Lily sat at her desk mildly disappointed with her first couple of hours on the job. The first thing she was basically forced to do after being shown around her lab was paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork!

Not only did she have to shift through several rosters to find herself a suitable first assistant out of the ten available ones, but she had to go through the check list to make sure all the equipment was here and in the right condition. But in a way she expected being the head archeologist to be hard if not enduring at times. It's what she's been waiting for. To get out of that boring slag of a station on Earth.

The lieutenant blew a piece of hair out of her face as she rested her chin on a fist and stared off into space. We could at least hurry up and get to the good part.

It was a half hour later of shifting through personal files and flying around the lab to get tools situated when the voice broke through the comm on the wall.

"Lieutenant Redfields?"

The voice was familiar, gruff and sounded rather irritated.

Lieutenant, she thought with joy, Damn that sounds so good!

"Redfields here?" She answered chipper as ever.

"It's McCoy, chief medical officer, All lieutenants are due for their check-up before we launch".

She smacked herself in the forehead. All lieutenants have mandatory checkups due at 1200 hours. It's 1345! "Uh of course! I'll be there right away".

"Please do", that agitated voice replied then clicked off the line.

Quickly she shuffled through the corridors and the red suited ensigns heading to their post for take off. There was still so much to do before the launch her head started throbbing at the thought of it. Assigning a new assistant was the most important part, and she knew the commander would be up her ass if she delayed any further on her choice. The quarters needed to be assigned properly.

When she entered the infirmary she was mildly surprised at how empty it was save a few redshirts sitting on the hospital beds with nurses probing them in eyes and ears.

"Avoiding the doctor lieutenant?"

The young woman whipped around and came face to face with the same man she bumped into the hallway a day ago. He was still in the same blue uniform and her eyes focused on the pins that signified he was her superior, so a smart alec comeback was a no go.

"I guess I was a little busy getting my office arranged", she smiled sheepishly, "Sorry".

He did something between a smirk and a frown and tapped on his padd he seemed to have glued in his hand, "Take a seat on the biobed. I'll get to you in a moment".

Lily obliged and sat down on the stiff bed in the corner. She drummed her fingers on the edge, waiting patiently while the nurses completely ignored her as they attended to other redshirts. It was minutes later when the doctor reappeared.

"Your medical history is a little difficult to pull up even on our own computers Ms. Redfields, but it all the basics seem to be here". The doctor flittered his fingers up and down the padd as he observed the findings.

Lily watched him as he worked, watched how his dark brown eyes moved back and forth and how he pursed his lips in concentration and agitation. The high lighting of the sick bay made him look older than he was. Well not like she knew how old he was anyway, but still. Fearing he would notice her staring, she looked down at the hem of her skirt, disgusted at how it barely reached past mid-thy.

"Not liking the uniform?" He asked suddenly, with his eyes still on the device.

"Would you report my complaints to the captain?"

He somewhat chuckled, "Not likely. I'm sure he's got more to worry about than a fashion crisis".

"Well I don't mean to be rude, but it's like these uniforms were designed by some old pervert", she said tugging on the hem to cover up more skin. "Seriously if we were boarded by an enemy and forced to actually run: One, I would trip because of these heels and Two I would have to hold down my own skirt to keep from flashing everyone".

McCoy tried to suppress his laugh by clearing his throat, "Right well perhaps the flashing could distract the enemy enough for security to get to you then". He set down the padd and whispered something to a nurse who came by to pick it up. "Your mother was Vulcan correct?" He fumbled around in a drawer till he pulled out a small light.

He made her stare at the light as he passed it over her eyes, "Yes?"

"We don't have much data on hybrid Vulcans other than what we've collected on Spock. Your blood samples a little outdated so you won't mind if we take another?" He cradled her hand in his palm and glanced up impatiently for her approval.

She shook her head, "Uh go ahead", and winced as the sound of a puff of air grated her sensitive ears and reddish, green blood was withdrawn into a clear tube. Lily hated the color of her blood. It reminded her of rust and death. Like the pictures of Old Vulcan on her wall.

"Oh and one more thing. You're missing some required vaccinations. I'll have our nurses see to administering the doses to match your white blood count". He dabbled something into the computer at his desk.

"Attention all Starfleet personel" Chekovs voice sounded out over the bay, "We will be leaving port at exactly 15:00 hours. All ensigns and officers need to report in at their assigned post".

"I'll notify you tomorrow when you need to come by and receive your vaccinations. You should report to your post Lieutenant".

Lily leapt off the biobed, "Yes sir". She still had to choose a damn assistant and organize some files and…quit filing all these things in your head or you'll explode! She hoped it would get easier from here…please let it get easier.

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Liam Chung was his name. He was a gawky young ensign and a supposed child prodigy of his family which originated in Hong Kong. His chili bowl haircut was the only flaw she noticed in his resume. Like seriously? That was coming back in style?

"Liam did you organize the Romulan hieroglyphs in the right database? And the carbon dating prods in the lab?"

"Yes ma'am, lieutenant…I mean sir!" He fidgeted at his console.

Yep..gawky was the right word to describe him.

I rolled my eyes with a smile, "You can call me Lily, Liam, at least in here". Her eyes returned to the microscope as she studied a sample slide from the Enterprises Archeological Database.

"Yes ma'am…I mean Lily".

Lily barely aknowleged him as she hunched over the electron microscope in fascination. What they got at their station on Earth was the same old microbe samples and dirt from ancient sites already picked and prodded to the bone. There was just too much new stuff here to ignore!

She glanced over at Liam who was enjoying the new samples just as much as her as he researched them on the computer. Lily knew she was going to enjoy working with him if their interests reach past archeology.

Lieutenant Lily Redfields, there's a transmission waiting for you in your office.

She jumped at the sound of the mellow female voice overhead and puffed a piece of hair out of her face.

Her father, looking a little worse for wear, face appeared when she activated her monitor. His face was sagging, with dark blue circles clearly forming under his eyes. This wasn't all new to her. He had been like this since her mother died, and had barely been able to keep his desk job with Starfleet.

"Dad" She acknowledged with a solemn tone.

"Hows my Lily? Still gallivanting on Starships?" he replied trying to sound cheery.

"We launched only today, heading toward undiscovered parts of the Beta quadrant".

The elder man shook his unkept head, "My daughter, an A&A officer. I never thought I'd get you to leave Earth".

Lily just nodded and smiled. Her father was wrong, she wanted nothing short of leaving Earth. Leaving her father behind was a hard decision, but she was hopeful he would get better and start meeting new people. His commanding officer had already had a few chats with her about his recent behavior. The impact of her mother's untimely death on Vulcan had hit him harder than she, and that says much.

"What has it been like so far?"

Lily shifted,"So far just a lot of situating, analysis of new samples in the database to get familiar with what I'm dealing with. What's really fascinating is the ancient dialects of Klingon I get to dabble with. I didn't have Klingon on Earth".

Her father, whom had seemed to be staring off into space, snapped his attention back after a few moments. "I remember those days. I was never on an exploration vessel though, just a small science frigate. You're very fortunate".

The young officer bit her lower lip, unable to contain the question, and sighed, "Dad, have you been skipping out on your medications again?"

The fury in his face was palpable. He hated it when she asked him these things, but it was necessary. The red tint to his eyes, the dark circles and his lack of focus was an obvious sign.

"You're an adult now Lily", he replied sternly. The scowl in his face made the lines of his forehead deepen, "Quit worrying about me. You're the one venturing into unknown space! I get enough talk from my CO and I don't need it from you!"

Tears brimmed in Lilys eyes. The father she once knew, the one who would constantly stop everything in the world to make sure she was never sad or alone, the one to sing her to sleep with the same lullaby translated from an old Vulcan song, was now gone. He was morphed into a hollow shell.

"I have work to do dad. Take your medicine, that's all I ask". With that she clicked off the transmission link.

Seconds passed as she sat in silence twirling her fingers through her short, choppy hair. After minutes of contemplation she decided to quit thinking about her father steadily spiraling down a staircase of depression and start concentrating on her current work.

"Computer what time is it?"

"The time is 22:10 hours".

She rose from her seat and exited her office. Liam was hunched over a replicated relic from an ancient Vulcan temple, his small, squinty eyes studying the object with great care. She saw herself in his shoes five years ago, only he has the luxury of being good enough to be on board a starship after graduation. Lily had to wait two years in a lab on Earth.

"Liam! Ready for dinner?"

He glanced up, "Actually Lieutenant I'm going to stay here and catch up on some things. You can go ahead if you wish".

She smiled, although she hated the idea of having to eat alone. "Of course Liam. Have fun".

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Lily stepped outside of her office, mind and body weary from the days work and it was just the first day. This wasn't a training lab where there were at least twenty students to a section. This was the real deal, and it's what Lily wanted. She heard on the announcements given by Chekov that it would be at least a week before they reach the first planet, and that was only at New Vulcan where an expedition was supposed to be held. The captain would brief the required officers when the time came. She hoped it was her.

"Lieutenant Redfields could you report to my office?"

Lily jumped, forgetting she had her comm attached to her belt. She recognized the voice from the ship wide broadcast a few hours ago. It was the captain.

What would the captain want so late at night?

"Yes sir, On my way".

She flipped her comm shut, trying to contain the butterflies fluttering up in her stomach. Had she screwed up already? Was a data file corrupted? Was he going to reassign her? The questions bounced around in her head. She was contemplating the ground before her a little too much for when she walked around the corner to enter the turbo lift a bulk of a body nearly slammed her to the ground if it weren't for the hand that held her steady by her forearm.

It was the Vulcan, the commander, whom she had nearly knocked unconscious. Or perhaps it was just her for he barely seemed to change expression even in discomfort. Then she forgot he was an emotionless statue, a Vulcan. Half of what she is.

"My clumsiness never seems to fail me", Lily muttered under her breath as she smoothed out her uniform. "Sorry Commander".

"No animosity accounted for Lieutenant Redfields". He replied with a slight twinge to his lips that she read was most likely an understanding smile.

Things were awkwardly quiet for a moment.

"Has your first day on duty been eventful?"

Lily grinned nervously tucking her hair behind her slightly pointed ears, "A lot more work than I thought but nothing I can't handle. Liams a big help in linquistics".

He leaned his head forward slightly, "I am glad your new assistant is to your liking, you will need one when the research comes and field expeditions begin".

"Well the captain has requested me to his office. I'm hoping it has something to do with assigning me to the first one".

Spock raised a brow and clasped his hands behind his back, "He would be unwise to assign you to any expedition Lieutenant. Your vast knowledge of cultures in our quadrant serves you well". He kindly stepped aside, "You shouldn't keep the captain waiting".

"Goodnight Commander", she replied graciously

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Kirk had just clicked off the transmission to Central Command when the young, hybrid officer bounded into his office looking nervous and unsure. She had her find clenched tightly in balls at her sides turning her knuckles white. Her lips were pursed off to the side. The plain fact that her emotions were more transparent than most humans humored him.

This must be killing Spock, he thought with a smile.

"You can relax Ms. Redfields. I'm not here to make you put your nose in the corner", he said with a smirk, hardly able to keep focus on her face and not her long, divine legs. For a half Vulcan she didn't look half bad.

Her hands relaxed and she smiled, "Sorry sir. It's just that every time I was called to my commanding officers office there was some reason for him to gripe at me".

"Well I'm sure all you had to do was bat those eyes and you'd be home free right?"

Lily laughed. She liked her Captain. He wasn't as stiff as her previous one and actually had some humor, if not a little creepy. "I don't think it would work very well on him sir".

"Please call me Jim, all the bridge officers do, except Spock and I think he just does that to irritate me".

Containing the giggle forming in her throat she just smiled again, "You called me here for something?"

He snapped back to the matter at hand, "Ah yes! We're going to be stopping at New Vulcan in about a week and I'm assembling teams for an expedition that Central Command has asked us to perform".

Lily felt the excitement flush into her cheeks.

"May I ask what type of expedition?"

"There will be different groups doing different things", he added, "There's still a lot not known about the new planet for Vulcan. As you should know they have settlements supporting the population, but they will soon expand".

Kirk stood and walked around his front desk, leaning back against the edge, "I will need, you and your assistant to be ready within a week for this. Can that happen?"

"Of course sir! Will we be studying Vulcan ruins?"

He shook his head, blue eyes almost glowing in the dim light of the room, "This is something totally new". The captain swung himself off the desk, "A ruin was located just a few miles south of the newest Vulcan settlement. They think it was remnant of the inhabitants that lived there before them. We're sending several science teams down there to check it out".

Lily stood, "You can count on Liam and I to be prepared then".

"Good. I'll debrief the whole away team once we're near. Have a good night Ms. Lily".

The captain addressing her by her first name made her night even better. She was even more grateful for this assignment by the second.

"Of course, goodnight captain".