"Her name is Mel," Bones started while brushing the horse's mane in a smooth and practiced manner, as if he had done so a thousand times. He had. "She's about 10 years old, American Quarter horse. We got her right after my sister died, so I named her after Melissa. Every time I'm home I try to ride her, she deserves more from me, but H.C. rides her when he's at the farm along with his sons Andy and John. Now that Donna's back I'm sure she will too." Bones finished talking, still brushing Mel's mane, not looking up at Jennifer yet.
"She's beautiful." Jennifer said in almost a whisper.
"Just like her namesake. I miss her, you know? Melissa was always the best of all of us. She was always happy, smiling even through the worst of times. Then, well, I know I told you she killed herself, but I didn't exactly tell you the whole story. Happy people don't kill themselves, and she was happy, all the time. Until she met this guy Josh. He… he killed her, Jenn." Bones looked up from his repetitive motion, stopping for a moment, locking eyes with Jennifer. "They started dating when she was about sixteen. Melissa was super happy with him, but she was sixteen, and naïve. One day she comes home from a date, crying her eyes out and ma asks her what's wrong, right? Well she didn't tell her. Didn't tell anyone. Just ran up to her room and shut herself in. She didn't come down for two days. Two days." Bones went back to brushing Mel's mane. "She went to school that Monday and came home, went straight to her room. This went on for about three weeks. Well, after those three weeks, she came home crying again, and still wouldn't tell anyone what the hell was going on. She snuck out that night, from what I gather, and we spent hours searching for her. Finally, one of the cops finds her, in the creek, dead. Just like that. It took a while, but they finally ruled it suicide. And guess what? She was pregnant too. Well after that, dad decided he wanted to know why his daughter would do such a sinful thing as that, and read her diary. He almost killed that kid, Josh afterwards. I read it once too. And you know what I found? That kid raped her on her date. Impregnated her, and she didn't tell anyone because she was too scared to. So she killed herself after dealing with that fear for three weeks. And none of us saw it. Not a one." Bones turned around and hung the brush up on the stable wall before looking at Jennifer again. "Crazy thing is, she would have been a great mom, wonderful even. But that bastard drove her to kill herself."
Jennifer kept looking at Bones, her face scrunching up with sorrow for him, at having to experience his sister's death, and anger at the guy who drove his sister to that.
"We got a horse about a month later, probably because ma and dad saw how much Melissa's death was screwing with me. I've been riding horses since I could walk, you know? So I named the horse Mel, seemed fitting, because I see Melissa every time I look at this horse." Bones grabbed a harness, bit, reins, and started to put them on Mel.
"You know, I don't get how I didn't see that Jocelyn was neglecting Joanna like that? How'd you see it?"
Jennifer lowered her head for a moment, thinking of the best way to tell him, to try without hurting him.
"Look, Len, the only reason I suspected it was because I've been there. My mother's brother, my Uncle Frank, he… well Joanna wasn't nearly as bad off as me, okay? Frank was a shithead that my mother left me with when she decided she couldn't handle us anymore, and I, I just know what neglect looks like, okay? The kicker, when I decided to ask Chris to send someone down to check it out was when Joanna commed twice in two days. You remember that?"
Bones looked up at her, face screwed up into an unreadable expression. "Yeah." He muttered.
"Well, she was wearing the same clothes as she was the day before, and you remember how she said Jocelynn wasn't home? Well, I may have hacked their security system and some other stuff. It was showing that Joanna was left home alone a lot. Like too much. So I called her school, asked some questions. Then I asked Chris to have someone look into it. Remember last weekend when I wasn't around?"
"Yeah, you said you had some stuff to take care of out of town or whatever. Which, I'll admit, was strange because you almost never leave San Francisco, but it wasn't any of my business."
"Yeah, well, I went to Georgia, after I called your mother, who called Donna. Guess Donna and Frank had just barely moved back. Joanna's been with them since that weekend. I confronted Jocelyn, told her she had about two options. One, she could let Joanna go with Donna right then without a fight, sign some pre-drafted papers, and that you'd be in Georgia the next weekend. Or two, she could try to fight it, drag her daughter through a messy legal debacle, and lose credibility with anyone and everything she had. Clay too. It took her a minute, but she agreed to let Joanna go and sign the papers terminating her parental rights. She said that she only fought for custody because she knew it would hurt you and that she's not mother material after all. That and Clay hates kids. So that's pretty much it."
Bones looked at Jenn with widened eyes and brows both raised to his hairline.
"What the hell am I gonna do? Shit. That… how did I marry such a… god Jenn." Bones shook his head and brought both hands up to cover his face in frustration and anger.
"You're going to be fine. Donna and Frank will keep Joanna with them until we can figure something out for you guys. In the meantime, she's being well cared for and not with that crazy woman and her douchebag boyfriend. I'm sorry, I know you didn't want me to do anything, even if you didn't know what exactly was going on, but I couldn't just sit there and let that happen to her. She's your daughter, and I love that little girl too much to let her go through something similar to what I did when I was younger."
"Jesus."
"Saved your ass and if I wasn't so damn stubborn would probably save mine too." Jenn laughed back. It made Bones laugh, so she was glad she'd said it.
"Saved my ass, if I was I wouldn't have to put up with you." Bones retorted in his typical dry humored manner.
"Yeah, but you love it. I'm too much of a pain for you not to." Jennifer shot him an award winning grin and punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"I must." Bones chuckled.
"So, you gonna teach me to ride this horse, or what?" Jennifer asked, starting to pet said horse between its eyes.
"Yeah, well, that was the plan. Unless, don't tell me, you already know how."
"Nope. Never been on a horse in my life."
"Well, finally, something I can teach you."
"I bet you could teach me more than to just ride a horse, Bones." Jennifer winked at him, not noticing the rise of heat flushing his cheeks.
"Oh, I could teach ya some stuff alright, kid, but we'll start here."
Learning to ride the horse wasn't all that difficult, Jennifer realized. It was the easy part. However, getting on and off the horse, well, that was more complicated. But she didn't mind, as it made Bones laugh like crazy.
Back at the house Mama McCoy was setting the dinner table along with the help of Joanna, Andy, John, and Donna's daughter Anna, who Jennifer hadn't met yet. As soon as Jennifer and Bones walked through the back door and into the kitchen Mama McCoy was starting to scold them.
"Oh no you don't! You two will go back outside before you take another step into this house, remove your shoes, and shake of whatever it is you're trying to track through the house. Then you will go upstairs and clean yourselves up for dinner. No, don't argue with me Mr.! You know better. And you should too, little missy! You're both old enough to have some common sense, now go use it!" Mama McCoy finished her rant shaking a wooden spoon at Jennifer and Bones who were about to keel over from withheld laughter.
Walking back out the door, Jennifer playfully shoved Bones. "You dick! You knew she was gonna yell at us, why didn't you warn me?" Jennifer started taking her boots off when Bones shoved back at her, causing her to lose her balance and fall on the back porch right on her ass.
Bones erupted into a fit of deep laughter. Jennifer shot him a look and threw her boot at him.
"Oh come on now! It's not fun unless you get scolded too!" Bones picked up her boot and threw it back at her, missing her person on purpose.
"This means war!" Jennifer said standing up from taking off her other boot. She ran to the door and inside, locking it and Bones out within seconds.
"That's not fair! Open the door!" Bones cried out.
"Jennifer Kirk, you open that door and let my son in. You two will not play your games in my kitchen, ya hear!" Mama McCoy mock scolded Jennifer, smiling viciously at their antics.
"Yes, mama." Jennifer replied, unlocking the door and running the other way towards the stairs. Bones ran in after her.
"No running in my house!" Both Jennifer and Bones heard behind them.
Jennifer was at the top of the stairs before she realized she hadn't run fast enough. Bones tackled her into the guest bedroom she was occupying before she was able to turn around to close the door on him.
"Why Leonard H. McCoy! I thought you were a gentleman!" Jennifer declared excitedly underneath of Bones. He was straddling her now, and Jennifer couldn't help but feel a burning heat course through her, settling in her groin.
"Well, darlin', you're not acting much a lady right now either." Bones replied back gruffly. He pinned her arms down to the floor effectively immobilizing her.
"I never claimed to be a lady." Jennifer replied, whispering in a raspy voice she recognized too well.
"Y'all better be behaving ye'selves now, ya hear?!" Jennifer and Bones both heard Mama McCoy shout from the bottom of the stairs. They locked eyes momentarily before Bones shot off of Jennifer, almost as if he hadn't realized the nature of his position on top of her.
"Uh, I, um, I'm gonna hit the shower real fast." Bones mumbled awkwardly.
"Yeah, me too." Jennifer replied casting her eyes down to the floor.
"You'll have to use the one in my room, I just heard the hall bathroom close. You can go first. I'll just use the one in the hall when whoever's in there finishes up." Bones replied, glancing up at Jennifer.
"Umm, okay. Just let me grab my stuff." Jennifer didn't even argue, she was still taken aback at what had just happened. And how she really didn't mind too much.
Bones turned around and left the guest bedroom and Jennifer to gather her things up, hoping with all his might that she hadn't noticed his own body betraying his less than gentlemanly thoughts about their recent predicament.
Jennifer quickly gathered a change of clothes and her hygiene items and sauntered over to Bones' room, thanking whatever deities that might exist that he was merely human, as were his senses.
Bones noticed Jennifer walk into his room, the door had been left open on purpose, and motioned her towards the bathroom silently.
"You know, you could just shower in your room and I can use the hall bathroom when it's open." Jennifer said.
"Nonsense. You'll take too long. Use my shower. I'll probably even be done before you anyway." Bones argued back, grabbing a pair of jeans from his dresser and heading out of his room before Jennifer could respond.
Jennifer got out of the shower and dressed, walked out of Bone's room just in time to see him emerging from the hall bathroom shirtless. She stopped in the middle of the hallway, unable to keep from admiring his fit physique. She decided that her best friend was, even more than she thought, pretty fucking hot. How had she not noticed this yet? They did share a room at the academy. Had for over six months already.
"Forgot a shirt in my room." Bones mumbled apologetically, noticing that Jennifer was staring at his shirtless form. "Sorry. I'll be down in just a second."
"Right, uh, yeah. See ya downstairs." Jennifer replied, shot into the guest bedroom to drop off her dirty laundry and hygiene kit and headed downstairs.
Dinner was uneventful, well as uneventful as it could be in a house full of McCoys and one Jennifer T. Kirk. There was laughter to be had all evening while the full house enjoyed a home-cooked meal provided courtesy of one Eleanora McCoy and the help of her grandchildren.
After dinner, when the kids had gone outside to play the adults at the now clean once more table were in the midst of a most serious discussion.
"So Jocelynn's signed the papers, basically handing me full custody of our kid, after all the hell she put me through? Well excuse me if I don't buy it!" Bones slammed his fist on the kitchen table angrily.
"Bones." Jennifer whispered looking at her best friend worriedly. "Bones, it's going to be alright."
"How? I can't exactly… what the hell am I going to do?" He asked sagging into the chair he was sitting in.
"Well, for starters, you're going to realize you have a family who loves that little girl of yours just as much as you do and that we are going to help you." Donna said sternly.
"And that together we are all more than capable of giving Joanna a warm and healthy home." Mama McCoy added.
"We have kids too, ya know?" Henry Clay said. "And we're not about to let our niece slum it up. We know you're working hard to graduate at the academy, and that even if Joanna was to come live with you in San Francisco it'd be like medical school all over again, but at least now you'll actually be able to see her more, and not worry about her."
"Besides, between me, H.C., and ma, well, Joanna will be the happiest little girl alive. Well, Anna too I guess. Those two are thick as thieves already. And Andy and John will be around to keep the boys from hurting their cousins." Donna informed him.
"Like I said, Bones, everything's gonna be fine. We all love your daughter, and we love you, we're not going to let anything happen to her, and she's not going to be neglected anymore. In fact, she'll have so much love and company she won't know what to do with it." Jennifer said.
"Alright, alright. I get it." Bones put his hands up in a happy defeat. "Donna, I'll put together a power of attorney for you, just in case. Thank you guys. All of you. I… I don't know what I'd do without you." Bones replied to the group.
"Well, you can just relax now and enjoy the rest of your weekend with your family, Leonard, knowing that darling daughter of yours is safe and happy again." Mama McCoy stated.
Bones looked around the table at his family, at Jennifer, and smiled. The stress of the last couple of years was finally lifting off his shoulders and it felt like he could breathe normally once again. Jocelyn may have ruined his life momentarily, but it was getting back on track, and he couldn't ask for anything more.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to go see what the kids are up to and join them." Jennifer said after a moment, standing up.
"Right there with ya, kid." Bones replied standing as well.
Outside the kids were playing tag and although Jennifer and Bones were more than content just to watch them, the kids had something else in mind. Almost as if the four of them shared some sort of hive mind, when their eyes caught a glimpse of the two adults all four rushed their way grinning mischievously. Anna, Andy, and John tackled Bones while Joanna ran straight into Jennifer.
"You're it, Miss Jenn!" Joanna proclaimed and once again all four kids were running, only in the opposite direction.
Bones was on the ground and looked to Jennifer narrowing his eyes. "Don't even think about it, Jenn."
Jennifer covered the short distance in between her and Bones with only a few steps and before Bones could even right himself off the ground Jennifer touched his shoulder softly and whispered.
"You're it, Bones." Then Jennifer took off running in the opposite direction as well.
It didn't take long to find the kids, Bones could see the bushes around him moving awkwardly and there was no wind outside to force the vegetation to move. But he wasn't after the kids. He was after one individual in particular. When he found her, it was by pure chance. She had hidden behind a tree and was extending her neck to look just beyond her cover on the reverse side that Bones had just passed. He wouldn't have even bothered looking in her direction if he hadn't heard her sigh. But she did. And he knew he had her.
Without wanting to let her have a chance at escape, Bones didn't walk or run the few meters separating him from Jennifer. He lunged.
Jennifer was taken quite by surprise for she found herself one moment standing on the ground and the next moment laying prone in the grass with a heavy body pinning her to the ground.
Bones tilted his head next to her ear and she could feel his hot breath against her skin, sending shivers down her spine. "Tag, you're it." He whispered before jumping off of her and running away.
Jennifer was momentarily frozen in place before she regained her senses and went after him.
The weekend pressed on without further incident and the McCoy family, including the unofficially adopted member Jennifer Kirk, enjoyed their time together greatly. Joanna McCoy, although she did not want her father and Miss Jenn to leave, was happy enough to receive news that she would be living with her Aunt Donna and Uncle Frank along with her cousin Anna. Henry Clay and his two sons left the day before Bones and Jennifer did, H.C. had to take the boys back to their mother's, and Mama McCoy was just saddened that all her kids were emptying her house once more.
Jennifer couldn't ask for a better family, blood related or not.
Back at the academy Jennifer was putting her time management skills to the test. Not only was she taking more classes than the average cadet due to her accelerated course load, but she was also now the assistant instructor to the hand to hand combat class and training with Commander Spock three times a week in the mornings. She managed to get away to Georgia twice over the next month with Bones and visit with the family that had adopted her without preamble.
A week before Spring Break was due to start, Jennifer was called into Captain Pike's office for a meeting.
"Cadet Kirk reporting as ordered, Sir!" Jennifer stated per regulation snapping to attention and rendering a hand salute in front of Chris' desk.
"Oh sit down, Jenn. No one's even here." Chris waved her off casually.
Jennifer sat down in front of Chris' desk and leaned back. She knew something was up, but from the casual way that Chris had dismissed her salute she gathered it wasn't bad news at least.
"You wanted to see me, Chris?" Jennifer asked.
"Yeah. I managed to convince one of the captains of a small transport vessel to host a little training cruise for some of our more promising cadets. You're on the short list. So, how would you feel about a week and a half aboard the USS Aldrin while she transports a diplomatic party from Earth on a tour of the Federation's founding planets?"
Jennifer looked at Chris with her jaw dropped. Normally cadets in their first year at the academy are not given the opportunity to do any duty tours aboard starships, regardless of the class. Granted, Jennifer was not the academy's typical first year student, technically she was operating as a second year student now that she had taken the required Federation Policy and Federation History courses.
"Cat got your tongue, cadet?" Chris laughed.
"Um, yeah. I mean, yes, I would like to participate in the training cruise, sir!" Jennifer replied, still stunned.
"Thought you might." Chris looked down at his PADD and typed on it for a moment. "Just sent you your orders. You'll be joined by Cadets Uhura, Mitchell, and Michaels, who will meet you at the shuttle bay. Cadets Savage, Xanghou, Adams, and George will also join you on the ship but they are assigned to another shuttle. The captain and first officer will be the ones to meet your group personally at the shuttle bay."
"And just what will I be doing?" Jennifer asked, curious.
"Well, as this is a diplomatic mission and you're on command track with progress to suggest specialization in engineering, not to mention your programming background, I guess I'll just leave that up to the captain to decide. Don't worry, kid, you'll be fine. I'm sure Thompson won't harass you too much." Chris chuckled. "Besides, he won't be the only one monitoring your progress." Jennifer was suddenly overcome with a sense of foreboding that didn't quite sit well with her, but she pushed it down and ignored it for the time being.
Instead, Jennifer just stared at Chris as if he might still be kidding, "You're serious about this, right?" Jennifer finished her reply with the question, still unsure if this was really happening or not.
"If you'd rather not go…" Chris trailed off in mock sincerity.
"No, sir! I mean, I want to go, of course I want to go. Thank you, sir! Chris! I won't let you down!" Jennifer rambled excitedly.
"I know you won't, Kirk. Because if you do, well, you'll have to answer to me." Chris replied with a viscous smile and a promise. A smile Jennifer knew meant that if she fucked this up there would be hell to pay. A smile Jennifer would later learn to adopt, because it scared the ever living shit out of her. Chris' expression softened with a chuckle when he realized he'd made Jennifer stiffen. "Do me proud, kid."
Jennifer softened and smiled one of her award winning smiles. "I will, Chris. I will."
Chris stood up then, Jennifer followed suit. "Dismissed, cadet."
"Sir!" Jennifer was at attention and gave him a salute, but her face was not devoid of that smile. Jennifer executed a perfect about face and walked out of his office leaving his yeoman none the wiser to what she was currently feeling inside. That she was jumping for joy and excitement that was barely contained in the walls of her mind.
One week later Jennifer was heading to the shuttle yard of the academy to meet up with the group of cadets that Captain Pike had mentioned earlier. She didn't realize that Cadet Michaels was someone she was going to recognize, though, because her mood quickly changed from overjoyed to a mixture of positive and negative emotions she couldn't even categorize the vast variety of.
"Evan?" Jennifer whispered upon coming into hearing range with the group of cadets awaiting the shuttle to take them up to the USS Aldrin.
"J?" Evan answered, shocked as much as Jennifer was.
"I didn't know you were still at the academy." Jennifer proclaimed, shocked that she hadn't put two and two together when Chris had mentioned a Cadet Michaels.
Although the name was common enough, she hadn't run into many people with the last name Michaels that were at the academy. In fact, she only knew of two others currently at the academy. One was a professor, a civilian, and another was a first year cadet. The last she had checked up on Evan Michaels had been two years ago, and he was supposedly in his second year at the academy. Jennifer, although she tried to shove memories of her past off planet far down, still managed to keep tabs on the kids she was with during that time. Evan, although two years younger than her, had enlisted into Starfleet earlier than she had with a focus on agricultural sciences. The only other of her kids that she knew were even on track to study at the academy were Thomas Leighton and Kevin Riley. Leighton was old enough to enlist, being around the same age as Kirk, but Riley was still too young to join the academy without special permission. He was, however, going through academy prep at the age of fifteen.
"You knew I was at the academy?" Evan asked, obviously shocked that Jennifer had known anything about his life at all. Uhura and Mitchell stood on the sidelines observing the two young adults converse, both confused.
"Yeah. I've always kept tabs on you guys. I just couldn't… they wouldn't let me talk to you guys. And then, well, it'd been so long, I just figured it was for the best. But, well, I've always known what you guys were up to, where you were. I just, well, I've been busy lately and haven't checked up on you guys. Why are you still here? I thought for sure… I mean you were supposed to graduate before I joined up anyway."
"Yeah, well, I had something I had to take care of. You remember Lori?" Evan asked.
"Of course. What happened? Last I heard she was safe in Pennsylvania with her adopted family and happy." Jennifer replied instantly, worried. Lori Garnette had been six years old at the time of the massacre that was Tarsus IV. She was also Evan's cousin, so it would have made sense that they were able to maintain contact, even if they were both adopted by different families.
"Yeah, well, she had an accident that left her blind. Irreversible blindness. I took a year off to help her. Her adopted parents died in the accident and I am family, so yeah, I was contacted." Evan explained.
"Damn. That's, wow. I didn't know that. I'm sorry, Evan. How's she doing?" Jennifer asked her old friend, concerned.
"She's doing alright. The reason I'm back is because she's at a school now, learning to live with being blind and all that. She told me to go back. Said I was smart enough to be here and that I shouldn't waste it. She's right, of course."
"Of course. Hey, I know she's not eighteen yet, but uh, do you think I could see her when all this is done?" Jennifer asked cautiously.
"I'll talk to her about it." Evan smiled.
"Sorry to interrupt what seems to be a reunion of sorts, but, how do you guys know each other?" It was Mitchell that spoke, and he didn't sound sorry at all. In fact, he was preening at Jennifer, wondering, by his facial expression, if Evan was yet another one of Jennifer's 'conquests' on the well rumored long list that seemed to be gathering popularity among the academy's cadets who liked to gossip.
Jennifer realized this instantly and her protective persona won over in anger. She held her gaze with Mitchell but her expression changed from being mildly irritated at having been interrupted upon the first word he spoke to outright rage at his insinuation.
"How Evan and I know each other is none of your goddamned business, Mitchell. Back off." Jennifer snarled at him. Evan seemed to catch on, because his relaxed stance changed into one that was positively aggressive. Uhura, who had still yet to say anything, finally spoke up.
Jennifer wasn't sure what she was expecting from the brilliant communications track cadet, her history with her so far had been tumultuous at best. Although the two seemed to have started being able to act civilly towards one another with each passing X-Ling club meeting, they were still far from best friends.
"Back off, Mitchell. If Kirk says it's none of your business, butt out." Uhura said sternly.
"Wow. Didn't think you'd back up Kirk, Uhura." Gary turned to the communications cadet with a gross smile. "Thought you guys were like mortal enemies. Don't tell me she got you into bed too?" Uhura couldn't repress the shiver that coursed through her at Mitchell's statement that wasn't really a question.
To her credit, however, Uhura recovered quickly, before Jennifer or Evan could say anything. "As if. Just because I don't like her doesn't mean I don't respect her. You, you're just a man whore who wants to sleep with her like everyone else at the academy. Do you even have a type, Mitchell?" Uhura retorted, using Mitchell's own argument against him.
"What? I can't admire beauty? Shame. I could admire your beauty all night long, Uhura." Mitchell shot back greasily.
Uhura shivered again, out of disgust. Jennifer was about to jump back in but she spotted two Starfleet officers making their way to the group of cadets fast.
Jennifer snapped to attention and saluted the officers along with Evan. Their action called attention to the other two cadets who ceased their interaction and followed suit.
"Cadets." The senior officer saluted back. "Don't tell me there's already a problem. We haven't even gotten on the shuttle let alone the ship. Do I need to ground you?" Jennifer recognized Captain Thompson immediately from when she'd looked up his file right after her meeting with Pike. The brunette female officer next to him was Commander Avalon Marks, his first officer aboard the USS Aldrin.
"Not at all, Captain. We were merely discussing our mutual excitement to be permitted to join the USS Aldrin and her crew on its latest mission, sir." Jennifer replied smoothly.
Captain Thompson laughed. "Of course you were. Relax, cadets." Each cadet relaxed slightly, folding their arms and their hands behind their backs. "I'm Captain Christian Thompson and this is Commander Avalon Marks, my first officer. You'll follow us and we'll escort you to the shuttle and then we'll meet with each of you to explain your duties. You may still be cadets, but as this is a training cruise, albeit a short one, you'll each have duties and be given a provisional rank of ensign for the duration of the mission."
"Yes, sir!" The group of cadets replied simultaneously. They followed behind Captain Thompson and Commander Marks towards the shuttle.
The shuttle ride to the ship was spent in silence, although Evan and Jennifer exchanged a few pointed looks, they both knew that the captain and first officer would be the ones to greet them personally, had been told in advance actually, but they confirmed their mutual suspicions with one another just then that both had thought it rather odd.
Once aboard the Aldrin and cleared through medical each cadet was given a time to report to the captain's ready room for an initial brief and quick interview. Jennifer arrived just as Evan was leaving. He locked eyes with her and nodded once. Jennifer knew immediately that it meant he was still suspicious of their involvement on the training cruise but didn't have any more time to contemplate the thought further before she was called into the captain's ready room.
"Cadet Kirk reporting as ordered, sir!" Jennifer snapped a salute from the position of attention once she walked in and stood in front of the captain's desk.
"Relax, and as of right now you're an acting Ensign. Take a seat, Kirk." Captain Thompson told Jennifer. Jennifer turned her head to gauge the distance to the seat and took two steps back before sitting down.
She'd already noticed Commander Marks' presence in the room, standing next to the Captain. All in all, everything appeared normal, however, Jennifer was not an ordinary person. She'd had experience with reading people, and she knew that whatever was said next, based off the two officers posture and Evan's nod moments before she entered the room, that something was going on. Something she wouldn't be told. Something that she would be tested on, probably.
What it was, she didn't know. She hadn't had classes yet that would predict a test of any sort on a training cruise just yet, neither had the other cadets she'd rode on the shuttle with. The cadets that Pike had mentioned in her meeting a week ago, however, were all third or fourth year cadets who had taken the Advanced Tactical Analysis course and the Advanced Tactical Training program which was invite only. All were ATT rated and their presence on the ship couldn't be a coincidence. Of course Jennifer had done her homework on anyone that was mentioned during the meeting with Pike. It wasn't every day that a seemingly random group of fresh cadets was asked to join a seemingly rushed together training cruise. Even if Uhura, Mitchell, and Evan weren't as fresh as she was to the academy, Jennifer knew that by training cruise standards at least, Uhura and she shouldn't have been invited along.
Yeah, something was definitely going on.
"The USS Aldrin has been given orders to escort a group of diplomats to visit each of the Federations founding planets. The group includes diplomats from each planet as well as three from the planet Faiga II who wish to join the Federation." Captain Thompson started. He was giving her the mission brief, which she assumed the crew of the Aldrin had already received, but why she, and the rest of the cadets were being given this brief individually was what she was more interested in. And wasn't this supposed to be a training mission? "Talks have already progressed to a certain point where the ambassadorial party wishes a tour of the Federation. We will be spending two days at each planet. Now, I know you're still in your first year at the academy, and your qualifications have made set you as a second year technically, so what I want to know from you is what position on this ship you think you're capable of performing duties in." Captain Thompson finished.
"Your academic record suggests that you are somewhat qualified for multiple duties aboard the ship, including duties in engineering, security, and even limitedly in tactical." Commander Marks added.
Jennifer thought about it for a moment, considering her options. She knew that they had access to her academic profile, which included her history with MACO, so the fact that Commander Marks only thought she would be able to serve in a limited capacity in tactical somewhat surprised her. She didn't let it show, however. She'd made her decision. Jennifer was on the command track, so serving in a tactical position onboard was…well it made sense for a command officer. Jennifer also loved proving people wrong who underestimated her, and this was just such a position. Yeah, her decision was made, sense she was being given one.
"Tactical. If you're giving me an option to serve in whatever capacity you've mentioned, I'd prefer to serve in tactical, sir." Jennifer replied, addressing Captain Thompson specifically.
Captain Thompson exchanged a quick look with his first officer before looking back at Jennifer. Yeah, something was definitely going on.
"Right, well then, you'll report to Commander Basilone, Chief Tactical Officer." Captain Thompson notified her officially. He picked up a PADD from his desk and looked it over. Jennifer figured it was the shift schedules, but she was surprised that all he had to do was look at it. Apparently Captain Pike had conversed with the Captain about her specifically before she was brought aboard. Hey typed in something on the PADD and handed it to Commander Marks who looked at it and nodded.
"Give that to Commander Basilone and notify Lieutenant Savage of the decision." Jennifer arched an eyebrow in recognition of mention of Savage's name which went unnoticed and she schooled her expression just before the captain turned back to look at her.
"I'm putting you on the bridge for beta shift, you'll be working with Lieutenant Savage, sharing his duties for the duration of the mission. For now, I want you to report to Commander Basilone, Commander Marks will escort you to him now, and then you will join the bridge crew for Beta shift in eight hours. So after you report in, get some rest." The captain finished his instructions.
"Yes, sir." Jennifer replied.
"That's it. You're dismissed, Kirk." Captain Thompson ordered. Jennifer stood up and snapped to attention rendering a salute to the captain and waited to follow Commander Marks out of the ready room.
Jennifer was making connections quickly during the walk to meet up with Commander Basilone, who was on the bridge currently. It was a short walk, but Jennifer's mind was quick and she'd made the connections she could with the information she currently had.
One, Lieutenant Savage was still technically a cadet, but was ATT rated and slated to graduate with the rank he was currently hold onboard, as were the other cadets Pike had mentioned who were aboard as well. Two, the mission, diplomatic in nature, was definitely more than it appeared. Three, the Captain had obviously anticipated that Jennifer would want to serve in tactical above anything else, and she knew she would be tested. She could only guess how the others would be tested. Uhura was a communications track cadet, Evan was on the sciences track, Mitchell was on command track as well, but with a preference for flying than actually commanding, even if he was an ass, Jennifer knew that he was a pretty decent pilot. Four, the training cruise had been thrown together quickly. Evan suspected something more was going on as well.
Jennifer knew that this training cruise, legitimate mission or not, was more than just that. It was a test. An evaluation. It was the only thing that made sense. Obviously the ATT cadets were evaluating the group Jennifer had come on board with, but so was the Captain at the very least. What Jennifer didn't understand was how ATT was involved and why they would be evaluating Evan, Uhura, Mitchell, and herself while on a supposed diplomatic mission, unless they knew something was going to happen. Which Jennifer had a sneaking feeling that something, whatever it was, would happen. She decided that she would need to be on high alert at all times.
"Commander Basilone," Commander Marks greeted the Chief Tactical Officer on the bridge, "this is acting Ensign Jennifer Kirk. She will be serving as a junior tactical officer and sharing the duties of Lieutenant Savage on Beta shift per Captain Thompson's orders." Jennifer immediately noticed the tone that Commander Marks was speaking to the tactical officer with, bordering on straight up hostile. Obviously there was history between the First Officer and Chief Tactical Officer.
Jennifer didn't understand it, at first. Commander Basilone was a straight up badass in her opinion. She'd heard of him, and he was ATT rated too. The only reason he was even assigned to the Aldrin and not a ship like the Yorktown or the Farragut was because of his daughter. As the USS Aldrin primarily did missions straight from Earth, and not too far out from it, the Aldrin was the preferable assignment if he wanted to remain on a Starship. And, so far, Jennifer's read on Commander Marks was that she was kind of a bitch. So she was of the opinion that whatever history was between the two officers, whatever had happened, it was Marks that fucked it up, not Basilone.
"Alright. Leave her here. I'll escort her to her quarters after I'm done talking to her." Basilone replied, and not an ounce of hostility could be detected in his voice. In fact, Jennifer noted a marked indifference instead.
Commander Marks exhaled loudly, obviously upset over Basilone's lack of response to her intentionally antagonistic tone and walked off to the turbo lift. Jennifer just stood there, trying to mask her interest in the interaction between the two officers. She was curious, but really, she figured it wasn't any of her business. So she didn't bother asking.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Basilone gestured to the turbo lift. "After you, Kirk." Obviously he wanted to talk to her off of the bridge.
Jennifer walked to the lift, it having already dropped Marks off wherever she'd wanted to go and returned, and entered. Basilone was right behind her. As soon as the lift doors closed Basilone stopped the lift and turned to face her.
"We dated. It didn't end well. Then I was assigned here. Obviously there's some residual resentment, but that's all her. She's the one that cheated." Basilone said, answering Jennifer's unasked question.
"Sir?" Jennifer asked, confused as to why he'd offered the information in the first place.
"You were wondering why the commander was acting so aggressively. So I told you. You'd find out anyway." Basilone shrugged before returning the lift to operational status.
"Honestly sir? Yeah, I noticed it. But I figured it was none of my business. Whatever you guys do or don't do in your personal time is your business, not mine, or anyone else's for that matter. Obviously if you guys are serving on the same ship the captain doesn't have a problem with it and it doesn't interfere with your duties, so respectfully sir, it really is none of my damn business and I don't care one way or the other." Jennifer replied.
"Well. Good. Because the next thing I was going to say was that I don't care what you think." Basilone laughed.
Jennifer relaxed, slightly, before deciding to raise a rather important question. She figured she'd either get a straight answer or not. There was only one way to find out.
"Sir, what's really going on?"
Basilone looked at Kirk for a moment when the lift stopped. "Hold on. Follow me." Jennifer obeyed and followed him out of the lift and down the hall. From when she'd studied the Aldrin's blueprints, she realized they had come to the senior officer's crew quarters. Basilone stopped in front of a door and within half a second it hissed open. "You coming in?" He asked and Jennifer stepped in before the door hissed shut.
Jennifer surveyed the room and knew instantly that she was in Basilone's private quarters. Basilone was getting something from his nightstand drawer. "Take a seat, Kirk." Jennifer sat down a small table next to the room's replicator. "You drink?" Basilone asked.
"Depends. What are you offering, sir?"
Basilone turned around and walked the short distance between his nightstand and the small table. He set down two glasses with his left hand and popped open a cork on a bottle of light brown liquid. "Bourbon. The good stuff."
"I can be persuaded into a drink, as I don't have to duties until Beta shift, sir." Jennifer replied smoothly. She knew that Basilone was technically on shift, but she wouldn't begrudge the man a drink. She also knew that Basilone was sizing her up. Better to accept the drink, and if it came down to it, not drink it than outright refuse, from what she'd noticed of the man so far.
"So, what's going on in regards to what?" Basilone asked pouring their drinks.
"The mission. Us cadets. This so called training cruise that was put together rather hastily. All of it."
"Why do you think something's going on? You guys were briefed by the captain, yes?" Basilone asked, and Jennifer was aware that he knew the answer. He was still sizing her up, Jennifer figured. Well, she'd give him what he asked for. He was the Chief Tactical Officer, and a Federation Badass.
"Because none of it makes sense. Starfleet is escorting a group of diplomats around to Federation worlds because some planet that I've never even heard of wants to join the Federation? I don't buy it." Jennifer started. Faiga wasn't listed on Starfleet's consideration list last she checked. And she checked the list about once every two weeks. No way was Starfleet considering a planet for admission into the Federation fast enough to allow them into the heart of Federation space already.
"Then there's a rush on putting together a training cruise, a short one, with a very small group of cadets that are studying completely different tracks, well minus Mitchell and myself I guess, because we're both Command track. If this was a simple training cruise, there would be more cadets than just us, even with the ATT rated cadets who already have their commission and are really just waiting to graduate to be assigned to Starships. Who, by the way, really don't fit into the equation if this is just a diplomatic mission, training cruise or not. It doesn't add up." Jennifer finished pointing out the major pieces, figuring that she'd leave out two Tarsus survivors were currently on board, and that even though most Starfleet personnel didn't have clearance high enough to be aware of that fact, Pike knew, and so did Barnett, who would have had to personally approve the cadet roster for such short notice training cruise.
"So, something's going on. I just don't know what exactly. And, as I'm supposed to be performing in a tactical capacity for this mission, even if it is just roaming around well within Federation space, I should know what the situation really is in order to be most effective." Jennifer finished pointing out all the discrepancies and realized Basilone was chuckling softly.
"Well, you're observant, I'll give you that. And smart. You did your homework. I'm guessing you looked up the files of the other cadets, the ones that didn't come on the same shuttle as you. Probably realized that while the Aldrin does operate missions primarily from Earth, playing diplomat taxi didn't fit. Am I right so far?" Basilone asked, Jennifer just nodded in the affirmative without speaking.
"Figured. You probably already realized that usually a mission of this caliber, considering all the diplomatic officials on board, wouldn't be given to just any ship. That the diplomats would probably have their own private ship suited just for them." Jennifer nodded again, because she had thought that.
"And while I can't confirm your accusation that Faiga isn't a real planet or tell you what the other group of cadets is doing here, I will say one thing." So Faiga wasn't a real planet, and she wasn't going to be getting any real information.
"Stay alert. You're observant, but keep your observations to yourself, unless they directly affect the mission as stated by the captain." So it was a test after all.
"And I probably don't need to tell you this, based on what I've picked up from you so far, but for God's sake, don't get involved with anyone on this ship. Word gets around, and it won't reflect well on you. You've got a good head on your shoulders, Kirk, and a shit ton of potential from what I see. I'd hate to see you throw it down the drain over a petty office hookup." Basilone chuckled again, downing the last of his drink. Jennifer hadn't touched hers, and he grabbed it off the table before standing up.
"Good choice, by the way, not drinking that. If you had, well, I'd hate to have to explain to our CMO why I carried an unconscious cadet to sick bay already."
"Wouldn't dream of it, sir." Jennifer laughed, yeah, she was already being tested.
"Come on, kid, I'll show you to your quarters."