Chapter Text
Soren stared around the lawn. There were hundreds of people, of many different species, milling around there. Most of them looked to be rather younger than her, but she couldn’t say by exactly how much, given the different rates at which species aged and the fact that every planet had a different year-length. She walked over to a table with the sign “Re-U” over it, and got in line behind a Caitian and a Trill who were arguing with each other. Soren couldn't understand a single thing about it, even though it was in standard, because she had no idea what the topic of their argument was.
Finally, she got to the front of the line, where a bored-looking person wearing a cadet uniform sat. “Name that you plan to be addressed by,” they said.
Soren told them, and they shuffled through the Padds in front of them. “Are you Jessie Soren, or Soren ja Nesk ed Oonet?”
“Ja Nesk ed Oonet.”
The cadet took out a Padd. “You submitted your intake form and medical report ahead of time?”
“Yes.”
“To the best of your knowledge, has any of the information on either form changed since you submitted them?”
“No.”
“Federation Law and Starfleet regulations require me to remind you that you may modify your accommodation requests at any time, and that your superiors and instructors are required to accommodate those to the fullest extent that they are able. You may find more information in the school databases. Do you understand?”
“Yes”
“Do you have any other questions?”
“No.”
The person handed Soren a lockbox and a bag. “Inside this bag is a uniform. Go inside that building over there. There should be signs pointing you to the changing rooms. Go in there and get your uniform on, and put all your personal belongings in the box—including your old clothes—and mark it with your name. When you get out of the changing areas, you’ll find a place to put your bag and box. Once there, you will exit through a different door to an assembly field. Wait there for instructions. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Soren followed the person’s instructions, and soon found herself in the assembly field. Since she didn’t have anything else to occupy her time with, she simply looked around the field. It was only half full, but it was very loud already, as many students were talking to each other as a way to pass the time. Several were playing some sort of game with their hands. Soren couldn’t make much sense of the conversations, as most of them were in languages that she didn’t understand, and the few that were in Federation Standard were about topics she didn’t understand. Other people were running around or examining the plants on the field's edge. Finally, after an indeterminable amount of time, a person walked up to the podium at the far end and called out, “Attention, cadets!”
The hall quickly quieted down, though Soren could still hear a few stray conversations.
“Welcome to Starfleet. My name is Vice Admiral Moreia zh’Kresh Varem, and I am the overseeing head of Starfleet academy. We are very glad that you have decided to join us in helping achieve our mission of exploration, diplomacy, and defense. By the time you graduate in four years, you will have learned all the skills necessary to become a Starfleet officer and be representatives of the Federation and Starfleet to other worlds. As such...”
The speech continued on like that for a few more minutes, and then Varem said, “I would now like to introduce Commodore Parelim Brown, Student Dean, who will tell you what your first few days at the academy will be like.”
There was a smattering of applause as Admiral Varem gave the podium to a short, bald person.
“Hello to all of you. As Varem said, I’m Commodore Brown, the student dean here at the academy. I’m responsible for day-to-day operations at the academy, and as such I’ll be giving you information and instructions.
“You will be assigned squads that consist of eight cadets. Each squad will be led by an upperclassman in the command track, who will then appoint one of the command cadets to be your squad's executive officer. In addition, you will each be assigned a buddy, who will also be your roommate. You must stay with your buddy at all times for the first two weeks. After two months the squads will be rearranged based on your performances and you will be allowed to pick a new roommate if you so desire. I will now be reading off the squads. Once I am done, you will leave through this path and look for your squad’s designated meeting area. Do not leave until I say you are dismissed.
“Squad 1, leader Cadet Sedik, consisting of Cadets Mary Caldwell, Baru Falris, Guret…”
Soren listened to Brown list off the squads, learning that she would be in squad 12. In all, there were nearly a hundred squads, and she found her mind wandering to other things. It was also very hot, and many of the cadets began to fan themselves. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was probably no more than twenty minutes, Brown shouted out “Dismissed” and the cadets went over to the path.
The area where squad 12 met turned out to be a grassy clearing with benches in it. Soren was the first to arrive, so she sat down on a bench and waited for the other members of the squad to arrive. The first to show up was a handsome person who was shorter than her, but not by much, and had dark brown skin with short, curly black hair. They were wearing a yellow uniform. Soren figured that they were human, due to the fact that they had a smooth forehead and no other features that were alien to her, but she wasn’t entirely sure.
“God, it’s hot!” complained the person. “It’s got to be at least twenty five degrees out there.”
Soren converted the number in her head then nodded. “I know. I really wish that they’d held this stuff inside.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a couple cadets who’ve already gotten taken to the med center for heatstroke.”
“I’m told that it’s been unusually warm for San Francisco in the fall this week, so hopefully it’ll cool down. Still, it’s a lot hotter than what I was used to on Betazed.”
Soren perked up. “So you aren’t from Earth, either?”
“Yep. Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I’m from J’na.”
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s not in the Federation.”
The other person was about to say something, but they got cut off by someone else arriving who was also complaining about the heat.
More members of their squad tricked in, including a person who was slightly taller than Soren, and had choppy brown hair that went to about their chin. They were wearing a blue uniform and had medium brown skin. They were looking around nervously when they arrived, and when one of the other cadets tried to talk to them they muttered something and scurried over to one of the benches.
At long last, the squad’s leader arrived. Soren was fairly sure that they were a Tellarite, with a wrinkly forehead, pale skin, flat nose with wide nostrils, and a beard and hair that was long, light, and shaggy. They were dressed in a red uniform like all the other cadets that Soren had seen at that point, however, they had a gold oval on their collar instead of the silver one everyone else wore.
“Alright, welcome to squad 12. My name and pronouns, as you probably saw on your introductory packet, are Orviq Kreli and she/he, but don’t call me anything but Cadet Orviq unless I tell you to. Our first order of business is to have you cadets introduce yourselves, names, pronouns, and what track you’re on. Afterwards, I’ll start teaching you the rules of conduct. Understood?”
There were mutters of assent from the group.
“Let’s try that again. Say “yes, Cadet Orviq” if you understand, and “no, cadet Orviq” if you don’t. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Cadet Orviq,” rang out from the cadets.
“Good. Alright, let’s start the introductions with you,” Orviq said, pointing at a tall, bald person to her right that had blue skin and ridges on their forehead—a Bolian, Soren thought. They stepped forward and said: “I’m Vengal, she/ey, and I’m on the engineering track.”
They continued to go around in a circle. When it was Soren’s turn, she said, “I’m Soren, she/her, and I’m a pilot.”
“Don’t you mean you’re studying to become a pilot?” Asked someone who hadn’t introduced themself yet.
“Cadet, you’re being rude,” grunted Orviq. “I don’t think Soren wants to explain what brought her here to you.”
“No, it’s fine,” replied Soren. “I already was a pilot on my home planet when I came here, and now I want to learn how to operate Starfleet craft and become a pilot for them,” she explained
There was an awkward pause, then the person next to her cleared their throat and began to speak.
“My name’s Taris Brel, and, uh, I don’t really care what pronouns you use for me…”
The introductions continued on—Soren learned that the Betazoid who had complained about the weather was named Eimes Huzex, used he/him pronouns, and was going to be an engineer. He looked mildly annoyed at everything. The nervous person was Ynes Vega González, used mixed they/xe pronouns, and was going to become a medic. They seemed relieved once xe was done speaking.
Once the introductions were over with, Orviq began teaching the group the rules of conduct and basic drills. The session was rather long and boring, and the heat made things worse. The group wound up taking many breaks just so that they wouldn’t end up getting overheated.
“I think that taking all these breaks is making this session take longer,” complained Brel during one of those breaks.
Another member of the squad, a Vulcan named Sovak, raised an eyebrow and said. “Illogical. There is an allotted time for how long these exercises will take, and we will end at the same time no matter how much we manage to get through.”
“Easy for you to say,” Brel grumbled back. “This heat is probably on the cool side for Vulcan.”
Eimes leaned back and sighed. “I don’t even want to be here.”
“What? Why?” Vengal asked
“My parents wanted me to join. My mom thought that being in Starfleet would ‘allow me to demonstrate my skills on a broad scale’, whatever that meant, and my dad agreed. So they pressured me to sign up. I’m planning on quitting as soon as I can.”
Vengal opened eir mouth to say something, but at that moment Orviq announced that their break was over. The group stood up and got back to their exercises.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Orviq announced, “You guys are done for today. I’m going to give out your room assignments, and then you can go.” There were a few scattered cheers. Orviq cleared his throat and began to read off the assignments. “Everyone will be on the second floor of building one. Sovak and Park, room 212. Brel and Humex, 213. Soren and Vega Gonzalés, room 214. Vengal and Patterson, room 215. Dismissed.”
Well, Soren thought, as she jogged to the dorms with the rest of the squad, I’m pretty open, but Ynes seems pretty shy and jumpy. Maybe once we get a chance to talk one on one with each other, they’ll open up more. Or maybe xe won’t. Either way, this is going to be interesting.