Kassia sat in her temporary quarters on the Arizona-A, on the sofa staring at the PADD Captain Wallace had given her only an hour or so before. She had placed it on the coffee table and had looked at it many times. This was such an important decision and she wanted to make the right one. She sighed, and closed her eyes. If she took this position, she would be Starfleet . . .. Eventually a Starfleet Officer. Was that what she wanted, she asked herself? And what about her shop, she thought. Could she do both somehow? Of course, she could, she told herself, and even if she couldn't be in her shop all the time, she did have Danni to help her maintain her business.
With a sigh, she picked up the PADD and reviewed a few pages. It was a lot of information. Would she be Starfleet material? She was use to helping people. She had done that ever since she had discovered her gifts. But . . . Starfleet was more than just helping people. She would have to know things about them . . . Never had she ever thought of a career in any military organization. This would entail knowing chain of command and protocol . . . Learning science, engineering, command possibly . . . Would she be up for that kind of challenge? She wasn't sure . . .
With a sigh, she set the PADD back down and went to the replicator. She ordered some herbal tea sweetened. As it appeared, she grabbed it and then took a seat in a chair near the portal so she could gaze out into space. There was something eerily familiar about being in space. There always was for her, as if it were where she belonged, and yet she didn't know why. With a sigh, she took another sip. She wished Troy was there . . . He had always been her rock . . . He had helped her with all the big decisions she had made in her life. But then she thought about it for a moment. Maybe that was part of her problem. Perhaps she relied on him too much, she thought. From the time, she had joined his family, he had been with her, never leaving her side. Protecting her . . . She had come to rely on his strength to see her through things and to help her make decisions for her life. But, maybe, it was time for her to relieve him of some of those burdens. After all, there would come a time, she hoped, where he would find his life partner. He couldn't be looking after his little sister his whole life . . . She had to start looking out for herself. But the thought scared her . . . When she thought she had lost Troy, her whole world had shattered! Though she realized that part of it had been the injury as had been pointed out to her numerous times, she couldn't deny that even if she hadn't been injured, her world would have crashed down around her. She might have reacted differently, but she still would have been a mess . . . And though, it was important to have someone to lean on . . . and to have a support network . . . the thought that she had been depending on Troy too much had never hit her until this moment.
She stood and placed the empty mug back into the replicator. As she gave the command, it vanished. With a sigh, she decided to take a walk and headed out the door. As she wandered around, she still couldn't come to a firm decision on her own. She wanted to talk to someone. Maybe the problem wasn't in having help with the decisions, as it was relying in mostly one person, she reasoned. There was no reason why she couldn't discuss this with some close friends and gauge their opinions. As she became determined to do just that, she found herself in front of the Mess Hall. That would be a good place to find one of her friends, she reasoned, since it was morning and it was still time for breakfast. She went inside.
The smell of food hit her senses and she suddenly realized she had hardly eaten anything yesterday, and nothing that morning. She scanned the room, and though there were a few faces, none seemed familiar to her. Getting herself a vegetable omelet and some juice, she looked for a place she wanted to sit. There was only one person sitting alone. She recognized his face, from the daily patrols outside her shop . . . and knew his name, but they had never officially met. It was Lt. John Anderson.
She approached his table and stopped.
"May I sit with you, Lieutenant?" she asked, a bit hesitantly.
He smiled and motioned to a chair. "Sure, take a seat," he said. "You're Kassia, aren't you? I've seen you in your shop plenty of times."
"And I've seen you walk by," she replied with a smile, as she sat down. "Making sure there's no trouble about."
"That's my job," he replied good-naturedly. "I have to say I'm a bit surprised to see you aboard ship. I know Captain Wallace invited you, but its a little strange to have a civilian onboard for no apparent reason."
"Well," she smiled, "He had a reason . . ." she replied evasively. "I hope this doesn't seem too personal, but how do you feel about being part of Starfleet?"
He had a puzzled smile on his face. "I wouldn't change it," he replied. "Being part of Starfleet hasn't been easy, but its been rewarding. The life I wanted . . . Why do you ask?"
She smiled. "I'm debating something, and I need to make a decision . . . I thought speaking to someone who has been in Starfleet for awhile might help me decide."
John finished his last bite of toast and smiled. "Well, I hope I've helped a little."
"You might have," she replied back with a smirk.
They chatted a few more minutes before he stood to leave.
"Thank you again for the chat," she said.
"No problem," he replied. "If ever you have any questions, come see me. I'll try to answer them for you."
"I'll do that," she replied.
With that, he left the mess hall, leaving Kassia to her thoughts and breakfast. She had hardly touched her vegetable omelet, as her mind still went over the possibilities. She sipped at her Marogo Juice as she stared out the porthole, lost in thought.
Paul walked happily through the corridors of the Arizona whistling as he went. It wouldn't be long before they reached the Ba'ku planet and Paul would get his chance to take a few years off his face. He didn't like to admit it much, but he was incredibly vain about his appearance. He entered the mess hall and picked up some breakfast from the replicator. He looked about the mess hall, looking for an unoccupied table where he could have his breakfast undisturbed. He was about to take a seat at a table when he noticed Kassia sitting with her back toward him staring out a port hole. He pushed the chair back in and went to join her.
"Good morning, Kassia" he said as he pulled up a seat.
She looked up a bit startled from her thoughts. But as her green eyes saw Paul, she smiled.
"Good morning," she said.
"Gonna be a fine day today, Kassia" he said, as he cracked open his egg.
"I'm sure it is," she replied. She was glad for him company. "Paul, you know that the Captain wanted to see me earlier . . ." she started. "Do you know why?" She wanted to find out if anyone knew of this offer that had been made to her.
"Not a clue, mon ami," he was too wrapped up in the excitement of visiting Ba'ku to worry about anything else right now.
"How do you like being part of Starfleet?" she asked with seriousness.
"Well... zhere'z.... zhere'z, well from a science point of view, which is ze only sing im interested in at ze moment, it providez some much better oppurtunitiz for me. I get zhe chance to see singz and study singz I would never ave dreemed of seeing in my lifetime. I zuppose, it dependz on ow you look at sings. Why ze sudden interest in Starfleet anyway?"
She sigh and smiled. "Captain Wallace offered me the position of counselor, with an honorary title at first. But he wants me to study up and test to actually become a Starfleet officer . . . I've just never considered anything like this before . . ." She explained. She was apprehensive, but also she wanted to do this. She just wasn't sure if she was Starfleet material.
"I say go for it!" said Paul as he crammed a spoonful of egg into his mouth
"But what if I don't have what it takes?" she asked. "I mean, how would I know . . . ? And its strange . . . I've never made a huge decision like this without Troy . . . But I've come to a place within myself where I know I need to not rely on him so much . . . Maybe this would be a way to do that as well . . . I just don't know . . ." She said, taking a sip of her juice.
Paul dipped a finger of bread into his egg and it all overflowed over the side. He started to wipe it up. "You what?" he asked noticing she was expecting a response from him.
She laughed softly and smiled brighter. "I guess what it comes down to, is whether I can handle it," she said. "What do you think? Do you think I have what it takes?" She smirked as she met his gaze, half serious, half playing.
"Ave what it takes to do what?" Paul asked. He hadn't been paying any attention. His mind was on Ba'ku.
"Oh, Paul," she laughed, as she allowed her mind to focus on this thoughts. "So that's what has your attention! The B'aku planet . . . I should have known!"
"Do you think I'd look good with a beard?" he asked
"I think you'd look quite handsome with one!" Her eyes twinkled, actually glad to have her focus changed. Maybe she didn't have to worry so much about it.
"Sorry, I ave been ignoring you. What were you zaying?" His attention finally focusing back on her.
"Oh, I was just wondering if you thought I had what it took to be a Starfleet officer . . ." she replied.
"Of course you do! Go for it I say!" Paul cracked open his fourth egg and began eating
She laughed. "You know, I think I just might! What's the worst thing that could happen?" she reasoned. If she didn't pass the test, she wouldn't become and officer . . . But she was determined to pass. "Would you consider helping me study sometime, if Tarik can't?"
"Of course, alzough it would mainly be science and minor tactical routines. I don't know nosing about command protocolz. I would be appy to teach you somesing about zhe B'aku planets regenerating propertiez az we are going zhere. Think of it az your first field trip." Paul buttered a piece of toast and began eating it. "I'm zure Captain Wallace would not mind you comin down to ze planet wiz me," he said with his mouth full.
"I don't think he'd mind at all!" she replied! "In fact, I need to give him my answer . . ."
"Let me finish my breakfast and I'll go wiz you," he said.
Kassia entered Wallace's office, more self-assured than she had ever been, with Paul walking in beside her. Wallace put down his PADD and looked at the two.
"Good day, Captain," Kassia smiled in greeting.
"Good day," he greeted, "Do you have something on your mind?" he asked, know she had made her decision.
"Well, actually, yes . . . " she replied, all doubt gone from her mind for the moment. "I have thought about it long and hard on what you asked me about these last couple of hours and . . . Sir, I would like to accept the position you offered as Counselor."
He nodded. "It will be a lot of work," he said, not pulling any punches, "But it'll be worth it."
She smiled. "And what can I do for you, Lieutenant?" Wallace asked turning to Paul.
"I would like to ave permission to run an experiment on ze surface to do with zhe regenerative effects of zhe planet."
"I shouldn't see that to be a problem. I will clear it with the B'aku first though"
"Thank you, Captain"
"Ah, one more zing, Captain . . . Kassia as asked me to elp hair wiz hair studies, and I just zought zat she could accompany me down to zee planet and I could teach hair about zhe regenerative properties of B'aku . . . some scientific knowledge . . ."
Captain Wallace nodded. "Good idea, Lieutenant. Might as well get you off to a good start," he said, looking at Kassia.
She could sense he was pleased with her decision and she planned to do her best to make sure his faith in her abilities was warranted. She was going to do her best and maybe . . . maybe she would become one of the Starfleet officers he was proud of.