Staying Behind

Ambassador Maul and her brother entered the mess hall and the Ambassador soon found them a table looking out over the hull of the Leviathan. They could also see the Nuan transport attached to the airlock on the port side of the ship and the ring system of Chi Alpha nine.

The Ambassador ordered her usual meal of something called Spaghetti Bolognese and suggested that her brother should try the same. Five minutes later, two plates arrived at the table and Opinger picked up her knife and started to wind the Spaghetti onto it. Her brother picked up his own knife and tried to copy his sister. After a couple of attempts, he finally got a handle on the technique and started to enjoy his meal.

They were halfway through their meal, when a young human boy and a Nuan Female came over to the table. They both had a tray in their hands and as the mess hall was fairly full, they had been having difficulty finding somewhere were they could both sit.

"Ambassador, would it be OK to join you." The young cadet enquired.

"Brayden, Junora." The Ambassador acknowledged. "Please take a seat, this is my brother Miko."

"Pleasure to meet you." Brayden said, as he took the seat next to Miko and put down his tray.

Junora took the seat next to the Ambassador and put down her tray.

"Captain." Junora replied, not saying much else.

There was a few minutes silence, whilst they all ate their meals, but when they had all finished, Brayden started a conversation.

"Ambassador....." Brayden started. "...we've been thinking about things and Junora and I have come to a decision. We'd like to stay together and I'd like to come back to the Nuan homeworld and stay with Junora."

"What about your parents ?" Opinger enquired. "Won't you miss them ?"

Brayden was lucky in the fact that he had not two, but four parents. Admiral McCaffee and her husband were the people who he considered to be his mother and father, even though he knew that he had been adopted as a baby. He had been told that his birth parents were dead, but for the past year or so had known that his birth parents were Marcus and Sierra Devore.
He missed them all and knew that all four of them would be sad to hear that he wanted to leave the Leviathan. But he also wanted to be with Junora and the only way he could see of achieving that was to go back to the Nuan homeworld with her.

"There are a lot of things that I will miss not being on a starship, including not being able to see my parents." Brayden suggested. "But I think I'd miss Junora even more if she was to leave. We did consider making a request with the Captain to see if Junora could remain onboard the Leviathan, but she would be the only Nuan onboard and I couldn't separate her from her people."

Opinger smiled at the young cadet. She remembered her own first love and realised that the two of them had not gone into this lightly. They had thought this all through and come to the best decision.

"I may have another solution to you problem." The Ambassador stated. "Junora is not the only Nuan who is considering remaining onboard the Leviathan."

Junora looked at the Ambassador. "Ambassador, who is it ?. All the Nuan I've spoken to since we knew that we would the rendezvousing with a Nuan transport have been eager to get back home."

"That Nuan is me." Opinger announced. "My time here is not over, I can feel the prophets telling me to stay."

Suddenly Junora and Brayden saw another way to stay together and remain onboard the Leviathan. All they needed to do was speak to the Captain and ask for her permission to allow Junora to remain onboard. With the Ambassador also staying, they believed the Captain wouldn't object.

Captain's Ready Room

An hour later, Brayden and Junora were waiting in the corridor outside the Captain's ready room. Both were anxious and excited at what they were about to do as well as unsure of the Captain's reaction to their request. Nervously, Brayden pressed to door controls and moments later, they opened and Captain Taybar asked them to come in. She was sitting behind her desk and when she noticed the two youngsters stood up.

"Would you like to take a seat Cadet ?" Aki enquired, stepping from around the desk and towards to sofa area. Although she wasn't letting on, the Nuan Ambassador had already spoken to her about the request Brayden and Junora were about to make. They all took seats on the plush sofa. Aki noticed that they were both sitting in an awkward position and decided to try and ease the tension in the room.

"I believe that you wanted to see me Cadet ?" Aki stated. "Something about wanting a favour."

Brayden was very quiet, even though he was usually quite comfortable around the Captain and the other Starfleet officers this was beginning to feel hard.

"Captain." Junora spoke up. "I have a request to make of you. As you know, the Nuan's we have onboard will be departing soon, back to our homeworld. Whilst what I am considering is hard, I'd like to request that I be allowed to stay onboard the Leviathan."

"And would you have a specific reason for wanting to stay onboard." Aki enquired, knowing full well that the reason she wanted to stay was sat beside her.

"As you know Captain." Brayden announced. "Since we both came onboard the ship, we have grown very close to each other and have a very strong bond. If you don't grant Junora's request, then I would like to request that I be relieved of my duties, so I can return with her to the Nuan homeworld."

The Captain was silent for a few minutes, looking as if she was considering the options. Finally, her face became very stern and she cleared her throat before speaking again.

"Cadet Brayden McCaffee. Having considered your request to be relieved of your duties, I must decline your request. You have too much to offer Starfleet and the Federation for me to allow you leave this ship. Plus as Captain of this ship, I have the ultimate responsibility for all of my crew, from my first officer right down the ranks to the crewmen and women, not to mention the civilians and one very bright Cadet. Admiral Devore placed in me his trust that whatever happened, I would always ensure that his son was safe."

Brayden's face slipped, turning from a nervous smile into a face of shock and absolute terror. *Was the Captain going to split them up ?*

"Whilst I have never been comfortable with having the Nuans onboard, they have made the crew of the Leviathan happy and have remained involved when necessary, but kept themselves out of the way when not." Aki continued. "Whilst I could not officially approve of a relationship between an alien civilian and a member of my crew, I would have no objections to two Starfleet Cadets remaining onboard."

Brayden and Junora both looked at the Captain and each other. *Was the Captain going to allow Junora to stay or not ?*

Suddenly Brayden understood what the Captain had just said. He looked at Junora and them pulled her closer before whispering something in her ear.

"Captain." Junora stated, moving away from Brayden. "I have another request to make of you."

"And what would that be ?" Aki enquired.

"I would like you to sponsor my application to join Starfleet." Junora asked.

Aki rose from her seat and walked over to her desk. She picked up a Padd which had been lying on the desk and brought it back to the sofa. She then passed the Padd over to Junora.

"I'd like you to take a look at this." Aki suggested.

Junora read through the information on the Padd. It was a formal application written by the Captain to Starfleet academy on Earth, requesting that one Lieutenant Commander Junora Loris, of the Nuan Alliance be accepted into the Starfleet academy as a Cadet. It also went on to describe how well she had fitted into the crew of the USS Leviathan and that she should be allowed to 'skip' the first year of the academy. Finally it stated that as she was still onboard the Leviathan and there was no definite date for the vessel's return, that she should remain onboard the Leviathan and be taught alongside second year cadet Brayden McCaffee.

As well as the formal application, there was also a letter from the Nuan Ambassador to the Federation, Opinger Mual giving Junora permission to leave the Nuan Air Command. Admiral Devore had already seconded the application and the Academy Principal had provisionally approved the application.

The two young cadets looked at each other and then back at the Captain. All their fears seemed to have left them and both smiled broadly.

"Junora, I realise that you will lose your rank in the Nuan Air Command and become a Cadet once more. I'm sure that with the help of Brayden and the crew who teach him, you will become an Ensign in three years time." Aki stated. "All you need to decide is which service you'd like to study."

"I think I'd like to study Tactical." Junora replied.

"OK." Aki stated, taking the Padd away from and entering something on to the Padd. She then pressed a couple of buttons on the Padd.

[Secure transmission complete.] The computer announced.

"All Done. Well Cadet Loris." Aki stated. "I think that you are out of uniform."

Junora looked down at her own clothes, then at Brayden.

"Yes Captain." Junora replied. "I'll go and get changed immediately."

The two young Cadets rose from the sofa and headed out of the door. Before they left they both turned around and thanked the Captain. The door closed and Aki returned to her desk.