Star Trek: The Next Generation: Starfleet Academy #12: Breakaway Page 4

  “Glad to meet you, Tronnald,” Deanna replied, still trying to shake off Vandin’s smooth-as-chocolate greeting. She dared a glance over at the Xybaki. He was still smiling at her, his jade-green eyes half-lidded and dreamy.

  Deanna was relieved to learn that the study group had just formed that week, so her presence wasn’t the intrusion she’d feared it would be. Vandin suggested the cadets go around the room and tell each other about themselves. He started it off by saying that he was in the command track “just like you, beautiful Deanna.” He considered himself a Kirk-in-training: “I am born to lead; others are born to follow,” was his motto. Deanna wasn’t sure if she should laugh or be disgusted at this blatant display of ego, so she just kept quiet.

  Little Tronnald had gone through two Zakdorn years of medical education before he heard the “mesmerizing call of the cosmos,” as he put it. He intended to finish his medical training at Starfleet and practice his art out among the stars.

  Alex Renny was a communications major from the state of Oregon here on Earth. He wanted to work in R&D, experimenting with new communications technologies that would someday penetrate the “silent reaches of our galaxy.”

  And Auburn, Deanna already knew, was in the command track and had definite plans. “Someday I will captain a Galaxy-class starship,” she said with quiet certainty. When Vandin laughed at this, she merely turned to him and added, “Or perhaps something bigger.”

  It was Deanna’s turn. “Well, I’m undeclared at the moment,” she told the group, “but I am in the command track.”

  Silence. Then everyone responded at once. “How could you be undeclared?”

  “You’re kidding!”

  “I don’t believe it!”

  “Boy, are you going nowhere at warp speed!”

  Deanna frowned. “What’s wrong with being undeclared?” she snapped. Then she caught herself, realizing that her anger was rising for no real reason except that she’d been feeling defensive lately. More calmly she went on, “I studied psychology on Betazed, but I need to make sure that’s really what I want to devote my life to. There’s so much out there—I’m just too young to know for certain what my future should be.”

  Vandin vehemently shook his head. “No, no, no, my lovely, that is not the way to go through Starfleet Academy. Goals. You need specific goals.”

  “Or you’ll find yourself shuffled to the side,” Tronnald added.

  “I am in agreement,” stated Auburn, “though I understand Troi’s difficulty.”

  “Telepathy is a difficulty?” Renny asked, not without venom. To the others he explained, “She can read your mind, you know.”

  Vandin turned to Deanna, intrigued. “Really?” He batted his eyes coyly. “Read mine, my goddess.”

  “Will you please stop referring to me by such names?” Without waiting for a response, Deanna turned to Renny. “Mr. Renny, how many times do I have to tell you? I’m an empath, not a telepath.”

  “Stow it,” Renny said. “I saw you and your mother yakking without saying a word!”

  “That was my mother’s doing. She’s a full Betazoid. It’s her powers, not mine, that allow us to talk telepathically. Left on my own, I’m only an empath, and I don’t want to have to say it again!”

  “You don’t have to. I know what I saw!”

  “Enough!” Auburn’s normally bubbly voice was sharp and clear as she cut through the rising argument. “Alex Renny, I am the roommate of Troi. I know that she cannot read minds.” Her words sounded like an order.

  Renny backed down, but not without a sulky, “I know what I saw.”

  “I think we should get some studying done,” muttered Tronnald.

  “A grand idea, Master Zakdorn,” Vandin said cheerfully. “Warp physics, anyone?” He held up a data pack, his expression hopeful.

  Deanna was too furious to speak. She could sense Auburn’s concern, Renny’s anger, and Tronnald’s dislike of having a conflict in the group.

  Vandin looked from one of them to the next and, with a sigh, tossed the data pack over his shoulder.

  “Okay, warp physics is out. How about—”

  “I need a break.” Deanna got up. “Excuse me.”

  She walked out, feeling everyone’s confusion behind her—except Renny, who oozed suspicion in her direction. Great, she thought. This ought to help me just fine. I’m stuck with one cadet who hates me, another who’s infatuated with me, another who can’t deal with conflict, and a fourth who has to play den mother to us all. And to top it off, they all think they have a right to give me advice!

  If the door leading out into the cool night air hadn’t been automatic, Deanna would have kicked it open.

  CHAPTER

  5

  Cargo Freighter BOROCCO-KAI

  Alpha Quadrant, Sector C

  Someone viciously kicked the cabin door. Deanna scrambled to her feet as it opened, revealing Captain Chogu’s second-in-command. He gestured at her, then at the corridor. “Come now!”

  He took her to a cargo locker deep in the bowels of the freighter, pushed her inside, and locked the metal door behind her. The interior of the hold was dark, but Deanna sensed the owner of the voice that cried out, “Troi!”

  “Auburn!” A wave of relief washed over Deanna as the Ichthyan’s tall figure bounded out of the shadows. The familiar cool hands grasped her shoulders.

  “Yes, it is me!” Auburn burbled happily. Then she paused. “Troi, heard you word of the Chippewa? Know you of her status?”

  Deanna shook her head and told Auburn what had happened to her since the Orions arrived. “It’s likely that the Orion ship showed up just to distract the Chippewa, to keep her from protecting this freighter.

  The cargo aboard is their primary interest.”

  “We felt the engines engage some time ago,” came the voice of Tronnald First-House. Deanna whirled to her left, and as her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the single glow strip overhead, she made out the figures of the rest of her away team: Ensign First-House, Ensign Renny, and Ensign Sidk. “The pirates have taken us out of the Chippewa’s vicinity. We could be in a whole different sector by now,” Tronnald finished.

  Deanna barely listened, allowing herself a moment to bask in the presence of her teammates. Whatever came next, at least she wasn’t alone anymore. “How long have you been in here?” she asked them.

  “Renny and I were caught right away,” Tronnald said. Renny growled his displeasure at the announcement, but Tronnald went on, “We planned to hide in one of the loaded cargo bays, but the locks would not open. We ended up stuck out in the corridor when—”

  “Oh, shut up already,” Renny grumbled.

  “Do not feel embarrassment,” Auburn told Renny in her gurgly but soothing voice. “We have all been captured. I as well was cornered in a corridor.” She reached into her uniform pocket and held up her commbadge. “However, this I managed to hide from them. But it gives no advantage unless we remove the damping field around this vessel.”

  “I made it as far as sickbay,” Vandin said with casual haughtiness. “I gave those pirates a run for their money, I can tell you.”

  “You still got caught,” Renny reminded him.

  “Yeah, after taking one of those pirate slugs out with a hypo full of snooze juice. He’ll be dreaming for hours.”

  So that was it, Deanna thought, remembering the empathic impression she’d gotten earlier that one of the away team members had triumphed, if only for a moment.

  “You accomplished a great feat, Mr. Sidk,” Auburn said. “There are now five of them and five of us.”

  “But they’re out there and we’re in here,” Tronnald noted glumly, “without communications or weapons.”

  Renny shot Tronnald a low-browed look. “Thank you, Mr. Sunshine.”

  Deanna felt the emotional tone of the group darken. “Okay, so we’ve all been captured,” she said quickly, trying to lighten the mood, “but we’re alive, right? I’ve heard that Orions don’t take live captive
s.”

  “Sure they do,” said Vandin. “They torture the ugly ones and sell the pretty ones at slave auctions.” He leaned toward Deanna. “You and I could be sold as a pair. What do you say, O flame of my hearts?”

  Before Deanna could respond, Auburn stepped in.

  “Enough, Mr. Sidk. You will confine your comments to the business at hand.”

  Vandin regarded Auburn with cold eyes. “Yes, sir, Ensign Twil, sir. But might I remind the group that a little humor now and then eases tension?” He grinned. “Works for me, anyway.”

  “Let us not lose sight of our mission objective,” Auburn told the others, calmly ignoring Vandin. “We have been ordered to secure this vessel and save the crew.”

  “Then let’s bring the pirates in here.” Vandin paced back and forth as he spoke, the dim glow strip throwing his shadow against the bulkheads like a restless wraith. “Even if they all come at once, it’ll be an even fight.”

  Auburn shook her head. “Direct confrontation is not our best course.”

  “Well, sitting here certainly isn’t,” Vandin shot back.

  “We have no weapons effective against disruptors,” Auburn insisted.

  Vandin tapped his skull. “Then we’ll use our brains. Those Orions are bolder than they are smart.”

  Deanna held her breath as Auburn stepped up to Vandin until her face was mere inches from his. “I am in charge,” Auburn stated with calm confidence. “We shall not battle the Orion pirates, and we shall not lure them here. This bay is a prison. We require space to maneuver.”

  “I think you’re playing it too cautious, sir,” Vandin responded, not as calmly but just as confidently. “If we wait much longer, we’ll be too far away from Federation territory to contact anybody, even using the freighter’s comm system should we gain access to it.” He turned to the group for support.

  Once again Deanna felt the emotional tone of the group change, but now it was a dangerous change. Vandin’s insubordination was creating incredible tension. I have to do something, she thought, but what? And then something that had been nagging at the back of her mind for the last few minutes suddenly became clear. “Wait a minute—the air is fresh!” she said. “Smell it!”

  Tronnald sniffed. “Troi is right. This could be a hold for biological cargo. If so, that means there’s a ventilation system.”

  “We already looked,” Renny insisted. “There are no openings anywhere.”

  “Then how do you explain the air?” Deanna asked him.

  Vandin gracefully swept up Deanna’s hand and kissed it before she snatched it back. “My lovely Deanna, there is no vent,” he purred in an infuriatingly condescending tone. “Believe me.”

  “Ensign Sidk, I’ll believe you when knowing for certain ceases to be an option.” Deanna wanted to say more—like “And kindly keep your paws to yourself!”—but now was not the time. “Look, the Orions are tricky,” she told the others. “If there’s a vent system in here, they may have camouflaged it, knowing they’d be using this hold to imprison us.”

  “Then let us examine all surfaces again, with more care this time,” Auburn ordered. She turned to Vandin. “Agreed, Mr. Sidk?”

  Deanna watched as Vandin narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. He can’t stand taking orders from Auburn, she thought. He hates not being in charge. Deanna decided to leave her mental shields lowered to monitor Vandin as well as the rest of the away team. Leaving her mind vulnerable would hurt, but her empathy might be useful in diffusing further disagreements. We all have to work together if we’re going to get out of this jam, she thought.

  Auburn split the group up, and everyone began to examine every surface of the cargo bay. Within minutes Renny said, “Over here! I thought this was just a nick in the bulkhead before, but maybe it’s something more.” He was kneeling beyond the range of the glow strip, so all Deanna could see of him was a vague black shape in the shadows.

  Auburn started to move toward him, but Vandin pushed past her and reached Renny first. “There’s a thin metal plate here, a little less than a meter square,” Vandin said, groping along the wall in the dark. “It could be covering something.”

  “Here.” Deanna pulled the clip from her hair and handed it to Renny. “This could help.”

  After a few minutes of scraping and grunting, Renny and Vandin pried the metal sheet partway off the wall. “Well, whaddaya know?” Renny murmured as a blast of recirculated air blew on them. “Our local mind reader was right! I’m impressed.”

  Vandin added, “And I’m in love, so I guess that means—”

  “Shhh!” Deanna reached out and touched Vandin’s shoulder to silence him. Panic was welling up in her, but the feeling didn’t belong to her. It was coming from beyond the bulkhead. “Somebody’s in there,” she whispered.

  “In the shaft?” Auburn whispered back from the darkness.

  “Yes,” Deanna confirmed. “And whoever it is, is heading this way!”

  CHAPTER

  6

  Starfleet Academy

  Earth

  Whoever it was, she was heading right toward her.

  Deanna jumped to her feet and faced the door. She was alone in her dorm room. Auburn had gone for an evening swim, so Deanna was using the time to squeeze in some much needed study. But there’d be no more studying now. “Come in, Mother,” she said, recognizing the presence outside.

  The door whooshed open and Lwaxana Troi sailed in, the train of her gown rustling after her, the gems in her earrings and hairpiece sparkling in the overhead light. Little One, how wonderful to see you! she greeted Deanna telepathically, kissing her cheek. Then she called aloud, “You may enter, Mr. Xelo!”

  “Mother, what—” but Deanna got no further as Xelo, Lwaxana’s valet, entered with an antigray serving cart laden with silver dishes and covered serving platters. He nodded pleasantly to her, then began to set solid silver tableware for two on the little study table. “Mother, what in the world is this?” Deanna demanded.

  It’s dinner. What does it look like? Lwaxana’s expression turned to one of alarm. Don’t tell me you’ve eaten already. Then she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. Well, if you have, you’ll still want some of these imported Tribalian spiced prinkets! After our little tiff in class the other morning, I decided the least I could do is bring you a decent meal. Heaven knows what they make you eat here. Lwaxana glanced about the dorm room as if suddenly seeing it. What an ugly little room. There should be a law against making people live in closets.

  Deanna nearly exploded. “Mother, explain yourself! And do so out loud, we’re not on Betazed anymore.”

  “No, we’re not, are we?” Lwaxana sighed as if the fact depressed her. “Deanna, don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve been ignoring my calls. I’ve been on campus for several days now, yet here you are going about your business as if I didn’t exist. You and I need to have a little chat.” Xelo pulled a chair out for her, and Lwaxana gracefully seated herself. “Please, Little One, sit down.”

  “I will do no such thing!” All Deanna could think of was the embarrassment of that morning in xenosociology and, worse, the look in Alex Renny’s eyes as she’d stormed out of the lecture hall. “How dare you waltz in here with all of this—this—” Deanna gestured helplessly at the catered dinner. Good grief, what if someone had seen Lwaxana enter the dorm? Jokes might already be flying across campus about the freshman whose mother-the-teacher delivered a catered dinner to her dorm room!

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Lwaxana said with a huff.

  “All right, if you must know, I was just trying to make it easier for you.”

  Deanna paused, confused. “Easier for me to what?”

  “To apologize, of course. You think I’m going to let the other morning go by as if it never happened?”

  Deanna was shocked. “You expect me to apologize to you?”

  Lwaxana waved her hand, and Xelo dished out a plump, delicately roasted game bird with squatty little legs—a Tribalian spi
ced prinket. “That’s usually what daughters do when they embarrass their mothers in public,” she said.

  “I embarrassed you?” Deanna spluttered. “I don’t believe this!”

  “Frankly, I don’t either. You’re away from home for only a couple of weeks and boom, your manners go out the window.”

  It was all Deanna could do not to scream. Balling her fists, she paced the room twice, then decided to sit down before the furious energy raging through her body made her do something unfortunate, like throw a data pack at the wall. “What are you doing here at the Academy, Mother? And don’t tell me you’ve suddenly developed an overwhelming urge to enter the teaching profession.”

  “Actually, I’ve been considering it for some time,” Lwaxana smoothly replied. “After all, my services as a mother are no longer needed, are they? And since I was here, I thought I might be able to help you.”

  “Help me?” Deanna stared at her mother. “I—I don’t need your help.”

  “Really? Then explain why your mental shields were failing you, and then explain why they’ve suddenly become stronger in the past few days.”

  Deanna backed away. “No,” she whispered, a sense of failure gripping her, squeezing the confidence out of her. “No, Mother … I thought I was finally … No! Don’t tell me that support is your doing!”

  “Of course it’s my doing.” Lwaxana daintily carved off a chunk of prinket as she continued, “The moment my shuttle entered orbit around Earth I could feel you struggling down here like a gull in a windstorm. So I reinforced your shields from a distance, and I’ve been doing so ever since.” She pointed her prinket-laden fork at Deanna. “You need me, Little One. I told you that before you left.” And she popped the meat into her mouth.

  All the independence Deanna had felt since her arrival at the Academy crashed down around her. “Stop it!” she cried out. “Whatever help you’re giving me with my mental shields, just stop! Mother, I’ll never grow up if you don’t let me!”