Chapter two
Nyota perused the netsite for the academy for fifteen minutes. Every year, she would scour the site, looking for ways to update her application. To be truthful, she could have finished a master's degree in the three years she had been in the United States. But Nyota had dreams. Dream of soaring through space, exploring new worlds and other species.
It had not always been the case. When she was a girl, she dreamed of creating fast hover-cars until that day, her father had a new sign placed on his business.
Uhura and Son Automotive.
Nyota was devastated. The only interest Kamu had in hovercars was making out with his girlfriend of the week in the backseat of one. That was the day Nyota changed her major from engineering, with the goal of building hovercars, to physics, with the goal of attending Starfleet Academy.
Nyota's last name meant freedom, and she was doing her best to free herself from the racism and sexism that was deeply rooted in the Utopian society called United Earth. The planet was only united in that the United Earth Council controlled all resources. It was utopian in that they used credits instead of currency. The economic hierarchy was still the same as it had always been. Those who were on top in the twentieth century still control the world economy.
Nyota glanced up from the Padd just as the sun was sliding behind the moon. In the darkness, it seemed even brighter than it was before the eclipse. And then it was gone, and all that remained was an icy white halo. Nyota imagined that the human ancestors must have been terrified when they first witnessed an eclipse. Despite the advances in science, it was still a remarkable experience.
Nyota switched off her padd as the transport descended into the tunnel under the bay that led back to Sausalito. There was no free net access underground and Nyota could not afford the Netpass for the transport system. It was quite a commute from the San Francisco library to her home in the hills over the bay, but it was worth it. The city library paid twice as much. With her shared housing and using public transport, she was saving a lot. She nearly had enough for two years of tuition.
Nyota scrolled down to the campus newsletter. There were new officers joining the faculty at the academy. Most of them had been on the Farragut, which was back at the Luna Shipyards for a three-year refitting. Nyota looked through the list and stopped when she saw the last officer on the list.
"Wow," she whispered, tracing around his ears with her fingers. It was a real Vulcan. Nyota sighed deeply. She had read about the Vulcans in her Earth history class, but she had never seen one in person. She looked at his field specialty; it was physics. She sighed. Hopefully, she would get a chance to meet him.
Nyota looked up as the transport started to shake. She dropped the padd in her pack and slipped it over her arms. Then she reached over and grabbed a pole as she saw a bright light headed for her transport, and then there was darkness.
