"Out of the Nest"
Previous post the traumatic "Internal Struggle"
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Stardate: 60300.1400
Setting: EARTH, Old New York, Hudson Valley, Mei Estate.
Ensign Susan Mei soon-to-be Head Counselor of the... well... of some mysterious Starfleet Intelligence ship, stepped down from the transporter PADD and looked around the familiar entrance hall. There was nothing seemingly special about the place, but it had fond memories attached to it. She sighed as she pulled her clothes straight and prepared to tell her father that she was leaving again in a matter of hours. It struck her as slightly strange that he wasn't already waiting for her, but glad for the extra preparation time, she made her was slowly to the large wooden door that led to the rest of the house. When she found no-one in the living room, she knew exactly where to look.
"hello?" she called quietly around her father's office door. She saw him sitting in his huge leather chair with his back to her. He held up a hand to silence her and she realized that he was talking to someone (though his chair blocked out the computer screen)
"Yes, Commander." he was saying, "I understand. Look, my daughter's just walked in. Can I call you back?"
The Commander must have nodded, because the conversation ceased and the large admiral stood up and turned to face his daughter with arms spread with, "Hey Pumpkin!" he greeted Susan warmly.
She smiled, "It's Ensign Pumpkin now." and went to embrace him. He pulled her away from him in proper parent fashion, "Let me look at you! My, my, my. My little girl is all grown up."
Susan couldn't help but laugh, "Daddy, I've been grown up for a while now..."
He laughed at this, but turned away and began to stack up PADDs on his desk, "Yes, I know. I just don't seem to see you often enough."
He obviously wasn't going to make this easy for her. "Daddy, I have some..."
The man held up his hand, "Yes, yes. I know what you're going to say." She raised her eyebrows, "You do?"
The old man sighed, "Yes. You are going to say, very politely and considerately as always, 'Daddy, I have something to ask you.' to which I will reply, 'what Pumpkin?'.
Then you will look away as if you don't really want to mention it and ask, 'Daddy, why weren't you at my graduation?'" He looked at is daughter solemnly, "Is that right?"
Susan stared at him, had she not been called to that strange meeting with Admiral Smith, that would have been exactly what she'd asked. She was torn. Eventually she nodded, anxious to hear his reason for not attending what may have been the most important occasion of her life.
The old man sighed, "Well, Susan. All I can say is that I'm sorry. Something came up at Headquarters..." Susan's heart gave a leap involuntarily. The fact she'd been called to headquarters a few hours later still fresh in her mind. Her father shrugged, "nothing of consequence now, but it was urgent at the time." he looked out of the large window behind his desk at the beautiful blue sky, "Starfleet always seems to choose the worst timing to throw things at you..."
For a minute he was quiet, as if lost in thought. Susan got the feeling that his words meant more that he was letting on but when he turned around again, smiling, the feeling was gone.
"But you're here now," the admiral said, "and I'm certain that somebody recorded the event." Susan also smiled, albeit uneasily, as the admiral put his arm around her shoulder, "Come, let's eat. What would the lady like this evening?"
Dinner passed with ease, though Susan knew that she had to find a time to slide into the conversation that she was due to take off again for Headquarters soon. Eventually, as her father folded his napkin and sat back in his chair with a contented smile on his face. As the conversation ran dry, Susan knew that she had to break the news.
"Daddy..."
She began in a 'breaking bad news' tone, then changed tact. "Daddy." she smiled, "I have some exciting news."
The old man's face brightened and he sat up straight. "Really?"
Susan looked down at her own napkin, "I... I've been offered a job." she smiled, but it felt false, "on a ship. As head counselor."
Silence.
Susan looked up at her father, his eyebrows were raised in disbelief. He leaned forward, "Head counselor? Already? Where?! Who?! Why did you wait this long to tell me?!" The man stood up excitedly and marched over to the replicator, "replicator. champagne. French." The replicator gave an obedient 'zing' and a bottle appeared. He picked it up and was about to pop it open when his daughter caught his sleeve, "Daddy. I have to leave tonight."
The man's face fell and he put down the bottle. "Tonight?" She nodded.
"where is this ship that they need you so badly?" As an experienced Starfleet officer, he knew that only ships in the middle of conflicts had such an urgent need for a counselor. Susan shook her head, "I don't know. All I've been told is that a shuttle leaves at 06:00 tomorrow from Headquarters."
For a second something akin to realization crossed the admiral's face before he sat down across from his daughter, face devoid of expression. "Who told you this?"
Susan didn't meet his eyes, "I'm not certain I'm permitted to tell you..." He gave a small chuckle as if there was some irony in what she was saying. She supposed there was, since he was an admiral and he was probably used to telling people exactly that.
"So that's how it is?" he asked in a voice laced with sarcasm. Susan gave a small start before she realized that the sarcasm wasn't directed at her. "Have they at least told you what kind of ship you'll be serving on?" Susan shook her head.
Her father's voice softened as he asked quietly, "When were you offered this position?" "This morning." she watched as her father started pacing and, guessing his next question stated hurriedly, "they said that I had to decided then and there. I thought... I thought that if I said no... I mean, if I didn't say yes then... then I'd loose the chance."
The admiral stopped suddenly and turned on her, at once furious, "Do you have any idea how dangerous this could be?!" Susan's first instinct was to recoil, but she was offended that her father thought that she was so vulnerable. She stood up and faced him, "You said the same thing when I joined Starfleet and look where I am now!" "You're nowhere!" he shot back. "You're an ensign! You've never even served on a ship!"
"I have served on a ship, Daddy. Maybe as a Cadet, but I have served on a ship! Not that you would know that..." "What are you saying?"
Dead silence hung in the room for a minute before Susan stuttered, "Daddy, I'm sor..."
He cut her off, "What are you saying? Are you saying that I don't care about you? That I don't watch you're every move as if through a magnifying glass? That I don't know every little detail about you as if you were a part of me? You're my daughter, Susan. My *only* daughter. I know that you served on the Lionheart. But I also know that field experience as a Cadet cannot prepare you for Starfleet In... for Starfleet. The real Starfleet."
"The real Starfleet?" the ensign asked quietly. "Daddy, I didn't go through Starfleet Academy just for fun. I wanted to go to the stars. And if the real Starfleet is the only way to get there, then Daddy, I'm going to do it. I may not be an admiral like you are, but I'm an ensign like everyone else in my class, and I'm going to the stars."
Her father stared at her, dumbstruck.She saw him swallow a lump in his throat before he turned from her and said simply, 'go, then. Just go. I'll be here when you get back from your 'stars'." before leaving the room.
Susan sat at the table for a few minutes after that, breathing heavily. Alright then. She would do that. She wouldn't fall for his 'guilt treatment' or reverse psychology. She got up and went to her childhood room, looking around one last time before gathering the bags that had just been sent from the Academy and taking them with her.
She had intended to stay the night in San Francisco so she could get an early start and she would do just that. She paused at the wooden door to the entrance hall and called out, "Goodbye Daddy. I love you." She waited for a reply, knowing that he would have been able to hear her from anywhere in the house. When no reply was forthcoming, she sighed deeply, picked up her bags and stepped onto the transporter pad.
--------------- 2005 post #070
Tallulah Habib {thabib@eject.co.za}
Ensign Susan Mei
Head Counselor
USS ANUBIS
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"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own." - Adam Lindsay Gordon
