Farak hooked up his communicator to the terminal in the local lounge on the dormitory floor. Every floor had multiple of these, a small place for cadets to stretch and unwind while not in classes or off campus. His fingers stroked the keys gracefully in a way uncharacteristic for a Klingon. Then he began to whistle a tune. It was then he heard the voice of Steven behind him asking "Hey man what are you looking for?" Farak grunted and responded, "I am looking for information" Steven moved closer, sat beside him, and asked "Oooh, information on what or who?" "Our Superintendent Strauss of course" Steven looked confused "Why would you want to do that?" "Because it never hurts to know more about a person, knowledge is power, dear boy." "What was that tune you were whistling? Farak grunted "It's a song "Getting to know you" from an old earth musical." Steven grinned "I would not have pictured a Klingon enjoying a musical" Farak then turned to Steven looking him in the eye "Well I'm a very unusual Klingon, and you are a very unusual Vorta" He then turned to the terminal and results came back from the database, headlines from news publications "Admiral Strauss talks of Wolf 359 and his daughter" "Grandson ofRitcher Strauss makes captain early" "Hero Lieutenant Commander saves thirty of his men at his own personal cost" "Injured war hero presented with the Christopher Pike medal of Valor" "Dominion war hero made head of Starfleet academy." Farak Stroked his groomed beard "Fascinating" "Wow that is sad and brave at the same time" Steven said.
"You boyos should not be pokin around in things that don't concern you" Steven and Farak, shocked to hear a voice behind them turned around to see the tall and thin form of an older man looking down them at them. The man had a full head of gray hair and a beaklike nose with two narrow-looking blue eyes that looked like he was staring into one's soul. Both cadets stood silent as the man went on in a string Irish accent "Fine cadet lads such as yourself should not be bothering yourself with the assorted past of the Commodore" Farak stood up looking at the sixty-year-old man in the eye "And who are you?" The man grunted and Said "My name is Master Chief Petty Officer Eugene Hurley and you best better be giving me more respect boyo" Farak backed off "I see Master Chief" Steven looked up at the old man, something felt familiar and comforting about him something he couldn't understand like it was an instinct or a gut feeling. The old man grunted "Just so we understand each other cadets" he then made his way and exited the lounge. "Wow what do you think was his deal?" Steven said relaxing slightly. "Well, you Starfleet just like any military-like organization has people who know each other and are very protective of their brothers in arms"
Cadet Jara yawned as she stretched out her arms she sat down on the couch and laid her socked feet on an ottoman. "Ah that is nice, I am going to have to get to wearing this stuffy uniform all the time, when my grandmother was in the Bajoran militia her uniform looked a lot comfier" Radal sat down next to her "Well these uniforms ... are... much... more comfortable when the ones in the Cardassian military" Jara nodded "Yeah those do look big and bulky... so what's your story?" Radal looked over nervously "I...mm from Cardassia prime, you are from Bajor?" She nodded as she looked over from him "Yep sure am" "How are things over there?" "We are doing better than we used to, we have mostly recovered since the war, of course joining the Federation helped with my ability to join Starfleet, it has brought a lot of changes for Bajor not all of them good but it's a net positive. Being a Federation member has its benefits" Bajor joined the Federation in 2393 it was a difficult road and not all Bajorans supported but it had enough support to go through. Jara then looked around and noticed Steven, he was sitting down on another couch with his feet reclined reading a pad "Hey bat boy!" Steven then noticed the Bajoran's voice slightly turned her head to meet her and his right ear swiveled a bit to get into position "Yeah?" So are you like a federation citizen?" "He nodded "I am, it took a while after I was adopted but I got it eventually" Jara looked at the young Vorta "So who are your parents?" "My dad is James Stevenson ambassador to the Dominion; he helped with the details of the second treaty of Bajor" Jara nodded "I see so he is the reason the Federation has the right to colonize parts of the Gamma Quadrant, most of it is unknown territory witch is ripe to be discovered even after almost twenty years Starfleet still hasn't seen it all " Ally nodded as she sipped some black tea she just replicated "Which is why there is still so much to do, we still have so much to discover in the Gamma Quadrant, even after all this time ever after, the war, and the Borg we are still going to all those strange new worlds left to be discovered and we will meet knew species we didn't even know exsitisted " D' Tallaa snorted "Yeah if any of us get that lucky" Farak nodded "It is perhaps a little overly positive that any of us would get assigned to an exploration vessel like a Neo Constitution class, more than likely we will be serving on backwater stations or un important survey vessels. Steven Shrugged his shoulders "Who knows, there is no way to tell what is ahead for all of me or any of us but I have a feeling it's gonna be good" Ally nodded "I couldn't agree more."