The young dragon gazed upon Earth from the window of his shuttle on his way to Bifröst Station. He had worked for this day for the past few years. All the study, all the trainings, all the tests had led to this moment. Even though it had been hard, he hasn't been alone throughout his journey. The friends he had made on the Academy, who had to go through the same trials as him, were with him here on this big day for them all. He may have seen the Earth from space before, but never from this far away. It slowly started to sink in what was really happening...
"What are you staring at, Bob?" one of his friends, an antelope, asked.
"Just our planet, Hannah," he replied. "It looks so fragile from up here..."
"It kinda is, though," one of his other friends, a meerkat, said. "We could all be goners a few years ago."
"Tell me about it, Kyle!" Hannah said. "Our family was only this close to being inside of our Wellspring blast range. We were so damn lucky!"
"All my half-brothers died that day," Bob said. "I wasn't close with any of them. Most of them I've never even met... but their deaths did do one thing: my father came to look me up."
"You probably wished one of your half-brothers survived, so you won't have to deal with that jerk..." Kyle said.
"Yeah, always ordering me around whenever he was there. And he always insisted on using that name that I hate. 'Heinrich, you must obey me! Heinrich, stop staring! Heinrich, salute your elder!' There's a reason why my name is Bob now..."
"Because it's simpler?" Hannah asked.
"No, because of spite! He wants me to have an 'honourable' name, so I shortened my name to the most ordinary variant I could find."
"It's brilliant, though," Kyle said. "No one expects a dragon to be called 'Bob', hehe."
"And nobody thinks about accessibility for us tall people either," a giraffe said, leaning over forwards just so his long neck wouldn't hit the ceiling. "If we stay in this shuttle for much longer, I'm getting neck cramps."
"Easy, Nick, we're almost there," Hannah said. "Look!"
She pointed at the cyllindrical space station up ahead, where several large space ships were docked. The shuttle was making a pass over one of them that resembled a large delta wing.
"Wow, do you think that's our ship?" Kyle asked.
"No, that's one of the Nautilus class ships, the Mariner," Hannah said. "We're assigned to the flagship, the Yorktown," she pointed to a ship that's much larger than all the others docked to the station. The ship had a shape of a large arrowhead, with a short tail behind it, on which the nacelles were mounted.
"Wow, it's huge!" Nick gasped.
"They say it's a handmedown from UFIS, one of their older models, but it still packs quite a punch and is more advanced than anything we've built so far."
"I can't wait to see all the tech inside!" Bob cheered. "This is gonna be amazing!"
"We'll explore the ship together, I promise," Hannah said. "I bet it has many secrets."
"But we have to attend the Graduation Ceremony first," Nick reminded them.
"Ugh, can't we just skip the formalities?" Kyle said. "They're always so boring and long-winded!"
"We have to follow protocol if we want to show we belong on the Yorktown," Bob said. "They expect no less."
"Alright, let's get it over with..."

The shuttle docked to the station, and to Nick's relief, the ceilings on the space station were tall enough to accomodate him. They walked over the Northern Promendade, where they saw other groups of young Academy graduates heading the same way as they were: to Conference Hall 1. Soon their group grew to about a hundred people when they arrived at the hall's doors. The hall's floor was empty, except for a few tables at the entry with glasses filled with champagne, but the walls were richly decorated with Terran Fleet banners, welcoming the graduates to the ceremony. Bob took a glass, and he and his friends were instructed to join in on one of the marked areas on either side of the hall, leaving one corridor in the middle clear. Slowly, the marked areas got filled, until every graduate found a place. The crowd murmured loudly around them, and Bob and his friends were speculating what would follow next.
"Do you think they'll throw a parade for us or something?" he asked his friends.
"I don't think so. They don't seem much of the fun kind," Kyle replied.
"Perhaps the captains will come to pick all of us up," Nick suggested.
"Or maybe it's the adm-" but before Hannah could finish, the sound of trumpets drowned out all of their voices.
"Attention graduates!" an officer announced loud and clear. "Please welcome Fleet Admiral Dominik Steiner."
The entire group saluted, but Bob was filled with dread. He looked at the door and saw the one person walking in that he hoped he wouldn't see today. The old dragon with golden scales and a dumbell mustache, dressed in his admiral's uniform; his astranged father. Bob hoped he wouldn't be able to spot him in the crowd, and quickly shuffled around to hide behind Nick. Admiral Steiner walked down the corridor, seemingly inspecting the batch of graduates, until he stopped in the middle.
"At ease, company," he ordered, and everyone lowered their hand. "Today is an important day. Not just for you, but also to the Terran Fleet. Today, you will become officially part of the Fleet. Our captains are eagerly waiting for your arrival. All of you here have had to work hard to get where you stand now, and many would envy your position. So make it count! Show us that the Terran Fleet stands for excellence! Together, we can show the galactic powers that Earth is a serious partner. You can make that happen! So welcome, graduates, to our Terran Fleet!"
He rose his glass, as the audience appauded. Bob saw him looking around to see the responses from the audience, until the admiral's gaze was suddenly pinned at him. It almost felt like he was being stabbed; his father had spotted him.
"Good heavens, my son. Come forward!" admiral Steiner gestured with his hand towards Bob. Bob walked out of the crowd, knowing there was no escape for him, his feathered wings folded towards his body as if it were some sort of shield. He stood next to him, when he felt his father's firm grip on his shoulder.
"Graduates, may I introduce you to my son, Heinrich?" he bombastically announced. "He has been working hard at the Academy to join all of you here, and he has been an excellent trainee. Only the best of the best get assigned to the Yorktown!"
Even with his father singing his praises, it still felt very awkward to have all eyes drawn towards him, especially when his father used that cursed name for him. He hoped that his father wouldn't have a long speech...
"Yes, I always knew he could do it. He comes from a family of excellence. Sadly, many of them gave their lives at K-Day, all good soldiers who fought for the safety of our world. That safety we are still protecting today with our Fleet. Let their sarcifice not be in vain. Follow their example: be loyal, be brave, and most of all, take responsibility."
Bob began to feel more uneasy with each second. Why was he still here? What did his father need him for other than being a glorified prop? But then his father's speech to a whole other turn:
"But Heinrich survived K-Day, my talented son, my favourite son. And as a good father, I have always supported him throughout the years. I stand here before you as a proud fa-"
"That's all lies!" Bob protested. He heard an audable gasp from the crowd, and his father's cheer vanished, looking shocked at his son. "You called me a failure, many times!"
"Heinrich! How could you!?" he sneered.
"Stop calling me that! My name is BOB!" he pushed himself away from his father. "You never supported me, or mom! You abandoned her, and only came back when I was the only one you had to continue your legacy! I'm nothing more than a tool for you!"
"ENOUGH! How dare you disrepect your elder! Return to your place, now!"
Bob angrily paced back to his friends and took his place back in the crowd. His friends looked shocked at him, but he had no time to explain as the admiral tried to continue.
"Please grab your belongings from your shuttles and report to your ship's quartermaster," he said monotonously. "You have one hour before departure. Dismissed!"
The admiral walked back to the door, exchanging a few furious looks with Bob. The rumours started to spread among the crowd what was really playing between Bob and his father. His friends were worried.
"What the hell was that, Bob?" Kyle said. "All you had to do is smile and wave."
"I couldn't, Kyle! I just couldn't let him tell these outrageous lies to make him look better."
"But he is the Fleet Admiral! The most powerful person in the entire fleet! Don't you think he won't make you pay for that?"
"The people have the right to the truth!"
"Bob, sometimes the truth is just too dangerous," Hannah said.
"Don't start to defend that jerk, would you?"
"I just hope he doesn't retract your commission, Bob," Nick said. "Or worse: retract all of our commissions."
"Surely, he can't do that!"
"Nick's right, he has the right to do that," Hannah said. "Oh Bob, please, don't be in deep trouble!"
"I hope not, Hannah..."

They went to get their bags from the shuttle, and walked down the promenade to the gate where the Yorktown was docked. The quartermaster was standing at the gate with a crew list. They waited in line for their turn, until they had to give their name for the quartermaster to check their list. Hannah, Kyle and Nick went through without a hitch, but when it was Bob's turn, the quartermaster held him up.
"Sorry, but your name is not on my list," they said to him.
"What? But I was specifically being told I was to join the Yorktown!" Bob protested.
"You can claim all you want, but it's here in black and white, and your name is not on there."
"Surely, there must be a mistake."
"Can you check your mission patch?"
Bob checked the patch on his left arm, where the ship's logo is shown. However, he didn't see the Yorktown's logo that was on there since this morning. The smart fabric had changed the logo to another one: the Pioneer.
"No, this can't be happening!" he started to panic.
"I told you he would punish you!" Kyle said.
"I can't get on the ship with you guys!"
"I wish we could do something for you," Hannah said.
"If you can't come with us," Nick said, "then we all qui-"
"NO!" Bob protested. "Don't let my mistake ruin your careers! You're right, this is how my father wants to punish me: strip my friends away from me. But I don't want you to take my burden."
"Can we at least say goodbye?" Hannah asked the quartermaster.
"Very well... but be quick, we still have a line waiting behind you."
Hannah ran towards him, and gave him a big hug. She was crying on his shoulder.
"Please, tell me this is just a nightmare," she pleaded.
"I wish it was..." he said. "I'll send you my logs, OK?"
"Yeah, we'll send ours, I promise."
"Hey, whatever you do, do your best, all of you. Doing well is the best revenge against my father."
"I hope you can join us again someday."
"I hope so too... Goodbye Hannah."
"Goodbye, Bob..."
She let go of him, and followed the other two into the ship. They all couldn't help but looking back at the friend they had to leave behind.

When they were out of sight, Bob started to look for his own ship. He didn't know where the Pioneer was docked, but he found it soon enough, and saw its quartermaster, a kangaroo lady, standing at the gate.
"Ensign Robert Wilkins reporting," he saluted the quartermaster.
"You can leave the formalities, ensign," she said to him. "Lemme look... ah, Wilkins. Your quarters are on portside deck 3, #328. Your roommate is already there."
"OK, thanks."
He picked up his bags, and walked down the corridor to the ship alone. He'd sleep with a complete stranger, and not with his friends. Would he get along with them? Thoughts racing through his mind as he found his way to his quarters. He opened the door, and stepped into the living room of his quarters. There was no one in sight, so he continued to the bedroom. The bedroom had a two-level bunk bed, and to his surprise, the bottom bed was still empty. He put down his bags, completely missing that his roommate was gazing at him from the top bunk bed.
"Ummm... hello, dragon boy?" she asked him. Bob is startled and looked up to the top bed, where he saw a young lioness looking at him.
"Ummm... hi," he nervously replied.
"So you were the guy the admiral dragged forward at our graduation?"
"Yeah... that was me... really didn't want to be there..."
"That wasn't hard to tell. Aren't you supposed to be on the Yorktown? I heard the admiral say it."
"Yeah, about that..."
"He reassigned you? To here?"
"Apparently... away from all my friends..."
"Oh, poor you! That's so cruel!"
"It's just not fair! He just put me on this lousy ship as a punishment"
"Lousy? I don't think so. I've heard great things about this ship here! It may not be the flagship, but it has something most other ships don't have."
"What is it?"
"Aliens! We have a mixed crew! Isn't that exciting?"
Aliens? There were aliens on this ship? That made the Pioneer a whole lot more interesting for Bob.
"I hope I'll meet some soon..."
"Your name is Bob, right?"
"Bob Wilkins, yeah. Yours?"
"I'm Kiara Thandi, nice to meet you," she offered a handshake to him. "To be honest, I've never seen a dragon before today."
"Trust me, you're gonna see a whole lot more dragon here," he shook her hand smiling at her.

___________________________________

So here is how Bob's defiance against his dad made him end up on the Pioneer. This is a short story I wrote in an evening, and I wanted to write this scene for a while.

Illustration drawn by  Cervelet as a Patreon reward.
Digital colouring by  MandelSoft