"No! That's impossible!"

Her father read over the paperwork that she's thrust at him. "It was, but this is an official document."

"This isn't possible!" Memory threw up her hands and collapsed onto one of the kitchen chairs. Life couldn't be this cruel to her. "Women aren't allowed on subs, Dad. I can't be assigned to one."

The Commander sat down next to his daughter. "You can ask for a reassignment."

She shook her head, "No, because then that shows as a mark on my record." She stood up and poured herself a glass of water. "No, I'm going to have to do this."

He frowned. "Is this about Stevenson?"

Memory was hoping that it wasn't, but on some level she knew that the only reason she'd been picked for this trial exercise was because she and her ex- boyfriend had a nasty break-up. It had to be because he was the only one other then she and her father who knew how much she hated submarines. "Probably," she mumbled, "He'd be the only one I can think of who has the audacity to do this to me."

She and Kevin Stevenson had dated since high school. They'd been sweethearts, since she was seventeen. She knew that when she told him they were finished he do something stupid, but never would she have imagined that he'd go to his Admiral father and get her assigned to her biggest dislike.

"Do you want me to try and talk to some people?"

"No, I'm going to have to do this to prove to him that he can't control me."

"That's my girl."

Walking into his embrace, she rested her head on his shoulder. She could do this. She might hate subs, but she'd grown up around her fathers. She knew her way around the vessels like she did the back of her hand; it was the interaction with the seamen that worried her.

"It'll be fine," he said softly, "You've done months at sea on the ships and try to think of it like that."

She laughed and stepped back. "It's nothing like that and you know it, but it's okay, Dad. I'll be fine. If I think of it as if it was yours when you were in port, then it'll be fine."

He smiled. "I know you will. You'll go do this with ease and grace and make Stevenson sorry he ever messed with Memory McConaughey."

~*~*

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A/N: I know that this doesn't give you the BIG idea about what's going on and as we 'speak' I'm working on the second chapter so just gimme a moment to finish it and I'll post it right away...