Cora stood outside Admiral Pike's office fidgeting with her Class A uniform wondering if this is the last chance she will have to wear it. The receptionist gave her a nod; Cora took a deep breath and walked into his office. The Admiral stood at the window, staring outside, he turned around as Cora walked in. He gave a small, yet warm smile and motioned her to sit. "Thank you, Sir." Cora took a seat with her cap in her lap.

Admiral Pike looked at Cora and leaned back in his seat. "Ensign, I have called you here to review your time on-board the USS Aldrin. I have looked through your file and you have had several disciplinary actions listed, stating that you do things without authorization and on your own terms. Could you please explain to me why you were transferred from your post?"

The nervous officer thought for a second and responded, "I defied orders, Sir."

"I know that is what the report states. What I want to know is: what were the events that took place the day that Captain Cirroc transferred you off of his ship?"

"I reported to Engineering, there was a breech in the warp core. The team was working on locating the problem. I was assigned to diagnose the readings and outputs from all the components connected to the core. I could tell something was wrong, even though all the readings showed that everything was operational."

"What do you mean? Please explain how you could tell something was wrong." Pike interrupted.

Cora paused, took a breath, and then continued, "Sir, when everything is working properly the ship makes a particular sound. When I was trying to find the solution, I could hear a difference in the ship. Everything was working harder than normal. I knew there must be some kind of leak. So when I looked closer at the readings, I saw that they weren't low, so they weren't triggering the alarm, they were actually high, too high. I tried to explain to Lieutenant Levinson that we were dealing with more than just the warp core, but he didn't want to listen to me. After he relieved me from my duties, I took it upon myself to find and fix the problem."

"Which meant crawling through an access tube, disconnecting circuits to other areas of the ship, which needed to be repaired by the way, and found this problem that was detrimental to the ship and the entire crew?" The Admiral questioned.

"Correct… Sir." She stared straight ahead, not making eye contact.

"When I read the report from Captain Cirroc, I also reviewed your cadet file. You were first in your class, specializing in system diagnostics. You also did very well in all of your testing. I am curious as to why a well-trained and intelligent, young officer would fail so horribly in her first posting." Pike took a pause to see Cora's response. She sat in her seat, perfectly still, while listening to what the Admiral had to say. She was not trying to make excuses for her actions. "What do you think of Captain Cirroc?"

"He is a very formidable captain, Sir."

"I think he is a royal jackass, myself." Pike picked up a tablet and handed to Cora. "Here, this confirms that you are no longer an Ensign assigned to the USS Aldrin. It also has your new orders, promoting you to a Lieutenant and reassigning you to the Enterprise. A shuttle is leaving in a few hours."

The newly promoted officer stared at the Admiral in disbelief and dumbfounded at what to say. "Sir, are you sure? Is this correct? I am only an Ensign, surely you didn't mean to bump me past Lieutenant First Class and reassign me to the Enterprise?"

Pike let out a small chuckle. "Look, you proved your loyalties and capabilities to me if others can't see or appreciate that, then to hell with them. Your promotion was earned. You saved all of the lives aboard that ship, whether Cirroc cares to acknowledge that or not. The Enterprise is being sent out on a rescue mission and it can use someone with your capabilities onboard."

"What kind of rescue mission, Sir?"

"We received word that the USS McNair is in distress, needing engineering assistance. You will be briefed of your duties when you report to your new post." The Admiral stood up and walked toward Cora to shake her hand. "Congratulations, Lieutenant Patrick, now go board the transport shuttle. I wouldn't want you to be late reporting to your new post."

Cora smiled from ear to ear. "Thank you, Admiral Pike; I won't let you down, Sir"

"Be sure that you don't"

Cora took her tablet with her new orders and turned to walk out of the office when she heard Pike call to her. "Oh Lieutenant," she turned, "don't forget your cover." He handed her the cap she left on the chair. She nervously chuckled and took the cap, thanked him again, and left the office.

Cora reported to the transport shuttle. She was one of a group of sixteen people heading to the Enterprise. She was shown to a seat where she strapped herself in while trying to contain her excitement over her new assignment. A young science officer was shown the seat next to her. The two women looked at each other and smile. "Hi, I'm Cora," she said leaning over to her neighbor.

"Reeka." The young woman stated while shaking Cora's hand.

Cora asked, "Is this a new post for you?"

"Yes." She responded with a smile, "It is my first on a ship. I was stationed at Starfleet Science while I was advancing my training. What about you?"

"I was just transferred from the USS Aldrin today." Cora stared at the small ridges on the bridge of Reeka's nose and asked, "Where are you from?"

"I am from Alaska."

"I meant originally." Cora said as she was pointing to her own nose.

Reeka blushed grabbing the ridges on her nose. "To be honest, I have no idea. My family has been moving around for a couple hundred years. We have all lost track of who we are and where we come from. I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska and that's where I call home. What about you? Where are you from?"

Cora looked out the shuttle window and could see the lights of the city. "Here, in San Francisco. As far back as I could remember I wanted to join Starfleet. I think part of it was that it was in my own backyard." She could now see the Golden Gate Bridge, "It is my destiny."

Both women kept their eyes on the infamous bridge as long as they could until they were into the atmosphere. The shuttle ride didn't take that long since the Enterprise was in orbit. This stop at Starfleet was needed to pick up the additional crew members, make some minor repairs and restock supplies.

The shuttle passengers were advised that they were minutes from landing on the Enterprise and to be ready for departure. Cora and Reeka sat up while remaining strapped in to their seats, both anxious to land.

The shuttle docked and the hatchway door opened. A Lieutenant approached the passengers who started to unhook their restraints. "Attention please, I need the following people to come with me, Johnson, Erikcs, Mila, Riggs, and Adders. The rest of you will meet an officer when you exit the shuttle." The new crew followed the Lieutenant.

Reeka and Cora got up and headed out of the shuttle. Standing still in the shuttle bay was a Vulcan officer. "Hello." He stated. "Welcome to the Enterprise."