07-26-2026, 03:08 AM
Hallowette smiled gratefully at Ardanna's encouragement.
"Thank you." She ducked her head with an almost sheepish laugh. "I know my place is where the Captain needs me most, and I'm genuinely ok with that. I know what being an officer in Starfleet means." She loosed a cocked grin, "But a girl can dream."
She couldn't quite explain why flying had settled so naturally into her heart. Perhaps it was the years spent aboard the Ark Royal, perhaps something older than that. There was simply something about guiding a starship through the darkness between worlds that made the galaxy feel both impossibly vast and wonderfully close at the same time.
Ju admitted she'd often wondered what flying felt like before explaining how engineering had begun with fixing things for her grandmother. Lucy's fascination with geology had started with shiny stones gathered on childhood walks. Listening to them, Hally found herself smiling into her beneer juice. "Isn't it funny," she said softly. "Careers rarely start at the academy..." Her eyes drifted around the table. "They usually begin long before that, in some field, or some shop, or...on some random flightdeck."
For her, it had been words, expression and the distance between what made people - people.
As long as she could remember she'd wanted to know why one culture chose a word or gesture while another found meaning in something entirely different. Somewhere along the way that curiosity had become about conquering the distance between them, both physically and diplomatically. Looking back, the path seemed obvious.
Ju suddenly lifted her glass. "Okay, let's do a toast! To new friends, coworkers, and to exciting new lives!"
Hally raised her own glass with a bright smile. "And to finding home in unexpected places."
"Thank you." She ducked her head with an almost sheepish laugh. "I know my place is where the Captain needs me most, and I'm genuinely ok with that. I know what being an officer in Starfleet means." She loosed a cocked grin, "But a girl can dream."
She couldn't quite explain why flying had settled so naturally into her heart. Perhaps it was the years spent aboard the Ark Royal, perhaps something older than that. There was simply something about guiding a starship through the darkness between worlds that made the galaxy feel both impossibly vast and wonderfully close at the same time.
Ju admitted she'd often wondered what flying felt like before explaining how engineering had begun with fixing things for her grandmother. Lucy's fascination with geology had started with shiny stones gathered on childhood walks. Listening to them, Hally found herself smiling into her beneer juice. "Isn't it funny," she said softly. "Careers rarely start at the academy..." Her eyes drifted around the table. "They usually begin long before that, in some field, or some shop, or...on some random flightdeck."
For her, it had been words, expression and the distance between what made people - people.
As long as she could remember she'd wanted to know why one culture chose a word or gesture while another found meaning in something entirely different. Somewhere along the way that curiosity had become about conquering the distance between them, both physically and diplomatically. Looking back, the path seemed obvious.
Ju suddenly lifted her glass. "Okay, let's do a toast! To new friends, coworkers, and to exciting new lives!"
Hally raised her own glass with a bright smile. "And to finding home in unexpected places."