Starfleet Academy: James Kirk Square

San Francisco, California

Earth

"Rei, we're gonna be late, get your blue haired ass moving!" Logan McLeod shouted from down the square.

Rachel – or Rei, as everyone called her – was often accused of daydreaming. In this case, she was daydreaming on the statue of Jim Kirk standing in the middle of the so-named square.

There were a lot of similarities between her and Kirk. For one, they both preferred their designated nicknames.

For another, both had "cheated" the dreaded Kobayashi Maru, since neither of them believed in a no-win scenario. There was always one more thing that a Captain could do. Jim had snuck in and re-programmed the simulator so that the Klingons would respect his name when he came to rescue the disabled ship.

The simulation had changed in the time between Jim and Rei had taken the test. In Rei's case, being that it was 2410 and the Klingon Empire had been solid allies for two centuries, her solution required a bit more than just respect.

Kobayashi Maru was no longer a damaged Federation freighter trapped behind the neutral zone. Now, it was a Starfleet Battlecruiser that was about to attack an Imperial Romulan Starbase, with the Starbase in question not being a military target, but hosting civilians.

The basic test was still in place. The Captain had to make an impossible choice between duty and morals. Duty required that the Captain obey orders and assist Kobayashi Maru with the attack. Morals said that firing on civilian targets was wrong.

"I'm coming, just give me a minute," Rei shouted back.

She turned away from Jim and took in the view around the square. Above her, freighters and shuttles from a dozen different nations were cruising across the San Francisco sky. Rei spotted a pair of Romulan Republic Kestrel shuttles making the turn above the Golden Gate Bridge.

There was no way that anyone in Jim Kirk's time could have predicted something like the Romulan Republic, which was but a vote away from being a member of the Federation. In those days, the Romulans were hated enemies, and had it not been for tension with the Klingon Empire, it might very well have been the Romulan Neutral Zone in the simulation.

And they wouldn't have respected Kirk as much, Rei thought to herself.

"So, did you think about what you're gonna say for the big speech?" Logan asked, half teasing.

Rei winked at him, "I've got a few ideas. Had some decent inspiration back there."

Her mind wandered back to the statue. Kirk was the most infamous opponent of the Klingon Empire. Even to this day, entire books had been written about fighting his tactics in space. But in 2293, he'd been the first person to sign the Khitomer Accords.

History had a funny way of repeating itself. Mom had entire books written about herself by the Romulans, mainly because she'd been the first Starfleet Admiral to actually fight with the Rei Karansu during the Dominion War, something even Kirk couldn't have dreamed. And her name had been first on the signature list when the Federation recognized the Romulan Republic.

"Just don't drag your mom into it. I could use a break from all the lectures," Logan protested.

Rei punched him on the shoulder as they rounded the final corner, "And who was the one who asked her for an autograph on his copy of Na Jul's Exploits?"

"I thought we said we weren't gonna talk about that again," Logan said, embarrassingly blushing away.

"Your secret's safe with me, Logan," Rei teased again.

They'd both kept each other's secrets. Rei had taken a page out of Kirk's book. While Logan bored the Deltan instructor with his attempts at flirting, Rei borrowed her mother's access codes and got into the programming of the simulation.

It wouldn't have been original to copy Kirk's method – and she'd be too likely to get caught anyway – and simply programming an auto-win button was a cop-out.

So, instead of being forced into checkmate, Rei opted to change the game to Dungeons and Dragons. She programmed a hidden Tal Shiar agent to beam aboard Maru and take it over, removing the impossible choice and making the mission a simple game of who could shoot better.

And Rei had been the best shot of the class.

The pair at last reached the party, and Logan was aghast at the line to the bar.

"Damnit," he cursed, "We're never getting a drink in all this."

Rei peaked her head around the corner and recognized the bartender. She smiled in recognition and grabbed Logan's hand.

"I got this, follow me."

Rei ignored the protests and pushed her way past the crowd. Leaning against the bar, she cried out. "Uncle Mark! Down here!"

Marcus Castle – Uncle Mark to Rei and his very few friends – had spent almost a decade dodging the celebrity status of being the very first General of the Federation Marine Corps.

Half of the cadets in Rei's class swapped ideas of how to get transfers to the Marines. The other half wrote essay after essay calling the Sharkies everything from thugs, criminals and even terrorists.

The fact that a team of snipers from the so-called "Five Tribe" 5 Guards Rifles watched over the party from their positions on the roof of HQ didn't help.

Mark turned to look at the shouting Rei, and true to his nature about not caring for anything answered back, "Rei?! The fuck are you doing down there?!"

Rei smiled back at her so-called Uncle. "I'm waiting for a drink, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Are you even old enough to drink?" Mark asked, half staggering from his own beer in hand.

"Oh come on, Mark. You gave me my first beer, remember?"

Mark sighed. "Yep, your mom never let me forget it. I'd rather be back on DS9 shooting up Jem Hadar than dealing with that again. What'ya have?"

Rei winked, "The usual, rum and coke."

Mark snapped at the many Romulan and Reman bartenders to make the drink.

After retiring, Mark had promptly moved to New Romulus and opened a bar in honour of one of his fallen Marines, the Texan Grizzly Bear. The bar was a resounding success, and quickly branched into catering events across the Alpha Quadrant, including the Starfleet Academy Graduation of 2410.

While Rei waited for the drink, Mark sized up her friend with his eyes. "And who's this little piss-stained Fishie next to you?"

Rei laughed. "He's Logan. He was a step behind me in class. He's mostly cool, just needs me to help him out sometimes."

Mark drew himself inches away from Logan. "Tight little pants you got on there, Logan. Word of advice? You'll be keeping those pants on around my niece, or the word pain won't even begin to describe what Five Tribe puts you through."

Logan, who knew Castle only by reputation and mission reports, gulped hard and nodded back. "Sir, yes sir! Pants are staying on, sir!"

"Don't sir me, you idiot! I hung up my MDU a long time ago. Now get your eyes off my niece's ass and tell me what you want to drink!"

"Umm… same as her, sir!" Logan snapped back sharply.

Mark cuffed his shoulder. "Atta boy! Verix! Another double over here!"

The Reman barmaid put a pair of glasses on the bar. Logan quickly snatched up his drink and half ran from the bar, making the excuse for small talk with his Tactical professor.

Rei took a sip and sighed. "Do you have to scare off every boy that talks to me, Uncle Mark? He's actually kinda nice."

"Cut me some slack, Rei. Your mom and my aunt told me to shoot any suitor that was anything short of D'Tann himself even taking a third glance at you. Puttin' the scare in him builds character. Besides, I still think you'd do better with a Marine," Mark said, teasing her with a wink.

Rei simply shook her head. "One day, I'm gonna bring the most handsome, charming boy home for Christmas dinner. And he's going to have a perfectly normal job, like a baker or a star drive engineer. And you are just going to have to live with that, like it or not, civie."

Mark laughed this time. "Aye, aye, Ms. ACCP grad. Nice job, by the way. Your mom couldn't make it, but she told me to say she's proud of you."

Rei raised her glass. "Thanks, Uncle Mark."

Mark poured a second glass and pressed on. "So, any idea where your first posting is gonna be? I think I can still get a word in for ya on Vanguard. Word has it that her skipper and the guy who replaced me are still pretty tight."

"A battleship sounds so boring, to be honest. I kinda want to see something new, ya know? Maybe a light cruiser or something. Mom swore she wouldn't pull any strings for me, so we'll see what the Admiralty decides to give me."

"You are taking on an MCT, right?"

Rei rolled her eyes. "Yes, Uncle Mark. I was paying attention to most of your stories over Christmas dinner."

Mark slid her another drink, "Never doubted ya. You lean on your Sharks kiddo. They'll keep you safe."

The MC stepped to the raised podium on the other side of the bar while Rei sipped her new drink, "Your attention please, Cadets. The formal Ceremony will be starting shortly. Your Valedictorian will be giving a brief toast to start us off. Cadet Nechayev, please report to the podium."

Rei finished her glass, "That's me. Thanks for the drink, Uncle Mark. And be nice to Logan, please? He's kinda cute."

"No promises. Knock em' dead, kid," Mark said, raising a glass in turn.

Rei, with a drink in hand, walked to the podium with the cheers of her classmates almost drowning out the noise of the shuttles overhead.

She set her glass down, raised the QC mic to her mouth, and smiled, "Hey everyone. I'm still not sure why you voted for me, but like my uncle says, better to whole ass one thing than half ass everything, right?"

"Here here!" Mark shouted over the laughter.

Rei raised her glass, "It was a long road, getting from there to here. But we all made it. I'd like to think we all came out of this better friends, and better cadets. The class of 2410 is the highest marked Academy class ever, bar none. More of us graduated ACCP in one year than every year put together."

"That means we're special. So, its up to us to prove how special we are. At the end of the day, its not about where we go, but how we get there. I think we'll do okay though. And to steal a line from my Uncle's Marines, Semper Fi! Here's to us!"

The cadets all rose as one group and raised their glasses high.

"To us!"

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