The cabin was mostly silent as the hours ticked by, the only sounds were conversation between Dawa and Jabir. The other two cadets Kinos and a Bolian woman named Xiran Zoff, Joshua discovered, sat bolt upright in their chairs. He wasn’t sure if they were too nervous or too excited to move. He shrugged and looked back at his console. The ion storm was getting close, but Dawa and Jabir were expertly keeping the runabout away from it.

Joshua stretched and yawned loudly, “I’m going to see what refreshments we have onboard. Anyone wants anything?” He scanned the cabin.

“Yes, please I’ll take an old earth soft drink I got stored in the ship’s database, under tropical juice I take a large please,” said Jabir.

“Hmmm, how about a black coffee, hot? No, iced! So, I can nurse it a little longer,” said Dawa. “Please and thank you!”

“I would like some Bolian tonic water,” Xiran piped up.

“If they have root beer, I’d take that,” Tolria said.

As Josh exited the cabin, Dawa turned back to the console and switched to a vertical holographic display so that Jabir could see what she was doing.

“I’m sure they covered this in the first or second year of the academy, but next time you’re in the co-pilot seat, remember to periodically check the navigation system for enroute stations and starships. The computer will locate and plot them automatically, but it’s the protocol to always have a second set of eyes on them.”

The controls flashed their acknowledgment of her approval in green, and she turned away from them to face Jabir.

“And now I gotta hit you with the mandatory question for all cadets,” she said with a smile. “What made you want to join Starfleet?”

Joshua popped his head back in the cabin, “Ooh, storytime? Sorry, there’s no snack service on this flight,” he said with a smile. Joshua handed the crew their requested drinks and returned to his station.

Sitting in the co-pilot chair Jabir thought, where do I start?

“Well, I was born and raised on Trill, till the age of 10 I had a normal life then on a visit to the city capital with my dad there was an attack, and he was killed.”

Taking a minute of silence, as it was a hard time to talk about, he then continued, “That’s when I got hurt.” He showed a scar on his hand, “which at the time according to the Drs was nothing too bad just a minor cut, but I later learned when applying for the symbiont program that, that cut was more than just a cut I had caught a blood virus that the symbiont program won’t allow and my home world had never come across this so they were unable to find a cure.”

Again, he paused while taking a sip of the drink that Joshua had brought from his request a few minutes ago. Then continued his story to the Lt Commander, “From here I then decided to join the Trill Science Ministry to try and work out what my infection is by joining their Medical Unit. A few months into my studies I realized I was not cut out for the medical side of things as I liked to be more hands-on with my work and not let the computer do all the work once I had worked it out on a tablet or at a console. So, after a year, I joined their Engineering department instead and here I worked on, and still do to this day on defensive and offensive systems trying to keep people safe so they don’t have to go through disappointment in life like I have had to. But while I was also there, I took shuttle craft and flight lessons so once all the testing and theory work was complete, I could test my work out first before putting anyone else’s life in danger.”

Taking his final breath and another sip of his drink and said, “When coming to the end of this time at the Ministry I decided that I was to join Starfleet but realized I had missed so much time training for the entrance exam so I entered and passed the Pre 6 Week Academy Preparation Program and the rest is history that you can read in my service record”.

Joshua took a drink of his beverage and nodded to Kinos, “What about you, Cadet Eager Beaver?”

Tolria narrowed her eyes and made a disgusted face, “It’s not quite as involved as Jabir’s, but my father was a medic in the Dominion War. He eventually was integral in the exchange of medical practices between Bajor and the Federation once they joined.” She sighed at the memory, “It just seemed appropriate that I follow him into medicine. Although I’m specializing in surgical services and not emergency/trauma.”

Joshua nodded, “I know how that is. I followed my father in botany. It made my mother immensely proud.” He smiled and took another drink.

A moment of silence passed in the cabin. “I suppose it’s my turn,” Xiran said. “I grew up taking things apart and putting them back together. I was better at the first one than the second. It made my parents furious to live in a house where nothing worked,” she chuckled with embarrassment. “So, they sent me to a specialized engineering school. The school encouraged the students to apply for Starfleet. I figured, what’s the harm?” She shrugged. “And if I get to explore some new frontiers, all the better.”

The hours passed with conversation passing between the five crew members as the Yue Fei moved through space towards Galakail Minor.