The door opened, and several faces looked up expectantly as Caitlin entered the room.
“Well?” demanded a girl of her own age, with clear blue eyes and dark red hair. “How did it go?”
Caitlin grinned as she flopped down into a nearby armchair. “God they were stubborn,” she announced. “With those genes, I never had a chance!”
Her friend chuckled. “But at least you got your mom’s brains,” she reminded Caitlin. “Did it go well?”
A soft smile spread over Caitlin O’Neill’s face, as she remembered the time she had just spent with her future parents. “Oh yeah,” she replied quietly. “They admitted they loved each other, and dad essentially proposed to mom. I just can’t explain the feeling I got when I saw them together Sammy.”
Samantha Jackson smiled. “I think know what you mean. I just hope I can get my mom and dad to ‘see the light’ so to speak. I wish Cassie was eligible for this – I’m really scared I’m gonna muck it up.”
“You’ll do fine,” Caitlin assured her, before looking around the room. All the guides there were female, and she recognised most, if not all of them there. It was obvious looking around the room that all were not completely human, and she knew that there were many more who looked human, but were in fact completely different races.
“Hey – there’s Taya,” Sammy waved over the young woman, whose dark skin was a complete contrast with her bright blue eyes and auburn hair. “How was your last session?”
“It’s getting so bad that I’m considering real world intervention,” Taya announced bluntly, although it was clear she had been crying previously. “Mom just keeps quoting Starfleet regulations at me left, right and centre, while dad thinks that he’s on some sort of warped vision quest.
“But Taya, you already stranded them on a planet supposedly for the rest of their lives,” Sammy pointed out. “What are you going to do to top that?”
“Try Miral’s tactic of oxygen depletion while floating alone in space?” Taya suggested hopefully. “Look – I’ve got to go and keep an eye on this Seven of Nine character, so I best be off. Sammy – be thankful that Janet and Daniel don’t have any regulations in their way.”
“Oh believe me I am,” Sammy replied as Taya headed off to the observation centre. “I’ve just got my dad’s ex-wife who he feels he’s betraying and my mom’s ex-husband who abused her to put up with.”
Caitlin opened her mouth to say something, but they were interrupted by a body planting herself in the chair just vacated by Taya. “Guess what?” The new arrival asked.
“I have no idea,” Caitlin replied, turning to look at Megan Riker.
“Mom and dad are getting married,” she announced in what was almost classed as a high pitched squeal.
Both Caitlin and Sammy smiled with delight at the news, as it was what they all aimed for at what they called ‘the institute.’
“Oh Meg, that’s great news,” Caitlin congratulated. “Well done.”
Megan gave a shy smile. “Oh well, a little real life intervention was all it took. But I hear congratulations are in order for you too Cat – getting your parents to admit they were in love in the first session. Good on you.”
Now it was Caitlin’s turn to look embarrassed. “Well, it was only the rules and regulations that were holding them back really,” she explained. “I removed them, and they had nothing to hide behind.”
Anything more they had to say was disturbed by the chime, warning them of an upcoming announcement. The mechanical voice came through the speakers.
“Samantha Jackson to Room 1, Rachel Crichton to Room 2 and Claire Grissom to Room 3 please. Appointment 5 will begin shortly. Megan Riker report to the head’s office please immediately. Thank you.”
Sammy was visibly shaking as she stood up.
“Don’t worry about it,” Caitlin assured her. “Try to get them to talk about their pasts, and discuss their fears for the future and everything will be fine.”
Sammy nodded as she headed out the door with the other three guides. Caitlin was left alone as she picked up the control for the real life monitor, and switched it one. Time to see what was happening in the world of “Stargate SG-1.”