Admiral Madeline Carter, age one hundred and seven, rubs her temples, feeling the beginnings of a migraine. Before her sits a large stack of PADDs, full of paperwork, paperwork in need of completing.
She's Starfleet's first female Admiral, but the job is not as ground -breaking or exciting as the press put it out to be. Most of the time, it involves sitting behind this desk and signing PADD after PADD of boring, dull, set-form paperwork. Mostly it's leave requests, reports, minor promotional paperwork, reports, requests to go speak at functions, reports...
Sometimes, actually, most of the time, she wishes that she was back out in the field, in space, Captain of a starship, boldly going where no one has gone before. But then again, she is an Admiral, she's Starfleet's first female Admiral and she's proud of that. She's got a duty now, she knows, and that duty is what makes this paperwork bearable. She's not just one Admiral; she's an inspiration now, a poster girl. She wants to inspire the next generation of female Starfleet Officers.
But even so, that doesn't mean she has to like paperwork...
There is a chime at the door.
'Come in. It's not locked.'
Her Yeoman, Alice, steps in.
'Good afternoon, Admiral. You have a request from the East African School for the Gifted in the United States of Africa. They want you to go make a speech for their Orientation Day.'
Madeline sighs. She gets hundreds of these requests every week. She very rarely manages to make them. And it's not usually her choice.
'Will I be going, Alice?'
'Well, you just happen to be at a conference in the United States of Africa the day before...'
She smiles. This is why she's an Admiral. This is why she's still working.
'I'd better start writing my speech then.'
Alice smiles, makes a note on her PADD and swishes out the door.
It's a few weeks later when she's standing behind a lectern, in a large hall, in the United States of Africa. The Principal of the East African School for the Gifted has just announced her, and there is silence in the room. Everyone here knows about Starfleet. Many of these kids believe that they'll make it one day, to the stars, boldly going. They all listen intently, enraptured.
She begins her speech.
'Once, a very long time ago, I was as young as you were. I had your hopes, your dreams...'
As she speaks, her eyes sweep across the sea of youthful faces, varying in age from five to eighteen.
'I decided when I was around your age that I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to achieve something, leave a legacy...'
As her gaze returns to the front row, she catches the eye of one of the students. A very young, dark-skinned girl, about five years old, straight dark hair in a ponytail, eyes focused and intense.
It's that intensity that draws her in. It's somewhat disconcerting, but it's strong and determined and so sure, that she finds it difficult to look away. The girl seems to sense that, but is not perturbed in the slightest.
The rest of the speech passes strangely quickly.
'Follow your dreams. Believe in yourself. Reach for the stars.'
The girl smiles at that, nodding, the light in her eyes stronger than before.
About an hour later, as she is being ushered quickly away, after a tour of the school, she hears a voice behind her, an unfamiliar voice.
She spins around.
It's the girl from the front row, with the determined eyes.
'Pardon my intrusion, Admiral. But I would very much like to thank you for visiting our school. You're a hero to me, a trailblazer. One day, I'm going to be in Starfleet, and I want to be the best Communications Officer in the 'Fleet. There are people who don't think I can, or should, because I'm a girl. But you're the first female Admiral, and you showed them. Thank you.'
The girl attempts to stand to attention. Madeline smiles.
She's very, very confident. Some may say that she's full of herself, but there's something about her, a steely determination, an impression that she doesn't care what everyone else thinks. Besides, since when could five year olds speak so coherently? She's got to be something special.
By the time Nyota Uhura is old enough to attend the Academy, Madeline Carter is long retired, forever immortalised in history as Starfleet's first female Admiral.
By the time Nyota Uhura becomes an Admiral herself, Madeline Carter is long dead.
But neither of them ever forgot the intense young girl in the front row, or the Admiral standing and speaking at the lectern.