Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last set of messages. I appreciate it. I'm currently working on the next batch of chapters, so I need all your encouragement.

Day 377: A roller coaster of emotions

Excerpts from the diary of Josephine Jamie Uhura-McCoy

March 2, 2261

Dear diary:

I am so sorry I didn't write yesterday. I fell asleep as soon as we got back from the park. Also, I think my body is still mixed up with the time zone differences. Maybe by the time we leave next week, I'll be used to it. I feel like New Vulcan was easier to deal with.

The park next door was nice. It's not Disneyland of Georgia nice, but nice. We mostly hung out in the water park. I do love the lazy river, and so do all the other Ashley's. Dad was a little concerned about my bikini. Mom told him to get over it and that two pieces are easier to deal with. I love Mommy Ny.

I'm glad the trip was a celebration, and not all the kids being stressed out over losing the program. I'm so happy we're going to be together for a while. Also, we're going to get more people this summer. I'm looking forward to more classmates. Hopefully, no one will be Jeremy or Chris 3 bad.

This morning, we have our tour of the Starbase. Then, in the afternoon, I have my call with Aunt Lena and Grandma. I haven't seen Mommy Ny's mom since the Christmas before leaving, well over a year ago. I'm worried about that, but I'm glad Aunt Lena will be there. It should be interesting.

Xxx

Lena was getting used to the video room at her boss's house. It definitely came in handy for meetings like this. Shawn and Cory were kind enough to provide her with bagels and a virgin Mimosa as she waited for her brother-in-law to pop up. Thankfully, he did after a few minutes.

"Leonard, it's always great to see my favorite family member," Lena remarked as she sipped her drink.

"It's good to see you too, Lena. I'm sorry we couldn't talk at Christmas." Her brother-in-law replied.

"I completely understand why you weren't there. You and your girlfriend are very busy professionals. I'm glad I got to see Josephine. Thank you for inviting me to join this call." He wasn't expecting the invite, but she was happy about it.

"Thank your bosses for hosting."

"I'm just grateful I don't have to deal with rush-hour traffic on the way to Starfleet HQ. Also, this is no longer at 3 AM San Francisco time."

"Sorry. We didn't realize that Starbase 39 was not on Starfleet standard time when we originally scheduled the call." Leonard explained.

"It makes sense that it's not on standard time since it's not an artificial installation like Yorktown."

"Unfortunately, we didn't consider that until we got here, and we all had to get used to the time difference."

"Where is my niece?" Lena asked.

"Eating lunch. Nyota will bring her in soon, but I wanted to talk to you alone about the judge for a few minutes."

"It's a mess. Him paying off your family is the tip of the iceberg. If they ever recover the money from the most recent ex-wife, half of it belongs to you for the sale of your family medical practice." She can't believe the laundry list of illegal things her father got away with. It was almost like he was running his own Mafia. That's precisely what he was doing. And somehow, she didn't see it.

"I don't care about that. Money barely matters anymore. In a few years, it will probably be a thing of the past."

"I know. But I'm still angry on your behalf. He is now being held without bail on at least one murder charge as well as multiple racketeering charges. There might be more. They're opening an investigation into Jocelyn's death." Lena was surprised she didn't start crying as she told Leonard this.

"Do they expect to find anything? You and I both know she was an alcoholic." Leonard tells her.

"I know. I found enough empty bourbon bottles in the toilet to be aware of the problem. However, it doesn't matter how much bourbon you drink if your braking system was tampered with. Along with the auto drive." Her voice cracks as she speaks.

"Is that what happened?" Leonard asked.

"We don't know yet." But it's looking that way after finding the judge's angry emails about her sister possibly making a deal to testify against him. "Don't mention anything about it when Josephine gets here. She doesn't need to know about that."

"I won't. Ny just texted. They're going to be here in a moment." Leonard explained.

"I am glad to have a warning." It gave her a few moments to compose herself before her niece arrived.

"Aunt Lena," Josephine shouted happily as she entered the room. Somehow, her niece grew at least an inch in the last two months. Lena is sure she will end up as tall as her father.

"There is my favorite niece. Did you bring any of your friends this time?" Lena asked.

"No. Everybody else is busy with the Starbase tour." Her niece explained. "Although Peter says hi."

"Tell him hi back. I'm glad you could take time out of your busy schedule to join me. How is Starbase life?" Lena asked.

"Better that we're now actually going on regular field trip activities and not dealing with the inspection. Thankfully, we won't have to deal with this until next year." Josephine sighed in relief.

"So, you're not moving to New Vulcan?" That question was directed to the grown-ups.

"Not yet. Maybe in a couple of years if Grandpa gets the VSA to do the exchange program. He's working on it." Her niece explained.

"The program is staying in place for at least another year. There are even plans for expansion." Nyota explained.

"Good to know," Lena commented as the door opened to reveal Nyota's mother.

"Am I late?" The admiral asked as she took her seat.

"Hi, mom. No, we started a little early." Nyota told her mother.

"We were just talking about how I don't have to move to new Vulcan now," Josephine told her grandmother happily.

"I heard. Congratulations.

"We are all grateful for it," Nyota added.

"Especially my teacher, Gina. Her wife will join this ship permanently at the end of May." Josephine added.

"Not now?" Lena asked.

"She needs to finish her current research before becoming Enterprise's VSA representative," Nyota explained.

"Plus, we have to finalize the agreement between the two institutions. Thankfully, that's not my department." The admiral added.

"It's always great when it's not your department," Leonard added.

"So very much."

"So, tell me everything."

"We went to an amusement park yesterday."

"Where she ate way too much cotton candy and barely avoided a sunburn." Leonard was not amused.

"I sent you both lots of pictures. I also got my face painted." She pointed to the rainbow on her cheek that was mostly still intact.

"That sounds like fun," Lena commented just as Josephine explained how she won a giant stuffed panda that would barely fit in her room on the ship.

XXXX

Excerpts from the diary of Josephine Jamie Uhura-McCoy

March 2, 2261

So, the meeting with Lena and Grandma went well. They loved my Christmas presents and the paintings are in their respective offices. I also learned about Aunt Lena's Valentine's Day date with Chloe. It was terrific, and they had been on two dates since then. I'm glad I got to do it in the video call because I could see her blushing. She definitely had a good date. I'm so happy for her; she deserves it. I'm also glad she won't have to end things with Chloe to take care of me on New Vulcan.

At the same time, I wonder if there's something I'm not being told. I know Dad went to the conference room 15 minutes before us. It was probably about the judge. Things are not good, like he's being held on murder charges.

No one told me. I found out by searching for it. However, I think I will stop checking up on him because every time I check, I find out something awful that he did, like taking the family business away from Dad or disabling the auto drive on one of the partner's cars. That may have also happened to a few witnesses who may or may not have gone into a ravine.

Maybe it's better I don't know.

Anyway, it was a good visit. Mom and her mom did not start screaming at each other, which is all I can hope for. They're doing better, which is good. Mom cried happy tears afterward. It was good for her to talk to her mom. They hung out 30 minutes after Aunt Lena left. I still have no good grandfathers that are non-Vulcan. However, Grandma is becoming friends with the almost step-grandmother. I'm unsure how that happened, but I'm all for it.

Anyway, I am off to have dinner with my friends. We're still celebrating the fact that we're not getting split up. That deserves fancy hot chocolate at one of the good restaurants on base.

To be continued…