ENSIGN (A Starship Hope Prequel)

CHAPTER 6

After her shift, Dana headed to the mess with the other cadets, where she sat watching Bonnie with her new friends, bemoaning their grueling assignments. One cadet wearing a science uniform asked Dana why she wasn't eating. She made up an excuse about having had too much lunch before feigning exhaustion and rising to leave.

Bonnie gave her a knowing look as she stood. Her friend needed no explanation. Bonnie had shared a meal with the captain herself when he'd come to visit during their first year at the academy.

Dana fiddled with the hem of her uniform jacket as she waited for another crewman to pass her in the corridor on her way to the captain's quarters. She glanced over her shoulder after they'd walked by, as if they might turn back around and see her entering her father's door. It shouldn't have mattered, but she knew what they were saying behind her back. They whispered 'princess' as if she couldn't hear them. She'd already overheard one group of angsty ensigns in a heated discussion of her convenient appointment to the bridge while the rest of them, some of whom had been waiting for years to get onto a starship, had been assigned what was essentially grunt work. One of the young men had caught her eye and quickly silenced the others before she could hear anything more.

Her stomach ached. She told herself it was from hunger, as dragging her feet had cost her being on time. Now she'd have to explain why she'd been hovering in the corridor. Dana sighed, waving a hand over the control panel on the wall to signal the COMP to announce her visit. To her surprise, the door slid open.

"Oh, your door isn't secured you should have maintenance take a look at it," she said as she entered.

Her father looked up from the spread he'd set out on the small table. It looked like he'd procured large slices warmed meat and fully dressed hot potatoes to accompany the assortment of fruits and vegetables in the bowls beside them. The gravy wafted in her direction, and her stomach rumbled, protesting her slowness.

"No, you've been cleared to enter whenever you like." He sighed, straightening up, eyes softer as he addressed her. "I know that I was cold to you earlier today. It's for crew morale. It's best if it doesn't look like I treat you differently than I do the rest of the crew. But after your shifts, I want you to feel like this is our home. That you can come here whenever you like."

"About that... I don't think I'll be spending a lot of time here. I mean, it's bad enough we share a last name. We're not sharing quarters, too."

He shook his head, his smile going tight. "No, of course not."

Dana heard the slight hesitation in his answer. Was that a wistful tone in his voice?

"Dad?"

He didn't answer, instead gesturing for her to sit down at the table. "Let's eat."

Dana found herself immersed in every word as they started discussing ship's business. After a while though, their conversation lapsed into the soft sounds of silverware on plates. She traced the worried frown in the middle of his forehead with her eyes. There was something her father had yet to speak about, some report or malfunction left to ruminate in the back of his mind. His silence unnerved her, and she waited for him to broach the subject. Before she could ask him about it, he spoke up.

"Your mother and I talked earlier today. She wanted me to tell you she already misses you." He took another bite of potato.

Dana didn't respond. Her mother had rarely noticed her absences before. She'd spent most of her time neck-deep in mud baths, looking for committees to join, or planning parties.

Her father's resonant voice broke into her thoughts. "Dana, did you hear me?"

She refocused on him. "Yeah. I was just wondering what kind of party she might be planning while we're away." Dana rolled her eyes before taking another bite of food.