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     Cdr. J. Darek Smith |
He had first seen Earth when he reached his fourteenth birthday. His mother had sent him off to attend high school at a private preperatory school on Earth. He had already been assured a spot at Starfleet Academy because his father had earned the Medal of Honor (Posthumous), but his mother had insisted that he learn from the best of the best. None were considered better in the Core Worlds of the Federation than the staff of the Space Odyssey Preperatory Academy - Columbo, Sri Lanka, Earth. Named for a series of 20th Century fiction works by renowned scientist Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, the Space Odyssey Academy had sprung up on the island nation where Sir Arthur had made his home for most of his later years. The vision of men like Sir Arthur, Dr. Carl Sagan, and Dr. Zephram Cochrane had led humanity - and ultimately the Federation - to the edge of organic understanding over the past 400+ years. So it was little surprise to anyone who was familiar with the works of such eccentrics that the teachers and staff of SOPA was one of the most varied and experienced in the entire Federation - if not the entire known galaxy. Thirty-four years had passed since that summer he had arrived at San Francisco on Earth, but he could recall the feelings of trepidation and excitement as if he had lived it all yesterday. He had visited his mother's family there while awaiting the fall term at SOPA. It had been a pleasantly mild summer. The World Weather Web had allowed for a few cool summer showers to sprinkle down on early mornings or late afternoons, allowing people to enjoy the resultant lower temperatures at carefully calculated times when it was determined to have the best possible mass psychological effects. The young man from Alpha Centauri was taller than most boys his age, and he appeared to be of slighter build. The lesser gravity of Alpha C II (.9g) had allowed him to grow taller faster. His mass had been about the average for a boy his age, but adapting to Earth-normal gravity had taken a couple of weeks. By mid-summer, however, young Darek Smith was sprinting the hills of Old San Francisco as if he had been doing it all his life. Every summer after that he would return to the home of his mother's sister and her family. Even after he had entered Starfleet Academy, he would make regular trips to his aunt's home for good cooking, a soft bed, and the love of family. It was during one of his regular afternoon runs that he had been caught in a rather heavy late afternoon shower. Not caring that he was being soaked to the bone, Smith had continued down the winding road that led to old Golden Gate Park. A sophomore at Starfleet Academy by that point, Smith had been preparing for his end-of-term exams and had decided to take a much-needed break. A run through the park had served that purpose, though it could hardly have taken all of his thoughts from the on-going war with the Dominion, still many weeks from its end at that point in history. The cadet stopped in his tracks as he heard the faintest of sounds filtering through the white noise of the heavy downpour. Looking around, Smith spotted a covered gazebo under which a young woman had taken cover. In her hands, the girl held a music box. On the ground at her feet lay a rain-soaked canvas bag. Making his way over, the big man heard the music swelling. He stepped under the gazebo and smiled down at the girl - clearly older than he had first realied - with rain still dripping from his face and clothes. She smiled back and offered the music box's lovely sounds as a complement to Nature's own orchestra. Two years later they had stood on that same gazebo as Academy Superintendant Admiral Bill Ross himself had performed the wedding ceremony for the graduating Ensign Smith and his beautiful bride. That was all in the past. The past was dead. The future had seemed so full of life and promise back then. But the future was as dead to him now as the past. He needed a fresh start. That would change things. Surely it would. Smith stared down the hole, emergency forcefields still holding the precious life-giving atmosphere within the confines of the ship. The engineering teams had yet to get to this particular section for repairs, and Smith had come to stare out at the raw beauty of space. As he stood there staring out, Coronado's executive officer was reminded of the motto of the Space Odyssey Preperatory Academy: "Oh my gods! It's full of stars!" Those words spoke volumes to a man now tempered with age, experience, and bitterness. The stars called out to him, and he heard once more that song of distant Earth. ============ Christian D. Clem '01, aka "Aggie" Cdr. J. Darek "BMF" Smith, Executive Officer U.S.S. Coronado NCC-97901 |