Commander

Chapter 10: Cadet Training

"Attention all crew: we have been chosen as one of the starships to host the Cadet training week. We will be arriving at the Academy in three days. When we are in range of the Academy, I will further inform you of your duties as crew of the ENTERPRISE."

Rev was in the dining room, eating dinner, when the announcement broadcasted. Several people who had been working on the ENTERPRISE longer than she groaned loudly.

"Ugh, Cadets! I can't believe we're going to have Cadets running around for a week!"

Chekov, who was reading beside her, chuckled.

"I remember Kedet week," he said. "Do you? I zhink you insulted a Keptin for being illogical."

Rev glanced at him as she took another bite of her food.

"Did I?"

"I only remembered you after you told me who you were, Commander. We attended zhe Academy togezher. We were zhe youngest zhere."

"I remember now," Rev responded. "You were the only one who could navigate through the asteroid storm."

Cadet Week was a week where specially-chosen starships reported to the Academy. Each ship would become a host to around fifty Cadets, who would spend the week working the ship themselves, to see how well each could. On the third day, they'd arrive at a 'practice planet,' where Cadets would beam to the surface and take readings and explore a planet pre-tested and prepared by Starfleet. The week was an excitable honor to the Cadets, and an annoyance to the starship's crew.

For the next three days, the ship was frantic, officers rushing around preparing the Cadet's rooms, setting up their stations, fixing their tests and tasks. When they finally pulled up to the Academy, every station in the ship had been polished and repaired.

Kirk led specifically chosen officers onto the platform and lined them up in front of the group of fifty red-clad Cadets.

"Welcome," he began, pacing in front of his line of officers. "To your first starship. For the next week, you will follow your assigned officer, do as they say, and, hopefully, learn a lot. This is the USS ENTERPRISE, it is one of the best in the fleet, and I expect you to treat is as so. You will respect the officers aboard, you will do what you are assigned to do, and in the end, your assigned officers will write you letters of recommendations to your current officer, so respect them."

Kirk stopped, looking down his line of officers.

"Commander Spock and Commander Zhi'Rev will split the Cadet science officers. If you are studying to be a doctor, you will be stationed with Dr. McCoy. Nurses will be with Nurse Chapel, Engineering will report to Lieutenant Commander Scott, Communications to Lieutenant Uhura, Security to Lieutenant Sulu, and Navigations to Ensign Chekov."

The Cadets rushed to their officers, and Rev noticed that her group seemed like a generally polite group; no one was talking, and none had a fault in their step. Glancing at her brother, Rev led her group of Cadets onto the ENTERPRISE.

As soon as the Captain was out of range, her Cadets began to talk. She pretended not to hear them, because they obviously thought she couldn't; they were speaking about her in hushed voices, as if she wasn't directly in front of them.

"Ugh, we got the young one."

"I hear she was just a Cadet a few months ago!"

"I bet she doesn't even know what she's doing."

"I can't believe we have to follow a Vulcan."

"She's not even fully Vulcan. She doesn't belong on Earth or Vulcan."

Rev was good at not letting things get to her, so this didn't bother her much. She was used to the "not-Human-not-Vulcan" criticisms from her time on Vulcan; Vulcans, although non-emotional, were definitely good at coming up with insults. She, like her brother, had decided to join Starfleet for that exact reason: to get away from people who thought she was at a disadvantage, having a Human mother.

Down the hall, Rev could see Chekov having similar problems, though he seemed to be less accustomed to it. He was trying to gain control over his Cadets, but being younger than most of them, they would have none of it. Rev had tuned out her own students, so she didn't hear them wondering whether she'd gotten lost when she stopped, but she did see Chekov glancing at her helplessly.

Taking a deep breath, Rev walked over to Chekov's group.

"Are we having a problem here?" Rev asked as she approached, and several of the Cadets behind her snickered. She ignored them.

"Zhey seem to zhink I am not capable of teaching zhem, Commander."

"Incapable? How fascinating."

She turned around and ushered her own Cadets to the group in front of her.

"You better hear this to, since you seem to think I can't hear you whispering two feet behind me."

Several of her Cadets flushed red, and shuffled forwards.

"Although both Chekov and I are younger than most of you, we both outrank you. Therefore, we are both obviously a decent bit more intelligent than you, and our age does not define how intelligent or capable we are at teaching you. If I hear another word about me or Chekov's age or capability, I will report to your commanding officer and personally make sure you never see the inside of a starship again. Understand?"

The Cadets seemed to shrink under Rev's glare, so she took that as a yes. Nodding at Chekov, Rev turned on her heel and paced down the hallway, her Cadets rushing to keep up.

That night, Rev sat at her desk. She had received a notification a few moments earlier on her tablet-- divorce papers. Dvir had already signed them, his neat signature scrawled on his respective lines at the bottom of each page, but Rev hesitated to do the same. She felt... bad, about marrying someone and then divorcing them without even seeing them. She didn't want to be married, no, but doing this would be breaking Vulcan rules even more so than she already had. Dvir was mostly human, he thrived for that sort of thing, but Rev had lived as a Vulcan until she joined Starfleet. Before she could sign her name, the ship suddenly lurched, almost sending her flying into her desk. The ship had sped up, which she'd been expecting, but travelling at warp speed was not part of the Cadet's training.

"Both Commanders, to the bridge immediately please."

Rev glanced at her tabled once more before switching it off unsigned and shoving it into a drawer. She'd deal with it later. Right now, the Captain's voice seemed urgent.

Rev and Spock arrived at the lift at the same time, and the first thing they noticed when they exited it was the fact that the bridge was frantic.

"Ah, glad you're here--"

Rev and Spock glanced at each other. Kirk turned his chair to face the siblings.

"Someone has taken unauthorized control of the ENTERPRISE, and we can't get it back."