Tourist ROAD TRIP (mingle)

[takingkarabusiness]

Who: Touristas and visitors
Broadcast: as needed
Action: The Tourist!
When: The month of June

[ Get bit by the June Bug and mingle to your heart's content! ]

Comments

[universal_charm]

Christopher Pike. He was the former captain of my ship, and one of my superiors - he was promoted to Admiral when I took over the Enterprise.

_{[ There's a pause, the tiniest flicker of pain in his eyes, the kind that only comes when thinking of someone close and beloved. ]}

He's the one who got me to join up with Star Fleet. He died a year ago, during an attack on Star Fleet headquarters.

[takingkarabusiness]

[ her expression is pure empathy, tone soft ]

I'm sorry to hear about that, but it seems like he had a remarkable influence on your life. How did he get you to join?

[universal_charm]

_{[ There's a pause, a twitch of his lips into a faint smile. The story was funny to him, though in more recent months, especially going back out into the universe, he had begun to question his own motives at the time, his motives now. ]}

He dared me. Specifically to be better than my father, and the sad little life I had carved for myself in Iowa at the time.

[takingkarabusiness]

And you took the bait.

Also... does Iowa become more interesting in the future?

[universal_charm]

No, it is all farming mostly. I lived in a little place called Riverside, on my uncle's farm.

Pike came across me in the local bar after some of his cadets had moped the floor with me. I think I made a good impression even with the napkins stuffed up my nose.

[takingkarabusiness]

My cousin grew up on a farm in Kansas.

And that's a great mental image. I'm sure you were very charismatic.

[universal_charm]

Well, to be fair, it was like four against one, I think I did a good job of holding my own.

[takingkarabusiness]

Hey, you were still conscious. That's practically a win.

[universal_charm]

I may or may not have nearly passed out over a table at the time. To be honest that part is a bit of a blur.

[takingkarabusiness]

I'm trying to help you out here, Jim.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He laughed. ]}

Nah, it's okay. It's a ridiculous story, it should be told truthfully. And it's a story that does Pike a lot of credit - shows the kind of man he is.

[takingkarabusiness]

So, he knew your father?

[universal_charm]

No, he read about him. Pike wrote a dissertation on the Kelvin - that is, my father's ship.

He was captain for about five minutes while he kept the ship on a collision course with Nero's ship so that everyone else could escape when the auto pilot malfunctioned.

[takingkarabusiness]

Oh...

I'm sorry to hear that. He probably saved a lot of people, but that doesn't always take the sting out of it.

[universal_charm]

_{[ He shrugged. ]}

To be honest, I don't have much feeling about it. I never knew him. He's just a name on paper, a shadow to live up to.

[takingkarabusiness]

You and my cousin might have some things to talk about.

[universal_charm]

Your cousin the super hero?

[takingkarabusiness]

Correct.

He was an infant when we left our planet, so he never really knew his parents, either. I think he still lives in their shadows, though.

[universal_charm]

It's difficult when your dad was a literal hero. All I've ever really known about him was from the books I read about the Kelvin, or Pike's dissertation, and most of that is focused around the phenomenon that caused the Kelvin's demise.. Mom and Sam didn't talk about him much.

[takingkarabusiness]

I suppose, yes. Our parents had high status on Krypton, but that's one of those conditional things that doesn't really... transfer...

Who's Sam?

[universal_charm]

_{[ There's a pause, a moment of tension that is barely the span of a heartbeat, but it's there. ]}

He's my brother. Older brother, that is.

[takingkarabusiness]

...Complicated?

[universal_charm]

He left me on my own with my uncle when I was twelve. I haven't seen him since.

_{[ Another shrug, because after all this time he was rather apathetic about that too. He didn't have it in him to actually be angry about it anymore - it was a waste of energy. Though if he ever actually saw him, that might change things. ]}

[takingkarabusiness]

Ah. Not what you would have preferred.

[universal_charm]

No, not really. My mom had already dumped us there, he was kind of the last bulwark between me and Uncle Frank.

But it is what it is. It stopped bothering me years ago.