Rocking from side to side, a bead of sweat trickled down the side of Treylana’s right cheek. Her eyes fixated on the small canary yellow ball in the palm of her opponent’s hand as it was thrown once to the clay surface and caught; then again. Her opponent paused and stared her down for a brief moment across court through the white and black nylon mesh separating the two. She noticed a twitch in Treylana’s left shoulder, a telltale sign of the direction she wanted to run. Taking this into account, the shot was aimed and the ball was tossed into the air and with a thud that quickly ensued, the ball was launched downward past the nylon mesh, bouncing to Treylana’s right. “Fifteen-Love” the announcer broadcast to the audience.

Treylana was leading two sets to one, but was trailing in this fourth set five games to four. She had become quite the tennis fan at the academy when she was introduced to it by one of her classmates. While modern equipment brought more comfort to the game, today she opted to load one of the Wimbledon tennis programs from the holodeck library. Her opponent, the late twentieth century champion Martina Hingis.

Gathering her composure from the previous one, she had not prepared herself for the next serve coming her way and the ball that was flying toward her. Treylana narrowly escaped getting hit, but managed to slice the ball back at her opponent. Of little good that did however, as Martina lobbed the ball back toward her. Unable to get to the ball in time, the ball whooshed past her and the score was suddenly Thirty-Love.

“Bridge to Captain Hess!” the intercom blared.

“Computer, freeze program.” Treylana responded, and in the blink of an eye her entire surroundings became frozen in time.

She walked over to her court-side duffel bag and grabbed a towel from amongst its contents. “Hess here. Go ahead.”

“Captain, we are receiving a priority one communique from Starbase 72. It’s Captain Vehl.”

“Send it here to holodeck one. Computer, arch.” she replied.

Once the holodeck doorway appeared, Treylana positioned herself in front of the monitor while gently wiping her forehead with the loosely draped towel over her shoulders. The display changed from the Federation emblem to black and then again to that of her former commanding officer “Th’lora!” she began, “What can I do for you? Judging by the high priority of this call, I can only assume it’s something important.”

Th’lora had taken a quick glance at her protégé and suddenly realized she had interrupted her once colleague of her personal time. “I’m sorry for disturbing you Trey, but we’re dispatching the fleet to Romulan territory on various different assignments and I’ve got one particular assignment that I can think of no one else that I’d rather have take care of.

Th’lora keyed in a sequence on the panel in front of her. A mission synopsis appeared on the screen before Treylana. She skimmed over it real quick, paying attention to the crucial details until she could read the brief in its entirety. “Velux II? Why there?” she paused.

“It is in the best interest of the Federation that the people of Velux II maintain their independence from their oppressive overseers. A referendum was recently held that passed in favor of said independence, but tensions are still high. Frankly, you’re my best officer. I want you to take Horizon there and see what you can do to mediate any disputes. Should those negotiations fail and chaos ensue, I’ll be counting on you to ensure the safety of the Imperial family.” Th’lora replied.

“You know I’ll take on whatever you give me. I just wish we had more time since the ion storm in the Paulson Nebula. The crew have barely managed to regain their composure, and frankly, I’m still missing my chief of Operations. She’s not due back for a few more months.”

“Do this for me Trey and I’ll make sure you get some adequate leave for you and the crew when it’s all over.”

Treylana chuckled, “I’m gonna hold you to that, you know that right?”

Th’lora smiled and then terminated the transmission. The screen faded to black and then back to the Federation emblem.

Treylana finished wiping her face and neck. “Hess to bridge.” she said as she walked back to her duffel bag and tossed the towel inside.

“Bridge here Captain. Go ahead.”

“Set course for Velux II, warp eight. I’d also like the senior staff to convene in the briefing room at fifteen-hundred hours. Hess out.”

As the channel closed, Treylana took one more look around the holodeck at the frozen audience and her Wimbledon champion opponent, thinking about the euphoria she would have felt if she had been able to defeat her. However, duty called. She would have to endeavour to challenge that feat another day. “You win today Martina. Computer, end program.”

The computer complied, dematerializing the landscape around her and opened the holodeck doors allowing her to exit with her duffel and tennis racket in tow.