SNIP

“I grew up in Colorado, on Earth,” Grayson smiled, thinking back to the mountains and the trees of his home, “My folks, my family are conservationists, really. Dedicated to helping regrow the forests that used to grow throughout portions of the American west. We referred to ourselves as tree farmers and so spent a lot of time outside, heat and cold, playing in the woods.”

“I don’t know, what led me to this point, here on the ship?” Grayson leaned back in his chair, exhaling deeply as he crossed his fingers together behind his head, then looked back at the counselor with a mischievous grin on his face, “Starfleet assigned me to the Challenger, so here I am.”
Cadet Paul, Engineer

Korczak didn’t show any kind of expression, he simply looked at the Cadet through his glasses. “And prior to that? What brought you to the Academy? That does not seem like the typical choice for a tree farmer.”

Korczak, CNS

“I was a senior in high school, and I was set to join my parents in their work.” Grayson chuckled, somewhat nervously. “I really didn’t have any idea what I was going to do, or what I wanted to do.”

“One day, in San Francisco, a starship Captain by the name of Monica Graves boarded a shuttle bound for orbit, to take command of her new ship. But, en route, the shuttle suffered several catastrophic systems failures that caused it to crash. It hit my school.”

Grayson leaned back and focused his gaze upon a point of the bulkhead above and beyond the counselor’s head. There was a distance in his eye that harkened back to that day.

“Grace caused a couple of miracles. The first, I was running late so I encountered the disaster, rather than experienced it; and the second, Captain Graves survived, though she was injured.” Grayson started counting with his fingers, “The school was a scene of carnage. Fires raged. There were bodies, burned bodies of people I knew strewn about the area. But…something happened within me. Though the accident was horrible, I just knew calm, decisive action would be needed of anyone was to be saved.”

“I sent my girlfriend to find a communicator to get help, and I went in, pulling people out and getting them to safety. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was triaging people as I pulled them out. One of the first was Captain Graves. I’ve never seen anyone with a force of will like hers, she had multiple broken bones, burns, and she was awake, conscious the whole time, just watching me.”

“When rescue personnel from Starfleet arrived, everything was pretty well set up for them to step in and take over, and Captain Graves recognized that. After she got out of the hospital, she found me, told me the Federation needed people able to think like I did, to act like I did, even with no training. She said the galaxy was dangerous, and… Well, you get the point.”

Grayson smiled at the counselor, “She convinced me to apply, sponsored my application. So that’s how I came to get to the Academy. It’s a tragedy so many people had to die to get me here…”
Cadet Paul, Engineer

Korczak watched intently as the young Cadet spoke, but made no sign of any reaction. He simply sat and watched. When Paul finished Korczak didn’t speak immediately, he simply looked at the young man. Finally, he spoke.

“Why is that a tragedy? And why do you believe that their deaths were the only reason you came to the Academy?”

Korczak, CNS

“Simple, Counselor,” Grayson raised his eyebrows as he looked at Korczak, “If the Captain hadn’t crashed into my school, I’d have never met her. I’d never have even thought to enter Starfleet, let alone be sponsored for the Academy. If fate offered the choice between me being in Starfleet and those kids regaining their lives, well I’ve got to believe there’s a reason for me to be here, in this place, now. I don’t know what it is, but I’m here.”
Cadet Paul, Engineer