Thank you to everybody who read or left comments on the last set of emails. I really appreciate it. Welcome to a new batch of chapters. It's been so long since I've worked on this story that I had to go back and reread parts of this story.

Day 407: I'll be happy when midterms no longer coincide with Tarsus hell week

From: Kevin KR

To: Peter_K; kitten_loverJJMU

Time arrived: 03/31/2261 00:00:01

Subject: Greetings from midterm hell

Greetings again from Discovery. I survived my midterms. Although midterms for a ship internship are a little different than what my girlfriend is dealing with in Yorktown. My applied diplomacy class midterm involved sitting in on treaty negotiations, not making a fool of myself, and writing up a report on the interaction. Nobody died or cried, so I consider it a successful negotiation.

However, part of me wonders if I was there because I am Captain Kirk's baby brother. I overheard some things I wasn't meant to because they probably had no idea I was familiar with the old Earth language of Spanish. Enterprise did the initial visit, and the dignitaries were more willing to negotiate with a Kirk in the room. Your Uncle has quite the reputation. Outside of the Federation rumor mill, it's actually a good reputation.

I also had to write a paper about my experiences so far on Discovery overall and send it to my program advisor. I have nice things to write since I've been with the diplomatic team the last couple of weeks. It's greatly improved, mainly because I'm not getting as many nepotism accusations. I also get things to do. Granted, it's been proofreading and editing pre-briefs for the captain, but it's work I like.

We're also visiting a new planet soon. I can't say which one, but I will draft the pre-mission materials myself, so I get to do a lot of research. At least it's better than dealing with assholes.

Congratulations, I heard that you'll be on Enterprise for at least another year. I'm glad that you won't have to move to New Vulcan. Even though New Vulcan differs from Devon or Tarsus, I understand why you would be apprehensive, Peter. That type of trauma can stay with someone for a long time and pop up at the worst times. There is a reason why I have a box of ration bars under my bed.

Also, making new friends is difficult, and I understand not wanting to start over again. Although since you would have Josephine and your cousin, you wouldn't start entirely from scratch. However, being the new kid in school is not fun. I've done that a lot.

I think my extreme dislike of being the new kid is why the first few weeks here on Discovery were miserable. Now that I have friends, it's tolerable. Granted, all my friends are regular crewmembers and not my fellow interns, but that's because I am an old 20-something. I've been through too much. I just don't think the same way they do. It makes friendship with my peer group hard.

Sorry, I'm being morose. It's anniversary season. It kind of sucks it coincides with spring semester midterms, but at least it will be over by hell day. I'll be so glad when I am out of school and no longer have to deal with midterms and Tarsus trauma simultaneously. There's nothing like trying to write a 10-page paper when you just want to curl up under a blanket for the next three days and not think about the people you have watched dying.

Also, I'm lucky that Tarsus is an event that the Federation wants to forget, so there are no memorial services like the Battle of Vulcan or even the Vengeance Incident. We had a survivor's reunion last year, which was good or at least it was cathartic. However, it is not something I would want to do every year. I can only deal with so much trauma at the same time.

I just realized this is my first anniversary where I am not with Liz. Even as little kids living on different sides of the Earth, we still found our way to each other this time of year. Winona didn't want to be left alone with her thoughts more than absolutely necessary. The anniversary of Sam's death always hits her hard. I hope she gets to spend the 20th surrounded by the twins and a lot of good chocolate. Although no wine because I would like her to stay sober.

Maybe it won't be so bad this year because we have you, Peter, as a reminder that not everything is lost. I haven't had my Tarsus hell nightmares yet, which I am grateful for. In years past, I would relive the last few days with my family before they were taken away from me. Your father saved my life, Peter, by hiding me away, along with your grandmother. I am always going to be grateful for that. However, I'm sorry that Sam saving us meant you never met him.

OK, too many dark thoughts for one email. Let's talk about something not depressing. I am not surprised that Enterprise has encountered carnivorous plants on a mission. I am even less surprised that my brother named said plant after one of his favorite plays. Yes, it was a play before it was a movie. Your Uncle Jim took me to see the play several times when he was in San Francisco. We once went with your dad, Josephine, and he spent the whole time complaining about Audrey and being convinced that there were man-eating plants somewhere. I guess he was proven right. How does he feel about Audrey 3?

How did your propaganda project go? I assume well since the Enterprise Kids program was renewed for another year. What projects are you working on now? Gina does such interesting things with you guys. I'm sad I didn't get to do stuff like this in high school. It mainly was reading things off of the PADD and taking pop quizzes. Nothing hands-on like what you guys are doing.

That's the benefit of a very small class size.

I might get to Yorktown in time for the wedding. I heard from the rumor mill that Discovery will be faring diplomats to Enterprise. However, we might not get there until the 30th. I just don't know yet. I hope I get there in time for the nuptials because it sounds like it's going to be a fun wedding. I just know Baby D is going to do something silly. I miss my little niece. Also, I want to spend as much time with you all as possible.

Anyway, write back when you can. Send more pictures.

Xxx

From: kitten_loverJJMU

To: Kevin KR

Time sent: 03/31/2261 20:10:01

Subject: Re: Greetings from midterm hell

Hey, we're writing separate emails this time. This took a while to get to us. Your message didn't get to Enterprise until the end of the month. You must be far away which explains why Discovery will be bringing the diplomats to Enterprise that we can't pick up along the way.

Peter didn't know that March 20 was the anniversary of Sam's death. He feels stupid for not realizing it because Spock and he made Uncle Jim breakfast in bed that day, including special pancakes. We both know that the rescue of the Taurus survivors happened around this time of year, but we didn't know how much earlier Sam passed away before Liz's mom got there. We didn't want to ask because we knew it would be triggering. I think Peter wasn't ready to know what happened to his biological dad. There's a heart-to-heart happening right now, complete with chocolate chip cookies and Dr. Margarita moderating.

Reading your letter made me realize that you and Liz might understand more of what I'm going through with my mom than I initially thought. I don't know if you know this yet, but a couple of weeks ago, we found out that my mom's death may not have been a drunk driving accident, but a hit ordered by my grandfather. Reportedly, Mom was preparing to testify against him and the firm for their various illegal doings. By illegal, I mean killing people, lots of people, and some light sex trafficking. The judge was a monster.

The thought that I almost ended up living with him makes me want to throw up. I am grateful that Mom took the time to catalog all the evidence of him being a neglectful parent, so I ended up with Dad and Mommy Ny. Who knows what abuse I would've had to endure if I ended up living with him. I know I wouldn't be as happy and healthy as I am now.

Yet, this has set me back a lot. I'm just angry and hurt. It's like I'm grieving everything all over again. I made peace with my mom's death. I accepted that you can't make someone give up drinking when they're not ready. However, now I'm struggling with the possibility that alcoholism wasn't what killed my mom, but her car being tampered with. At least that's the theory. The investigation is ongoing, or at least that's what they keep telling my parents.

We are currently in the process of scheduling a video deposition for me. I was one of the last people to see my biological mother alive. Mom and Dad are trying to hold it off until Yorktown, but they might not be successful. I would rather get it over now than wait closer to the anniversary. I'm not sure what I could tell them. Yes, she was fighting with the judge a lot during the last few weeks of her life, but I don't know about what. Her then-boyfriend would know a lot more than me.

I'm glad you're not having nightmares about losing your parents and the last few days of Tarsus. Those types of dreams are horrible. Unfortunately, I'm having dreams about my mom dying again. I think about what would've happened if I wasn't at Disneyland of Georgia that day. Did the judge choose that day because I wouldn't be there, or was it just a happy coincidence? Needless to say, I've been spending a lot of time with Dr. Margarita.

How do you deal with the guilt of being the one to survive? Because I feel a lot of that. I felt it before, but it's so much worse now, knowing it was probably intentional and not an accident.

We all did so well on our federation propaganda presentation, Uncle Jim is suing Star Fleet again. Be very grateful you're not related to Nana Kirk by blood. Apparently, she agreed to make Uncle Jim a Starfleet propaganda baby when Winona was not in the best space mentally. The silver lining is that my aunt is going to be gainfully employed for a while due to this mess. Nana Kirk is unhinged.

Of course, Uncle Jim loves the Little Shop of Horrors play. That makes complete sense. It also makes sense that my dad was absolutely terrified of the concept. He is not a fan of Audrey 3. Especially because her caretakers keep getting a little too close. I think Audrey 3 is just misunderstood, and she's a lovely plant that wouldn't hurt anybody. Of course, she loves us because we keep giving her cookies. Her favorite is vegan cranberry chocolate chunks. Dad practically has a panic attack whenever I feed her cookies, so obviously, he's not a fan.

School is mostly good. Our classes are more interactive than what I had back in Georgia. We are getting ready for mock Federation General Assembly. Because Peter is a Vulcan citizen, he was chosen to represent New Vulcan. I think that's because he has access to the good stuff that's not publicly available. Plus, his granddad is the former ambassador to Earth.

The rest of us had to pull planets out of the hat. I actually got Earth. Jay is mad because he ended up with a planet so obscure there's like two pages on it in the public database. They're not a member of the Federation yet but applying for Federation membership. He's supposed to draft the case for why they should be allowed to join. I'm going to ask Mom for help on his behalf. She has to have access to the good stuff. I realize this is like what you're doing for your job. I guess they're getting us ready for the real world.

It's been decided that the Enterprise kids will be disembarking at Yorktown and will not attend the Federation General Assembly in person. Security concerns. I think they want to give our rooms away to diplomats. The family quarters are very nice. So that means we get a month on Yorktown. I assume we will be Embassy hopping, which should be fun.

It will be a nice sendoff for Ashley 2. She's graduating from the program and leaving for university. Although she's still trying to decide which university she'll be attending. Her main choice is UF Berkeley, but she's still waiting for her admissions email. Her dad went to school there, but they haven't done legacy admissions since pre-Federation days. All the other kids have at least one more year on the ship. Plus, we're going to get a bunch of new people this summer.

I am ambivalent about that due to my complicated relationship with Reyes. She is the one who informed me about the investigation into my mom's possible murder. That was not a good day in class at all. Unfortunately, we have three years with her. (I am pouting that Mom and Uncle Jim won't let me take vengeance on her for April Fools' Day tomorrow.) It's going to be a long three years. Especially that last year since Jay and the Ashley's will be gone by that point. Maybe I can graduate early.

Anyway, pictures are attached from the most recent fencing club meeting. I'm sure Peter will send more.

To be continued…