The Federation starship U.S.S. Athena was making its way to Ramsadon, and with very little going on during that journey, the senior officers had a rare day off together. The first shift was manned by the second shift officers, and the second shift would be manned by the third. The third shift would be manned by a group of alternates who wanted bridge hours. With the starship moving at high warp and nothing short of a Federation-wide cataclysm or a renewed Dominion War capable of altering its course, very little had happened, and even less was expected to happen in the next day or so.
      Sanjay Indesakar, the ship's pilot, decided to take up the offer of a game of badminton from the newest member of the crew, Ensign Sunni Lopodhur. She was the new third-shift tactical officer, which meant that she would be on duty during the second shift. "I'm looking forward to it," she said, as she walked with Indesakar onto the badminton court, which had been set up in one of the unused cargo holds. "It'll be my first time on the bridge since I got assigned here. I'm still so glad to be on a ship again." That was something that Lopodhur had expressed repeatedly, almost to the point where Indesakar wanted to say that she had made the point to him perfectly clear and that saying it again would not make it any clearer.
      "I'm just looking forward to this game."
      Grinning, Lopodhur replied, "You might not feel the same way after we're done."
      "So you're good?" She just nodded, still grinning. "I'm pretty good too, you know. Back home, I played a lot of tennis and badminton. What about you?"
      "Same here."
      "Reduced gravity-the real gravity on the moon-or artificial gravity?"
      "Both."
      The two took up positions on the opposite side of the net. Indesakar served first, as he lofted the shuttlecock high over his head and slammed it with the centre of the racquet. The two got a rally going, but eventually, Lopodhur put the bird into a position that Indesakar could not make a return. The match continued, with the ensign soon building up a lead. Indesakar pulled off some great shots later in the game, and narrowed the lead to thirteen to eleven. He served, and once more got a rally going, as the two officers slammed the shuttlecock back and forth until Indesakar came up lunging and a little short. By this time, both officers were sweating, and breathing a little hard.
      "Match point," Lopodhur said. She had the serve, and stood at the baseline and lofted it over the net. Indesakar tracked it backwards, and brought his racquet around in such a manner that he directed the bird in a straighter line over the net. Lopodhur anticipated the shot, and raced towards the net. She got the bird back over, and Indesakar returned the shot with a sidearm delivery that had Lopodhur spinning backwards. She stumbled to the ground as the shuttlecock fluttered over her head and landed behind her. "Where did that shot come from?" she asked.
      "My tennis game."
      Indesakar served, and once more, the two got a rally going that saw them running all over the in-play area, until Indesakar's shot was a little low and hit the top of the net before falling to the floor. "Game won!" Lopodhur remarked loudly, beaming. "Fifteen-twelve. It was a good game. Nobody in Ambassador St. Pierre's group was even close. Play again?"
      "Lets take a breather first."
      Lopodhur, sweating a little and breathing hard, thought that was a good idea. She sat down on the bench, while Indesakar got some water from a replicator in the room. He ended up sitting rather close to the woman, as he took a long and welcome drink from the ice-cold water.
      "So," the woman said, as she turned to look at the man, "what are your plans for this off-day?"
      "Actually, it's not really an off-day for me. I think I might've peeved a few lower-ranked members of the crew by bumping them off of holodeck time. I'm running a command training simulation in the holodeck."
      "Command simulation?" the woman asked. "Are you planning on becoming a captain someday?"
      "It's my ultimate goal."
      "But you never went to command school?"
      Indesakar wondered, only briefly, how she knew that. Perhaps in all the conversations they have had already it slipped out. He said, "No, I didn't qualify, but that doesn't mean that I can't become a captain someday. Experience counts for a lot, and then they have the training simulations as well, a kind of continuing education."
      "How long have you wanted to eventually get into command?"
      "Since before I entered Starfleet," Indesakar admitted. "When I was very young, I read the book Heroes Among the Stars-in Tamil no less. It's a book about the exploits of the captains of the Constitution-class starships, you know, people like James Kirk, Midiko Yatsumari, Augustus Civilus, Christopher Pike, Edward Shcherkev."
      "Such names," Lopodhur remarked. She, like virtually everybody else in Starfleet, knew the men and women who commanded the original twelve Constitution-class starships. "Yes, I can see the appeal. The book was something of an exaggeration, though, as it focused on the glamour and the excitement, and not the ninety-five percent of the time that was routine or boring."
      "True, but even so, it was an influence."
      "Given how the Federation and Starfleet operate now, it's hard to live up to such legends. It almost makes me wonder... how do you think Captain Thorpe stacks up compared to them?"
      "It's very hard to compare captains now with captains then. The technology is better."
      "The oversight is more obvious," Lopodhur added.
      "And yet, when the Athena was out beyond the Federation, beyond Odonan space even, we were a long way from home, and we felt some of the pioneer spirit, when it was just us doing these things. At those moments, I could see Captain Thorpe answering to the challenge. I saw something of Civilus, or Yatsumari, or Kirk, in him."
      "So he's a good man to emulate a command style?"
      "I don't think you can go wrong with that..."