with her up to the nursery. We gathered my things in record time and spent the remaining ten minutes talking. She didn't want me to leave but understood that I wanted to get away from Gateshead. "I'll be here for you when you leave the academy you are going to. Don't ever forget me, Jane Eyre."

"I won't forget you, Bessie. You helped me through a lot and I wish the best to you and everyone else," I said as I dragged my bags down the hall and steps.

"Ty, help Miss Eyre with her things, please?" Mr. Kirk said as he saw me struggling with my things. Ty came over to me and grabbed my bag effortlessly, giving me a slight smile. "We'll be leaving now, if you are ready, Miss Eyre."

I smiled and nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be," I said. I scrambled outside, looking for the coach. "What are we riding in?"

"Right here; we're heading back to 2243." Ty looked at me as he readied the space time continuum travel device thing. I really didn't know what it was. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't understand any of what is going on.

"2243? You are from the future?" I asked, my eyes widening. "Does Mrs. Reed know? I'm pretty sure she wouldn't allow me to go with you if she knew." I knew I was rambling, but I was confused and didn't exactly know what I was getting into.

"You'll be fine, Miss Eyre," Mr. Kirk said. We were suddenly shimmering and then landed; I guess you could call it, in a busy room with young men and women bustling around the room. "This is the Academy for Academically Gifted Men and Women; otherwise known as Space Academy. We teach everyone the basic needs to survive on one of the spaceships, but some people specialize in other things."

I looked down at my clothes and suddenly felt out of place. "Can I get a change of clothes please?" They nodded and lead me to a room where red clothes were held.

"You can go change in my room because you haven't been assigned a room yet," Ty said, leading me to his room after grabbing some clothes that seemed my size. I followed quietly without really thinking about where I was going. "My father assigned me to you to help you get settled. I believe you will do just fine here." He allowed me to go into the room and then shut the door so I could change.

I looked down at the clothes in my hand. I was holding a red shirt and a red skirt. Slowly, I figured out how the outfit was supposed to go on and it seemed to fit perfectly. I opened the door and looked at Ty. "Why is everything so complicated?"

"That's life. Once you get used to everything, you're going to be fine. It's a lot to take in, I know," Ty said. "My dad wants to see you, so he can give you a room assignment and get you into classes as soon as possible."

I followed Ty out of his room and down the hall to find his father. "When do classes start usually?"

Ty smiled at me, showing that he knew I was scared. "Classes have already started for the year, but my dad worm you in. He is a captain, so he has a good amount of influence around here. Usually classes run from about ten in the morning until three or four depending on how much the teacher wants to teach."

"So basically, I'll be in classes all day," I sighed. He laughed at me. "What? I was never in school, actually."

"Jane," Ty said as he walked into the room where his father was sitting. "You wanted to see Jane."

Mr. Kirk smiled and looked up from his papers. "Yes, I did. Miss Eyre, I'm putting you into your own room right across from Ty and you'll be in the same classes as him. He's specializing to become a captain. I believe you should wish to do the same thing." He shifted his papers slowly and then said, "Ty, you best go find Spock. He's been looking for you."

"I'll take Jane with me because I'm excused from all classes, right?" Ty looked hopeful and smiled brightly at his father.

"Whatever you want, Ty; I've got too much to do right now. Jane came in at a bad time," Mr. Kirk said, going back to his work and excusing us.