The Road Less Traveled

Posted on 11 Dec 2017 @ 1:11am by Commander Marisa Wyatt

608 words; about a 3 minute read

Marisa walked into her tiny apartment after a long weekend in the Cascades. The time away had done much to help her regain her balance. She no longer felt like she was standing on the brink of a giant precipice. She hadn't quite come to terms with what happened on Kreanus, but that would take time and distance to heal.

There was something about the mountains and the forest that helped her return to homeostasis. Her mother could not comprehend that as she found deserts far more to her liking. There were a lot of things about Marisa her mother couldn't fathom, but that no longer bothered Marisa. Her mother was Vulcan. She thought and acted like a Vulcan--except when she was with Marisa's father. Marisa, on the other hand, was a true hybrid. A mutt, as she liked to call herself. She was a blend of both worlds. Sometimes she was one, and sometimes the other. But most often, she was just Marisa.

She glanced at her computer. There were still those two messages to deal with. But now she knew what she had to do. She carefully unpacked, putting her gear away for later use. Then she stripped and dumped her clothes in the hamper to wash later. One way or another, she would be using them again and she didn't like to replicate clothes that were worn enough to be comfortable.

She padded around her apartment, grabbing a piece of fruit to munch on as she checked for new messages. There were none. Good. That meant that she only had to deal with the rejection from the Galileo and her mother's comment about the Vulcan Science Academy.

When she was showered and dressed in a pair of soft Vulcan trousers and a t-shirt, she sat down at her console. She often preferred to type her answers rather than dictate them because it was more efficient for her to think of what she wanted to say as she typed.

"Mother, thank you for the information on the Vulcan Science Academy. It would indeed be a great opportunity to teach there. You honor me by your suggestion. I have three options that are equally appealing right now. Teaching is but one of them. I will let you know where I go next. I have been cleared for duty, so I should have something decided in a week or two. I hope you and Father are well. Please give him my regards. Yours, Marisa."

Once it was sent, she sat back with a sigh. Next, she looked at her letter of resignation from Starfleet. It was too early for that, so she deleted it. At the same time, she was not going to respond to the rejection from the Galileo. As both a scientist and an academic, rejection and failure were part of the job description. You learned to deal with them, learn from them, and move on, or you did not. Those who could not handle rejection did not last long in the field, or a lab. She would simply wait for another opportunity to join a starship. Or she would go back to fieldwork. While she was in the Cascades she had decided that she didn't want a desk job. She didn't want to teach just now. She wanted to be out doing something, either exploring on a starship, or doing fieldwork on an archaeological site somewhere.

Then she sent a message to Pete, asking him if he knew of any positions for senior Archaeologists doing on site work.

There. That was done. Now, all she had to do was keep busy until something came through.

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