Second Chances: Chapter 80
A/N: I'm so excited to see the post-Voyager future in Picard. So excited, in fact, that I'm getting distracted by so many story ideas. But it's all good, because we're almost done with this one. So close...
Stardate 54293
August 2377
Seattle, Earth
Izzy was bouncing on her toes, a little bundle of energy in a flight suit, her eyes fixed on the monitors in front of her. B'Elanna didn't know why she was so focused on watching her competitors fly; she was leaps and bounds ahead of them in flight skills, and that wasn't a warped impression from a proud mother. She was married to a test pilot, after all. She had picked up a thing or two about flying since she met Tom.
"You're starting to make me nervous, Izz," Navi commented from her position next to B'Elanna. Izzy turned to give her a look before turning right back to the monitors, apparently not deeming that comment worthy of a response. "Wow," Navi murmured. "Tough crowd."
"Izzy takes flight competitions very seriously," B'Elanna commented. Navi raised an eyebrow.
"Your kid take something seriously?" she asked sarcastically. "Who would have seen that coming?"
"He's going to hit the asteroid," Izzy said matter-of-factly, and sure enough, a second later, the simulated shuttle glanced off the asteroid on the screen, the score counter in the corner deducting points for the impact. "He's too slow." B'Elanna knew that Izzy wasn't speaking to them; her running commentary of other people's flights was for her own edification, the way Tom would talk to himself when he was focused on something. "I don't think he's going to be able to finish the course in time."
"So how does this work, Izz?" Navi asked. Izzy turned back to her and frowned slightly, and then sighed, as if she was dealing with a slow and burdensome child.
"Five- and six-year-olds only have one course," Izzy explained. "It's a timed obstacle course. The obstacles are the same for everyone, but they come randomly, so my course will look different than Raj's. There's two asteroids, an ion storm, three turns, another shuttle—"
"What happens if you hit any of the obstacles? Or miss a turn?" Navi asked, and Izzy sighed heavily again at the interruption.
"If you hit any of them hard enough to crash, the course ends," she said. "If you hit them just a little, you get a penalty and lose points. If you don't finish in 20 minutes, you don't get any points. I can do it in less than 12," she boasted, then frowned. "I have to do it in 11 minutes, 43 seconds without penalties if I'm going to break the record. Or faster if I get any penalties."
*Isela Paris,* the overhead announcer boomed. *Fifteen minutes until start. Please proceed to Simulator 5 for the 5 to 6 year old division. Isela Paris. Fifteen minutes until start.*
"Ready, Izzy?" B'Elanna didn't know where Izzy's coach had appeared from—probably one of the other simulators—but there he was, ready to give last minute instructions as he walked her to the simulator.
"Good luck, Izzy," Navi called out. Izzy gave her an exasperated look.
"Fly true," B'Elanna said quickly, before Izzy could dwell on Navi's words. After she was out of earshot down the corridor, she explained to Navi, "It's bad luck to wish them good luck. Or something."
"I had no idea pilots were so superstitious," Navi commented, and it was B'Elanna's turn to give her an exasperated look.
"Really?" She asked. "After how many years of Tom giving you flying lessons?"
"Good point," Navi conceded. "So Izzy's going for the record?"
"She's been going for the record. She almost had it last month, but got too excited and didn't correct for the last asteroid fast enough and ended up with a penalty." Izzy had been angry, then inconsolable, and then determined, watching the video from her last competition every night before going to bed, working on her reaction time drills to the point of distraction at school.
They watched Izzy's competitor—Raj Singh, another child of Starfleet officers, as most of the kids in the 5-6 year-old category were—as he barely finished the course before the end of the 20 minute mark, and then the monitor for the Simulator 5 went dark as it reset for Izzy's route while she performed the safety checks on the simulated shuttle. They never had simulated deficiencies for the youngest age group, but the checks were still required, to get them in the habit of doing it for when they started flying in real shuttles when they were 10.
And then the screen went active, and as soon as the course started, Izzy was off without missing a beat, expertly handling the first turn at speeds that made B'Elanna wince, even though she knew it was just a simulation. "Gods," Navi murmured.
"Mm-hmm," B'Elanna murmured in response, her eyes not leaving the monitor.
"She really knows what she's doing," Navi continued. "And her reaction times! I have got to get her in the lab."
"No studying my daughter."
"Too late for that, really." They lapsed into silence as they watched the monitor. "She's ahead of the record pace. What record is this she's trying to break?"
"Tom's record, from when he was her age," B'Elanna replied. Navi chuckled.
"No paternity test needed," she joked as Izzy expertly flew around an asteroid, and then 11 minutes and 38 seconds after she started, she crossed the finish line, and they watched on the monitor as the display changed from Course Record, ages 5-6: T. Paris (2351) 11:44.02 to I. Paris (2377) 11:38.42.
They threw a party on the beach to celebrate Izzy's new record, complete with ice cream cake, at the request of the new record holder. Navi, now in her thirds year and therefore granted weekend liberty, was able to join them, and the trio of Navi, Ainsley, and Kajsa had a rare afternoon together before Navi had to return to the dorms at curfew and Kajsa would be spending Sunday in the cartography department at Pathfinder, and for just a few hours, they got to act like the teenagers they were instead of the adults Navi and Kajsa were desperately trying to become and Ainsley was just as desperately trying to avoid becoming.
The next Thursday was Tom's week after the call between Pathfinder and Voyager. B'Elanna brought Izzy in, and for the full five minutes, Izzy regaled him with a turn-by-turn recitation of her competition, and Tom couldn't look more proud.
Lt. Torres was in the process of explaining Romulan shield generators when cadets began scrambling to their feet. She stopped in mid-sentence, frowning, and then realized what must have been happening and turned to the door. "As you were," Admiral Owen Paris said to the class, and they hesitantly returned to their seats.
"Admiral," she greeted Owen. "If you don't mind, I still have 15 minutes left in class."
"I think you'll have to finish up on Monday," Owen replied. He stepped into the room, Izzy close at his heels. B'Elanna opened her mouth to ask what was going on, and then she noticed people filing into the room from the rear door as well: Admiral Yasinski, Commander Ao, Nicki, T'Pana, Commander Harkins. She turned back to Owen and noticed the small box in his hand, and it all clicked.
"Sir," she said with a sigh. "We talked about this." Her name had appeared on the promotion list for August, but with getting Voyager home seeming eminent, she decided that she was going to hold off on actually pinning the rank until after Tom got home. It was bad enough that he didn't wear the rank he had earned two years before; she most certainly wasn't going to parade around in hers.
"And I overruled you," Owen pointed out with a smile. He turned to the class and spoke in his admiral voice. "I first met Lt. Torres when she took my Survival Strategies course her second classman year," he began. "On the first day, I assigned her an engineering problem, and she immediately put together a team to tackle the problem. I tried to tell her that it was her responsibility, but she replied that nothing in Starfleet is a one-person job, and that it was my son who taught her that."
Torres smirked at the memory as she crossed her arms and leaned against the back wall. "I've always had an issue with authority figures named Paris," she said dryly, and he nodded and chuckled in agreement.
"B'Elanna worked harder than I had ever seen a cadet work in that class," Owen continued. "She woke up early to run—no rest for award-winning decathletes—did all of the course work, and then stayed up to work through problems in warp mechanics. She was impossible to fatigue, and still is. Working full time at Pathfinder, teaching classes here at the Academy, mentoring cadets, raising my granddaughter, and still running marathons." He looked over at her and smiled. "I may not have chosen her to my daughter-in-law—my son came up with that one all on his own—but I did choose her to run the propulsion engineering section of Pathfinder, because I knew that she wouldn't stop until the job was done.
"Every once in a while, we get the opportunity to reward officers for meeting and exceeding our expectations, by giving them even greater responsibilities and expectations," he continued. "We found out a few weeks ago that we would get that privilege this month. Cadet Torres," he said, turning to Navi. "Publish the orders."
There was a split second of a wicked grin on Navi's face before she sprang to her feet, her PADD in hand. "Attention to orders!" she called out, and as one, the cadets came to their feet as well, snapping to positions of attention. B'Elanna sighed internally, but followed suit, straightening to attention. "The President of the Federation, acting upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Starfleet, has placed special trust and confidence in the patriotism, integrity, and abilities of Lt. B'Elanna Torres. In view of these special qualities, and her demonstrated potential to serve in the higher grade, Lt. Torres is promoted to the grade of Lieutenant Commander, Federation Starfleet, effective Stardate 54308.18, by the order of President Min Zife."
"Izzy," Owen said, handing the small box to his granddaughter, who took it with the solemnity that the moment required. B'Elanna knelt down so Izzy could reach her collar and pin the black pip next to the two gold ones that were already there.
"Thank you, Izzy," B'Elanna said, kissing her daughter on the top of her head before she straightened and faced the class. "Last time I did this, they told me I had to make a speech, but you guys listen to me talk for an hour and a half three times a week anyway, so I think we could forego that this time around."
"We have cake!" Izzy offered.
"Let's do that instead," B'Elanna replied.
And for the last ten minutes of Comparison Systems, Lt. Commander B'Elanna Torres decided to forego Romulan shield generators in favor of sharing cake with her students.