The Winds of Change

Posted on 29 Jul 2017 @ 12:54am by LuAnn Lovegood PhD

394 words; about a 2 minute read

LuAnn Lovegood walked through the park overlooking San Francisco Bay, pleased the soft drizzle of rain kept other people away. Today, she wanted to be alone.

She found a stone bench and sat down, pushing her wet hair out of her face. "Start Personal Log," she said to her PADD that was carefully protected from the rain.

It chirped that it was ready. She really should see if someone could change that from a chirp to something else. Maybe the hoot of a barn owl. That would be different. Or the hiss of a snake. She liked snakes.

"Next month will mark the one year anniversary of my leaving Starfleet. I hate to admit it, but I think I missed it. I didn't miss the bureaucracy or the admirals telling me I couldn't tell people to go skinny dipping. Just because someone decided the arboretum at night constituted skinny dipping in the moonlight wasn't my fault. Well, not really. But, I digress." She paused to wave at another brave soul who was walking along the path in her direction. When he saw her wave, he turned and went back the way he'd come. She chuckled softly. "Today I got a formal request to work on a starship. Not to come back to Starfleet, but to be a counselor. Apparently the ship focuses on science and has a lot of civilians on board. Starfleet Command thought a civilian who understood Starfleet regulations would be a perfect replacement for their old counselor. Have they actually looked at my old service record. True that I had several commendations from commanding officers, but the admiralty thinks they know better. Anyway, I start as soon as the new ship starts taking on crew. Until then, I get to wander around San Francisco. Tomorrow I'm going to hike through the redwood forest. Maybe I'll find something while I'm there? I'm looking forward to the trip. And then to visit the Oregon coast. A paid vacation and then a job on a starship. I think I'm going to like this. End log."

Her PADD chirped and she pushed the hair out of her face again. She should have brought a hair band. She stood and stretched, then watched a ship sail under the Golden Gate Bridge. Her stomach rumbled. Time to visit Chinatown.

OFF

LuAnn Lovegood
Assistant Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

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