The soft pitter patter of rain on the window gently caused me to awaken. I did not immediately rise from my bed – instead, I burrowed more deeply into the nest of blankets that surrounded me, making the most of the warmth they provided for a few further minutes until my chronometer began to beep insistently.
"Okay, okay... I'm awake," I muttered, reluctantly leaving my haven of warmth and padding quickly into the bathroom. Stripping off my nightwear, I stretched briefly before programming a quick shower, stepping under the hot jets of water and sighing as I relaxed. I quickly washed my body and hair, mentally cataloguing everything that I had arranged ready for the day ahead.
The water stopped all too soon; shivering as a blast of cold air from the slightly opened bathroom window hit me, I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around myself, lamenting the fact that this would be my last time in this room. Shaking my head at my sentimentality, I quickly dried myself and proceeded to dry my hair before heading back to my room.
A neatly packed bag and a folded outfit sat waiting at the foot of my bed. The bag held all of the belongings I would require from home for the journey ahead; the outfit was what I deemed to be sensible travelling attire. Travelling from continent to continent via shuttle was an uncomfortable experience, and so I had compensated accordingly – the outfit consisted of a light jacket, a plain vest top and a pair of shorts that reached to mid-thigh, along with a pair of sandals. Nothing too heavy or too light – I had a long journey ahead of me. I was to catch the shuttle from Bristol, England, to New York, America, and from there catch another shuttle to Iowa and from there finally get another shuttle to San Francisco, to Starfleet Academy.
There was a much easier way to have gone about getting there, but I wished to see the partially built USS Enterprise before I continued to the Academy and besides, Captain Pike would be at the shipyard with the shuttle. I was long overdue for a visit to him, so it was only logical to go a bit out of my way to see him. He was, after all, my main motivation for joining Starfleet in the first place.
Picking up my hairbrush, I began to run it through my hair as I glanced quickly at the chronometer.
"Shit," I cried, abandoning my attempt at brushing my hair as I grabbed my clothes and threw them on. I was running a good 20 minutes late, and if I missed this shuttle I had no chance of getting anywhere near the Academy or Chris Pike any time this year!
I took a final look around my little room as I slung my bag onto my shoulder and quickly secured my hair into a messy bun before leaving the place and closing the door behind me. Locking the front door of my flat as I left, I hurried out of the building and down the street to my aunt's house. Sealing the keys to the flat into an envelope I'd already prepared, I posted them through the door of her house before sprinting towards the shuttle station and my new future.
Two long shuttle journeys later, I looked distinctly the worse for wear when I arrived in Iowa. I was staying in a small hotel in Riverside, close to the shipyard and to Pike. My plan was to spend the next day with him before the shuttle for the Academy left the day afterwards, and I was very much looking forward to it – Pike was a father figure to me. He was someone who I admired greatly and I was much saddened by the fact that I had not been able to see him for a couple of years.
Arriving at my hotel room, I quickly threw my clothes down the chute to be cleaned before having a quick sonic shower to cleanse the grime from the journey from my skin before pulling on a nightgown and jumping into bed. I grabbed my PADD from my bag to check for any messages and was pleased to find a couple. One was from my aunt telling me that she'd gotten my keys and hoping that I would have a fantastic time at the Academy, and another was from Chris telling me he'd meet me in the lobby of the hotel the next morning to take me out to breakfast. I quickly tapped out basic replies to both messages before falling asleep, knackered from my journey.
The next morning, I woke up and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from my bag before hurrying downstairs to meet Chris. On entering the lobby, I was pleased to find him waiting for me, looking marginally older than when I'd seen him last.
"Chris! Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you again," I grinned, hugging him.
"Claire, it's been way too long. I honestly thought I'd never see you again until you called me to tell me you'd passed the admission exam to the Academy!" he replied, ruffling my hair before extracting himself from my hold. "Now, I believe I promised you breakfast? It wouldn't do to keep a lady waiting now, would it?" he asked, before ushering me out of the hotel and along to a small cafe nearby.
We spent the day laughing and joking away, catching up on what the other had been up to for the last couple of years. Being so close to someone high up in Starfleet certainly had its merits; I wouldn't be using our connection as a way of rising through the ranks more quickly – I didn't want anyone to know of our connection at all, something that Chris was completely in agreement with – but it was nice to have someone giving impartial advice as to what classes to take, what bars to go to, what gym membership to get. I was sad to say goodbye to him at the end of the day, as I knew it was the last time we'd be able to spend together in such a manner – in future we'd have to keep up appearances of not knowing each other outside of the Academy.
Chris dropped me back off at my hotel late that night, as we'd been out for dinner and had lost track of time. He had to go check on some of the new cadets who'd decided to hit an out of town bar for the night, as he had a slight suspicion they'd get into some trouble. I hugged him goodbye and then headed back to my room to find my travelling outfit folded on my bed, ready for the next day, along with a new message on my PADD from my aunt again. After replying, I headed straight to bed, not bothered about showering. I could do that in the morning.