Destined | Christopher Pike

Chapter One

"Oh, my little girl," Emma Coleman's mother said as she drew her daughter in for yet another hug, in front of everyone on the star base. "You're so grown up!"

Emma looked over her mother's shoulder and gave her father a 'help me' look. "I think that's enough, Marion. You're going to embarrass her."

Her mother pulled back, wiped the tears away from her cheeks and adjusted her maroon colored admiral's jacket. Her father was next to wrap his arms around his daughter. Emma should have been more grateful that she had such loving, supporting parents, but the attention from wandering eyes was causing her to cringe internally. It wasn't the affection itself causing people to look. It was who her parents were and their position within Starfleet and the Federation.

Her adoptive parents were Marion and Joshua Coleman. Her mother had joined Starfleet as soon as she was able to and quickly climbed the ranks. She was one of the youngest captains and when Emma turned twelve, her mother was granted the position of Admiral. Her father was an ambassador for the Federation and the job suited him perfectly. Her father was the easiest person to get along with.

He had charm, confidence and was quite handsome which made his job easier. He spent most of his days negotiating, keeping the peace with every planet and species that belonged to the Federation and organized peaceful resolutions when needed. While her parents had demanding jobs that kept them from home often, they were the best parents anyone could ask for. They were loving, strict when they needed to be. They pushed Emma to pursue her dreams even if it didn't align with what they wanted.

She could have not been luckier to have them choose her as their child. Emma did not know her birth parents. Their identities were kept secret in some sealed file somewhere. The adoption agency only knew what their occupations had been. Her biological father was involved with Starfleet. She just didn't know how specifically. He didn't want to be a father though which meant her biological mother would have to raise her on her own.

Emma was not apart of her biological mother's plans. She dreamed of being an admiral and a child would make that near impossible. So, when Emma was born, she was given to an adoption agency and she was adopted at a few months old. She always found it comical that her biological mother was worried that Emma would be a setback, but yet both of her parents were incredibly successful in their careers while raising a child.

She didn't resent her biological parents. In fact, she was grateful they decided they could not be parents. She would have never met her amazing parents. She often wondered though about them. Who were there? Did her biological mother ever become an admiral? Had she passed her in the hallways growing up? She would sometimes look at faces to see if she could see a reflection of herself in their faces, but part of her was scared to find them.

Nevertheless, Emma had a good upbringing. She spent her days running through spaceships or sitting in her father's office while he negotiated with someone. It was only natural that she decided to apply for Starfleet Academy when she was of age. However, Emma was not sure if she actually wanted to be an officer or even go into her father's line of work. She admired both of them and what they did for the galaxy, but her interests were elsewhere.

From the time she was very young, she remembered loving being outside with nature. She could spend hours outside. By the time she was six she had visited close to fifty different planets. Every planet boasted a different ecosystem. She would often collected plant, flower and dirt samples for her own personal collection. She wanted to give Starfleet a chance though. If anything, it would be a good experience.

It sounded cocky, but she wasn't surprised when she was accepted into the Academy. Many of her parents' co-workers offered to write letters of recommendations for her, but she declined. This was something she wanted to accomplish on her own. People were going to think she got in because of her mother no matter what, but at least she would have the proof that she passed the tests and put in the hard work.