The next morning, Daniel had his first exam. This exam was his tactical exam. It would play a large part in what role he would play on his Academy Cruise. If he did well in all his exams, he might just be able to get First Officer, the person who advised the Captain and in extreme cases, take his place. Daniel wanted that role more than anything. Few people aimed to get there as it was extremely difficult. But Daniel liked difficult. As he followed a trail of students into the exam room, he had a quick re-read of his notes. He then deposited his bag with the rest of them. It was a precaution taken by staff to stop students from teaching. Daniel took his seat at Desk 113. There were nearly two-hundred desks in the room and Desk 113 was over the far side. Daniel took the fifty meter walk to his desk and sat, waiting for the moment when the teachers would tell them to turn over their papers and begin. Finally they were told. Daniel immediately opened it, revealing the first questions. He read the first one.
"You are aboard a star-ship when your ship is attacked by an invisible enemy force. They abduct your Captain and threaten to kill him if you do not hand over the ship. Your Captain is telling you to lock onto his badge and fire at the ship. What do you do? A - Sit and await everyone's death. B - Follow your Captain's orders. C - Hand over the ship and all of you become prisoners."
Daniel didn't think twice. He circled B - Follow your Captain's orders. It was obvious. You didn't want everyone to die. Also, when you joined Starfleet you made a promise. That was what question two was about.
"What is the promise that all officers must say before joining Starfleet? A - I promise to serve the Federation loyally. I will not wage war unless my life depends on it. I will listen to my crew and help those in need. I will always follow the orders of my senior officers."
Daniel didn't have to read the other three. He knew the Starfleet Promise off by heart, word for word. He circled that answer.
For the next hour or so, Daniel circled letters, wrote answers and then checked his work. At the end of the two hour period, a member of staff stood up.
"OK Cadets, time up. Please hand your papers to the front and leave by the right hand door."
There was a mad rush to get out. Daniel knew not to go into these sorts of crowds. It was very easy to get hurt. He stayed behind until everybody else had gone. Elisa had the same idea. They left together.
The second exam of the day for Daniel was an independent one. It was his Weapons Firing test. There was a small waiting room where a number of chairs were placed. Daniel entered the room and took a seat, waiting to be called. Another of his friends came over and sat next to him.
"I guess you spent ages in the holodeck yesterday."
"To be honest, Kolez, no I didn't. All I did to prepare was revise what everything does on a phaser."
"Unexpected."
"I'm guessing you are looking forward to the Medical Studies exam. You're good at that sort of thing."
"Well I won't be around to administer aid if I'm killed by a Klingon first. I need the weapons grades."
At that moment, there was an announcement.
"Cadet Kolez Milzon to Holodeck 2."
"Good luck Kolez."
"And if I don't see you, to you too."
"Thanks."
Kolez got up and made his way to Holodeck 2. Daniel waited for only a few more minutes. He was then called. He got up and headed for the other holodeck, Holodeck 1. As he entered he was greeted by nithjng but a dim room with holographic emitters all over the floor.
"Please draw your phaser."
Everyone in the academy was issued with a phaser for security reasons. Daniel took his from his belt.
"The scenario will begin in three seconds."
Three seconds later, the room changed. A scale model of a Klingon Bird of Prey appeared instead of the walls. Daniel poised his thumb on the fire button. He made his way forwards to a door. It slid open. Daniel could see Klingons in the room ahead. He pressed the trigger, hitting the one nearest. The Klingon fell to the ground, dead. Daniel whipped around to shoot one which was charging at him. Three to go. He blasted them away. Suddenly, a Gorn appeared in heavy armour. Daniel thought quickly. He noticed a shiel emitter attached to his enemy's chest. Daniel fired at the Gorn but a light shield appeared, blocking the blast.
"That's Borg technology. When did Klingons start using it?"
Daniel quickly hit the small ball on the bottom of the phaser, changing the frequency of the beam. He fired at it, taking the Gorn out. Within seconds, the scene fizzled away. Daniel breathed a sigh of relief. He turned for the exit. The door slid open. An Ensign was waiting for him.
"Wel done, you took no hits at all, a rare thing to happen. You will be graded accordingly. Please make your way to the waiting room."
Daniel nodded and made his way to the waiting room. Kolez was waiting.
"How did you do, Daniel?"
"No damage, apparently a rare case."
"Well I won't meed to administer First Aid to you then."
"I should hope not. But how did you do?"
"That final Gorn hit me, quite hard in fact."
"It was a challenge. But I want to knwo where they got that idea from, I mean Borg technology on Gorn?"
"I know. Strange right?"
Over the course of the week, Daniel sat his exams, doing extremely well in all of them. On the Saturday, all the cadets were called to the Cochrane Hall. It was results day. Admiral Quinn had come down from spacedock to give a speech. After the speech, each student was handed out their table if results. Daniel looked eagerly at them. He had scored 100% in all of his exams except for the Weapons Firing. He scored 99% in that, which was extremely good. He turned to Elisa, who was also his rival as well as his friend.
"What did you get in everything?"
"100% in all exams except Weapons Firing. 99% for that."
"I got the exact same."
"So who will be First Officer?"
The rest of the day was down-time for everybody except for Daniel and Elisa. They were called to Catain McArthur's office. They entered when told to and took a seat each at the desk.
"You have probably worked out what I called you here for."
"Yes sir, it's about our grades, isn't it?"
"It is Cadet. I have been given the honour of habing you both on my ship for the Academy Cruise, but that leaves a problem. With equal grades amd downfalls in the same subject, it means that I have two First Officer candidates. I want to select my officers tomorrow so it is important I make a decision. Therefore, to make it fair, I have booked Holodeck 2 for you to redo your Weapons Firing tests. This time it will be a different scenario. Is this OK with you both?"
"Yes sir."
"Good, then follow me to the holodeck."
The Captain and two Cadest made their way to the holodeck. Captain McArthur set up the scenario.
"Well, Cadet Daniel, you are up first."
"Yes sir."
Daniel entered the room and drew his phaser. The scenario began. It went very dark. Some lights flickered on and Damiel knew where he was. He was inside a Borg Cube. A Borg turned and looked at him.
"We are the Borg. You will be assimilated..."
Daniel didn't listen. He blasted the Borg with his phaser after changing the frequency. He knew the Collective would immediately be active. Soon more and more Borg were attacking him. He defeated them all. Suddenly, he was in a choke lock. His phaser fell to the ground. Daniel realised he was staring down the barrel of a Borg's arm cannon. He used his free arm and smashed the Borg across the face. It loosened its grip allowing him to get a short breath. Then it tightened again. Then there was black. He woke up to find himself assimilated, a Borg. The voice of the Collective filled his head. Suddenly, the scenario ended. Daniel felt sick and dizzy. He collapsed to his knees and gasped for breath. Captain McArthur and Elisa dashed in to check he was OK.
"I'm fine, just shocked, sort of."
"Captain, if you wouldn't mind I would like to forfeit my rematch of the exam."
"Pardon?"
"Sir, I would never be able to match the bravery of Daniel there. I want him to be First Officer."
At this point, Daniel was on his back, still breathing hard.
"If you are fine with that, Cadet, then I shall make him my First Officer."
"Yes sir."
The Captain looked at Daniel who nodded.
"Are you sure you are OK?"
"Yes sir."
The next day was the Ranking Ceremony. Daniel was last up as First Officer. There was a huge eruption of clapping and whistling in congratulations. He wa still shaking from his ordeal the day before but he went up all the same. He was awarded a certificate which was embroided in a thin gold layer. Daniel felt like racing around all day yelling and shouting but that would be bragging.
Moral of the Story - When life throws challenges at us, we should keep trying. When Daniel hits the Borg in the face, it was a sign that he was going to keep fighting. Equally, however, we should never brag about our victories. It will make you appear selfish and that you have nothing better to do, so just son't do it!
