“I don’t understand,” Carolyn Crawford said as she sat in the corner of her quarters aboard the USS Olympic, the screen on her living room console bright against the darker room around her. The word had come weeks ago about her father, Peter, and his forced retirement. “I can’t believe them.” Her cheeks flushed with a bitter mix of anger and sadness.

He was on screen, looking no happier about his situation. “I wish I could help you understand, Car. My family’s always been a mess, and I wanted to keep you out of it.”

Carolyn felt a thousand questions storming around her head and settled on one she had always wanted answered. “Did they ever want to know about me? Or meet me?” She could feel the sting of tears forming at the edges of her eyes. Hearing stories of kindly grandparents in the academy hadn’t helped her heart. She watched her father’s face tighten ever so slightly. Carolyn had grown up with that look, and knew it was his anger. It had rarely expressed itself outside of that momentary flick across his face.

“I sent pictures. I told them about you, but the messages came back unread.” She could feel the weight of his words as his eyes seemed to flit over memories of lifetimes past, an unusual downward turn of his lips apparent.
She couldn’t speak for a moment. Longing for family and knowing how much pain they had caused her father was a hard thing to reconcile. Her father, ever the protector, had kept her sheltered from the storm that was the Crawfords. She swallowed the tears and told her father, “Thank you for keeping me safe, Dad. I know it wasn’t easy.”

A small smile snuck across his lips, and he chuckled when she raised her eyebrows in reply. “It wasn’t easy at first. But a few years after you were born, it was made simple for me when those messages came back. Family to me meant you and me. Nobody else. They never gave me a reason to do it, anyway. You were the most important thing in my life. Still are.”

She could see his eyes sparkling with the sudden emotion in his words, and put her hand to the screen. “And you to me, Dad.” He returned the favor, and the moment held for longer than it had in the past. Carolyn loved her father beyond measure and words. Her hand dropped first, as it always did. She shifted back in her chair, changing the topic. “You never told me how the whole Captain Walton thing ended up.”

She cackled as his bushy eyebrows shot up in shock, with his eyes narrowing in the often expressed emotion of annoyance. “I should never have told you about it.” He sighed dramatically before leaning back in his own chair back on Earth. “She reached out last week. We’ve been…talking. I think me no longer being Fleet Captain in the squadron helped. She seemed…friendly.”

Carolyn’s eyes narrowed in an investigative fashion. “What does that mean?”

A look of amused shock was his reply before he said, “No double meaning there, Car. She’s been friendly. We’ve been catching up. Talking about each other, getting to know each other. You know, those things people do when they’re reconnecting.”

She rolled her eyes. “So you two gonna make this a thing?”

The prim and proper Peter Crawford took his turn at rolling his eyes. “I don’t know, Car. We’re a work in progress. I like her, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Carolyn scoffed, “That’s what I was asking. Does she like you?” She could see his eyes narrow again, but the meaning was unclear until he replied.

“It’s been a few years since I was in high school, Car. This isn’t the gossip channel.” His tone was curt, and she didn’t respond. He let out a small sigh. “I think she likes me. She might have said it on our last video call.”

Carolyn gave out a shout, her smile wide, and she chuckled at the startled look on her father’s face. “Well, there’s hope for you yet, old man.”

“Old? Now, wait a second.” He looked ready to give a lesson before he stopped, cocking his head to the side. “You’re okay if this thing becomes a thing and then a bigger thing?”

She blew out a long breath of annoyance. “Give it a name, Dad! I don’t enjoy calling things ‘things’, even in the engineering room. Everything has its place and its proper name or label.”

His smile warmed. “Well, that’s the Carolyn I know and love.” Another pregnant pause. “I’d like to think it’s possible for this thing to be more than just another chance to catch up. That’s what I’m aiming for, at least.” He didn’t let her interrupt, asking, “And what about you?”

“Oh, God, Dad. Nothing here. I’m happy with my engine room, my specification manuals and my mission. You’ll be the first to know if any boy is daring enough to get my attention.”

He smiled, and she returned the favor. “Good night, Car. Love you. See you next time.”

“Love you too, Dad. Next time.” The channel cut, and she lay back in her chair, glancing at the pile of PADDs and reports. Grumbling, she returned to work.