April 5, 2254
"He's got lots o' money, his clothes are kinda funny, his gang is kinda wild and free..." hummed a young adult Nyara as she sat at the edge of a fountain. She was wearing a red cadet's shirt with matching pants—the Pikes were proud of their daughter's desire to break gender roles and norms and not wear a skirt. She had been 19 when she enrolled in Starfleet Academy and now she was 21.
"You one of those Leyenar nerds, I see?" said another cadet as she was passing by. Leyenar Oh was a legendary writer who lived in the 21st Century who was responsible for many brilliant literature as well as the screenplay for a plenty of movies, but what truly made her famous was all the crazy stunts she pulled in her life such as how she threatened her own life to get DC Comics to have Hal Jordan admit that he loves Sinestro and vice versa. Her courtship of the Star Wars character Grand Admiral Thrawn was a well-known tale in the Federation, perhaps famous enough to rival the Klingon legend of Lord Kahless and Lady Lukara. Hell, the video she made to propose to Thrawn was two centuries old and yet, it was still viral! Some aliens often mispronounced her first name as "Lei-yeh-nar" and Nyara was a shining example.
"How can anyone not like Lei-yeh-nar Oh?" said Nyara. "She's wonderful! I have all her books and all the movies she did the script for."
"Annalise Holt, but you can call me Annie." said the human girl, extending a hand to the Meechan. "You're Captain Pike's alien daughter, right? You have quite a...reputation in the Academy."
"Annie...well then, it's Nyara for you." she replied as the two shook hands. And with that, our hero made her first friend.
For the next few days, Annie and Nyara had been the "insufferable duo" of Starfleet Academy, exchanging soft, whispered tales and little giggles during class, pulling pranks on boys who underestimated them, playing classic games at the local arcade, and always going out for a drink or two at the end of the day. Nyara would sometimes invite Annie to her dorm room, so they could take turns playing the Doom games.
HandClap-Fitz & The Tantrums
(Turn it up)
Somebody save your soul 'cause you've,
Been sinning in this city, I know,
Too many troubles, all these lovers got you losing control,
You're like a drug to me, a luxury, my sugar and gold,
I want the good life, every good night, you're a hard one to hold,
'Cause you don't even know,
I can make your hands clap,
Said I can make your hands clap,
Somebody save your soul 'cause you've,
Been sinning in this city, I know,
Too many troubles, all these lovers got you losing control,
You're like a drug to me, a luxury, my sugar and gold,
I want your sex and your affection,
When they're holding you close. (Ha, ha, ha)
'Cause you don't even know,
I can make your hands clap,
Said I can make your hands clap.
Every night when the stars come out,
Am I the only living soul around?
Need to believe you could hold me down,
'Cause I'm in need of something good right now,
We could be screaming 'till the sun comes out,
And when we wake, we'd be the only sound,
Get on my knees and say a prayer, James Brown,
That I can make your hands clap,
That I can make your hands clap.
(Turn it up)
That I can make your hands clap.
My flesh is searching for your worst,
And best, don't ever deny,
I'm like a stranger, gimme danger,
All your wrong and your right,
Secrets on Broadway to the freeway,
You're a keeper of crimes,
Fear no conviction, grapes of wrath,
Can only sweeten your wine.
Bet you don't even know,
I can make your hands clap,
Said I can make your hands clap.
Every night when the stars come out,
Am I the only living soul around?
Need to believe you could hold me down,
'Cause I'm in need of something good right now,
We could be screaming 'till the sun comes out,
And when we wake we'd be the only sound,
Get on my knees and say a prayer, James Brown,
That I can make your hands clap,
That I can make your hands clap,
That I can make your hands clap,
(Yeah-yeah, oh, oh, yeah-yeah)
That I can make your hands clap,
(Yeah-yeah, oh, oh)
So can I get a hand clap?
"Someone's in a good mood this afternoon," Annie said, as Nyara stalked towards her table from across the cafeteria.
Nyara slammed her lunch tray down on the table and leaned into Annie's face. "Was it you?" she asked.
"Was what me?" said Annie, all innocence.
A muscle jumped in Nyara's forehead. "Today isn't the day to test my maturity, Annalise," she hissed. "You know what I'm talking about!"
Annie heaved a long, dismissive sigh, and tried to scrounge up some sympathy for her friend, who was clearly wound up in knots like a pretzel.
"Relax, Ny," she says. "I got better things to do than disseminate your smutty literary stylings to the entire student body."
Nyara sent Annie a death-glare for another moment, then fell back into her seat and began shoveling chicken noodle soup into her mouth like a girl who's learned to eat even under even the most desperate circumstances.
"You still look pretty smug for a girl who didn't do any "disseminating"," she accused, between bites.
"Yeah, well, just 'cause it wasn't me that stuck my foot out don't meant it ain't funny when you trip and land on your face." Annie beamed at her.
"Annie!" Nyara glanced left, then right, then ducked her head furtively. "People are reading it."
"You don't say."
"Someone uploaded it to the public Academy server last night at 0001 exactly. It's 1230 now."
"And?"
"And it's already been downloaded fifty thousand times."
Of course, they had to be talking about Captain Jack Sparrow (Finally) Dies, a fanfic of the classic Pirates Of The Caribbean movie series that Nyara wrote to pay homage to the Big L herself, under the pen name NastyNellie2424. "Well." Annie dabbed at her friend's mouth with a napkin. "If they kick you out of the Academy for—I dunno, tragicomedic unbecoming?—then at least you've got a career to fall back on."
"Goddammit!" Nyara threw both arms in the air, then flung her spoon down with an explosive clatter. "It was supposed to be private. Like, an inside joke. Only you guys were ever supposed to see it!"
"Ny." Annie tries to sound patient, but she was now tickled pink and self-aware enough to know she's bad at hiding it. "Writing ten pages of what really happened between Captain Jack Sparrow and the villainous Lord Cutler Beckett in the past so you can do a memory service to Leyenar Oh, now, that was an inside joke. But then you went and turned those ten pages into the first chapter of a damn romance novel spanning all the way to the ending of At World's End and beyond."
"All for her!"
Annie just sighed.
However, as time went by, the one crucial difference between Nyara Euanna Pike and Leyenar Oh would come to light. The legendary writer drew the line at real person shipping, something Nyara would one day enjoy doing. And who could've known, the first two people to fall victim to Nyara's real person shipping would be the infamous Captain Kirk and Commander Spock—something she would benefit from much later in her life.
But before I can tell you that story, I have to tell you this story.
The years flew by, and the time came for Nyara and Annie to go their separate ways. Annie was the one to graduate first and in 2257, she became an ensign aboard the USS Helios, whereas Nyara remained a cadet and they never saw each other again for the rest of their lives.
It was one year later, in 2258, that Nyara experienced the Narada incident, and met James T. Kirk, son of the late George Kirk who died a heroic death, the one her father had so much faith in. She was there when he was made captain of the USS Enterprise, the noble flagship. That was when they first interacted with each other.
"Jim Kirk," he had told her, offering her his hand in the same manner Annie did.
"Nyara Pike," she told him back, and the two shook hands.
Ever since then, she wanted more than anything to serve aboard the Enterprise, doing everything she had in order to do so. Even though both her parents were admirals now, it was never an easy task for Nyara to become part of the flagship's crew but, in the end, she somehow found a way and was given the rank of Lieutenant with her finally boarding the silver lady. Her uniform consisted of a short-sleeved red shirt, black pants with Starfleet-issued boots and a utility belt meant to hold weapons. Tucked into the belt was her precious dagger, as well as a myriad of retractable blades and a phaser.
What happened between Captain Kirk and Commander Spock during the whole Narada fiasco had eventually transpired to Nyara, and that was the moment she began to ship them despite the fact that Spock was taken. Her mind was already conjuring up a brilliant adventure that would make Captain Jack Sparrow (Finally) Dies look like child's play in comparison. It was about two very misfit Starfleet officers who had to overcome their differences and ride their hoverbikes through an alien volcano to rescue an admiral in distress, the shared experience of which caused them to fall in love.
From Arinne, With Love
By NastyNellie2424
And this time, it was for the whole universe to see.
"How are you certain this isn't about us?" asked Spock as he held up his PADD. Apparently, he had also seen the epic tale of Jamie Pierce and S'Tyge.
"OK, first off, S'Tyge is Romulan. You're Vulcan. Also, the Nero Incident never involved volcanoes or hoverbikes at all." Kirk snapped.
"What the hobgoblin's saying is, Pierce has all the parts of you that you don't mind admitting are okay. Like your brains. And your crisp golden hair, and your sky-blue eyes." said Leonard McCoy as he joined in.
"He's got blonde hair and blue eyes, like 80% of all romance novel heroines in the history of literature!" Kirk argued.
That was when one Nyota Uhura decided to join the conversation as well. "Then how do you explain Tish Uhura?" asked the African, showing off her PADD. "She's got my last name. Mine! Red shirt, Chief Communications Officer, linguist, all of those match my description perfectly. Except...she's got that sinister side to her that I don't have. Seriously, what's wrong with this NastyNellie2424 person?"
"I do not know." Spock told his girlfriend. "But what I do know is...this, "fan fiction" is highly illogical."
"I cannae agree wi' ya more, Mr. Spock." Montgomery Scott chimed in. "Just look at what happened ta the Enterprise! This story went on an' turned her inta this murder machine, which she is not!"
"I agree with Mr. Scott." said Hikaru Sulu. "By all means, Starfleet is not a military organization, yet this story made it seem like so."
Pavel Chekov simply gulped.
"I say we report this story to the Admiralty and hold a court martial for whoever wrote it." Spock announced, only for everybody to tell him no.
"Please, Spock, as much as I hate this Tish Uhura character, what if NastyNellie2424 is not a part of Starfleet? And, even if they were, that would earn us only trouble for all this fuss over a fanfic of all things." Uhura said.
Spock sighed, and relented. Nyara saw it all from a corner and giggled.
March 17, 2258
The Enterprise had been restless since she got her new captain, and so was Nyara. As a red shirt, she had to look danger straight in the eye more than once. As she was about to relax, someone knocked on her cabin door. "Oh, come in!" she said.
Niassi Odreakon, a Betazoid who became her friend and partner-in-crime, entered, holding a bag that emitted pleasant, appetizing odors. "You like banh mi, if I remember correctly?"
"How'd you know?" said the Meechan, delighted.
"I'm an empathic." said Niassi while producing disposable plates, forks and knives, napkins, soft drinks and finally a carton of fragrant sandwiches. In a matter of minutes, the meal was set up and Nyara placed one of the sandwiches on her plate. "Oh, Ny, I've been thinking..."
"What?" Nyara asked.
"If this mission is a success, the crew might just celebrate at a lavish restaurant and we might just trick Captain Kirk and Commander Spock into ordering spaghetti!" cried the Betazoid, delighted.
"Maybe they could eat from the same plate!" said Nyara. "Then the captain can start slurping one end of a noodle while Mr. Spock's on the other and when they get to the middle..."
The ladies laughed. Surely they had absolutely no idea what was ahead of them, but one thing was for sure:this whole real person shipping thingy was guaranteed to end in a bang.