Post 266: Reggie’s Recruiting Drive
Posted on Tue May 13th, 2025 @ 4:14pm by Rear Admiral Reginald Pembroke & Lieutenant Paul Eschenauer
532 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission: Secrets
The office wasn’t much—bare walls, a single potted plant that looked artificial, and a scatter of mismatched chairs. Admiral Reginald Pembroke had made do with worse, of course. He had once run an entire cadet training course out of a converted mess hall on Vega Colony. So the humble surroundings suited him just fine.
He was perched behind a simple desk, a mug of tea steaming beside a datapad, when the chime sounded.
“Come in, come in!” Reggie called brightly.
The door hissed open, and LtJG Paul Eschenauer stepped inside, his posture crisp and his expression curious but respectful.
“You wanted to see me, Admiral?” Paul asked.
“Indeed I did, Mr. Eschenauer—Paul, may I?” Reggie gestured to the chair opposite his desk with a flourish that nearly knocked over the mug.
Paul took the seat, eyes flicking briefly to the tea but otherwise staying composed.
Reggie leaned forward, his tone suddenly more serious. “You’ve served with distinction. I’ve read the reports—not just your Flight Control metrics, which are quite good, by the way—but the personnel evaluations. People trust you. They follow your lead without being asked to. That’s not something you can teach… but you can model it.”
Paul blinked, just once. “Sir?”
“I’m building something,” Reggie said, eyes alight now. “The new Academy. Or, at least, the bones of it. We don’t have walls yet—hell, I think our budget is mostly metaphorical—but what we do have is people. Survivors. Officers who remember what Starfleet means. And we need those people to teach the next generation.”
A pause.
“I’m asking you to consider becoming one of our Directors.”
Paul didn’t respond right away. He sat back, absorbing the weight of the words. “You’re talking about pulling me out of active Flight Ops?”
“Not necessarily,” Reggie replied, his voice taking on a coaxing cadence. “Think of it more as… expanding your role. Curriculum development. Leadership seminars. Practical navigation sims. The cadets don’t need a legend—they need someone real. Someone like you.”
Paul exhaled through his nose, slowly. “I’ve never taught a class in my life.”
“But you’ve led,” Reggie countered gently. “And more importantly, you’ve inspired. The rest, we can figure out together. You wouldn’t be alone. There’s a Council forming—educators, veterans, specialists. Some of them were instructors before. Some of them… weren’t. All of them care.”
Reggie pushed the datapad across the desk.
“That’s a preliminary outline. Nothing binding. But take a look. Sleep on it. And if you’re interested, well…” He smiled. “We’d be lucky to have you, Professor Eschenauer.”
Paul smirked slightly at the title. “That’s what my baseball team called me in high school.”
Reggie grinned. “Well, maybe they were ahead of their time.”
There was a pause between them—quiet, but not empty.
“I’ll read it,” Paul said at last, picking up the datapad.
“And if you decide to stay in the stars instead?” Reggie asked lightly.
“Then I’ll make sure your next batch of cadets has one hell of a pilot to follow.”
Reggie beamed. “Good man.”
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