A Tall Ship
She was beautiful! Brian could not tear his blue eyes away from her. She seemed to fill the entire docking bay with her presence even if she was only one ship among the dozen docked inside the gigantic Earth Spacedock. To him, she was the only one that mattered. He pressed his hands against the floor-to-ceiling transparent aluminum window, his face only inches away from open space. He wanted to get even closer, to reach out and touch her.
The slender, brown haired eleven year old tuned out the droning lecture from their class's tour guide. He knew most of that stuff already. His class had spent the last week on a Starfleet themed class project. They'd made models of famous Federation starships and read the logs of captains from Archer to Pike. It had all lead up to this, a field trip aboard the humongous Spacedock facility in orbit of Earth, which Brian could see every night from his house in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Every time he stared up at it, he dreamed of flying a starship out of that very facility and exploring the stars.
Brian smiled as he read the lettering on the ship's saucer-shaped primary hull. It was the same as the model he'd made in school and which now sat on his desk at home: NCC-1701 USS Enterprise! A name that was linked with Starfleet since before the Federation even existed. From the days of Archer and April and Pike. And now, here she was, right in front of him.
"I never get tired of this view," a man's voice said from right next him. Brian glanced up to see a tall man with short brown hair wearing a gold uniform. The gold stripes of a captain adorned his sleeves. The man smiled and Brian smiled back. A Starfleet captain! Talking to him!
"It's not often I get to see her like this. Usually, I have to stare at the bulkheads." The captain smiled again and held out his hand. "James Kirk."
"Brian Smith," Brian shook Kirk's hand and it was strong and firm. Brain's Dad always said a man should have a strong hand shake. Brian stared at the stripe's on Kirk's sleeve, what kind of stories were behind them?
"Are you Enterprise's Captain?" Brian asked, amazed he hadn't stuttered. Kirk nodded, gazing out at the beautiful Constitution class starship.
"I am indeed. Been her captain for nearly five years now. We've flown from one end of the galaxy to the other, seen things you can't imagine. And somehow, came back home in one piece."
"Wow!" Brain exclaimed, "did you meet any Klingons? Or Romulans?"
Kirk chuckled a little. "Yes, yes we did. The Enterprise had a few battles with the Klingons and even a Romulan Bird of Prey. That was a real mess. We even met some Tholians one time."
Brian knew he must've looked silly with his mouth hanging open. He had never met a Klingon or a Romulan and had no idea what a Tholian was. Someday, I'll find out! I'll go even further and find things nobody else has ever seen.
"You know," Kirk said, "They may build them bigger and faster, smarter and tougher than the Enterprise. But she'll always be one of a kind. A true lady. And, as my ship's Doctor likes to say, if you treat her like a lady, she'll always bring you home."
Brian nodded, taking a long look at the Enterprise. She even looked fast and smart, just sitting there in Spacedock. He tried to imagine what it would be like to make her go really fast, maximum Warp, find out what she could really do! It made his 11 year old mind practically explode at the possibilities.
Suddenly Brian turned around and could not see his class anywhere! They were all gone! His stomach turned. How long had he been standing here, talking to Captain Kirk? They could be anywhere. Brian looked around every which way, panic starting to build.
"Brian, what's wrong?" Kirk asked, his steady gaze sweeping the room. Brian fought his panic. A good Starfleet officer never panicked. He took a deep breath.
"My class, they were right there but I can't see them anymore!" Brian said as calmly as he could. "They're not anywhere."
Kirk squeezed his shoulder, smiling his warm smile again. "Don't worry, we'll find 'em."
The Captain pulled out his communicator from his belt and flipped it open. Brian felt himself relax. Nothing could happen to him with Captain Kirk around. No wonder they beat the Klingons. Kirk made him feel invincible.
"Kirk to Enterprise," he said into his communicator.
"Spock here, Captain." A deep voice replied.
"I've got a young man here who lost his class group, Spock. Do me a favor and scan the Spacedock for them? Look for a group of kids and a teacher."
"Yes, Captain one moment." Spock said. "I have them, Captain, on Deck One, the Operations Center."
"Thank you, Mister Spock, Kirk out." He shut the communicator and smiled at Brian. "Deck One, let's go."
Brian grinned. Kirk and his crew had just saved him. I'm gonna be a captain just like Kirk one day. I might even command the Enterprise, the tallest ship in the Fleet!