Section 2: The Academy

Chapter 2c: Growing Up

The challenge of school and field work generally focused Anon's attention for the best, and now she is just days from graduation. An audio call has come in; of course it is Andersen. Never one to beat around the bush, the hey-how-are-you small talk is perfunctory, and Andersen gets right down to it.

"You still haven't heard? I recommended you fifty days ago. Are you pulling out your hair? Stop it."

Anon is pulling on her hair. She stops. "I'm so nervous. Everybody else in Geo knows where they're going."

"You'll be assigned somewhere. Don't you worry. I just want you on the Enterprise so I can be your boss and lord it over you, Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah! Plus also too maybe because you're a fine good geologist. Maybe that."

"My boss. Wicked cool. You said you'd tell me about your promotion. Lieutenant! What did you do?"

"Lieutenant Junior Grade. But still. Only got soil samples from a Neutral Zone planet. Then distributed them to Hydro and Bio, so we could all get our greedy little hands on them."

"Nobody ever goes to the Neutral Zone. All those planets are unstudied, well, except for pix and remote measurements. How did you get samples?"

"It was kinda gross. There was an away team that landed … "

"What! You were there?"

"Yah. No. Just listen. It was an away team from the Enterprise, but not me. They did some stuff, all kinds of confusing, don't know what exactly. But, when I heard about it, I went to each of the away team members, and got them to give me their uniforms, and even their boots."

"They gave you their clothes?"

'Yah. I gave them the old Janay charm. And promised to do their laundry. So, yah, gross. I took everything to lab, and brushed and tweezed and rinsed to get every speck. Not much to work with, but even so, everybody in the section was really excited. And Mr. Spock promoted me. I think he was glad that at least some science came out of that awful mission. Captain Kirk died, you know. The blood of that a-hole Khan saved him, but still. Poor Mr. Spock thought he'd lost his best friend."

"It was so scary. A bunch of cadets quit the Academy after that."

"I was scared too. I was afraid I'd contaminate my samples from pissing myself."

Anon laughs. "I really miss you. I hope I get assigned to the Enterprise. Did you ever get anywhere with Joy Upon Their Heads Shall Be?"

"No. I need you to sing. The recording didn't work. Every piece I made looked exactly like the ones you said stunk."

"I didn't say they stunk," Anon protested. "I would never say that. They just didn't make me think of Joy Upon Their Heads Shall Be."

"Which means they stunk. You're the Sing part of Sing & Sculpt. The Sculpt part has to be true to the Sing part or why bother? We'll pick it up, and get it right."

"Yah, we will. We definitely will."

"Baby Goan Fishin' Too worked out great, though," Andersen continued. "It was my first successful mixed media – I turned it into a mobile for my nephew. My nephew, Soli! I'm an aunt! Later today, I'm going to see him and my brother and my sister-in-law that I haven't even met yet. Yay, shore leave!"

"That's so great. I met your sis-in-law over last break, and she's perfect. And they sent me pix and video of the baby. You're so lucky. You will love being an aunt."

Andersen responds in a sing-song lilt. "You can be an aunt too-oo. My parents still want to adopt you. They loved having you spend breaks with them."

"So did I. And Janay, they asked again last break about adoption. I have decided yes, I have wanted a family for all my life, and I love you and your family, they love me, Starfleet needs a next-of-kin and well, you know. I'm never going to find my birth family. I resign myself to my fate."

"Wait. Who said that? It is definitely a quote."

"The Lord Chancellor, remember? The one with the stinky 2D, but the fantastic holo? We'll watch it again. Anyway, it's too late for this year. I have no more breaks. But next year at graduation time, I'll be on Shore Leave, and we'll finally be sisters under the law, not just in our hearts."

"Don't get sappy on me, Rock Head. Unlike you, I'll start crying."

"I know. Sorry. I already told your folks. I wanted to tell you first, but you were unavailable, as they say."

"Yah, but not for much longer. And as soon as you get here, we also have to re-start Movie Night. That was so much fun. And if you'd only try, Rock Head, a great way to meet people. Your peers. The Senior Officers would never come, much less get an invite, so we don't have all that weird rank-position-power stuff going on. Just a good time. Come on!"

"Yah. I do love Movie Night. But for the movies, not, you know.

"That's my Little Sister. Just wondering whether anything had changed."

"Not that, never. Look, gotta go, and I refuse to lose hope! The Enterprise is in my future. It has to be!"

"I'm sure of it. I'll see you when you get here. Which will be soon! Later, Rock Head.

"Love ya, Block Head."

#==#==#==#==#==#==#==#==#==#

While Anon is on pins and needles regarding her future, Captain James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock are having a similar conversation on the Enterprise. All the other positions have been filled, but they are in disagreement about the Geo lab placement.

Drumming his fingers impatiently, Kirk presses his advantage. "It's your section, Spock, but remember, you didn't want Andersen, and she worked out brilliantly. Creative, instinctive, opportunistic. You promoted her."

Spock holds his ground. "I will allow that you were right about Andersen, Captain. But Anon brings different qualities that we also need. And it was Andersen herself who pointed me in that direction."

"So, what do you like?"

"It is not a matter of 'like,'" Spock says firmly. If he were capable of emoting, Spock would have been insulted. "Objectively, Anon has the best analytical skills of any young scientist I have met."

"The best?" Kirk's skepticism is obvious. "Come on, Spock. You don't have to exaggerate to make your point."

"I am not exaggerating. Like many teams in the science section, Geology has cooperative competitions for Fifth and Sixth Years. Fourth Years are assigned to teams but only to observe and to document the team's processes. The idea is to imitate field conditions, where you may have limited tools at your disposal. The teams are a different combination of cadets each time. Eight competitions by the time they graduate. Not including the one that they document without participating."

"Sounds a lot like the Kobayashi Maru."

"Not a bit. The science competitions aim to challenge the teams to succeed under difficult conditions, not to teach a lesson about failure." Kirk could have sworn Spock was smug under his blank face. Perhaps it was in his voice.

"Okay, fine. Eight competitions. Stress for success. And …"

"And Anon was on the winning team every time. I ran the numbers, and no one in any Science department has ever been on eight winning teams."

"Luck? Cheating?"

Spock raises an eyebrow. "Neither. Cheating is impossible and pointless – there is no single right answer. As to luck, I read all the documentation. Anon never once offered an idea during the brainstorming portion. Not even when she was team leader. But …"

Kirk interrupts. "That's what I've been talking about, Spock. No evidence of creative thinking. We need that spark."

Spock responds levelly. "Not creative, no. Not curious. Those are undeniable weaknesses."

"So why are you so insistent?"

"After the brainstorming, Anon immediately chose the most promising approach that had been suggested, and laid out compelling reasons why. The team followed her analysis, and won the competition. All eight times. By her third competition, the team asked her what she thought as soon as the brainstorming session was done. It saved time. As a Sixth Year, her teams also set speed records for completion."

"Now you've got my attention. You knew you would, didn't you. Ah, but what about when she was documenting as a Fourth Year? Does that count?"

Spock leans back in his chair. "Curious that you should ask, Captain. It doesn't technically count, no, but the team she was documenting won. That may have been luck. Or nine wins if you prefer."

"All right then, Spock. Tell Starfleet we accept Cadet Anon in the Enterprise's Geo Lab."

#==#==#==#==#==#==#==#==#==#

Pandemonium rules on the Academy Quad after graduation ceremonies are completed.

Shouting and cheering, hats flying. Anon is chained arm-in-arm with the other geology majors, stomping and chanting, "We are the Stoners, Mighty, mighty Stoners!" Ah, science geeks. Make of it what you will. The chain breaks, and the new ensigns go their separate ways.

Anon sprints to her dorm room one last time for an audio chat with Andersen. In a matter of seconds they are screaming in unison.

"Soli, Soli, Soli! Woot-woot!

"Janay, Janay, Janay! Woo-hoo!"

"How does it feel to be an Ensign instead of a Cadet, little sister?"

"A-MAZE-ING!" Anon sings. "And assigned to the Enterprise with you!"

"The ace in the hole was the competitions. We had a sit-down, and Spock was all for you but the Captain was balky. I told Mr. Spock to check out the results. Eight competitions, eight wins. I knew that would carry the day with the Captain."

"Winning the competitions was fun, yah. But I was just lucky. It could happen to anyone."

"Except that it never did, Rock Head. Not in Geo, not in any of the other field sections either. Anyway, after I told him, the next day, yes! Barely in time for graduation, but who cares. Mr. Spock said new crew will board in two days. I can't hardly wait to see you!"

"Me, too, Block Head." Anon's eyes light upon a small leather case. "Did you know your parents were going to give me a new keyboard for graduation? It's a roll-up; it is perfect. I've already messaged them thanks, but I figured it was your idea, so thank you thank you thank you to you, too."

"Yah, I told them you would love it for a starship placement. Takes up zero room in your quarters."

"Just have to get used to the feel of it. That's my project for the next two days. Thank you!"

"You already said that. See you soon, Rock Head."

"Love you."