Can You Ever Go Home Again?

Posted on Wed Feb 1st, 2023 @ 10:33am by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Lieutenant Owen Woodhouse
Edited on on Thu Mar 9th, 2023 @ 5:00pm

1,898 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Prelude to Rebirth
Location: Starfleet Academy, Earth
Timeline: 12 July 2395

[ON]

Commander Jenna Difrino set the PADD in her hand down on her desk and swiveled her chair around to look out the large window. She could see that it was passing time as the quad was full of cadets, streaming like a river system to numerous classrooms. She was struck by how easy it was to pick out the freshmen. They looked small and nervous, which sometimes made it hard to remember how capable, intelligent and courageous they were.

Jenna was normally an instructor in medicine and loved the job. She was continually challenged and pushed by her students, just as she challenged and pushed them. It was important for the future doctors and nurses of the fleet to be comfortable under pressure. Being a physician was not for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, this semester she was not teaching. Instead she was doing her administration tour, which meant that she was dealing with a lot of forms and required duties that were as far from teaching as could be. When she'd complained to Malcom, he'd just laughed at her, saluted and called her captain. She hadn't been amused then but now, she let a small smile creep across her face.

"Computer, locate Cadet Djokovic and have her report to my office as soon as possible," she said. This was not going to be a fun conversation.

---

Gianna Djokovic, a 'seasoned' cadet with a wit almost as sharp as her short, asymmetrical hair style, was crossing the Quad at a full stride when her commbadge chirped and informed her of the request.

"As soon as possible, of course," she muttered to herself as she turned course toward the central administration building. "Sorry, Daw, I guess simulator practice will have to wait." He'd understand.

---

Djokovic arrived at the building in respectable time given the size of the sprawling San Francisco campus. She'd been ushered to the correct floor office by some nameless administrative officer and was now looking out upon a view of the bay. She had to pull her eyes away from the bridge to find the Commander's vaguely familiar face. They'd met before, but it'd been a long, long time. Seeing her again, brought back a warm memory and she had to remind herself this was most likely not a social call. She didn't even know if Difrino would recognize her.

"Cadet Djokovic reporting as requested, Commander," Gia stated, trying to keep her tone and features as neutral as possible.

"Oh please, let's not be formal. We might not be close but my husband has talked about you enough that feel like we should be. Please," she said, gesturing to a nearby chair. "Have a seat. I'm sure you didn't know, because why would you, but you're eligibility window for a cadet cruise is coming up soon and I wanted to touch base with you about where you'd like to go."

The woman's warmth, just as disarming as Gia had recalled from meeting Difrino at the crew party at her house years prior, allowed a small smile to part the cadet's lips and the tenseness softened around her eyes. "Thank you."

She lowered herself into the aforementioned seat as she let Difrino's words soak in for a moment. "I knew there was a possibility... eventually," Gia replied as she internally flipped through the catalog of ships, stations, and bases she was aware of as popular cadet assignments. She had grand plans for her own future. She wanted to be the best, to be among the best. After all, she hadn't almost-quite-literally killed herself at the Academy to get a third-rate assignment now. And yet sometimes -- often, as Gia had learned more than once now -- these questions were actually tests in disguise.

Gia folded her hands in her lap and looked squarely at the Commander with a calculating gaze. "I have the most simulator time with either the Vesta- or Odyssey class," she offered for consideration.

Oh thank god Jenna thought. "Both of those would look excellent on your academic record. I believe that the USS Picasso is a Vesta class that is accepting cadets. I would be more than happy to contact them if that's your choice," Jenna said, leaning forward slightly in her chair.

The din of voices in the quad had receded, leaving just the sound of a tree branch tapping on the window, like an insistent visitor asking to be let in.

"But there are other factors to consider," Gia rebutted herself, as she started to enumerate her thinking on the fingers of her left hand. "I don't want to be just a number on a long roster. I want to make sure I get plenty of hands-on experience, and real, practical training. Somewhere I can really be valued, useful, and make a real difference. Somewhere with a strong leadership presence... What about the Diligent-class?" She again met Jenna's gaze and conveyed an unspoken understanding of which ship she was talking about. "I heard they're back in service. He would take me on, wouldn't he?"

Three Weeks Ago

"...and so I told him no, sir, I don't have any more self-sealing stem bolts. You've got everything we have left. I couldn't believe it. Here we are delivering supplies for the seven thousandth time in the past few months and this guy is giving me hard time. Unbelievable," Malcom said, staring into the screen in his quarters. On the other end of the connection, his wife was sitting in their home. He could see just a hint of the blue sky and the ocean from where she sat outside on their deck.

"That's nice, dear," Jenna said.

Malcom raised an eyebrow. "You're not even listening to me!"

Jenna looked up from the PADD on which she was writing a letter of recommendation for an outstanding young doctor who was about to graduate from the academy. "Malcom, I sympathize with you about how much drudge work Starfleet command has you doing. I really do. But the fact that you somehow still have a command sort of balances that out, don't you think? And there's not much I can do except listen to you and nod at your stem bolt frustration," she said and the gave her husband a smile.

Malcom sighed and sat back in his chair. "You're right, of course," he said and the paused. "But there is something that you can help me with."

"Go on," Jenna replied.

"A friend of mine at the academy says that Gia is on track to be the honor graduate in her class, which is great. I'm so happy she's succeeding. But she's coming up on her window for a cadet cruise."

"So what's the problem? She can come back to the Firebird and be with her friends," Jenna said.

"No. That's the last thing I want. She's got a great future ahead of her and I don't want associating with us to hold her back," Malcom said.

"Its not leprosy, Malcom. Surely it can't be that serious."

"Promise me you will try to keep her from coming back."

The Present

Jenna's head was beginning to hurt. She'd delayed this conversation as long as possible because she'd played it out in her head a thousand times and it always ended up in this exact situation. Malcom didn't want Gia to come back but Gia was always going to want to return to the Firebird.

"Well... yes, I'm sure he would take you back. But," Jenna shifted in her seat. How do I say this?. "Gia, have you considered the current situation on the Firebird? Do you really want to get involved with that?" She said.

"That is my family. Your family." Gia felt herself flush slightly at the almost-accusatory tone that slipped out with her words. She recognized at that moment that while she had the scuttlebutt on the situation with the Firebird's previous mission, she clearly did not have the full scope of understanding as to what was really happening now politically with the fallout. It's a career landmine, she read the context in Jenna's eyes before she averted her gaze contemplatively back toward the window.

After a moment, she purposedly tempered her next words, letting Difrino know that she wasn't all emotional reaction. "I can't think of a better assignment. I'm not looking for the easy path. I want the challenge and the scrutiny."

Jenna ran through a few possible responses but none of them were very strong. I guess I'll try the truth

"I speak with Malcom pretty frequently now that he's not running off putting out fires. Actually, he's as far from that as he could be. They tried to get him to resign after this most recent escapade. When he refused, they demoted him to commander and made him, essentially, retake the command course. It wasn't a great experience for him. One of the reasons is that the captains of Starfleet gossip more than a gaggle of grandmothers and everyone knew who he was and why he was there and there are some strong opinions about what he did. Half of them despise him for his blatant disregard for direct orders because not following orders is taboo in most militaries. The other half think he's a hero because he helped stop a Federation-Romluan war," Jenna said. "And his own officers and crew are treated as collaborators and shunned."

Jenna paused, rubbing her temple with one of her hands. "Gia, I spoke to him and he does not want you to be caught up in that because he thinks you have a hell of a career ahead of you. He even asked me to try to persuade you, which is why I'm babbling at you, even if I don't agree with him."

Gia perked up at the last part. "You think I should go there. In that case, we're in agreement." She paused a heartbeat before adding, "If he has a problem with that, he needs to tell me no himself, but I'm not turning away from them. Please put through the request to the Firebird." Even if it's just running courier missions to Risa. She'd made up her mind.

"Alright, alright. It's not my job to run interference for my husband. I'll send out the request and I guess we will see what happens. I know he's not going to be happy with me but, I did try. Kind of," Jenna said. "And now, you better get to class. But we should get dinner tonight and celebrate."

Gia may have expected more resistance, but she looked relieved when none came. "I'd like that," she said, the tenseness dropping a bit from her voice as she stood up. "Send me a time and location later?" She was already mid-way to the door. If she hurried, she could still meet up with Daw before the simulator doors sealed.

[OFF]

Commander Jenna Difrino
Head Medical Instructor
Starfleet Academy
Earth


Cadet Gianna Djokovic
Starfleet Academy
Earth

 

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