Old Friends

[Craven 0]

Jack Craven walked into his quarters at 2100hrs and tossed a small duffle bag onto his bed. Still wearing his pirate-gear he grabbed a uniform with one hand and pulled it over his head to find that the right arm's sleeve was missing.

 

Oh...right. Forgot about that. He thougth silently.

 

He had ripped the shirt's sleeve to stop his arm from bleeding when the skin had been ripped from his durasteel arm during the Ardent mission.

 

Sighing, he took off the torn uniform and walked over to his closet to find a fresh never-been-worn grey topped uniform with it's science-blue under-tunic and threw it on just as a comm beep sounded.

 

Walking over to his desk he saw the words "Incoming Message: Starfleet Headquarters, San Fransisco, Earth" flashing across the monitor.

 

"Who could this be I wonder?" he whispered softly to himself.

 

Tapping the console, a broad-shouldered Admiral with jet black hair which was only slightly graying sat grinning at the young Ensign.

 

"Jackie Boy how are ya!?" came a familiar voice.

 

Jack's lips grew to a wide grin, "Capta...er, Admiral Cromwell...this is a surprise."

 

The Admiral chuckled, "Heh, well things started shaking up at the Academy recently, they made me an offer I couldnt refuse."

 

Seeing Cromwell's face brought back many memories. Nicholas Alexander Cromwell had only been a Commander when Jack had first applied to the academy, and was the first to hear of Craven's encounter with the Borg as a child - which he admitted to during his entrace interview with Cromwell (Read "Jack Craven: Bio"). Now after only three years (Jack had Graduated early, with Cromwell's guidance) the older man of only thirty-five was an Admiral - a feat that was by no means lost on young Craven.

 

"What can I do for you, Sir?" Jack said smiling to his mentor.

 

"Well Doctor Craven, I had hoped you could update me on your latest research paper on positronic systems?"

 

Jack winced a little, he wasn't used to being called "Doctor", in fact no one in Starfleet ever referred to him as such since he wasn't in the medical profession and was only referred to by rank.

 

When he first decided to take on a PhD (His first was in Positronics and his second was a dual in Quantum Mechanics and Spactial Phenomenon) part of him had wanted the title, but he knew being in Starfleet meant never being referred to as such, unless he was at a conference.

 

And then there was the matter of his youth. At 22, he was the youngest Doctor of Positronics in the history of Starfleet (in fact his academic arch-rival, a Vulcan named T'rac, had received a PhD the same day as Craven.)

 

Clearing his throat he replied, "Uh well Admiral, I'm scheduled to give a video lecture in the coming weeks on Temporal Phenomenon...so Positronics isn't really on the front burner right now if you know what I mean."

 

"Thats okay Jackie boy, it was more of a friendly check-up anyhow..." pausing for a moment, the Admiral looked away for a second as if something else had cought his attention. Then he turned back to Jack and continued, "Well looks like the boys up at Spacedock need some suit-types for some ceremony type thing, gotta run. Cromwell out." With a wink, the screen went blank.

 

That...was wierd. Craven thought to himself. I dont hear from him in six months and suddenly he calls in for a two minute "how ya doin" ?

 

Shaking his head he rose and began to unpack his duffle bag. He had a few hours before his first shift back aboard the Excalibur began so he figured sleep was the best idea.

 

Nodding off, his last thoughts before reaching a peaceful slumber were:

 

Something tells me things are gonna get real interesting when I wake up.