Two weeks earlier

“How could he do that to me!?” Erin complained loudly as she pushed her luggage through the door of Molly and Cal’s house.

“Do what to you?” Molly asked, as she helped her sister inside.

“Take the job! The only reason he did it was to spite me! I’m sure! All he wants is to go gallivanting across the galaxy and do nothing else! He could have a successful music career and he’s wasting it all away!”

“Erin…” Molly sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as the front door of the house closed behind her. “You can’t lock him up forever you know? Gavin is a human being. He has his own dreams and aspirations… and the man loves to pilot. You knew this when you guys started dating! So I don’t understand what is so surprising to you…”

“What do you know, Molly? Alex was never like this!”

“What?!” It was Molly’s turn to express her disbelief. “What do you mean!? Calvin is a fighter pilot! You of all people should know this!”

“But he would never leave his partner behind to go pilot a ship!”

“Erin… come here…” Molly sat down on the living room couch and motioned for her sister to do the same, who promptly followed. “You can’t take flight out of a pilot, Erin… just like you can’t take football out of a quarterback… or do you think William Justice would skip practice to be with his family?”

“That’s different. He’s the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl!” Erin smiled.

“Yes, I know, sis. You mention it every time a 49ers game is on. But how do you think he got there?”

“Because of me! Honestly, Kate should thank me. If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t have such a successful husband.”

Molly rolled her eyes and sighed. “You really think it was you dating him in college that made him the successful football player that he is today.”

“Yes! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Molly! Gavin could be just as successful! If only he would dedicate himself to his music career and not go flying around like a lunatic on your uncle’s ship!”

“Our uncle, Erin.”

“Whatever! If he had died in that crash this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Excuse me!?” Molly’s voice rose before her face got dangerously close to her sister’s. “Young lady, I didn’t raise you to be a petulant child, and you’re not going to start when you are old enough to have one!” The oldest of the Holloway sisters fumed. Her right index finger square on Erin’s chest. “Here’s the thing, Erin. Gavin is a pilot, whether you like it or not. That’s who he is. That is who he was when you met him and nothing you do will change that.” Molly’s voice was almost a snarl now. “You have two options. You divorce him because of it, or you support him just like he supported you when you decided that Starfleet wasn’t for you and you wanted to be back on solid ground instead. I have seen the life being drained of that man because he loves you and he would follow you to the end of hell. It’s sad that you don’t understand that. It’s even more sad because I know that the Erin I knew three years ago would see it. You changed in the past few years, Erin. Fame got to your head. I love you, and I always will, but I will not stand idle and see you becoming so frivolous that you think everyone around you owes you something.” Molly stood up from the couch. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to Sacred Heart and check on Uncle Luc. Make yourself at home, you know where the guest room is.” And with that, she left the house.

Erin sighed. How could she be so stubborn? For as long as she could remember, Molly had always been like this. So maybe she was right… some things could never be changed.

Getting up from the couch, she wheeled her and Gavin’s suitcases to the guest room. She laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, Molly’s words repeating in her mind. She scoffed softly. Her sister was never going to get anywhere in life with that attitude.

One week earlier

The opportunity had presented itself the day after the argument through the form of one of the many messages that were sent over her department’s mailing list. Ninety percent of them were almost spam — people selling items, students looking for houses, idiotic political discussions, misplaced objects (no Frank, we haven’t seen your United Federation of Planets mug that somehow you managed to misplace and find six times last month!), and similar. The remaining ten percent were actually useful, just like the one that Erin had opened that morning.

It had been the second morning in a row that Gavin had left in silence, and despite what Erin might feel, it had made Molly’s words return to the front of her mind. She had found herself having trouble going back to sleep, and instead had reached for her PaDD and opened her messages. The first few had been the usual spam, but the fifth one was a heated discussion about an article that had just been published in one of the most well regarded Exobotany journals, about a study made on OED V’s soil samples. The discussion also mentioned that the Colony’s Director of Terraforming had stepped down recently, and that any progress on the planet’s terraforming would be more difficult on the account of the vacant position.

It was then that an idea crossed Erin’s mind. After all, if Gavin could do it, so could she. And if she was successful, it would guarantee that they would both be happy with the arrangement. Without delay, she sent out her application to the Governor’s Office, for the open position of Director of Terraforming.

After messaging a few of her contacts and getting acquainted with the Exobotany group at the University on OED, Erin spent the next week in a small corner of the labs experimenting. If she was successful, she hoped that her hard work would guarantee her the job. If not, maybe the fact that she had tried would make Gavin less mad at her, and maybe, who knows, he might just change his mind about the piloting gig.

Present time

The meeting request from the Governor’s Office had come during the previous week, and the meeting itself scheduled for the following one. The man surely was busy, but it came at no surprise to Erin that she had heard back on her application. After all, she was good at what she did, and it hadn’t hurt that she had asked T’Lat, her PhD advisor, to put in a good word for her. Even though the Vulcan hadn’t really seen the reasoning behind Erin’s request, she had seen the opportunity as a good one, for both Erin and the potential of further collaborations with the Federation Science Council.

As a member of the Holloway family, and sister to the current CEO of Holloway Heavy Industries, Erin was a recognizable face on the street. Something that she enjoyed and strove to maintain, much to Molly’s chagrin. In fact, she had used the public recognition in her own favor to both popularize certain scientific themes that otherwise laymen wouldn’t have the opportunity to understand, as well as creating her own line of botanical inspired perfumes that she modeled for in her free time. She was sad to report that the latter was more successful than the former by a wide margin, but she was happy to oblige and give the public what they wanted.

So when Molly had insisted she should take her personal driver to the center of town, Erin didn’t fight her on it. The poor guy stayed out in the garage keeping the car clean most of the time anyway, with her sister’s stubborn insistence on walking or using public transportation everywhere she went. And he was cute, so Erin took it as a win.

Once at the Government Building, it took her five minutes to check in at the front desk, go through security and up to the last floor of the building. She was left with five minutes to spare when she arrived at Governor’s Office’s door.

Having checked in at the reception desk, Erin waited to be called inside once the appointed time was up.

Erin Hazen-Cooper, PhD (ABD)