Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy #12: Breakaway Page 3

  Should she respond? Deanna knew that Orions had little respect for females of their own species, let alone females who held positions of importance in other cultures. Keeping quiet might be a wise choice.

  Chogu grabbed her arm just roughly enough to emphasize who was in charge. “Boduk ru ma!” he shouted.

  “Chogu!” she responded hastily.

  He let go of her, apparently satisfied with the response. “You note, I think, that your communications device”—he gestured at her commbadge—”does not function. We have blanketed this ship with an interference field. You will not contact your people.”

  He motioned at his two subordinates. One of them raised a disruptor to cover Deanna while the other seized her commbadge and tricorder.

  “We found your phaser,” Chogu informed her. “And this I will keep, just in case.” He grabbed her commbadge from his subordinate and tucked it into a pocket. Then he gestured again, and Deanna was pushed forward.

  The Orions marched her through the ship. The freighter appeared to be deserted, but Deanna knew better. The ship’s crew, her away team members, and the other three Orions were on board somewhere. She hoped her comrades were still free.

  They arrived at the captain’s office. Chogu sat down in the captain’s chair and thumped his dirty booted feet up on the desktop. “Where are the other Starfleet officers?” he asked with mild menace.

  He doesn’t know! That means they’re still free! “Sorry, I can’t help you,” Deanna answered pleasantly.

  The subordinate Orion aimed his disruptor at Deanna as Chogu grinned, displaying a rather nauseating set of broken yellow teeth. “Let us exchange favors, Starfleet ensign.” He held up her commbadge. “Contact your people. Find out where they are hiding. In return, I will let you live.”

  Deanna’s response came with surprising ease. She said nothing.

  “I am waiting,” Chogu prompted.

  Deanna just looked at him.

  Chogu nodded, and the subordinate Orion kicked Deanna’s legs out from under her. She collapsed to her knees so fast she didn’t even have time to cry out in surprise or pain. “Do not fear,” Chogu told her gently, rising from his chair. “I will allow you to live.” As he and his subordinate walked out of the office he added, “You will bring a fine price at the slave market.”

  The second they were gone, Deanna cleared her mind and then slowly, carefully lowered her mental shields. Yes, there they were, all four of her away team members. She could sense their fear, some excitement, even a feeling of triumph from one. But she still had no idea where they were or whether she would ever see them again.

  Deanna sat down on the deck, trying to get as comfortable as she could with her hands tied behind her back. “Good job, Ensign Troi,” she grumbled to herself. “How long did it take you to get caught—maybe five minutes?” She looked around, trying to ignore the painful throbbing in her head and knees.

  The pirates must have cleaned the captain’s cabin out before bringing her here. There was very little in it, just the desk and chair, a bare table, and a matching armoire and trunk, all locked and bolted to the floor. Deanna could see nothing from which she might make a tool or weapon.

  She slumped in despair. It’s not supposed to turn out like this. I’ve hardly had a chance, and it’s all over. Starfleet meant so much to her, and she’d worked so hard….

  No, Deanna, don’t give in to despair! If you can’t find a way to escape, then just rest and wait. Let them give you an opening if you can’t make one yourself.

  Good advice. Deanna was surprised that she’d given it to herself. All right, then, she answered her own mental voice, I’ll wait, save my energy, and let the Orions call the shots.

  Deanna found herself mulling over the events that had brought her to this awful situation. It had started so simply. Her ship, the U.S.S. Chippewa, had intercepted an automated distress call from the Alpha Centurian freighter Borocco-Kai. Deanna was assigned to the away team that was to beam over and investigate.

  The away team beamed directly to the Borocco-Kai’s bridge, only to find the bridge crew dead. Just as they called in to report, an Orion pirate ship, hidden by a Romulan cloaking device, suddenly appeared and attacked the Chippewa. Captain Tallerday was forced to raise the Chippewa’s shields, leaving Deanna’s away team to secure the freighter and, if possible, rescue the civilian crew.

  But six Orions had then beamed onto the freighter’s bridge and immediately opened fire. The away team had scattered, Deanna had been cut off from the others, and now she was caught like a rabbit in a trap.

  CHAPTER

  4

  Starfleet Academy

  Earth

  It was like being caught in a trap. Without warning, Deanna found herself standing in the doorway of the xenosociology lecture hall, staring in mute shock at her mother up on the lecture stage!

  Surprise! came Lwaxana’s mental voice. I shielded my thoughts from you so you’d never suspect I was here. Lwaxana suddenly frowned and gestured down at Deanna’s feet. Pick up your padd, dear, before someone trips over it.

  Like a robot, Deanna bent down, picked up her data padd, then straightened up. Her arms twitched slightly as if she suffered from a nervous tic. By now the other students were watching her, wondering if she was having some sort of seizure. Mother— Deanna finally projected, but that was as far as she got.

  I know, I know. What in the name of Nine Fires am I doing here? Lwaxana interrupted, and then laughed out loud.

  Now all the cadets in the room turned their attention from Deanna to Lwaxana. Deanna sensed their collective responses shift from confusion to understanding as they realized they were witnessing two Betazoids having a telepathic conversation. So what are you doing here, Mother? Deanna finally demanded.

  Why, I’m the guest lecturer, Lwaxana replied cheerily. She pointed at an empty chair directly in front of the dais. Now hurry up and sit down so I can start. I saved this seat just for you.

  Deanna was too flabbergasted to do anything but follow Lwaxana’s pointing finger and sit down. Mother, I’m having enough trouble as it is, she cried, and now this! You never told me…. You never considered what this might do to me!

  By now the room was filled with cadets, and they were all staring at Deanna and her mother. Lwaxana turned to them and opened her arms as if to embrace them one and all, but she directed her thoughts to Deanna. I know perfectly well what my presence will do for you, Little One, but let’s talk about that later. Right now I have a lecture to give. Take notes!

  “Greetings, cadets!” Lwaxana said aloud, cranking her radiant smile up full blast. “I am Lwaxana Troi of Betazed, daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, and Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed. And this,” she added, “Is my lovely daughter, Deanna.” Lwaxana gestured to Deanna as if she were introducing royalty.

  Deanna gasped and ducked down as far as she could without crawling under her chair. No, Mother, don’t, please!

  Hush, dear, Mother’s teaching. “Now, this may be only your third xenosociology class,” Lwaxana said, “but there’s already been a change in the, uh … oh, for heaven’s sake, what’s it called again? The syllabus! Yes, that’s it. Your excellent instructor, Mr. Mathias, has decided to split his lecture duties this semester with me.”

  Deanna wanted to scream. Mother, you can’t do this! she projected.

  As Lwaxana continued to smile out at her students, she replied, Of course I can. For years I’ve toyed with the idea of teaching, really. But now isn’t the time to discuss it, Little One. We’ll go to lunch after class and I’ll tell you all about it.

  Deanna bolted from her chair. I will not let you do this!

  Lwaxana blinked in surprise. Deanna Troi, just where do you think you’re—

  But the mental query stopped short as Deanna turned her back and headed swiftly for the exit. She was horrified to find Alex Renny seated near the exit sign. He was in this class, Deanna suddenly remembered. She had been so inte
nt on escaping him that she’d forgotten he actually had reason to follow her. “Not telepathic, eh?” he whispered accusingly.

  Deanna ignored him and ran out of the room.

  “You can go in now.” The young ensign opened the office door and gestured Deanna inside. Deanna was struck with an urge to run the other way, but of course she didn’t. She stepped over the threshold and heard the door close softly behind her.

  Lieutenant Commander Thaddeus Gold sat behind his oak desk, crisp and clean, the very picture of efficiency. “Cadet Troi, glad to meet you. Have a seat.”

  Deanna sat, weighted down by a sense of dread. She didn’t need telepathic powers to help her figure out why Gold had summoned her. He was a freshman counselor. Lwaxana had arrived on campus four days earlier. The equation was easy: academic pressure plus empathic overload plus unexpected mother equals one dysfunctional Starfleet cadet.

  “So,” Gold began, “how are things going?”

  “Fine, sir,” Deanna replied in a still voice.

  Gold picked up a data padd and skimmed a few screens. “Let’s see here…. Your records show that your entrance exam scores were excellent. Your academic records on Betazed were excellent. Your psych records show you to be bright, energetic, and positive.” He put down the little padd and looked her straight in the eye. “Your performance in all areas has suddenly dropped in the past few days, Cadet. I’d like to know what’s happening.”

  Deanna guessed the counselor was already aware of the specifics of her problem. He just wanted her to articulate it first and come up with her own solution, if she could. “I’m having difficulty building my mental shields, sir,” she answered. “My … my mother warned me about that before I came, but I thought I could handle it. At first I couldn’t, but I’m doing better now.”

  Gold stood up, walked to his fifth-story window, and gazed out. The morning sun hadn’t yet burned off the San Francisco fog, and the city was enveloped in a soft white blanket—except for Starfleet Academy, which, for reasons known only to the winds, lay bathed in crisp sunlight at the moment, a haven of clarity in the fog. “Cadet Troi, why exactly did you enroll in Starfleet Academy?”

  A cold dread settled over Deanna, as if something important to her was about to be snatched away. “I want to serve in the Fleet,” she replied.

  “You haven’t declared a major.”

  “I took several psychology courses at the University of Betazed, sir. I’ll probably specialize in psychology here, but I wanted to spend my first year considering options.”

  Gold turned to face her. “Yet you’re in the command track.”

  An undeclared major in the command track was, to say the least, unusual. “It was a condition of my enrollment that I apply for the command track, sir,” Deanna said.

  “Whose condition?”

  Fighting embarrassment, Deanna answered, “M-my mother’s.”

  Gold nodded. “Deanna, your mother’s presence on campus is not a secret.”

  Under less strenuous circumstances, Deanna would have laughed at that understatement of the year. Lwaxana Troi’s presence was never a secret—Lwaxana herself always made sure of that.

  Gold’s voice took on a note of sympathy, although his expression remained firm. “I’m sure you’re uncomfortable with certain aspects of your mother’s new position here, but the fact remains that you have duties to fulfill, and you’re not fulfilling them. You have some hard decisions to make, Cadet, the first of which is whether or not you intend to graduate from this institution in four years.”

  “I do, sir,” Deanna blurted out.

  “Good. I’d like to see you succeed. Now, I believe that the strength of your mental shields will improve over time. You’re not the first to experience such a difficulty. But think—if you can’t control your performance around your own mother, how will you perform under the command of a seasoned Starfleet officer in a crisis?”

  Anxiety churned in Deanna’s stomach, making her feel nauseated. And angry. Angry at a certain new Academy instructor. “I’ll learn, sir,” she said. “I’ll work hard. I’ll get back on my feet, I promise.”

  “I advise you to do so, Cadet. It would be a shame if you washed out before even making it to the Borocco-Kai.” Deanna had already heard about the Borocco-Kai test, nicknamed the Big Washout by upperclassmen. It was the first deliberate “thinning-out test” the Academy conducted, a holosuite simulation designed to weed out freshmen who couldn’t take the strain of disaster—disaster that might all too easily happen to them as Starfleet officers out in space. The scenario changed every year, but the parameters always remained the same.

  Unlike a surprise test, the Big Washout carried the added weight of anticipation. Freshmen had to take it, they knew they had to take it, and they knew it would end in disaster. How they handled it was the key. Unlike the psych test that earned one the right to enter Starfleet Academy, the Borocco-Kai test earned a cadet the right to stay there. Failure meant dismissal.

  Gold folded his arms, looking at Deanna in such a way that she was suddenly reminded of her father. True, her memories of him were dim, but she could recall him standing just as Gold stood now, arms folded, head slightly tilted, his Starfleet uniform crisp and spotless. For just a moment, Deanna felt that Ian Andrew Troi was there in the room with her, a ghostly aura of warm encouragement. Then the feeling was gone.

  Gold picked his computer padd back up, touched several keys, then handed the padd to Deanna. The screen simply read, “Sudak Hall, room 352, 1800 hours.”

  “That’s the time and place to meet your new study group,” he said. “Tonight.”

  Deanna took in the information and handed the padd back. Study group? she thought, but all she said was, “Yes, sir.”

  “I know your empathic powers are making it difficult for you to meet people. This group consists of good students. They should help you focus your energy, and who knows? You might even make a friend or two.” Deanna didn’t say anything, so Gold nodded to her. “Dismissed, Cadet.”

  By the time she was outside the building and walking back to her dorm, Deanna was furious. A study group! she thought, walking past the beautiful campus rose garden and the sparkling water fountain without even seeing them. I don’t want to be in a stupid study group. I can study just fine on my own. What I need is for everybody to stop giving me advice and just leave me alone!

  At 1800 hours Deanna entered Sudak Hall and found herself alone.

  She knew the building was crammed with freshman cadets, but they were all behind closed doors, studying. The deserted halls made her realize just how big the dorm was, how big Starfleet Academy was. I’m one person here among thousands, she thought, feeling very small all of a sudden.

  When she reached room 352, she braced herself before activating the door chime. Would the study group members like her? Would she be able to keep her shields, and her spirits, up? Or would she be an unwanted intruder in an already established group?

  Curious, Deanna carefully lowered her shields, which were a little stronger now. That made her smile—at least something in her life was improving. She allowed the emotions of those in room 352 to filter into her mind. Four beings were in there, all intensely concentrating, no doubt on homework. Deanna immediately recognized the calm serenity of one particular mind.

  “Auburn!” she called out.

  In seconds the door opened to reveal the Ichthyan, grinning with delight. The three other cadets in the room sat around the table, surrounded by computer padds and stacks of data packs. They stared at Deanna with interest.

  “Troi!” Auburn burbled. “You are our new member?”

  “Looks like it.” Deanna was grinning like a fool, but she didn’t care. With Auburn in the picture, this whole study-group nonsense suddenly looked a whole lot more palatable. Maybe Counselor Gold knows what he’s doing after all, she thought.

  And then she saw Alex Renny. He sat across the meeting table from a tall, handsome Xybaki male. “Well, well, well,” Renny sai
d without any emotion in his voice. However, Deanna could feel his irritation at her presence.

  Deanna put her shields back up fast, for once effectively blocking Renny’s emotions before they affected her own. “Hello, Mr. Renny,” she replied evenly.

  The Xybaki stood up. “Rowrrr,” he said with a mischievous grin.

  Even through her shields, Deanna sensed the Xybaki’s interest in her. She’d never met a native of Xybaka VI before, but she’d heard about them. They were a beautiful people, friendly, intelligent, and they had two hearts—maybe that was why they were known as the galaxy’s biggest flirts. “You are a gorgeous creature, Cadet…?” the Xybaki prompted, gazing deep into her eyes.

  Deanna blushed, hardly able to keep her shields up against the wave of amorous feelings rushing at her. It was a curious, almost playful sensation, and she found herself grinning back at that mind-bogglingly handsome face, those soulful jade-green eyes, that dark, thick, wavy hair and…

  Deanna shook her head. Get a hold of yourself! she thought desperately. With effort she regained her composure and managed to stammer, “Troi … I’m Deanna Troi. And you are…?”

  “Vandin ua Xadmy Sidk,” he murmured, and kissed her hand. “But don’t get those luscious lips in a tangle over it. Just call me Vandin.”

  Auburn snorted, a weird sound Deanna had never heard her make before. It reminded her of a cat sneezing. “You soon may have need to call him off,” the Ichthyan said sarcastically.

  Auburn gently took Deanna by the shoulders and turned her to face the last member of the study group, a little Zakdorn male who struggled to get up from his cross-legged position on the floor. He was squat and clumsy—Zakdorns weren’t built for physical prowess—but he got to his feet and shook Deanna’s hand, staring into her face as if cataloging every feature for future reference. “Tronnald First-House,” he said in a high, crisp voice.