Zarah Johnson - "A Different Way"
Amanda Nordstrom
(( Captain's Ready Room, Deck 1 Saucer, USS Octavia E. Butler ))
Zarah liked Lia Rouiancet. Not only was she beautiful and intelligent, but she had recently become commanding officer of her own ship. While Zarah loved her mom, it was really people like Rouiancet that she looked at as someone to model, because she had desires and goals of her own, and look at how far Lia had come in such a short time! Well, Zarah knew that she wasn’t going to get anything if 1. She didn’t work for it and 2. She didn’t ask. Of course she could go the traditional route, but what could be better than an alternative that she was about to present? Nothing! Surely it made sense, and if anyone would listen, it was Lia.
The first thing Zarah did though was thank the woman for her time. As a new commander of an entire ship and dealing with a refugee crisis, the woman didn’t exactly have a lot of it to spare, which only made the younger women appreciate her more. After Lia’s greeting, Zarah nodded, her enthusiasm for whatever conversation she was about to begin quite evident. Straightening to her full height, as serious as she tried to be, a smile tickled into the corners of her lips, a trickle of nervousness still bled into the confidence she had fortified herself with, but she shoved it aside and jammed it into the back corner of the closet of her mind, unwilling to entertain anything but success.
Zarah: I hope this won’t take long, but I appreciate you making the time for me.
Sincerity laced her words, for how many Commanding Officers would do just that, especially for someone who wasn’t even a member of her crew? Rouiancet was a different breed, and that helped fuel Zarah’s enthusiasm.
Rouiancet: Of course. Would you like to have a seat?
Lia didn’t motion to the chairs across from a desk like Zarah had inspected, but rather to an area a bit more informalt. THere was nothing special about it, just several seats, though a little more comfortable than the standard ‘behind/in front of the desk’ type. She wasn’t going to argue, but made her way over to the indicated spot and lowered herself into a chair. Once they were both settled, she
Rouiancet: Now, then. What do you have for me?
She inclined her head to the device that Zarah still clutched, and the younger woman shifted in her seat, as if to ground herself for what was to follow.
Zarah: Well, I came with a proposition for you!
Rouiancet: I see! Tell me more.
That didn’t mean Zarah was going to have her request fulfilled, it just meant that Lia was willing to listen, and right now, that was still a step forward.
Zarah: Well, as you know I’ve been studying to take the entrance exam for the Academy.
Rouiancet: Response
That was coming up and it was coming up fast. In a month, Zarah would go through the process and then her scores would decide her fate. Would she make it? She didn’t know. Her mother said the Academy exam was extremely difficult, and it wasn’t uncommon to require multiple retakes before passing. Zarah, however, was determined to get in the first time. However, there was more that she wanted, but whether or not it was doable all depended.
Zarah: However, I think there’s a lot of value right here. After all, we’re in the Gamma Quadrant, of which we really know very little about, even two decades after the end of the war.
A war that she had never experienced first hand, but had only read about in books. A war to end all wars, and the first intergalactic war that involved more than two quadrants. Hopefully one that would never be repeated.
Rouiancet: Response
Zarah: I’ve looked over all the schooling and requirements and I would like to propose a different type of route through the Academy, one that combines the traditional PADD learning with real life experience.
It was then that Zarah finally passed over the PADD which she had clutched tightly up till then. She’d never heard of anyone doing anything of this sort before, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be done! She imagined all sorts of permission from all sorts of people was required, but if Lia agreed, then that was one hurdle crossed!
Rouiancet: Response
-- Zarah Johnson Civilian USS Octavia E. Butler M239008AD0
