Chapter Two

Third Person POV

When River left the conference room, Captain Gibson and Ensign Church were gone. River walked to the shuttle bay to see Jack waiting for her by the shuttle. "Oh great. They left me with you." She said, crossing her arms. "No need to be harsh." Jack said, smirking at his little sister. River rolled her eyes and walked into the shuttle. It's wasn't that River didn't like her brother, he just got on her nerves more than most people.

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The shuttle ride to Earth wasn't half as bad as River had thought. They talked about the previous mission they'd been on and how it had affected the crew.

Once they'd reached the shuttle base on Earth, Jack said he had to leave and meet up with someone and probably wouldn't see River for a while if she was headed back to the Academy. River smiled at her brother and hugged him tight before they said their goodbyes. They waved one last time before getting into their respective cabs and heading in different directions.

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River arrived at the Academy around midnight and the place was completely dead. River thanked the driver and went to the instructor dorms. She found her room and went in, collapsing on the bed. She wasn't going to lie to herself, she was having second thoughts about coming back here. She didn't think anything good would come from it, but she made a promise to Christopher and she wasn't about to back down from a promise. Setting the alarm, she threw her blankets over herself and fell asleep.

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The next day, she went with Christopher to Iowa to get his recruit. She had been more than a little surprised when they walked into the bar to find three cadets wailing on one guy. They all snapped to attention when Christopher made his presence known. She grinned a little when the bleeding man made a snarky comment despite his state.

River walked outside and confronted the cadets. "This is unacceptable behavior. I'd expect more from future Starfleet officers. If there is another outburst such as this, there will be consequences." River ordered, dismissing them and waiting for Christopher to come back out.

"Any luck?" she asked when he walked back out. "Worked like a charm. He'll be there." He said, sounding confident as he straightened his uniform shirt. "I hope so." She mumbled.

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The next morning, River looked up when she heard the rumbling of a motor bike. "Four years? I'll do it in three." He told Christopher before turning to River. "James T. Kirk." He flirted, giving his best grin. River raised an eyebrow and sent a glare at Christopher who only grinned. "Not your type." She said, looking back down at her PADD. Once Jim was in the shuttle, Christopher burst out laughing.

"Oh, shut up." She said, handing him her PADD and headed into the shuttle as well. "It won't be as bad as you're thinking it'll be." Christopher said, following her into the shuttle and into the cockpit. "I hope you're right." She said, sitting down into the co-pilot's seat.

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"Welcome to Starfleet Academy. I am Commander Velez. After you've had your paperwork approved, you'll be assigned to your Commanding Officer. Your CO will take over from that point on. They will inform you on everything you'll need to know while you're here." Velez explained once all of the cadets had gotten off the shuttles.

"Our Commanding Officers are," he said, pointing to the line of Starfleet Officers dressed in their gray uniforms and going down the line to introduce them. "Commanders Anderson, Collins, Fredricks, Freedman, Jackson, Jefferson, Jordan, Green, Preston, Spock, Thomson, Terry, Williams, and Zexton. I, myself, will not be a CO. I am here to welcome you to the Academy. I hope you find your time here enjoyable and inspiring. Have a good day." He said and then went over to one of the Cos and handed her a PADD before leaving the room.

"Good morning, I'm Commander Green and will be some of yours CO. If you will all head into next room, your paperwork will be reviewed and accepted if approved. Once you're done there, return here and you will be assigned to your CO." River said.

"There's no way she's an officer. She looks like she should be down here with us!" Jim whispered angrily as he and McCoy made their way to the next room. River grinned and turned around to see Spock standing behind her. "Hello, Mr. Spock. It's been a while since I've seen you. How've you been?" she asked to the only person she'd considered a friend while at the Academy.

"I have been, to use the human term, fine. And yourself, Commander?" He answered, hands clasped behind his back as usual. "As good is as to be expected." She answered, giving him a small smile.

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Once all the cadets had been sorted through, the accepted came back into the assembly hall. River started calling out names, having them line up in alphabetical order with their respective CO. "Gregson, Rankin, Kirk, Durham, Wells, Lewis, Hatton, Anderson, McCoy, Smith, Maxwell, and Lee. You're with me. Davis, Jefferson, Bryson, Carlson, Good, Uhura, Mullins, Sexton, Pabon, Whiting, Sampson, and Eyer. You're with Commander Spock." She said, calling off names of 168 cadets and assigning them where they needed to be.

Once everyone was assigned off, River took her group away from the others. "Now that we're in a smaller group, let me introduce myself again and give you some of my background. My name is Commander River Green. I was recently assigned to the USS Lexington until coming here to teach. I'll be teaching the psychology course here. As I'm sure some of you have noticed," she said, glancing at Jim. "I'm a little young to be an officer. I was the first of my race to join Starfleet. I'm from Tepido, the home planet of the Provectus."

A/N: Please R&R!