Posted by Captain Dante Knight (Commanding Officer) in Starfleet Academy - First Cadet mission

Posted by Lieutenant Natasha Knight (Chief Medical Officer) in Starfleet Academy - First Cadet mission

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Starfleet Academy ADMIN 150 Federation Law
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Natasha sat next to Dante tapping her stylus on the desk thinking about anything but the lecture being presented to her. ADMIN 150 was a class on basic Federation law. It was the same stuff she learned as a child about the government and later as a teenager in Civic’s class. The stuff she hadn’t learned on Starfleet General Order 1 and the Prime Directive was about as interesting as the gum stuck to the underside of the desk. She had no desire to ever be in command therefore she would never be in charge of a prime directive situation. Letting out a deep sigh she glanced at Dante sitting next to her. Dante was the poster child for a command track cadet. His attention was squarely on the professor. Her attention was squarely on Knight. How could she not stare at his profile? He had the perfect chiseled jaw, hair that sported the slightly mess spikes, and amazing hazel eyes that could make you melt from the warm fuzzies or because he was dressing you down.

“Babe,” Natasha said pulling her eyes off of him for a second as she looked out the window. “Let’s get Pho tonight. I am not sure I like it but let’s live dangerously,” she suggested.

“Huh?” Dante muttered while glancing at Nat quickly. Federation Law was about as exciting as repeatedly kicking your little toe against a door frame and he had long ago retreated into that special place in a guys mind where everything around him happened at the edge of his senses while his eyes tracked the professor, yet his vision was filled with possible scenarios from the latest Witcher holonovel and imagining Nat as his sorcerous partner in many an adventure. In these adventures diplomacy often happen with either sword or bedsheets and Dante found that far more interesting than the latest lectures.

“Oh, why do you want Pho?” He asked her, looking back at the professor but sliding his hand across to her. “You won’t like it, let’s get something like fried rice instead.”

Cadet Knight

“It’s just noodles, right? I mean who doesn’t love noodle soup,” she stretched in her seat shifting her weight. “Besides how do you know what I like and don’t like Mr. Knight,” she let the tip of her boot gently rub the back of his calf. That was the beauty of being a woman. Your foot could be in all sorts of fun positions because of a casual crossing of the legs that men looked odd trying to imitate. “Maybe I would surprise you,” she said in a tone that was typically used during their intimate times. “Wanna see how much I can surprise you Cadet....First Year…Dante…Knight,” the drew out his official name and rank slowly.

Natasha Daye (cadet Starfleet academy)

Dante tried not to grin, but in the end had to drop his head as if he was looking at his PaDD to hide the smirk. “You can’t surprise me, Cadet Daye, I’m a Command course Cadet and I’m trained to handle you. Besides I have some experience finding out what you like, remember the gymnasium, the pool, the Phaser range and that survival trip? I’m pretty sure I got pass marks for them, I know you did. If you want Pho, sure we can try it. I too like to live dangerously.”

Cadet Knight

“I dunno,” she feigned ignorance. “I mean the gym yes was as A and the survival trip scored you some extra credit with that night time Geo Cashing thing. The phaser range was only a C+ because while you had the lightening like reflexes to prime your phaser in under five seconds you did complete the course in under five minutes. Sometimes accuracy in hitting a target isn’t always the most enjoyable,” she fought to not break her aloof demeanor about the event. Shifting her body as close as she could to his seat Natasha continued talking. “Having to adjust for a slight breeze or unexpected action,” she flicked her stylus off the table. This allowed her to bend down and pick it up. It also allowed her to place her hand on the edge of his seat as a way to prop up her body as she retrieved it. With the barest of movements, she let her pinky brush the side of his leg just above the knee cap. This was truly evil but she didn’t care. “It can totally throw your game off,” she said in a low tone

Cadet Daye

“What do you mean C+?” He narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched her, forgetting to pay attention to the lecture. “I’ve never gotten a C+ in my life and we were under a time limit. You completed the course at the same time as me, I didn’t hear you complaining.” This close to her Dante could smell her soft scent, and had to adjust his seated position by crossing his leg in the familiar way Italian men did, but grinned. “Why do you have to distract me in Fed Law? It’s boring as hell but with this professor we really are living dangerously.” He smirked, he was enjoying her, he always did no matter where they were.

Cadet Knight

“Cadets Knight and Daye,” a voice rumbled out. “I am terribly sorry for interrupting you but you are aware of the personal displays of affection rule here at the academy,” Commander Carter asked in a deep baritone.

“Yes Sir,” Dante replied, then looked around the lecture hall with a frown. “Why? Is somebody in here taking liberties with that rule?” His avoidance of the Commanders barb and cold, serious reply brought a smirk to the faces of many of the Cadets, especially considering Dante was responsible for just that kind of monitoring and leadership in many of the classes where he worked as an assistant for lower Cadet grades.

Natasha slowly turned to face the professor at the podium. “Just dropped the stylus,” she said slightly weakly holding up the writing utensil.

“Well, then we can wait until you are ready. Take your time. I will wait,” Professor Commander Carter stopped his lecture and turned his icy gaze on the two cadets on the right side of the auditorium. These two were not the only ones that did this but today they were the only ones being that obvious about it.

“Nice one, Tasia,” Dante muttered to her but the edges of his lips held a grin just for her. “Now Perkins’ favourite lackey has us in his sights, you know they have been waiting for a reason since the egg and feathers incident.”

Sliding back into her seat, Daye tried to look serious as Carter’s gaze bore holes into her forehead. “Ready,” she said placing the stylus over her PaDD as if ready to again take notes. Why Carter wouldn’t start droning on was beyond her at this point. Maybe she should have just become a civilian doctor instead of going through Starfleet.

“Are you Cadet Daye? Well then tell me how you would handle this case study. In January 2381 in the Myanmar Consortium, Frank Peters, a Federation cultural attache, shot and killed two Myanmar civilians. Peters claimed Joane Perot and Aren Hershaw attempted to rob him as he walked home. Peters maintained he acted in self-defense when he killed them. When the Myanmar Civilian Defense Force questioned Peters, he informed him he was part of the diplomatic corps and requested to be placed in touch with the Federation embassy. The Myanmar Civilian Defense Force then charged him with murder because upon further investigations they alleged Peters was an intelligence officer working under the auspices of a cultural attache. Cadet Daye, you are the Captain in charge so how do you handle the situation,” Commander Carter’s voice boomed across the auditorium.

Daye took a deep breath before she spoke. They trained her for this for the past few years. One day this could be a very real situation so she answered now as she would in the future. “I have no desire to command ever. I know this and anyone who will ever work with me will know this. My goal is to be a doctor so in this situation if I was ever placed in it, I would contact the commanding officer or some other red shirt of the proper rank, inform them of the situation, and follow any order they issued,” she said confidently. Her comment brought a few snickers mainly because they would do exactly what Daye said. Only the cadets on the command track really cared about this stuff.

“What?” Dante hissed at her from the side of his mouth. “You try and side step that one, didn’t you even listen to him? You’re the Captain, Nat.” Uncrossing his legs now that there was little need to and the comfort level had dropped, he waited for Carter to begin his rant at Nat for not paying attention.

“It was a trick question,” she adjusted her shirt smoothing out a wrinkle. “There is no one that is ever going to make me a captain,” she shrugged, “so I answered the way I would in real life,” she said in an equally low tone.

“Is that so,” the Professor leveled a heavy glare on Dante. “Well, Cadet Knight it seems your fellow cadet has put you in the hot seat. You are command track correct,” he asked the question everyone in the room already knew about Dante Knight.

Turning his head, he glared at Nat and spoke quietly. “There is a Klingon word for you that has no translation,”

“Natasha wovmoHwI’ yIn. ‘ej worship. Nope that translates,” she continued to flirt with him. Before Dante, Natasha was much more driven at the academy. Since she met him, the Natasha had relaxed a lot. Her secret plan of becoming Mrs. Dante Knight would alter many things she had thought of for her future so now, Nat was just going with the flow.

” but I’ll show you what it means later. It involves restraints.”

“Promises Promises,” she wrote on her PaDD and shifted it towards him so that he could read it.

Then, he turned back to Carter. “Yes Commander, Operations School, Security path with Advanced Tactical and Command Track extensions.”

“How would you handle this?”

Academy years

He glanced sideways at Nat and raised an eyebrow. “Later, you owe me so bad.”

“Peters cannot claim Diplomatic Immunity as a mere Cultural Attache as he is not the Ambassador to the Myanmar Consortium, Commander. As a non-Starfleet Member but a Federation Official he must submit himself to the legal and cultural process on the world he has been assigned to, his request for contact with the Embassy is to make them aware of the incident but his legal representation must have come from Myanmar. “

“Yes but,” Carter immediately broke in yet Dante continued talking over him.

“That however becomes void with the Myanmar Consortium having charged him with murder as an Intelligence Agent, because that means they have charged him with Espionage for the Federation on Myanmar territory and that is a direct accusation against the Federation. That of course means the Federation is now directly involved in his case, it is not restricted to the Prime Directive and it becomes a requirement that he be given Federation Legal Counsel who will be working not only to clear him, but to preserve Diplomatic Relations with the Consortium who are not Federation Members, hence us having an Embassy there. As the Captain in charge of Starfleet and Federation resources in the area it becomes my responsibility to become his Legal Representative, unless the time frame allows for a specialist to arrive to take over.”

Carter tapped the podium with his finger debating what to say next. Cadet Knight’s answer was flawless.

Here, Dante stopped and looked at Nat. “See, it was hardly difficult was it Dr Hyde?”

Cadet Knight

“Only until I create an intergalactic incident which you know is not out of the realm of possibilities Dante,” she said in a neutral tone with a deadpan expression twiddling the stylus between her fingers. “Besides the only person I ever need to control is you. Hey,” she shifted in her seat looking at what she defined as her boyfriend. Dante had only recently broken it off with Ashley but in her mind, he was as good as taken even if she hadn’t gotten her name tattooed on his arm yet. “Did you know that when I am a medical chief I have the power to call you incompetent for duty,” she said with a quizzical expression on her face. It was not that she was asking for a response. It was purely rhetorical but the look on Natasha’s face told Dante that it was something new she had learned.

Cadet Daye

“Um, yes, that is kinda a big reason why the Medical Chief is so scary, and you better not get any thoughts of declaring me incompetent for duty and ordering me to bed rest any time soon, Nat.” He narrowed his eyes at her, suspecting how her mind was working after her little Klingon phrase. “Well the bed rest bit, sure, but not the incompetent for duty bit. I think we established already that I am very good at my duty.”

Turning to her, he forgot Carter for a moment. “Did you only actually just realize that? What exactly were you doing during Fed Medical Law?”

Cadet Knight

“Messaging you,” she winked at him. Natasha was only interested in the medical classes to which she performed extremely well in. The classes on politics and who salutes who when you pass them while walking past each other on a sidewalk were not on her radar. Now that she had meet Dante, spending time with him was a close second to her classes. “You know that was the day you responded with nods, an icon, yes, no, or bahahahaha,” she replied with his standard responses to messages. There were time he wrote something long enough for her to take a drink or get comfortable as she read; however, this was not the norm even when it wasn’t text. Dante tended to be a typical man that was happy just being with her. When he was in the mood to talk it generally led to more physical activities that reduced their vocabulary to vocalizations instead of real words.

“Who the heck have you been messaging?” Dante whispered with a smirk. “When have I ever replied with nods? I challenge you to find one time, just one time I have done that. If you find one, I owe you dinner out, if you can’t, you owe me. Remember I like butter chicken.”

“Mr. Knight. Ms. Daye are you both done discussing whatever it is you need to,” the professor gazed at them with half a look of annoyance and half a look of resignation.

“I am,” Natasha offered helpfully turning to face the front of the class.

“Yes,” Dante said, and shot Tasia a last challenging look.

“I am so glad,” the professor said humorlessly. “Mr. Knight would you stand up please,” he directed with a wave of his hand.

“Your in truh huh ble,” Daye said low under her breath as if they were ten instead of twenty.

“Oh look what you have gotten me into,” Dante hissed as he moved his books aside and stood as requested. “If I’m on cleanup duty, you are right there with me.”

“Mr. Knight this room is filled with cadets that would fill a bridge staff due to their specialties. I have an assignment for you this weekend. I would like you to call out the names of your fellow classmates that will now participate in a little weekend exercise. If you would please select your command crew.” The moans were like a physical wave that rippled throughout the room. The students in the room began to assume one of several poses. Some sat perfectly still like a statue adopting the if I don’t move they won’t see me strategy of avoiding work. Others slumped down in the seat opting for the out of sight out of mind approach to not being selected. There were also those few overzealous cadets that turned their gaze to Dante begging to be picked.

Only one cadet stood up ramrod straight. “Cadet Effram Wilkes Johnson volunteers for duty sir,” his voice belted out like Herman’s Hornsby’s in the gym.

Cadet Natasha Daye

Dante ignored the students attempts to either get his attention or shy away from it, he already knew who the cadets in the room were that he needed on a command team, and which ones still needed time to adjust to Starfleet life, he looked at Johnson and blinked. The cadet was a Science major and was known to be rather good at his chosen career path, he was also known to be one of the more boot lickery and ambitious, as well as overzealous, cadets on Campus. He was the type that would breathe the party line his entire life and be the first soldier shot on the landing ramp when the doors opened on first deployment.

“Cadet Natasha Daye,” Dante said without looking at her. “Chief Medical Officer.” He adjusted his cuffs and made sure he didn’t look in her direction. She had gotten him into this, and he would make sure she was right there next to him, even if it was just another session in the Kobyashi Maru simulator. If it was anything else, Dante might take the opportunity to inspect her supply cupboard once or twice.

Natasha kicked her legs out clumsily as she attempted to sit up in her seat. This turn of events was not what she had expected. “Dante you know I had plans this weekend,” she hissed low under her breath as she stood up next to him.

“Just know I have not taken bedside manner so I am going to be lacking the skills as your CMO for such activities this trip,” she straightened her posture. There would be more to say as soon as the doors to the classroom closed behind them. As Dante began to call out names it would only give Natasha time to redline her temper.

“Cadet Ethan Nash,” He said, and looked at the young Mintaran cadet sitting a few rows in front of him, the man just raised an eyebrow back at him. “Chief of Security.” The man was intense at times, but had an easy smile and laugh and was usually able to get people to do what they should simply by using his natural charm and good humor.

“Cadet Adelaide Jenkins, Chief Engineer.” Jenkins was one of the more naturally gifted engineering cadets, and it was known that anything hard and mechanical often purred when it was in her hands. It was also known to keep away from her when she was in the cafeteria, due to an unusual habit of being slightly clumsy whenever she wasn’t around mechanical tools.

“Amazing Addie,” Daye said barely moving her jaw as she heard who he was picking as his engineering chief. “Really I am pretty sure Cadet Wideside would have been a far better choice.” Nat had nothing against Adelaide except that she was smart and at times too much one of the boys. That woman could repair an engine faster than most of the men in her class and looked like a model when she was grease smudged.

“Cadet Kelly Schultz, Executive Officer.” Dante looked at his one time room mate, and grinned. Kelly was right on track with him in the Command path, and their rivalry was matched only by their friendship. Kelly would recognize Dante instantly as giving her a chance to shine in an important role and being his right hand woman, while simultaneously kicking her in the shin and grinning maniacally about how he was the boss.

Kelly stood pulling down her shirt. She was three rows down and to the left of Dante but knew the second professor got pleasant something like this would happen. Part of her wanted to suggest that they make this a competition between her and Knight to the professor; however, the dork was getting the first pick of the cadets. Nash and Adelaide were half of a dream crew. She and Dante also worked so well together that they were almost a campus name in command teams. She had zero doubt he was going to select her as XO. In any other situation, she would already be plotting on how to take the other team out before they boarded their training ship. This trip, however, was not going to be fun or involve guns so Kelly gave him a side glance with a slight eye roll.

“Cadet Effram Johnson,”

“Sir yes sir I will not disappoint you,” he turned snapping a salute at Dante as his voice echoed in the hall.

” Chief Science Officer.” He said, and tried to ignore Johnson as the man seemed to puff up three times larger than he normally did at being chosen for whatever it was that was going to happen. “Johnson, sit down,” he added, then looked at Professor Carter. “Command Team chosen, Sir.”

Cadet Dante Knight

“Sir if I may,” Natasha raised her hand taking on the sweet and polite tone that typically got her what she needed.

“Not me,” the professor swirled his finger pointing at Dante. “You call him sir for the weekend.”

“Bah ha,” Kelly could not stifle her snicker fast enough and badly attempted to fix it with a series of fake coughs. The joke would be lost on anyone other than her, Dante and Daye but then again Kelly was the one displace for her friend’s birthday visitor. “Sorry. Allergies,” she made up a flimsy excuse.

“Then talk to her. She is your CMO. You three are made for each other,” the professor rolled his eyes before screaming out dismissed.

Natasha barely let the door hit her in the backside before she started on Dante. “Okay so I am not sure what you are going to do but I have the spa day at Nob Hill set for Saturday. You now the one you bought me for my birthday barely six weeks ago. The reason I haven’t used it before now is that it takes six weeks to book a Saturday,” she said exasperated as she half-ran beside him moving down the halls. Groaning she grabbed his arm at the top of the large marble staircase that led them out of the English and Law building.

“And stop walking with a purpose. You and those giraffe legs of yours is twice my stride. You know I can’t keep up when you don’t lessen your stride. I am not going to run after you,” she crossed her arms. Looking at him from the top step she waited for him to make his move.

“Dante Alighieri Knight…stop taking two steps at a time,” she threw up her hands following him down the stairs. The pace she had to keep in order to keep up with him was almost comical. “I am not going to chase you,” Natasha threatened yet that is exactly what she was doing.

“I booked the ultimate package. You know how much that cost,” she picked up her half run half walk stride as Dante continued to walk as if her leg span equaled his.

“Dante I want my seven hours of bliss and glass of wine,” she yelled stopping in the middle of the intersection not caring who was now watching her very verbal and very public display of affection. Since she was not touching him it did not break any rules. She also didn’t care who saw. It never bothered her for people to know they were a couple. Natasha never understood the women that tried to keep such things quiet. Quiet meant people didn’t know and she wanted everyone on the campus to know that one day she would be Mrs. Dante Aligehri Knight.

Cadet Daye