Star Trek: “Lessons Learned”– Chapter 1

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Cadet Sarah Harding stood at attention with her classmates. She blinked in bleary-eyed attentiveness. Oh-seven-hundred was far too early to be up, dressed, and ready for inspection. For probably the twentieth time, she fought back a yawn. She had known that the day would start early, but that had not helped her sleep. A combination of anxiety and excitement had prevented her from falling into a deep enough sleep to be restful, fearfully concerned that the she would somehow manage to oversleep.

The cadets were assembled in neat rows in the main shuttlebay of the U.S.S. Yokohama. It was not the most decorated or comfortable place for them to gather, but it was the only area of the small starship, outside of the main cargo bay, that could hold them all. Captain D’harta stood on a raised platform, looking both commanding and pleased.

“Cadets,” she began, her voice amplified by the ship’s internal communications systems. “For many of you, this will be the first voyage of many into great unknown.”

She smiled like a proud parent down at all of them, her dark eyes sweeping over the collection of final-year cadets.

“You’ve all earned it,” she said. “And here’s your chance to show me everything you’ve learned.”

Sarah exchanged a quick glance with the cadet next to her, trying to suppress a broad smile. Anthi had been your roommate during all of her years at Starfleet Academy. She felt like the blue-skinned Andorian was more like a sister than a friend. Sarah noted that Anthi’s long braids looked almost brushed smooth. It looked that she was doing her best imitation of a stoic Vulcan, but Sarah could tell that her friends as just as nervous and excited as she was.

D’harta stared out at them once more, her cinnamon-colored skin shining from the overhead lights. “We depart at zero eight hundred,” she announced. “Report to your stations. Dismissed.”

The ranks of cadets slowly shifted from neat rows to scattered groups headings for the shuttlebay’s various exits. Sarah kept pace with Anthi, both of them hanging back slightly to avoid the crush at the main hatchways. Anthi seems almost to skip with every step; Sarah wondered how she had slept.

They were both headed for the bridge. Sarah has been assigned to one of the Science stations, while Anthi would be manning the secondary Tactical post. It had been due to hard work, and a dash of good luck, that they had both been assigned bridge duty. Sarah had tried never hard not to look overly proud when she had received the news; Anthi had demonstrated no such restraint.

There was short line waiting at the turbolift. Sarah noticed some of cadets, mostly those who were assigned to Engineering duties, heading for one of the many Jeffries tubes in the area. That was fine for them, she decided, but like hell was she going to walk onto the bridge by any other way than through the main lift doors.