Never Know What You Need Untill It Falls Into Your Lap (part 1)

Posted on Sat Feb 10th, 2018 @ 10:52am by Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Johnathen Anderson Jr

Mission: Ishimura
Location: Earth, San Francisco
Timeline: Pre Ishimura - 2240
2345 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Cassie hesitated a moment outside the door before stepping into the waiting area for a transport back to Scotland. This was a mistake, of that she was certain. Last time she was home, she had felt suffocated and awkward as a babe. It was these sensations which lead her to walk the Academy at all hours of the night, and that had led her too... She swallowed all those thoughts, that event was behind her and she saw no need to open up that line of inquiry again, she wasn’t Vulcan and she wasn’t Human and neither really accepted her for herself apart from her mother and grandmother.

Walking past the transport office, Johnathen saw one of his classmates standing in the waiting area. He noticed that she looked troubled, even for a half-Vulcan. Remembering that she was a very nice person, he changed direction and made his way inside. "Hey, Cassie?" He asked as he approached. "You okay?"

The woman looked up at the man who was in her basic flight class, he was charming then but now it was possible he would just rub her up the wrong way as he was one of the few people who knew she was half Vulcan. It was something she had needed to graduate next year and it bugged her to no end. She wasn't a flyer, her brain for all her intelligence just didn't understand it. She would pass the class but only just but that was enough it was only needed because she needed something none medical or scientific. The man was one of the few who called her by her human name. "Um... yes... I am heading home." She said softly smoothing out her black dress before making sure her ears were covered, for all her human attributes somethings she couldn't hide.

From her tone and the type of dress she was wearing, Johnathen asked the next question cautiously. "What takes you home? Relaxing for the break?"

Slowly she sat down on one of the chairs and shook her head. She wore a simple black dress with high heels compared to most of the Starfleet Uniformed people around her. "My mother has passed away. I am going home to set her affairs in order." She admitted not at all sure why she told him when she barely knew him other than the hotshot pilot in her worse class.

Johnathen's face immediately fell. "Oh, my! Cassie! I'm...I'm So sorry for your loss! Is there anything I can do to help?"

Before Cassie could reply, the transport clerk stepped out of the back office and approached. "Cadet McAvoy, I'm so sorry to tell you this, but the transport is down for technical issues. There won't be any flights out until Thursday."

Johnathen interjected. "Thursday?! That's three days from Now! Her mother just died! Don't you have another shuttle that can take her home?!"

The clerk grimaced and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Cadet. The other shuttle is currently up in orbit, at Spacedock One. It's not scheduled to be back planetside until the middle of next week. There is nothing I can do. Again, I am truly sorry." That said, the clerk turned around and stepped back into the back office, leaving the two young cadets alk alone in the waiting area.

"Son-of-a...." Johnathen started to say but stopped himself from completing the thought. Turning back to face Cassie, his mind was churning, trying to come up with a solution. Suddenly, he had it. "C'mon, I've got an idea!" He helped Cassie to her feet, collected her bags, and then led her out into the quad.

"You don't have to help. It is okay. The funeral and other things can wait." Cassie assured quietly as she looked deflated at the thought of hanging around the Academy for a few more days with people who didn't know anything about her or care about what she was going through.

Glancing over at Cassie, Johnathen shook his head. "No, Ma'am. If there is one thing that is most important in this crazy universe, it's family. I know that your mom won't know you're there, but, it'll do you good to be there, by her side, to say goodbye to her."

"Where are you taking me?" She wondered taking her bag from the man. She was capable of doing everything herself always had been. For all of her father's faults in his coolness towards his wife and his daughter, in the end, he had raised Ka'see to take care of herself in situations like this.

Releasing the bag as she grabbed it, he gave her a lopsided grin as he answered. "I'm taking you to your mother."

Cassie wanted to laugh but it would have been completely inappropriate at that time and place. “What? Don’t be silly.” She hissed he led her into a crew area.

"I was about to go do some flying around the globe, using the shuttle I've been assigned, get some extra flight hours under my hat, so to speak. It's a two-person shuttle, so, plenty of room for you."

“You cannot do that.” This was ridiculous, this man was ridiculous offering to take her home.

As the pair reached the hangar facility, Johnathen glanced over at Cassie and replied. "Yes, I can, actually. I've already filed my flight plan with control. The trip actually included flying through the highlands of Scotland. There is some excellent nap-of-the-Earth flying terrain up there." He then stopped in front of the hanger security console. After inputting his security clearance, the door slid open. He extended his left arm into the lit space, indicating that Cassie should enter first. "After you, Cassie."

Cassie frowned not at all convinced but even if he got her to Scotland she could get down to where her mother had moved to after she joined the Academy easily. It was just unlucky that she had used all her transporter credits early in the school year when her mother had gotten sick. "This is crazy you know that right?" She whispered as she got strange looks going through the large facility.

Johnathen smiled at Cassie as he reached back and gently took hold of her left hand. "Don't worry about it. They're just not used to seeing a beautiful woman in civilian clothes." He continued to lead her deeper into the hanger facility, past various types of shuttles and starfighters, until finally, they came to an old NX class shuttlepod. It was painted gull grey and had the seal of the Academy emblazoned on either side.

Johnathen released Cassie's hand to unlock and open the hatch. He then offered his hand to Cassie, to help her climbs inside while wearing her dress.

The woman resisted the urge to pull her hand back as the younger man tugged her further into the facility. She had never been this deep in it before and it unnerved her that anything could happen for a moment before she realised that she was likely as strong as he was despite the look of her. "Thank you." She said awkwardly rising to climb inside trying to not show off her underwear.

To his credit, Johnathen had averted his eyes, out of respect for Cassie. After she was inside and seated, he climbed inside and sealed the hatch. He carefully squeezed past her and lowered himself into the pilot's seat. "Go ahead and strap in. The artificial gravity.on this thing is a bit dodgy at times," he said over his left shoulder as he began the startup sequence.

The woman didn't miss him averting his eyes which made her blush a little that he was being a gentleman. Cassie didn't need telling twice she quietly strapped herself into the seat trying to look smaller if it was possible. "Ready," She whispered putting her bag on the floor securing it between her legs.

Johnathen nodded as he turned back to the controls. He contacted the control tower and gave then his clearance codes, then requested permission to lift off. After a few beats, the controller came back and granted the clearance. He also notified Johnathen to steer south out of the city, as a cruiser was also in the process of lifting off to attain orbit. Jonathan acknowledged and thanked the control officer. He then activated the pod' s thrusters and after a few beats slowly lifted off the hanger deck.

Carefully and slowly, Johnathen piloted the pod out of the hanger. Once they were clear, he said aloud to Cassie, "Here we go." With an expert touch that belief his age, the pod lifted up into the air, circled the Academy grounds as it gained altitude, then banked south as instructed.

Cassie closed her eyes. For someone who had to fly for her final credits, she hated being a passenger in such a small vessel.

After about to ten minutes of flying south, Johnathen altered course to the northeast. He then began to accelerate. Finally, he spoke, again, over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving his controls or the view out his widescreen bubble. "What is the location that you need to get to, Cassie?"

The woman touched the nearest console, inputting the location reference. She knew the location by heart, the middle of nowhere Scotland. It was an old cottage that had been modified in the last ten years for Cassandra McAvoy.

Seeing the destination coordinates flash up on his console, Johnathen adjusted their course and speed. "We will be there in about four hours. The local time there will be about oh-four-thirty by the time we arrive. If you want to sit back and try to rest, I'll keep my mouth shut for the rest of the flight."

“Talk away.” She assured curling up into the seat being careful to keep to her side of the small vessel. “I can’t sleep. I don’t need much sleep anyhow.” Her Vulcan heritage made her lucky like that.

"Okay," he replied cheerfully. "So tell me, how long has your family been in Scotland?"

“My Mum has been there forever, apart from when she met my dad and we lived on Vulcan.” She admitted finding it easy to talk with him. She couldn’t exactly ignore him the fours hours that he was willing to take her home.

"Oh! That's cool! How did they meet? What did she do that drew his attention?" Seeing that all the systems were working perfectly, Johnathen activated the autopilot. He then unlocked his chair and slowly spun around to face Cassie. "Sorry. If the questions are too personal, just let me know."

"My mum is...was..." She paused softly and shook her head rubbing her forehead in frustration at the change in her life. It was most likely she was going to the middle of nowhere Scotland. "Um... I can't really discuss her job but she was smart. The kind of smart that easily attracts Vulcans." She said trying to snigger but it came out a weird sound.

Johnathen smiled softly. "Well, anyone smart enough to to make a Vulcan stand up and take notice must be an extremely awesome person." He continued. "What about your dad? Can you talk about what he does?"

"Um... not really. They both worked for Starfleet." She shrugged. She wasn't so sure about her father now but her mother certainly still had up until her death worked for Starfleet. "Both work for all of us. They were a high powered couple once upon a time."

His eyebrows rose at what he had heard, Johnathen was clearly impressed. "Well, now. It's my loss that I never got to meet her. She must've been extremely proud of you when you joined Starfleet. Your father too," he added quickly. "In his own way, of course."

"In his own way sure." V'jek had been proud of her, just not the field that she had chosen. "My mother was an amazing woman. She was kind and compassionate when everything wasn't. She raised me to be me." She turned away and looked out the window trying to ignore the need to cry, she couldn't cry now not in front of this man.

Johnathan reached out and gently laid his right hand on top hers. "Hey, you don't have to turn away. If you need or want, to cry, let it out. You will find zero judgments within this hull." He gave her a small, lop-sided grin as he spoke.

"I can't. It isn't the right time or place." She breathed softly pulling her hand back curling up into the seat more, wrapping her arms around her legs.

Johnathen's grin faltered. "I'm sorry if I offended you in any way, Cas." He put his hands together, elbows on his knees. "That wasn't my intention."

"It isn't you. It is me and the way I was brought up. British might have a stiff upper lip but Vulcans can put them to shame." She said quietly laying her head back on the chair, letting the silence reign for a long time. The atmosphere she could see outside the window was making her sleepy. The older woman soon found herself drifting off to sleep.

Johnathen quietly watched Cassie for a short while. After she had fallen asleep, he reached into the port side storage bin and pulled out a blanket. Unfastening his restraints, he stood and carefully, so as not to wake her, laid the blanket over Cassie. Then he smiled softly to himself, thinking of just how beautiful she was. They had become friends after she helped him with his math assignments. He now made the decision to help her with her final in-flight basics. Returning to his seat, he quietly buckled, Then returned Tuesday to the forward facing position. He then spent the rest of the flight, ensuring that it was as smooth as possible for her.

:::TBC:::

Cassie McAvoy
Science Track - Biology
Starfleet Acdemy (Senior Year)
(PNPC Gregnol)

&

Cadet Johnathen Anderson
Starfleet Acdemy (Sophomore Year)
(PNPC Robertson)