For The Thrill Of It

Chapter Two: Inadvertently, yeah.

Disclaimer I do not own anything mentioned in the following fanfiction, except for the character of Kristen Shaw. She is of my own design.


"Full Name?"

"Kristen Elizabeth Shaw"

"Date of Birth?"

"January 13th, 2235"

"Both Parents Full Names?"

Silence.

"Both Parents Full Names please, Ms. Shaw?"

More silence.

"Ms. Shaw, you cannot be cleared for active duty until you are—"

"I don't remember"

This time, it was his time to be silent.

It had been about a week since she'd taken the first entrance exam and since then, the judging and assessment had continued at full force. Every day she arrived at the Academy, waiting for something exciting to happen, and instead was faced with yet another test to write. She'd written seven different exams so far, topics ranging from language proficiency to advanced vector calculus, but not a word had been spoken yet about her assignment to the Enterprise, not since that first meeting with Pike. She was growing restless, so restless in fact that just yesterday afternoon, she decided to take Pike's Comet for another ride around the block.

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"You know, it'd be nice if you tried to show just a little remorse for the laws your breaking" Pike said as he joined her upon her exit from the local precinct, his face this time showing the traces of anger and frustration.

"And it'd be nice if I could stop trying to prove how fucking smart by writing all your damn exams. Look, Pike, I know I said I was in, but if all I have to look forward to on this ship is relativistic physics and calculus so complicated it makes my head spin, I think I'll stick to my life of petty crime as you so plainly put it yesterday" she bit back, sweeping her hair into a pony tail before giving the Admiral a pointed look.

"It's not. Life on a Federation vessel is one of the most rewarding careers and lifestyles out there, but I have to make sure you are ready. I want to assign you to be their junior engineer, but I can't do that until I know you are capable of doing the calculations and assessments necessary to do a good job. Can you understand that at least?" he explained, gesturing for her to follow him to his car.

"Look, Admiral Pike, I get that, I really do. But I don't need to prove myself to anyone, especially not a bunch of Einstein wannabes at your school. I got my degree in two years, at MIT. I'm smart, and you know that, so what gives" she asked, her tone definite in her demand for an explanation. She got into the passenger side of the car and waited as the Admiral walked around and slid into the driver's seat.

"I can't just put you on a ship, Ms. Shaw. There's protocols to follow, and that's all I'm doing with these tests. I need to prove to my superiors that you're capable. You wrote the last one today, if that's any consolation" he said in reply before pulling into traffic, heading in the direction of the academy.

She turned in her seat and looked out the window away from him, her eyes enjoying the landscape as they headed off.

"It depends. How have I been doing?" she asked in mock disinterest curiousity.

She heard him chuckle lowly, then respond.

"You've been doing very, very well. Top 95 percentile. You should be very proud" he commented, letting the silence settle in and she once again revelled in her internal pride.

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Sure enough, keeping to his word, when she arrived at the Academy today, there was no test waiting for her. Instead, in the same stainless steel and chrome filled room she'd been in ever since the beginning, there was a man with a clipboard and a series of files in front of him waiting for her when she'd arrived. Also on the table was a pair of sneakers, black sport shorts, and a black tank top. She'd barely taken a step into the room when he'd ordered her to go get changed, giving her directions to the nearest restroom in a clipped, brisk tone. She'd grabbed the clothes and headed off, returning five minutes later before sitting down and answering his first question, her full name.

So she sat there now with a passive expression on her face that betrayed her conflicting internal emotions. Her parents had always been a source of confusion, anger, and frustration for her. She knew how they died, but was so young at the time it happened that she'd not yet been able to remember their names. They'd been on their way home from the opera when their car had been t-boned by a transport truck, killing both of them instantly. She'd been at a baby sitters that night and after news reached her extended family, she was put into the Foster Care system at the age of one and a half years old. By the time she was old enough to realize that the people she'd been living with weren't her real parents, she found that she was unable to even remember her own parents names, let alone what had happened to them. When she'd asked her Foster parents, they'd directed her towards the Foster Care office and the people there had told her that when she was younger, her parents had died in a car accident. It'd never be an easy subject to talk about.

"Do you remember what happened to your parents?" the man asked after a few seconds of awkward silence, looking at her over the rims of his glasses with a file open in front of him, his name poised to write down facts about her answer.

"I'm sorry, Admiral Pike didn't really tell me what today...entailed. What is this, exactly?" she asked in an aggressive tone, trying to be polite as possible.

"This is your psychiatric evaluation, Ms. Shaw, to gauge things like emotional response, compartamentability, emotional readiness. Aboard the Enterprise, Ms. Shaw, you will be living and working in a high stress environment and it is my job to assess whether or not you can still function to the best of your ability. There will be life or death situations, high pressure situations; believe me when I say, Ms Shaw, this job is not for the faint of heart. The Admirals here at the Academy want to make sure it won't be too much for you to handle" the man said plainly, offering up no discernable emotions to her.

"Wait, so this is like a psych test? To make sure I'm not like a lunatic?" she asked in layman's vernacular, wanting to get down to the root of why she was here without the Ph.D bullshit.

"Essentially, yes"

She took in his answer and sat back, letting out a low whistle as she did so. She watched as he turned his attention towards an empty yellow legal pad, his pen scribbling across it furiously as they sat in silence.

"What, does the way I sit in this chair tell you all about my broken childhood?" she asked sarcastically, throwing her hands up in the air as she gestured to her sitting form.

"No it doesn't Ms. Shaw, but the fact that you just thought it did means that you in fact did have a broken childhood" he replied briskly, looking over at her only once he was finished writing.

Another silence set in as the realization hit her.

Fuck. He was good.

"So I'll ask once again, Ms. Shaw. Do you remember what happened to your parents?"

She took a second, knowing she had to keep her emotions in check, before replying.

"I was too young when it happened to remember. From what the Foster Care people have told me, they died in a car accident" she replied, her tone cool and collected. She watched as the man watched her body language for a few seconds before writing something else down.

"And how does that make you feel?" he asked, his tone serious even though he was asking such a clichéd question.

"I try not to let the past affect my future" she replied with almost identical cliché-ness, giving him a sarcastic smile before crossing her arms over her chest. Almost immediately, he began to write something down, so she quickly withdrew her arms and placed them idly by her sides.

"Please answer the question, Ms. Shaw"

She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts before replying.

"It frustrates me, because I was too young to even know who my parents were before they died. It angers me, because no child should ever be raised without parents and I was raised with none" she commented, adverting her eyes to the edge of the table as she spoke.

"But it says here that you have been in approximately 40 foster homes. Did those homes not have parental figures?" the man asked, wanting clarification.

"Trust me when I say this Sir. I grew up without parents. I don't expect you to understand" she commented bitterly, looking back up to give him a threatening look before returning her eyes to the table's edge.

"Do you feel as if this lack of parental attention or guidance has caused you to turn to a life of crime?" he asked, keeping his eyes on her.

She shrugged her shoulders this time before answering.

"Inadvertently, yes. All foster parents are only concerned about getting their checks. Of those forty homes I've been in, I'd say maybe all of five have actually given a shit about my quote, unquote, personal development. So in a way, when I started stealing cars and had no one to tell me it was wrong, that lack of parental attention as you called it, is one of the reasons I turned to this life of crime. No one besides the law punished me, so I kept on doing it. But it's like I said before. I don't expect you to understand" she said in a clipped tone, sitting up a little straighter in her chair as she answered him. He observed her for a few more seconds before going to write something down, leaving them in silence.

"Why do you steal cars, Ms. Shaw?" he asked, his eyes returning to her.

"Do you want my answer, or Admiral Pike's psychoanalysis of why I steal them?" she retorted, giving him an expectant look. He wrote something down quickly, then replied.

"Your answer will suffice"

She took a breath.

"For the thrill of it. There's nothing like the feeling of trying to out drive the cops in a classic car on the streets of California. It's the ultimate thrill" she said, reciting the answer she'd scripted perfectly.

This went on for about another hour. He asked more about the joyriding, her experiences in prison, and eventually about her intelligence. He had just asked her whether or not she thought she was smart enough to serve on the Enterprise when Admiral Pike opened the door, ending their conversation.

"I think that will do, Admiral Joseph" Pike said, cutting Kristen off just as she was about to tell the guy off for underestimating her intelligence. Instead, she sat back silently and watched as the man in front of her packed up his things and then departed, giving Pike a nod before leaving.

"Nice timing" she commented as the Admiral jerked his head for her to follow, Kristen noticing as she rose that he was dressed in black sports clothing like her.

They had taken about five steps into the hallway when she asked where they were going.

"Your physical training starts today Cadet. Try and keep up" the Admiral said jovially as they game to a glass door which lead to the outside, the quasi-elderly man breaking out into a swift jog the second his foot hit the outside concrete.

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"Slow...the fuck....down" she wheezed, lagging several paces behind Admiral Pike who, after about 22 miles of running, looked as he'd just stepped out for a light jog instead of the almost marathon they'd just ran.

He looked over his shoulder, saw her lagging behind, and slowed down, coming to a brisk walk as they continued their run along a boardwalk.

"You're doing better than I thought you would" he commented pleasantly as she caught up with him, walking with him stride for stride even though she was dying on the inside. She looked over at him and nodded, the feeling mutual.

"Yeah. Same" she replied back, trying to get her breathing under control. They came to a halt by a bench underneath a tree and sat, Kristen allowing the shade to cool her core down to a manageable temperature.

"You know Pike, I'm getting a little tired of this testing crap. I'm starting to think maybe you don't want me on that ship" she joked with half sincerity, giving the Admiral a look with her eyes to convey her sentiment.

"Well, this is the last of them" he said nonchalantly, gazing out onto the Pacific. She looked over at the Admiral's profile and waited for him to elaborate. When he didn't, she pressed him for information.

"What do you mean, this is the last of them?" she asked, needing clarification.

"Test. This is the last test. Congratulations, Ms. Shaw. You're officially a member of Starfleet"

She yelled out in jubilation and jumped off the bench, pumping her fists in the air with ecstasy as she celebrated her victory.

"How do you feel right now, Ms. Shaw?" Admiral Pike asked as he observed her celebrations with humour in his eyes.

"Pretty damn good" she said, finally settling down but feeling as if fireworks were still going off on the inside.

"Comparable to a cop chase?"

She took a second to think about it, but her answer came to her instantaneously.

"Better"

(Author's Note: Hey everyone. First of all, thank you so much for all the amazing response! It truly means a lot! Anyways, keep reading to see what Kristen's sarcasm is going to get her once aboard the Enterprise. Once again, THANKS! ))