The Best And The Brightest Part 2

Elma swallowed, unable to let go of the rail.

"You might as well tell us," Bobbie Ray advised her, examining a long, curved nail before chewing gently on it to smooth out a snag. "Or would you rather tell security?"

"Stop it!" Jayme ordered, shoving t.i.tus out of the way so she could look up at Elma. "We're not here to make trouble for you. We want to help."

Before she could coax Elma into revealing the truth, they were rudely interrupted by the arrival of the observatory personnel. Doors banged open on all sides of the computer room, and at least ten technicians and scientists poured into the control room in various states of undress, rushing to the various monitors.

"What happened to the dish?" one of them blurted out, hanging onto the keyboard as he tried to make sense of the data. "There couldn't have been an earthquake-"

"Who are you?" another one demanded, torn between the distressing numbers on their equipment and the strangers in the control room. Exclamations rang out over lost data and destroyed projects.

Jayme's quadmates were inadvertently herded closer together by the frantic technicians. Then one older scientist pulled her robe tighter around herself, twisting up the side of her mouth as she realized what they were dealing with.

"Cadets!" she snarled, as if that one word said it all.

The cadets were at attention in a line in front of Superintendent Admiral Brand's desk. Jayme noted that the room was perfectly proportioned to allow all eight members of a Quad to stand shoulder to shoulder. The fact that this was probably a common occurrence didn't make her feel any better.

Admiral Brand sat with her back to the windows, where the dawn's first rays tinted the sky, casting her face into shadow. Only her silver-white hair caught the light, swept high off her forehead, while her hands were calmly folded on her desk.

"Then I saw the alarm from the subsidiary arrays," Elma was explaining. "So I knew something was occluding the focus. From the variance of the interference fringes, it had to be a deformation of the main dish. I'd seen something like it before when the plates were being cleaned, so I was afraid the staff was working the night shift. I hid until my Quadmates showed up."

Brand turned to the three other senior cadets. "Cadet First Cla.s.s T'Rees, when was the first time you knew something was happening?"

"When I returned to my room and saw that Cadet Starsa Taran's medical relay was on alert," T'Rees replied, the epitome of attention. "I signaled the Academy medical unit immediately."

Jayme couldn't help rolling her eyes. Of course T'Rees had ratted on them.

Brand noticed and turned her attention to Jayme. "You were fortunate the observatory personnel handed you over to Academy security without pressing charges of trespa.s.sing. However, they may still claim compensatory damages for the loss of data and injury to the parabolic dish."

"That was my fault," Starsa freely admitted. "I slipped off the walkway and slid down the side. Cadet Jefferson jumped over to save me." She gave the tall Rex a surprisingly sweet smile.

Bobbie Ray gave her a deadpan look, obviously remembering her indignant wailing.

Admiral Brand wasn't distracted. "That doesn't explain why you were attempting to break into the observatory in the first place."

The other three cadets looked at Jayme, deferring responsibility to her. Jayme haltingly explained the sequence of events, from the first few nights when Elma had taken her tricorder, to her realization that she was going into the Deng Observatory after it was closed. She left out the part about falling off the monorail, figuring it would only confuse things.

Brand turned back to Elma. "Why did you take Cadet Miranda's tricorder?"

"Because it has a security override I could use to get inside the observatory." Elma kept her head down, her voice so low it was hard to hear her. "I had to. I couldn't work during the regular lab hours. All those cadets talking and moving around ... I can't concentrate, so I've been doing my summaries when everyone's gone."

"Oh, we thought you were a Bajoran resistance fighter," Starsa said artlessly.

"What did you think?" Admiral Brand asked, her voice strained with incredulity.

"Jayme-I mean," Starsa quickly corrected herself, "Cadet Miranda said Elma was tapping communiques with the telescope and relaying them to the resistance fighters."

Jayme wanted to kick Starsa, but it was too late. "Uh, you know, because she's from Holt ... and I thought, it seemed to make sense at the time, why she was being so secretive ..."

Elma actually raised her head, blinking rapidly as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. All of Jayme's fantasy scenarios crumpled under Elma's blank, uncomprehending stare.

T'Rees sniffed in disdain. "You should have informed the senior cadets in your Quad."

"Well, since you bring it up, I tried!" Jayme shot back. "Remember when I came into your room last week? But you wouldn't even listen when I told you it was about Elma. You said she had seniority since she was a last-year cadet, and that I had to work my problems out with her!"

"That's enough," Brand ordered. The cadets immediately stiffened, facing the window again. "I believe this incident reflects a failure of your entire Quad. You are responsible for each other, and I hope that before the end of the year you will have learned that." She paused, letting her words sink in. "A formal reprimand will be placed in each of your academic records, and you are all hereby placed on probation for sixty days."

Jayme flushed at the sentence. Her family was going to have a fit when they heard she was already in serious trouble after barely arriving at the Academy.

But the worst was yet to come as Brand walked around her desk to stand directly in front of Jayme. "Cadet Miranda, I expected more from you. Henceforth, you will refrain from letting your ... fancies interfere with your duty to Starfleet. If you do detect a spy in our midst, we would all be better served if you alert your commanding officer."

"Yes, sir!" Jayme agreed. "It won't happen again."

"No, it won't," Elma suddenly agreed. The cadet broke ranks, stepping forward. "Superintendent Brand, I would like to resign my commission to the Academy."

"No!" Jayme blurted out.

Brand waved a hand at Jayme, silencing her. "What is your reason?"

"I'm not suited to Starfleet. I can't stand being around people who don't act right-" Elma stopped herself. "I mean, act like we do on Holt. I belong there, and I've been delaying the inevitable by sneaking around, trying to avoid everyone."

Brand considered her for a moment, then her expression softened as she gently clasped Elma's shoulder. "I've been impressed with your persistence, and I had hoped you would become accustomed to the different culture."

Elma stiffly shook her head, unable to speak.

Brand nodded. "Very well, remain here, cadet. The rest of you are dismissed. You will be notified if the Deng Observatory pursues compensation."

The others practically ran out of the superintendent's office, but Jayme dragged her feet. She would have protested again, but Brand silently shook her head and motioned to the door. Jayme's last look at Elma caught the older cadet staring down at her fingers, twisting them together painfully, unable to return Brand's rea.s.suring smile.

All day Jayme kept thinking about the way Elma always twined her fingers together, pulling and bending them as if to distract herself from some outer torment. Why hadn't she been able to see what was happening?

When Jayme returned to the Quad from her cla.s.ses, Elma's half of the room was empty. The cabinets were cracked open and the desk under the other square window had been cleared off.

Jayme sat down on the bare mattress, feeling like she should be shot. "What have I done?" she moaned out loud. "This is awful! What can I do?"

The door slowly swung open and Nev Reoh stuck his head cautiously around. "Uh ... is there something wrong?"

With tears starting to form in her eyes, Jayme wordlessly held out her arms to the empty room.

"She's gone?"

Even in her sorrow, Jayme was exasperated. "What do you think? I'm surprised they didn't expel me, too."

"But Elma quit. She didn't get expelled."

"I'm talking about Locarno!" Jayme buried her head in her hands, thinking of the last self-styled hero who had hit the Academy. Who was she to think she could save the universe, much less one frightened woman from Holt?

"Nick Locarno?" Nev Reoh's brow creased in confusion, making him look even older. "You mean the leader of Nova Squadron?"

"Who else?" Jayme sighed, letting her hands fall into her lap. "I don't expect you to understand, but I ... I haven't been doing as well in my cla.s.ses as everyone seems to expect. I thought this was a way I could prove myself... ."

"But you're getting B's, Jayme! That's not failure. Believe me, I know what it means to fail-"

"I know, I know. You were such a terrible Vedek; you've told everyone that."

Abashed, Reoh bent his head. "I admire what Elma did. It's hard to make a big change. To give up everything you've planned on. I bet that's why she didn't say good-bye to us."

"Because she was ashamed," Jayme agreed.

Surprisingly, Reoh shook his head. "No, because we didn't matter anymore. She knew this part of her life was over. So she could walk away."

"That's pretty heartless," Jayme protested. "She's been here almost four years. She was practically ready to graduate."

Nev Reoh shrugged. "You can only struggle for so long. If something's not working, then you have to try something else." He glanced shyly up at her. "You know, I was in the Bajoran resistance."

"You!" Jayme exclaimed.

Nev Reoh nodded, unhurt by her obvious shock.

"You were?" she asked, unable to stop herself from looking harder at his wrinkled Bajoran nose. "Really?"

"I was very young and wanted to help like everyone else. But I don't like to fight. I can't even hold a disrupter-rifle, much less point it at anyone," he confessed. "So I thought that meant I should be a Vedek. Nonviolent resistance, but you know the rest ... that wasn't right for me, either. I'm better suited to geological studies."

Jayme stared at his honest, open face. "I didn't know you fought Carda.s.sians."

Even when Reoh grinned, he looked vaguely worried. "Everything works out the way it's supposed to, Jayme. Even Nick Locarno got what he wanted."

"You don't mean he wanted to be expelled."

"No, not exactly. But he wanted everyone to remember him. So he tried to take a shortcut, and now no one will ever forget him."

"Yeah, you'd think he was still around, as much as everyone whispers his name when something goes wrong," Jayme agreed ruefully.

"That's good, because that means Joshua Albert didn't die for nothing. Everything's tightened up, shipshape. It should be. Too many people were killed fighting the Borg last year. We're the only ones who can take their place. Even if we aren't perfect."

"Right," Jayme agreed, straightening her shoulders. Maybe she wasn't as good at engineering as she should be, but she could only keep trying. Besides, she never claimed she was as brilliant as her mother or her older sister. "I guess you're saying I'll have to do it the hard way, right?"

"I never found any other way," Nev Reoh earnestly a.s.sured her.

Chapter Two.

t.i.tUS COULD FEEL THE SWEAT on his palms making his grip on the antara slip as he swung it around again, trying to hamstring Bobbie Ray. The big orange Rex took advantage of his hesitation and began pummeling his antara, trying to break through the back stave. t.i.tus went down on one knee, very much aware that they were fighting without the protective face shield and arm guards usually worn during antara compet.i.tions. But this match was for real.

Bobbie Ray's face bent over him, his long teeth bared in a grin as he kept pressing his advantage. His heavy breathing was the only sound.

"You know you snore at night," t.i.tus told him between blows, managing to summon up a defiant grin of his own. "Maybe you should get that checked-"

"Grrgh!" Bobbie Ray rumbled as his antara flashed down, then jerked up-a move t.i.tus didn't know the Rex was aware of. A move that had no proper defense when an opponent was down.

The long, jagged blade seemed to slow as it came toward his face. The point buried under his chin and ripped through his head, coming out the top. Blood spurted everywhere, darkening the white padded floor and walls, while a universal groan of disgust rose from the cadets who were watching.

As t.i.tus's body crumpled, Bobbie Ray took up position over him, bowing slightly to the scattered applause. Victoriously, he raised one foot to place it on his prostrate opponent.

t.i.tus's image flickered and disappeared. "Don't you dare put your dirty paw on me!" t.i.tus exclaimed as he dropped the handles of the hologame.

Bobbie Ray's image also disappeared as the Rex stood up, stretching. He had an unbearably smug look on his face. "Something wrong, roomie? It was a fair match."

"No, it wasn't!" t.i.tus muttered, handing over the holocontrols.

"Excuse me?" Bobbie Ray drawled. "You picked the weapons. Though I don't know how your people accomplish anything with a toy like an antara."

t.i.tus smothered his anger in the face of the laughter from the other cadets who had crowded into their room to watch the match.

"That's a great hologame," Jayme told Bobbie Ray. "Did your parents gave it to you during the midyear break?"

"Yeah, they got it from a environmental designer they work with." Bobbie Ray carefully put the holocontrols in a foam contoured box. "It's a prototype that won't be on the market until the end of this year."

Starsa was sitting cross-legged on t.i.tus's bed. "Is there any kind of game you don't have?"

"I doubt it." Bobbie Ray was looking unbearably conceited again. Their friends started to drift out of the room, saying good-bye.

Jayme sidled up to t.i.tus. "You aren't exactly the poster boy for good losers."

"It's his game," t.i.tus retorted. "How can anyone beat him at it?"

Jayme shrugged, grinning. "You were the one who challenged him to an antara match."

t.i.tus turned away. "I'm not used to those controls."

"Hey, everyone, look!" Starsa called out, "Comm, sound on."

The small screen over the door routinely ran the Federation news service, along with information that was pertinent to the Academy, like announcements from professors or the superintendent herself. This time it was breaking news from the San Francisco local media station. The announcer had a fashionably shaved head with a blue forehead-c.o.c.kade, and she seemed unusually shaken.

"We take you live to the site," she was saying as the sound came up. The image switched to a view of workers wearing the orange uniforms of the city maintenance department climbing out of an underground tunnel.

"Starsa, who cares-" t.i.tus started to say.

"Look at that?" Jayme exclaimed as the image switched again.

It was a head, like the severed head of a mannequin lying in the dirt. As the camera swung around to view the face, it revealed the blank, golden stare of Lieutenant Commander Data.

The announcer was saying, "Work crews excavating beneath the city of San Francisco today discovered artifacts suggesting an extraterrestrial presence on Earth sometime during the late nineteenth century. Among the artifacts discovered is an object identified as the head of Lieutenant Commander Data of Starfleet. According to isotope readings, it has decayed from having been buried for some 500 years."