The Arrival Of The Cadets...part 1

Posted on Thu Dec 27th, 2018 @ 10:25pm by Captain Brady Dering M.D., PhD & Cadet Freshman Grade Benjamin Hall & Cadet Freshman Grade Phoebe Cavendish & Cadet Freshman Grade Sadie Hawkins & Commander Jacob Bannerman & Cadet Freshman Grade Jondar Sito & Cadet Freshman Grade William 'Liam' Pardot & Cadet Freshman Grade Gwen Morgan & Cadet Freshman Grade James Corrigan & Cadet Freshman Grade Rachel Gallagher
Edited on on Thu Dec 27th, 2018 @ 10:35pm

Mission: My Place In This Universe
Location: ZuluBase Docking Area
Timeline: 2388/08/25 0600 (August 25 2388 6:00am)

It was early morning on the Zulu Base, and the docking area was filling up with cadets. Lines were formed in front of deck officers who would check them in and inform them of which of the many transports vessels would take them to Starfleet Academy Magellan Campus on Sapientia.

Stepping into the line of cadets that was forming, Rachel looked at the PADD she held in her right hand. It was the research assignment she and Liam had been given as punishment for their overnight use of the holodeck. She hadn't liked it, but she'd buckled down and completed the assignment. She glanced around, not yet seeing Liam. She wasn't looking forward to being essentially joined at the hip with him for two weeks on Magellan, but one way or another, she'd get through it....though it'd be a long time before she trusted Liam again.

Commander Devin McCall stood off to the side as the cadets lined up to get in the transports. He saw the jockeying for position among some of them and saw others eagerly waiting their turns to board. It was going to be a brand new experience for them, and he was proud to be a part of that experience. Seeing two cadets that seemed to be a little too eager, he stepped forward.

"Gentlemen, if you'd care to step out of line, we can ensure that you get a prime spot...on the last transport to the planet." Devin said with a pleasant smile.

The two cadets groaned. "We were just having fun, Commander," one of them said.

"Fun like that demonstrates an inability to follow orders, and you wish to enter the Academy? Patience is the order of the day there." Devin pointed out.

"Yes, Sir," the second cadet said, knowing that to argue would result in waiting even longer.

The first cadet gave his friend a look, but kept his mouth shut.

"Very good, gentlemen. Now for everyone else to board," Devin said as he pulled the two aside.

Right at the back of the hustle and bustle, Liam sauntered up to the queues, not really caring about whether he was late or not.

Following up behind in order to reach one of the shuttles that was about to make the journey to the planet was Jake Bannerman who spotted Liam immediately. "Are we interfering with your plans?" he asked sarcastically before grabbing Liam by the collar and dragging him along down the front with him.

"Hey! You can't do this, I'll tell my uncle about you...he's an Admiral." Liam protested, struggling futilely against Jake's iron grip.

"You do that sparky...I've had Admirals for breakfast." Jake grumbled as he easily guided Liam along.

Phoebe watched Liam being marched by and turned to Jondar with a grin. "Looks like someone is making a good first impression."

Jondar smiled down at Phoebe and said nothing for a moment just enjoying the smile on her own face. "See the goal is to have fun but not where they can see you, one must be clever. Fortunately I have the smartest girlfriend here so I'm set." He smiled boyishly and waggled his eyebrows as he quietly held her hand not wanting to set off the PDA police.

"Is that a fact?" Phoebe giggled, glowing at the thought that he was referring to her as his girlfriend.

Jondar grinned that she didn't correct him, and did a mental "SCORE!" in his head. They'd been spending every spare minute since they met hanging out together but never make it official. He hadn't meant to it sort of slipped out but he wasn't gonna argue if she didn't say anything. He played it cool even though he was doing a mental happy dance. "Well yes you couldn't possibly not help me study, what if I can't focus then I might make you look bad..." He did a boyish pout, "You have to help me study, I'm sure I could focus then..." Focus on what he didn't say.

"Fine. I'll help you study." Phoebe giggled at him before taking his hand and squeezing it gently as she came to the understanding that things just changed between them and definitely for the better.

He rested his head on her head and hugged her briefly before returning to the previous position of hand holding. "You know I hear the camping is something else..." Jondar says innocently and jokingly as they continue their conversation as they wait to board.

"Then maybe we can do that when we have some time off." Phoebe smiled at him, loving the idea of being in the middle of nowhere with him.

Jondar didn't respond at first merely got a smile that only be termed "Evilly pleased" then said smoothly, "I'm sure we'll get a few minutes here and there..." He looked at the controlled chaos as the adults tried to coral the cadets into the transports. "Even with the schedule they're going to give us..."


Gwen Morgan hefted a bag over her shoulder and moved around the chaos, staying in line but out of the way. She hid a smile as Liam got busted, well what did he expected doing stupid stuff in front of teachers.

Rachel was standing in front of Gwen, also looking at Liam getting busted. "He got what he be deservin..." she said, hiding a smirk, glancing from looking at Liam to looking at Gwen. "Hi...Rachel Gallagher." she said, introducing herself as they waited, holding her own duffel bag next to her in her left hand, while her right hand held the PADD with the research assignment.

"Gwen Morgan, I mean if someone is going to do something they're not supposed to why in front of teachers?" She shook her head confused then glanced at the PADD, "Homework already?" She asked. She had her own self imposed homework, mostly learning the campus maps, her instructors and the like so she wasn't surprised just lightly curious.

Rachel looked at the PADD and sighed lightly, "Yes...and No." she said, glancing at Liam again, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him. "I made the mistake of trusting HIM..." she said, motioning to Liam with her eyes as she looked at him again, then back to Gwen, "...and when we got caught...he basically threw me under the shuttle ...ta save his own ass. This is the research assignment we were both given as part of our punishment...." she said taking a deep breath. "I dunnae think I'll ever be trustin HIM again and I dunnae suggest you trust him either." she said quietly.

Gwen didn't know what to say to that so said nothing for a moment, "I think maybe just judging better on who to trust would be the thing." She said a little shyly, trying to help. Vaguely annoyed at someone who would throw a fellow cadet under the bus like that, though she told herself not to assume Rachel's side of the story was the only one, it did have a ring of truth to it.

Standing behind the two of them, oblivious to their conversation, was Ben Hall. Although they were most definitely within earshot, Ben's mind was on other things, and other people. He looked around in search of Katie, having not seen her since the party. Only fleetingly he had thought about Waco Houstin, and wondered what he was up to. They had only seen each other here and there while on the station, the Ferengi/Human hybrid had a penchant for mischief and attempts at negotiating some sort of future business deals with one of the many starbase merchants.

Katie held Kinsey by the hand as they made their way to the lines waiting to board. Claudia had gone on before them. They had been late and would owe their room mate an apology. Hoping she'd made her way there, Katie looked for someone else. Spying the one she searched for, she dropped her friend's arm and made her way through the crowd to him. Kinsey followed. She didn't want to be lost in the crowd.

Sneaking up behind him, she took a quick breath and tapped his shoulder. The second he turned to see her, she kissed him. It was a friendly playful peck on the lips but her eyes shined with mischief when they met his. "Did you miss me?"

His eyes lit up, Ben searched her face as he nodded, "Yeah..." and not caring who saw, kissed her fully back.

"Good." She grinned after the kiss and after catching her breath. She remembered that Kinsey was standing next to her. "Um, Ben this is Kinsey. She was one of my room mates." She laughed. "We couldn't find Claudia" She shrugged.

"Nice to meet you Ben." Kinsey smiled. "So now I can put a face to the name. All we heard about was Ben." She teased.

"Not true." Katie blushed as she leaned in to Ben. She felt like a school girl with a crush but that was okay. She was happy. "Well not all the time anyway."

Having been staring at Katie with his usual intensity, Ben smiled before looking at her friend, his deep expressive grey eyes taking her in, "Nice to meet you..Kinsey." and then remembering the social custom, he extended out a hand.

"She isn't usually speechless." Kinsey teased her friend. "It's nice to meet you..Ben." She accepted his hand as she spoke.

"Kinz, why don't you find us a seat on the shuttle. I'll catch up in a minute." Katie didn't take her eyes from Ben as Kinsey giggled and then headed toward the shuttle. "I'll see you there."

"Sure you will." Kinsey laughed again.

"I promised that I wouldn't abandon her." Katie explained to Ben. "She's never traveled alone before and she is my roommate after all." She shrugged. "She got me off house arrest with Ryan, so I owe her at least my company to the Academy. I'll bet there's a seat for you with us though." She slipped her hand into his.

Ben nodded, looking down at their hands. "I think I owe her too..." he looked curiously after Kinsey, wondering how she was able to get ahead of them into the shuttle, figuring they must have checked in already. The fact Katie went looking for him instead of boarding meant alot. "Your brother..." he looked back up to her, "he's going to be okay with you and me...?"

"Oh he warned me to be careful about first loves and falling for a great pair of eyes, but he respects my judgement and I think you scored points when you showed back up to check on me after he tried to scare you off." She grinned. "But he did say to let you know he's called Ghost for a reason on his Special forces team and that you should know I'm on his top five of people he'd kill to protect." She teased.

Looking around, she turned back to Ben. "Kinsey's dad is Commodore Jericho and she's pretty smart. She checked in this morning so we wouldn't have to worry about being late. We have three seats saved and it doesn't look like Claudia is gonna make it."

Ben looked impressed at her brother's threat, it was nothing less than what an Xenexian would do. "All right." he said, nodding, "Let's go find your friend and those seats." and he lead her away.


James frowned as he watched the crazies... and the one getting busted. Hope I don't end up bunked with him... he thought briefly before his eyes moved on. After all, that was the last thing he needed, to be stuck with someone who couldn't be bothered to know when to be a troublemaker and when not to. Not that he was much of a troublemaker either way, but at least he understood the meaning of the word discretion. The comment about his dad being an Admiral, and the attitude that said daddy would bail his ass out of anything, said to James that he was likely one of those spoiled Admirals' kids that got in only because their daddy was an Admiral. They were the same kinds of guys that populated high schools everywhere, rich snobby brats who thought the world owed them something.

Jeez, get off the soapbox already! he chastised himself as he shifted his bag on his shoulder and simply waited his turn in the line.


Great, great, great, great, GREAT! Out of all of the days that Adonai chose to be late on, this day was certainly not the best one to choose. The door to the docking area opened and the Nygean teenager rushed into the room. As soon as he saw everyone else standing all around and in lines, he stopped. There were so many of them. And they were all going to the Academy? These were potentially going to be his friends. At that thought, a smile formed on Adonai's face. "I'm glad I made it on time," he said softly.

As Adonai joined the lines that had formed, he fumbled within his small bag to grab a notepad.. no.. a PADD. That's what they called it here. It had Commander Bannerman's approval for him to see a Captain Sanchez at the Academy. While he wasn't exactly a student yet, this was still just another step in the journey for him and Adonai was loving every minute of it.

With a grip of iron still on Liam, Jake spotted the Nygean and shouted "Ad..." he paused desperately trying to remember Adonai's name then shook his head and continued "Addy...over here!"

"Who's that?" Liam asked.

"Never you mind." Jake replied, eager to keep his eye on both Liam and Adonai. After all, if Maddie ended up rejecting him, he would have to ensure that the little bugger didn't slip through his fingers otherwise Sanchez would string him up by the...Jake cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the Nygean.

At first, Adonai didn't even know if the Commander was addressing him specifically but there was no denying that look from the other man. He was calling for him. With a polite and respectful smile on his face, Adonai walked over to Bannerman. He then looked over to the other young lad who was firmly in the Commander's grip. "Hello Commander," he greeted him. "You know, you might want to loosen your grip on him," he looked to Liam. "You wouldn't want to strain your muscles before flying us to the Academy."

"You worry about your own muscles kid." Jake replied then gestured to Liam, "This one's as slippery as an eel." then he gestured towards the shuttle and added "Why don't the three of us go get settled on board where I can keep an eye on you both?" he suggested before lowering his voice to Adonai and added "And maybe you can tell me where you got that chip." he whistled and shook his head, "They were some hot totties that's for sure."

Adonai smiled at the thought of being able to get aboard the shuttle already. "We're getting priority seating?" he asked. "Starfleet just keeps getting better almost every second! As for the program that I gave you... I can tell you where I got it," he agreed. "Although I think it would be best for me to do that once I've been enrolled in the program."

"Smart little upstart aren't you?" Jake commented as he guided them inside the large shuttle.

"Well.. I wouldn't say that I'm as intelligent as your... Einstein... I am simply using some common sense really," Adonai stated.

"Modest too." Jake nodded, impressed that the kid had obviously being studying all about Terran history and probably Federation history too. "You stay up front with me." he growled at Liam then waved a hand at Adonai and added "And you just...find somewhere."

"Looks like you've just been voted teacher's pet." Liam sneered at Adonai as he walked by then stalked up to the front to sit by Jake.

Adonai watched as the Commander and the other cadet walked away. "Teacher's pet?" he muttered to himself, confused as to what that actually meant. "Are we allowed pets at the Academy?" the Nygean wondered. That was the least of his worries for the moment though. "Do I still get priority seating?" he asked aloud but there was no one nearby to answer him. Adonai bit his lip softly. He was a little unsure about what he should do. Maybe the best thing to do was to follow what the Commander suggested. And so, the Nygean teenager found himself an empty seat to sit in. He imagined that it wouldn't be too long now before the shuttle left for the Academy. The thought of starting this new life filled him with an excitement he'd never felt before. It was quite invigorating.


Off to the side, Kelly Khan sat in a Melora Pazlar hover chair, waiting on the other cadets to board the transports bound for the planet. She looks up at Brady and down at the hover chair, then back to him. "Thank you for getting this for me, Doctor Dering, but I can walk...although this is much cooler."

"I thought you might think so." Brady smiled, and his eyes slightly narrowed as he again thought about Karyn. He looked around them, at the busyness of the docking area filling up with cadets before saying, "And you're welcome....as this could take awhile..." he nonchalantly held a chocolate candy bar over her shoulder.

Kelly's eyes lit up when she saw the candy bar. "Ohhhh! Chocolate! Good! Your Admiral is pleased, Doctor. You'll make Admiral like me in no time if you keep this up." Accepting the candy bar, she happily opened it up as if it were more precious than gold-plated latinum and took a nibble with a contented sigh.

Brady inwardly chuckled.

James was bored. He hated these lines, but he accepted their necessity. However, the boredom caused him to cast his eyes about the room in search of someone interesting to talk to. Spotting the young lady in the hover chair, he left his place in line and approached her. He had a kind smile and a warm tone as he greeted her. "Hey there." He'd seen too many people avoid these chairs like the person in them had some plague that they'd catch if they got near. He'd thought it was a horrible attitude, and he was not going to be one of them. Of course, he had no idea that this was not her natural state. He held out his hand in greeting as well. "I'm James Corrigan."

Kelly looked up and turned on a terrawatt smile. "Hi. Kelly Khan," she said as she accepted his hand and gave a friendly shake. "Excuse the mobility...Doctor D's orders." She gave a nod to Brady and he gave her a salute back. "Spend a few weeks in the hospital and all of a sudden they think you can't walk, which I can." Brady rolled his eyes as she continued. "What are you going to Academy for? I'm heading for Flight Control. Well, if they'll let me pilot one of these things. Not that I can right now..." Realizing that she was babbling, she gave a nervous squeak, her face flushing a bit.

James was glad that she had not been one of those bitter people who though everyone who tried to be nice to them was just pitying them. Then her words sank in, and he almost slapped himself in the head for assuming. Almost. Instead, he merely smiled an embarrassed little smile. It wouldn't have mattered to him whether she could walk or not. She was pretty and nice. "Well, they have to feel useful too, I guess." he joked at her comment about doctors. At her question about academics, he shrugged. "My main is Engineering, but I have a secondary in Flight Control." he answered. "I'm pretty sure they'll let you fly one before they let me." he added with a chuckle. "Can I ask... what happened? I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to; I was just trying to-I mean-" He shook his head, realizing that he was stammering and falling over himself, and tried again. "I mean, you don't look hurt." The 'spend a few weeks' comment had caught him and made him look her over for injuries that would have taken so long to heal. But he saw none, so he was confused. But he'd never pry. If she didn't want to tell him what was wrong, that was perfectly fine.

Kelly listened to the cute young man while thinking about how best to respond. "It's okay. It seems that I had a condition that was passed on genetically that was dormant before now. Long story, but I've been getting treatments here on the station and have a few more go to once we get down to the planet. It sucks, but what can you do?" There was far more to say about it, but she never really felt comfortable talking to new people so openly; the Doctor could attest to that particular aspect of her.

James nodded, comprehending. He couldn't say 'understanding' because you couldn't really understand someone 'till you'd walked in their shoes, or in this case rode in their hover chair. But comprehension he could do... and compassion. Right? "Yeah, I can see it sucks. Are you going to be stuck in that thing until they finish the treatments?" he asked. He was not going to probe into the rest since it wasn't any of his business; if she wanted him to know, she'd tell him. Not, he suspected though.

"No," Kelly said. "They'd have to break my legs to keep me in this thing. I'm just in it under Doctor Dering's mother hen tendencies...but he's a good man." She looked over her shoulder at the man.

"Why thank you, Kelly." Brady smiled. "And it's only for traveling."

James chuckled a bit. He could certainly understand her feelings; he thought he'd go mad if he got stuck in one of those things! "I hear ya." he agreed with her sentiments aloud. "So, why'd you decide to join the Fleet?" he asked, changing the conversation.

"I want to fly," Kelly told him. "Shuttles, starships...Bolian Vectorboards...anything that can really move. I've studied the Picard and Riker Maneuvers and the other famous ones..but I want to be known for something that I'll come up with. What about you?"

James thought she was a pretty cool girl, definitely not the snotty, stuck up, superficial kind. "You ride a vectorboard? Awesome!" he enthused before the internal censor that was supposed to keep him from making an ass out of himself could kick in and stop that from exiting his mouth. Of course, he was seriously jealous. His dad would never have let him ride one of those 'ludicrous death machines'. Maybe if he hung out with her, she'd teach him. "Ever teach anyone to ride?" he asked. Then he realized he didn't answer her question and flushed slightly in embarrassment. "Sorry. I've got an exploratory streak, and I wanted to learn new technologies." he told her with a shrug.

"No, but there's a first time for everything, right?" Kelly asked. "If you can keep your balance at three hundred kilometers per hour."

James frowned in thought. "Don't really know. Never tried." He got a goofy little grin. "I guess we'll find out, huh?"

"Oh boy," Kelly said. "I think that the holodecks are going to get a lot of use before the real thing is used. You don't mind spending your two hours a week learning, do you?"

James grinned. If it meant spending the time with a really hot girl like her, hell no! "Not at all!" he answered, too quickly. The internal censor surrendered and took the next flight to the Bermuda Triangle. Maybe it'd come back when he hit about twenty-five.

"Now then," Kelly said with a grin, seeing his reaction with a twinkle in her brown eyes. "What do I get out of it?"

Blink! Oh, shit! What do I say?! What do I do?! Calm down. Breathe. "Um..." He blushed a bit at his own reaction. "I... what would you want?" Yep, the internal censor was definitely gone! Only after it exited his mouth did James realize that it could be taken wrong. Damn!

Kelly grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Are you saying that I could ask for anything?" She enjoyed watching him squirm and leaned forward in her hover chair.

Damn, she hadn't missed that! The blush deepened, and he suddenly found himself wishing that there was a hole beneath his feet that would swallow him and he could pull it in after. "Um... I didn't mean-err-I..." he fumbled, his brain unable to formulate a coherent sentence now that he was completely embarrassed. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Well, maybe not anything." he amended, hoping he sounded more steady than he felt but knowing he didn't.

Kelly gave a delightful laugh. "Don't worry...I don't bite that hard." She smiled and sat back in her hover chair. "Well...depending. We'll see." She gave him a wink and laughed again. "Maybe next time you'll think about an answer, hmm?" She found herself enjoying his company and looked forward to more of it.

She had such a great smile. He found himself caught by it. A couple of moments later, a different part of his mind nudged him. Hey, Dumbass, you're staring! Stop it! He blinked and smiled. "I'll try." he answered lamely. He did hope that he would be able to get to know her better. Pretty and smart was a great combination!

Brady had been waiting for the comm for him and Kelly to go aboard their assigned vessel. His badge had gone off as the two spoke, and he now spoke up, "It's time we get onboard, Kelly" and he extended out a hand to shake the younger man's, "Cadet Corrigan, we'll be seeing you on campus."

James shook the offered hand but found himself disappointed that their chat was over. "Yes, sir." he answered dutifully. Then he flashed Kelly a bright smile. "Catch you on the flip-side!" and he was off toward the lines to board the shuttles with a lighter heart and step.

Rachel had pretty much zoned out the chatter around her, engrossed in one of her books that she had, opened in her hand, reading as she kept a grip on the PADD with the research assignment she and Liam had been given as punishment for their little adventure. Then again, adventure probably wasn't the right word for it...more like...mistake. One she had no intention of repeating...not that she'd give Liam the time of day again, not unless he proved himself worthy...which at the moment, wasn't appearing to be happening anytime soon.

Gwen stood a little nervously glancing around, waiting for her chance to board. Eager and nervous was an odd combination. Anyone she knew seemed busy talking to others, she meant to ask Kelly about the chair but it didn't look like she was going to get the chance before it was her turn to board. She made a note to look Kelly up later when they landed as she boarded her shuttle.

In the background, a dark haired brunette with piercing blue eyes watched all the drama. Her long hair cascaded around her and blew in the wind. She wore a tight purple top that was in a 21st century style with holes where the shoulder fabric should be. The top had a deep v-neck that strongly hinted at her cleavage. She wore tight jean shorts and sandals. She exuded sexuality and seemed to revel in it.

She, Sadie Hawkins, had not been amongst the several cadets who had been there for weeks already. She arrived only just today. Starfleet and her parents agreed that this would be a place for her and it was not the place that she necessarily wanted to be.

Her eyes first caught Jondar and Phoebe and she surreptitiously listened to their conversation. Jondar definitely looked like fun. She grinned until he identified Phoebe as his girlfriend. Honestly, is she that easy? Such a stupid line. She's definitely not worthy of him. And he looks like such a fun toy. We're definitely going to have to do something about this. It is for the greater good.

Rachel, another tool, letting some boy named Liam throw her under the bus and looking for support. Was everyone in this Academy going to be just as lame? She hoped not as she continued to listen to the chatter and let her thoughts drift to Jondar and Phoebe....

To Be Continued....